Читать книгу Shenandoah Christmas - Lynnette Kent - Страница 8

The present

WITH HIS CHISEL poised to make a delicate cut, Ben Tremaine looked up as footsteps crunched through the fallen leaves outside the open door. “Maddie? Shep? That you?”

He had just enough time to put down the tool before two small cyclones whirled into the workshop, bringing with them the crisp scent of autumn. “Daddy!” Maddie dropped her book bag and threw herself into his arms. “We’re home!”

When Shep wiggled in beside her, Ben closed his arms tight around his children, kissing first Shep’s smooth blond head, then Maddie’s tight dark curls. This was his favorite part of the day. “Good to see you guys. How was school?”

“I got a hundred on my math test.” Maddie settled in on his knee. “We had a handwriting quiz—Miss Everett said mine was the prettiest in the class. We played hopscotch at recess and I won. And during story time Miss Everett read what I asked her to—‘How the Leopard Got His Spots’ from Just So Stories. You remember that one, Daddy?”

“I sure do. Sounds like you had a great day. How about you, Shep?” Without answering, the little boy slipped from his hold and moved to the workbench, running his fingers lightly over the fretwork veneer Ben had been working on. “How’d school go?”

His son shrugged one shoulder and gave a small nod. Knowing the futility of pushing any harder—Shep hadn’t said a single word to anyone in the eighteen months since his mother died—Ben stifled a sigh of frustration and looked at Maddie again. “This is Wednesday, so you went to choir right after school, didn’t you?”

“Brenna’s mom took us.” The little girl’s face brightened with enthusiasm. “Miss Caitlyn played her guitar and sang us some of the songs she wrote. They’re so beautiful, I can’t believe it.”

This wasn’t the first time Ben had heard about the wonders of Caitlyn Gregory. “I bet you’ll be glad when Miss Anna can come back, though. I know how much you like her as your regular choir teacher.”

“Miss Anna’s really nice.” Maddie nodded. “But Miss Caitlyn kinda…sparkles.” She gave a worshipful sigh.

“I’m sure she’s fun to sing with. Just remember—” He debated the warning for a second, then decided to go with it. “Remember she won’t be here for very long. She’s pretty famous and she has lots of work to do in other places. It’s nice of her to come and help out, but once Miss Anna’s baby is born and the doctor says she can get back to normal, Miss Caitlyn will be gone.”

“I know.” Maddie’s smile dimmed. “Brenna said Miss Caitlyn’s some kind of big rock star or something.” She slid off his lap and started toward the door, then turned back, her face shining again. “But Christmas is only nine weeks away. Maybe she’ll be here at least until Christmas. Wouldn’t that be neat, Daddy? I bet she sings carols like an angel!”

Ben called up a halfhearted grin. “I wouldn’t be surprised. You and Shep go into the house and get started on your homework. I’ll close up and be right there.” He turned to straighten his tools and clean up the workshop while the kids streaked across the backyard in the gathering dusk.

As he swept cherrywood shavings into a corner, he realized with surprise that more than two-thirds of October had come and gone. Having accustomed himself to the slow pace of life in the country, Ben rarely looked very far ahead anymore. He hadn’t realized how soon the holidays would arrive.

Another Christmas, he thought, deliberately relaxing the set of his jaw and the tight grip of his hands on the broomstick. I can hardly wait.

THE THIRD TIME her brother-in-law David commented on the number of meals they were eating out of cans, Cait’s redheaded temper caught fire. She spent Friday morning studying Anna’s cookbooks and making a grocery list. Just after lunch, while her sister napped, Cait headed for the only grocery store in Goodwill, Virginia.

