One Snowy Night Before Christmas (8 page)

“Faith, love, and a whole lot of patience,” Mandy told him,
giving him a wink. “And also patience. Did I mention patience?”

He bought a pink winter snowsuit for Amy with matching hat,
mittens and booties, and heavy snow gear and a pair of subzero boots for
himself. Jessie paid for her new gloves first then collected Amy as Mandy rang
up his purchases. The bill was enormous, but he was warm for the first time in
days. It was well worth it.

* * *

“How about we put those new gloves to the test?” Jessie
tried to sound cheerful, but Amy seemed in a mood not to be swayed. She would
rather be back at the hospital chatting with Santa, the only person who shared
her beliefs about Christmas. Jessie realized she and Tom must seem like some
sort of punishing authority, she as much at fault as her father for keeping her
away from her mother and her home, and now from Santa. Unfortunately there was
no real way to communicate to a six-year-old in words she wasn’t the enemy.
Only her actions would convince the little girl.

She gestured through the glass to Tom, pointing to the
snow-covered park. He nodded.

She took Amy’s hand and walked her across the street.

“What are they doing?” the little girl asked as she watched
two boys roughhousing, using a lumpy snowman as a shield between them.

“They’re having a snowball fight.”

“Is that a fort?” she asked.

“It’s a snowman.”

Amy’s eyes grew wide. “That’s a snowman?”

“Well, sort of.” With one stone remaining as an eye and a
curved twig pressed into the face to denote the mouth, it just barely resembled
one. “Haven’t you ever played in the snow before?”

Amy shook her head. “Mm-mm.”

Jessie could hardly believe it. She had to stop and remind
herself Amy was only six. She’d probably never even seen snow, and her
knowledge of snowmen solely provided by a
Frosty the Snowman
cartoon.

“It’s fun,” Jessie tried to convince her.

Amy didn’t smile.

“You can roll in it and play in it. Come on, I’ll show you.”

They entered the park and Amy stepped into the snow for what
Jessie wagered was the first time ever. Her composure brightened as her boots
crunched the lightly packed crust. She bent and scooped up a handful.

“You can eat it, if it’s white,” Jessie told her. “But don’t
eat yellow snow.”

Amy regarded her with wide eyes. Jessie scooped up a handful
and took a small bite. Amy brought her glove to her face and gingerly touched
her tongue to it. “It’s cold! What is it?”

“Well, it’s frozen water. Sort of like frozen rain, but the rain
drops freeze into tiny crystals as they fall through the sky. If you look
really close, you can see.” She leaned down and showed Amy the palm of her dark
blue glove where a single snowflake had landed. “No two snowflakes are alike.”

“You mean all this is from little snowflakes like that?” Amy
glanced around at the smooth, white landscape. “Gosh.”

“This is how you make a snow angel.” Jessie stepped off the
trampled path onto a wide, unmarred section. She lay down and swept her arms up
and down, and her legs open and closed. She got up carefully and surveyed her
work. “Does it look like an angel?”

Amy considered it for a moment. “Um, I guess so.”

“You try it.” She waited while Amy chose another smooth
patch of snow and created her own angel. Jessie had to admit, it had been years
since she’d actually played in the snow. She’d only trudged through the
outdoors during winter to get from one place to another. She’d almost forgotten
how wonderful a clear winter day could be.

The crisp cold, the clean air, and the childlike fascination
in Amy’s young eyes made Jessie feel like she was coming home to something, but
she couldn’t remember what.

Amy scooped up another handful and threw it through the air.
The dry snow dissipated like sugar.

“That’s not how you make a snowball. You have to pack it,
like this.” She wadded together several handfuls until she had a nice round
ball. She brought her arm back and threw it at the first target she saw—Tom.

She hit him square in the chest. He stopped, arms opened
like a person might after you’ve just spilled coffee on them, staring at the
snow clinging to his sweater through the open flap of his new jacket. His mouth
hung open in utter shock.

Jessie stared back, just as stunned. God, what had she done?
Was he angry? She couldn’t tell from his frozen posture. Amy clasped her hands
in front of her chest as though she were praying.

