His Winter Rose and Apple Blossom Bride (35 page)

What do you expect? She’s not exactly leaning on you for support.

No, she wasn’t. In fact, she’d been extraordinarily missing from his life lately. The purchase of the house, the rezoning, the renovations—he knew it all consumed her time.

But she’d made it a point to visit Tati, even tried her on skis. Just not when he was at his mother’s.

“You keep staring at her like that, you’ll have people talking, buddy,” Jason murmured in his ear. He grinned at Michael’s jerk of surprise.

“How does a great hulk like you creep up on people?”

“Most of them aren’t in a daze. Want to talk about it?”

Jason had become his best friend since he’d moved back here. But Michael wasn’t sure he wanted to ask him the questions he needed answers to.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in there with your fiancée?”

“Ashley kicked me out for some game they’re playing. So talk and make it quick before I have to go back.”

“She looks thinner.”

“Piper said Emma will have to take Ashley’s dress in again.” Jason drew him out of the hall into the adjoining cloakroom. “She’s been running herself ragged with that house and her plans to make it a gallery.”

“I heard.” His mother was a regular fountain of information about Ashley Adams.

“How come you haven’t been around there?”

“She didn’t ask. I invited her to go for a snowmobile ride after we got all that new snow last week, but—” he shrugged “—she said she’s too busy right now.”

“And the next time you asked?” Jason quirked one eyebrow upward. “Don’t tell me you just gave up? Not Mr. Persistence?”

“I’ve been a little busy building sets for your fiancée’s play, Nosy.”

“That’s an excuse not to call Ashley?” Jason shook his head. “You’re nowhere near as bright as I figured.”

“She’s going through stuff, Jay. Things get a little too personal when we’re together.”

“And this is a problem because?”

“I was divorced. I have a child.”

“Yes, I know. She knows, too. I believe you belonged to both those categories before she met you?”

Michael moved back into the doorway so he could watch her, wishing that smile she lavished on everyone else would flash at him. “That’s not the point.”

“You gonna tell me what is?”

“No.”

“Okay.” Jason opened a tin someone had left on a table, picked out a piece of fudge. “Mmm, this is great. Maybe we shouldn’t add it to the rest of the stuff in the kitchen. I’ll just sneak it out and take it home.”

“She’s got money, Jason.”

“A ton of it. I know.” He blinked at Michael’s glare. “So?”

“You don’t see a problem there?”

“Doesn’t matter what I see. I doubt if Ashley cares much about her grandfather’s inheritance except that it makes people look at her differently.” He raised his eyebrows. “Like you’re thinking right now.”

“She’s opening a gallery in Serenity Bay, Jason. What am I supposed to say? ‘Oh, by the way, I just happen to have some pieces I’ve been working on. I wonder if you’d show them for me.’”

“Sounds good to me. Honest, forthright. Ow! What?” he asked when Michael thunked him on the shoulder.

“It sounds like I was wangling to get an in with her.” He refused the fudge Jason offered. “She’ll feel obliged to take them and I’ll never know if I could have made it on my own.”

“Ah.” Jason grinned, his eyes dancing. “Now I get it. We’re talking about pride.”

“Yes. That and the fact that she doesn’t want to get involved while she’s still sorting out this fear thing.”

“Involved. Oh, my. I didn’t realize you were involved.” Jason mocked his embarrassment. “Look, man. You’re obviously not as experienced as me in matters of the heart so let me give you some advice.”

“
You’re
giving
me
advice?” Michael wanted to hoot with laughter, but Ashley was in the next room and he didn’t want to draw attention to himself so he controlled the urge. “This is going to be good. Go ahead. Share your wisdom, groom.”

“Thanks, I will.” Jason drew him farther back into the cloakroom where they wouldn’t be overheard. “Did you ever think Ashley’s fear problems are tied up with her parents’ problems?”

“Sure.” Michael narrowed his gaze. “Hey! How do you know this?”