Driving through the little town, Cait rolled down the car windows to catch the breeze. In the past ten years she hadn’t had time to notice the seasons much, and she was realizing what she’d missed. Old trees lined the narrow streets, their leaves turning gold and maroon and brilliant orange with the arrival of chilly fall nights. The forested mountains to the west blazed in the early afternoon sunshine, an impressionist collage of all the reds and yellows imaginable. Eastward stretched the rolling pastures and fields of the Shenandoah Valley, their gentle summer greens fading now to tawny. Under a wide blue sky, the ancient hills imparted a sense of time to spare. Cait hadn’t felt so free of obligations in years.

Time had, in face, been kind to Goodwill. Set on lush lawns among the colorful trees, many of the houses in the area dated back a century or more; the town had been settled before the American Revolution and had escaped most of the ravages of the Civil War. Windows paned with antique wavy glass looked out over a brick-paved main street called, simply, the Avenue. Old buildings of brick and stone and painted wood siding had aged gracefully, adapting to changed circumstances and purposes with dignity. What had once been the schoolhouse was now a computer software business. The one-time blacksmith’s stable had become a bookstore, and a dress boutique occupied the shoemaker’s shop.

Yet the bakery still used wood-fired ovens built two hundred years ago; descendants of the first attorney in town still practiced in his original building and the physician’s office still housed a pediatrician. Modern intrusions were few and carefully designed, including Food Depot, one block east of the Avenue. Old brick with white wood trim disguised a very modern grocery, while the mature trees standing between the parking spaces out front created an arbor on what would have been a bare asphalt plain.

Inside the store, Cait pulled out her list and prepared to concentrate on shopping. Her dinner preparation usually consisted of making reservations or ordering take-out food. But she didn’t expect to have much trouble cooking a real meal. How hard could pot roast be?

Potatoes were the first problem. Idaho? Golden? Red? New? Cait tried to visualize the last pot roast she’d eaten, but ten years on the road, staying in a different town every night, had buried the memory too deep. She decided she liked the look of the small red ones, and moved on to carrots. Organic versus…what? Did organic change the taste? Would David notice? And should she peel them herself, or be lazy and get the ones already peeled?

The vegetables were easy, however, compared to the meat department. All the plastic-wrapped roasts looked the same. The recipe called for rump roast or shoulder roast or round roast. Which was the best? How was she supposed to choose?

She flipped her braid over her shoulder. “Why isn’t beef just beef?”

“I beg your pardon?” A baritone voice, soft southern vowels, obviously startled.

With her cheeks heating up, Cait glanced at the man standing beside her. “I…um…was talking to myself. Sorry.” He flashed a half smile and returned to studying packs of hamburger.

She took advantage of his preoccupation to steal another look. This was a man to write songs about. Dark-blue eyes, wheat-gold hair in short curls that reminded her of an ancient Roman statue, impressive shoulders under a cinnamon-colored sweater. He reached down to pick up a package of meat, giving her a view of lean hips and long legs in faded jeans.

Wow. Cait mentally fanned herself. She’d shared the stage with several of Hollywood’s biggest heartthrobs at an awards ceremony a few months back, but none of them had left her breathless like this. Who knew Anna’s tiny town could offer such interesting options?

“Excuse me.” Following her impulse, she tugged on the elbow of his sweater.

Her reward was another chance to gaze into those deep, deep eyes. “Yes, ma’am?”

A gentleman all the way. Better and better. “Do you know anything about pot roast?”

His brows, slightly darker than his hair, drew together. “Pot roast?”

Cait gestured at the meat case. “Which one works the best?”

That small smile of his broke again. “Oh. No, I don’t do the fancy stuff. But I think my mother-in-law uses chuck roast.” Leaning across her, he lifted a huge hunk of meat out of the cooler one-handed. “Like this.”

“Ah.” Cait held out her hands and he eased the roast into her grasp. Mother-in-law. So much for options. “Thanks for the help.”

He nodded. “Anytime.”

Don’t I wish. Feeling like a kid denied her lollipop, Cait pushed her cart toward the dairy section. Anna needed to drink milk every day. Two percent? Whole? Skim?

