Midnight Under the Mistletoe (6 page)

“C’mon, let’s go into the family room where it’s more
comfortable and Caroline has things to play with while we talk,” Zach
suggested.

Will smiled. “We were on our way back from Dallas and stopped
for a few minutes to see about you.”

“Zach, all of you go ahead,” Emma said. “I can stay in here. I
don’t want to intrude—”

“C’mon, Emma, or we’ll all have to sit in here on these hard
chairs,” Zach said with a shake of his head.

“Please join us,” Ava said. “Don’t leave Caroline and me alone
with these two.”

Emma smiled and nodded, knowing Ava was teasing and it was nice
that they would include her. Will was strikingly handsome without the ruggedness
of Zach. She would not have picked them out of a crowd as brothers because
Will’s dark eyes were nothing like Zach’s vivid blue ones. Their facial
structure was as different as their hair.

“Well, the offer is still open for you to have Thanksgiving
with us,” Will said.

“Thanks. I’ll still stay here. You know Rosie will cook a big
turkey.”

“You should join us, Zach,” Ava said. “The snow will be
beautiful and we’ll have a great time.”

“Thanks, Ava. I’ll do fine here,” he replied without glancing
at Emma.

When they entered the family room, Emma mulled over his turning
down the offer for Thanksgiving. How could he turn down Will and stay alone on
the isolated ranch? She would never understand how Zach could possibly avoid
being lonely and miserable. Was this all a carryover from childhood hurts,
seeking isolation because it was a shield against times he had been left alone
and deeply disappointed?

“So how are you doing with the memorabilia?” Will asked.

“I want to show you what Emma found in that box of old letters.
I’ll put it with anything else of value we find.”

“I’ll get it,” Emma said. “You talk to your family.” Before
Zach could protest she hurried from the room. In minutes she returned to hand
the box to Zach.

As she sat down, he took the watch and held it up. “Look at
this.”

“That looks like a fine watch and something nice to keep since
it belonged to a Delaney ancestor,” Will said. Zach carried it to show it to Ava
and Caroline who crowded around them. Will got up to join them.

“If this isn’t just like Dad,” Zach said. “I’ll bet he found
the watch and stuck it back in with the letters to let us find it.”

“I don’t know. I had the feeling he had never gone through that
stuff before,” Will remarked.

“Maybe not. No telling what else I’ll find. Or Emma will
find.”

“I hear you’re the one reading the letters,” Will said, smiling
at her.

“Yes, most of them.”

“She’s far more interested and views them as sacred chunks of
our family history and Texas history, but I don’t have quite the same respect
for them.”

The men returned to their seats and Zach placed the watch in
the box on a table.

Emma’s mystification about Zach’s solitary way of life grew as
she listened to the brothers and realized they were close and enjoyed each
other’s company. And Zach was good with Caroline. When Caroline walked over to
him, he lifted her to his lap and focused his attention on her.

Shortly she climbed down and went to get into Will’s lap and
turn his face so he looked at her. She whispered in his ear.

“Yes, we will right now,” Will said, looking at Zach. “Caroline
has some family news to tell you.”

Caroline couldn’t sit still and had a big smile. She climbed
down and ran to Zach to stand at his knee. She gave another shy glance at Emma
and Emma suddenly suspected she was interrupting a family moment. She wanted to
leave them to themselves, but she was afraid that would be even more disruptive,
so she sat quietly.

Caroline’s big smile broadened. “Uncle Zach, I’m going to
become a big sister.”

“You are!” Zach looked over her head at his brother.
“Congratulations!”

“It’s early, but we told Caroline because we want to do some
remodeling and build a nursery, not only in Dallas, but at my ranch here and in
Colorado.”

“That is great news, Caroline,” Zach said. “Wow! You’ll be a
big sister and I’ll be an uncle again.”

She laughed and turned in a circle.

Zach crossed the room to hug Ava lightly. “Congratulations.
That’s wonderful.”

