An Old-Fashioned Christmas Page 5

  Sam tightened his hold on her. “You’re spending a lot of time in the bathroom. With the water running. Today when you came out, you’d been in there over ten minutes and you wouldn’t even look at me. I had mistletoe.”

  Oh, Sam.

  She rolled over. It wasn’t easy seeing as Sam didn’t want to let her go.

  “Sam, look at me. Look at me.”

  He raised miserable blue eyes to hers. She hated seeing Sam so upset. She placed her hand over the side of his face. “The reason I had the water running was because I was crying and I didn’t want anyone to hear me. Not because I was spitting. I didn’t look at you because I didn’t want you to spot my red eyes.”

  “Why were you crying?” Roarke asked.

  She shrugged. “Sometimes everything feels a bit much so I take myself off to the bathroom to cry. It’s a stress reliever.”

  “I don’t like that,” Sam told her.

  “Neither do I,” Roarke added. “First, I don’t like that you’re stressed enough to need a stress reliever. Second, I don’t like that you think you need to hide the fact that you’ve been crying. You should come to us if you need to cry.”

  “Yes, but…” she trailed off.

  “But what?” Roarke prodded.

  “Well, I didn’t want you guys to feel bad that I was upset. Sam would go into caretaker mode and you’d demand to know what was wrong so you could fix it.”

  “Well, what’s wrong with that?”

  “I don’t always know what’s wrong,” she explained. “Stupid, huh?”

  “Not stupid.” Roarke turned her so she lay on her back between them. “But from now on, if you’re getting that stressed you come to us. If you need to cry then you can do it in our arms. You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to. But that’s what’s happening.”

  “I don’t like seeing you cry,” Sam told her.

  “I know.” She patted his thigh.

  “I’m going to be keeping a closer eye on you,” Roarke told them. “Both of you. Be ready to get sick of the sight of me.”

  Maybe she should have complained, or perhaps it should have made her feel smothered. Instead all she felt was happy. Safe. Loved.

  4

  Heath and Anna

  Heath grabbed the bag of garbage out of the kitchen bin. When he’d caught Anna trying to do it earlier, he’d told her to leave it for him. He didn’t want her walking out in the dark and cold to throw the bag into the large outside bin.

  The bag split as he lifted it and he groaned as garbage spilled across the floor. Yep, probably would have been a smarter idea to do this straight away instead of leaving it for a few hours. Well, in truth, he’d kind of forgotten about it. Having all of his family home for Christmas had shifted him out of his normal routine. Not that he was complaining. He loved having them all under his roof.

  It fed into his protective instincts to have them all where he could keep an eye on them. Of course, they’d all protest that. His sister most of all. He chuckled to himself as he grabbed another bag and started collecting the garbage off the floor. He couldn’t wait until her own daughter got old enough to challenge her the way Frankie had always tested him.

  Frankie had gorgeous twins. A girl and a boy. Zeke was about the sweetest two-year old he’d ever met, so he probably took after Tom. Charlotte, on the other hand, was hell on wheels.

  Yep, he couldn’t wait.

  Frankie was an amazing mom. Maybe more so because it had been a long wait for her to get those two precious darlings. All of his siblings had turned into amazing parents.

  He knew his own mom and dad would be proud.

  Heath glanced around for any more garbage. He was going to have to mop the floor. He spotted something next to the table leg. Reaching down, he picked it up.

  Then froze.

  What the hell?

  His heart stuttered then found a normal rhythm as he stared down at the white stick in his hand. He drew out a chair and sat, his shaking legs no longer able to hold him up.

  Two pink lines.

  He knew what two lines meant. He had three kids. Technically he’d only conceived two of them, but Jaron was his child just as much as Ryder and Ethan.

  Was he about to get another child?

  Why wouldn’t Anna have told him if she thought she was pregnant? And why didn’t she keep the test rather than throwing it away? Anna had to know he’d be pleased, even if they hadn’t planned on having another child.

