Fannin's Flame (12 page)

Kelly scooted into the kitchen before Fannin could reach her side. The look in his eye had unnerved her. Busily, she set the kettle on the stove, not surprised when his big hand covered hers.

“Merry Christmas, Kelly,” he said.

“Same to you,” she said, forcing herself to look up at him.

“Sorry you’re having to delay your plans.”

She hesitated. But the brothers’ earnest apology had touched her heart, and she decided on some honesty of her own. “I don’t think I mind, exactly.”

Fannin grinned down at her. “Maybe you and I could start over. I’ve been pretty hard on you. My brothers aren’t the only ones who owe you an apology. I’ve shown you my worst side.”

“Oh. Are you trying to tell me that wasn’t the real you?”

“It was the real me trying to catch you without acting like I was,” he explained.

“And now you want to be up-front about it?”

“Honesty. That’s my new policy.”

“I see.” Kelly thought about Mimi and Mason and unrequited love. And children growing up with single parents—it was something the Jeffersons, Mimi and she all had in common—and then she shook her head. “I’m so sorry, Fannin. It just wouldn’t work.”

“Because?”

“Because I’m pretty sure you were right. You’re that fling I never had. The one before I find Mr. Right. And I’m pretty sure I’m just a fling for you. It would fit your pattern, according to Mimi.”

“Mimi? Mimi doesn’t know anything.”

“I bet she does.” Kelly turned the stove on. “How’s Princess and Bloodthirsty Black, by the way?”

“Chillin’ and not willin’. I’m taking Bloodthirsty back this week. I guess he’s not Princess’s type. I’m going to have to get her pregnant the easy, one-shot-does-it-all way.”

Kelly smiled sadly. “Fannin, whether you know it or not, you’re a family man. You’re a man of the land,
this
land. And that’s a good thing. But I don’t want children right now. I’m not brave or unselfish like Mimi.”

“Mimi is selfish like Scarlett O’Hara. She’s just cute about it.”

Kelly shook her head. “What I really want is to go live in my father’s world, in the house he left me, so that I can put together the missing parts of
me.
”

Fannin pulled away from Kelly slowly, the light in
his eyes fading. “I understand. Believe me, I understand better than you know.”

“Fannin—”

He held up a hand, backing out of the kitchen. “You know, I think I’ll have that schnapps after all.”

His brothers heard him and huzzahed for schnapps, but they had no idea they were drinking to the end of his love affair.

His determined switch for Kelly had flipped to Off.

In the Cannady house, Mimi let out one last determined yell, and before Mason knew it, he was holding a handful of slippery baby. “Oh, Lord,” he said reverently. “Mimi! You did it! Look!”

Mimi looked up, her face shining with love and pride. “It’s a girl,” she said with delight. “Daddy, did you hear that? It’s a girl!”

“I’ve got me another little lady,” her father called. “Merry Christmas, Mimi, honey.”

Mimi smiled at Mason through teary eyes. “I felt my daddy praying for me. I barely had any pain…His prayers washed over me like beautiful waves. It was the most miraculous thing that I’ve ever felt.”

Mason smiled at her. It was Christmas morning now, with early-morning light filtering through the frilly curtains in Mimi’s room. Mason grinned as Helga took the baby from him and put it on Mimi’s stomach.

“Aren’t you supposed to spank it?” Mason asked
worriedly. “Hang it upside down and give it a whack?”

“Mason!” Mimi stifled a giggle as Helga pressed lightly on her stomach. “Helga aspirated the baby. She’s fine.”

“I’ll say. Listen to her cry! She’s going to be an opera singer!” Mason said proudly. “We’ll let her call the cows home. Or she could become an auctioneer.”

“I’m going to name her Nanette,” Mimi said.

That was as far away from her mother’s name as she could get, and Mason had figured on that. “Nanette’s a beautiful name, Mimi, honey. I couldn’t be prouder if she was my own daughter.”

