Buch lesen: «The Baby Gift»

CHAPTER ONE

Seven days before Christmas…

SHE came to him again, all silk and sweetness and heady feminine perfume. There was a uniqueness to her that he instantly recognized, even in his dreams. It was as though they both sang the same song, their voices perfectly pitched to one another. He could hear his own laughter melding with hers, just as their bodies had melded throughout their long nights together. And then she whispered something to him as she danced through drifts of powder-soft snow, something he strained to hear. But the words escaped into the frigid night air before he could catch them. He swung her in his arms before she escaped, too, and the scene changed.

They were no longer outside in the snowy coldness, but in the bedroom they’d shared for eighteen short months. He dropped her to the bed, her long cornsilk hair splaying across the pillow in streams of vibrant red. She said something to him again, but he still couldn’t hear. She smiled in gentle understanding, a smile he’d never before seen on his wife’s lush mouth. He approached, drawn by the warmth of her regard and the sweet promise in her hazel eyes.

He was helpless to resist. He wanted her. Needed her.

Took her.

The harsh bark of an ax biting wood joined with the relentless shriek of the snow-laden wind. Alessandro paused in his exertions long enough to slant a quick upward glance toward the roiling sky. It wouldn’t be long before snow began to fall in earnest. Already fat flakes drifted earthward. He shifted restlessly, plagued by the remnants of what had become an ongoing dream. Or perhaps he should call it a nightmare. It came closer to describing the choked, desperate sensations each incident stirred. Worse, he couldn’t seem to escape them. His grip tightened on the ax handle and he swore beneath his breath.

Why now? It had been two full years, dammit. Why after all this time had memories of Rhonda returned to haunt him? Sweat dripped into his eyes, despite the piercing rawness of the wind, and he shook his hair back from his brow, regarding the felled tree he’d been chopping with renewed determination. With luck, he could drive out the demons haunting him with some plain, old-fashioned manual labor. At least, that’s what he’d been telling himself for the past hour. Muscles straining, he returned to his task, falling into an easy rhythm of forceful strokes.

“Excuse me.”

It took two more blows before the quietly insistent words sank in. Driving the blade into the tree trunk, he turned. A woman stood nearby, watching him. She carried a bundle of quilts almost as large as she was. He suppressed a smile. Something about her—perhaps her snow-flecked silver-blond hair, or the huge powder-blue eyes, or the triangular, pixieish shape of her face—inspired an irresistible smile. He ruthlessly suppressed it, snagging his flannel shirt from the low-hanging branch of a nearby cedar.

“Can I help you?” he asked, thrusting his arms into the sleeves. “Are you lost?”

She waited, her gaze glittering with some strange emotion. What the hell was she staring at? “My car broke down,” she finally said, her voice lightly flavored with the honeyed lilt of the South. He’d heard that accent before and it didn’t bring back pleasant images. Was he never to escape the memory of Rhonda?

“I have a phone inside.”

Still she waited, her expression revealing an odd combination of hope and resignation. “I’m not from around here,” she offered hesitantly. “Maybe you noticed?”

He buttoned his shirt, studying her with an intensity equal to her own. “Yeah, the accent sort of gave you away.”

Releasing her breath in a whisper-soft sigh she approached, coming to a halt a scant foot away. “Please—”

Shifting the pile of quilts she held, she fixed her eyes on him. They were startling blue eyes, filled with unicorns and Santa Claus and impossible dreams. He instinctively took a step backward. He didn’t deal well with dreamers, not when he remained so steeped in reality. At his actions, the sweet illusions slipped from her eyes, leaving behind a soul-deep weariness. For the first time, he noticed the lavender crescents beneath each lower lid and the pale tautness of flesh over bone marking her exhaustion.

“I meant…” She took an instant to collect herself. Switching gears, Alessandro thought. This wasn’t the conversation she’d planned to have with him. He couldn’t begin to guess how he read her so easily. But there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that what she’d intended to say was far different from what he’d now hear. “I was hopin’ you’d know who to call. About my car.”

Finished with the buttons lining his shirt, he stuffed the tails into his jeans. “There aren’t many choices. You passed a small town in the valley before coming up here. They have a garage or two. With a storm moving in, you’ll want to get off the mountain as soon as you can.”

