Winter's Embrace (12 page)

The door opened and
Winter
walked into the house. “I don’t understand why you are so mad.”

“I give you one job to do, watch Rachael, and you
weren’t watching her.” Stone hardened his heart. “My first concern is Rachael.”

“You know this isn’t about me being out on the porch.
You’re just mad that you haven’t gotten your way.”

Rachael charged down the stairs again and ran to him,
clearly having been eavesdropping. “Daddy, don’t yell. I want a mama for
Christmas. I thought
Winter
was going to be my mama.”

He caught her in his arms and stroked her back as she
cried. Soon, his shirt was soaked and disappointment filled him. He’d wanted
Winter
for Rachael’s mama, too. His heart raced so fast he
couldn’t think.

“The foreman’s house is just about done. You’ll be
able to move into it soon.”

Winter gasped, took a step toward him then turned
away.
“Fine.”

How had everything gotten derailed? He’d been walking
around like a wounded bull the last few days. Her long silences were killing
him. Why couldn’t she just forgive him and then they could get on with building
a life together? He couldn’t change the past, but he could try his damnedest to
make up for it if she’d just let him.

“Daddy, no mama?”
She
squirmed in his arms until he let her down. She ran right to
Winter
this time.

Stone watched
Winter
pick
Rachael up. “I’ll still be here. I promised I’d never leave you. I’m just going
to have a house of my own.
You’ll see, everything will be
fine.”
Winter put on a smile, but it faltered.

Too bad
   
it
was Christmas Eve. His timing had always been bad.

“Come on, Rachael, you can help me make dinner, and
don’t forget we have to put out cookies and milk for Santa.”

“I thought you were going to live here like a real
mama.”

Winter hugged Rachael to her. She looked over
Rachael’s head, her lips pressed into a tense line. “It will all be fine,
you’ll see.”

Stone watched them walk away, his heart in his throat.
What had he just done? Could it be undone? He’d talk to
Winter
tonight, apologize and everything would be fine.
Except the pain
in his chest didn’t agree.

The night didn’t play out as
expected. He tried everything to get a moment alone with
Winter
but she was quite good at avoiding him. She was also good at letting him know
she was mad at him. Hell, the piece of pie she served him was barely a sliver,
and she knew that cherry was his favorite.

She kept close to Rachael and
he never got a chance to talk to her. Disappointment assailed him as he watched
her go upstairs to put Rachael to bed.

“Your daughter wants you to
tuck her in.” Winter’s voice sounded grave.

“What about the milk and
cookies? I’ll get her, and help her with the milk and cookies, unless you want
to help.”

Winter gave him a sad smile.
“No, you’re on your own. It would have been fun, but now I don’t think I could
be cheerful the way a person should be on Christmas Eve.”

“Winter, I—”

“Don’t even give it a second
thought. The plan was for me to move into the foreman’s house. Don’t say
anything more. I’m at my limit, and I refuse to let you ruin my Christmas with
Rachael.”

She looked like a proud
warrior, her sudden defiance showing in her eyes. He wished he could take it
all back.
“Our first Christmas.”

“First?” she asked.

“First
with Rachael and with, well, first with Rachael.”

She shook her head, and her
long, blonde hair swirled around her, covering her like a cloak of armor. Her
closed expression bespoke of regret. “Yes,” she finally replied.
“Only for Rachael.”

Stone stared after her,
watching her climb the stairs. He loved the way her rear end swayed back and
forth. His body felt chilled. His warmth and comfort went away with
Winter
.

* * * *

Winter opened her eyes and
looked at the clock. She wished she go could back to sleep. She’d spent a
restless night hoping the hostility between her and Stone wouldn’t ruin
Rachael’s Christmas.

Christmas! Winter jumped out
of bed and grabbed her robe. It was a little after five and Rachael would be
up, if she wasn’t already. She raced down the stairs, looking for the girl with
each step.

Stone glanced up and when he
saw
Winter
, he smiled.
“Merry
Christmas.”

“Merry
Christmas.”
She sidestepped him and headed for the coffee
pot.

“Winter?”
Stone took a step toward her.

“What?”

“Do you want breakfast now or
after we open presents?”

Winter searched his eyes for
any type of apology but she didn’t see a drop of regret. How did everything get
to be such a struggle? They used to be so easy together and now she was walking
on eggshells.

