Christmas with a Soldier (Soldier Series Romance Novellas) (5 page)

“That’s very chivalrous.  You didn’t even know me.”

He shrugged as we walked along.  “It was nothing.”

“No, it was,” I disagreed.  “Not everyone would go out of their way to help someone they didn’t even know.  I, uh, wanted to ask you something though.  What time is your father’s funeral?  I’d like to come and pay my condolences.  It’s the least I could do.”

“There’s no need,” he said in a low voice.  “My father didn’t have many friends, so it will
just be a small service.”

“I’d still like to come,” I insisted.

“I said no,” he said harshly.  My mouth dropped open in surprise.  Glancing down at me, he quickly amended his words.  “I mean, thank you for offering Meghan.  But you’ll be with your daughter; I’m sure you entire family is worried about you.  I’m used to doing things on my own, so you really don’t need to worry about being there.”

“Well, if you say so,” I said hesitantly.

We climbed up over a large tree that had fallen, and rather than let me navigate it on my own, Trent reached up to help me get down.  As his hands firmly gripped my waist, I reached out to his strong arms, letting my hands rest on his firm biceps as he lifted me to the ground.  “Thanks,” I said, suddenly feeling shy.

He eyed me carefully but didn’t say anything, and I wondered what he was thinking. 
After fifteen more minutes of walking, we started to hear faint voices calling our names.  “We’re over here!” Trent bellowed.  There seemed to be a commotion up ahead, and suddenly a group of people burst through the trees: police officers with search dogs, townspeople, and even a few of my own neighbors and friends.

“Meghan!” shouted my
next-door neighbor Barbara, running over to me.  “Thank God you’re okay!”

She engulfed me a big hug, and I hugged her back, happy to see a familiar face.

“How’s Hannah?” I asked.  “Have you talked to my parents?”

“They’re over at the police station.  The police found your car last night, and everyone was so worried that something happened to you.  How did you survive out here in the cold all night?”

“It’s kind of a long story,” I replied, my eyes watching Trent as he talked with several police officers.  He seemed to be gesturing in the direction we’d come, maybe telling them about spending the night in the cabin.

“Were you two together?” she asked.  “They found a Jeep by your car on the road.”

“Yeah, I thought we could cut through the forest since the road was closed.  It was pretty much the worst idea I’ve ever had.”

I could see the police leading Trent off in one direction, and I was worried that we might
not get a chance to say goodbye with everything that was going on.  Another policeman with a K-9 dog was approaching me now that Barbara had released me from her embrace.  He radioed for the ambulance that was waiting by the road, insisting that I get checked out before I could return home.  We walked the remaining five minutes back to the edge of the forest.  As we exited the trees, I saw that the entire area was filled with cars, emergency vehicles, and onlookers.  Our little town had never seen such commotion before.

A team of paramedics came rushing over to me, each taking an arm and ushering me to the waiting ambulance.  I looked around for Trent and saw him angrily talking to another medical team at a second ambulance.  He kept brushing their hands off him and seemed determined to walk away.  I knew he was in a rush and had a lot on his mind, and I felt bad that they were stalling him. 
They didn’t know we’d spent the night indoors though and probably were worried that we had hypothermia or something.  Trent finally dropped his rucksack to the ground and managed to get away for a moment, and I was surprised that he came over to me.

“They’re insisting I go to the hospital,” he said, frustrated.

“Yeah, same here.”  The paramedics getting ready to take me away in the ambulance had stepped aside for a moment to give us some privacy.  I was aware that all eyes were on us though and wished that Trent and I had been able to say goodbye earlier while we were still alone.

“I’m going to be tied up all afternoon at the funeral,” Trent said, his voice deep.  “Then I’ve got a few other things that I need to take care of before I head out.”

“Right,” I said, nodding.  I wished that he’d let me come with him, but it seemed that he was determined to do everything on his own.

He cleared his throat, and his dark brown eyes gazed right into mine.  “I was wondering if that offer for dinner tonight still stands
though?  I’d love to come, if you’ll still have me.”

