A Bramble House Christmas (Carrigans of the Circle C Book 6) (15 page)

But he couldn’t summon the will to stop until she placed a hand on his chest, and whispered huskily in his ear. “This is nice.
Really
nice. But—I should probably check on Scout. Not to mention, get some sleep.”

“That makes sense. But, damn it, I wish it didn’t.” He kissed the side of her neck, the lobe of her ear. Finally, he let her go. It wasn’t easy.

T
hat night Finn was haunted by his father in his dreams. His dad was angry, giving Finn a real talking to, something he’d rarely done in real life. Finn woke up with a pretty good idea of what had brought on the bad dreams. Today he had to come clean with Willa, and take whatever consequences that entailed.

But the second he saw Willa at the breakfast table, along with her son and Mable Bramble, his good intentions were forgotten. She looked so damn beautiful in a straw-colored sweater and dark red jeans. And the smile she gave him was transcendent.

He moved as close to her as he dared. “Good morning.” He wanted to kiss her, but restrained himself, well aware that Mable’s keen eyes were on them.

He tousled Scout’s hair. “How are you feeling today?”

“I’m better. I sleeped it off.”

“
Slept
young man.” Mable apparently couldn’t restrain herself from correcting.

“Slepted.”

Scout’s attempt to make amends had Mable shaking her head in disgust. Some people were beyond help, Finn could imagine her thinking.

Eliza and Marshall emerged from the kitchen with trays of freshly baked muffins, strawberries and a puffy frittata speckled with mushrooms. Conversation centered around the delicious food, and then the weather. The blue sky and calm winds were promising.

“Going to hit the ski hill?” Marshall asked.

Finn knew the outdoorsman was disappointed that he hadn’t managed to go yesterday. But before saying yes, he glanced at Willa. “What are you and the little man up to today?”

“Skating,” Scout answered decisively.

Willa appeared uncertain. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“I’m not sniffling anymore, Mom. You said when I stopped sniffling we could go skating.”

“Good point.” She paused to consider before nodding. “Okay. We’ll go skating. But it’s going to be interesting since neither of us have ever been on skates before.”

“I’d be glad to teach you,” Finn volunteered.

“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Mable said. “In my day we didn’t need lessons. We just tied the blades to our boots and got on with it.”

“I’d love to have seen that,” Eliza said.

Finn tried, and failed to imagine a younger Mable gliding gracefully on a pair of old-fashioned ice skates. But then, he couldn’t imagine a younger Mable, period.

T
wo hours later, Finn, Willa and Scout were at Miracle Lake—a frozen pond in the middle of a forest of fir and pine. At the north end two teenaged boys were feeding deadwood into a small bonfire. A shack at the east end of the lake had skates to rent and hot beverages to sell.

“I can’t believe I’m finally going skating.” Scout was having a hard time sitting still on the wooden bench next to the pond while Finn laced up his black hockey skates. Next to Scout was his mother. Willa had opted to rent a pair of white figure skates, mostly because she thought they were prettier.

As an artist, Finn had to appreciate the sentiment. He was just glad he’d brought along his camera.

There were no skating scenes in the upcoming Everyday Sam book, but something Scout had said to him the other day had him mulling around ideas for a new story. And a skating scene would be perfect for that book.

As soon as Finn tied the last bow, Scout was up on his feet, almost falling as he adjusted to the narrow blades.

“It may take awhile to get the hang of it,” Finn warned, as he quickly laced up his own rented skates. He noticed the two teenaged boys had traded deadwood for hockey sticks and were now doing laps around the pond, easily switching from forward to backward skating, passing a puck back and forth between them.

“How about you take my hand?” Finn offered.

Scout gave him a grateful smile. Finn helped him navigate across the snow, then down to the frozen surface of the lake. As soon as his blades hit the ice Scout’s eyes ballooned in his small face.

“Whoa. That’s slippery.”

Finn shared a smile with Willa, who was still sitting on the bench. She had her skates on, just seemed reluctant to try out the ice.

As Finn had anticipated, it took Scout awhile to feel safe enough to let go of his hand.

But then something magical happened.

Scout stopped wobbling. His strokes became more confident as he followed the instructions Finn gave him to the letter. Even the older boys seemed impressed as they watched his progress.

“You’re a natural, kid,” the one with the black toque said as he sped by them.

Scout grinned.

After thirty minutes he was skating laps around the pond on his own. The teenagers offered him one of their older sticks and gave him a second puck, for him to practice his shot.

At that point Finn felt it was time he got Willa out on the ice.

“I’m perfectly happy watching.”

“Like I’m letting you get away with that.” He took her hand and led her over the packed snow to the ice.

