Читать книгу Montana Christmas - Jackie Merritt - Страница 8

Lucas couldn’t compliment her enough during dinner. Andrea thanked him nicely and pretended that everything she cooked turned out so well. In truth, she had barely known how to boil water when she arrived in Rocky Ford. Teaching herself to cook had been one of the activities she’d used to pass time while she waited for the right moment to approach Charlie. Lucas had eaten with her before, and her first efforts at putting a full meal on the table hadn’t been all that great.

But he was a man with an appetite and had seemed to like whatever she’d served him. Today even she thought dinner was delicious. The turkey was moist, the gravy rich and smooth, and the side dishes perfect complements to the meat. Dessert was pumpkin or apple pie, but both Lucas and Shep declined when she offered it, declaring they were too full to eat another bite.

She believed Lucas wholeheartedly. He had filled his plate twice and had appeared to enjoy every mouthful. Shep, however, had eaten very little. He’d taken small portions and eaten them slowly, as though there was no hunger anywhere in his system and he was merely being polite.

“We’ll have dessert later,” Andrea said with more cheeriness than she felt. Shep Wilde had had her sitting on the edge of her chair throughout the meal, although he had certainly done or said nothing to cause such an unusual reaction. Lucas had chattered away a mile a minute, talking about the weather, Shep’s long drive from California and Andrea’s good cooking, and she had tried her level best to keep the conversational ball rolling. But even Shep’s voice affected her—the few times he’d spoken during the meal…and looking directly into his dark eyes actually gave her goose bumps.

The two men were waiting for her direction, she realized. Rising, she smiled. “Why don’t you make yourselves comfortable in the living room while I put away the food? I’ll only be a few minutes.”

Lucas pushed back his chair. “I’m going to help with these dishes, young woman. And don’t try to argue me out of it. Shep, you go on into the living room and relax. Andrea and I will have everything shipshape in ten minutes.”

Shep looked at Andrea standing there, awaiting her guests’ decisions with an anticipatory expression, and felt a stirring in his groin. He’d felt the same thing the minute he’d set eyes on this woman and, in fact, all during the fine meal she had put on the table. When Lucas told him that he’d called the lady next door, and that she had said to bring him along to dinner, he had immediately gotten a mental picture of an older woman, someone around his father’s age. He’d only agreed to come because Lucas had been so insistent. It had been a long time since he’d seen his father, and it was Christmas. Otherwise, he would have refused. His mood wasn’t one for meeting new people, even his father’s friends.

Then the door to Andrea’s house had opened, and he’d felt that zap of awareness. Miss Andrea Dillon was young, beautiful, stunningly dressed and as sexy as any woman he’d ever seen. In fact, she was probably sexier, because sex was what he’d thought of all during dinner. Not that he’d arrived in Rocky Ford with any silly ideas about sex and women. Lord preserve him from another heartrending relationship. Natalie’s desertion had all but destroyed him, and the last thing he wanted was another woman. In truth, he had wondered if he would ever want another woman.

But here was fate, or something, causing his traitorous body to respond to the first attractive woman he’d met in ages. It really was too much, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to do anything about his ludicrous physical reactions to the sensuous Miss Dillon. It made him angry that he couldn’t seem to eradicate those reactions, but he wasn’t blaming Andrea and the anger was aimed at himself. After all, she couldn’t help being beautiful, sultry and sexually intriguing. Nor was it her fault that his hormones were raging as though he were an adolescent ogling his first unclothed female breast.

Drawing in a long breath, he nodded and headed for the living room. Andrea left to help his father with the dishes.

In the living room, Shep sat in an easy chair from which he could look out the front window at the lazily falling snow. It was a pretty sight, but the Christmas music on the CD player was emotionally wrenching. Thoughts of the past few months deluged him: learning by accident that Natalie was seeing another man; confronting her with expectations of denial and hearing instead, “I want a divorce”; then the arguments; the pleas on his part; Natalie’s rock-solid determination; his last-ditch effort to win her back by willingly signing a property settlement giving her everything she asked for; her departure for Mexico to get it over with quickly; and finally the day she returned home with divorce papers and told him to pack his personal possessions and get out of her house.