“We think so,” she said, her eyes sparkling. She looked radiant
as she glanced at her husband and exchanged a look with him. They were obviously
so much in love Emma felt slightly envious. Ava reached out to hug Caroline and
Will picked her up, holding her while she wrapped her arm around his neck.
“We’re thrilled,” Ava added.

“Congratulations to all of you,” Emma said. “You have wonderful
news.” She looked at Caroline. “Caroline, you’ll have lots of fun with your
little brother or sister.”

Caroline nodded and smiled.

“We’re excited,” Will said. “And we’ll let you both go back to
work. We need to get to the ranch. Caroline has been promised to get to ride her
horse.”

“It’s been nice to meet you,” Ava said to Emma. “We’re glad
you’re working here. Zach needs help with all the old papers.”

“Just keep him from shredding them,” Will remarked dryly.

“I find them fascinating,” Emma said. “I’m beginning to feel as
if I knew Warner Delaney. It was so nice to meet all three of you and it was
good of you to include me in your family moment.”

“Do you think my unsentimental brother would care who he shares
family news with?” Will remarked dryly, grinning at Zach.

As they left the room, Emma stayed back and returned to her
desk. She didn’t go back to work, but sat staring into space, thinking about
Zach. What a waste of someone’s life to take away the fabulous moments shared
with family and friends. How could he turn down Ava’s invitation to spend
Thanksgiving with Will and his family? Instead, he would sit in isolation at
home on the ranch—a sad choice.

She sat by the box to read a letter, finally concentrating on
her work.

When Zach returned, her pulse jumped. He was off-limits, a
danger to her peace of mind because her volatile reactions to him had not
dwindled even a degree.

“I enjoyed meeting your family. They’re great and that’s
fantastic news they shared.”

“My brother amazes me. He’d been as opposed to marriage as any
of us, yet he is so in love with Ava, it’s ridiculous. And he’s great with
Caroline. None of us have ever been around children and to become her guardian
was really tough for him.”

“Well, from what little I saw, Caroline is a very happy little
girl.”

“Ava and Will have been terrific for her. Ava was the one who
suggested Muffy, a little puff of a dog that brought Caroline out of her grief
from losing her father more than anything or anybody else.”

“Did I hear her call him ‘Daddy Two’?”

He nodded. “We’ve gotten used to that. Will is her second dad
since her blood father died and I think she wanted a mom and dad. You noticed
she calls Ava Mom?”

“Yes, I did. They seem incredibly happy. How could you not want
to be with them for Thanksgiving?”

“I’m my own company. I get along fine.”

She shook her head. “Amazing,” she said, reaching for another
letter. “Do all of you get together for Christmas?”

He gave her a lazy smile and she guessed his answer. As shocked
as she was over Thanksgiving, her surprise was greater this time. “You’re
spending Christmas here alone? You can’t do that.”

“Of course I can,” he replied with laughter in his voice.

“I’d think all of you would gather here since this is the
family ranch. Isn’t this where you had Christmas celebrations when you were
growing up?”

“Maybe twice when Granddad lived here. Never, after he was
gone. My mother hated the ranch. Any ranch. If we celebrated together, it was in
Dallas. After Mom walked, we didn’t even come home for Christmas.”

“Zach—”

His jaw firmed and an eyebrow arched. She realized she should
stop talking about his personal life. She shrugged and turned away, going back
to work without saying anything else. He did the same and she fought the urge to
stare at him. How could he spend Christmas all alone? She couldn’t imagine
anyone doing that through choice.

They worked for the next hour and Zach stood, stretching
again.

“Enough of this,” he said. “Let’s break. I’ll go lift weights
and do what I can do without involving my foot. We have treadmills or the track.
Or an exercise bicycle. Nigel will be there because if any of us lift weights,
he appears. He doesn’t want us alone if we’re working out with weights. That’s a
long-standing rule and he walks around the track, which is probably good for
him. If you prefer, you can sit in the family room and have a lemonade or a cup
of hot tea or anything else you want.”

“Enough choices,” she said, putting down a letter. “I’ll change
quickly and get on a treadmill. I’d rather sit on the terrace after work.”

“Good enough. See you in the gym.”