Jessie grabbed her by the elbows and lifted her. “Take
cover!” The little girl stiffened in her grasp with a squeal of laughter. Jessie
plodded through the snow and dodged behind the snowman just as a snowball
glanced off its head.

The barrage of snowballs that came made Jessie wonder if it
was just Tom on the other side. He was clearly an expert at snowball warfare.
She and Amy packed balls and hurled them blindly over the snowman, hunkered
down for protection behind the lump of misshapen snow serving as his base.

A snowball glanced off the side and sprayed over her. Snow
slid under the collar of her coat. Jessie squealed as the icy cold hit her
neck. Amy was bubbling with laughter, packing tiny snowballs that broke apart
almost as soon as she threw them. The little girl’s giggles were contagious,
and Jessie’s snowballs weren’t much better.

She’d hardly noticed Tom’s snowballs had stopped coming when
he rounded the snowman, shouting out a roar of attack. Jessie screamed as he
tackled her and knocked her backwards into the snow.

The weight of his body on top of hers sent an unexpected
zing of arousal racing through her. His cheek grazed hers and a pleasing aroma
of soap and day-past cologne brought her already heightened senses alive.

He rolled past and grabbed Amy, tossing her up and over
himself before they toppled into the snow. She squealed happily, squirming away
to pack another snowball. She tossed it awkwardly and only half of it hit Tom,
but he clutched his chest and fell over into the snow, tongue hanging out.

Jessie laughed as she watched the exchange. When Amy ran
over and fell against him, arms thrown around his neck, Jessie thought she
might cry. He appeared stunned as well, hesitating a moment before he sat up
and returned Amy’s hug.

As though she had no idea how she’d just surprised the two
of them, Amy ran off, giggling happily. She darted around the snowman and
looked up at his face. “He needs a nose,” she said, mostly to herself.

Jessie never would have thought a morning frolicking in the
snow would lift the little girl’s spirits so high.

Who would have thought it would lift mine, as well?

Jessie reached out and offered Tom a hand. “That snowman is
an embarrassment to Welcome. What do you say we build a better one?”

Instead of getting up, he yanked her down. Jessie dropped to
her knees and fell into the snow beside him.

“One condition.”

She smiled, afraid to ask it.

“You let me make dinner for you and Amy tonight.”

“Wow, he’s a lawyer
and
he cooks.”

“Is that a ‘yes’?”

“It’s deal I’d be a fool to pass up.”

Tom’s smile faded as his expression grew serious. His blue
eyes had deepened to the most brilliant sapphire she’d ever seen. He was an
exceptionally handsome man, even though tufts of brown hair sticking out of his
new red and white ski-hat made him look adorably tousled. He would make a
perfect Mr. December on a beefcake calendar…of course, if the hat were all he
was wearing.

Jessie glanced away, guarding herself. Where in the world
had that thought come from? Not only was it was totally inappropriate and wrong
on so many levels to have romantic thoughts about this man, this
stranger
,
he lived more than two hours away, so there wasn’t even the possibility of
nice, slow,
safe
dating.

“You’re a special woman, Ms. Jeffries.”

She glanced back and met those brilliant blue eyes as they
searched hers. “You’re kind of special yourself, Mr. Dunham.”

Across the park, a patrol car moved slowly down the street.
She couldn’t see who was driving, but it was enough to remind her of past
mistakes. Mistakes from moving too fast.

Tom’s gaze only turned more searching. His hand gently
slipped around her wrist. He leaned closer. Lord, was he going to kiss her?

Jessie shoved herself onto her knees and rose to her feet.
“We shouldn’t forget to check on your car.” The warm feelings Tom stirred
inside her were inappropriate and totally foreign. She hadn’t felt this way
when she and Mike were dating. Maybe that was why she’d drifted along with him
all those months; she just hadn’t noticed the fizzle. The idea of being married
had possessed more appeal than the man himself.

Tom got to his feet. “All right.” His voice was reserved.
He’d picked up on the subtle barrier she’d placed between them. A small part of
her felt bad for putting it there.

Would indulging in a hot weekend during a cold month with a
smokin’ stranger really be so bad?

“We can fix this one,” Amy called. She was already packing
snow against the lumpy base of the snowman.