Mimi closed her eyes, lying back against the pillow. Five minutes later Helga had the baby wrapped. She handed Nanette to Mason and indicated that he should take the baby down the hall to Grandpa. “Wait,” Mimi said.

He saw that Mimi was going to get up, and he moved quickly to her side. “Mimi, you’re scaring me.”

“There are some things more scary than a pregnant woman,” Mimi told him. “Helga’s fixed me up, so I’m fine. And I’m gonna see my daddy’s face when he sees his grandchild for the first time.”

“Oh, God. I had to pick the most stubborn woman on the planet.”

They both overlooked his slip as they moved
slowly to the door like they were bonded at the hip. “I just don’t think you should, Mimi.”

“Mason,” Mimi said impatiently, “in some countries, I’d be going back to work now. I’m not the first woman to get on my feet after having a baby, and I won’t be the last. We’re only going across the hall, and I don’t have enough energy to argue with you. Just get me there, if you have to carry me. Please?”

She looked up at him with those big beautiful eyes he’d always loved, the long plait of blond hair slung over her shoulder, that devilish personality that had always lured him. He loved her. He always had and he always would. There was just no other woman like her.

His heart did not beat without her.

“C’mon, slowpoke,” he said. “We’re only going a few feet. Pick up the pace.”

“Mason, you ass,” Mimi said, using her favorite name for him.

“That’s right. One foot in front of the other. I’ve seen ants carry more on their little bodies than you’ve got on your big strong one, and they move faster.”

She ground her teeth, and he heard it, his heart bleeding for her. “Let me carry you,” he said.

“No. I’m fine. Just keep talking to me.”

“Did I tell you you were beautiful when you gave birth? Like a madonna.”

“I was not a madonna, and I told you not to look under the sheet,” Mimi said. “You never listen.”

“All good running backs look at the ball they’re supposed to be catching. What if they drop it?”

They moved into the hallway. “Nanette would have landed on nice soft sheets.”

“But she landed in my nice, scrubbed hands instead. And she said, ‘Thank you, Uncle Mason.’ Didn’t you hear her?”

They were on the threshold of Sheriff Cannady’s room now, and Mason gently gave Mimi the baby.

“Dad,” she said, “I’ve brought you your granddaughter.”

The sheriff reached out his arms.

Mason helped Mimi walk to the bedside and lay the baby inside Sheriff Cannady’s arms, against the big man the whole town of Union Junction had relied on for many years.

“I love you, Daddy,” Mimi said. “I present you with Nanette Marie Cannady.”

The sheriff looked down at his grandchild with tears in his eyes. Then he looked up at Mimi. “I love you, sugar. I lived to enjoy this moment.”

“I know. You’re going to have lots more, Daddy. Someone’s going to have to teach Nanette how to fish.”

He smiled. “I’ll do that.”

Mason put his arm around Mimi to support her as she leaned down to kiss her father.

And Mason realized that he had never had a better Christmas, thanks to this little gal tucked under his arm. She’d driven him insane over the years; she’d
gotten him in trouble; she’d made him madder than bees in a shook hive.

But now little Nanette was going to settle Mimi into gentle motherhood. He looked forward to seeing that change of pace. Maybe it was because he was getting older, but that settling thing held a lot of allure for him. And he could watch it all from his easy chair across the pasture.

Except when he was teaching Nanette how to throw footballs and bag deer.

“Dad,” Mimi said softly, “I just want you to know I’ve made a decision. I know having to give up being sheriff has weighed on you. But you don’t have to worry anymore.” She took a deep breath. “I know you don’t like your deputy, though he’s been filling in fine. I’ve been putting together some campaign ideas, and I’ve decided to run for your spot in the spring.”

The sheriff chuckled. “That’s my girl.”

Mimi smiled. “You just concentrate on getting well.”

“You’ll make a wonderful sheriff. Maybe the best this town has ever seen,” her father said.