She left him, hurrying upstairs to change.

If only Zach felt about holidays the way Nigel felt about
working out. That one shouldn’t go it alone.

* * *

With Nigel walking on the indoor track, Zach hoisted a
bar, lifting it high and lowering it slowly when he saw Emma enter the gym. He
set the bar in place and wiped his forehead with a towel while watching her. She
wore blue shorts and a blue T-shirt that revealed lush curves, a tiny waist and
heart-stopping long legs.

She smiled and waved, going to a treadmill to start it.

He should have let her go back to Dallas. She was a great
secretary, as well as pure trouble. Their kisses were dynamite and the last
kiss—when she wanted to prove their kisses couldn’t be called casual—had ignited
fires that still blazed. Her sudden kiss had shocked and electrified him. It had
been a spunky, devil-may-care, I’ll-show-you challenge that he would never have
expected from her. If he could have burned to cinders from a kiss, he would have
with that one. His reaction had definitely not been casual and she knew it. She
had more than proven her point. She had driven it home with a wrecking ball.

She had a backbone and he suspected she was as strong-willed as
he. Not his kind of woman in any manner except physically. She had been aghast
over his plans for a solitary Christmas. He would bet the ranch he hadn’t heard
the last on that one. She would want to take him home with her for Christmas.
The whole thing would be humorous and he could ignore it easily, except she was
getting to him in a manner he hadn’t thought possible. The hot kisses he had
labeled “casual” blasted his peaceful life with constant fantasies about holding
her and making love to her.

He wasn’t concentrating well on his work. It took real effort
to avoid eating lunch or dinner with her. He had offered this exercise time when
he should have left the office, worked out with only Nigel and let her continue
with her secretarial duties. Common sense said to either practice more
self-control or get rid of her.

His lusty body just wanted to seduce her.

Frustrated, he returned to working out.

At one point he paused, glancing over to see Emma running on
the treadmill. She was going at good clip, had an easy stride and looked as if
she had done this before. She looked fit and tempting. The T-shirt clung, the
blue darker where it was damp with perspiration. She had a sexy bounce as she
ran and her long legs were as shapely as he had imagined.

With a groan, he returned to his weights. When he stopped, she
had finished and had a towel around her neck as she stood talking to Nigel. He
smiled, glancing at Zach who waved Nigel away as a signal he was leaving the
gym. Since Zach was finished, Nigel headed for the door and, without a glance,
Emma followed close behind.

Zach hung behind. He hobbled out of the gym, wanting his foot
to heal so he could get back to normal. He went to shower, wrapping his foot in
a plastic boot and keeping it out of the shower to avoid getting it wet.

He constantly thought about taking her out when his foot healed
and taking her to bed even sooner. If he didn’t want to complicate his life,
that would not happen. She definitely would have her heart in an affair,
something he had always avoided. In spite of what he knew he should refrain from
doing, he could not keep from wanting to be with her and fantasizing about
it.

Heat climbed, erotic images of Emma in his arms tormenting him.
She was getting to him in ways no other woman ever had. So far, her resistance
had been almost nil until he offered to double her salary. He suspected they
both had acted impulsively. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing his excellent
secretary and to be truthful to himself, he just didn’t want her to go out of
his life yet. She hadn’t been able to resist because she was trying to save
money to finish her college courses. Had part of her wanted to stay because of
the attraction?

Out of the shower, he decided not to go back to the office. He
could work somewhere else in the house the rest of the day and keep space
between them.

He ate dinner alone as he had most nights of his adult life. He
had had affairs, but they had usually been brief, casual, on-and-off
relationships. His job added to his solitary life. Tonight, he was restless,
still drowning in thoughts of Emma. Finally, he had enough of his own company
and went to look for her, hoping she had not shut herself in her room for the
night.

But she had. He had to remember it was for the best.

Four

M
onday, they returned to their regular work
routine. Late that day local meteorologists began to warn of a large, early
storm from the west predicted to reach Texas on Thursday or Friday. Each day
they checked the weather, Emma surprised that Zach ate lunch and dinner with
her, flirting, friendly and heightening desire with every encounter.

