Читать книгу Snowbound with the Soldier - Jennifer Faye - Страница 11

CHAPTER THREE

SERIOUSLY, COULD THIS night get any worse?

Kara didn’t say anything more, hoping he’d get the hint that she didn’t want to talk. Her daughter was off-limits to him. She turned her head and stared out at the starless night, which mirrored her dismal mood.

“So you’re a mother?”

The astonishment in his voice set her on edge. This was the very last topic she wanted to discuss with him. After all, she didn’t owe him any explanations. She didn’t owe him a single thing. Her daughter was no secret, but that didn’t mean she had to share the circumstances of her birth with him.

“A lot changed after you left.”

“Obviously. So who’s the lucky man in your life?”

Kara suddenly hated her single status. The thought of lying tiptoed across her mind, but she’d never been any good at it, even as a kid. Best to stick with the truth. “There is no man.”

“Thought you’d have guys lined up, waiting to take you out.”

“And you’d be wrong.”

She smothered a sigh. After he’d dumped her and she’d found out she was pregnant, it was a very long time until she was willing to trust any man. When she finally did dip her toe in the dating pool, finding a man with the right personality, who was ready to take on a young mother, was a challenge. Most of the guys she met simply didn’t want the hassle of a ready-made family. And they certainly weren’t thrilled about having their social calendars dictated by whether or not Kara could secure a babysitter.

Not that she’d become a nun or anything. She’d dated here and there. The evenings out were nice, but that’s all they were—nice. She shielded her daughter from her dating life. She didn’t want Samantha getting attached to someone, only to lose him when things didn’t work out.

Sensing Jason giving her periodic glances, Kara refused to meet his gaze. Instead, she continued to stare into the night. The thickening snow kept her from spotting the pond where they used to skate as kids. In those days, they’d been practically inseparable. Did Jason ever think about the good old days? Did he even regret his abrupt departure from her life and this community? Was that why he’d finally come home? To make amends?

She sneaked a glance at him. His long fingers clenched the steering wheel, fighting to keep the vehicle on the road. When he turned his head to glance at her, she jerked her gaze away, focusing on the hypnotic swish, swish of the windshield wipers.

A loud crack echoed through the night as a tree limb fell onto the road. “Watch out!”

He cut the wheel to the left. The driver’s side tires dropped off the snow-covered pavement. Kara’s upper body jerked to the left, where firm muscles pillowed her and held her steady. Jason’s body was rock hard. The kid she’d planned to explore the world with was long gone, and in his place was this man she barely recognized. The army life had transformed him into a human tank. And in that moment, she knew he’d protect her.

Thankfully, the vehicle slowed to a stop. With some effort, Jason eased it back on the road. “Sorry about that. You okay?”

Realizing she was still leaning against his arm, she pulled herself upright. “I’m fine.”

But was she? Her heart continued to palpitate faster than a jackhammer. The blood pounded in her ears. It was the near miss with the tree limb that had her all riled up. She was certain of it. She settled back in her seat and took a calming breath.

“Hang on tight.” Jason released the brake and the vehicle crawled forward. “The weather’s getting worse. I can barely make out the road.”

The tires crunched over the snow blanketing the pavement. The wind created white sheets that draped over the vehicle. All the while, the wipers worked furiously to clear the windshield for a second or two at a time. How in the world was she going to get home tonight? It’d be dawn before they got down the mountain at this inchworm pace.

“What are we going to do?” She didn’t bother to hide the quaver in her voice.

Jason patted her leg. “We’ll be okay. Trust me.”

He was the very last person she should trust, but in these extreme circumstances, she didn’t have much choice. Heat emanated from his lingering touch and radiated outward, sweeping through her limbs. Her gaze zeroed in on his fingers gripping her thigh. She should pull away, at the very least shove his hand aside. Before she could act, he withdrew it himself, to grip the steering wheel.

“Kara, why are you still there—at the resort? Working for my father?”

Not exactly a subject she wanted to broach with him, but at least it kept him from asking about her daughter. “You mean why didn’t I leave him like you did?”

“That isn’t what I meant.” A note of bitterness wove through his tone. “Why haven’t you moved on with your life? Gotten away from here? You always dreamed of traveling the world. Why give it all up for an old drunk who ran my grandfather’s dream into the ground?”

She straightened. “Don’t you dare judge me. Your father and I did our best to keep the resort up and running. Maybe if you’d been here, you could have helped.”

“I was busy at the time, getting shot at while defending our country.” He turned to her, his eyes glittering. “And recovering from a bomb blast.”

