Yours for Christmas (Fool's Gold series) (5 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

O
NE
OF
THE
advantages of living in Fool’s Gold was that no matter what horrible thing might be happening in your personal life, there was also something in town to serve as a distraction.

Despite having not slept much the night before, Bailey greeted the morning with as much optimism as she could muster. For one thing, she had a great life. She had her daughter, friends and a job she loved, and in less than two weeks, she would be moving into her first ever, very own home. It was enough, she told herself firmly. She didn’t need a man—not even one as tempting as Kenny.

She and Chloe had breakfast, then she dropped her daughter off at a friend’s house, where she would spend the day. For her part, Bailey was going to head into town. All the stores would be decorating for the holidays and that was fun to watch. There was also a new store opening, and she was meeting Isabel there. Tomorrow, she and Chloe would go look at all the store windows and stay for the town’s tree lighting.

Back at her place, she made quick work of cleaning the kitchen, then dove into her closet. She wanted to clear out as many things as possible before the move. She and Chloe had already done her daughter’s room. Chloe had given up a couple of boxes of toys to be donated. Clothes that were too small would also go to charity.

When Bailey’s cell phone rang, she was trying to decide if she was ever going to lose the twenty pounds necessary for her to get back into several pairs of jeans she owned or if she should simply donate them.

“Hello?” she said without glancing at the display.

“Hey.”

All it took was a single word spoken by a specific man. Her slightly fake good mood shattered and the jeans dropped to the carpet. She sank onto the bed.

“Kenny.”

A thousand emotions struggled to find room inside. She thought of the child he’d lost and how she would never have guessed he suffered such a tragedy. She thought of the way his smile made her toes curl and how knowing he was a great guy made her crush just a little harder to get over.

“I’ve got all the bins in place,” he said.

It took her a second to mentally switch gears. Right, the toy drive. That was still their responsibility.

“Thank you. There’s a schedule for collection. You have that, right?”

“Yeah. I know my days.”

“The parents helping do, too. I appreciate your help with all this.”

“We’re in it together.”

The truth, but when said in his low, sexy voice... Well, she wanted it to mean a lot more than it did.

“We’re still on for Sunday?” he asked.

He’d offered to take her to Sacramento to look at bedroom furniture for Chloe. She needed to get her order placed and thought the Black Friday craziness would be over by then. Only after last night, she’d assumed she would be on her own.

“You don’t mind?”

“I’d like to go with you,” he told her. “We’re friends, Bailey. I don’t want that to change.”

Friends was better than nothing, she told herself. Friends was the mature response to their situation. Friends was enough. Although that last one might be stretching the truth a tiny bit.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’d love the input. Chloe’s going out to Castle Ranch for riding lessons with several of her friends, so the timing is perfect.”

“I’ll pick you up at noon.”

“I’ll be ready.”

“See you then. ’Bye.”

He hung up and she did the same.

This was good, she told herself. She and Chloe would go to church and be back in time for an early lunch before her daughter headed out on her own adventure. Bailey and Kenny would go to Sacramento and buy furniture. It would be nice. Pleasant. Friends hanging out together. Nothing more. No matter how much she wanted a little “more” in her life.

* * *

D
IAMONDS
AND
P
URLS
, a yarn and bead shop close to Brew-haha, had been open all of two hours and was already packed. Bailey sipped her cup of complimentary hot cocoa as she studied the bins filled with what seemed like hundreds of types of yarn. There were different weights and textures, dozens of colors. Yarn that was impossibly soft and yarn that glittered.

On the other side of the store were the beads. Millions of beads, she thought with a grin. Inventory in this place would be complicated.

“I love it,” Isabel said, coming up next to her and linking arms. “Doesn’t this place make you want to be creative?”

Bailey smiled at her friend. “Are you saying you’re going to take a class?”

The tall blonde shook her head. “No. I’m going to
think
about taking a class. There’s a difference.”

“A big one,” Bailey told her. “Chloe and I already talked about taking a beginner’s knitting class together.”