By Thursday, pictures were coming in from the west of all the
snow. “We’re ready for the storm, here at the ranch,” Zach told Emma. “We have
supplies of every sort and enough food for weeks. I think you’re stuck, Emma,
unless you want to take off work and head to Dallas this afternoon.” They both
listened as the TV weatherman showed a massive storm dumping twelve inches of
snow in the mountains in New Mexico and blanketing Interstate 40, closing it
down.

“Now they’re predicting it’ll come in here Friday,” Zach
repeated. “If you beat the storm home, you’ll be stuck there, which is fine if
you want to do that.”

“I can miss one weekend at home,” she said. “Actually, I can go
ahead and work and get more of the letters read and go through things.”

“If you’re sure. I’ve told Nigel and Rosie the same thing.
Rosie’s cooking up a storm herself, but if we get what they’re predicting,
neither of them will come in. I’ve told them to stay home.”

“I’ll stay here, Zach. I don’t want to get caught in bad
weather. From what they’re predicting, it will come and go and be clear for me
to go home for Thanksgiving next week.”

“If you decide to stay, I’ll pay you overtime.”

“That isn’t necessary. I’m happy to be out of the storm. Mom’s
already called worrying about me.”

“Call her so she can stop worrying.”

“Thanks, Zach.”

“I wish I could take you out dancing Saturday night, but that’s
out because of the storm and my foot. We can have a steak dinner—I’ll cook. We
can have our own party here.”

She laughed. “Sounds great, but you don’t have to do that.”

His blue eyes held a lusty darkness and his voice lowered. “I
want to. Even though it might not be the wisest thing for either one of us, a
cozy evening in front of a fire while it snows outside sounds fun. Now I can’t
wait for the first flakes to fall.”

Shaking her head, she smiled at him while her insides
fluttered. Saturday night with Zach would not be the same as working together in
a spacious office. “In the meantime, let’s go back to work,” she said, pulling
her chair close to the open box of letters.

She read more letters—some were by his great-grandfather, most
by his great-great-grandfather, all of them mixed together. She had trays she
would place them in according to generation. She had made trays labeled by
dates, water rights, and “boundary disputes.” She tried to sort them all the
ways that would be helpful. If she had time before the job ended, she would put
them in chronological order.

She had read five letters when she shoved her hand into the box
to get more and felt a hard lump beneath the letters. She moved them carefully,
placing them to one side in the box, and found two objects wrapped in cloth.
“Zach, there are some things in this box. They’re wrapped in rags.” She
carefully continued to remove letters as he crossed the room. He bent over to
plunge his hand in.

“Zach, be careful with the letters.”

“Ah, Emma, these letters are not priceless heirlooms.”

“They may be to some of your family.”

“I’ll be damned,” he said, grasping something wrapped in cloth
and pulling it out of the box. He tossed away the rags. “This is a Colt. It’s a
beauty.” He checked to see if it was loaded—it wasn’t. “This is fantastic. You
said there were two things.”

He placed the Colt on an empty chair and turned to reach into
the box to withdraw the other object wrapped in cloth.

“It’s a rifle,” he said, unwrapping strips of rags that had
yellowed with age. Zach tossed them into a trash basket and held the rifle in
his hands, checking to be certain it was not loaded. “It’s a Henry. I’ll say my
ancestors knew their weapons. A Colt revolver and a Henry rifle.” He raised it
to aim toward the patio. “This is a find. Why would anyone stick these in with a
bunch of letters? If I had been the only descendant, I would have pitched the
boxes and never given them another thought.”

“Well, aren’t we all glad keeping the heirlooms was not left to
you alone,” she said sweetly and he grinned.

“The Henry was a repeating rifle that came out about the time
the Civil War began. This is fabulous,” he said, running his hand over it. “Now
I can feel a tie with my ancestors with these two weapons. Ryan is going to love
both of these. So will Will.”

“You make it sound as if all of you are gun-toting cowboys,
which I know is not the case. Far from it. You’re a man of cities.”