There was no hope left; it was truly over. He had moved into a hotel and tried to resume his life. But most of his patients were rich, spoiled people who spent a great deal of their time fighting old age, and he had found himself canceling appointments. The reason for his successful practice was a bitter pill to swallow. Natalie’s father was a major producer in the movie industry. He had sent stars, directors and everyone else he knew that wanted a new nose, tummy tuck or some sort of surgical procedure, to Shep’s office.

Shep had dreamed of a much different practice before meeting Natalie while he was still interning. He had wanted to limit his vocation to accident victims or people born with congenital defects, people who truly needed reconstructive surgery.

But he’d let himself be dazzled by the life-styles of the rich and famous, and had opened a fancy office in a fancy building and had started making incredible amounts of money from breast implants and face-lifts. For a man from a small town in Montana, it had all seemed like a dream-a gorgeous wife, famous friends and more money than he could spend.

It wasn’t more than Natalie could spend, however. The truth was that he had worked his fanny off, having become addicted to those astonishing fees. But no matter how much money he put in the bank, it had a way of disappearing. With what Natalie had received in the divorce settlement, he found himself close to being broke. Disillusioned, unhappy with his work and broke. Yes, he could have geared up and built up his bank account. But nothing had held much meaning anymore.

A week ago he’d parceled out his remaining patients to other doctors, closed his fancy office, packed his car and headed for Montana. Not to burden Lucas with his personal problems, God forbid, but to give himself some breathing space. And maybe to find himself again, to figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

Staring almost hypnotically at the falling snow, he felt the emptiness within himself, the lack of purpose and ambition and the strangest urge to do nothing but watch snow fall or something equally mundane from this day forward. What had working hard gotten him? Why exert so much effort when this was the result?

He could hear Andrea and his father in the kitchen, moving about, talking to each other and laughing every so often. With a wall between him and Andrea, he could think of her as just another person. During dinner, he had not had that luxury. Her every movement had impacted his libido. Her eyes were especially beautiful, heavily lashed and that striking shade of green, and he doubted if her face and figure had ever been altered by a surgeon.

But there was something about her that didn’t ring a hundred percent true. Take that comment Lucas had made about her being from California, for instance. Shep hadn’t been contributing much to the conversation and had been feeling a little guilty about it—after all, he was a stranger she’d invited into her home and deserved some courtesy no matter how down in the dumps he felt—so he had pursued the topic his father had introduced. “What part of California?” he had asked Andrea. His eyes narrowed as he remembered how cleverly she had evaded a straight answer. And how she had immediately changed the subject.

Now, why would she avoid an innocuous discussion of her life before moving to Rocky Ford? And what had brought her to Montana in the first place? Did she have family here? If so, why wasn’t she spending Christmas with them?

Yes indeed, there was something a little off kilter about Miss Dillon.

Shep sighed. Hell, she could have a scandalous or even a criminal past, and he wouldn’t care.

He suddenly couldn’t sit there any longer. Rising, he went to the closet for his jacket and put it on. Taking a pair of leather gloves from a pocket, he began working them onto his hands as he entered the kitchen.

“I’m going for a walk,” he announced.

Andrea was loading the dishwasher, and Lucas was putting a covered dish into the refrigerator. They both became statue still and looked at him.

“Uh…sure,” Lucas finally said. “Enjoy yourself, son.”

“We’ll have dessert and coffee when you get back,” Andrea said.

He wanted to tell her not to wait for him, that he didn’t know when he’d be back or even if he’d return to her house at all.

But he only nodded and walked out the back door.

Andrea and Lucas looked at each other. “He really is very unhappy, isn’t he?” she said quietly.

“I’m afraid he is,” Lucas said, sounding deeply concerned.

“Lucas, if you want to go after him, please don’t feel as though you need to keep me company.”

Lucas placed the dish in his hand on a refrigerator shelf and closed the door. “I think he wants to be alone, Andrea. He’ll talk to me when he’s ready.”

“Well…I guess you know your own son.”

“I used to,” Lucas said in a saddened tone of voice.

Andrea began wiping down the counter. “He came to you, Lucas. In his time of trouble, he came home. That has to mean something.”

Lucas’s countenance brightened a little. “Yes, he did, didn’t he?”