  He shook his head. Wait. This house was filled with women. It didn’t necessarily have to be Anna’s pregnancy test. It could be Bryony, Frankie or Holly’s. Maybe he was going to be an uncle again. He grinned at the thought.

  He wondered whose it was. Well, he was due to meet his brothers and brother-in-law for a drink in his study. He guessed he better hurry to hear the good news.

  Twenty-five minutes later, Heath sat in the study, impatience biting at him. Okay, it wasn’t really his place to demand someone spill the good news. But this was his family. He was the head. Yeah, that was a bit of an old-fashioned view, however this was the way his family worked. If his dad was still alive, he’d be sitting behind this desk demanding to know who was giving him another grandbaby to cuddle. Heath took his responsibilities seriously. When his parents died, he’d been handed the ranch and thrust into a parenting role for Frankie, who’d only been fifteen. There were times when he’d felt like he was in way over his head. When he’d paced the floor of the study, worrying that he was going to mess everything up. Lose the ranch that had been in his family for years. That he was going to fail his brothers and sister.

  But he’d gotten through those scary years. And now he had his only family. A beautiful wife. Three children. Settled, happy siblings and several nephews and a niece. But damn it, he wanted to know who was giving him another one.

  “Enough,” he said into the silence. “One of you come clean.”

  Kent frowned while Tom and Cam looked at each other in confusion.

  Brax cleared his throat. “Come clean on what?”

  Heath looked at each of them. “What? No one has something they are burning to tell me?”

  Again, they all looked at each other.

  “Why don’t you tell us what we’ve supposed to have done and one of us might own up?” Cam told him.

  “He’s got that same look on his face as he did after he found me sleeping off a hangover in the stables.” Brax grinned at him.

  “I remember that.” Kent chuckled. “He poured a bucket of water over you.”

  “He was snoring so loud he was disturbing the poor horses. They were all in an uproar. And the smell.” Heath shook his head. “Hope you don’t keep Holly up with that racket.”

  “I only snore when I’ve drunk too much. That doesn’t happen anymore.”

  “So big bro, what’s got your boxers in a bunch?” Cam asked.

  Stuff it. He might be an interfering bastard but he’d earned the right. Plus, curiosity was killing him.

  He dragged out the pregnancy test out of his desk drawer and pulled off the tissue he’d wrapped it in. The others sat across the scarred desk from him, having dragged the leather chairs over from the seating area.

  “Umm, bro, you do realize it’s the woman that’s supposed to use this?” Cam pointed out. “Not us.”

  Heath sent Cam a quelling look. The other man held up his hands with a grin.

  “Why are you showing us a pregnancy test?” Tom asked. The dark-haired man was probably the quietest of all of them. He was a good man for Frankie. He kept her grounded. Tom leaned forward and raised his eyebrows as he got a good look at the stick. “That’s a used pregnancy test and it’s positive.”

  There was silence for a moment.

  Brax smiled. “You and Anna are having another baby? Congrats! That’s amazing. I thought you’d decided to stop after Ethan was born.”

  “We had.” Not that he wouldn’t welcome another baby. But Ethan’s birth had been hard on Anna. She had a
lot on her plate, looking after three children and this place. As well as him. He’d suggested getting her some help, but she’d always been against the idea.

  In the New Year, he was going to bring it up again, though. He didn’t like how tired she looked. If he had to put his foot down, he would. And she wouldn’t like it.

  “It’s not mine.” He didn’t think so anyway. “I’m pretty sure, it’s not mine. Anna would have told me. I found it in the garbage.”

  Now the silence went on longer.

  “One of our women is pregnant?” Cam asked.

  Kent lightly punched his arm. “That’s usually what two lines means, bro.”

  “And by the looks of all of your faces, I’m going to take it that whoever took this test hasn’t told her husband,” Heath said.

  Someone was going to be in trouble. Not that the punishment would be hard. Pregnant women were to be coddled, after all. But this sort of thing wasn’t something to be kept from your husband. If it was Anna, she’d be learning that quickly.