And why were all the really great men already married, anyway?

The ultimate torture was standing behind that same guy in the checkout line—her chance to pick up all the details she’d missed before. An easy stance, a strong jawline, square, long-fingered hands which saw their share of physical labor, if a few healing cuts were anything to go by. Not to mention all the kid groceries in his cart—small juice cartons, boxes of animal crackers, fruit roll snacks and cereal with marshmallow shapes. The guy not only had a mother-in-law. He had children.

A tune from a few years back came to mind, a daughter singing about the strength and love in her daddy’s hands. This man had that kind of caring, working hands. Lucky kids.

Lucky wife.

Cait shook her head and fixed her gaze on the tabloids in the rack beside her cart. After ten exhausting years, her music career was about to break into the big time. She had a New Year’s Eve slot on a major network show and an album scheduled to start production in the spring. Who needed a husband and kids? Or a house to keep?

Anna was the domestic sister, the homemaker, the mom-to-be. Cait knew herself for the wanderer, seldom happy for more than a little while in one place. She hadn’t seen a town she couldn’t leave. Hadn’t met anyone she wanted more than she wanted the smiles and the tears, the sighs and the applause, of a live audience.

But she had to admit, watching the guy in the cinnamon sweater reach for his wallet, that an available man who looked as good as this one might tempt her into changing her mind.

BEN FELT the presence of the woman behind him in the checkout line as if the air around them stirred slightly every time she took a breath. That minute by the meat case had left him with fleeting impressions. Hair in every shade from gold to copper, tamed into a thick braid over her shoulder. Eyes the color of spring leaves, fringed by dark lashes. Skin as smooth as a little girl’s, sprinkled with freckles. A cigarettes-and-whiskey kind of voice which, along with the fact that she looked very much like her sister, told him who she must be. Cait Gregory, superstar, was shopping for pot roast at the Food Depot in Goodwill, Virginia.

He could see what Maddie meant about “sparkle.” Ms. Gregory possessed the kind of charisma he’d noticed in movie stars and politicians during his years with the Secret Service in Washington. If what he’d heard about her recent concert tour was true, she could reduce a rowdy crowd to absolute, focused silence with the sound of her voice. Even “pot roast” sounded sexy when Cait Gregory said it.

Unloading his sacks of groceries into the back of the Suburban, Ben sat behind the wheel with the motor running and faced the fact that he should have introduced himself to his kids’ choir director, if only to be neighborly. They would meet at church eventually. She would wonder why he’d kept quiet, especially since she’d obviously been willing to give him more than just the time of day.

Maybe that was why he hadn’t said more. Cait Gregory demanded acknowledgment as an attractive, sensual member of the very opposite sex. The soft green sweater that molded the curves of her breasts, the snug jeans that emphasized the flare of her hips…

Ben shook his head and jerked the truck into reverse. He’d noticed a hell of a lot more about Cait Gregory than he was comfortable with. He hadn’t thought about a woman as female since Valerie’s death, and he didn’t want to start now.

Especially not with this particular woman. One look at her red hair, at the hint of temper in the arch of her eyebrows and the tilt of her lips, foretold every kind of emotional experience but peace. And peace was all Ben really wanted.

So she could just take her tempest somewhere, and to someone, else. He did not intend to pursue more than the slightest, most temporary acquaintance with the famous Ms. Gregory. His life worked okay these days; he gave everything he had to taking care of Shep and Maddie and to building his custom furniture business. That was the way he liked it and nobody was going to make him change his mind.

Ben dared them even to try.

ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON, Harry Shepherd got home from work an hour later than he’d planned. He usually finished early at the office on Fridays, but today’s meeting had run long, there had been a report to generate afterward, and some new figures faxed in just as he was getting ready to leave. As vice president of one of the country’s leading furniture manufacturers, he never walked out the door until the week’s work was done.

