Second Chance Christmas (The Colorado Cades) (15 page)

* * *

M
OST
C
IELO
P
EAK
citizens didn’t run their ceiling fans in December, but it was damn hot in Elisabeth’s bedroom. More specifically, the man in her bed was damn hot. They’d shared a large glass of ice water and had been cuddling for the past twenty minutes, yet her heartbeat still hadn’t returned to normal. Sex that phenomenal could only be described as an out-of-body experience.

While she rested her head on his chest, Justin lightly dragged his fingers through her hair. “That was...unexpected.”

Did he mean how powerful it had been between them, or that she’d had sex with him at all? It had been at the forefront of her mind since that mind-blowing orgasm he’d given her in the cabin. She’d fibbed a little at Arden’s about needing to assemble Christmas presents after dinner. She’d rushed through those this afternoon before he picked her up. Just in case.

She turned her head, propping herself up on her elbow so she could meet his eyes. “I wanted you,” she said simply.

“Back at you.” It was gratifying how dazed he looked. She’d made a definite impact. “But, at the risk of seeming ungrateful, I don’t understand what changed.”

“My expectations.” Could she explain this in such a way that didn’t make it sound as if she was devaluing herself? “When we dated before, I thought I loved you, thought I knew what our future should look like. But the more you’ve opened up to me the past few days, the more I realize I never fully knew you. And as for the future...everyone talked about whether moving to California would be good for Kaylee after the upheaval in her life, but my life got turned upside down, too. If ever there was a time to consider just living in the moment, it’s now. I need time to adjust to the present before I get too hung up on the future.”

“So that’s what this is?” he asked cautiously. “Living in the moment?”

She thought of Michelle, of his parents and his nephew. “We know better than most how life can be cut short. I overheard you and Arden talking about your brother. You said he had to deal with his issues and that nobody could force him before he was ready. The same is true of you. You mask it with your jokes and your charm and your devilishly distracting kisses, but you have a lot of baggage. I don’t know when—or if—you’ll ever sort through it and be ready for a real commitment. But in the meantime, for right now, I just want to be with you. That okay?”

“That,” he said as he sat up to capture her lips, “is perfect. You’re too good to be true.”

“Good, huh?” She rolled over so that she could straddle him, smiling down into his handsome face. “Shows what you know. I’m pretty sure I’m on the naughty list.”

* * *

D
ESPITE
J
USTIN
’
S
HABITUAL
aversion to Christmas, it was impossible to dislike any day that began by waking to a gloriously naked redhead wrapped around him.

“Morning,” she said drowsily.

“Merry Christmas.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Your alarm went off.”

She wiggled her hips, scooting back against him. “I heard it. I just don’t want to go. Nowhere else in the world is going to be as comfortable as in bed with you.”

“So we’ll just have to make plans to do this again soon,” he reasoned. Very soon. “But for now, I have trails to patrol and you have a little girl who will be awake soon, anxious to know if Santa visited.”

He sat on the edge of the bed, his feet on the floor. “Know what else you have to look forward to? Me. I’ll see you this evening.”

“Don’t forget your pajamas,” Elisabeth reminded him, amusement threading her voice. “House rules.”

Justin reached down, snagging the red lace on the tip of his finger and held it up. “If you’re looking for suggestions on what pj’s
you
should wear...”

She swung a pillow at his head, but missed by a mile. “You’d better go,” she advised, “before I have my morning coffee and try that again.”

* * *

I
T
WAS
A
beautiful, chilly Christmas morning—the kind that reminded Justin why he’d wanted to pursue a career that paid very little and carried high risks. He was in such a good mood that he didn’t even mind the teasing of other guys.

“This is getting scary,” Trey Grainger told Nate Washington in the hut where they all checked in each morning. “Yesterday at this time, he was barely speaking, and now he’s whistling Christmas carols! It’s like pod people have landed on the mountain.”

Nate identified the source of Justin’s good mood pretty quickly. “So who was she?” he asked as he pulled on his gloves. “The brunette from the bar last week?”

Refusing to answer any questions, Justin kept whistling all the way up the chairlift.

His family members, however, were more persistent. Once the distraction of opening gifts for baby Hope had passed, Arden kept commenting on how happy Justin looked and badgering him about whether it could have anything to do with a certain redheaded lodge manager.

