Rabbit Creek Santa (4 page)

Some of the ornaments were new; pretty, shiny balls she'd purchased along with red bows to fill in the gaps of that first Christmas tree. Others were old, a mishmash of bright colors, chipped paint
, faded designs and cheap plastic bits that hung on her tree when she was a pup. There was even an angel she'd made in first grade.

"When my brother and I
found mates, my mother gave us each a box of ornaments from the family tree," Lindy explained.

Travis asked her about each one as she unwrapped and handed it to him to hang. He held up a satiny 'Baby's First Christmas' and
raised his eyebrows at the date.

"Why, you're just a cub," he said of her twenty five years, "Assuming this is yours."

"Yes, it's mine," she admitted. She'd felt pretty old these last two years. Did she look it, too? "What about you? You can't be that old," she said to cover her concern.

"Me? I'm a ripe old thirty
-one and according to my mother and sisters, my clock is ticking fast."

Now it was Lindy who raised her eyebrows.

"My sisters want to share their you-wouldn't-believe how-gross-disgusting-stupid-just-fill-in-the-blank Travis stories with someone and my mother wants more pups to spoil as if the five my sisters have produced aren't enough," he complained, but his laugh was one of tolerant affection. "One of the best things about moving here is that there's no constant parade of every eligible woman between twenty and forty being marched under my nose. Believe me, when my mother wants something, she doesn't let anything get in her way."

"What does your father say to all this?"

"When it comes to women, you just can't win," Travis said in the same deep tone he'd used in the kitchen. He smiled as Lindy laughed and then he said, "You should laugh more often. It looks good on you." Ignoring Lindy's blush, he pointed to a little gold colored box she held in her hands. "What's that?"

Lindy held it so he could see the opening cut in the front. "It's Joey's First Christmas
ornament. My mother sent it. He was just ten weeks old and Joe had been gone for less than a year. I didn't have the heart…" Her fingers worked the box open, but she didn't pass the ornament to Travis. Instead, she pushed the wrapping papers on her lap onto the sofa and went to the tree to hang it herself.

"And now you do," he said softly, standing by her side.

Travis reached back for the last ornament in the box. Wrapped in blue tissue paper, she'd been pushing it off to the side and avoiding it. He was pretty sure he knew what it was.

"No," Lindy said, holding up her hand, "That one stays in the box." She shook her head. "
It's a part of the past I don't want to remember."

"But you do remember, every time you look at Joey. Was he a good man, a good wolver?"

"Yes," she whispered, "He was good to me and would have been a good father to Joey." And she was sorry he was gone and wouldn't get to enjoy the good things he deserved.

Travis put his arm around her and pulled her in close to his side.

"Look at your tree, Lindy. Your first Christmas, Joey's first Christmas, the angel you made, even those ugly plastic poinsettia things that you thought were beautiful when you were eight, the faded ornaments from your parent's trees when they were young. This tree is filled with your history and now Joey's. It's filled with memories and that's what makes it beautiful."

"Joey never knew him," she said sadly for both of them.

"All the more reason to hang it on the tree." He unwrapped the glass ball and held it up in front of her. On it was a simple design of a red front door outlined in holly with a wreath in the center. Our First Christmas was written in script with the date below and below that, Joe & Lindy.

"In a few years, Joey will be helping to decorate. You'll tell him the stories of the ornaments just like you told me. It will give you the chance to tell Joey about the man who was his father and Joey will know his dad was loved and remembered.
"

Travis was right. Lindy took the ornament from him and hung it high on the tree where it would be safe from little hands. As she stood back, she quickly wiped away a tear that was forming in the corner of her eye. She didn't think Travis noticed, but he did. He seemed to notice everything.
He gave her another shoulder hug.

"That's part of remembering," he said matter-of-factly and then, "Oh shit! Look at the time." He pointed to the clock on the wall. "I didn't mean to keep you up so late."

It was after one o'clock! Lindy couldn't believe the time had flown so fast or that she was still wide awake. Usually, once Joey was tucked up in his crib, she puttered around the house for a few hours and then went to bed.

"I'm sorry I kept you," Lindy apologized, "I'll bet you had better things to do
on Christmas Eve."

"No
, I didn't," he said, forgetting about the parties he'd thought about earlier. "I had a good time. It was like coming home. Going home, I mean. Being with family."

Now was the time he should be putting on his coat and saying good bye, but he stood there, not wanting to leave.

"I had a good time, too," she said, "I wonder what it's doing outside."

Now that the time had come, she didn't want him to leave. She
went to the window and pulled the curtain back so she could see. The snow was falling heavily again and she smiled.

"It's awful out there. I don't know if you'll be able to get out to the road. You could spend the night," she said and then blushed. "On the sofa, I mean. You spent so much time decorating the tree, maybe you'd like to watch Joey opening his presents
. If he has time, GW will probably come by and plow the driveway tomorrow morning. It'll make it easier for you." she told him hopefully.

He wasn't going to tell her that his truck would make it through just fine.
He wanted to stay, and if this GW happened to find time, he'd also find Travis' bright blue truck all covered in snow, proving that he'd spent the night. It would serve the bastard right.

"I'd like to spend the night with you. On the sofa, I mean."
Yep, lay it on out there, buddy. "I mean I'd like to stay and see Joey open his presents."

Lindy let out her breath and smiled. "Good. Good. I'll go get you a pillow and blankets."

"And I'll put the presents under the tree."

*****

At this hour of the night, Lindy should have been dead to the world, but she couldn't sleep. She never had trouble sleeping, but tonight her inner wolf wouldn't settle. Purring like a cat one minute and snarling the next, her wolf prowled back and forth. She wanted out. She wanted the wolver stretched out on the sofa downstairs.

