1225 Christmas Tree Lane (9 page)

“Let's go for a sleigh ride,” Bailey said excitedly, as if this was the most brilliant idea of the century. “Can we, Mom?” She clasped both hands. “I mean, now that Gloria and Chad have picked up the puppy…”

“Ah…” Beth hesitated as a sense of dread filled her. Every minute with Kent and Danielle felt more awkward than the one before.

“Mom, we should. Dad's never seen the Christmas tree farm.” Sophie was as animated as her sister.

“You want to, don't you, Dad?” Bailey asked, hurrying to her father's side and slipping her arm through his.

“That way Danielle can breathe some fresh air and not have to worry about sneezing,” Sophie said in a solicitous voice.

Beth didn't dare look at her ex-husband. She had to believe he was as miserable as she was. This entire family Christmas was a disaster. She'd seen the expression on his face when she'd so vehemently declared Danielle was welcome to him. Shock and pain had flashed in his eyes so quickly she wasn't even sure she'd read his feelings correctly. Everything inside her cried out to take the words back, swear that none of it was true. But she couldn't do that. Not with Danielle standing right there.

“Danielle probably isn't up to this,” Kent said with an unmistakable lack of enthusiasm.

Beth figured the other woman would willingly return to the Thyme and Tide. She couldn't be enjoying the afternoon any more than Beth was. The only ones who seemed to derive any pleasure from this fiasco were Bailey and Sophie, who were apparently oblivious to the tension in the room.

“A sleigh ride
might
be fun,” Danielle said with a halfhearted shrug.

Bailey and Sophie leaped up and down and clapped their hands. Their behavior reminded Beth of when they
were youngsters and were told they could stay up past their bedtime.

“I didn't know you had a sleigh,” Kent said as he reached for his coat and gloves. His scarf, Beth noticed, was one she'd knit him years earlier for Christmas. It warmed her to know that he still wore it. Did he think of her every time he put it on?

“The sleigh, which is pretty old, is in one of the out-buildings,” she said. “It came with the property. We don't use it much.”

“A sleigh ride is perfect after a snowfall, though. Right, Mom?” Sophie asked.

Perfect
wasn't exactly the word she'd use.

“You don't have any horses.” Kent seemed to be looking for excuses to get out of this. Beth didn't blame him; she'd rather avoid a cozy ride herself. She'd had about all the togetherness she could handle.

“Mom's neighbors. The Nelsons,” Bailey explained. “They have horses and said we can borrow them any time we want.” Without waiting for the go-ahead, Bailey picked up the phone and grabbed the personal directory Beth kept in a kitchen drawer.

“We'll have a great time,” Sophie told Kent.

“The Nelsons said no problem.” Bailey replaced the receiver, her eyes shining with glee.

“I'll go get a few blankets,” Beth muttered, eager to make an escape. She rushed up the stairs and into her bedroom. Slumping on the edge of her bed, she brought her hands to her heated face. She wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to pull this off.

“Get a grip,” she ordered herself. She walked into the master bath and splashed cold water on her cheeks. Her reflection in the mirror revealed that her face was flushed. She looked feverish. This wasn't due to illness, though, but acute embarrassment.

“Mom,” Sophie called her from the foot of the stairs. “The Nelsons said they'd bring over the horses.”

Beth came out of her bedroom. “Okay,” she called down. “I'll be there in a minute.” Collecting warm blankets from the hall closet, she returned to the main floor.

By the time she got her hat, coat and gloves, Kent and the girls had opened the doors to the storage shed where the sleigh was kept. The large white uncovered sleigh had two red velvet benches, one of them for the driver.

John Nelson, who lived next door, walked over, leading two large geldings. Kent introduced himself. Danielle was still in the house, refreshing her makeup or so Beth assumed.

“When you're finished, would you mind if we took the sleigh out for a ride?” John asked.

“Of course not,” Beth told him. She glanced up at the sky. “I can't imagine we'll be out long. When we're finished, I'll take the sleigh over to your place.”