But the grandkids were due for supper any minute. He and Peg took them on Friday nights to give Ben a little privacy and a chance to get out, if he wanted, without worrying about Maddie and Shep. As far as Harry could tell, though, all his son-in-law did with his free time was go back to work. Harry wished that would change. Harry had been the one to suggest Ben set up his own custom-made furniture business and he knew that getting a new enterprise off the ground required a great deal of focused effort. But some time off now and again brought a fresh attitude and increased energy to the job. Besides, Ben needed a social life. A man shouldn’t spend all his days and nights with his kids.

Headlights flashed on the trees at the end of the driveway as Ben’s Suburban pulled in. Within seconds, Maddie jumped out and grabbed Harry around the waist. “Hi, Grandpa! We’re here!”

“I can see that, Magpie.” He rubbed his hand over her curls, so like her mother’s had been at that age. Shep trailed behind her, his head down as he studied the toy plane in his hands. “Very nice,” Harry said. “Is that the one that broke the sound barrier?” The little boy glanced up out of the sides of his eyes and nodded, but didn’t volunteer any more contact. Would they ever see him smile again, or hear his voice?

“Hey, Harry.” Ben joined them and they walked as a group up the steps onto the porch. “You sure you feel up to dealing with these characters tonight?”

Peggy had opened the front door. “Of course we do. Come in, Maddie, darling. Oh, Shep, how did you get that tear in your sweater?”

“That’s what little boys are designed for, Peg.” Harry put a hand on her shoulder, leaned in for his welcome-home kiss. Her cheeks were still rose-petal smooth, although she and Harry had both hit sixty this year. “The apparel industry counts on him to make sure his clothes don’t last too long.”

Unlike Harry’s company, which made furniture that lasted for generations. He took a lot of pride in having helped to build a reputation for quality.

Peggy clucked her tongue, examining Shep’s sleeve. The boy pulled away, leaving the sweater hanging in her hands. “Shameful waste, if you ask me.” She sighed, but only in part, Harry knew, because of the garment. Shep’s withdrawal worried her deeply. “I’ll mend it later. Meanwhile, all of you come in. I’ve got some cheese and crackers set out. What would you like to drink, Maddie?”

Kneeling at the coffee table, Maddie stacked cheese slices and crackers into a tower. “Can I have a soda?”

“No.” Ben still stood near the front door. “You can have juice. Or milk.”

Maddie stuck out her lower lip. “Apple juice, I guess, Grandma.”

“Excuse me?” Her father’s voice was stern.

The little girl got the message. “Please could I have apple juice, Grandma?” She glanced at her brother, who nodded without looking up. “And for Shep, too.”

“Right away. Ben, what can I get you?”

“Nothing, thanks. I need to get back to the house.”

“Oh, but—” To her husband’s surprise, Peggy actually blushed. “I thought you might stay for dinner tonight. I made a big pot roast and…invited some extra people.”

That was a surprise. Friday nights were supposed to be just for the grandkids.

Ben evidently had similar ideas. “Thanks, Peggy, but some other time.” Backing up, he reached for the door handle. As he touched it, the bell rang. He gave his usual half grin. “I’ll get it.”

The grin widened when he glanced outside. “Hi, Anna. How are you? You’re looking great, as usual.” He drew Anna Remington into the house with his left hand and extended his right to her husband. “Hey, Pastor Dave. What’s going on?”

In the midst of giving Anna a kiss on the cheek, Harry saw Ben’s jaw drop for a second, saw him swallow hard. “Come in. Please.”

Harry understood Ben’s shock when Caitlyn Gregory stepped across the threshold. Anna was a sweet and pretty woman, but her sister…well. Caitlyn wasn’t wearing anything fancy, just a gold sweater and a long, narrow black skirt. But she lit up the room like a Roman candle.

He cleared his throat. “Ms. Gregory, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Harry Shepherd.”

“I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Shepherd.” She crossed the front hall to shake his hand. That voice alone would scramble a man’s brains. Which might be why Ben was still standing by the open door, letting in the October chill.

