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Sushi bounded out to meet him, a good sign. His spirits lifted somewhat, though he’d feel better if the German shepherd bit him. He deserved to be punished. For all his searching, he hadn’t found a bit of useful information; not one single reference to any transaction between Charles Mitchell and Les Finch.
The day as gray as his mood, Jesse mounted the porch—and heard singing. A husky adult voice that sent an unexpected shiver of pleasure dancing along his nerve endings blended sweetly with a higher, childish melody.
Relief flooded him. Jade was here. Pausing at the open door, he could see the two through the glass. They were in the kitchen at the table, their backs turned, singing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” while they worked at something.
He squinted, leaning closer. What kind of get-ups were they wearing?
With an inner smile, he waited until they finished their song before pecking lightly on the door. Two heads swiveled in his direction.
“Daddy!” Jade dropped something onto the table and clambered off her chair. She ran toward him, nearly tripping over a long, white dress that looked suspiciously like a well-used wedding gown. Taking a moment to hike the yards of wrinkled satin and lace into one hand, she stumbled onward, lime-green high heels clunking against the wooden floor.
Mood elevating with every step his baby took, Jesse opened the door and stepped inside the living room.
“My, don’t you look beautiful,” he said.
But Jade was having none of his compliments. She got right to the point. “The teacher made me ride the bus ’cause you didn’t come.”
“I’m sorry I was late, Butterbean. Your teacher did the right thing sending you to Lindsey where you would be safe and happy.”
“Where were you? I got scared. I thought you were dead like Mommy.”
A searing pain cut off Jesse’s windpipe. Of course, she’d think that. That’s why he always made a point of being exactly where she expected—to allay her well-founded fears.
Lindsey appeared in the living room. “Your daddy is here now, Jade, and he’s just fine.”
“Jesus took care of him the way you said.”
A serene smile lit Lindsey’s eyes. “Yes, He did.”
Jesse didn’t know what was going on with their talk of Jesus and decided not to ask. He looked to Lindsey, grateful for her care of Jade, but not wanting to tell her where he’d been. Wearing a hat with peacock feathers sticking out the top, and a rather bedraggled fake fur stole over someone’s old red prom dress, she looked ridiculously cute. If he hadn’t felt so guilty, he would have laughed.
“I’m sorry for putting you out this way.”
“Jade is no problem. But we were a little concerned about you.”
Exactly what he didn’t need—Lindsey’s concern, although he knew it was there, felt it day in and day out as she carefully avoided subjects she’d discovered were painful or taboo. Always, that gentle aura of peace and inner joy reached out to him.
“I had some personal business to handle which took much longer than I’d planned. Somehow the time got away from me, and by the time I rushed over to the school…” He lifted his hands and let them fall.
“Well, you’re here now.” Lindsey smiled that sweet, tranquil smile that changed her face to a thing of beauty. Jesse tried, but failed, to resist the pleasure that one motion gave him.
And then she made things worse by asking, “Are you hungry?”
An unbidden rush of warmth filled him from the inside out. Coming to this house and this woman was starting to feel far too natural and way too good.
“Come on, Daddy. Come see. We’re making a tea party, and I’m the queen.” Skirts sweeping the floor, Jade led the way into the kitchen and lifted an odd-shaped bit of bread from the table, thrusting it at him. “I made this guarding angel for you.”
“Tea, huh? And an angel sandwich.” He took the offering, examining the small figure with all due seriousness. “Sounds delicious. Anything I can do to help?”
Lindsey nodded toward a plate of fresh fruit. “You could slice up the apples if you’d like.”
“Lindsey.” Jade’s plaintiff protest drew both adults’ attention. She eyed her father skeptically. “He can’t come to the tea party without dress-up clothes.”
An ornery gleam flashed in Lindsey’s brown eyes. “She’s right, Dad. Tea requires formal attire.”
Before he could object on purely masculine grounds, Jade rushed off, returning with a purple boa, a tarnished tiara, and a yellow-and-black satin cape. “Here, Daddy, you can be king.”
Lindsey laughed at the pained expression on Jesse’s face and in return, received his fiercest glare of wry humor.
“I’ll get you for this,” he muttered under his breath as Jade dressed him, carefully twining the boa around his neck before placing the crown on his head with a triumphant—if somewhat crooked—flourish.
Lindsey wrinkled her nose at him and adjusted her stole with a haughty toss of her head. “Mess with me, mister, and I’ll find you a pair of purple plastic high heels to go with that dashing feather boa.”
Jesse surprised himself by tickling her nose with the aforementioned boa. “I’m the king, remember. Off with your head.”
She laughed up at him, and he realized how much smaller she was than he, and how feminine she looked in a dress, even a silly outfit like this one. Out of her usual uniform of jeans and flannel, she unsettled him. Lindsey was a pretty woman as well as a nice one.
One more reason he needed to find the answer to his questions and get out of here. He couldn’t get attached to a woman he’d eventually have to hurt.