“He just needs a new face,” Jessie said. Her voice was
quavering as though she were a teenager about to ask her dream date to the
Sadie Hawkins dance. What on earth was wrong with her? The subject of sex made
her noodley? Or the subject of hot sex with a stranger? For goodness’ sake, she
wasn’t a kid anymore. Far from it. Actually, at twenty-six with only one
serious relationship under her belt, she was more like a spinster. Jessie giggled,
and Tom eyed her curiously.

They had packed new snow around the snowman—“Sam” Amy had
named him—until he was round, smooth, and solid enough to stand another
blizzard. Jessie dug through the snow under a shrub, collecting a handful of
smooth, dark rocks. She placed two for eyes and made a small mouth curved in a
happy smile. She used the rest of the stones to spell out “Sam” in the trampled
snow in front of his base.

They stood back and surveyed their work. “I’m hungry,” Amy
announced.

Jessie winked at Tom. “Welcome to parenthood, Dad.”

“I want pizza,” she continued.

“Then pizza you shall have.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m
hungry too, even though it’s only eleven-thirty.”

“It’s the cold weather, it saps the energy out of you.”

“Ms. Jeffries, who has the best pizza in town?” There was a
gleam in his eye, as if he used the formality to remind her of the comment he’d
made earlier. As if she could possibly forget?

“Romano’s. It’s cozy, and they’ve got a pasta Alfredo to die
for.”

He took Amy’s hand then pulled Jessie under his arm as they
started out of the park. “How about I buy you two lovely ladies lunch?”

* * *

They left her 4Runner parked where it was and Jessie led
them across the park. She took Amy’s hand. When she skipped a step, Jessie
started skipping too, and soon Tom was jogging to keep up with them.

Amy giggled again. It was the most glorious sound Tom had
ever heard. It seemed she’d awakened today a transformed kid.

They walked one block down and one block over to a quaint
little Italian restaurant as traditional as any East Coast pizzeria, right down
to the checkered tablecloths. After they ordered a large veggie pizza, which
Jessie claimed was the best on earth, Tom turned around to see Officer Mike
seated in the back with a pretty blond.

Jessie followed his gaze and visibly stiffened when she saw
them.

“How about we sit over here by the tree?” Tom suggested,
hoping to put them out of visual range. He gestured to a booth on the opposite
side of the tree from her ex. Amy scampered off to look at the huge tree
literally dripping with ornaments.

Jessie sat down with her back to them and made a slow
project of removing her gloves and coat. From the corner of his eye, Tom saw
the patrolman glance their way.

“I haven’t seen him in a year, now I see him three times in
as many days. I told you I have rotten luck at Christmas.”

At least she smiled as she said it.

“It’s all how you look at it. How often do you get the
opportunity to see them arguing?”

She glanced back, trying to appear casual. At that moment their
voices rose. It was obvious Mike had said or done something to upset his
fiancée.

Amy came back to the table, but didn’t slide into the booth.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” she proclaimed loudly enough for the next table
over to hear. Jessie grinned, and Tom realized he must look like a fool with
his mouth hanging open.

“Um…”

“I’ll show you where it is.” Her smile increased as she slid
from her chair and led Amy to the restroom.

Lord, how was he going to learn to live with a six-year-old girl?
He couldn’t take her into the men’s bathroom with him, and he couldn’t go into
the women’s with her.

While Jessie and Amy were gone, he picked up a tabletop sign
for Romano’s beer selections and pretended to read it as he listened to the
argument going on behind them. In the reflection of the juke box, he could see
Mike’s fiancée leaning her elbows on the table with her hands covering her
face.

“How could you,” and “I’m sorry,” were all he heard. They
leaned close over the table, speaking in hushed but urgent tones.

At the moment Jessie and Amy emerged from the restroom, the
woman sitting with Mike rose from her chair and stormed out.

Jessie froze, staring across the room at him, her face void
of emotion and those deep, green eyes dark and quiet. Amy let go of her hand
and crossed the room, oblivious to her discomfort.

The patrolman had also risen from his chair, but his gaze
was on Jessie, not the departing figure of his fiancée. For a long minute
neither moved.

Whatever had just passed between them, it was about as
subtle as an earthquake.