Isabel tried not to look horrified. “I’m sure it will be fun.”

Noelle Boylan, owner of The Christmas Attic
,
joined them. She, too, was a pretty blonde. Her usually slim physique had a little more curve to it these days, along with a definite baby bump.

“Great store,” she said, then sipped her hot chocolate. “I miss coffee. And wine.”

“How are you feeling?” Bailey asked.

“Better. Almost four months to the day, like you said.”

Noelle had spent the first three months of her pregnancy feeling nauseous. Bailey had gone through the same thing. By the fourth month, everything calmed down.

Noelle grinned. “Gabriel is going crazy, though. I think it’s harder for him because he’s a doctor. He has just enough training to make him totally freak out every single day.”

“But it’s nice, right?” Isabel said, eyeing Noelle’s stomach. “Having him hover.”

“Most of the time. Except when I want to smother him with a pillow.”

They laughed. Bailey joined in, even though her feelings were bittersweet. She’d spent much of her pregnancy alone. Will had been deployed. He’d arrived back in time for the birth, but hadn’t been with her through her pregnancy. He hadn’t seen her as she’d gotten bigger or felt the baby move for the first time.

Thinking about the past made her wonder if things would have been different if he’d been home more. Or would they still have grown apart?

It was a question she could never answer, she reminded herself. Will was gone and she and Chloe were making a life without him.

“The decorating is starting,” Noelle said. “For the town’s window display contest.”

“You’ve had your plan figured out for weeks,” Isabel teased. “What’s the big deal about winning this year?”

Noelle’s gaze intensified. “Seriously? You have to ask? If I’m entering, I’m entering to win.”

“There’s the spirit of Christmas,” Isabel teased.

Noelle ignored her and turned to Bailey. “One of the windows is going to be a fantasy winter wonderland, but with a twist. All the decorations are funny and quirky. Like a pickle dressed up as Santa.”

“Chloe and I can’t wait to see it.”

“Good.” She glanced around the store. “I want to go introduce myself to the owner. Her name is Lora, right?”

Bailey nodded. “Yes. I’ve met her a couple of times and she’s really nice. I’m so glad she and her family moved to Fool’s Gold.”

Isabel sighed. “You’re an annoyingly pleasant person, Bailey Voss.”

Bailey grinned. “Why, thank you.”

* * *

K
ENNY
DROPPED
OFF
the toys and carefully secured the lock on the trailer. Each of the collection bins he’d visited had been overflowing. He had a feeling the trailer would be full long before their deadline. From what he could see, the people in Fool’s Gold had a way of coming through for a cause.

He drove to Bailey’s apartment and walked upstairs to her unit. Anticipation burned hot inside, but he ignored the sensation. He’d deliberately made his position clear with her. As much out of self-defense as because it was the right thing to do. Even though he found Bailey funny, sweet and sexy, he couldn’t take the chance. Not now, not ever.

She opened her door, her coat in her hand.

“You’re right on time,” she said with a smile. “It must be all that sports training. Having to be at practice or games when they said.”

He nodded because the punch to his gut made it impossible to speak.

There should have been nothing amazing about her. She wore jeans and a green sweater that matched her eyes. She had on some makeup and her hair tumbled past her shoulders in loose curls. Nice but not mind-shattering.

Except she was. The curves alone would drive a stronger man to his knees and Kenny was willing to admit that when it came to Bailey he was as weak as a kitten. Then there was the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. A mouth he wanted to cover with his own, explore, tease, nibble and lick. He wanted to taste her, hold her, strip her naked and—

He sucked in a breath and steered his wayward mind back to reality. Naked wasn’t going to happen. Bailey was his friend. He should think of her as someone like a grandmother. A lovely woman and nothing more.

“The bins were full,” he said as they went down the stairs. “At this rate, it’s not going to take long to fill up the trailer.”

“I’m glad. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to activate the phone tree and make an appeal.”

He held open the passenger side door for her. “There’s a phone tree?”

She grinned. “Really? You have to ask?”

