Special Delivery (Mountain Meadow Homecoming 1) (32 page)

“Spence had set up a ski week for us,” Seely began. “I love skiing, and I thought we might finally be making progress in our relationship. Shortly after we got to the lodge, though, he disappeared, saying he had some business he needed to finish. I went skiing without him. That’s how I met Buck. We talked some over hot chocolate, so I knew where he lived.

“Well, when Spence returned, he wasn’t alone. He had Noelle with him.”

“Why didn’t you notify anyone?” Evan asked suspiciously.

Seely shook her head. “I couldn’t. I think Spence must have realized almost immediately that I wasn’t on board with what he’d done.” She stopped and looked at Holly. “I want you to know, I did my best to take care of her. I’m not very experienced with babies—”

“She’s fine, Seely,” Holly reassured her. “You did a fantastic job.”

Seely smiled in gratitude. “Thanks. Spence took my phone and my keys, and disabled the room phone. Noelle and I were basically prisoners.”

“So how did you get out?” Jake asked.

“Spence has a drinking problem. I started hiding things in my backpack every time I had an opportunity.”

“Couldn’t you simply have ripped the door open and screamed for help?” Evan inquired, an edge to his voice.

“Evan,” Jenny said. “I’m sure she has a reason.”

“I was afraid to,” Seely admitted. “He’s the baby’s biological father. I’m unable to have children. It just seemed like it would be so easy for him to lie and blame the entire thing on me. I figured if I could get Noelle out with me, then we could find Buck and get help from him. I had already told him I was planning to end things with Spence because he really was getting more and more out of control.”

“So how did you finally do it?” Jenny asked. “I did hear Buck say you skied—with Noelle?”

Seely shrugged. “I’m good. Spence isn’t. Buck’s condo was close to one of the runs. I waited until Spence was asleep before I grabbed Noelle and my backpack and took off. I zipped her inside my jacket, got my skis, and headed to the lift. It was tricky, but I was as careful as I could be. Spence came after me, but I was way ahead of him on the lift, and I guess he was too paranoid or fuzzy from the booze to simply say something to the lift operator. Anyway, I got off at the midpoint, finally believing I might just be able to succeed when I skied away from the lift and no one stopped me.

“About halfway down the slope, I popped my skis and hid them at the edge of the berm, then waited for Spence to go by before I ran to Buck’s condo.”

“I wasn’t there,” he added in a voice filled with warmth as he looked at Seely. “Had it not been for an emergency delivery, I would already have been on the road to my parents’ home. Lucky for Celia, I came back to pick up my duffel. I’d given her a spare key in case she needed to get away from Spence. I just hadn’t envisioned exactly how and why she might need it.”

“Buck figured out pretty quickly who Noelle was, said he knew Dr. Owens, so we tried calling her. When all we got was the answering service, we decided to drive here. The town was locked up tight, though. That’s when Buck spotted the lights and cars at the Presbyterian church. We figured it was a small enough town someone there would know how to find Holly.”

Buck finished by telling them how the Presbyterian minister suggested they all walk to the Baptist church to witness the very special Christmas gift they had brought. Jake’s phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and swiped his finger over the touch pad.

“Hey, Sam…what’s up?” The whole room grew silent as Jake listened. When they saw the small smile playing around his mobile mouth and the twinkle in his dark hazel eyes, the tension eased. After he said good-bye, Jake began laughing. By the time he stopped, tears rolled down his cheeks. To Seely’s surprise, he came over to her, pulled her to her feet, and gave her a big hug before kissing her on each cheek.

“Wh—what’s that for?”

They all stared at Jake. “Sam called the state guys right after I talked to him. When they went to the ski resort looking for Dilby, they were told he was at the hospital.”

“The hospital!” Seely gasped. “What happened?”

“Apparently after he passed you, he rounded the next bend, missed the curve, fell, and slammed into a tree. The ski patrol found him lying there with a compound fracture of the left femur, still drunk as a skunk, and madder than hell at someone he kept calling ‘Seely.’ Would that by any chance be you, Celia?”

Seely smiled, her gaze going to Buck. “It used to be, but lately the name Celia is really beginning to grow on me.”