Her balance was a lot shakier than her son’s. Finn didn’t mind one bit. He told her to put her arm around him, and he did the same to her. Slowly they navigated their way around the pond, watching as the boys moved to the center, the two teenagers offering tips to Scout who seemed to catch on to their instructions almost immediately.

“Maybe he will be an NHL hockey player when he grows up,” Willa said in amazement.

Finn smiled and held her tighter. At that moment, almost anything seemed possible.

A
s she climbed the front steps to the B&B Willa felt as if her feet were encased in cement blocks. She was so tired! The late night, followed by hours of skating—Scout loved it so much he actually cried when she finally made him stop—had just about depleted her. Even a long lunch at the deli, followed by a mug of Sage’s hot chocolate—so much better than the stuff they served at Miracle Lake—hadn’t been enough to revive her.

What made her feel even more tired was the fact that Scout still didn’t want to go inside.

“But it’s sunny and the snow is perfect for making snowballs,” he argued, following about ten feet behind her with Finn.

Finn. The brightest spot of her day, and also the cause of her exhaustion, since she’d been on such a high after their kisses that she hadn’t been able to fall asleep for hours.

He’d been awesome with Scout today. And learning to skate while being held in his arms hadn’t been too bad, either.

“You’re still getting over your cold,” Willa paused to point out. “It wouldn’t hurt you to spend a few quiet hours indoors, maybe even having a nap.”

“I’m not a baby. I want to stay outside and make a snow fort!”

Willa sighed. She hadn’t counted on her son loving the winter climate quite this much. But before she could mount another argument against his plan, Finn jogged up next to her, placing a hand on her arm, and making her feel warm and happy all over again.

“How about I take Scout to the park for another hour or so. While you go inside and get some rest.”

She searched his gray eyes for signs of fatigue. “You must be tired as well.”

“A little.” He squeezed her arm. “But last night was totally worth it.”

To Scout’s great delight, she acquiesced without any stipulations, just a simple, “Okay, you guys. Have fun. I’ll be inside when you’re ready to slow down for a while.”

“Like
that’s
going to happen,” Scout said, giving Finn a high five.

Willa shook her head. Sometimes her son really was something else. She almost wished she had the energy to turn around and join them.

But. An hour of peace all to herself was just too blissful to turn down.

First thing she did was go up to her room to have a bath in the old-fashioned claw-foot tub. It was just as comfortable as it looked. Then she put on comfy leggings, layered with a T-shirt and a sweater, and a thick pair of wool socks.

Since the guys still hadn’t returned, she took her novel downstairs, planning to wait for them in the sitting room.

But just as she hit the main floor landing, the doorbell sounded and Eliza came flying down the stairs behind her, dressed in another of her spectacularly tacky Christmas sweaters, this one with an applique Christmas tree, including bells that really jingled.

“Excuse me, Willa. This should be my Carrigan cousins.” Eliza swept around her, dashed to the door and pulled it open.

Willa would have quietly excused herself and gone to the other room, but when she spotted Sage she paused to say hello. Sage was wearing a butterscotch-colored wool coat over a dress in a darker hue along with tall brown boots. The palette was awesome with her beautiful red hair and slightly freckled complexion.

“Hey, Willa, I was hoping I would see you here. How’s Scout?”

“He’s made a miraculous recovery. We were skating this morning and now he’s building a snow fort with Finn Knightly.”

Sage’s eyebrows went up slightly as she recognized the name, but all she said was, “Great. I’m so glad he’s better. Savannah will be happy too. Maybe they can get together later this week.”

“Sounds like a wonderful idea.” Willa was curious to see Sage’s sister, who had come in behind her. She was small, fine-boned with exquisite features, dark hair and captivating blue eyes.

“You’ve already met Sage,” Eliza said, “but I don’t think you’ve met her sister Callan. Callan and her husband Court McAlister live on the Circle C Ranch farther down in the valley.”

Callan was wearing jeans and a plain gray sweater, clothing that fit her perfectly and emphasized her petite figure.

A girl as pretty as Callan, Willa figured, didn’t need much in the way of adornment to look good.

“Hey, Willa.”

Callan stuck out her hand and when Willa shook it, she was amazed at the strength of her grip and the hardness of her calluses.

“Aunt Mable’s waiting for us in the library,” Eliza said. “Please excuse us, Willa.”

“Why doesn’t Willa join us?” Sage suggested. Quietly she added, “Not that tea with Aunt Mable is such a treat for you. But the rest of us would love your company.”

Willa had been looking forward to her book...and maybe a catnap. But Eliza pounced on the idea. “Yes, please join us, Willa.”

“Well... I was planning to read for a bit.”

Callan shook her. “You’re coming Willa. Even if we have to drag you in there.”