Taking a deep breath, she
concluded that she was not powerless. Somehow, between losing her old job and
house, she’d also lost her self-worth, but now she was determined to find it
again.

“Presents.
Presents,” Rachael came flying down the stairs and landed in her embrace.
“Santa brought you to me, Mama.” Her expression was so loving and earnest that
Winter
started to tear up.

Bending over, she picked
Rachael up and hugged her. “I love you.”

“Me
too, Mama.
Time for presents.”
Rachael squirmed out of her arms and ran toward the tree.

Winter straightened her robe
and gave Stone a pointed stare. “Breakfast will be later.” Not waiting for a
reply, she followed Rachael.

Rachael grabbed her hand.
“Mama, you sit right here so you can see everything Santa brought me.”

Winter’s heart melted. “Which
one are you going to open first?”

“See the ones that you didn’t
wrap? Those are the ones from Santa.”

“You’re so smart.”

“I know.”

Winter focused on Rachael who
beamed with happiness. After opening each gift, she stopped and brought the
item over for inspection. Winter admired each present along with her.

“There’s a few presents from
me,”
Winter
said.

Rachael quickly opened them.
She grabbed up the bonnets and dresses for Faith out of the box. “Look, Mama, I
can dress my baby!”

Next, Rachael gave Stone the
pictures she made, and he sat with her as she explained each one.

Finally, only two presents
remained under the tree. Rachael grabbed one and gave it to her father.

Stone looked over Rachael’s
head and smiled at her.

Her present seemed ridiculous
now. He probably didn’t one from her anyway.

“Look, Daddy, Mama made you a
warm scarf. I helped and we made it in secret for a surprise.”

“It’s beautiful.” He turned
toward
Winter
and mouthed, “thank you.”

If his intention was to make
her blush, he did a good job. She tried to ignore his praise, but it was
impossible.

“One
more.
This is for you, Mama. It’s from me.” Rachael looked
so proud handing her the present. Winter just wanted to stare at her little
face, but instead she
unwrapped
the box and opened it.
She gasped when she saw the assortment of items. There was a long sleeved green
T-shirt with
I’m Rachael’s Mom
printed on it, a mug with W
orld’s Best
Mother
written on it, and lastly, a gold necklace with a pendant that said
Someone Special.

“I don’t know what to say.
Thank you, Rachael. This has been the best Christmas ever.”

Chapter Eleven

Snow, glistening snow,
blinding snow, blizzard, or flurries;
Winter
didn’t
care. It was still cold and in abundance. It’d been a long week since Christmas
and Stone hadn’t given her one kind word
.
He acted as though he was mad at the
world and every time she tried to talk to him, he’d invent a reason why it
wasn’t a good time to talk. Perhaps it was payback for her refusal to talk
things out with him before Christmas. It hurt that he didn’t completely trust
her with Rachael anymore, for whatever reason.

It was time to move into the
foreman’s house, her house. It was for the best. All the tension between her
and Stone wasn’t good for Rachael and maybe it would improve his disposition.

Reluctantly she turned away
from the window when she heard Stone clear his throat. Why did he still have to
be so damn sexy? “I was just about to pack.”

“Where is Rachael?” Stone
stared at her intently, making her uncomfortable.

“Building
a snowman with Crabby.
You do know he’s anything but crabby
don’t you?”

Stone gave her a boyish grin.
“That’s the fun of it. Besides he likes his name.”

“I’ll go out and help them. I
wasn’t sure if she was allowed to be alone with Crabby, but he insisted that it
was fine. I should have asked you but—”

“
It’s
fine, Winter.” He walked toward her slowly, leaving her nowhere to run.

“All the same, I think—”

“That’s the problem. You think
too much. I want you to smile, and I want to see your beautiful eyes light up
when you see me. You don’t do that anymore.”

“What? You hardly have time to
say hello to me. Why should I smile at you? I don’t understand why you would
say
it’s
fine. Nothing is fine around here. You don’t
trust me with Rachael—”

“I’m sorry about that whole
conversation. I was in a mood and I didn’t mean it.”

“Well, thank you for that.”

He reached for her hand.
“That’s it? The coldness in your voice surprises me. You know I love you.”

Pulling her hand away, she
shook her head. “My coldness surprises you? You haven’t talked to me in a week
and I don’t know what to think.”

“You’re just running away from
me, from us. How can you not know that I love you?”