  Tom shook his head. “It’s not a reliable test result this long after it’s been taken.”

  “So they might not be pregnant,” Brax said. “But they obviously thought there was a possibility they might be and they still didn’t tell us.”

  “Not good,” Kent said. He looked at Cam. “It can’t be Bryony. She just gave birth to Mac three months ago.”

  “Well, it could be,” Tom said. “If you’re having unprotected sex.”

  Cam and Kent looked thoughtful.

  “Of course, protection isn’t full-proof either,” Tom added.

  “We’ve been trying,” Brax said. “We just started, but it’s likely ours. I can’t understand why Holly didn’t tell me, though.”

  “Talk to her,” Heath advised. “Maybe she’s worried about something. Hard to know what goes on in our women’s minds sometimes.”

  “Amen to that,” Tom said fervently.

  They all looked at Tom and burst into laughter.

  “What?” Tom asked. “Why are you all laughing? What’s funny?”

  Cam stood and squeezed the other man’s shoulder. “We’re just all happy that Frankie’s your responsibility now.”

  Tom grumbled under his breath, but he was smiling as well. “She definitely keeps me on my toes.”

  “They all do, my friend,” Heath told him.

  Kent stood as well. “We better get upstairs. We told Bryony we’d get up with Mac.”

  “More like you ordered her to stay in bed when Mac woke up,” Cam said. “Bryony isn’t happy with you. Probably be best if you slept downstairs on the sofa and left it to me to soften her up.”

  “I’m sleeping in my bed with my wife. Damn woman is always on the move, it’s about the only time I get to cuddle her.”

  “You’ve turned into a cuddler in your old age,” Cam joked. “It’s a little sickening.”

  Kent growled and Cam walked out of the study with a laugh.

  “See you all in the morning,” Tom said with a yawn. “Charlotte likes to wake at five and I told Frankie to sleep in. She’s so excited about this girls’ day tomorrow that she’s probably still awake.”

  “I’ll be up. I can take care of Charlotte,” Heath offered.

  “Thanks for the offer, but you’ll get nothing done if you’re chasing her around.” Tom smiled and waved his hand.

  Heath leaned forward to look at his youngest brother. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Just taking it all in.”

  “Good luck.”

  “Thanks.” Brax walked out of the study, leaving the door open.

  Heath knew he should go to bed. He needed to get up early to do a few jobs before the women all took off on their spa day. But he just wanted to sit for a moment while the house settled. He stared at the wreath Anna had put up above the fireplace. His wife had decorated the house from top to bottom, although he’d put his foot down about her climbing up the ladder. He’d put those decorations up himself. Ten minutes later, he stood up and moved to the door, opening it and stepping out just in time to catch his wife disappearing around the corner. Heading towards the kitchen.

  Now just what did she think she was up to?

  Anna creeped into the kitchen. She assumed Heath was still in the study with his brothers and Tom. She’d been trying to sleep when she’d suddenly remembered that the trash hadn’t been emptied.

  Heath said he would do it, and Heath normally always did what he said he would. But no matter how hard she’d tried to stop thinking about the darn garbage, she couldn’t shut her brain off. Finally, knowing she wouldn’t sleep, she’d gotten up to go down to the kitchen and check. She knew it was stupid to obsess over the trash. It wasn’t really the garbage keeping her awake.

  It was everything else.

  Of course, it didn’t help that she was completely wired from all the coffee she’d drunk. Anything to get through the day, right? Except there just weren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. It seemed like she was always running behind. That she never quite managed to get on top of everything. Especially with everyone home for the holidays. Not that she’d have it any other way. She knew how happy it made Heath having everyone here.

  She just wished she hadn’t agreed to go on the girls’ spa day tomorrow. If she could stay home, she might be able to get everything for Christmas day ready. But Frankie had been so enthusiastic. And insistent. And let’s face it, she’d never really been able to say no to her. Anna smiled. Her best friend was a force to be reckoned with. She didn’t know how she managed to do everything she did. Anna did have some shopping to do in town—if she could sneak away from her sisters-in-law for a few minutes.