“At any rate,” Jake continued. “He’s under police guard at the hospital now where he’s been read his rights until they can get him in to book him.”

After staying for sandwiches, cookies, and coffee, Celia and Buck excused themselves. “I’m sure we’ll all see each other again,” Buck said, “but I think it’s time Celia and I left you alone. You need time to talk and get reacquainted with your daughter, and I think Celia and I need some time to talk too.” He handed Jake a card. “Give this to the sheriff. It’s my contact information. Celia will be staying with me for a while.”

Holly smiled when she saw the look the young doctor gave the statuesque blonde. It held an unmistakable promise, or as Tyler would say, Buck Harris was getting the gooey look. For that matter, so was Celia.

Evan and Jenny were next, their eyes on each other as they said they too had something to discuss. Evan looked at Holly and Jake, his gray eyes no longer icy but as warm as molten silver. The cynic was gone, or at least buried for a time, beneath the golden glow of the woman staring at him. The woman who had loved him for more than half her life.

“We’ll catch you all tomorrow afternoon. Why don’t you come on over for an early supper?” Evan stopped, his eyes twinkling. “We can throw some burgers on the grill.”

Jake chuckled. “Sounds great. I’ll bring the beer.”

When just the four of them remained, Tyler crossed the room to where Jake was and wrapped his arms around his waist. “I’m glad I found you for Holly. We needed you. I’m glad you’re going to be my brother.”

Jake’s eyes met Holly’s for an instant over Tyler’s head. As he hugged the boy back, Holly watched his adam’s apple bob as though he needed to swallow a lump in his throat.

“Go to bed, sport,” he muttered gruffly. Tyler hugged Holly, kissed Noelle, and took off upstairs. Jake extended his hand to Holly. “Let’s put our daughter back in her crib where she belongs.”

He glowed with love. Holly knew no other way to describe it. His features appeared softened in the rosy glow of the nursery lamp. Never would she have thought when he arrived on her porch, cap in hand, that in less than a month they would be standing together like this. She touched his sleeve, loving the way his hazel eyes warmed as he stared at her, the way a dimple creased one cheek as he smiled, and how dainty he made her feel when he bent and scooped her in his arms.

“Are you taking me to bed, Jake Allred?”

The dimple deepened. “Indeed I am Holly Morgan.”

As he slowly undressed her, pausing to kiss and caress each part as he bared it, the clock in the downstairs hallway struck midnight. His lips found her mouth, teasing and tasting while the chimes continued. When it stopped, he rested his forehead against hers.

“Merry Christmas. You are the best present I have ever been blessed with, and I can’t wait to marry you next week.”

Her heart pounded, not only with anticipation of their marriage, but with the excitement of what would happen in the next few minutes.

Holly feathered his cheek with her fingertips. “Show me, Jake.”

The town of Mountain Meadow talked about the Christmas Holly Morgan came to town for years to come, but perhaps the highlight of the whole tale occurred Christmas Day. Everyone who found a flyer tucked in their door arrived at the courthouse square at noon. There, in the middle of the square was a very special Nativity scene made up of a combination of figures from both the Presbyterian church and the Baptist church. In front, a sign read, “Merry Christmas to our own Christmas angels—Holly and Noelle—from a town that now understands the meaning of peace and unity.”

Pastor Joe stepped from behind the Baptist shepherd along with one of his flock…Jim Tarpley. And from behind the Presbyterian shepherd, the very Reverend Thomas Calloway stepped along with one of his flock…Chief Ernie Jones. Ernie lumbered forward.

“Jake, we’re your thieves. It started out as a way to bring the two churches together, but it got so much bigger with everything else that happened. We’d just all like to tell you and Holly how overjoyed we are to have you here. You’ve brought about a lot of Christmas miracles.”

“You were right,” Jake and Evan said in unison to Holly. It was an ecumenical Nativity with only the purest of motives.

She cradled Noelle and smiled at them. “I love Christmas and I love this town, but most of all, I love you Jake Allred.”

And the whole town clapped…even Betty Gatewood.