She closed her eyes for a split second, her lashes dusted with thick wet flakes. They clung for the briefest of moments before melting into diamond droplets. He frowned at the sight. They looked uncomfortably like shimmering tears. Great. A crying elf. Just what he needed for Christmas.

“You’re right,” she murmured at last. The snow came down harder, coating her and the bundle she carried in pristine white. “There is a storm moving in. Best I deal with it sooner rather than later.”

“We’d better get inside. Come with me.”

He opened the back door and stomped his feet to remove the mud and slush that clung to his boots. She followed his example, her stomping taking the form of a more delicate tapping on the throw rug. It was probably just as well since her shoes wouldn’t hold up to a serious pounding. They must be comfortable. He sure couldn’t think of any other reason she’d continue to wear hole-laden bits of leather that should have graced a trash can months ago.

He led the way through the kitchen and into a large two-story living area. A fire crackled in the hearth lending a cheerful warmth to the setting. She hesitated just inside the doorway before approaching the fireplace. Carefully, she set her bundle on the floor and crouched protectively next to it, holding her hands out to the flames.

“This is nice,” she murmured.

Without the quilts concealing her, he saw that she was slighter than he’d thought. In fact, she looked half-starved. Her denim coat had been repaired so many times, it was a wonder there was enough material left to hold it together. It also appeared to be about three sizes too large, the cuffs falling back to expose delicate wrists and long, capable fingers.

“Your coat doesn’t offer much warmth for the sort of weather we’re having,” he found himself saying. To his surprise, a hint of concern threaded his words.

“North Carolina wasn’t this cold when I left. Although I suspect it is by now.” She slanted him a quick glance, as if assessing his reaction to the casually offered information. “It took me a while to get here.”

His eyes narrowed. “What part of North Carolina?”

“Asheville.”

She pronounced it Ash-vul. He thought he’d recognized her accent. This only confirmed it. She came from the same region of the country as his ex-wife, though any similarities ended there. Rhonda had retained the accent while ridding herself of all traces of her mountain heritage. Her tastes ran toward the more sophisticated pleasures, rather than the traditional. He couldn’t say the same about the woman before him. He suspected she embodied the traditional, that it was steeped into her very bones.

He frowned, something about her comments rousing the analytical part of his personality. Something about the weather in the mountains…. “I’ve made the drive from North Carolina before,” he offered. “Depending on which route you take and how many hours you’re willing to drive each day, you can make it in as few as four days. I’d have thought you’d have seen snow in the mountains by now.”

“Not drivin’ poor little Babe. I’ve been on the road for nigh on a month.”

“Babe?”

“My car.” She flashed him a quick grin. “It seemed appropriate seein’ as she’s a shade on the pink side.”

“Pink.”

Her grin widened. It was full and generous and came with an infectious ease that suggested she smiled often, though he had the feeling she hadn’t found occasion to smile much recently. It also gave her a mischievous appearance that sat at odds with the nervous tension he sensed lying just beneath the surface.

“Yeah, pink. Cartoon-pig pink, to be exact. I have to confess, it does rouse comment.”

“I don’t wonder,” he muttered. “Your car is in such bad shape it took you a month to get here?”

“Pitiful, isn’t it? Though it wasn’t just the car.” She broke off and turned her head to study the flames crackling cheerfully in the hearth. “There were other considerations.”

Financial, he read between the lines. That explained the shoes and threadbare coat. “Worked your way across, did you?”

“It got me here,” she acknowledged.

“Here?”

She froze. Slowly her hands dropped to her lap and she snatched a quick, shallow breath. “To California,” she managed to say.

He didn’t know why he felt the need to press the issue, since it wasn’t any of his business. “To this part of California?”

“San Francisco, to be exact.”

She responded readily enough, which sat at odds with her tension. He’d half expected her to refuse to answer. People with secrets weren’t often this forth-coming, and his little elf was chock-full of secrets. There wasn’t a single doubt about that. “This isn’t the best route between Asheville and San Francisco. In fact, I’d say this was quite a way off the beaten path.”

She bowed her head. “It’s where my road led. I just followed.”

“Very cryptic.” Time to bring an end to this nonsense and get her off his mountain and on her way. “Why don’t I find out about arranging for a tow before the weather deteriorates any further. I assume you’ll also want to stay at a nearby motel while you’re car’s being repaired?”

Exhaustion exploded in her face again, along with a painful helplessness. “Yes, please.”