A smile came to my lips as I realized
that this wasn’t goodbye, and I’d get to see him again this evening.  A dinner with my daughter wasn’t the same as a reckless night of passion, and I was happy that he wanted to come anyway.  “Absolutely,” I said softly.

“
Great,” he said, a slight smile passing over his face.  “I’ll see you tonight, Meghan.”

After being examined at the hospital early this morning, I’d quickly been reunited with my parents and daughter, and Hannah and I had spent the day doing all that I’d promised yesterday.  Lunch had been spent snuggled on the sofa watching a Christmas movie, and after that I’d made good on my promise to decorate the tree.  After stringing lights for what felt like forever, we’d finally gotten to both our favorite parts: digging out all our special ornaments and hanging them on the tree.  I smiled as I hung the little white bunny that I’d picked out for Hannah when she was just a baby.  I gave her a special ornament each year so that she’d have her own collection as she grew older, just as my mother had done for me.

We’d run out to the grocery store to purchase ingredients to make cookies, a step up from the store-bought kind I’d originally intended for us to decorate.  Not that there were any of those left anyway.  “Mommy, does this look good?” Hannah asked
, dumping a pile of sprinkles on top of the star-shaped cookie she was decorating.

“That might be a little too much, Sweetie,” I said, rushing over to help.  At the rate she was going through them, we’d never have enough to decorate our entire batch.

“Are we going to see Samantha and Alex tonight?” she asked in her little voice.  I looked over at her and smiled fondly as her adorable little blonde curls bounced as she looked up at me.

“No, not tonight, honey.  We’ll go over there tomorrow.”

“But I want to see them tonight,” she pouted.

“I know, but they want to be home so that Santa will come.”

“Santa only comes when kids are asleep in their beds,” she said, proud of her knowledge of the ins-and-outs of how Santa worked.

“Exactly,” I said with a smile.  “And don’t forgot, Mommy’s friend is coming over tonight for dinner.”

“He saved Mommy,” she said, looking up from her next cookie.

“That’s right, he did,” I said.  Hannah didn’t seem too concerned that I had a friend coming over this evening. 
She was too young to really understand, of course.  Hannah didn’t remember her own father, and as far as she was concerned, some kids had mommies and daddies, and some just had mommies.  Trent coming over this evening would give us a chance to say goodbye, but since he was leaving, it wasn’t even something that I needed to try to explain to her further.

***

At 6:30 sharp our doorbell rang.  I had a roast in the oven, mashed potatoes warming on the stove, and a bottle of red wine already open.  I was a little more nervous than I should have been, and I had to remind myself this was just a thank-you dinner for Trent’s help.  I glanced down at flouncy black skirt and short-sleeved cream blouse.  I hoped that I didn’t look overdressed, but after traipsing around the woods all day yesterday in jeans and hiking boots, I wanted to wear something a little nicer.  Hannah already had on her special Christmas pajamas, a tradition in our house, and I didn’t see the need to change that just because Trent would be here.

I opened
the door and was surprised to see Trent carrying a potted red poinsettia and wrapped gift.  As attractive as he’d been in his fatigues yesterday, tonight he was even more handsome.  He had on his dress uniform, and I realized that he’d probably come shortly after leaving the funeral and hadn’t brought many other clothes with him for his short trip.  His was clean-shaven today, and I memorized the lines of his strong jaw and chiseled face as I met his dark eyes.

“I wanted to bring you some flowers,” he said, his voice deep.  “Poinsettias seemed appropriate for the occasion.”

“They’re perfect,” I said.  “You really didn’t need to bring anything at all though.”

“Well, I couldn’t exactly show up empty-handed on Christmas Eve,” he said.

Hannah came bounding over just then.  “Is that for me?” she asked excitedly, catching sight of the brightly wrapped present with the big red bow on top.

“It is,” he said, smiling down at her warmly.  “I’m Trent,” he said, stooping down to her level.  I smiled, happy that he seemed to know how to talk to children.