For all his searching today, he’d found no record of this farm or the transaction between his stepfather, Les Finch, and Charles Mitchell. If he didn’t find something next time, he’d be forced to ask the clerk for information, a risk he hadn’t wanted to take. Asking questions stirred up suspicion. Someone was bound to want to know what he was up to. Sooner or later, word would filter back to Lindsey and he’d be out of a job and out of luck. Discretion made for a slow, but safer, search.
Lindsey whacked his shoulder with her boa. “Are you going to slice that fruit or stand there and stare at my glorious hat?”
Her humor delighted him. “The hat does catch a man’s eye.”
Lindsey and Jade both giggled at his silliness. Even he wondered where the lightheartedness came from. He’d had a rotten afternoon, but the warmth of this house and the company of these two females lifted his spirits.
Taking up the stainless-steel knife, he sliced an apple into quarters. “What kind of sandwiches are we making?”
“Baloney and cheese.”
“Ah, a gourmet’s delight.” Placing the apple slices on a plate in as fancy a design as he could manage, he plucked a few grapes and arranged them in the center.
Lindsey clapped a slice of wheat bread on top of the meat and cheese. “And afterwards, we’ll make sugar cookies.”
“With sprinkles,” Jade chimed in, her face a study in concentration as she pushed the metal cutters into the sandwiches.
“Jesse, why don’t you arrange the fancy sandwiches on this plate while Jade finishes cutting them. Then we’ll be ready to eat.”
They were only sandwiches. Bread, baloney, cheese and mayonnaise. He could do this. Looking at his beaming child instead of the Christmas shapes, Jesse made a circle of sandwiches on the platter.
“What about the tea?” Jade asked.
“Oh. The tea!” Lindsey clattered across the floor in her high heels, opened a cabinet and removed a quart fruit jar. “I hope the two of you like spiced tea.”
“Hot tea?” Jesse asked doubtfully.
She dumped a healthy amount of the mixture into a blue ceramic teapot. With a twinkle in her eye, she admitted, “Spiced tea tastes a lot like apple cider. Grandma taught me to make it. It’s a conglomeration of tea, orange drink mix, lemonade and a bunch of yummy spices.”
“Sounds better than hot tea,” he admitted, pointing an apple slice at her before popping it into his mouth. “Maybe I can stand it.”
Lindsey sailed across the floor and tapped his hand with the spoon. “Even the king has to wait until we all sit down together.”
“Meanie.” He snatched a grape. At her look of playful outrage, he laughed and snitched another.
She stopped dead, spoon in one hand, silly hat tilted to one side in rapt attention. “Jesse,” she said, her smoky voice breathy and soft.
“What? Am I drooling grape juice?”
“You laughed.”
He opened his mouth once, closed it and tried again. Sure he laughed. People laughed when they were happy. The realization astonished him. He’d laughed because he was happy. When was the last time he’d felt anything even close to happiness?
“I won’t do it again.”
“Oh, yes you will.” All business and smiles, she shouldered him out of the way. “Go get that little card table in the laundry room and set it up. Jade will put on the table cloth and centerpiece while I finish our tea fixin’s.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted, slung his cape over his face in a super-hero imitation and did as he was told.
By the time the table was ready and they’d sat down to dine on the odd little meal, Jesse had gotten into the swing of the tea party. Wearing a get-up that would make his rodeo buddies howl, knees up to his chin, he reached for one of Jade’s raggedy cookie-cutter sandwiches.
“Let’s bless the food,” Lindsey said, folding her hands in front of her.
A worried expression replaced the glow on Jade’s face, and nearly broke Jesse’s heart. Seated across from him at the small square table, she looked from Lindsey to him, waiting. Jesse did the only thing he could. He bowed his head, closed his eyes, and listened to Lindsey’s simple prayer. When he looked back into his daughter’s face, he knew he’d done the right thing. Playing the hypocrite for fifteen seconds hadn’t killed him.
Stunned to realize he not only hadn’t been bothered by the prayer or the other Christian references, Jesse chewed thoughtfully on the most delicious baloney and cheese sandwich he’d ever tasted and watched Lindsey do the same. He wondered at how time spent with her had changed him, easing the prickly sensation that usually came at the mention of God. Most of all he wondered at how easily Lindsey Mitchell, the lone pioneer woman, had become a part of his and Jade’s lives. Considering how dangerous that was for him, he should toss down his Santa sandwich and run. But he knew he wouldn’t. Lindsey’s gentle female influence was so good for Jade. He tried to be a decent dad, but there were things a little girl needed that a man never even thought of.
“Tea, your highness?” Lindsey said to Jade, holding the pretty teapot over a dainty cup.
“Yes, your princess-ness. Tea, please.” Pinky finger pointed up—he didn’t know where she’d learned that—Jade lifted the poured tea and sipped carefully. “Delicious. Try it, Daddy.”
