Thanksgiving Groom (13 page)

“Maybe.” She looked away because it hurt too much. Her heart hurt.

“I won't get in your way.” He smiled and then winked. “I'll even go stand in a corner by myself if you want.”

Did she want him gone? Did she want to feel that cold again, the cold she'd felt the other day when he walked away after kissing her? She didn't think so. She wanted to feel warm and safe.

He was anything but safe.

“You can stay.”

“Thank you.” He moved a little closer to her side. “I saw you drive by today.”

“I was looking at a house that I might buy.”

“You're thinking of staying here?”

“I know that's hard for you to imagine. I saw you packing and I know you can't wait to get back to your life and career. But I love it here. I love that life is slower paced and people know one another.”

“They know each other in the city.”

“I know, but it isn't that. It's…it's just that this is the type of place I've always wanted to be from.”

“It's a fantasy, Penelope. This isn't a perfect place with perfect people.”

“I'm aware of that. I know life won't be perfect here. But when it isn't perfect, I'll have friends who actually care enough to listen to me, or to give me advice.”

“Not many of those people in your life back in Anchorage?”

“Not really.”

“Yeah, I guess you have a point. People here care enough to get involved. You'll fit in. You like to involve yourself in other people's lives.”

She looked up, unsure of what to say to that comment.

“I mean that in a good way,” he explained. “I called Anna's parents. I needed to tell them how sorry I am.”

“How did they take it?”

He glanced away, but not before she saw the raw pain in his eyes. “They didn't blame me as much as I blamed myself.”

“I'm glad you called them.”

He only nodded. Someone started to play the piano. Penelope glanced that way. It was time for her to sing.

“Are you going to sing?”

Tucker shook his head. “Not me, but thanks for asking. You go ahead. I'll be here when you get done. I'll walk you back to your lodging.”

“I don't need a bodyguard.”

He touched her cheek, surprising her. “I'm a friend, not a bodyguard.”

She nodded and hurried away. But she couldn't escape how it felt when Tucker touched her that way. She couldn't run from what she knew about herself and the way he would break her heart.

I
f he'd planned the last three weeks of his life, Tucker wouldn't have planned Penelope Lear. Last spring, when her dad contacted him, he'd made it clear she was the last thing he wanted. Herman Lear had laid it all out: the daughter who was putting herself in danger by taking off to parts unknown and telling her family she was on the beach at some exclusive resort; the need to have her in a secure relationship to keep her safe; and the idea that the man needed to be as strong-willed as Penelope.

Tucker had said a happy “no thanks.” Herman had asked him to travel to Anchorage for a few meetings, chance meetings with Penelope. Again, Tucker had declined. He hadn't wanted a socialite with more will than sense.

He shook his head as he watched her cross the room and take her place with the crowd that gathered to sing. She was more a part of Treasure Creek than a part of the other crowd of women who had showed up in town. She had managed to reinvent herself. Or maybe not.

Without thinking it through, he started across the
room, drawing closer to the choir. Maybe she hadn't reinvented herself, rather she'd found herself.

That didn't make him feel any better. It only complicated things. She was unexpected. She was a mystery. Man, she was under his skin. Jake had been right about that. She was under his skin to such a degree, he was actually talking to Gordon Baker about taking over his law office in Treasure Creek.

What kind of fool did that? Traded a six-figure income for something that would be comfortable, but little more?

The same kind of guy that was thinking about coming clean with Penelope Lear. She had a right to know that he'd been on the short list of potential husbands.

He didn't want to think about her reaction when he told her.

The choir started to sing. Jake motioned him forward. Right, they needed a bass. He shook his head. Jake nodded toward the group of people singing. That's when Penelope caught his eye. She smiled. That's all it took for him to lose it.

The women parted, leaving a space next to Penelope. He stepped onto the stage and slid in next to her. He refused to look at Jake.
Some friend.

The woman on his right pushed a little, edging him closer to Penelope. Voices rose together, but definitely not in unison. “Silent Night”? He wished. If he blocked it out, he was sure he heard dogs howling in the distance. It sounded more like a round—like “Row, Row the Boat.”

Someone wasn't even singing the right words. He glanced to the left and made eye contact with Harry
Peters, who happened to be standing next to the offending soprano—Joleen. Or that's what he thought her name was. Eyes closed, she tilted her head up and belted out the lyrics that didn't match anything he'd ever heard. Harry was grinning.

“Be nice.” Penelope leaned toward him and whispered.

“I'm good.” He cleared his throat and joined the choir.

