Heaven Sent (35 page)

“
I don’t hate you.” Callie’s
cheeks bloomed with color, “I don’t hate you,” she repeated less
fiercely. “You annoy me sometimes, is all.”

She grimaced, and Aubrey watched with
interest as another battle waged itself within her. She was an
emotional woman, and not a little explosive. In which regard she
was as unlike Anne as she was in every other regard. He waited for
her emotional turmoil to settle.

At present they sat in his library. It
was a blustery Saturday afternoon in late November, and when he’d
looked out the window, he’d decided snow wasn’t far off.

Becky was upstairs taking a nap. She’d
come down with a bad cold two days prior and was happy to sleep the
day away. When he’d gone upstairs to kiss her before her nap,
Aubrey had noticed that Callie had lent her Monster to keep her
company during her nap. Incomprehensibly to Aubrey, the dashed cat
seemed to ease Becky’s uncomfortable cold symptoms.

Aubrey had thought about his Christmas
Eve party idea for at least a month before he decided it might
prove to be a worthwhile one. He and Callie had established a
comfortable rapport in the weeks following his rejected proposal.
The first few days had been prickly, but the fact was that the two
of them seemed actually to like each other. It was a big change
from the beginnings of their relationship. Aubrey figured they’d
overcome those initial misunderstandings through familiarity and
mutual respect. The notion pleased him.

It could not be denied, either, that
the longer he remained in the same house with Cathie, the more he
thought she’d make a good mother for Becky. And, although he
disliked himself for it, he itched to get his hands on her, too. He
tried to downplay that aspect of the situation, but it wouldn’t let
him.

He lusted for her. He desired her. A
day didn’t pass in which, at one time or another, he didn’t have
the urge to lift her in his arms and make away with her. He wanted
to strip her naked and taste every inch of her. He wanted to take
the pins from her hair and run his fingers through its silky mass.
He wanted to bury his sex in Callie’s hot, wet depths. He wanted to
ravish her for forty days and forty nights, until neither of them
could walk.

It was, he decided, a dashed good
thing he sat behind his desk, so Cathie couldn’t see the evidence
of his lust. She probably had no idea these thoughts crossed his
mind every time he looked at her. He sighed and waited some
more.

“
I beg your pardon,” Callie
said stiffly when she spoke at last. “I know it’s not my place to
be annoyed by my employer.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Can one help it
if one is annoyed by someone, employer or not?”

Her lips pressed together. “I suppose
not. But you know very well that I have a temper. I should try to
keep it better controlled,”

“
Wouldn’t hurt,” Aubrey
agreed, and was interested to see her color flare up again. He
smiled at her. “Face it, Callie, it’s not in your nature to take
things easily.”

“
I did not give you leave to
call me Callie, Mr. Lockhart!” she cried, as if that were the point
of the conversation.

“
I, however, gave you leave
to call me Aubrey, and I wish you would.”

She huffed. “Oh, very
well.”

“
Thank you, Callie.” He
smiled sweetly. It was odd, but he’d stopped taking her temper
amiss some few weeks before he’d proposed. When she’d first come to
his home in order to be Becky’s nanny, her plain speaking and
unrestrained moods had irked him. He now found them rather amusing.
Refreshing, even. Nobody ever had to guess about where he stood
with Callie Prophet.

“
However,” Callie went on,
“that doesn’t solve the problem of where you’re planning to come up
with a family for your family gathering. Do you have one? Besides
Becky, I mean.”

“
No, I don’t.”

She gave him a hard look. “I hope to
heaven you aren’t thinking of asking Mrs. Bridgewater.”

“
Good God, no!”

“
I’m glad of that, at all
odds.”

“
My—and Becky’s—lack of
family is why I asked you to meet with me this afternoon,
actually.”

“
Oh?”

“
You know more people in
Santa Angelica than we do. Do you know of any people who might
enjoy getting together with Becky on Christmas Eve? People who
don’t participate in large family gatherings of their own, I
mean?”

