Chapter 9
Nine
Chris was exhausted, wiped. He could barely keep his eyes open. But he couldn’t deny he still wanted to see Jane, despite the fact he’d gotten minimal sleep the last couple of nights.
He’d gone back to the station to drop off the engine Friday only to find Eric sick as a dog, hovering over the toilet. Some sort of nasty stomach bug had his second-in-command fevered and glassy-eyed, so Chris had immediately sent him home and taken over.
The weekend had been busy. Icy roads brought car accidents, both minor and major, and it didn’t help that there was extra holiday traffic.
Get-togethers brought arguments and chaos, which usually resulted in more medical aid calls.
He’d gone on quite a few, been first on scene before the ambulance arrived.
One of them had involved Audrey Daniels and her ex. From the looks of it, Audrey and Rich had gotten into a knock-down, drag-’em-out fight. Both of them showed signs of abuse and the police had called for medical assistance.
Rich had a bloody nose and a black eye. Apparently Audrey knew how to pack a punch—which surprised him.
This had been a woman who’d seriously pursued him last summer, despite the fact she was married.
She’d shot him a look last night that he supposed she thought sultry, but it didn’t quite meet the mark, considering she had a bloody and swollen lip.
Family drama. It always quietly freaked him out. His parents had fought like cats and dogs when he was a kid. Though his father had never raised a hand toward his mom, the yelling and screaming had been ferocious, especially near the end of their marriage.
Yet another reminder that despite everything, love didn’t usually work. People couldn’t keep it together. Making it worse, he’d caught the stomach bug he sent Eric home for last night.
Tired, slightly dehydrated, and lying in bed, he thought of Jane.
Her marriage looked and sounded ideal, and still it ended in tragedy.
There were no guarantees in life. He knew this.
So why let your heart get involved only to have it smashed to bits?
That had always been his theory, and he’d held fast to it his entire adult life.
He still didn’t understand why he was so willing to let that go when it came to Jane. She should scare the hell out of him.
The thought of never seeing her again scared the hell out of him even more.
Now with a grudging heart and a weak and achy body, he’d gone to Jane’s house to pick up her and the kids. Questions had run through his mind repeatedly. Why are you doing this? What are you gaining? Her daughter hates you, Jane only wants to be friends, so why all the torture?
But then Jane had opened the door, pretty and fresh in jeans and a bulky, soft pink hooded sweatshirt. Her dark hair a smooth curve that framed her face, her smile bright, the children gathered at her feet.
Well, the two youngest were. Lexi was nowhere in sight.
“Hey. Are you ready to go?” He tried to keep the weariness out of his voice but knew he wasn’t successful by the look of concern on her face.
“The kids have been ready since last night.” She smiled and it sent an arrow straight to his heart. “So have I. But are you? You don’t look so good.”
Chris shrugged. At least he wasn’t puking any longer. “I covered for Eric and worked the last thirty-six hours. He got sick.” No need to mention he did, too. She’d send him home for sure. “We were pretty busy.”
Her delicate brows drew down. She looked disappointed—and was that concern he detected? “Should we get together some other time? Since you’re not feeling well?”
“Nah, I’m good. I’ll be all right. I don’t want to let the kids down. Or you. ” He tried to smile but even his face felt tired. His bones were weary, his head hurt—and he rarely got headaches.
But a promise was a promise and he didn’t want to let this little family down.
“You’re so sweet.” Her gaze softened. “Better watch out or I might take advantage of you.”
Well, wasn’t that comment loaded with all sorts of potential? He stood straighter, told himself to snap out of his funk. He had a flirtatious Jane on his hands and he needed to be on his game.
“So where’s Lexi?”
Her green eyes went a shade darker and she cleared her throat. “She’s still at my parents’ house. She didn’t want to leave her cousins.”
“Oh, okay.” He remembered how she reacted at the spaghetti feed. Lexi probably couldn’t tolerate the idea of spending any amount of time with him.
“They leave later this afternoon and she wanted to get in some last-minute playtime first,” Jane explained further.
“It’s cool.” He smiled at Logan and Sophia and earned shy smiles in return. “We’ll have a good time, right, guys?”
“Yeah!” they both shouted enthusiastically.
Chris helped Jane load up the kids in the backseat of his truck and then they were off, headed up the mountain to a grove he’d heard about from a coworker.
