Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove Series, Volume 3 (127 page)

“A sleigh ride
might
be fun,”
Danielle said with a halfhearted shrug.

Bailey and Sophie leaped up and down and clapped their hands.
Their behavior reminded Beth of when they were youngsters and were told they
could stay up past their bedtime.

“I didn't know you had a sleigh,” Kent said as he reached for
his coat and gloves. His scarf, Beth noticed, was one she'd knit him years
earlier for Christmas. It warmed her to know that he still wore it. Did he think
of her every time he put it on?

“The sleigh, which is pretty old, is in one of the
outbuildings,” she said. “It came with the property. We don't use it much.”

“A sleigh ride is perfect after a snowfall, though. Right,
Mom?” Sophie asked.

Perfect
wasn't exactly the word
she'd use.

“You don't have any horses.” Kent seemed to be looking for
excuses to get out of this. Beth didn't blame him; she'd rather avoid a cozy
ride herself. She'd had about all the togetherness she could handle.

“Mom's neighbors. The Nelsons,” Bailey explained. “They have
horses and said we can borrow them anytime we want.” Without waiting for the
go-ahead, Bailey picked up the phone and grabbed the personal directory Beth
kept in a kitchen drawer.

“We'll have a great time,” Sophie told Kent.

“The Nelsons said no problem.” Bailey replaced the receiver,
her eyes shining with glee.

“I'll go get a few blankets,” Beth muttered, eager to make an
escape. She rushed up the stairs and into her bedroom. Slumping on the edge of
her bed, she brought her hands to her heated face. She wasn't sure how much
longer she'd be able to pull this off.

“Get a grip,” she ordered herself. She walked into the master
bath and splashed cold water on her cheeks. Her reflection in the mirror
revealed that her face was flushed. She looked feverish. This wasn't due to
illness, though, but acute embarrassment.

“Mom,” Sophie called her from the foot of the stairs. “The
Nelsons said they'd bring over the horses.”

Beth came out of her bedroom. “Okay,” she called down. “I'll be
there in a minute.” Collecting warm blankets from the hall closet, she returned
to the main floor.

By the time she got her hat, coat and gloves, Kent and the
girls had opened the doors to the storage shed where the sleigh was kept. The
large white uncovered sleigh had two red velvet benches, one of them for the
driver.

John Nelson, who lived next door, walked over, leading two
large geldings. Kent introduced himself. Danielle was still in the house,
refreshing her makeup or so Beth assumed.

“When you're finished, would you mind if we took the sleigh out
for a ride?” John asked.

“Of course not,” Beth told him. She glanced up at the sky. “I
can't imagine we'll be out long. When we're finished, I'll take the sleigh over
to your place.”

“I appreciate it, Beth. You're a good neighbor.”

“So are you.”

The harnesses were in the storage shed, and John helped Beth
hitch the two horses to the sleigh.

Danielle had come out of the house but remained on the porch
until that was done. John left, and the girls climbed on board the sleigh to
arrange the blankets.

Danielle looked uncertain, as if she wasn't sure a sleigh ride
was something she wanted, after all. “It's cold out here.” She squinted at the
sky. “And it looks like it's going to snow. Plus, I'm expecting a phone
call.”

“Snow! Isn't that
wonderful?
”
Bailey sounded as if snow was the most magical thing that could possibly
happen.

“I'm not used to the cold.”

“Then you need to sit between us,” Sophie said. “Bailey and I
will keep you snug and warm.”

Kent helped Danielle into the sleigh, and Bailey and Sophie
immediately covered her lap with blankets and wrapped an extra one about her
shoulders. By the time they'd finished, all that showed was Danielle's pinched
face.

Not until Beth climbed into the worn front seat did she realize
that the only place left for Kent to sit was next to her. He seemed to realize
that at the same time she did. They stared at each other until Kent got into the
sleigh. They sat as far apart on the bench as humanly possible.

“Would you like me to take the reins?” he asked, refusing to
look at her.