"
Big wolf. Strong. Bring us meat. Take care of cubs. Good mate."

"Stop it,"
Lindy hissed, "It's not like that. He's a nice guy who helped make Christmas for Joey. That's all."

If her wolf had been free, she would have bitten something.

You can lie to yourself, but you can't lie to your wolf. That's what her mother always said and Lindy was beginning to believe it. She had more than a passing interest in Travis and her wolf knew it.

When she thought about that almost-kiss, and she was thinking about it a lot, she wished she hadn't frightened herself and turned away. When he put a friendly arm around her shoulders, she wanted to wrap her arms around him and curl into him.

Her wolf was yipping and tumbling around inside her, trying to get her attention. Lindy knew what her wolf was trying to say, but she wasn't ready to listen. She was in estrus. The moon was almost full. Her wolf had awakened from a two year nap and she was horny. How could anyone trust a horny wolf?

Lindy
tossed and turned and finally fell into a fitful sleep and dreamed of running as a wolf. Even in sleep, her damn wolf wouldn't leave her alone.

Travis wasn't faring any better. The couch was actually pretty comfortable, but it wasn't a bed. It wasn't Lindy's bed. Hell, it wasn't Lindy's bed with Lindy in it. He wondered what she wore to bed. He pictured her in something short and flirty, maybe something pink with that ruffly stuff around the bottom edge or maybe something sleek and slinky that would mold to her breasts and hips.

He groaned and rolled to his side, shifting until his back was pressed against the back of the couch. Maybe she wore one of those satiny
night shirt things that look liked an oversized man's shirt. He groaned again. These thoughts were making him mighty uncomfortable. And then he snorted a laugh at his fantasies.

Lindy was a single mom with a fifteen month old pup who probably woke her at all hours of the night.
She probably wore a pair of flannel sleep pants and tee shirt.

Travis sat up, elbows on knees, and ran his hands through his hair.
He knew he had it bad when the thought of flannel PJs stoked his hard on.

His wolf had no patience with any of this. He'd scented his female and was ready to go.

"It's not that easy," Travis argued, though quietly, so as not to wake the woman sleeping right above his head. "She's a widow who still has feelings for her dead mate. I can't compete with that?"

The wolf inside him growled.
"
No compete.
Dead mate is no mate! No running, no hunting, no playing, no making pups."
To a wolf, life was simple.

"Sure. Whatever. What about GW, the wolver who might have time?"

Could a wolf shrug? Because Travis was pretty sure his did, right before it said, "
Beat him. Drive him to ground. Teeth at throat. Show female, bigger, better wolf.
"

Challenge GW? The idea appealed to Travis
and he could feel his wolf's excitement, but he wasn't sure it would appeal to Lindy. Any female wolf would be impressed with strength. That didn't mean her woman would be attracted to the wolver wielding it.

Lindy didn't strike him as the blood and guts type, though it was sometimes hard to tell. His mother
, a woman who cried at the thought of a mouse in a trap, once tried to rip the hide off a bear when it decided to make a meal of an injured wolver. She beat off the bear and mated the wolver. His father still joked that he only mated her because he was afraid not to and every time he said it, his mother still giggled and blushed.

But the idea of a Challenge got him thinking. If he w
ere going to get anywhere with the little widow, he was going to have to show her he wasn't the kind of guy who would take care of her when he got around to it. He'd take care of her when she needed it and what she needed now was her driveway plowed.

There was a snow shovel in the lean-to where she kept the ax.
If he started now, he could be done before she woke. He pulled on his tee shirt and grabbed his jacket. This time he'd make sure he didn't freeze his ears off. There was an ear warmer under the passenger seat somewhere, along with a pair of gloves.

Closing the door quietly behind him, he trudged out to the truck, thanking God for powdery snow that was easy to shovel and most of all for making it stop. It wouldn't be worth much if the bastard found time to plow and another three inches had fallen on Travis' work.

While searching for his headband and gloves, he came across the other fancy Christmas bag, a twin to the one he'd given the Mate. He was invited to Christmas dinner and had purchased the second bottle of wine and box of chocolates for his hostess.

The packages under the tree were all for Joey.
Lindy should have something to open, too. He left the wine in the bag and ran the chocolates back to the house. He straightened the red ribbon before placing the foil wrapped box under the tree. It wasn't much, but it would have to do and if that bastard GW showed up with something better, then Travis could always resort to plan B and rip the fucker's throat out.

The driveway was long
and took forever to clear, but working like a mad man, he got the job done. He shoveled a path to the house, cleared the steps and left his wet boots on the porch. The clock on the wall said 4:15. Damn, he was good. This time he had no trouble falling asleep.

He thought he was dreaming when he heard the soft call, but it came again and Travis sat up.

"Piyo," the sing-song voice came again.

Travis' bare feet made no noise as he climbed the stairs and entered the room from which Joey's quiet voice came. The pup was sitting in his crib, talking to a stuffed bear.

"Hey, buddy," Travis whispered and when the boy turned his head and his eyes grew large, Travis was sure there'd be another scream.

"Piy
o!" Joey gleefully exclaimed. Still holding his bear, he lifted his arms to Travis.

Travis picked him up, winced at the soggy diaper under his hand and then forgot all about it when the
pup lay his head on Travis' chest, whispered 'Piyo' again and sighed happily. Travis snagged a fresh diaper and a box of wipes on their way out of the room.

He felt a little guilty when he peeked in the open door across the hall. Lindy lay curled on her side with her hand under her cheek. Her soft, round face looked even softer in sleep with her dark lashes forming two perfect arcs on her cheeks. Her curls tumbled over her forehead and across the pillow and for a moment, Travis was tempted to go wake he
r up just to give him an excuse the run his fingers through those curls. And yeah, he was right. She wore flannel PJs to bed.