“Oh, no,” Mason groaned.

F
ANNIN JUMPED
when his cell phone rang while he was taking a breather out by the fence two hours after the baby’s birth. All the excitement over Mimi’s baby had him tense for some reason. Maybe because Kelly would be leaving soon.

“Hello, sexy cowboy,” Lily said. “Santa’s on her way.”

“Where are you?”

“At the end of the drive. I didn’t figure you wanted us pulling up to the house with all your goodies. Man, did I set you back about a year.”

He grimaced. “You have always been thorough.”

She laughed. “You got it. Come meet us.”

He hopped in his truck and drove to meet them. There were so many packages in the back of Lily’s truck he thought she must have bought the whole store.

“And I had everything wrapped,” Lily told him, “and tagged. I didn’t figure you had time.”

“I know.” He thought about Kelly on the floor in Frisco Joe’s old room wrapping so sweetly. “I hate to wrap.”

“Most men do. Now you will see that each gift has a tag with someone’s name on it. You can write the appropriate message.” Lily grinned at him. “And I got something very special for your ladyfriend. But I’m not telling you what it is. I want it to be a surprise.”

“Uh, that might be off.”

She winked at him. “Not after she sees this. You know, you Jefferson boys are pretty spooky. A girl’s gotta watch herself. It’s no fun falling head over heels if there’s no one there to catch you.”

“Hmm.” He’d think about that later. “Let’s get
this loaded into my truck, Mrs. Claus. I owe you big time.”

“Yes. You do. And we’ll eventually collect. Merry Christmas, Fannin.”

He just wished he could say it was.

I
N
L
ONELY
H
EARTS
S
TATION
, Last was making a royal pain in the ass of himself. But sometimes even the family philosophe could lose his path.

He’d headed straight for where bad girls could easily be found—the Never Lonely Cut-n-Gurls Salon. He wanted a bad girl to make him forget bad things—and the first bad girl he laid eyes on was the receptionist.

“Hey, cowboy,” she said, her voice a curvaceously lilting coo.

“Hey.” He squinted at the name tag on the desk. “Valentine.”

She looked him over, his condition clear. “Aren’t you one of those wild Jefferson cowboys?”

“Yeah.” He liked the sound of that.

“How come you’re not over at Delilah’s salon?”

“Maybe I’m looking for more than a trim.”

She giggled. “Well then, maybe you’ve come to the right place, cowboy. Lookee what I’ve got. This, and a full hot tub of bubbles.” She pulled a bottle of Madame Mystery’s Mystical Mood Magic from under the counter. “Illegal, seductive and made for a man like you.”

Last grinned. “Is that gonna put me in the mood, sweetheart?”

Valentine smiled and stood, letting one strap fall from her shoulder. “Honey, it’s gonna put you in a mood you ain’t
never
been in before.”

K
ELLY WENT INTO
the back bedroom of Mimi’s house, where her mother was resting. “Hey, Mama,” Kelly said. “Mimi says she couldn’t have done that without you. You were like an angel.”

Helga smiled as Kelly sat on the bed next to her. “It was beautiful. Just like when you were born.”

They held hands, which were the same down to the fingernails. “Mama,” Kelly said, “I’m going to go home now, to Diamond. I’d really like us to have Christmas together in the house. Are you ready to go, or would you rather leave tomorrow?”

“I want to go home,” Helga said. “I have been homesick for so long.”

“I know. That’s why I came here in the first place.” To kick some wily Jefferson cowboys into shape and protect her mother from their disrespect. She had succeeded, she thought, based on the apology she’d received from the brothers.

It was unfortunate that she’d lost a piece of her heart in the process.

Only a piece, though. Maybe a chunk. But nothing that wouldn’t heal.

“I felt better once you were here,” Helga told her.
“I just needed to see you, and though I wish to see my house, I think I’m okay now.”

“You need a vacation,” Kelly told her.

“Mimi needs me.”