“Piper told me. And if you say a word...” he warned, glaring.

“I might have pushed a little too hard,” Michael admitted. “She told me she had some issues to work through, that she only wanted to be friends, for now.”

“See? That’s a good place to start. But friends keep in touch, they don’t just disappear because things get busy. Ask her out again. You’re my best man, she’s a bridesmaid—you can talk about us!”

“Oh, goody.” Michael frowned. “It’s gone quiet in there. Shouldn’t you be back in there with your bride-to-be?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Because I told him not to come back until I said so.” Ashley appeared in the doorway, glancing from one to the other. “Hello, Michael.”

“Hi, yourself. Sorry I was late.”

“No problem.” She turned her focus back to Jason, brushed a finger against the dark crumbs on his cheek. Her gaze narrowed. “You’ve been into that fudge I brought, haven’t you? How much is left?”

Since Michael had just watched Jason slip the last piece into his mouth, he knew his friend couldn’t speak.

“It’s all gone,” he said, enjoying his friend’s discomfort.

“Jason Franklin, you know very well I was going to use that as a prize!”

“I’m sorry, Ashley but I’m starved. I didn’t get any dinner and then I had to rush over here. It was too tempting.”

“Ooh!”

“Don’t kill him yet, Ashley,” Michael advised softly, stifling his laughter. “We’ve got to get them married first. Then it’s Piper’s job to make him behave.”

“Good luck to her. Well, you’re going to be the one who provides this prize, Jason. So get thinking about it. Maybe all the sugar will help.” She grabbed his arm, drew him forward. “Come on. It’s time to face the music and the advice of our panel.”

“He can use it,” Michael told her, gazing into her eyes. “He has the strangest ideas about love.”

“Really.” She didn’t look away until someone in the audience cleared her throat. Then she launched back into her role of hostess as if it had never been interrupted.

Michael admired her aplomb. He had none. Whenever Ashley looked at him like that, the world stopped. He felt as if he’d been kicked in the stomach. There was a chair against the wall and he sank into it, his knees suddenly too weak to hold him upright.

But as the evening progressed, as the group finally broke for refreshments, his eyes never left Ashley.

Maybe that’s why he noticed the exact moment when she almost dropped the tray she was carrying. He got to her as fast as he could, handed the tray to someone else and helped her sit down.

“Breathe, in and out.”

She obeyed, but her hands clamped around his like vises. She stared at him and he could see the fear taking control.

“What’s wrong?”

“I saw him. He thrust his head around the corner, looked at me, then disappeared. But I saw him!”

“The same man?” he asked knowing exactly who she was referring to.

“Yes. It was him, Michael. He was here. Maybe he followed me.”

“Stay here. I’ll go check.” He eased in and out of the crowd, working his way across the room until he finally got to the door. He stepped outside, raced down the steps and surveyed the church parking lot.

All he saw was a host of cars and trucks, none of them with their lights on or leaving the grounds.

Michael waited several minutes, finally he went back inside.

“Did you find him?” Ashley whispered from just inside the door.

He shook his head.

“He’s gone now,” he whispered.

She sagged against him, her fingers spread against his chest. Her eyes closed.

“Oh, God,” she whispered in a prayer of desperation. “Please help me.”

“He will, Ashley. Just keep hanging on to your faith.”

But as he stood holding her in the cloakroom, a tiny doubt flickered through his own mind.

There had been no one outside. Which begged the questions—was this man real?

Or was Ashley imagining it all?

Chapter Ten

“S
even days till Christmas, folks. If you haven’t done your shopping yet, you’d better get to it.”

Ashley didn’t need the radio deejay’s reminder. A square silver box tied with bright red ribbon lying under Piper’s tree was a constant reminder that she’d be leaving shortly to spend Christmas with her mother and she needed to make a delivery first. Two of them actually.

She’d spent days stewing over how and when to give Tatiana and Michael the Christmas gifts she’d chosen especially for them. Since she was driving to Toronto tomorrow, procrastination was no longer possible.