Her jaw dropped and she
instantly closed it. “Love isn’t just words,
it’s
actions, too. If you’ll excuse me I want to make sure Rachael is warm enough.”

Stone frowned as she scooted
around him.

She didn’t know what to say.
Thinking too much? He wasn’t trying to understand her at all. She started to
put on her boots when the door opened, letting in a blast of winter cold. There
stood Rachael, her cheeks apple red and her clothes caked with snow.

“Oh my, did Crabby make you
into a snowman?”

“The bad snow did this.”
Rachael laughed.

“Here, let me help you.”
Winter closed the door and started with Rachael’s snow stiffened hat. It took a
while as she worked her way downward until finally Rachael’s frozen socks were
off. She ushered her daughter toward the fireplace.

“Sit here and I’ll make you
some hot chocolate.”

Rachael sat in the big chair
by the fireplace and smiled when
Winter
put a quilt
over her. “I like hot chocolate and pie.”

“Me
too, with pie.”
Stone grinned at the two of them.

“Well I guess I can make some
for you too.” Winter walked toward the kitchen. Damn her traitorous heart. She
longed for that man, but every time she saw him was one more lash against her
heart. A reluctant apology and declaration of love didn’t erase his behavior
toward her all week. Trust wasn’t just telling the truth, it was being able to
know that every argument wasn’t Armageddon.

She searched the cabinets and
couldn’t find the hot chocolate. “I don’t see the mix for the hot cocoa.”

Rachael rolled her eyes and
laughed. “You scratch it with milk.”

“Here, let me help you.” Stone
stood at her side before she had a chance to respond. He reached around her,
trapping her against the counter. He gave her a long look, swooped down, and
kissed her.

Winter tried to jump back but
there was no place for her to go. He smelled of leather and pine. He smelled of
horses and pure, white snow. His full lips looked inviting and before she knew
it, she had her tongue in his mouth, exploring it, and enjoying it too much.
Pushing against his chest, she broke the kiss.

Her body trembled and when she
looked up at him, he gave her a sexy, knowing smile. Her body betrayed her and
she knew the sooner she got out of this house the better. Most of all she
needed to get a hold of
herself
.

Stone stepped back a bit,
though not far enough and she could feel his heat wash over her, but she tried
to pretend he had no effect. “How…how do you make it?
Milk of
course but what else?”

Watching, she tried to
concentrate on what Stone was teaching her, but she couldn’t focus. The
tingling of her body put her on high alert.

“I’m going to move into the
other house today.”

Stone stopped stirring the milk.
He frowned and opened his mouth as if to say something. Instead, he closed it
and shrugged. He poured the hot chocolate into mugs and left hers on the
counter.

Regret flowed through her as
she watched Rachael and Stone laugh together. She’d still be within shouting
distance if Rachael needed her, she reasoned. It was for the best wasn’t it?

“Mama, do you like Daddy’s
choc-o-late?”

Winter nodded and grabbed her
mug. She walked over to them and sat on the couch. It would have been easy to
pretend they were a family, but it wasn’t true.

 
“Where’s the pie?” he asked.

“I guess I forgot it. Sit
tight, pie coming right up.”

* * * *

It hurt that
Winter
would rather live on her own. But he promised her a
house, and he’d go through with his vow. She said she would be there for
breakfast, and stay until Rachael was asleep. Maybe he could move Rachael’s
bedtime back a few hours. He came up with a number of plans to keep Winter
close but they all involved Rachael, and he knew he couldn’t use his daughter.

She made her choice and she
didn’t choose him. He made a mess out of every relationship. Now he was out of
ideas for what to do about this one. Perhaps time would take care of it all.

He called the storage company
in Texas and told them to ship the rest of her things up. She didn’t have much,
but he was sure she’d be glad to have her possessions.

It was cold out in the barn
but he refused to be in the house while she packed. The other men were all out
checking the cattle, bringing them hay and looking for strays in the tree
areas. He hoped that all the cattle made it through. It was a concern every day
in this snow.

“You know what I mean don’t
you, boy?” Stone patted Spirit’s neck. “Women make you plain loco.”

“Talking to
yourself
?”

Stone smiled when he saw Colt.
“What are you doing sneaking up on an old cowboy like me?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t hear
me. That old pickup of mine is loud.”

“Lost in thought, I guess.” He
shook hands with his dark-haired, dark-eyed friend.

Colt laughed.
“Woman trouble?”