Sadness began to fill Kelly. “I know. But Mama, I think…we need to spend some time together. You know I’m going to go to Ireland, probably in the spring. It’ll be our last Christmas together in our house for a while.”

“No,” Helga said, shaking her head. “Do not go to Ireland.”

“Mama,” Kelly whispered. “I must.”

Helga closed her eyes.

“We’ve done enough for these families. Just a little time for us,” Kelly pleaded. “Now that the Honey-Do Agency has gotten more clients, I’m making enough money for you to be able to take some time off and spend it in your home. The way we always wanted. Before, you had to work so hard because you had me to feed and raise. Think of all the times we went without. Now you don’t have to.”

“I know.” Helga looked at her. “But I can’t leave Mimi with a new baby and her father to take care of.”

Kelly smiled. “I knew you were going to say that.”

“Stay here with me.”

“Oh, Mama…I can’t do that. My job is in Diamond, and our house and my life…”

“Fannin is here.”

“Yeah, but—” She looked at her mother’s bright
eyes. “No. He’s not the man for me. He’s pigheaded and bossy, and we’d fight all the time. He wants a little cheerleader to cook him hot meals in the morning and smile as she stirs hot dinners at night. Someone who loves ironing his jeans and…” Her voice trailed off. “I really want a partner, Mama. Someone who doesn’t expect me to be their whole world. A man who doesn’t want to tell me how he wants it to be.”

“I know.” Helga grinned. “Those are some stubborn boys. It comes from lacking a mother’s touch.”

“They’re going to go insane when they see all your Christmas presents.”

“I have one for you, too. Reach into that drawer and bring me the box that you see there.”

Kelly opened the drawer, pulling out a plain brown wooden box with a carved shamrock in the lid.

“Open it,” Helga said.

Kelly slowly opened the box, gasping when she saw the gold charm bracelet inside. “It’s beautiful!”

“A telephone, because you’re always on the phone. A heart, because you are mine,” Helga said. “A beer stein from Germany because that’s my home. A shamrock from Ireland because I knew you were going to go to your father’s home.”

“I wish you’d come, too. You like Ireland.”

“I liked it when I was there. I just didn’t like your father.”

Kelly smiled. “You see why I have to be very careful when I finally choose my husband.”

Helga patted her hand. “One day you’re going to give me grandbabies. Then I will move to wherever you are. Except Ireland.”

“You just want me to like Fannin because I’d be close by all the time!” Kelly guessed.

“Well, is it wrong for a mother to want her daughter nearby?”

“You don’t even like him.”

“No,” Helga said with a twinkle in her eyes, “but I do if you do.”

“Well, I don’t,” Kelly assured her…and herself. “But it scares me that you might be thawing.”

Helga laughed.

L
ATE
C
HRISTMAS
E
VE
, when the rest of the family was at church, Last dragged himself home in a taxi all the way from Lonely Hearts Station. “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” he called to Bloodthirsty Black after the taxi had left. He received a vicious snort in reply. “Whoo. I might decide to ride you,” Last said, approaching the rail. “You look like you need a riding to school you in good manners.”

Bloodthirsty eyed the drunken scarecrow in the darkness.

“Hey,” Last told him, “did you just call me a scarecrow? I’m pretty sure your mom would be angry if she knew you were calling names. What’s that other kitty doing over there?”

Princess ignored them both. Bloodthirsty fixed his horns in Last’s direction.

“You know, you shouldn’t play like that. Someone might get hurt.” He pulled a bottle from his pocket, the Madame Mystery’s Mystical Mood Magic that he and Vixen had shared. Vixen? Or was it Comet? Prancer? Cupid? “I don’t know, kitty. Ask me next time. Have you seen Santa in the sky net? Net? N-n-yet?” he slurred.

He set the bottle on the post. “Ah.
That
is nectar of the gods. Don’t know why I never had any of that before. Guess I was too busy being good all my life.”