Winter's Embrace (15 page)

Winter blushed. “You look very
handsome.” She didn’t wait for a reply. She grabbed her coat, took Rachael’s
hand and headed out into the cold.

The drive into town was full
of Rachael’s enthusiastic chatter, but it was hard for
Winter
to concentrate on what was being said. The impending awkwardness with Stone and
Colt…and Stone and Henry, had her on edge.

The whole town was lit up with
soft, white lights in the trees and wrapped around the lampposts. Iridescent
snowflakes hung down from branches, sparkling as they twisted in the wind. The
fronts of the buildings each had strings of icicle lights hanging from the
roofs. It did look like a Winter Wonderland.

They passed a beautiful white
church with a steeple that seemed to reach the heavens. There was Rex’s
Barbershop with an old-fashioned Barber pole outside. They drove by Ander’s
Food Mart, Lucy’s Deli, Carlston Diner, Frank’s Place Restaurant and The
General Store. Finally, they came to the community center.

The parking lot was crowded so
Stone dropped her and Rachael off at the front door. Winter wanted to wait outside
for him, but Rachael grabbed her hand, and pulled her inside.

It looked like a wedding
reception with all the beautiful decorations. There was a stage in the back
with a band playing country music and the dance floor was already crowded.
Against one wall, a large buffet was set out.

“This is my mommy,” Rachael
was already explaining to a well-dressed, older woman.

The woman’s eyebrows shot
right up. “So, you finally came back to do right by your child did you?”

“No, Miss Beverly, she’s my
new mommy.”

She reached out and shook
Winter’s
hand. “I’m Beverly Rain the town’s librarian. I’m
so pleased to meet you, Mrs. McCoy.”

Winter smiled. “I’m not
married to Stone. I’m Winter James.”

Beverly’s eyes grew wide then
narrowed and she pursed her lips. “Oh. Rachael, why don’t you find a place for
you and your
mommy
to sit?”

Rachael nodded and grabbed
Winter’s
hand. “Isn’t she the nicest?”

The urge to leave right then
and there was strong, but she allowed Rachael to lead her to a table to sit.
They weren’t there long before the librarian had a crowd of women around her
and they constantly looked her way, leaving no doubt that they we talking about
her.

Winter watched for Stone—she
needed him. The need for him annoyed her but she wasn’t up to tangling with the
arrogant librarian and her friends when she was trying to make a good
impression. Sitting back, she nodded at Rachael. “This is really nice.”

“It’s my favorite in the whole
world! I like baseball too. Look, Mommy, here comes Daddy.

Winter turned and realized
that almost every female had him in her sights. He did look rather handsome. A
few of the women tried to stop him, but he smiled, nodded politely and
continued on.

“Whew,
what a crowd.
Come on, I’ll introduce you around.”

Her face must have given her
away.

“All right, what happened?”

“Not a thing. I did meet the
librarian.”

Stone grimaced. “So that’s it.
Beverly Rain is the town gossip and no one pays her any mind.”

That crowd of women told
Winter
differently, but she nodded and stood up. “Okay,
let’s meet your friends.”

“Oh
boy!
It’s going to be fun. Miss Beverly, the book lady,
thought that Mommy was the mommy that went away. I told her that she was my new
mommy. Then she asked if she was Mrs. McCoy. Isn’t that funny, Daddy?”

Stone gazed at
Winter
, and gave her a sympathetic look. “I guess she jumped
to conclusions. Makes no never mind. Let’s work the room.”

“I came here for fun, Daddy,
not for work.”

Stone laughed. “I mean let’s
walk around, and show
Winter
off to our friends.” He
lifted Rachael into his arms, and grabbed
Winter’s
hand, interlacing his fingers with hers.

Winter smiled at him. It was
as if he was trying to shield her from the busybodies and she appreciated his
kindness until she noticed him glowering at a few men. Why couldn’t hand
holding
just be hand holding? Leave it to Stone to use it as
a signal to other men to stay away.

A beautiful, black haired
woman put her hand on Stone’s arm. “So it is true.” She stared at Stone, with a
look of defeat.

Stone gave her a slight nod.
“Lizzie, this is
Winter
.”

“My
mommy.”
Rachael glared at the woman.

Lizzie turned red and nodded
at
Winter
. “It’s nice to meet you,
Winter
.”
Her hurt expression could not be ignored. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Winter watched Lizzie
practically run across the crowded room. She had the impression that Lizzie
thought she meant something to Stone.

“Did I tell you that you look
stunning tonight?”

Winter gave him a brief shrug.
He was trying to make her forget what just happened. She just hoped it wouldn’t
happen all night.

He escorted them to a fairly
full table and every person glanced up and welcomed them. A weight lifted off
her shoulders.

“Honey, this is
Summer
and Holden O’Leary, Jonas and Autumn Barnes, and you
know Colt and Caleb.”

Winter nodded graciously.
“It’s so nice to meet y’all.”

Summer, a beautiful blonde
with big, blue eyes, stood up and hugged her. “I’m so glad to meet you. Poor
old Stone has been a bachelor for way too long.”

Winter wasn’t sure what to say
about the bachelor part. Had he told them he was serious about her?

Autumn hugged her next. Her
blue eyes held warmth and her red hair was lovely. “I told Stone to go and
bring you back. I’m glad he did.”

Winter’s brow furrowed. “Bring
me back?”

“Yes, he told me the story of
his first love getting away and how he finally located you.” Autumn squeezed
her hand. “This big cowboy is my husband, Jonas.” Autumn touched her husband on
the back of his neck. His amber eyes glowed as he smiled at his wife.