“How’d you guess? I’m
concerned about
Winter
. She barely tolerates me.”

Colt whistled.
“Can’t be that bad.”

Stone shrugged his weary
shoulders. “I don’t think
Winter
even likes me and if
not for her devotion to Rachael, I’m sure she’d be long gone.”

Colt patted Stone’s shoulder.
“It’ll all work out. She’ll see what a catch you are.”

“I don’t think that will
happen. I spend too much time wondering why she won’t look at me.”

“I hope you get it all
straightened out. You will be at the Winter Wonderland this year won’t you?”

“I forgot. I did promise
Rachael.”

“If you don’t want to take
Winter
, I could—”

“No, I’ll take
Winter
.”

Colt grinned. “I figured as
much.”

“
Stone,
could you— Hi, Colt, I thought that was your truck.” Winter’s voice was full of
sweetness.

Stone didn’t like the way they
were gazing at each other. “Well, Colt, I know you need to shove off.”

Colt nodded. “I do have a lot
of work to do. I just wanted to invite you to the Winter Wonderland.”

“I would love to go with you,”
Winter
replied.

Colt blushed. “I, well that is
to say, um, I…”

Stone laughed. “He came to
invite the whole family. We usually go.”

A flush crept across her face.
“Oh, well maybe you could save a dance for me? There is dancing, isn’t there?”

“Yes, ma’am, there is and I
would be honored to dance with you.”

“Well,
Colt,
thanks for stopping by. We’ll see you next week. I know you have a lot to do.”
He hoped Colt got the hint.

Colt nodded. “I do have to go.
It was nice to see you,
Winter
.” He tipped his Stetson
at her and walked out of the barn.

Stone stared at her trying to
look as aloof as possible. “Did you need something?”

“I need some help moving my
stuff. I thought it’d be better while Rachael is napping. Crabby is with her
now. He stopped by and I…”

She searched his face and he
wondered what she was searching for. There was no sense asking her to stay,
he’d already declared his love and it hadn’t made a bit of difference.

“I’ll send Henry to help you
when he comes in.”

Confusion crossed her face.
“Okay, thanks.” She hesitated, opened her mouth but shut it and left.

He grabbed the Stetson off his
head and threw it on the ground.
Now what
?
Picking his Stetson back up, he crammed it back on his head. The Winter
Wonderland couldn’t come fast enough for him. He wanted
Winter
in his arms, dancing. It might be the only way to get close to her. He wished
he could say it didn’t matter, but it did.

* * * *

Henry was a godsend and she
could be herself around him. No pretending everything was fine or wondering
what was wrong this time. Henry was good company.

“I think that’s the last of
it,” Henry said as he put the last box down on the floor. His smile always
warmed her and his light blue eyes reminded her of the Texas sky.

“Thanks for all you’ve done.”
She walked toward him. “Would you like to stay for a cup of coffee?”

“I’d appreciate that. It’s
cold out today.”

“It’s been cold since I moved
here.” She put the coffee on to brew. “There isn’t usually too much snow in
Texas. Have you always lived in Montana?”

Henry sat down at the kitchen
table. “Born and bred right here in Carlston.”

“I know you and your ex broke
up but there must be someone in Carlston that you have your eye on.” The women
in Carlston were probably clambering over each other trying to catch his
attention.

“Nope, nursing a broken heart,
I guess.” He frowned. “It’s been a few years but I haven’t found anyone I’d
like to date.”

“I know all about nursing a
broken heart. I did it for ten years.” She poured the coffee and handed him a
mug. “Did you want anything in it?”

“Black is good. Ten years is a
long time. Did he die or something?”

“No,
nothing like that.
He broke up with me and I never
found anyone I wanted to date either.”

“Aren’t you and the boss
together?” His brow furrowed as he stared at her over the rim of the mug.

“No, I guess not. I came here
as a travel agent, ended up being the housekeeper, and stayed for Rachael’s
sake. So, what do you do for fun around here?”

“I have a couple buddies I
play poker with once a month. Other than that, I guess I don’t do much. I watch
sports and movies. Part of the reason I like working on the ranch is that it
tires me out so I can sleep.”

“Do you live in town?”

Henry shook his head. “No I
have a small cabin on the other side of this property. I bought the land with
my rodeo winnings, but I have a bit of a bum knee so I’m saving what I earn
here to buy cattle.”