Andrea looked out the window above the sink. “It’s snowing harder. Oh, it’s lovely.” But it was also freezing cold out there, and she couldn’t help worrying about Shep Wilde walking around in such weather in an unhappy daze.

But he was a grown man and none of her business.

Briskly she turned to Lucas. “Everything’s in order in here. Thank you very much for the help. Now, shall we retire to the living room? I’ll build a fire in the fireplace, and we can either watch a movie or just sit and relax until Shep gets back.”

They started for the living room. “How about if I build the fire and you pick out a movie?” Lucas said.

Andrea smiled. “If that’s what you want, sure. What’ll it be, a Western, a mystery or a romantic comedy?” She opened the cabinet that contained her collection of movies.

Lucas was already bending over to lay a fire. “Anything you choose is fine with me.”

Andrea sighed inwardly. Lucas didn’t care what movie she put in the VCR because of Shep out walking in the cold and snow.

Well, wasn’t that where her mind would be, as well?

Today was not turning out at all the way she’d planned. But had any Christmas of her life been storybook perfect? Sighing again, she grabbed a movie without checking its title and inserted it in the VCR.

The best part of the next few hours was the fire crackling in the fireplace. Andrea didn’t even attempt to concentrate on the movie, and twenty minutes into the film, Lucas was dozing. She looked at him with great affection. Men were such strange creatures. As worried as Lucas was about his son, he could still fall asleep in front of the TV.

She should be so lucky. Insomnia had been a problem ever since coming to Rocky Ford. When she was worried or upset, she simply couldn’t sleep soundly, and rarely did she go to bed without something heavy on her mind. And she couldn’t remember the last time she’d napped during the day.

The movie ended. Using the remote control, Andrea rewound it and then ejected it from the VCR. Getting up, she laid chunks of wood on the dying fire. It blazed again, and she sat on the hearth rug to watch the flames.

“I must have dozed off.”

Turning to look at Lucas, she smiled. “You had a very nice nap.”

“That was darned rude of me.” Lucas got out of his chair and went to the window. “Any sign of Shep?”

“Your taking a nap was not rude, and no, I haven’t seen Shep.” Her sympathies were with Dr. Wilde. She had never gone through anything remotely similar to his divorce, but she was able to imagine how alone and lost one might feel over such an experience.

She got to her feet. “This is a good time to give you your present.” Ignoring Lucas’s startled expression, she went to the tree, reached way under it and came out with a gaily wrapped package.

“Andrea, you shouldn’t have,” Lucas said. “I didn’t get you anything.”

“And don’t you dare be embarrassed by it.” Andrea held out the package. “This is something I wanted to do and I didn’t expect anything in return.” She placed the gift in his hand. “Open it.”

“This is really nice of you.” In spite of her admonition to not be embarrassed, Lucas looked a little red in the face. But there was also a twinkling excitement in his eyes, making Andrea smile.

“Open it, Lucas,” she repeated.

“Okay.” Returning to his chair, he tore off the wrapping and removed the cover of a small box. “Well, look at this,” he declared.

It was a soft, wool-blend maroon scarf, quite beautiful and much more expensive than what Andrea had planned on spending when she thought of buying him a Christmas gift. Running across it in a nondescript little shop with an eclectic assortment of merchandise had been a surprise, as Rocky Ford’s stores normally didn’t carry what she considered fashionable items of clothing. She would have bought it at any price. Lucas’s best jacket, which he’d worn to her house today, was a dark gray wool, and she’d known at first sight that the scarf would be perfect with that jacket.

“How’d you know I needed a new scarf?” Lucas asked, holding it up and fingering the fabric. “Andrea, this is really nice. As soft as can be. Never could stand scratchy things around my neck.”

“You like it, then?”

“Sure do.”

“I’m glad. I thought it would go well with your gray jacket.”

Lucas grinned impishly. “I’ll look so smartly turned out, I’ll probably have to fight off the ladies.”

Andrea teased right back. “I’m sure you’re already having to fight off the ladies.”

Lucas chuckled. “Not anymore, honey.” Carefully folding the scarf, he laid it in its box. “Well, I feel like a darned fool for not thinking to buy you something, but thank you. I appreciate your thoughtfulness.”

“You’re very welcome. I appreciate your friendship.”