Her brain stuttered, trying to imagine the dangers he’d faced. “I had no idea.”

“You weren’t supposed to. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.”

“What happened? Are you okay now?”

“I’m fine.”

“If you’re so fine, why are you here and not still overseas?”

A muscle flexed in his cheek. “They gave me a medical discharge.”

She realized abruptly that something awful had happened to him. For all she knew, he might have come close to dying. A shiver washed over her body. Common sense said she should let the subject drop. After all, he was no longer part of her life, and she couldn’t afford to let him back in.

But the tense silence set her frazzled nerves on edge. Maybe some light conversation would ease her anxiety about the weather. “Your father must be so relieved to know you’re home. That you’re safe.”

“I haven’t seen him. And I don’t know if I will.”

Shocked at his admission, she paused. It wasn’t right that these two men, who had only each other, should be so distant. She fiddled with the blanket’s satin binding while staring out at the storm. Time was running out for his father. She felt compelled to try to help them.

“You have to go to him,” she insisted. “His liver is failing. I tried to put him on the transplant list, but with his history, he isn’t a candidate.”

“You can’t expect me to act surprised. No one can drink at breakfast, lunch and dinner without paying for it in the end.”

“Jason!” She glared at him.

In all the time she’d known him, he’d had a strained relationship with his father. Kara surmised it had started with the death of Jason’s mother, but none of that explained why Jason had turned his back on his dad after so many years. She couldn’t imagine ever cutting herself off from her parents. They didn’t have a perfect relationship, but her folks were always there when she needed them, and vice versa.

Refusing to believe Jason could be so cold, she said, “The next time I stop by the nursing home, I’ll let him know you’re in town.”

“Don’t interfere. That man and I took care of everything we had to say to each other years ago. There’s nothing left between us.”

Jason’s rigid tone told her she was pushing her luck, but she couldn’t help herself. “But he’s changed. He’s sober—”

“No more.” Jason’s hand slashed through the air, as though drawing an imaginary line she shouldn’t cross. “I can’t argue with you. I need to focus on the road.”

She sagged back against the seat with a heavy sigh. He was right. Now wasn’t the time to delve into the situation with his father. At best, Jason would be only partially listening to her while he worked to keep them out of a ditch. At least she’d had a chance to make her point about his father’s condition. There wasn’t much more she could do now. She just hoped Jason would come to his senses and make peace with his dad before it was too late. Regrets were tough to live with. She should know.

She reached for the radio, then paused. “Do you mind if I turn on some music?”

“Go ahead.”

At the press of a button, an ad for a local grocery store resonated from the SUV’s speakers. Kara turned the dial, searching for her favorite country station. The headline news greeted her. She glanced at the clock on the dash. With it being the top of the hour, news would be on most every station.

“This bulletin is just in from the National Weather Service,” the radio announcer said in a somber tone, garnering Kara’s full attention. “The arctic express is supposed to dump twenty-four inches of snow in the higher elevations by tomorrow.”

“Two feet,” she said in horror.

“We’ll be okay.” Jason reached over and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. An army of goose bumps marched up her limbs. She assured herself it was just a reaction to the dire forecast and had nothing to do with his touch.

The radio crackled as the announcer’s voice continued to ring out. “That isn’t even the worst of the storm. Sometime this evening, a blast from the south will raise the temperature, only to have the thermometer quickly sink back below freezing. I know you’re thinking this is a good thing, but let me tell you, folks, those pretty little flakes are going to change into an ice shower, and with a wind advisory due to kick in at midnight, it’s going to get dicey, resulting in downed trees and power lines....”

After another advertisement, strains of “Let It Snow” began to play. Someone at the radio station had a sick sense of humor. Outside, the flakes were continuing to come down hard and fast. A glance at Jason’s squinted eyes and the determined set of his jaw told Kara the conditions were already beyond dicey.

Minutes later, when the vehicle skidded to a stop next to an old elm tree, outside a modest log home, she turned to him. “What are we doing here?”

“The roads are too dangerous. We’ll hunker down here until the storm passes.”

“Here?” A half-dozen snow-covered trees surrounded them. “In the middle of nowhere?”

“This isn’t the boonies. There’s heat and shelter. You’ll be fine. Trust me.”

There he went again with that line about trust. The words grated across her thinly stretched nerves. What in the world had she done for Fate to conspire against her?

“I can’t spend the night with you,” she protested, even though she knew her daughter would be safe with her parents.

Jason leveled a frown at her, as though he wasn’t any more pleased than she was about the situation. “You aren’t scared of being alone with me, are you?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she said a little too quickly, refusing to meet his intense stare. “I grew up a long time ago.”