“If you'd like.” She handed them over, knowing he was capable
of managing the horses and sleigh.

They started off with a jolt and Danielle let out a cry of
alarm. After the initial jerk, the ride went smoothly. The horses' hooves made
muted clopping sounds as the sleigh glided over the snowy road.

“You going to be my navigator?” Kent asked.

“Sure.”

Kent had moved toward the middle of the seat and she did, too,
for fear of falling off if the sleigh hit bumpy ground.

Kent seemed willing to overlook her earlier comment. She was
grateful and wished she could take back the lie. “Go left at the fork in the
road,” she told him, pointing in that direction.

“How many acres do you have here?” he asked, sounding genuinely
interested. The trees had been trimmed and shaped until they were the perfect
size for Christmas. Now they glistened with bright, fresh snow.

“Forty acres in total, but only twenty are planted in trees.
I'm planting another five acres each year and replacing the ones we've cut.”

Kent held the reins loosely. “I assumed most families bought
artificial trees these days.”

“Certainly that's the trend, but there are still plenty of
people who prefer a fresh tree, especially if they can chop it down themselves.
It makes for wonderful memories. And after Christmas, people cut them up for
compost, so ecologically speaking, you could argue that they're superior.”

“That's good.”

“In addition, a lot of my trees are shipped overseas.”

“Really.”

She chatted easily, explaining what she'd learned in the past
three seasons and her hopes for the future. After a while, she paused,
embarrassed that she'd talked for so long. “I apologize. I didn't mean to drone
on like that.”

He gave her a quick smile. “You really love it here, don't
you?”

“It's a very different lifestyle from California, but I needed
a change. I was in a horrible rut.” The instant the words were out, she
regretted being so honest. “I didn't mean that the way it sounded. What I said
earlier, it…isn't— I wish…”

“Don't worry about it,” he murmured.

Kent had always been ready to forgive and forget; she admired
that about him. She was the one who held on to hurts far longer than she
should.

“We should sing Christmas carols,” Bailey suggested, and then
broke into “Silent Night.” Sophie joined in and so did Kent. Beth added her own
voice. The last one to sing was Danielle. Unfortunately, she was off-key and
sounded terrible.

Beth chanced a look at Kent and found him glancing at her at
the same time. They broke into giggles, which they did their best to hide.

The group's enthusiasm faded after two or three songs, and
their voices gradually dwindled away.

“Remember our first Christmas?” Kent asked, keeping his voice
low.

“I thought about it…recently. It was a magical time for us,
wasn't it?” He met her eyes for several seconds until she forced herself to look
down. The intensity of the attraction she felt confused her. Disconcerted her.
Oh, dear. It was happening again and this time Danielle was with them.

As the sleigh glided through the snow, she pointed to another
turn in the road, one that cut through the property.

“Right or left?”

“Left.” She was so caught up in the moment that she'd said
left
when she meant
right.

Kent turned right. “Sorry,” he said, sounding flustered. “You
said left, didn't you?”

“No, this is fine,” she told him. She clenched her gloved hands
in her lap, grateful that the wind and cold were a convenient excuse for the
color splotching her face.

“Oh, look,” Sophie cried. “It's snowing again.”

Thick, fat flakes drifted lazily from a slate-gray sky.

“It'll probably melt by morning,” Danielle said, “and
everything will be mud and slush.”

“But for now it's beautiful,” Beth countered. This was the
coldest winter on record in the Pacific Northwest. The weatherperson
broadcasting from the Seattle TV station had been effusive about the unusual
amount of snow in the area, especially this early in the winter.

“I'm cold,” Danielle complained. “And I can't move my
arms.”

“Let me help you,” Bailey said.

“Ouch! You're pulling the blankets tighter. I feel like a
sausage.”

“I thought you said you were cold.”

“I am, but I want to breathe, too,” Danielle snapped. “Take
this ridiculous thing off me.”

“Girls,” Beth said, twisting around. Danielle was right; she
did resemble a sausage. “Make her comfortable.”