* * *

While this pleasant scene was unfolding in Andrea’s house, Shep was pacing his father’s home. He had walked in the heavy snowfall for about an hour, when he’d started feeling the cold, then bypassed Andrea’s place in favor of Lucas’s.

But he was feeling guilty about it. And besides, the house was so empty. Regardless of his personal upheaval, it was still Christmas, and it wasn’t a good feeling to be alone on Christmas. Shep’s guilt increased. How many Christmases had Lucas spent alone? Shep knew how badly he had neglected his father for years, and Lucas was just next door. He should be spending the day with him, wherever he was.

It finally got to him enough that he again donned his jacket and gloves and plowed through the snow to Andrea’s back door. Swearing that he was going to be friendlier than before—his problems were neither Lucas’s nor Andrea’s fault, and they shouldn’t have to endure his foul moods—he knocked.

Lucas’s face brightened. “That must be Shep.”

“Must be,” Andrea agreed. “I’ll go let him in.” It felt as though her heart were doing flips as she hurried through the house to the kitchen door. It was incredibly exciting to be so dizzily attracted to a man, even if she wished he weren’t Shep Wilde and newly divorced.

She opened the door with a smile, expecting to see him covered in snow and half-frozen. But he was neither; rather, appearing as though he had just come from next door as he had earlier today.

She knew he had gone to Lucas’s home instead of taking that walk. He really wasn’t a very nice person, was he? Coming up with a lie like that to get away from her and his father? She knew he’d been bored and impatient with the day’s quiet activity, but for his father’s sake it certainly wouldn’t have killed him to pretend to enjoy himself.

Her expression became frosty. “Come in.”

Then the biggest surprise of the day thus far occurred. Shep smiled. Not just smiled, but smiled at her! Andrea suddenly couldn’t breathe, and the frost in her expression melted into a puddle of totally female emotions. “Do come in,” she repeated huskily, this time sounding sincerely welcoming.

“Thank you.”

Shep stepped inside and Andrea shut the door. My Lord, she thought. If his smile could make her breathless, what would a kiss do to her?

“Shep?”

Lucas was calling from the living room.

“I’m here, Dad.” Removing his jacket, Shep looked at Andrea. “I can hang it up myself, if it’s all right with you.”

Anything you want to do is all right with me. “Yes, of course. Go right ahead.”

They paraded into the living room. Shep spotted the fire. “That looks great.” He hung his jacket in the closet and immediately went over to the fireplace.

“You were out there a long time, son,” Lucas said. “You must be cold clear to the center of your bones.”

Shep turned around and stood with his backside to the fire. “I wasn’t walking all the time I was gone, Dad. I went home for a while.”

So, Andrea thought, inordinately pleased. He wasn’t a liar, after all. And he probably hadn’t been trying to avoid her and Lucas; he’d merely needed to be alone. Poor guy. Since he was so broken up over it, the divorce must not have been his idea.

“Well,” Andrea said brightly. “Is anyone hungry?”

“I could use a turkey sandwich,” Shep said, giving her another of those dazzling smiles.

“I can always eat,” Lucas said with a chuckle.

“Great. I’ll put everything on the table. It’ll only take a few minutes.” Breathless again, Andrea sped to the kitchen. The day had taken a marvelous turn, simply because Shep Wilde was smiling instead of scowling. His hike in the snow had worked some sort of miracle. Or maybe he was finally glad to be home for Christmas.

Or maybe, just maybe, he had come to grips with liking her. With finding another woman attractive so soon after his divorce. Hadn’t she noticed his brooding glances at the dinner table?

Hastily she sliced turkey and set the table, all the while thinking about Shep. Okay, she admitted, so she had it bad for him, and it could be very dangerous business. But what if he felt the same about her? Would a rebound romance be dangerous if both parties felt the same overwhelming emotions for each other?

“Don’t put the cart before the horse,” she muttered under her breath in a sudden burst of common sense. A few smiles were hardly an admission of attraction. And what was sadder than a person—man or woman—falling for someone who didn’t reciprocate? She really must watch her step around Shep, especially when Lucas was looking on. Appearing foolish or pathetic in Lucas’s eyes would be unbearable. No, she could never let that happen.

Squaring her shoulders, she went to the doorway between kitchen and living room. “Everything’s ready,” she said with an inviting smile. “Come and eat.”