“Is something wrong?” he felt compelled to ask. His mouth tightened at the inadvertent question. Apparently the Salvatore code of behavior hadn’t been eradicated, even after thirty-five years of hard living. He still had trouble resisting a damsel in distress, despite having learned that women were rarely in true distress and frequently expected more than a simple assist. Maybe that was why he’d been so attracted to Rhonda. For all her flaws, she’d been as independent as they came. Still… He sighed, following the dictates his father, Dom, had done his damnedest to instill from the cradle. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Her frantic gaze fastened on him, urged him to say something—do something. But what she expected of him, he couldn’t begin to guess. “Don’t you know?” she whispered.

Aw, hell. “I’m a man, sweetheart. You have to tell me what you want.” He offered a teasing grin. “Try simple, single-syllable words in short, concise sentences. That tends to work best with me.”

She hesitated, her desperation plain to see. Finally, she shook her head, her lashes dipping to conceal the flash of pain that burned in her expression. “No, thanks. The tow truck is enough for now.”

For now, huh? Why didn’t that surprise him? Without another word, he turned and crossed the room to his study. It only took a minute to place the call and secure a promise that the tow truck would pick up “Babe” within the next two hours. Alessandro checked outside. Taking note of the gathering gloom, he grimaced. It was only one in the afternoon and yet it already looked like sundown. If that truck didn’t make an appearance within the next thirty minutes, it wouldn’t be coming at all. Already the woman’s car was blanketed by a couple inches of brittle, icy snow, not a hint of pink showing through the glaze of white.

He glanced through the study door toward the living room. His guest hadn’t moved from her position in front of the fireplace. The reddish glow from the embers licked across her delicate profile, highlighting the small, straight nose, sweeping arch of her cheekbones and gently rounded chin. The paleness of her hair also reflected the firelight, changing the silvery color to a fiery rose. The short cap of silky strands feathered about her head in attractive disarray, making her look more elfin than ever. If it weren’t for the small frown drawing her brows together, the aura of Christmas-like enchantment would have been complete. At a guess, her thoughts weren’t pleasant ones.

He deliberately turned his back on her before he was tempted to try and take complete charge. Whatever problems plagued her weren’t any of his business. Checking the phone book, he placed the second call, determined to find her a place to stay for the night. Unfortunately, the two small motels in town were full, as was the ski lodge perched on the next mountain over. Apparently the promised storm had brought in the skiers and snowboarders from the coast. That didn’t leave him many options. If he couldn’t get his visitor’s car out of his driveway or find a place for her to wait out the storm, she wouldn’t be going anyplace anytime soon.

Damn. He rubbed the furrow creasing his forehead. This wasn’t how he’d planned to spend the next few days. He craved solitude. Time to think. Time to plan. Time to gather himself for action. Apparently the fates had conspired to make sure he didn’t get the time he needed.

Giving in to the inevitable, he crossed the room to join her. For some reason, she drew him, rousing protective instincts that had him crouching beside her in a solicitous manner. “Lou said he’d be here within the next couple hours to pick up your car. So, you might as well take off your coat and make yourself comfortable.”

He was close enough to see the rapid give-and-take of her breath and the slight flush that crept across her cheekbones. Was he responsible for that? Perhaps he made her nervous. It wouldn’t surprise him. As the tallest and broadest of all the Salvatore boys, he’d long been considered the most intimidating of the lot. And yet, if she found him intimidating, she’d have edged away.

Instead, she swayed closer, the softening of body and gaze betraying an underlying attraction. Was she even aware of her actions? It was as though she felt at ease with him, comfortable in his presence. He’d never had a woman react that way to him in such a short time. He found it had a powerful effect, one he neither anticipated nor wanted. A brief holiday affair wasn’t what he’d planned for the next week or so. There were other matters on his mind.

With an economy of motion, he helped her out of her coat and tossed it toward the couch. She wore a man’s plaid flannel shirt beneath, the cotton washed into baby-soft pliancy. It clung to her breasts and hips, looking more feminine than he thought it possible for flannel to look.

“So why are you up here all on your lonesome instead of sharin’ the holidays with your family?” she asked.

For a moment, he could only stare. How did she know about his family? “Come again?”

She jumped to her feet and plucked a photo from off the mantel, her movements filled with a vitality he suspected to be more characteristic than her earlier stillness. The picture was a recent one showing his beaming father surrounded by Alessandro, his five brothers, their various wives, his six-and-a-half-year-old niece and a healthy smattering of nephews. “This is your family, isn’t it?”