“I still love this. It’s a beaut and Will and Ryan are going to
love it. Garrett—he’s a family friend—won’t be so wound up over it, I don’t
think. He’s the city person, which makes it funny that Dad willed this ranch to
Garrett and not to any of his sons. It’s also why Garrett is in no rush to claim
it. This Henry is something.”

She picked up an envelope. “If you’ll excuse me, you can go
drool over your guns while I read.” She withdrew a letter. “Want me to read
aloud?”

“I don’t think so, thank you,” he said, smiling. He picked up
the revolver and carried a weapon in each hand back to place them on his desk.
As soon as he sat, he called Will to tell him about the latest find.

They talked at length before he told Will goodbye and then
called Ryan to tell him about the revolver and the rifle. She shook her head and
bent over the latest letter, still thinking the letters were the real
treasure.

It was an hour before he finished talking to both brothers.
With his hands on his hips, he looked at the boxes. “Some of the boxes have
objects of value. There’s one more box. I wonder if each one will hold its own
treasure. I’ll start looking through this box,” he said, sitting down and
pulling a box close. He took out a bunch of letters and put them on the
floor.

“These letters are not packed away in any apparent order,” she
said. “Put the letters in this box because it’s almost empty now. You’ll tear
them up, dumping them out like that. I’ll help you.”

“The precious letters. I’ll take more care,” he said, and began
to shift them to the box she had beside her. When his box was three-fourths
empty, hers had been filled. He bent over his box and felt around. “I don’t feel
anything, except letters.”

“Try reading a few,” she suggested.

He frowned slightly and picked up a letter to skim over it.
“Nothing,” he said, tossing it into the discard box and taking another. After an
hour, Zach was clearly tired of his fruitless search. “I can’t find anything
worth keeping.”

“Maybe I
should
get in the car and
go home now. It’s sort of tempting fate to stay.”

“You made a decision to stay. If you were going you should have
left hours ago. You made your decision, so stick with it. If you leave now, you
could get caught if the storm comes in early. You’d be in the snow in the dark.
Not a good combination. Just stay.”

Stay, she’d have to.

* * *

On Friday the storm arrived as predicted, the first big
flakes falling late morning. Emma went to the window. “Zach, this is beautiful.
I have to go outside to look.” She left the office and went out the back to the
patio to stand and watch huge flakes swirling and tumbling to earth. She stuck
out her tongue, letting an icy flake melt in her mouth. She also held up her
palm, watching for the briefest second as a beautiful flake hit her and then
transformed into a drop of icy water.

In seconds she heard the door and glanced around to see Zach
hurrying outside with a blanket tossed around his shoulders.

“I thought you might be cold,” he said, shaking it so it was
around her and over her head as well as covering him. With his arm around her
shoulders, he held the blanket in place. Shivering, she pressed closer,
relishing the cozy warmth of Zach beside her.

“Isn’t this beautiful! I love the snow. It would be fun to have
a white Christmas if it didn’t keep people from their families.”

“Your family will probably build snow forts and snowmen this
weekend.”

She smiled. “Our yard will be filled with snow sculptures,
bunnies, snow dogs, forts, tons of snowballs, snowmen. Our local paper came out
one year and took pictures. We have sleds and everyone will go sledding if they
can.”

“I guess in their own way, your family really enjoys life.”

“In the best way possible, they enjoy life,” she said, looking
up at him. “Okay, I’m ready to go back in.” She tossed the blanket over his
shoulder and dashed for the back door, feeling her cascade of hair swing as she
ran.

Inside she stomped her feet to get the snow off and wiped her
shoes on the mat. Zach appeared and did the same, best he could with his
still-injured foot. “Want coffee, tea or hot chocolate to take back to the
office?”

“Sure, hot chocolate.”

In minutes she had a mug and was at her desk, concentrating on
work and trying to forget about Zach and how he had looked with big snowflakes
in his thick brown hair and on his eyelashes.

“Emma,” Zach interrupted her during the afternoon. “Look
outside now.”