Andrea enjoyed listening to Lucas and Shep talk about old friends in Rocky Ford while they ate. It occurred to her that Shep could be asking about this person or that just to make conversation, but she still read it as a good sign. At least he was trying, which was a lot more than he’d done before.

Most of the people mentioned were strangers to Andrea, but her ears pricked up and her pulse began racing when Shep asked, “And how are the Fanons doing?”

Lucas grinned. “That’s right. I’d forgotten you were sweet on Lola Fanon for a while.”

Shep grinned, too. “In high school, Dad. A very long time ago. Anyhow, do they still live around here?”

“Sure do. Charlie lives in the same house he always did, as a matter of fact. You know about his coffee shop, don’t you?”

“You took me there the last time I was home,” Shep reminded. “About eight years ago,” he added quietly.

Andrea saw a glint of remorse in Shep’s eyes. Obviously, he was regretting his long absence, probably feeling guilty over neglecting his father for eight long years.

Well, he should feel guilty, she thought to herself rather fiercely. If she ever connected with her father, she would never neglect him.

She cleared her throat. “I’ve run across the Fanon name several times. What kind of man is Charlie?”

Lucas answered. “Real nice guy, Andrea. I doubt if there’s anyone in Rocky Ford who doesn’t like him. If they’ve met him, of course.”

“What about the rest of the family?” Shep asked. “Does Ron still live here?”

“Ron’s dead, Shep,” Lucas said gently.

“Dead! What happened?” Shep inquired, obviously stunned.

“He died while in the military. I don’t know the particulars, but Charlie went to Germany—that’s where Ron was stationed—and brought his body back here for burial. Brought his wife and little boy with him, too. Candace-that was Ron’s wife—remarried about a month ago. Maybe a little longer.”

Shep fell silent for a few moments, then inquired quietly, “And Serena? Lola?”

“They’re both married and living in the area. Serena’s a lawyer with an office in the Ridgeport Building. Her husband, Travis Holden, owns a string of car lots all over Montana. Lola married Duke Sheridan and they, of course, live on the Sheridan Ranch. I’m sure you remember the Sheridans.”

Lucas’s knowledge of the Fanon family surprised Andrea, though she didn’t let on. But she was learning more about life in a small town all the time. Even if people weren’t close friends, they seemed to know what everyone else was doing. This was new to her. Sandra had always shied away from small communities, preferring cities and elegant neighborhoods where people were rather standoffish. Actually, Andrea had to admire her mother. While her life-style hadn’t been wonderful for her daughter, she had certainly gotten around, and however often they had moved, it had never taken Sandra very long to insinuate herself into a new neighborhood and become a part of it, however reserved and aloof the residents were.

And she’d been so beautiful. So stylish, so chic. Small wonder she’d attracted men by the droves.

Andrea sighed. While she’d obviously inherited some of her mother’s best physical features, she certainly hadn’t gotten much of her intrepidness. Nothing had ever daunted Sandra as facing Charlie Fanon daunted Andrea.

Around six, Lucas said it was time they went home. Andrea hated to see them go, but she put on a smile and saw them to the door. Just before leaving, Shep shook her hand again. “Thank you for today, Andrea. You’re a gracious hostess.”

Looking into his dark eyes, she again felt that constrictive band around her chest. If she counted every man she’d met in her whole life, Shep Wilde was the most handsome. And no other man had ever caused such volcanic reactions in her system, not even those she had liked and dated.

Lucas broke up the handshake by holding up the box he was carrying. “Thanks again for the gift, Andrea.”

She saw Shep look at the box, but he said nothing about it. Father and son walked out the door and called goodnights. It was dark outside and still snowing. The biting cold had Andrea quickly closing the door behind them.

Then, sighing, she went to the living room and added wood to the fire. It was too quiet now, and she put another CD into the player. Seated in her favorite chair, she laid her head back and thought about the day. Overall, it had been a good Christmas, she decided.

Far better than many she remembered.

Shep and Lucas hurried into the house. It wasn’t a night to linger outdoors, and Lucas’s modest home was warm and cozy. After hanging up their jackets, they sat in the living room. Shep could tell that his father wanted to ask questions, and he decided to make it easy for Lucas by telling him everything without prompting.