“
You mean stray people?”
Callie eyed him doubtfully. “Widows and orphans? People like
that?”

He frowned, taking exception her
choice of words. “I hadn’t thought of it in those terms exactly,
but I guess I did mean something like that.”

“
Well . . . Let me
think.”

He gestured, giving her leave. He had
his own ideas on the subject, but hoped she’d think of them before
he had to suggest them. She’d probably reject them out of hand if
he did.

It didn’t seem to be one of Callie’s
brighter days, however, and after he watched her brow furrow and
her eyes narrow, and he practically read her thoughts as they sped
through that agile brain of hers, she smiled briefly, then shook
her head.

“
I’m not having much luck,
Mr. . . . Aubrey.”

“
No?” Dash it, why was she
being dim today, of all days? “You can’t think of any people in
Santa Angelica who might like to have a family gathering here?” He
glanced around his library. “This is a big house. It could hold a
lot of people.”

She hesitated for a second. “Yes. Yes,
it could.”

Aubrey gazed at her for several more
seconds, then sighed. She wasn’t going to help him out with this.
It was up to him. He cleared his throat, steepled his fingers, and
positioned them under his chin, hoping he looked merely thoughtful
and not eager. “Urn, what about your own family, Callie? I
understand your parents are gone. Do you suppose your siblings and
their spouses and children might like to gather here, en masse, as
it were, to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve?”

Noting the expression of absolute
shock on her face, Aubrey hurried on. “I mean, if they have other
plans— That is to say, if they get together with others— I mean, I
wouldn’t want them to think I’m trying to encroach. It’s only that
Becky would . . . well, it would be a blessing, since she has no
other relations who— That is to say . . . ” He stopped trying to
concoct a coherent speech and sighed disconsolately. Dash it, he’d
made a perfect hash of it.

“
My family?” Callie’s voice
was very small, quite devoid of its usual robust inflections.
“But—” She swallowed. “Do you mean it?”

“
Dash it, of course, I mean
it!” Aubrey decided he ought to be insulted, so he bridled. “I’m
not in the habit of offering false coin, whatever you may think of
me.”

“
I know that. It’s just that
the idea is so—so—” She broke off abruptly. “Actually, I’d thought
about my family, too. We do like to get together on Christmas Eve,
but nobody’s house is really big enough for everyone, even though
we all squeeze in together. We usually go to George’s, since he
lives in the middle, and the children enjoy playing outdoors, and
he’s in the country. Sort of.”

“
Oh? Well, then, perhaps
this more commodious abode wouldn’t be frowned upon as an
alternative?” His anticipation was so potent, it was difficult to
keep it from leaking into his voice. Oh, but the Prophets would be
perfect for Becky! If any family on earth could provide Becky with
the support a family was supposed to provide, they
could.

Aubrey had noted before this that the
Prophets were a singularly close family. Every time Callie got time
off, she visited her family, often taking Becky with her. Becky
clearly enjoyed the visits and had become close with a couple of
Callie’s nieces and nephews. Aubrey thought the Prophets were a
good example of family-hood, if there was such a thing.

What’s more, all of the husbands and
wives therein seemed to blend right into the mix. Not unlike mixing
cement with straw in order to strengthen building blocks, newcomers
into the Prophet clan only seemed to intensify the family bond.
Aubrey thought Becky could use such a family, and he appreciated
their willingness to take her in. Adopt her into their fold, in a
way.

He told himself he didn’t
care for his own sake, but he was pretty sure he was lying. He
cleared his throat again. “Urn, do you think they would go for
it?”
Please say yes
.

Callie paused and then nodded,
although she didn’t look exactly positive when she did it. “I think
they would. In fact, they’d probably love it.” She gave him a saucy
smile. “It’s not every day the members of my family get to
participate in Christmas jollifications in mansions, you
know.”

“
This isn’t a mansion,”
Aubrey said gruffly. “Anne and I built this house on a large scale
because we had hoped to have a big family.”

He didn’t appreciate the expression of
sympathy that suddenly appeared on her face. If there was one thing
he didn’t need, he thought sourly, it was to be considered pitiable
by Miss Callida Prophet.