She had been concentrating on work and forgotten the snow. The
wind had picked up and when she glanced out, she gasped.

Snow was “falling” horizontally and the entire world was white.
Everything in sight was buried in snow except the tall trees that were dark
shadows as a blizzard raged.

“I didn’t notice. Oh, my word. I’m glad I didn’t get caught out
in that.” She walked to the window and heard him coming to join her. Once again
he draped his arm lightly across her shoulders.

“Tomorrow night, we’ll have our fancy steak dinners. Tonight it
will be informal and cozy with Rosie’s Texas chili and homemade tamales. We can
curl up by the fire and watch a movie or play chess or whatever you want to do.
I can think of a few other possibilities,” he added in a huskier tone.

“Chess and a movie sound perfect. Forget the other
possibilities. Stop flirting.”

“We’ll see what the evening brings,” he said, caressing her arm
lightly. “And at the moment, I can’t resist flirting.”

“Try,” she said, taking a deep breath. She looked outside
again, shivering just because the storm looked icy and hazardous. Once again she
was thankful she wasn’t traveling. “I’m glad Rosie and Nigel are off. No one
should be out in this. What about your livestock?”

“That’s who is out there fighting the elements and working—the
cowboys who take care of that livestock at times like this. Just hope there’s
nothing unusual happening with any of the stock.”

She nodded. “I’ll go back to work. I’ve received a text from
Mom and all my family is home now except those who work close and they’ll be
home soon. Some businesses have closed early.”

“Our Dallas office closed two hours ago. I have a policy with
my CEO and with the vice presidents—whoever is in charge when I’m away—I don’t
want anyone caught in this getting home. They’ve all had time to go home.”

“That’s nice, Zach,” she said as she returned to her desk.

They worked until five when Zach stood and stretched. “Time to
quit, Emma. Actually past time to stop.”

“We’re out of the storm and I don’t mind continuing.”

“I mind. Come on—knock off and we’ll meet back down here for a
drink and then dinner. Want to meet here at six?”

“Sure,” she said, shutting down her computer while he turned
and left the room. She closed up and went to her room to shower and change.
Dressing in a bright red sweater and matching slacks, she brushed her hair and
tied it behind her head with a scarf.

Eagerly, she went downstairs to search for him. She followed
enticing smells to the kitchen and found Zach stirring a steaming pot. He put
the lid back in place. The minute she saw him, she forgot dinner. He wore a
bulky navy sweater that made his shoulders appear broader than ever, and faded
jeans that emphasized his narrow hips and long legs. He was in the health shoe
and his loafer. Tangled curls were in their usual disarray. Zach’s eyes drifted
slowly over her, an intense study that had the same results as a caress. Then
his gaze locked with hers and her mouth went dry. She was held mesmerized while
her heart became a drumbeat that she was certain he could hear. Captured by his
look, she remained still while he stopped stirring and set aside the spoon to
saunter toward her.

Her heart thudded as she tingled in a growing temptation.
“Zach,” she whispered, uncertain if she protested or invited because she wanted
to do both.

He reached for her, drawing her to him to kiss her.

Her stomach lurched while longing blazed. His passionate kiss
demanded her response. Trembling, she returned his kisses, her tongue stroking
his and going deep, exploring and tasting. He smelled of mint and deep woods.
His lean body was hard planes against her softness, building her excitement.

Zach reached beneath her sweater, sliding his hand up to flick
free her bra and then cup her breast as his thumb stroked her. Pleasure
fluttered over her nerves and tickled her insides while she clung tightly to
him. Finally, she looked up at him.

“Zach, this is exactly what I intended to avoid.”

“So did I,” he whispered. “It’s impossible. Just plain,
downright impossible,” he added before kissing her.

Moaning with pleasure again, she twisted against him. He was
aroused, ready to love. He unfastened her slacks, pushing them off, and they
tumbled around her ankles. Kicking off her shoes, she stepped out of them.

Tearing herself away from his kiss, she gasped. “Zach, we’re
crossing a line.”

“I told you, we crossed that line the day you walked into my
office for this job. This was inevitable.”