Outside, Jason and Piper were supposedly putting up Christmas decorations but the peals of laughter made them sound more like kids who’d just been released from school. Ashley tugged on her coat, snatched up the two gifts and hurried outside before she could change her mind.

“I don’t know when I’ll be back,” she called. “Don’t wait up.”

Piper waved. Jason threw a snowball that smashed against her windshield.

“You’re going to get coal for Christmas,” she warned.

“Doesn’t matter,” he called. “I’m already getting everything I want for New Year’s.”

Ashley climbed inside the car before he could bombard her with another from the stack of snowballs he had piled beside him. She smiled as Piper caught him off guard, the snow splattering across his face in a wet sopping mess. He retaliated six for her one. When he ran out, he kissed her nose then urged her onto the old sled they’d found. As she whizzed down the hill, Piper squealed with delight, the sound echoing back from the surrounding hills over and over.

Ashley had never seen her friend happier. Their love was as solid and firm as Cathcart House, Piper’s grandparents’ home. They’d disagree, argue, maybe even hold grudges. But that house would be filled with love.

As it always had been.

“Stop moping about the past, woman. You’ve made a new beginning. Get on with it.”

She drove the roads easily, trying not to check every nook and cranny. She was getting better at trusting. If only she hadn’t seen his face at the shower. Everything else was going so well, but she couldn’t work her brain past the fear that still clutched her whenever she saw him.

The radio was playing Christmas songs and Ashley sang along as she drove, joy bubbling inside. She loved Christmas, always had. Not being able to open the gallery in time for the season stung, but she’d prayed for the courage to wait.

Wait. That’s all she seemed to do lately. Wait for understanding, wait for the gallery work to be finished, wait, wait, wait. Michael had phoned several times, asking her to dinner, hinting that he was ready for his skiing lesson, but Ashley had put him off every time.

She couldn’t get past what she’d overheard, and she didn’t want to embarrass herself by letting him see that Ashley Adams was infatuated with him—again.

Only it was more than that, and she knew it.

She pulled into his yard, then blinked. There were no tracks. Maybe he wasn’t even home.

“I’ll just have to leave the gifts, then,” she muttered, gathering them up and climbing out of the car. She walked up the steps, struggling not to recall the last time she’d been here.

Tati, still wearing her fuzzy pink nightgown, had the door open before she got to it.

“Ashley, hi! Are those presents?” Her saucer-wide eyes glittered with excitement.

“They sure are. One for you, one for your dad. Can you put them under your tree?”

“We don’t have one yet.” Tatiana checked the name tags, noted that her present was the largest. Then she pushed them both onto the counter. “Daddy said maybe today. After we bake cookies.”

“I said nothing about making cookies, Tati. Oh, hi, Ashley.” Michael closed the door behind her. “How are you?”

“I’m fine.” He looked tired and a little grumpy. Ashley decided to make it quick. “If you’re baking I don’t want to intrude. It’s just that I’m leaving for Hawaii tomorrow and I wanted to drop these off first. Merry Christmas.”

“Thank you. Tati has something for you, too. At least stay long enough for tea. And just so it’s very clear, I’m not baking anything. I never said I would. Tati’s just trying to talk me into it.” He took her coat, hung it up.

“And you’re not persuaded?”

“Daddy says he does breakfast, dinner and supper and sometimes pumpkins, but that’s it. But he could make cookies. Wanda says her dad helps her mom lots of times.”

Exasperation appeared on Michael’s face, but he kept his voice gentle.

“I told you that if you could play quietly with your doll for a little while, then after lunch we’d go hunt for a tree. So far you haven’t helped me much.”

“I will.” Tati sat herself at the table. “After I have tea with Ashley.”

“Well then, thank you. I’d love to stay for tea. Though I don’t usually have it in the morning.”

“We slept in a little later today.”