Jonas stood and she couldn’t
get over how big and tall he was. His shoulders were the widest she’d ever come
across.

“Nice
to meet you, ma’am.”
His brown hair was military short
and she wondered if he’d served.

“Call me
Winter
and it’s nice to meet you, too.”

Summer laughed. “You might as
well meet my old ball and chain. This is Holden.”

The dark haired man laughed.
“That’s me, the old ball and chain. Nice to meet you,
Winter
.”

“Daddy, let’s whirl!”

Stone laughed and turned away
from the others. “I always dance with Rachael at these things.”

“Go right ahead. I’d love to
watch.”

Stone took Rachael onto the
dance floor. He placed her tiny feet on top of his boots and taking small
steps, he danced with his daughter. Winter stood at the edge of the dance floor
and her heart blossomed with love for the two of them. If only she could learn
to trust Stone.

Trusting Stone, an interesting
concept, she wanted to experience. There were times like this, watching him
dance with his daughter, that made her heart feel full, but then he’d do
something stupid and she’d lose faith in him.

Her musing was interrupted by
a cute, young guy named Shady. He was one of Colt’s ranch hands. He asked her
to dance and she accepted. Shady started to lead her onto the dance floor when
Stone stepped in, impeding them.

“Hey, Shady, how the
heck are
you?” Stone asked, giving him a curt nod.

Shady swallowed hard and took
a step away from
Winter
.
“Doing
great.”

“This is my dance with
Winter
, I’m sure you understand.”

Her mouth dropped open when
Shady nodded and turned away. Just who did Stone think he was? She spotted Colt
and Caleb, so instead she took Rachael’s hand and headed away from Stone. “Come
on, we have cowboys to dance with.”

Stone opened his mouth to
speak.

“Don’t even. I don’t want to
hear it.” She led Rachael to Colt and Caleb, glad they were happy to see them.

“You know what we have,
Caleb?”

“No,
big bro, why don’t you tell me?”

Colt grinned. “We have the
prettiest two gals standing right here with us.”

Caleb winked at
Winter
. “That poses a big problem, Colt.”

“Now what would that be?”

“I always get the prettiest
gal. How will I choose?”

Rachael giggled in delight.
“You dance with me, Caleb.”

Colt laughed. “That seems just
about right to me.”

There seemed to be
a gentleness
to Colt. Caleb was the fun, outgoing, brother,
and Colt the responsible one. If only she felt some attraction to Colt, she
could live next door to Rachael and—

She stopped her thoughts
there. She promised she wouldn’t leave.

Colt held out his hand. “May
I?”

Nodding, she grasped it and
followed as he led her to the dance floor. It felt nice to be in his arms, but
he wasn’t Stone. “Thank you.”

“For
what?”
Colt asked.

“For
asking me to dance.
I have a bit of trouble brewing and
I’m not in the mood to deal with it.”

“Problems
with Stone?”

“Yes, apparently he doesn’t
want me dancing with anyone.”

Colt grinned at her. “I saw
what happened with Shady. Does Stone even know?”

“Know what?”

“That you’re in love with
him.”

She gasped softly.

“It’s as plain as old Aunt
Margaret’s face.”

“What? Never mind, I get the
gist of it.”

Caleb danced by with Rachael
in his arms. She beamed with happiness.

“Dip me! Dip me again, Caleb.”

Caleb laughed and gently
dipped Rachael back.

“Uh
oh.
Here comes Daddy and he looks mad. Maybe he doesn’t
like me to dip. What do you think, Mommy?”

Winter winked at her. “No,
sweetheart, you look beautiful dancing with Caleb. I think it’s me he wants to
talk to.”

Caleb twirled Rachael away.

“Want me to protect you, or
should I let him cut in?”

Winter stopped dancing, stood
on her tiptoes and kissed Colt on the cheek. “You are possibly the nicest man I
know. I can handle it.”

Colt gently squeezed her hand,
before handing her over to Stone.

“Listen, Stone, I know this
night is a disaster.”

Stone took her into his arms
and began to dance with her. “Not a disaster. Did I tell you how beautiful you
are? I’m the luckiest man here because I have you. My friends all think you’re
great.”

After wishing and hoping for
so many years to hear those words, she hesitated to believe him. Looking over
Stone’s shoulder, she spotted Lizzie staring at them. Winter knew how she felt.
She knew how much it hurt to be rejected by Stone.

The song ended and Caleb
handed Rachael to Stone. He asked
Winter
to dance, but
she told him she was tired. She turned to walk back to the table and almost ran
into Stone again.

“Let’s dance again.”

“Where’s Rachael?”

“She’s dancing with Henry.”
Drawing her closer he tightened his arms around her. “When it comes to you, I
swear I don’t know what I’m doing. I just want you to be mine.”

The scent of him gave her no
peace. The soap and water clean plus his own masculine scent made her want to
pull his head down for a long kiss. She loved him, she longed for him. He was
hers for the taking but his lack of honesty haunted her.

“I keep thinking about making
love to you. I want to make you tremble, I want to see the pleasure in your
eyes, and I want to hold you next to me all night.” Stone leaned down and
kissed the side of her neck, sending a shiver through her.

Her heart screamed yes but her
head said no. “I need time.” She almost tripped when he suddenly stopped
dancing.

“I’ve given you time. I
thought we were on the same track together, finally.”

For a moment, she thought she
saw a flash of pain in his eyes. It was gone so fast. Now he just looked annoyed.
“Are we okay?” she asked.

He looked at her for the
longest time. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders. “No, I just don’t know
anymore.” He let her go and walked away.