  She opened the garbage bin. Empty. He’d even put a new liner in.

  “You know, not trusting your husband is a spankable offense.”

  She gasped, turning, hand on heart as though she thought it would jump right out of her chest.

  “Heath, what are you doing sneaking up on me?”

  He leaned against the doorway, arms crossed over his wide chest. “I was heading upstairs when I saw my wife tip-toeing down the passage and into the kitchen. My wife, who I’m sure I left with an order to go to bed early.”

  “I did,” she defended, waving her hand over her nightgown.

  “So you went to bed and couldn’t sleep because you just had to check whether I’d thrown the trash out?” he asked incredulously.

  Yeah, when he said it out loud it sounded stupid.

  “I couldn’t sleep until I’d checked.”

  He shook his head and stepped forward, pulling her into his arms. She rested her head against his wide chest and sighed happily.

  She loved how safe he made her feel. Protected. Cherished. Didn’t matter what else was going on, when he took her into his arms she felt her problems melt away.

  “Sorry,” she told him. “I should have known you’d remember.”

  He ran his hand over her back. “Is there anything the matter, darlin’?”

  She grew tense. “No. Why?”

  “You’re having trouble sleeping lately. And you seem to be worrying a lot.” He leaned back and cupped her face between his hands. “I don’t like how tired you look. Which is why you were supposed to go to bed early, wasn’t it?”

  He gave her “the look” and she knew she was in trouble. Heath wasn’t one to throw his power around, but they both knew he was in charge. And when he gave an order he expected obedience.

  “I’ve just got a lot going on,” she told him. “Makes it hard to shut my mind off.”

  He turned, keeping her tucked in under his arm. “After the holidays are over and everyone has left, you and I are going to sit down and have a serious chat about all that you have going on and ways to alleviate your stress.”

  “I’m fine,” she protested automatically.

  Thing was, though, she was starting to think that she really wasn’t. Everything was getting on top of her. To the point it was sometimes difficult to
breathe.

  They headed up the stairs.

  “I’m not sure if you’re lying to me or yourself but you’re not fine, darlin’. And it’s my job, and my privilege, to make sure that you are healthy and happy. You’re not going to try and stop me from taking care of you, are you?”

  “That’s a dirty play,” she told him dryly.

  He just grinned over at her. “Got to use all the tricks in the book to get my way when it comes to my very clever wife.”

  She snorted. “What? You think threatening me with a spanking isn’t enough?”

  “Just one tool in the toolbox.”

  They reached the bedroom and he shut the door behind them. Turning to her, he grabbed the bottom of her nightgown and pulled it up over her head.

  “Heath! What are you doing?”

  He raised both eyebrows. “If you don’t know, then I’m not doing it often enough.”

  “I thought I needed sleep,” she said with a smile, her body stirring as he quickly stripped. Damn, the man was fine. All muscle. His skin deeply tanned from working outside so much. There was a five o’clock shadow on his chiseled cheeks and a twinkle in his eye that sent heat flooding through her body and pooling low in her stomach.

  “I figured you needed help getting to sleep. I have the cure.”

  Her gaze went lower. Her mouth went dry. It didn’t matter how many times she saw him naked, she still wanted him. She wondered if she’d react this way when she was ninety?

  She sure hoped so.

  “You certainly do,” she breathed.

  He chuckled then scooped her up in his arms and walked over to the large bed. He placed her down carefully. He crouched over her, hands on either side of her head, legs straddling her hips, and kissed her.

  Holy hell.

  Her toes curled as she grasped hold of his shoulders, then ran her hands over his firm chest. She hooked her feet behind his legs. She wanted him inside her. He drew back, staring into her eyes.

  “You’re the most precious thing in the world to me, you know that, don’t you?”

  Tears welled at his words. He wiped away a stray one that slipped down her cheek.