A Bramble House Christmas (Carrigans of the Circle C Book 6) (8 page)

“Y
ay! I smell bacon!”

Scout raced for the breakfast table ahead of Willa, then careened to a stop when he spotted Finn standing by the window with a cup in his hands. Suddenly shy, he stared at the man with hero worship in his eyes.

They were the only three in the room so far, though fresh muffins and fruit had been placed on the table.

“Good morning.” Finn finally broke the silence, looking perplexed. He patted his head. “Did I just grow horns or something?”

Slowly a smile broke out on Scout’s face. “You drew the pictures for
Everyday Sam and The Dog Kidnapper
!”

Understanding illuminated Finn’s features. “Yes. I did. Do you like that book, Scout?”

“Everyday Sam is my
favorite
. I have all the books except the last one.” He glanced back at his mom who gave him a reassuring smile.

She knew he was checking to make sure she hadn’t forgotten to buy it for him.

As if. Scout asked for so little, she wouldn’t dream of disappointing him. She only wished she knew exactly what she could do to make that promise of Santa’s come true. If she could do that, then maybe she could help her son believe in Santa again, if only for a little while.

“The pictures you were taking yesterday,” Scout asked. “Are they for an Everyday Sam book, too?”

“They are. But that book won’t be available for almost a year.”

“What’s it about?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t say. But it does involve snow. And a small town at Christmas.”

There was certainly lots of snow in Colorado. Willa wondered why Finn hadn’t gone to a closer small town than Marietta for his pictures.

“I can also tell you there’s a scene where Sam goes sledding,” Finn continued. “I hear there’s a good toboggan hill behind the rodeo grounds. I’m going there later this morning to try and get some pictures. Maybe you and your mom want to come with me?”

Finn glanced uncertainly at Willa. “Unless you have other plans?”

“Please, Mom! Let’s go sledding!” Scout said, just as Marshall emerged from the kitchen, carrying a tray.

Tobogganing had been on the list of activities Willa had hoped to do with her son. But now, suddenly, she was nervous. “How big is the hill?”

“Super-sized,” Marshall said. “I guarantee you’ll have a blast.”

Scout’s enthusiasm dimmed and he cast Willa a nervous glance.

Finn was quick to offer reassurance. “There must be some shorter runs for the younger kids?”

Marshall looked confused for a moment. Clearly to the outdoor adventurer, the idea that anyone—even a young child—would want something shorter and tamer, was alien. But after glancing from Finn, to Willa, then to Scout, he gave a small nod. “Sure there is. You have lots of options on the hill.”

“In that case,” Willa said. “We’re in. But we do need to buy a toboggan, first.”

“No need.” Marshall set down a platter of bacon, another of scrambled eggs. “If you don’t mind using an old-fashioned wooden toboggan, we have one in our garage.”

Scout let out a cheer. “And will you take pictures of me, Finn? Will I be in an Everyday Sam book?”

“If it’s okay with your mom, then yes.” He shifted his gaze to Willa. “I do have release forms for you to sign.”

Willa nodded. She’d gone through this routine with a few charities who had wanted to use her son’s image to raise awareness for funding of research into children’s cancers.

“The pictures won’t end up looking like Scout,” Finn added. “I’ll use my computer to make them into Sam.”

“But underneath, it will be me?”

Finn grinned. “Yup.”

“Sweet!”

Willa listened to the exchange, impressed with the way Finn talked to Scout. Not condescendingly. But not over-his-head, either.

“Can we Mom, please? Go sledding? And let Finn take pictures of me?”

“It does sound like a fun plan. But we better eat breakfast first.”

That reminded Scout of the bacon—his absolutely favorite, number one food—and he quickly took the chair he’d sat in yesterday. Eliza sat to his right, while Finn took the chair closest to the window, on Scout’s other side.

Marshall poured himself a cup of coffee, then joined them.

“It’s just the four of us this morning. Kris Krinkles left a note that he won’t ever be joining us for breakfast. I guess he’s not a morning person.”

Eliza came in from the kitchen then, taking her place next to her husband. “And Aunt Mable wanted her tea and toast in the library this morning. Every now and then she gets her nose out of joint and doesn’t feel sociable.”

Willa met Finn’s gaze and had to stifle a laugh. So yesterday Mable Bramble had been social. Who knew?

The next moment, another thought occurred to Willa and her mother-radar went on high alert. “Maybe your aunt is getting sick. Is there a bug going around?”

“I’ve heard a few people complaining about colds, but I don’t think that’s what my aunt has. My guess is in a few hours she’ll be good as new.”

Somewhat relieved, Willa glanced out the window at the piles of fresh snow. The snowman she and Scout had made yesterday gave her a crooked grin. He looked...different somehow.

Scout picked up on the change at the exact same time. “Hey, Mom, look! Our snowman has a hat!”

Sure enough, the snowman was now sporting a jaunty black top hat.

“I thought he was missing something,” Finn said. “So I bought the hat for him yesterday. What do you think?”

“It’s terrific!” Scout said.

“Just what Frosty needed,” Willa had to agree, impressed that Finn would have gone to so much trouble just to make a little boy smile. Then again, maybe it was the artist in him, needing to add the perfect visual accent.

This theory was supported by Finn’s next question.

“I was hoping I could get a picture of Scout pretending to put the hat on the snowman.”

“Yes!” Scout pumped his arm with vigor. “I get to be Everyday Sam again!”

Finn passed Willa the platter of eggs, his eyes twinkling. “You better eat lots. You
are
planning to tackle that toboggan hill yourself, aren’t you?”

Willa wasn’t one to back away from a challenge. “Wouldn’t miss it.” She helped herself, then Scout before passing the platter to Marshall.