He attempted to change the subject by playing on Arden’s guilt. He crossed the living room and stared mournfully out the snow-crusted window, injecting as much wounded severity into his tone as possible. “Did you ever consider that I’m simply happy because I’m enjoying one of the few days I have left surrounded by my family? Colin will be headed out of town by New Year’s, and you’re neck-deep in wedding plans. Neither of you seems to give much thought to me here, alone and left behind, with—”

“You know, if you’d toned that down a little,” Arden said, “I might have bought it. Now, tell me what happened when you took Elisabeth home! Did you kiss her? Did she kiss you? Who, when, where?”

Even though he truthfully would miss his siblings once they were both gone from Cielo Peak, it was a relief to escape his sister’s interrogation and head for the Donnellys’ home around three. Kaylee flung open the door while he was still making his way up the driveway. She was wearing bright yellow flannel pajamas and a pair of purple snow boots.

“Justin! Come see what Santa bought me! And come see the gingerbread houses I made with Grammy Patti. The roof fell in on my house and probably squashed anyone who lived inside, but Grammy says that’s okay, it still tastes good. Boy, you walk slow!”

“Maybe that’s because I’m hauling this giant sack of presents,” he pointed out.

Elisabeth appeared behind the girl. She wore a pale henley shirt and a pair of endearingly ludicrous pants. They were fuzzy and printed with bright pink penguins and sleepy purple polar bears. He was feeling a little understated in his soft black top and red-and-black plaid pajama bottoms. Maybe next year, he—

He stopped so suddenly, he almost slid on the walkway and launched the packages into the air. Next year? Where the hell had that come from? What had happened to Elisabeth’s brilliant plan of living in the moment?

Luckily, Elisabeth hadn’t noticed his near-stumble because she was busy quietly conferencing with her daughter. Then she looked up, addressing Justin, “You’ll have to excuse her. Someone ate too much of the chocolate that was in her stocking, and she’s a little wired. But someone also knows that if she can’t simmer down and mind her manners, she’s headed upstairs for a long time-out.”

Kaylee heaved a long-suffering sigh. “
I’m
the ‘someone,’” she informed Justin in a stage whisper.

Grinning, he tousled her hair. “Yeah, I got that, kiddo. Can you do me a big favor? Don’t get sent to time-out. It would ruin my holiday if I didn’t get to spend it hanging out with you.”

She beamed at him. “I’ll be on my bestest behavior, pinkie swear!”

Elisabeth ushered him inside, taking his jacket from him as he shifted the packages he held. “Mom and Dad and Lina are gathered in the family room. We were watching old
I Love Lucy
episodes and talking about busting out charades or some kind of drawing game. Tell me you’re good at drawing? You could be like my secret weapon.”

“I can’t even do a recognizable smiley face,” he admitted.

“Well that’s settled—you’re on Lina’s team.”

Even though he’d never been in the Donnelly home at the holidays before, he’d once predicted that they went all out for Christmas. He’d been right.

It was different than the spectacle at his sister’s house, where everything was twinkly and automated and new from the box. Patti Donnelly’s living room boasted a mishmash of handmade decorations, like a white pillow upon which someone had cross-stitched
Peace on Earth
in blue and green, and antiques, like an expensive looking snow globe from a bygone era. Blankets and pillows were strewn about the room. This was clearly not a house where Christmas was greeted with formality. He was guessing that the small beanbag with the Kaylee-shaped dent in it was where Elisabeth’s daughter had been sitting. The Donnellys presided over their family from a pair of matching recliners.

Patti Donnelly popped out of her chair to come give him one of her customary hugs. Mr. Donnelly took the more relaxed approach of simply waving. “Welcome, son.”

Justin presented them with the basket of gourmet meats and cheeses he’d picked up yesterday. “Merry Christmas.” He turned to where Lina was sitting on a love seat, cocooned in a fleecy green blanket. “I have something for you, too, troublemaker.”

She hitched an eyebrow at the square box he handed her. “I don’t hear any ticking. That’s a good sign.” She tore through the snowflake dotted tissue paper and laughed at the sweatshirt that spilled out of the package. Then she held it up for her family to read the wording across the front: I AM THE EVIL TWIN. “Well-played, slick.”