“I appreciate it, Beth. You're a good neighbor.”

“So are you.”

The harnesses were in the storage shed, and John helped Beth hitch the two horses to the sleigh.

Danielle had come out of the house but remained on the porch until that was done. John left, and the girls climbed on board the sleigh to arrange the blankets.

Danielle looked uncertain, as if she wasn't sure a sleigh ride was something she wanted, after all. “It's cold out here.” She squinted at the sky. “And it looks like it's going to snow. Plus, I'm expecting a phone call.”

“Snow! Isn't that
wonderful?
” Bailey sounded as if snow was the most magical thing that could possibly happen.

“I'm not used to the cold.”

“Then you need to sit between us,” Sophie said. “Bailey and I will keep you snug and warm.”

Kent helped Danielle into the sleigh, and Bailey and Sophie immediately covered her lap with blankets and wrapped an extra one about her shoulders. By the time they'd finished, all that showed was Danielle's pinched face.

Not until Beth climbed into the worn front seat did she realize that the only place left for Kent to sit was next to her. He seemed to realize that at the same time she did. They stared at each other until Kent got into the sleigh. They sat as far apart on the bench as humanly possible.

“Would you like me to take the reins?” he asked, refusing to look at her.

“If you'd like.” She handed them over, knowing he was capable of managing the horses and sleigh.

They started off with a jolt and Danielle let out a cry of alarm. After the initial jerk, the ride went smoothly. The horses' hooves made muted clopping sounds as the sleigh glided over the snowy road.

“You going to be my navigator?” Kent asked.

“Sure.”

Kent had moved toward the middle of the seat and she did, too, for fear of falling off if the sleigh hit bumpy ground.

Kent seemed willing to overlook her earlier comment. She was grateful and wished she could take back the lie. “Go left at the fork in the road,” she told him, pointing in that direction.

“How many acres do you have here?” he asked, sound
ing genuinely interested. The trees had been trimmed and shaped until they were the perfect size for Christmas. Now they glistened with bright, fresh snow.

“Forty acres in total, but only twenty are planted in trees. I'm planting another five acres each year and replacing the ones we've cut.”

Kent held the reins loosely. “I assumed most families bought artificial trees these days.”

“Certainly that's the trend, but there are still plenty of people who prefer a fresh tree, especially if they can chop it down themselves. It makes for wonderful memories. And after Christmas, people cut them up for compost, so ecologically speaking, you could argue that they're superior.”

“That's good.”

“In addition, a lot of my trees are shipped overseas.”

“Really.”

She chatted easily, explaining what she'd learned in the past three seasons and her hopes for the future. After a while, she paused, embarrassed that she'd talked for so long. “I apologize. I didn't mean to drone on like that.”

He gave her a quick smile. “You really love it here, don't you?”

“It's a very different lifestyle from California, but I
needed a change. I was in a horrible rut.” The instant the words were out, she regretted being so honest. “I didn't mean that the way it sounded. What I said earlier, it…isn't— I wish…”

“Don't worry about it,” he murmured.

Kent had always been ready to forgive and forget; she admired that about him. She was the one who held on to hurts far longer than she should.

“We should sing Christmas carols,” Bailey suggested, and then broke into “Silent Night.” Sophie joined in and so did Kent. Beth added her own voice. The last one to sing was Danielle. Unfortunately, she was off-key and sounded terrible.

Beth chanced a look at Kent and found him glancing at her at the same time. They broke into giggles, which they did their best to hide.

The group's enthusiasm faded after two or three songs, and their voices gradually dwindled away.

“Remember our first Christmas?” Kent asked, keeping his voice low.

“I thought about it…recently. It was a magical time for us, wasn't it?” He met her eyes for several seconds until she forced herself to look down. The intensity of the attraction she felt confused her. Disconcerted her.

Oh, dear. It was happening again and this time Danielle was with them.

As the sleigh glided through the snow, she pointed to another turn in the road, one that cut through the property.

“Right or left?”