Throughout breakfast, she studied Finn surreptitiously, a little embarrassed that yesterday she’d suspected he was attracted to her. At least now she knew the truth. And since they lived so far apart, it was probably better this way.

M
arietta’s toboggan hill turned out to be ginormous. Willa’s stomach was queasy by the time she, Scout and Finn scaled the peak. At their feet sprawled the pretty town of Marietta. She could see the twinkling lights of Main Street, the lazy curl of the river, and the grand oak and pine trees that grew along Bramble Lane.

Closer to hand were the grandstand, show rings, and holding pens where the annual rodeo happened each fall.

“Have either of you gone sledding before?” Finn asked.

“Scout hasn’t. When I was a kid my family spent a Christmas in Wyoming. But we were sliding down a hill. This feels like a mountain.”

“It’s not though, Mom.” Scout considered his mother’s fear seriously. “
Those
are mountains. See?” He pointed at Copper Mountain, and the range beyond.

“Point taken.”

Scout hesitated before adding, “It
is
a long way down, though.”

They’d already gone on a trial run, using a short, gentle path that had been easy for Scout, but not, Finn declared, exciting enough for his photographs.

“I guarantee you’re going to love sledding down from the top. There’s tons of snow and nothing you could possibly hit.” Finn studied the small boy for a moment. “What do you think is the worst thing that could happen to you?”

“I could fall off the toboggan,” Scout replied quickly.

Without another word, Finn hopped on the toboggan and pushed off. With a whoop of joy, he was soon speeding down the hill.

And yet, a moment later, for no apparent reason, the toboggan was tipping and Finn was flying off, tumbling into the snow while the toboggan, now rider-less, careened the rest of the way down the hill.

“Finn! Are you okay?” Willa ran awkwardly through the thick snow, but she’d only managed to advance a few yards when Finn’s laughing face emerged from a pile of snow.

Quickly he got to his feet, then made his point. “You don’t need to be afraid of falling Scout. It’s actually kind of fun.”

Slowly a smile broke out on Scout’s face.

“We can go down together for the first run, if you’d like.”

Scout was sold. He raced down to retrieve the toboggan, then dragged it all the way up to the very top. Once more Finn climbed onto the wooden sled, then instructed Scout to sit behind and hang on tight.

“Ready?” Finn counted to three and then they were off.

Willa couldn’t breathe as she watched them fly down the track, snow spewing madly on either side of them as they bounced down the hill.

Finally the trail leveled off, and eventually the toboggan eased to a stop. For a few seconds there was silence and Willa worried the experience had been overwhelming for her son.

But it seemed the excitement had merely taken away his breath, because a moment later he was whooping.

“Awesome! Let’s do it again!”

Finn grinned good-naturedly as he grabbed the rope at the front end of the toboggan and began pulling it up the hill. Willa’s heart tightened at the sight of the man and the boy, a little bit pleasure, a little bit pain. She knew Scout really missed his father, even though he could barely remember him.

Maybe that was part of the reason he seemed so taken with Finn.

Of course, the fact that Finn illustrated the Everyday Sam books didn’t hurt.

Finn and Scout went down the hill together three more times before Scout decided he was ready to try on his own. Wanting to get some photographs, Finn positioned himself halfway down the hill. His camera with the lens attached was at least a foot long and terribly impressive looking, however Finn handled it with the casual air of a professional.

“Anytime,” Finn called and a second later Scout was shooting down the hill.

“Smile!” Finn instructed as he took a flurry of photographs.

Scout did better than that. He laughed.

Over and over Scout raced down the hill and Finn surely had more photos than he could possibly need when he finally put the camera back in its case. He trudged up the hill, his gaze locked on Willa.

“Ready?”

She almost said no. But those green lights were sparkling in his gray eyes again, and something inside of her was sparkling too. Maybe he did want photos of Scout. But this man definitely liked her, too. At least a little. “I’ll do it—if you come with me?”

By then he was at her side, and his gaze lingered on her face for a while longer before he said, “My pleasure.”

Scout relinquished the toboggan without protest. “Yeah, Mom! You can do it. Don’t be scared.”

Finn got into position first, and Willa hesitated. She’d have to put her arms around him, or she’d fall off the sled. It had been a long, long time since she’d touched a man, especially one as attractive as Finn.

“I won’t bite.”

Embarrassed that he’d caught her hesitating, and figured out the reason, Willa made herself get on the sled. Lightly she placed her hands on his waist.

He laughed. “You’re gonna fall off if you don’t grab on a little tighter.”

Without warning he pushed off, and she flung her arms around him, squeezing as tightly as she could. They were zooming so fast, at times actually levitating down the hill.

At first it was scary. A second later, exhilarating. When they hit a huge bump, she screamed. The next time she laughed. And then, just as the sled was beginning to slow, there was a lurch and she was falling, arms still locked around Finn, into the snow.

And suddenly they stopped.

Her cheeks prickled from the cold and she blinked away snowflakes.

What had happened?

“Um. You can let go now.”

Embarrassed to realize she still had a death grip on his waist, Willa relaxed her arms. A moment later Finn jumped to his feet, then held out his hand.

Seeing his grin as he helped her to her feet, she had to smile too.
The devil.

“You tipped us on purpose.”

His grin widened. Then he pulled off a glove and with a gentle finger brushed away some snow that had been trapped under the collar of her jacket. For a moment he left his hand there, resting on the side of her neck.

It was such a little thing, but she wanted to lean into the touch, to put her arms around him again, this time with them standing face-to-face...

And then Scout came running. “Wow, you guys really flew!”

Despite the cold air, heat flushed over Willa’s face.

Had she and Finn just had a moment?

Or was it mere wishful thinking on her part?