He relaxed slightly, nodding in acknowledgment. “Good guess.”

She stared at the photo with an acute longing almost painful to witness. “If I had a family this impressive, I’d rather spend Christmas with them, not all by my lonesome.”

“Who says I won’t be spending it with my family?”

“Instinct.” She glanced around the comfortable living room and at the personal belongings that had somehow worked their way out of his suitcases and were scattered about. “You look to be dug in for the winter.”

“Feminine instinct tells you all that, huh?”

“Well… Maybe a bit more than instinct,” she confessed.

More than feminine instinct? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what that might be or what it might indicate. It threatened to build a connection between them he had no intention of encouraging. Even with that decision firmly in mind, he found himself responding. “You’re right,” he conceded. “This isn’t my favorite time of year. I prefer to go through it alone, instead of inflicting myself on my family.”

“Now that’s a shame.”

“They don’t mind.”

“I’m not so sure. Your poppa appears to be a loving man. I’ll bet he isn’t too happy about your decision.” She smiled down at the portrait. “I’m surprised he hasn’t told you as much. I’m guessin’ he’s the sort who doesn’t put up with any nonsense from his sons.”

She’d read a lot into a simple photo. The fact that most of what she’d said also happened to be true only made Alessandro all the more wary. “What I choose to do isn’t his concern.”

She laughed, shooting him a knowing look. “Of course it’s his concern. That’s what being part of a family is all about.”

He preferred not to talk about himself, despite her determination to do just that. “Is that how it is with your family?” he asked. Maybe the question would help turn the tables.

“Once upon a time it was. Not anymore.”

“Why not?”

“I only had a sister and she passed on two months ago.” She traced each member of the Salvatore clan with a blunt fingernail. “I… I still can’t hardly believe she’s gone.”

Aw, hell! “I’m sorry.” He squeezed her shoulder in gentle understanding. Once again, she leaned into his grasp, rather than pulling away from what most would regard as a stranger’s touch. A warmth stirred between them that had little to do with the heat blazing from the fireplace. It was a visceral reaction, one he couldn’t have governed even if he’d wanted to. Something about her drew him, held him, bound him. He couldn’t recall ever having such an intense and instantaneous connection with a woman before. Not even with Rhonda. “You must find this time of the year even more difficult to handle than I do.”

She inclined her head, layered strands of silvery-blond fluttering at her temples and across her brow. An image flashed through his mind, an image of his hands thrusting deep into the silken depths at the nape of her neck and feeling the soft caress of her hair rippling through his fingers, teasing the length of his jaw, feathering a tortuous path across his chest. He inhaled sharply and released her. Where the hell had that come from? Dredging up an ounce of common sense, he stepped away from more temptation than he could handle.

She took his abandonment with good grace. “I guess losing my sister makes me a mite sensitive about family.”

“Understandable.”

She returned the photo to the mantel with notable reluctance. Staring at the Salvatore clan for another moment, she set her chin at a determined angle and swiveled to face him. “Now, don’t let my sad news get you down,” she ordered briskly. “That wasn’t my intent. I just wanted to point out that family isn’t something you should take for granted. That’s all.”

“As I said… They understand.”

She gave a decisive nod. “I don’t doubt it for a minute. All the more reason to turn to them in your time of need.”

“My time of need?” Presumptuous little sprite. He was determined to bring her up short. “You may consider yourself qualified to lecture me about family, but I suggest you mind your own business. At a guess, you have more than your fair share of problems to deal with right now without worrying about mine.”

She brushed the verbal slap aside as though it were no more than a gentle reprimand. “And I’ll be dealin’ with them soon enough. But you’re a man with a family the size of a couple of football teams,” she persisted. “A man, moreover, who chooses to be all on his own at Christmas. That means you’re needy. And when a body’s needy there’s no better help than one’s family. Mark my words. If they knew you were heartsick, they’d be up here in a flash, every last one of them.”

Fury ripped through him. “First off, I’m not heartsick. Nor am I needy. What I am is a man who wants you to get the hell—”

She’d fixed those light blue eyes on him again and he found the words jamming in his throat before they could be spoken. He swore beneath his breath, using a flavorful range of Italian expletives. For some reason—maybe because they were the first he’d learned as an impressionable ten-year-old—they came more easily to mind. He gritted his teeth. The motels were full, he reminded himself. The weather was doing its level best to work itself into a full-fledged blizzard. And the woman blinking innocently up at him would be stuck as his guest for at least a day, if not two or three.