“Cait, this is Peggy.” Anna brought her sister farther into the living room. “And I think you know Maddie and Shep.”

“I certainly do. Two of my favorite choir members.” She smiled at Peggy. “Thanks for inviting me, Mrs. Shepherd.”

Peg waved away the formality, as she always did. “Harry and Peggy will do just fine, Caitlyn. And this is Ben Tremaine. Our son-in-law.”

The singer turned back toward Ben with what looked like reluctance. She put out a hand. “How do you do?”

Ben barely brushed her palm with his. “Good to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Their eyes locked for a second, then each looked away. Ben finally shut the front door.

Harry stared at his wife, a suspicion forming in his brain. Was there more to this dinner than just friends getting together?

But Peg was immersed in her hostess role, not open to receiving unspoken messages. “Harry will take your coats. Anna, you sit yourself down on the sofa. I’ll bring some juice for you and the children. David, Caitlyn, will you have something? A glass of wine, perhaps?”

The younger woman smiled. “Wine, please.”

The minister took a seat next to his wife. “That would be great, Peggy.”

She looked at Ben. “You’ll be staying, of course. What can I get you?”

Taking Ben’s jacket as he shrugged it off, Harry heard him sigh. Then he said, “A glass of wine sounds good. Can I help?”

“No, no. Y’all just sit and talk. I’ll be right back.” Peg disappeared toward the kitchen. Harry shut the front door, then went to lay the coats on the bed in the guest room. When he returned to the living room, only Maddie was attempting conversation. Shep was busy landing his supersonic aircraft under the coffee table.

“My friend Brenna says you’re a big star.” The little girl bit into a cracker and chewed for a second, staring seriously at Caitlyn Gregory, then swallowed. “Do you like singing for people?”

“All I wanted to be—when I grew up—was a singer.” Cait sat in the armchair closest to the children, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. She wore a column of thin gold bracelets on each wrist, which drew attention to her pretty hands.

“Our dad used to say Cait sang before she could talk,” Anna told Maddie.

Harry, watching closely, saw the singer’s mouth tighten, then relax. “That might be true. I sang at church a lot, when I was young.”

“I like to sing,” Maddie confided, as a cracker crumbled through her fingers onto the carpet.

Caitlyn nodded, which set her long gold earrings to swaying. “And you have a very good voice. You help the other children learn the songs.”

“My daddy sings, too.”

“I’m sure he does.” Caitlyn lifted her chin, almost defiantly, and gazed at Ben. “I could tell when we talked that he would have a nice singing voice.”

“You’ve already met?” Peg returned with a tray of drinks. “I didn’t know that.” She looked a little put out.

Oh, Peg, Harry groaned silently. What are you trying to pull off this time?

“We ran into each other only this afternoon, as a matter of fact,” Ben drawled, his voice dry. “In the meat department at Food Depot. Over pot roast.”

HE COULD HAVE introduced himself. Cait took the glass of white wine Peggy offered and held the cool bowl between her palms. Her face felt hot, which probably meant she was blushing.

Why had Ben Tremaine pretended not to recognize her? She’d been teaching his children in choir for three weeks. Maybe he’d never heard a single one of her recordings, but she and Anna looked enough alike that he would have known right away whom he was talking to. This was a small town. So far, Cait hadn’t met a single person who didn’t already know who she was and why she was here.

But Ben Tremaine hadn’t even bothered to make her acquaintance through a simple exchange of names. If he’d been married, that would have been a reason, she supposed, for him to steer clear of a single woman who’d made it clear she found him attractive.

That was not quite the case, however. Anna had explained the situation during the drive to the Shepherds’ house tonight. Ben’s wife—Harry and Peggy’s daughter—had been killed in a car wreck. Shep had been in the car with her, and though his physical injuries were minor, he hadn’t spoken a word since. That accounted for why he was attentive, but completely silent, during choir practice. As for Maddie—losing her mother’s love and attention in such a tragic way had caused the little girl to hoard every bit of affection or praise she received.