“I see.” Ashley turned to listen as the little girl described her wish list. “You want quite a lot, don’t you?”

“Yeah. I’ll get it, too.”

“Presents aren’t everything, Tati. It’s the—”

“Spirit of the season,” Tati finished as if she’d heard her father a hundred times before. “I remember.” She sighed. “I wish you could have come to my Christmas concert at school, Ashley.”

“I did, honey. I was a bit late, but I watched you.” Ashley pretended not to see Michael’s start of surprise. “I stayed in the back so I wouldn’t disturb anyone, but I was so proud of you.”

“I didn’t forget one word.” Tatiana’s chest puffed out with pride. “Daddy bought me ice cream to celebrate.”

“Good for Daddy.” She risked a glance at him, found his gaze on her. “I really liked your angel dress. It was so sparkly.”

“Wanda and I both had matching ones. I wish I could have had my special dress to wear.”

“Your special one?” Ashley wondered if she should change the subject. Certainly Michael didn’t look encouraging.

“Yes. The one I want for Christmas. I’ll show you.” She clambered down from her seat and dashed out of the room.

“Bad subject?” Ashley whispered.

Michael shook his head. “I’ve got it covered. Not exactly as shown, though.”

She admired the picture of the princess dress, as Tati termed it.

“It reminds me of Piper’s wedding dress,” Ashley told her. “Wait till you see it.” She grabbed a piece of paper and sketched out the lines of the dress. “It floats around her feet just like your princess dress.”

“Do all ladies get to wear a dress like that when they have weddings?”

“Not all. Different ladies have different ideas about how they want to get married. Some don’t like fancy weddings. When you’re a lady you’ll be able to choose whatever you want.”

Ashley tried to explain about weddings to Tati, but her attention was still fixed on Michael. He kept glancing at his watch, as if she was holding him up.

“I’m sure you’re busy,” she said, rising as soon as she’d sipped the last of her tea. “I’ll let you and Tatiana get on with your day.”

“But you could stay and help us bake cookies. Couldn’t she, Daddy?” Tati’s beseeching voice touched a soft spot in Ashley’s heart.

“She’s welcome to stay and bake whatever she wants,” he said quietly, meeting her glance. “In fact, I’d really appreciate it if you could stay, Ashley. Unless you’re too busy?”

“But this is a time for you and Tati—”

“Daddy said he has to work for two hours,” Tatiana complained. “But we could make cookies while he’s working. Then we could all go get our Christmas tree. Couldn’t we, Daddy?”

Ashley saw the truth as if it was written across his face. No wonder he wasn’t planning on baking cookies, he was trying to prepare something for his daughter’s first Christmas with him.

“You need a break?”

“I do have some things to do,” he admitted. “It’s not fair to assume you’ll babysit on a moment’s notice, though.”

“But...?”

He assumed an innocence she knew was a mask.

“But if you did happen to have some time to spare and wanted to help Tati make cookies, I wouldn’t try to talk you out of it.”

“While you work, I assume.” She glared at him, shook her head. “Is it too hard to say, ‘Ashley, can you help us out?’”

“Ashley, could you please help us out?” he repeated quietly.

“Of course. Go. Do whatever you need to do. Take all day if you want. We could even go for the tree after supper if that works for you.” She stopped when he shook his head adamantly.

“After lunch would be better.” Michael asked Tati to get dressed. When she’d left the room he spoke again, his voice lowered so as not to be overheard. “Our neighbor’s dog was attacked by a cougar yesterday evening. I don’t want to go into the woods after dark unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“I see.” A shiver of fear whisked across her nerve endings. Ashley shuddered. “How awful.”

“Yes, it is. There’s a lot of talk about hunting it down before it attacks a human. There have been reports from neighboring counties about adults being chased. One woman even had to fight it off with a stick. Fortunately for her, a deer came by and the cougar found it easier prey.”

“I hope they find it before the winter festival. That would really ruin the tourist trade. Many of the events are scheduled after dark.”

