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He scraped his hand over the beard stubble on his jaw. “Friends.”
Anna owed him the truth. Not everyone in Kiptohanock would understand her decision to carry this child. Would Ryan?
She exhaled, sending a puff of breath into the brisk air. “The baby is Mateo’s. Posthumously conceived. So a tiny part of the life we shared can live on.”
“I meant what I said. I’m here for you.” He swallowed. “For as long as you’ll let me.”
Good as his word, he wouldn’t let her down. Ryan Savage had never let her down. And somehow in the deep places of her heart, she knew he wouldn’t now.
He cleared his throat. “In fact, I’ve made some phone calls...”
She glanced at him.
“I’m going to be your own personal version of Santa. And I could use your help with an idea I have for Maria, Oscar and Zander.”
“Which means what?”
“I’m going to make it my mission to make this the best Kiptohanock Christmas ever.” He smiled, and her heart lurched. “For all of us.”
Chapter Three (#u60d18151-6d40-54d5-aed1-487c7fafd7e6)
Dusk fell as Ryan hauled the last box up the rickety, wooden steps into the run-down trailer. He placed the box on the peeling kitchen countertop. No wonder Anna hadn’t wanted her brother out here.
She raised her palm before he could speak. “It was cheap. It was furnished. It’s temporary and not any of your business.”
“You can’t stay here, Anna. The steps are an accident waiting to happen.”
She folded her arms. “I’ll be fine.”
“And that car you got as a high school graduation present is on its last legs. I can’t believe you drove from Texas in that bucket of bolts.”
“My car is fine.”
“You and I both know that at the crack of dawn, your brother is going to pay you a visit. And then he’s going to drag you out of here if he has to put you under house arrest—his house—to do it.”
In her defiant brown eyes, for a second he glimpsed the take-no-sass girl raised in a houseful of boys. “He can try.”
She wasn’t the only one who could do stubborn. “I’m fixing the steps, Anna.”
“I’ll fix the steps myself.”
He planted his hands on his hips. “Can you see your feet, Anna, much less crawl under the porch?”
She rocked back. Wrong thing to say to a pregnant woman.
“I didn’t mean that the way—” But she sidestepped his outstretched hand.
Frustration bubbled at her mile-wide independent streak. “I can’t in good conscience let you get hurt on those steps.”
“Conscience’s sake? Is that why you’re here?” Her lips flattened. “What am I, Ryan, this year’s Christmas project?”
He moved around the kitchen island toward her. “Absolutely not.”
She pressed her spine against the speckled counter. “Knock yourself out then. Don’t let me stop you.”
“Anna, I just—”
“By all means do what you have to do so you can sleep at night.” She inched past him, not an easy feat with the lack of square footage in the tiny galley kitchen.
As for the electric spark when he touched her hand on Charlie’s porch? He clamped down on his jaw.
Friends. They were friends. He drilled it into his brain. Just friends.
Retrieving the toolbox from the trunk of his car, he did what he could in the fading light to make the hand railing more secure. The steps needed a total overhaul. But in the meantime...
Poking her head out the door, Anna flicked a switch inside the house. An exterior light blinked to feeble life.
He glanced up. “I’m done for the night.”
“Thank you, Ryan. Don’t let me keep you from...” She fluttered her hand in the general direction of the mainland United States. “Wherever you go in the evenings.”
“From my wife and kids, you mean?”
The strangest look crossed her face, so quickly he almost believed he imagined it. “I didn’t realize you had a wife and children.”
“I don’t.”
“Oh.” She moistened her bottom lip with her tongue. “Good.”
He cocked his head. “Good I don’t have a wife and kids?”
“Yes—no...” She reddened. “I mean, good that I’m not keeping you from anything. Like supper.” She cleared her throat. “I should pay you.”
He frowned. “I don’t want you to pay me.”
Earning him a mulish look.
“On second thought, maybe you are keeping me from my supper.” He chucked the hammer. It clattered into the metallic toolbox. “And since you have to eat, too, we might as well keep each other company.”
She stiffened. “Why?”
He leaned against the railing, testing his weight against it. “You need to eat. I need to eat.” He glanced at her basketball-size belly. “The baby needs for you to eat. And there’s something else you can keep me from.”
She rested her hand on top of her stomach. “What’s that?”
“You can keep me from another Friday night of eating alone.” He grinned at her. “Dinner will give us a chance to catch up.”
“Long time no see?”
“Our Christmas reunion. A lot has happened since we last saw each other.”
“No kidding.” Her gaze fell to the wooden steps. “I’m sorry about your dad, Ryan.” She dropped her hand to her side. “Mateo was going through chemo and...”
“We lost touch. No problem. Dinner?”
Her lashes feathered her skin. “I never could say no to you.”