“Can we go back to the house soon?” Danielle pleaded.

“I'll head over there now,” Kent told her. He glanced at Beth
and grinned boyishly. “Okay, navigator, which way?”

“Recalculating, recalculating,” she said, using the tinny voice
of her car's navigational system.

Kent laughed and turned the sleigh around when he came to a
place where that was possible.

“Do you ever think back to those early years?” he asked with
his attention focused on the road ahead. “When we were first married…”

The snow was coming down thicker and faster, making for limited
visibility.

“I…try not to, but yes, I do.” She hadn't wanted to admit that,
but it seemed senseless to deny the truth. “You?”

“Sometimes.” He paused. “What happened to us, Beth?”

“I…wish I knew.”

“Me, too.”

“Are we there yet?” Danielle asked plaintively.

A question hovered on the end of Beth's tongue but she refused
to ask it. If Kent was looking for a second wife who was completely her
opposite, he'd found that woman in Danielle. She and Beth were about as
dissimilar as any two women could be. Perhaps that was what he wanted. The
thought depressed her.... Unless he was telling the truth and Danielle really
was
just a friend. But in that case, why did she
stick to Kent like glue? Why had he even brought her to Cedar Cove?

“Mom?” Bailey asked. “My birthday's in September—when did you
get pregnant with me?”

“Bailey!” Beth was shocked that her daughter would ask such a
question, especially in front of Danielle.

“Christmas Eve,” Kent answered.

“Really? Wow. You're sure?”

“Yup.”

“So tonight's more of a celebration than I realized.”

“What about me?” Sophie wanted to know.

“Easter,” Beth said. “It was an early Easter that year. We were
at your parents'. Remember, Kent?”

His eyes widened as the memory drifted back. He caught her eye
and they both struggled to contain their amusement. They'd slept in the guest
bedroom, which was just down the hall from his parents' room. Their bed
squeaked…so they'd rolled onto the floor and Kent's foot had become tangled in
the lamp cord and the lamp came crashing down on him. On hearing the crash, his
mother had knocked on the door to make sure everything was all right. It'd been
a comedy of errors.

“What's so funny?” Danielle demanded.

Beth felt guilty for being so rude as to exclude everyone else
from their private conversation. “I apologize, Danielle,” she said, turning
around. “Kent and I were…just remembering something that happened years
ago.”

“I was the result,” Sophie announced proudly.

“Can we talk about something different?” Danielle said, clearly
not amused.

“Of course,” Beth assured her.

“I always wanted a brother,” Bailey said. “An older
brother.”

“You got your sister instead.”

“Yeah. And not only that, she's younger.”

“I never had a sister,” Danielle said. “And
my
brother was younger and a real nuisance. He used to
spy on me and my friends.”

“Sophie used to spy on me.”

“Did not.”

“Did, too.”

“Girls,” Beth said, annoyed by their behavior. “You're out of
grade school. Please act like it.”

They broke into peals of laughter.

“What?” Beth turned again to see what her daughters were
laughing about now.

“Mom, you're so predictable. That's exactly what we told
Danielle you'd say.”

Kent pulled the sleigh over to the shed and handed the reins to
Beth while he jumped down. He helped Sophie out first, then Danielle and
Bailey.

“I'll take the sled over to the Nelsons',” Beth said, but
before she could set off, Kent leaped back into place beside her.

“I'll go with you.”

“That isn't necessary,” she told him, thinking he'd want to be
inside with the others.

“Yes, it is. You aren't going to argue with me, are you?”

“I…no.”

“Good, because it would be very tempting to stop you the way I
used to once upon a time.”

Beth swallowed hard. She'd forgotten. In the early days of
their marriage, anytime she disagreed with him, Kent would take her in his arms
and kiss her.

Ten

“H
oney, can you get the door?” Corrie
called from the back bedroom. She swore that if Roy didn't get his hearing
checked soon, she'd start ignoring every word he said. That would give him a
little demonstration of what she put up with every day.