“Left.” She was so caught up in the moment that she'd said
left
when she meant
right.

Kent turned right. “Sorry,” he said, sounding flustered. “You said left, didn't you?”

“No, this is fine,” she told him. She clenched her gloved hands in her lap, grateful that the wind and cold were a convenient excuse for the color splotching her face.

“Oh, look,” Sophie cried. “It's snowing again.”

Thick, fat flakes drifted lazily from a slate-gray sky.

“It'll probably melt by morning,” Danielle said, “and everything will be mud and slush.”

“But for now it's beautiful,” Beth countered. This was the coldest winter on record in the Pacific Northwest. The weatherperson broadcasting from the Seattle TV station had been effusive about the unusual amount of snow in the area, especially this early in the winter.

“I'm cold,” Danielle complained. “And I can't move my arms.”

“Let me help you,” Bailey said.

“Ouch! You're pulling the blankets tighter. I feel like a sausage.”

“I thought you said you were cold.”

“I am, but I want to breathe, too,” Danielle snapped. “Take this ridiculous thing off me.”

“Girls,” Beth said, twisting around. Danielle was right; she did resemble a sausage. “Make her comfortable.”

“Can we go back to the house soon?” Danielle pleaded.

“I'll head over there now,” Kent told her. He glanced at Beth and grinned boyishly. “Okay, navigator, which way?”

“Recalculating, recalculating,” she said, using the tinny voice of her car's navigational system.

Kent laughed and turned the sleigh around when he came to a place where that was possible.

“Do you ever think back to those early years?” he asked with his attention focused on the road ahead. “When we were first married…”

The snow was coming down thicker and faster, making for limited visibility.

“I…try not to, but yes, I do.” She hadn't wanted to admit that, but it seemed senseless to deny the truth. “You?”

“Sometimes.” He paused. “What happened to us, Beth?”

“I…wish I knew.”

“Me, too.”

“Are we there yet?” Danielle asked plaintively.

A question hovered on the end of Beth's tongue but she refused to ask it. If Kent was looking for a second wife who was completely her opposite, he'd found that woman in Danielle. She and Beth were about as dissimilar as any two women could be. Perhaps that was what he wanted. The thought depressed her…. Unless he was telling the truth and Danielle really
was
just a friend. But in that case, why did she stick to Kent like glue? Why had he even brought her to Cedar Cove?

“Mom?” Bailey asked. “My birthday's in September—when did you get pregnant with me?”

“Bailey!” Beth was shocked that her daughter would ask such a question, especially in front of Danielle.

“Christmas Eve,” Kent answered.

“Really? Wow. You're sure?”

“Yup.”

“So tonight's more of a celebration than I realized.”

“What about me?” Sophie wanted to know.

“Easter,” Beth said. “It was an early Easter that year. We were at your parents'. Remember, Kent?”

His eyes widened as the memory drifted back. He caught her eye and they both struggled to contain their amusement. They'd slept in the guest bedroom, which was just down the hall from his parents' room. Their bed squeaked…so they'd rolled onto the floor and Kent's foot had become tangled in the lamp cord and the lamp came crashing down on him. On hearing the crash, his mother had knocked on the door to make sure everything was all right. It'd been a comedy of errors.

“What's so funny?” Danielle demanded.

Beth felt guilty for being so rude as to exclude everyone else from their private conversation. “I apologize, Danielle,” she said, turning around. “Kent and I were…just remembering something that happened years ago.”

“I was the result,” Sophie announced proudly.

“Can we talk about something different?” Danielle said, clearly not amused.

“Of course,” Beth assured her.

“I always wanted a brother,” Bailey said. “An older brother.”

“You got your sister instead.”

“Yeah. And not only that, she's younger.”

“I never had a sister,” Danielle said. “And
my
brother
was younger and a real nuisance. He used to spy on me and my friends.”

“Sophie used to spy on me.”

“Did not.”

“Did, too.”

“Girls,” Beth said, annoyed by their behavior. “You're out of grade school. Please act like it.”