Penelope was laughing just a little. With her eyes closed, she looked perfectly innocent. He wanted to hug her tight.

For some reason, the choir shifted from “Silent Night” to “Amazing Grace.” It was a modern version that he'd never heard and he didn't know the words. Neither did Joleen, but this time she stopped singing. He appreciated that she knew when to let it go.

He glanced her way and Joleen was staring at the star on the opposite side of the room. She raised her hand to brush at her cheeks. People had a lot more layers than he'd ever given them credit for.

The song continued with the words “my chains are gone.” Tucker took a deep breath and couldn't stop himself from looking down at his hands. Chains. They'd been wrapped around his heart for a lot of years, tying him to the past, to his mother's walking away, to lost faith.

“I have to go,” he whispered in Penelope's ear and then he moved back, moved away from the group and away from the words of that song.

“Tucker?” She reached for his hand and he shook his head. “Can I help?”

He shook his head but he didn't turn to look back at her. Her eyes would be wet with tears. She'd have that look on her face, like he was some lost animal she needed to rescue from a shelter. He didn't need that.

He didn't need Jake to follow him, or the pastor of the church. He left the building as Amy discussed the Christmas pageant and how life had changed for all of them in the last year. But God's love was unchanging.

For the first time he was really thankful for the cold air that hit full force as he walked across the street to his parked car. The streets were empty. Everyone was inside practicing for the pageant, or at home where a sane person should be.

Someone rounded the corner of the B and B.

Tucker walked in that direction, because who in their right mind would be walking around at this time of night and in this cold? Someone like him, who'd had enough of Christmas in November, enough of the hopeful optimism that clung to this town like the icicles that hung from the buildings.

But a man lurking behind a building didn't seem like the normal MO of a person trying to escape Christmas cheer.

Jake had called today to tell him more about this map situation. People were getting a little crazed. If it wasn't women looking for single men, it was single men looking for hidden treasure.

Maybe all of these people should head back to wherever they came from and try finding some reality. He might just take his own advice. He would take it, as soon as things were settled. As soon as the song the choir
had been singing stopped going through his mind in a continuous loop.

The man he'd seen came around the far corner of the B and B and headed down the street. Tucker jumped in his car and followed. By the time he got down the side street, the guy was gone.

He told himself it had been nothing. He told himself that it had nothing to do with Penelope. That was probably the case, but the memory of unexplained footprints in the snow was a hard thing to forget.

It was hard to forget, or pretend, that it had nothing to do with Penelope Lear.

 

Practice ended with a loud version of “Joy to the World.” Penelope headed for the coat rack by the back door. She didn't make it. Joleen headed her off at the pass, her smile big.

“Where'd that gorgeous lawyer go?”

Penelope moved past the other woman and reached for her coat. “I don't really know.”

“Are you going to let him get away?”

“I'm not going to chase after him.” She was immediately sorry for the hasty words. Joleen bit down on her bottom lip and looked back to the spot where Harry Peters was taking to Amy.

He glanced their way and turned a little red.

“I'm scaring the daylights out of that man.”

Penelope hugged her new friend. “Maybe a little. I'm new to this faith business, Joleen, but I really believe God has a plan, and I think you don't have to push so hard. Maybe just be Harry's friend.”

Delilah approached cautiously, stopping a short
distance away from them. “I was going to get a cup of coffee at the diner.”

Penelope nudged Joleen. “I'm going to my room. I bet Joleen would love a cup of coffee.”

Delilah sighed a little. “Joleen?”

“I'd love coffee.”

Penelope nearly clapped. That was one problem solved. And if Joleen settled down and backed off, maybe she'd have a chance with Harry. The two women talked as they put on coats and boots.

Penelope walked away. Coffee didn't even sound good. Figuring out Tucker Lawson, that's what she really wanted to do.

As much as she wanted to put him in a suit and tie and send him back where she thought he belonged, there was something about him, something sweet and endearing. She sighed and walked out the door.

A truck pulled in front of her before she could cross the street. She jumped back a little, chiding herself for her rapidly beating heart. Between her dad and Tucker, she was jumping at every shadow.

The window of the truck rolled down. Tucker leaned out. “Get in and I'll give you a ride.”

“It's a two-minute walk.”

“I know, and it's a walk I don't think you should take tonight.”

She wanted to walk, she wanted to clear her mind, she wanted to pray. She wanted to find peace, because it was just five weeks from Christmas, and this Christmas would be different for her. This year she would face it as a believer, someone with a vested interest in the life
of the baby born in that manger. That baby had a vested interest in her life.