And Ben must still be in deep mourning for his wife. Did that absolve him from simple friendliness?

Evidently. “Dinner’s ready,” Peggy Shepherd announced, waving through a wide doorway toward the table. Anna had mentioned that this house was one of the town’s oldest, dating back to the early 1800s; beautiful wainscoting and woodwork in the dining room and entry hall testified to the craftsmanship of long ago. “Caitlyn, you sit here on Harry’s left and Ben, you can…” Her voice trailed off, and her eyes widened as Ben took the chair diagonally opposite Cait, as far away as he could manage. “That’s…that’s fine. David and Anna, would you like to sit next to Ben?”

That seated Shep beside Cait, then Maddie next to her grandmother. Harry handed over a platter heaped with carrots and potatoes…and pot roast. “Help yourself.”

“Thanks.” Cait took a healthy portion of the succulent meat and vegetables, then hesitated. Should she serve Shep? Her area of expertise these days was music. What she knew about children she’d learned at choir practice, and that wasn’t much.

“Shep?” When she said his name, the little boy lifted his long-lashed brown gaze to her face. “Would you like some meat and vegetables?”

He looked away again, but nodded. Cait took a deep breath and forked over a piece of roast. “Potatoes?” Another nod. “Carrots?” The little boy shook his head.

“Have some carrots, son,” his dad instructed from across the table. Obviously, Ben Tremaine was keeping an eye on them.

Shep’s pout, as Cait ladled a few of the smaller slices onto his plate, conveyed quite clearly what he thought about carrots. She looked at that full lower lip, stuck way out, and had a strong urge to hug him. Such an adorable little boy.

His grandfather made the same impression. Harry Shepherd was handsome, young-looking, with brown hair that showed only a few strands of gray, and brown eyes like Shep’s that twinkled when he smiled. His wife was simply amazing. Peggy had orchestrated a dinner for eight people, yet looked completely relaxed. Her silver-white hair remained smoothly drawn into a ponytail, her pale blue sweater and slacks didn’t exhibit a single spot of food. So far, Cait couldn’t seem to cook for three without making a mess of herself and the kitchen, a fact Anna’s husband pointed out as often as possible.

But then, her sister’s attraction to this particular man had always been a puzzle to Cait. Thin and balding, though he wasn’t yet thirty-five, David Remington lacked the easy social skills Cait remembered in her father and the other ministers she’d met as a child. David’s eyes were round, as if constantly surprised. He always seemed to be in a hurry, always anxious, always thinking ahead.

Like now. “Are you tired?” he asked Anna, before she’d even sampled her food. “Should we be getting home?”

Anna gave him her sweet smile and shook her head. “I’m fine. I took an extra-long nap after Peggy called to invite us this afternoon, so I could feel good tonight.”

“How many weeks do you have left?” Peggy brought a second basket of biscuits to the table.

“Eleven, if everything goes perfectly.” Anna put down her fork and sighed. “The due date should be January 10. But the doctor doesn’t think I’ll get that far. He’s hoping for the middle of December. The longer, the better, as far as the baby’s concerned.”

The older woman looked at Cait. “Will you be able to stay until then?”

Cait noticed Ben glance up from his plate at Peggy’s question, though his gaze came nowhere near hers. “That’s what I’m planning. After Christmas, my schedule gets hectic, but for now, I’m here to help Anna…and David,” she added belatedly, “any way I can.”

“Oh, boy!” Maddie clapped her hands. “That means you’ll be here for the holidays. Won’t that be cool, Daddy? Miss Cait is going to help us with the Christmas pageant!”

With a roaring in her ears, Cait stared at the little girl.

Christmas pageant? I don’t do Christmas.

Not for the last ten years. Not this year…

Not ever again!