Which wasn’t how he remembered high school. Though more often than not, he hadn’t given her a chance to say no. He’d been too scared to ask Anna to prom. He reckoned it best to be content being best friends.
He made sure she locked the door. Another item on his To-Do list. Wouldn’t take much effort to break the lock on the wobbly doorknob. He’d feel better knowing Anna was safe at night out here alone. Ryan offered his arm as she descended the steps.
Instead, she gripped the bannister. “I got it. Thanks for making the railing sturdier.”
He stationed himself at ground level in case she needed him. Not that Anna Pruitt had ever needed him. He’d been the one who foolishly hoped their friendship might blossom into something more. “How ’bout Tammy and Johnny’s for burgers and fries?”
“Boot?” Her lips curved. “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard me some Shore talk.”
He rolled his tongue in his cheek. “Which simply means it’s been too long since you’ve been graced by our unique Tidewater dialect.”
She smiled as she crossed the oyster-shelled driveway to his car. “Dutch treat.”
He opened the passenger door. “I’m not going to argue with you about dinner. It’s my treat.”
“That doesn’t seem fair considering how much you’ve already helped me.”
He kept the door between them. “I insist. For old times’ sake.”
“Old times.” She backed into the seat. “Just let me stuff my beached whale self inside your car.” She swung her legs inside last.
He tucked her red wool coat out of the way of the door. “You look beautiful.”
It was true. She’d been a lovely girl. Pregnant, she glowed with a womanly luminescence.
She twisted at an awkward angle, reaching for the seat belt. “You’re being kind.”
“Let me.” Leaning over her, he clicked the seat belt in position. Unconsciously, he inhaled her scent. A delicious blend of vanilla, cloves and cinnamon. Like Christmas. So like the Anna he remembered.
The air suddenly felt close. Rising abruptly, he banged his head on the roof. “Ow.”
She took a ragged breath. “Are you okay?”
Grunting, he extricated himself and rubbed the top of his scalp. Rounding the hood, he slipped into the driver seat and concentrated on pulling out of her badly rutted driveway. He planned to give Charlie a call tonight. Between the two of them, they’d soon sort a few issues with her landlord.
She shifted in the seat. “How long was your father sick?”
“Mom called us home after his stroke four years ago. At rehab, Dad suffered another stroke two months later and died.”
“Why did you stay?”
He negotiated a bend in the road. “The bills had piled up. The business was in danger of going under. With Mom working at the high school, someone had to keep the business afloat. We all helped with the garden center and farm.”
She placed her palm atop her abdomen. “The Savage siblings rallied.” Her eyes flitted to his. “I’ve always loved how supportive y’all are to each other.”
“Y’all.” His lips twitched. “Glad to see you can take the girl out of the South, but you can’t take the South out of the girl.” He bypassed the turnoff for Kiptohanock.
She swatted his arm. Like old times.
He grinned. “Luke does the actual horticultural work. Justine gave up her art gallery to run the garden center. But Ethan had to finish his enlistment first. Once Tess completed her degree, she came home, too.”
“My mother tells me you gave up your career.”
He swallowed, touched that she’d gone to the trouble of keeping track of him over the years. “Once a science geek, always a science geek.”
“You were never a geek, Mr. Track Star. In fact, you were always too cool for school.” She patted the dashboard. “You’re still rocking the laid-back vibe.” A smile played across her lips.
He arched his eyebrow. “’Cause it doesn’t get cooler than a Saab?”
She laughed and pointed at the radio. “Harry Connick or Sinatra?”
Ryan smiled. “Probably their holiday CDs. As I recall, you start celebrating in October.”
“Not anymore.” She sighed. “Since Mateo died, Christmas is something to just get through.”
Pulling off the highway, he steered into the crowded roadside hangout. It pained him to hear her talk like that. “You have so much to look forward to. And next year will be the baby’s first Christmas.”
Her expression closed. “Did you see Oscar’s face when he mentioned Christmas?”
Ryan took the hint. Talk of the future made Anna uneasy. “Until Zander shot him down like an eight-year-old Grinch.”
“When I think back to the wonderful childhood memories I have, it hurts my heart to imagine what Christmas has been like for those kids.”
He turned off the engine. “After we eat, I could use your help on making this Christmas a happy one for them. But we’ll have to hurry to implement Phase One of Operation Christmas.”
* * *
Operation Christmas?
Perhaps Ryan was on to something. She could think of no one she’d rather see happy than those children. Spending time with the handsome teacher would be a plus.
Inside, he wouldn’t allow her to pay for her meal. “Pick a seat.” He motioned. “I’ll wait for the food.”
Not drifting far, she’d no sooner chosen a seat than two children ran over to him. Max and Izzie, two of his fifth graders.
“Are you coming tonight, Mr. Savage?”
“You gotta come, Mr. Savage.”
He grinned at them. “Since you’ve known me, have I ever missed the flotilla parade?”