Her lips pressed into a firm line as she surveyed the sprawling log structure. Being snowed in with Jason, of all people, would be more stressful than sliding down the slick mountain road. Her hands clenched. She and Jason had too much history, and she hated how he still got under her skin, evoking a physical awareness she hadn’t experienced in ages.

“Do you even know who lives here? Or are we about to commit an act of breaking and entering?”

“This is now my home. Don’t you remember it? I brought you here a couple of times to visit my grandmother.”

Her gaze moved past him to the covered porch, with its two wooden rocking chairs. She searched her memory. At last she grasped on to a vague recollection that brought a smile to her lips. “I remember now. She fed us chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven. I liked her a lot.”

“She liked you, too.” His lips quirked as though he’d been transported back in time—back to a life that wasn’t so complicated. “I inherited this place from my grandparents, along with a trust fund my father couldn’t squander.”

Glowing light from the dashboard illuminated Jason’s face, highlighting the discomfort he felt when mentioning his dad, as he opened the door, letting the frigid air rush in. “Wait here. I’ll leave the heat on while I shovel a path to the porch.”

She refused to let him overexert his injured leg again on her behalf. With a twist of the key, she turned off the engine and vaulted out of the SUV. She sidled up next to him as he limped along.

He frowned down at her. “Don’t you ever listen?”

“Only when I want to. Now, lean on me and take some pressure off your leg.”

He breathed out an exasperated sigh before draping his arm over her shoulder. She started to lean in closer, but then pulled back, keeping a respectable distance while still assisting him. She refused to give in to her body’s desire to once again feel his heat, his strength. She had to keep herself in check. This was simply a matter of he’d helped her and now she was returning the favor—that was all.

On the top step, they paused. Her eyes scanned the lengthy porch. Her gaze stopped when she noticed a freshly cut pine tree, all ready to be decked out in colorful ornaments and tinsel. She remembered as a child accompanying her father and grandfather to the local Christmas-tree farm to cut down their own tree. The fond memory left her smiling.

“I’m so jealous,” she said as Jason pulled away to stand on his own. “You have a real Christmas tree. All I ever have time for is the artificial kind. I remember how the live trees would bring such a wonderful scent to the whole house.”

“A neighbor asked to cut down a tree on my property, and thanked me by chopping one for me, too. The thing is, I don’t do Christmas.”

“What do you mean, you don’t do Christmas?” Her eyes opened wide. “How do you not do Christmas? It’s the best time of the year.”

“Not for me.” His definite tone left no doubt that he wanted nothing to do with the holiday.

Her thoughts strayed to her daughter and how her eyes lit up when they put up the Christmas tree. Even in the lean years before her promotion to office manager, Kara had managed to collect dollar-store ornaments and strings of lights. With carols playing in the background, they would sing as they hooked the decorations over the branches.

The holiday was a time for family, for togetherness. A time to be grateful for life’s many blessings. Not a time to be alone with nothing but your memories for company. The thought of Jason detached from his family and friends during such a festive time filled her with such sorrow.

“I haven’t celebrated it since...my mother was alive.” His last words were barely audible.

Kara recalled when they were dating how he’d always have a small gift for her, including the silver locket at home in her jewelry box. But he’d always made one excuse after another to avoid the Christmas festivities.

“Surely after all these years you’ve enjoyed Christmas carols around a bonfire, driven around to check out the houses all decked out in lights or exchanged presents with various girlfriends?” Kara didn’t want to dwell on that last uneasy thought.

He shook his head.

“What about the military? Didn’t they do anything for the holidays?”

He paused by the front door. His back went ramrod straight.

“I always opted to be on duty,” he said, his tone clipped. “I’ll get rid of the tree the first chance I get.”

“How could you possibly throw away such a perfect tree? You’re home now. Time to start over. A chance for new beginnings...” Her voice trailed off. She didn’t want him to misconstrue her words—to think she wanted them to have a new beginning. Not giving him time to ponder her statement, she continued, “You should try joining in the fun. After all, it’s the most joyous time of the year.”

Kara forced a smile. She couldn’t believe she was trying to talk him into celebrating the exact same holiday during which he’d broken her heart. If he wanted to be an old, cranky Scrooge, why should she care?

Jason didn’t say anything as he opened the door and stepped aside, allowing her to enter. In the narrow opening, her arm brushed against him, and even through the layers of clothing an electrical current zinged up her arm, warming a spot in her chest.

Staying here wasn’t a good idea.

Being alone with her new boss was an even poorer idea.

This whole situation constituted the worst idea ever.