It was pretty common for most local residents to purchase a tree permit.
He’d gone ahead and bought his even though he didn’t plan on having a Christmas tree.
Really, what was the point? He worked long hours and spent most of his time off these days either outdoors, vegging on the couch, or in bed catching up on sleep.
Man, when had his social life taken such a dive?
“Look, snow!” Logan rapped his knuckles against the window.
“I wonder when we’ll get more snowfall,” Jane murmured as she stared out the passenger side window. “I love when it’s fresh during the holidays. Makes everything so cozy.”
He had a feeling she’d make him feel pretty damn cozy. “I think we’re getting snow pretty soon. Right now we’re only a few hundred feet above Lone Pine Lake, and that rain we had last night was pretty slushy.” Hence the sketchy road conditions. “Plenty of car accidents kept us busy last night.”
“Oh, that’s terrible.” Jane turned to look at him, concern in her eyes. “No wonder you’re so tired.”
“Yeah.” He didn’t feel like mentioning Audrey’s call. Or his illness. Damn, he hoped he wasn’t contagious. “People, especially out-of-towners, don’t know how to drive on the windy roads in bad weather.”
“Neither do locals sometimes.” She smiled. “I’d be slipping and sliding all over the place. I’m not used to driving in this kind of weather. It’s been too long, and I was still in my teens when I moved away from here.”
He returned the smile, tried his best to pay attention to exactly where he was going, looking for a full-enough grove where’d they have their pick of trees. He put the truck in four-wheel drive and the kids cheered and laughed with every bump he drove over. It made him smile.
Once he found a good spot, he parked and the kids spilled out, their little booted feet crunching and sinking over the new snow.
The rapidly moving clouds cast dark shadows upon the grove one second and then showcased the bright sun the next.
Another storm was coming in, and coming in fast. They needed to get moving and find a tree so they could beat the brunt of it.
Jane set about on her search, casting a critical eye at every tree she came upon. Chris watched with amusement at the serious way she wrapped her hand around a tree and shook it, or how she brushed her small hand over the branches, fingering the pine needles.
When she caught him watching, she smiled and shrugged. “I want it to be just right.”
“Like Goldilocks?” He tipped his head toward her.
She laughed softly. “I guess. Last year at this time I wasn’t…in the Christmas mood. This year I’m determined to make it special for the kids.”
“I would want to do the same.”
“My children have been through enough. Even though my family rallied around them and helped make the holidays fun last year, they were still suffering over the loss of their father. It wasn’t fair to them.”
“I’m sure you’ll make it awesome for them this year.” He took a step toward her. “You’re a good mom, Jane.” Grabbing her hand, he laced their fingers together. “So, what exactly are your big holiday plans?”
“Well.” She smiled, the joy clearly reflected in her eyes.
“Thanks to your invitation, this is just the start. I also want to take the kids caroling around the neighborhood, maybe go see The Nutcracker in Sacramento. Oh, we might go to that winter wonderland thing they have going on up at the ski lodge.”
“Sounds fun.”
“And corny, right? But yeah, it’ll be fun.” She shrugged, squeezing his hand. “Thank you again for taking us to get the tree. Logan and Sophia have been anxious about it ever since they woke up this morning.”
“Lexi wasn’t interested, though, huh?” Why did he keep picking at this wound? He needed to accept that the little girl didn’t like him.
“Lexi is still unhappy with me.” Jane shook her head. “I went over to my parents’ house yesterday and had a talk with her. Turns out her oldest cousin told her Santa doesn’t exist. She’s now accusing me of being a liar all these years.”
“Ah, man.” He could still remember clearly the moment he discovered Santa was no longer real. He figured every kid remembered that life-altering moment. He’d been eight—the same age as Lexi.
“I know. I read Patrick the riot act and he apologized, but really, I can’t blame him.
Madison’s almost nine so it’s understandable.
I just wish she hadn’t said anything.” Jane paused and her voice lowered.
“I think Lexi clung to the notion because she needed to believe, you know? It gave her hope, believing in Santa. She’s had to grow up so quickly in so many ways… ”
“Did you try to convince her otherwise?” Logan chose that moment to throw a snowball at the back of Chris’s knees and he groaned playfully when the damp blob hit him. Chris bent to scoop a handful and tossed it back at Logan, missing him on purpose.