After a long career in journalism, I changed gears and began teaching English. The change in pace allowed me to ramp up my own love of writing fiction. After a push from my hubby, my hobby morphed into a book contract. When I’m not teaching or writing, you can find me on our farm or in the woods with camera in hand.

I would love to hear from you. Visit my contact page to send comments. You can also keep up with me through my blog: Wake Me Up If I Fell Asleep At The Computer, where you'll sometimes get in on contests or additional excerpts, interviews and free reads!

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Turn the page for a special excerpt of Laura Browning’s

Bittersweet

Can love survive a night he can’t remember but one she’ll never forget?

Anna Barlow is giving herself a fresh start, leaving everything about her old life behind. With a new name, a new career and a new look, everything about her has changed since the night her daughter Becca was conceived. Anna finds out just how different she looks when an emergency farm call brings her face to face with her baby’s father…and he has no idea who she is.

Chris Stevenson is on hiatus from the world of competitive show-jumping. He’s returned to the family farm to get his life back in order. Nothing’s been right for the past year… not since the night that has remained a blank in his memory. When he meets the area’s newest veterinarian, Chris feels two things—instant lust and that he’s met her somewhere before.

As they struggle to reconcile the night he can’t remember, both Chris and Anna must learn to trust each other and the idea of what family really means.

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Chapter 1

The cellphone on Anna’s hip buzzed. She had turned off the ring in the hope that Becca, nestled in her carseat in the backseat of the pickup, would stay asleep at least for a short while. Days and nights of colic had drained them both. The programmable swing at home wasn’t a luxury but a necessity. Miles of uninterrupted driving making farm calls also seemed to soothe her daughter. Saturday night dinnertime had already come and gone, both hers and Becca’s, and Anna felt the pressure to nurse. She had been about to pull over to feed her when the phone had vibrated against her hip. Not now. Just this once.

“Dr. Barlow,” she murmured into the phone as she slowed the truck and pulled to one side of the secondary road. The clinic answering service secretary was on the line with an emergency farm call. Anna jotted the address and the directions the operator gave her. Still somewhat new to the area, she was learning her way around, so directions were a must. Getting lost on her way to an emergency was not an option. And at this hour on a Saturday evening, no one called a veterinarian for anything routine, but the nature of the emergency wasn’t what made this call different. The owner’s name made her stomach jump with nerves.

“Please let Mr. Stevenson know I’ll be there in five minutes.” Anna hung up, checked there was no traffic and pulled onto the road. She found the first available driveway to turn around and head back the way she had come. She glanced at the address again. Main barn, Fincastle Farm. Of course she had heard of it. Who hadn’t? The farm had been the signature of the Stevenson family for several generations.

She had held hope that Fincastle would never appear on her client list. Naive of her to think she wouldn’t see him. Some sort of veterinary call had been bound to happen sooner or later. Later would have been much better. Never even more so. Maybe she’d luck out and the Mr. Stevenson in this instance would be father rather than son.

Anna swallowed as she turned down the long driveway bordered on each side by tall, white-paneled fences. In the paddocks left and right, high-dollar horses grazed in the glow of the spring moon. Ahead lay a long, pristine white barn. A darker color trimmed the doors and windows. It would be green, she recalled. Forest green, like the curtains around the Fincastle tack stalls at shows. Light blazed from one barn, which must be her destination. Most barns would already be settled for the night.

Okay. She was headed into the lion’s den. Chris Stevenson, the man she so did not want to meet. Anna hoped he wouldn’t be there. Sure, she’d known the possibility of meeting existed when she took the job in Redfield. Let him not be there. Not tonight, when she was tired and needed to nurse Becca to the point that her breasts ached. The show season had started, after all, so he should already be on the road at some of the smaller warm-up shows.

She took a deep breath and let it out. It didn’t matter. She could do this.

After she parked in front of the barn, Anna shoved two more nursing pads inside her bra and muttered a quick prayer she and Becca could wait a while longer. One glance over her shoulder showed her infant daughter still slumbered in the carseat. She rolled down the windows before she got out and checked on the baby one more time. A gentle tug brought Becca’s blanket back to where it belonged. After releasing a soft sigh, Anna straightened away from the truck. She pulled the zipper higher on her cotton coveralls and threw her stethoscope around her neck.