“What I am is a man in desperate need of a cup of coffee.” His voice had assumed the Italian under-tones it often acquired whenever he found himself in stressful situations. He could only hope she didn’t hear it, or if she did, didn’t understand the significance as clearly as his brothers would have. “Would you like one while you wait?”

If she guessed what he’d originally planned to say, she didn’t let on. “I’d appreciate that.” She swiped her hands across the seat of her jeans with an energetic slap. “Would you like me to fix it for you?”

“Now why would I want that?”

The softness of his voice gave her pause, but she shrugged it off with a smile. “Call it Southern hospitality.”

“My home, my hospitality. I’ll take care of it.”

“Sure you don’t need my help?”

There was something odd about this entire situation. Something about her that felt out of kilter. Nothing about her—from the abruptness of her arrival, to her strange reaction to him, to her meddlesome questions—made a bit of sense. Maybe once he’d reignited his brain cells with some caffeine he’d figure it out. Or better still, maybe he’d ask a few of the questions he should have when she’d first turned up on his doorstep.

“Why don’t you enjoy the fire while I fix us both a cup,” he suggested. “How do you take it?”

Her smile faded at his question, the vitality seeping from her. Now what had he said to prompt that reaction? She crossed to the couch and curled up at one end. “It’s a reasonable question,” she murmured, more to herself than to him. “I take it white, thank you kindly. And having something of a sweet tooth, I wouldn’t object if you tossed in a lump or two of sugar.”

“Coming right up.”

It didn’t take long for him to brew a fresh pot of coffee. He used the opportunity to compose a long list of questions. Topping the list would be her name. He couldn’t believe they hadn’t introduced themselves. So much for hospitality, Southern or otherwise. Filling two oversize mugs with a helping of the extra-strong brew, he returned to the living room.

“Here you go, Miss…?”

He stood at the end of the couch, holding the two mugs of steaming hot coffee and frowned in disbelief. His visitor had fallen sound asleep. Incredible. This had to be the most bizarre day he’d experienced in a long time. He set the mugs on the coffee table and took a seat in a large wing chair near the fire. Dropping his feet on the ottoman, he stared broodingly at the woman.

What on earth was he to do with her? Even if Lou came for her car, there wasn’t anyplace for her to spend the night other than here. He glanced at the pile of quilts she’d deposited so carefully on his floor. She couldn’t have driven clear across the country with nothing more than the clothes on her back and a bunch of handmade quilts. He supposed he should check to see if she had any luggage in Babe’s trunk and bring it in. Once he had her unloaded, the matter of where she’d spend the night would be resolved and out of her hands by the time she awoke. No discussion, no argument. Then he could ask a few of those questions nagging at him.

As though in response to his intense regard, the quilts on the floor shifted. Before Alessandro could do more than bolt upright in his chair, a child dug out from under the colorful mountain. He sat for a moment, staring at the unfamiliar surroundings.

“What the…?”

At the sound of Alessandro’s voice, the child’s inky-dark gaze fastened briefly on him before shifting to the woman. Instantly, he broke into a wide grin that revealed eight serrated nubs, four teeth centered on the bottom and four on top. He didn’t call for his mother the way Alessandro’s niece and nephews had often done in similar circumstances, but crawled free of his temporary bed. Unsteadily gaining his feet, he made a determined beeline for his mother.

Alessandro caught the boy before he reached his goal. If ever a woman needed her sleep, this one did. He half expected a tearful response. But the boy didn’t utter a sound. With an expression of utter trust, he allowed Alessandro to return to the chair and promptly made himself comfortable by curling up against the broad chest supporting him and pointing his diapered bottom skyward. Popping a thumb in his mouth, the boy closed his eyes and returned to sleep.

Alessandro released his breath in a half laugh, half groan. Definitely an interesting day. Who’d have thought the elf had come toting a baby. No wonder she’d looked so exhausted. Working her way across country with an infant in tow couldn’t have been simple or easy. Aware that he’d be stuck in the chair for a while, he stretched out a hand toward his coffee mug. Unfortunately, he couldn’t reach it without getting up. He didn’t dare risk that.