“Penelope, I know you love to argue, but if you could just get in the truck and argue later.”

“Fine.” She walked around the front of the truck and climbed onto the passenger seat. Tucker shifted into first gear and pulled away from the building just as Amy James walked out with Reed Truscott. Interesting.

Penelope glanced back, wondering if maybe there could be something between the two. But wouldn't that be almost the same as an arranged marriage? The type of marriage her own father wanted for her? Amy should find someone she loved, in her own time and in her own way. She shouldn't marry too quickly because it was what her husband asked her to do.

Reed was handsome and obviously cared about her. That didn't make him the right choice.

“Sudden interest in Amy and Reed?” Tucker slowed near the B and B but he didn't stop.

“Where are we going?”

“For a little drive. I will take you home, but I wanted a few minutes to talk, without someone walking up to us, asking questions or giving us that look, as if we're the next couple to fall.”

“That obviously isn't going to happen.” She didn't think it would happen. But her heart fluttered a little at the thought of it, at what it would feel like to be loved by a man who was strong, intelligent and someone different than anyone she'd ever known.

“No, that probably isn't going to happen,” Tucker echoed, his voice soft.

He parked off a side street, and from that distance
the town looked like a miniature Christmas village. She wanted to box it up and take it home with her, along with all of the feelings of being a part of something wonderful. She wanted to keep this in her heart forever.

“What's up?” She pulled off her gloves and unbuttoned the top button of her coat. The heater of the truck was blowing hard, and she didn't have a chilled bone in her body.

Tucker shrugged and she knew this moment would change everything. He was staring straight ahead, his profile handsome but unsmiling. She reached for his hand and waited, her breath held.

She imagined several things. She thought he might be about to tell her that he was going home, back to Seattle. She had expected that, so the words wouldn't take her by surprise. She'd expected him to leave sooner, really. Or maybe he would tell her that she should go back to Anchorage, back where she belonged. People did like to tell her what they thought was best for her.

He turned, his smile softened by the day's growth of sandy brown whiskers. He held her hand, raising it to kiss her palm. She didn't want him to stop there. She wanted to be held close, against a solid chest that made her feel safe and special.

Instead, he closed her fingers over the kiss and released her hand. Her heart froze and it was hard to breathe. Heat continued to blow against her face and the radio played softly, so quiet she couldn't make out the words.

“Penelope, you know that your dad is looking for a husband for you, and we need to talk about that.”

Never those words. She had never expected that from
him. She shivered in the warmth of the truck cab and crossed her arms in front of herself. Slowly she nodded, because she couldn't answer.

Humiliation seeped through her, heating her face, making her want to run, to not look at him. She wondered if her father knew how it felt to be her. Who in the world wanted to be known as the heiress who couldn't find someone to love her? The heiress who needed her father to find her a suitable match?

“Penelope, I was one of the men.”

Not that.
He could tell her that he was leaving and that he'd probably never see her again…
anything but that.
Her heart cracked a little and all warmth seeped out of her, leaving her fingers frozen and trembling. Tears stung her eyes and she blinked to keep them from falling.

“So this isn't friendship, this is courting, Herman Lear style?” She meant to add acid to her tone, instead she sounded young and pathetic.

“No.” The one word was loud in the silent cab of the truck. “No, this isn't about your dad. That's why I'm telling you this. I think we're friends and I wanted you to know the truth, in case your dad said something or tried to imply something else.”

“Right.” She reached for the truck handle. “I think I'll go now.”

“Don't. I'll drive you to the B and B.”

“I'd rather you didn't. I'd like to go sulk by myself, alone, with no one to see my humiliation.”

“You shouldn't be humiliated.”

She laughed at that. “Of course not. At least he was careful in picking men a lot like himself. After all, a
Lear needs a strong, wealthy man who knows how to handle his career and his women.”

“That isn't fair. I did say no.”

“That makes it much better, the fact that you rejected me before you ever met me. Now I'm just swimming in self-confidence.”

“Don't…”

“No, don't say anything. You have no idea how humiliating this is.”

He reached for her hand.

She shook her head. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, hot against cool flesh. She jumped out of the truck, slamming the door behind her and wishing she could have slammed it hard enough for everyone to hear her frustration and anger. Hard enough for her father to hear.

Frozen, she worked the top buttons of her coat with trembling fingers as tears blurred her vision and she fought to blink them away. The truck she'd escaped from followed her, the headlights beating a path on the ice as tires crunched in the snow. She glanced back but kept walking.