“Mommy, can I open it now?” Hannah asked, jumping up and down as she looked up at me.

“How about after dinner?
  The roast is ready, and that will give you something to do later on while Trent and I talk.”

“Okay,” she said begrudgingly.  “Can I show him our tree though?”

“Of course!”

“I’d love to see it,” he said.

My mouth dropped open as Hannah took his hand and pulled him into the living room.  She was used to being around my father and brother-in-law, but I hadn’t seen her warm up to a strange man before.  I felt a little bittersweet as I watched the two of them walk away hand-in-hand.  I’m sure Hannah would love to have a father-figure in her life, but Trent was just passing through.  It didn’t matter if she warmed up to him because he would never be able to stick around.

I pulled the roast from the oven and finished setting the table as Hannah showed Trent her favorite ornaments.  I heard her tiny, little voice mixed in with his deep one, and my heart melted a little as I listened to them talking.  He asked questions about which ornaments were hers, and she was more than happy to tell him the story behind each.  I called them to the table before long, and Trent helped me carry the food over.  He poured us each a glass of wine, and I smiled when he commented that he like my wineglasses.  Hannah said a prayer, and then Trent made a toa
st.  “To new friends,” he said.

I smiled, happy that he was here with us.  “To new friends,” I echoed.

I helped Hannah slice her food, and before long we were all enjoying a nice meal together.

“Will you come back and have dinner with us again?” Hannah asked.

Trent met my eyes.  “Well, that’s up to your mom.”

“Mommy, can he come back again?  He’s really nice and even brings presents!”

I laughed and looked embarrassedly at Trent.  “We’ll see,” I said.  “Speaking of presents, do you want to open yours now?”

Hannah excitedly jumped down from her chair and went to retrieve it from the other room.  She
came running back into the kitchen and sat down right on the floor to open her present.  “A doll!” she yelled out a moment later, happily holding the box up in the air.

“Need some help opening that?” Trent asked as her little fingers tried to p
ry their way into the cardboard and plastic.

“Yes, please!” she said eagerly, thrusting the box to him.  I smiled to myself as I carried our plates to the dishwasher, pleased to see her so happy.

An hour later she was still happily playing with her new doll under the Christmas tree while Trent and I each enjoyed another glass of wine.  Hannah was starting to yawn, and I picked her up to carry her off to bed.

“Say goodnight to Mr. Trent,” I said, holding her in my arms.

“Goodnight.  I have to go to bed soon because Santa’s coming.”

“That he is,” Trent said with a low chuckle.  “Goodnight Hannah.”

I carried her upstairs and tucked her in, eager to have some quiet time alone with Trent.  I still had a few presents to finish wrapping and had to get everything under the tree before Hannah woke up tomorrow morning, but there would be plenty of time for that later.  Right now I wanted nothing more than to relax and enjoy some adult company.

Trent was standing there looking at
ornaments on the tree when I came back downstairs.  He turned to look at me and smiled, his brown eyes locking with mine as I descended the last few steps.  “Thank you for dinner,” he said, walking over to me.  “I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed myself so much.”  He took my hand and brought it to his mouth, and I flushed as his lips brushed against my skin.

“I’m glad you could come,” I said softly.  “Hannah adored you.”

“Well, I’m pretty fond of her and her mother,” he said, a smile playing on his lips.  We were close enough that I could smell the spicy scent of his cologne, and I was forced to look up to meet his gaze since he towered above me.  He bought his hand up to my face and slowly traced his knuckles across my cheek.  Something began to stir inside me, and I wanted nothing more than for him to take me into his arms.

As if reading my mind, he put his hands on my waist and gently pulled me closer to him.  He filled out his uniform nicely, and I couldn’t wait
to feel his body against mine once more.  I reached up, putting my arms around his neck, and he lowered his head, giving me a sweet and gentle kiss.  I stood up on my tiptoes, wanting to be closer to him still, and he suddenly reached down and scooped me up into his arms.  My legs wrapped tightly around him, and he carried me in his arms as if I weighed almost nothing, walking over to the sofa.