He nodded but said no more as Tati returned.

“Well, Miss T.,” Ashley said, hiding a smile at Tati’s lace top, dirty jeans and black patent shoes. “What kind of cookies did you have in mind?”

“Gingerbread men.”

Michael mouthed “thank you,” then left the room. Ashley assumed he had an office or something at the other end of the house. Not that it mattered.

Thanks to her little helper they were both soon dusted in flour. They made gingerbread boys, chocolate chip mounds, pecan drops and a host of shortbread cutouts. While Tati was engaged in decorating them, Ashley mixed up some gooey chocolate squares, a batch of fudge and a chocolate cake. A withered group of apples huddled at the back of the fridge so she decided to make an apple betty. She managed to almost finish cleaning up before Tati tired of decorating the cookies.

“I’m hungry.”

“So am I. Shall we make your dad some lunch?”

“Okay.” Tatiana’s eyes sparkled. “What should we make?”

“Vegetable soup?” She could use up what was in the fridge and he could stock up on fresh food for the holidays.

“It won’t have beets in it, will it? I don’t like beets.”

“No beets,” Ashley promised. She gave the child a peeler and set her to work on the carrots. Soon they had a pot of vegetable soup bubbling on the stove, filling the house with a delicious aroma.

But Michael did not reappear.

When the biscuits were ready, Ashley checked the clock. If they didn’t eat soon, there wouldn’t be time to go for a tree.

“Your daddy seems to be lost. I wonder if we should find him and tell him lunch is ready.”

Tati carefully placed the last spoon on the table. “He always forgets when he goes in the workshop.”

The place of his carving? “Let’s go tell him, then.”

With Tati leading the way, Ashley followed, until they came to a side door. Tatiana opened it.

“It’s lunchtime, Daddy. Me and Ashley made soup.”

Ashley didn’t hear his response, she was too busy ogling the room. There were faces everywhere. A series of cunning faces arranged on the far wall were particularly fanciful, chiseled out of oddly shaped driftwood. There were larger, chunkier pieces carved out of tree trunks and logs. Thin slices of mahogany, oak and birch lay along a workbench like masks, each expression different from the next.

Entranced by the detail she saw, Ashley moved forward to inspect them more closely.

“
This
is what you do in your spare time.” She turned to face him. “They’re fantastic!”

“Thank you.” He remained still, the chisel motionless in his hand as he watched her.

She could sense his reserve. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Michael shrugged. “I guess it hasn’t really come up.”

She fixed him with a look. “Hasn’t it?”

“I’m hungry. Can’t we eat the soup now?” Tati begged.

“We sure can, honey.” Michael rose, placed his chisel on his counter, laid his leather work apron on top. But he didn’t look at her.

That bothered Ashley more than the fact that he’d kept silent about his art.

She followed Tatiana out of the room, served the soup and biscuits, accepted their praise. But she couldn’t get the questions out of her mind. Michael knew she was collecting works for her gallery. Why hadn’t he offered some of his? Did he think Serenity Bay was too small-town to show in? Or was it her gallery he thought too small?

“Maybe you and Tatiana should go get your tree by yourselves,” she offered quietly when Tati left to wash her hands and get her snow clothes ready. “It’s something you should share together, not with me.”

“But we’d like you to go with us.” Michael shook his head. “I know what you’re thinking, Ashley, and it isn’t true. But I can’t talk now. Wait until later. Please? I promise, there’s a good reason why I didn’t explain.”

Sure there was. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

She thought about it as they cleared the table together. Then she remembered the cougar.

“I suppose it would be smarter to go together,” she agreed. “That way I can keep an eye on Tatiana while you cut down the tree.”

“That isn’t why I was asking you.”

“Isn’t it?” Ashley didn’t know what to make of Michael’s secret. But she did want to hear his explanation. “I’ve got my ski suit in the car. I’ll go get it.”

He nodded, but it was what Michael didn’t say that mattered.