She was standing close enough that he could breathe in a sweet scent. A little floral with a hint of vanilla. He would bet her skin was soft and warm and for a second he allowed himself to wonder if she was quiet when she made love or if she moaned. Because he liked it best when a woman moaned.

“By the way, Chloe doesn’t know,” she told him.

He blinked, trying to find his way back to the conversation.

“About the furniture?” he asked, the pieces falling into place.

She nodded and slid onto the seat. “I told her we were shopping for furniture, but she thinks we’re getting a new coffee table. I want it to be a surprise.”

He closed her door and walked around to his side. “I won’t say anything,” he promised as he settled next to her.

They headed out of town and got onto the freeway toward Sacramento. There was a sign on the side of the road announcing the opening of the Lucky Lady Casino seasonal ice-skating rink.

“We should do that,” Bailey said. “I mean Chloe and me. Go ice skating. I haven’t in years. Not since I was a teenager. Do you think I’ll remember how?”

“Sure. I skate. I’ll take the two of you, if you’d like. I can catch you if you fall.”

Bailey glanced at him, then away. “I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself,” she murmured.

“Not possible. I’m athletic.”

She laughed. “I’ve heard that somewhere. You used to play sports of some kind?”

“Very funny.”

She grinned. “I can be.” The smile faded. “Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m nervous about buying furniture. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I’ve never bought this kind of stuff before. Not new, I mean. I’ve always had hand-me-downs or something from the thrift store. When Will and I were first married, we didn’t have any money. And later, we moved around a lot. When Chloe came along, plenty of friends had cribs and changing tables.”

“How did you and Will meet?” he asked.

She glanced at him. “In high school. He was a little nerdy and funny and crazy about me. We were friends more than boyfriend-girlfriend. I was focused on saving enough money to go to college.”

“Was that your dream?”

She nodded. “I grew up in small town in Ohio. My mom took off when I was a baby and my grandmother raised me. She was a good woman, but she’d been through some tough times. I knew from an early age that I was expected to be on my own when I turned eighteen.”

He couldn’t imagine that. He knew that if he told his parents he wanted to move back now, they would welcome him with open arms. Not that it was ever going to happen.

“I had a couple of jobs all through high school. I figured I’d work for two years, save enough to get through community college. Will always told me I could do it. He had a different path. He wanted to join the army.”

“A different way out.”

“Exactly.” She shifted in her seat. “The night we graduated, Will proposed. I was stunned. I said no and he left for boot camp. A couple of weeks later, I realized I had stronger feelings for him than I thought. I drove down to where he was and we talked for a long time. By the end of the weekend, we were engaged. After we got married, I went to community college and worked and he was deployed.”

“Then Chloe came along.”

She smiled. “Yeah. She was a surprise, but a good one.”

“Did you get your degree?”

“Not completely. I have my AA, but not my bachelor’s. My plan is to start taking night classes next fall. Chloe will be a little older and we’ll be settled in our house.”

“You’ll get there,” he said. “You have a plan.”

She laughed. “Yes, it’s all about having the right plan. I’ve learned that over the years. Partly I want to do for myself, but also for Chloe. I want her to see me working hard and succeeding. I think it’s a good lesson for her.”

Everything about Bailey was a good lesson for her daughter, he thought. She was impressive, how she’d kept it all together. He supposed that was one of the reasons he liked her so much.

They drove into Sacramento and found the furniture store. As they walked inside, Bailey pulled a small notebook out of her bag.

“I did some online looking,” she told him. “I thought it would make this go faster. I didn’t want to be overwhelmed by choices.”

“It’s kids’ furniture. How many choices could there be?”

Her expression turned pitying. “And here I thought you were a man of the world.”

He held open the door. “I am.”

“We’ll see.”

Fifteen minutes later, he had to admit he was in over his head. There was a whole floor of kids’ furniture. Fortunately they could avoid the section for babies, but still. There was plenty from which to choose.

One entire corner was devoted to princess beds. Some had canopies and others had scrollwork on the head and footboards. There was white furniture and gilded furniture and padded chairs in the shape of high-heeled shoes.