“She left me for another man,” he said bluntly.

Lucas looked stunned and incredulous. “Shep, are you sure?”

Shep gave a sharp little laugh, one with no humor in it whatsoever. “I’m sure. A friend told me she was seeing someone—using every subtlety in the book to say it without actually saying it. I called him a liar, backtracked and said he must be mistaken and then talked to Natalie that night, expecting denials and anger that anyone would intimate such a thing about her.” Shep’s expression became bitter. “She said it was true and asked for a divorce.”

Lucas was still stunned. “But, son, a woman who is happy and contented with her marriage doesn’t go looking for another man.”

Shep’s lips twisted cynically. “Maybe they don’t in Rocky Ford, but southern California isn’t Rocky Ford, Montana, Dad.”

“Are you telling me you never had a clue that something was wrong before your friend mentioned it? Incidentally, I don’t have a lot of respect for someone who’s supposedly a friend carrying tales like that.”

“If there were clues, I never picked up on them,” Shep said. “As for Jeff talking about Natalie like that, wasn’t he trying to do me a favor? It was damned hard for him to broach the subject, and he risked our friendship to let me know what was going on. I don’t hold anything against Jeff, Dad. It would have been worse for him to know about it and not say anything.”

Lucas shook his head sadly. “Don’t see how it could have been any worse, Shep. All this time, I believed your marriage was solid as a rock and that both you and Natalie were happy. Now, here you are, divorced and miserable. You two should have had kids.”

“So we could have fought over their custody? Kids don’t hold a marriage together, Dad. Only love does that. Apparently, Natalie didn’t love me.”

“She did at first, didn’t she?”

“I thought so,” Shep said, letting his bitterness show again.

“Well, at least you have your practice,” Lucas said, obviously assuming Shep would find comfort in his work.

Shep wasn’t ready to talk about that. He didn’t know what he was going to do about his career. He’d spent so many years in getting an education, and they’d been hard years. Lucas had helped out financially with what he could afford, but a medical education, especially when it included a specialty, was extremely costly. Those were years of doing without, of barely getting by, years when he’d done very little beyond studying, working at whatever job he could find to earn a few extra bucks and living without enough sleep.

He’d been interning at Los Angeles General Hospital, on the very last leg of his education, -when he met Natalie Draper.

Her world had dazzled him. She had dazzled him. Beautiful, vivacious and without a care in the world, Natalie had had hordes of friends, most of whom had seemingly existed for one reason—the next party, whether it be a fundraiser, the opening of one more elegant or campy restaurant, or film-industry events, such as the Academy Awards gala. Always dressed in designer clothing, Natalie missed nothing that Hollywood and its icons had had to offer.

It had taken Shep a while to believe that a fashionable, wealthy, gorgeous young woman like Natalie Draper would want him. He’d definitely been head over heels for her, but a penniless intern was so far from her realm of existence, it had been a massive shock to finally realize that she was truly serious about him.

She’d taken him home to meet Daddy—and Daddy’s third wife. Brad Draper hadn’t been nearly as charmed as Natalie was by an almost doctor with a yet unknown future. But Shep still to this day had to hand it to Brad; he’d put aside his own misgivings and eventually welcomed him into the family.

Ten years, Shep thought with another onslaught of bitterness. Ten years down the drain. He was back to square one, or damned near. No wife, no practice and very little money weren’t exactly consoling, especially when he hadn’t seen it coming.

What kind of fool had he been?

He suddenly realized that Lucas was watching him with an uneasy expression. But why wouldn’t his dad be uneasy? He hadn’t given him any kind of answer to his comment about him at least having his medical practice, had he?

Well, he had none to give. When he himself knew what was coming next, he’d be glad to inform Lucas about it. Getting to his feet, he stretched and yawned. “I’m beat, Dad. I’m going to hit the sack.”

Lucas frowned. “Well, sure, son. Go right ahead.” Before Shep made it out of the room, he added, “What do you think of my next-door neighbor?”

“Andrea’s a very nice person,” Shep said evenly, omitting deliberately so much as a hint of the libidinous urges she had aroused in him all day. “Good night, Dad. See you in the morning.”

“Good night, Shep. Sleep well.”