He sat down on one of the leather ottomans in the room, and Kaylee came to his side, inspecting the two large boxes wrapped in SpongeBob SquarePants paper.

“Is one of those for me?” she demanded.

Elisabeth delicately cleared her throat. “Manners.”

Kaylee wrung her hands, looking uncertain. “Is, uh, one of those for me
please
?”

He pushed the bigger of the two toward her. “This gift is, for lack of a better explanation, unfinished. There may be some accessories you need to get before you can use it.”

Kaylee frowned. “Aunt Lina told me her super high heels are accessories. I can’t wear those. Elisabeth says I’d break both my legs.” Suddenly she straightened and faced Lina. “I just remembered. Do you know Justin calls you my ‘crazy aunt Lina’?” The girl giggled. “That’s funny.”

Lina looked less amused. “You should hear some of the things I call him. Now, open your box already! I’m dying of curiosity.”

When Kaylee saw the snowboard, she was almost beside herself with excitement. “Can we go use it now?” she begged.

“Probably not right now, and definitely not without a helmet,” Justin said. “But we can go shopping for one soon, and I can start teaching you. I taught my sister, Arden, when she was about your age.”

He’d never wanted to have kids, but now it occurred to him that, if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be teaching sons and daughters, wouldn’t be passing on his skills or knowledge.
So what? You have a beautiful niece, and one day when she’s old enough, you can take Hope out on the slopes
. Nephews and nieces would be plenty to keep him fulfilled.

He slid the other box across the floor toward Elisabeth. “And this is for you.”

As soon as she got the wrapping paper off and saw the picture of the desk lamp on the box, her shoulders began to shake with laughter.

“I, uh, have it on good authority that you can use a new lamp, on account of some clod breaking yours.”

She grinned. “I know just where I’ll be putting it.”

From across the room, Patti Donnelly lifted the glasses she wore on a slim chain around her neck. “Did you say that’s a lamp, dear? From here it looks...kind of like a dismembered leg.”

Lina was laughing now, too. “It’s the lamp from
A Christmas Story
.”

“Well, a miniature replica,” Justin said. “Not the full-scale one.”

“The bigger one wouldn’t fit on an end table,” Elisabeth said, her eyes twinkling.

Kaylee had come over to investigate the lamp shade atop a woman’s stocking-clad leg. “Hey! This lamp is wearing a high heel. Man,
everyone
gets to wear fancy shoes but me.”

Elisabeth stepped over the little girl to hug Justin. He took the opportunity to hold her close, wondering if it would be inappropriate to kiss her in front of her whole family.
Probably
.

“Thank you,” she murmured near his ear. “I love it. That movie may be completely goofy, but it cracks me up anyway.”

“Now it’s my turn!” Kaylee declared.

“Did you want a hug, too?” Justin asked.

“In a minute.” Then she went racing out of the room, leaving the grownups perplexed.

“Mom,” Elisabeth said, “do you have any idea what she’s talking about?”

“Almost never,” Patti smiled. “But I love her anyway.”

Then Kaylee came back into the room, holding what looked like a wad of trash. “I wrapped it with some magazine pages, like how we made our Christmas ornaments,” she told Justin proudly. She held it out to him. “This is for you.”

“I like the crinkle method you used to keep it all together,” he said, unfurling the edges. “Really saves on tape.” Inside the balled up paper was more paper, this one a lined sheet from a spiral notebook.

He smoothed it out and looked at the picture. There was a tall stick figure man in a red coat and skis, with black hair that stood straight up, a stick figure woman with orange hair, green eyes and a big smile on her face, and between the two of them, a much smaller stick figure with crazy brown curls that took up a quarter of the page. They were drawn inside a big heart, holding hands beneath a bright blue sky and a smiling yellow sun. Justin found himself blinking rapidly so he wouldn’t do something as unmanly as shed a tear.

“Kaylee, I... Thank you. This is perfect. I’ll hang it up at my house.”

“On your fridge-er-rator,” she said. Stumbling over the pronunciation didn’t detract from the authority in her tone. “I used to make pictures for Mommy, and that’s where she always put them. I wish she could be here.”