“That’s ‘your daddy-ness’ to you, queenie.” Taking a sip of the surprisingly tasty tea, Jesse relished the sound of his child’s giggle.
Yes, Lindsey was good for her. And as disturbing as the thought was, she was good for him, too.
Taking a sandwich from the serving dish, Jade said, “I think Sushi wants this one.” She handed the food to Lindsey. “Will you give it to her so she won’t be sad?”
Jesse couldn’t believe his ears. Jade was worried about upsetting the dog? Capturing Lindsey’s glance, he asked a silent question with his eyes.
Brown eyes happy, Lindsey only shrugged and said, “We’re gaining ground.” Getting up from her chair, she started toward the door. “Come with me, Jade. You can watch from inside.”
When Jade followed, Jesse couldn’t be left behind. He had to see this with his own eyes—if he could keep his tiara from falling down over them. Sure enough, Jade stood inside the glass door, a tentative smile on her face, while Lindsey stepped out on the porch and fed the dog.
If Jade overcame her fear of dogs, he’d almost believe in miracles.
Lindsey must have noticed his bewildered expression because she laughed.
“Doubting Thomas,” she said to him, then leaned toward Jade. “Did you see the way Sushi wagged her tail? That means thank you.”
Holding onto her flowered hat, Jade pressed against the glass and whispered to the dog. “You’re welcome.”
When Sushi licked the door, Jade jumped back, almost stumbling over her skirts, but at least she didn’t scream.
“Sushi gave you a kiss, Butterbean,” Jesse offered after he’d swallowed the thickness in his throat.
“Uh-huh. I saw her, but I didn’t want a doggy kiss. I’m the queen.” Resuming her air of royalty, she lifted the tail of her dress and clomped to the kitchen. “Can we make cookies now? It’s almost Christmas.”
Lindsey, satin skirts rustling, peacock feather flopping, followed behind Jade like a cartoonist’s version of a royal lady-in-waiting. “You’re right. Christmas will be here before we know it. Guess what your daddy and I are doing tomorrow?”
Jesse had a sneaky feeling he didn’t want to know.
The gap in Jade’s mouth flashed. “What?”
“We’re going to put up the decorations and get the Christmas-tree lot ready for visitors.”
“Yay! Can I help? Can I decorate a tree? Can I put up the angel?” Jade wrapped her arms around Lindsey’s red-satin-covered knees and hopped up and down. “Please, please, please.”
Jesse’s stomach sank into his boots. The day he’d dreaded had come. The Christmas season was upon him.
Chapter Six
“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” blared from a loudspeaker positioned over the gate that opened into the Christmas-tree lot. The smell of pine mingled with the musty scent of Christmas decorations brought out of storage this morning. Though the temperature was in the high thirties, Jesse stripped away his jean jacket and hung the worn garment on the fence next to Lindsey’s red plaid one.
He didn’t have to look around to find the jacket’s owner. Every cell in his body knew she was near—a sensation he found singularly disconcerting, to be sure. Last night, in the midst of a costumed tea party, some subtle shift in their boss/employee relationship had occurred. And Jesse didn’t know if the change was a good thing or a very dangerous one.
From his spot stringing lights on staked poles, he turned to find her just inside the entrance, rubbing dust from a large wooden nativity scene. She’d shared her plans with him for the lot, and though the overwhelming dose of Christmas wasn’t his idea of a good time, Lindsey’s customers would come for this very atmosphere of holiday cheer.
Shoppers would park outside the gate then ride in the horse-drawn wagon down a lane aglow with Christmas lights and dotted with various lighted holiday ornaments: the nativity, a sleigh with reindeer, angels, snowmen. Jesse couldn’t imagine anything she’d forgotten.
Chest tight, whether from watching Lindsey or thinking too much, he turned his concentration to the electrical part of his job. Electricity he knew. Lights he knew. The rest he’d ignore. And as soon as the opportunity arose, he’d kill that music.
“Jesse, could you put more speakers along the drive and down into the lot? I’m not sure we can hear the music all the way.”
His shoulders slumped. So much for killing the tunes. After twisting two wires together, he rose from his haunches and asked, “Wouldn’t my time be better spent cutting and baling those trees we marked this morning?”
She paused, pushed back her hair with one hand and studied him. When those eyes of hers lasered into him he couldn’t do anything but wait until she finished speaking. She had pretty eyes, golden-brown and warm and slightly tilted at the edges like almonds.
“Why do you dislike Christmas?”
He blinked, squeezing hard on the pliers in his fist. “Never said I didn’t like Christmas.”
“Okay, then,” She gave a saucy toss of her head. “Why do you dislike Christmas decorations?”
If the subject weren’t so problematic, he’d have smiled. Lindsey’s way of injecting humor into everything could lift anybody’s mood.
Sushi chose that moment to insinuate her furry self against his legs, almost knocking him into the row of linked-together stakes.
Squatting, he took refuge in the dog, scuffing her ears with both hands. “Did I remember to thank you last night?”