“
Yes, of course,” Callie
said. She rose. “Thank you very much, Mr. Lockhart.”

“
Aubrey,” he
grumbled.

Her smile nearly dazzled him.
“Aubrey.”

The way she said his name, sort of
caressingly and soft, had a remarkable effect on Aubrey’s already
unruly masculinity. It stiffened completely. Irritated by his own
lack of self-control, he tried to sound casual. “So you’ll take up
the matter with your sisters and brother?”

“
Yes, I will. Tomorrow,
while Becky’s at school.” A troubled look crossed her face. “If
she’s well enough to go to school. I suspect she won’t be. But I’m
sure Mrs. Granger won’t mind watching her for an hour or so while I
extend invitations.”

A little worried that his offer would
be taken amiss by the proud Prophet clan, Aubrey said, “Please tell
them I’d be grateful for their participation. I don’t want them to
think of this as a command performance. It’s only that since Anne’s
death . . .” Damnation, since Anne’s death, what? He feared he’d
almost said something stupid.

“
I understand,” Callie said
gently. “You felt lost and alone. It’s difficult to pick up the
pieces and carry on.”

Shocked that she should understand so
clearly, and express his feelings in such simple, straightforward
words, Aubrey nodded and murmured, “Yes. Yes, I guess
so.”

She sighed. “I remember how it was
when my parents died. It was awful. But at least I had siblings.”
She gave him another tender smile.

Aubrey resented that one; it was as if
she were pitying him, and he didn’t want her sympathy. What he
wanted from her was—was— What he wanted was that she agree to marry
him, is what.

Callie bade him good night and left
the library, and Aubrey decided it would be better not to think
about what he’d been about to admit he wanted from her.

After Callie left him, he brooded for
a few minutes, then went upstairs to Becky’s bedroom. She was
awake, but not feeling well, and he sat on her bed and petted her
with one hand and Monster with the other. He was touched by how
much his daughter appreciated the gesture of love on his
part.

“
Thank you for visiting me,
Papa.” Her throat hurt, her voice was hoarse, and she sounded
pathetic.

“
You don’t look like you’re
feeling very well, Becky,” he said gently.

“
I don’t, Papa. I feel
icky.”

He was alarmed to see her eyes fill
with tears. “Don’t cry, sweetheart. You’ll feel better
soon.”

“
Indeed, she will,” came
Callie’s voice, sounding efficient and cheerful at his back. He
turned and saw her standing in the doorway, holding a glass. “I
have some salicylic powders here, Becky, darling. They taste
terrible, but they’ll help you feel better. Mrs. Granger squeezed
some oranges and I stirred the powders into the juice, so they
won’t taste quite as bad as they usually do.”

Feeling unnecessary and in the way,
Aubrey rose from his daughter’s bed. “Right. When I was sick with
the influenza last year, I remember how much salicylic powders
helped me.”

Becky appeared doubtful. She was,
however, an obedient child, so she sat up resignedly. “I hate
them,” she said woefully as she wiped tears away.

Callie swooped down on her like a
ministering angel. “I know you do, lovie, but they really will help
you to feel better.”

Becky’s pretty mouth trembled, causing
Aubrey’s heart to spasm so fiercely, he decided he’d better exit
the room. It wouldn’t do Becky any good if her papa started
bawling.

Bending over and depositing a kiss on
her forehead, he muttered, “Get better soon,
sweetheart.”

“
Thank you, Papa.” She
sounded utterly wretched and pathetic, and Aubrey all but ran out
of the room.

He spent the rest of his day in an
unsettled mood. He read newspapers, went for a walk, contemplated
going for a ride, decided against it, and ate dinner alone. Callie
and Becky were dining upstairs in her bedroom since Becky was
feeling so rotten. That meant Becky wouldn’t be going to school
tomorrow and he hoped that wouldn’t cause Callie to delay extending
Christmas invitations to her family. He knew he oughtn’t to be as
impatient as the notion made him.