The Christmas Backup Plan, page 23
Later, when he got to his house, Remington unwrapped the present with great care. Inside, he found a musical snow globe of Twilight, Texas, and a note that said simply, To remember the magic by.
He turned the key and watched as the globe spun and played “White Christmas.” A lump formed in his throat. Ah damn. The song had been his mother’s favorite Christmas carol. Was it accidental? Or had she known?
Carefully, he wrapped the snow globe back in the tissue paper, put it into the box and slipped it underneath his bed. Tucking away his memories of Aria and their time together. Would he ever be able to look at it without hurting?
On Christmas Day, he declined Ridge and Kaia’s offer to have dinner at their house with Vivi and Duke. He just wasn’t in the mood for their lively company, and instead saddled up a horse and went to work, moving a group of cattle from one pasture to the other, and then spending the rest of the day inspecting fences. The fences were all intact, so toward sundown, the cold wind blasting across his face, Remington pulled his Stetson down low over his face and turned the horse toward home.
The sky was thick with clouds and getting dark, so he almost missed seeing it.
There, underneath a thorny mesquite, lay a little critter huddled in a reddish-brown-and-white ball.
Remington reined in his horse, swung from the saddle, and approached slowly. The poor little guy looked so wide-eyed and lonesome that Remington couldn’t help thinking of how lost he himself had been after his mother’s death.
“Hey, buddy,” he crooned, crouching some distance away from the puppy, who looked like a red merle Australian shepherd, so as not to spook him. “What are you doing way out here?”
The puppy trembled but did not run.
Remington’s heart wrenched. He didn’t know why he was feeling so sentimental over a dog. He’d been to war. He’d seen horrible things. On a scale of the terrible things he’d come across, an abandoned puppy didn’t even rate.
In fact, the little guy was quite lucky Remington had come along. He would not die in the cold. He ducked, walked forward.
The puppy thumped his tail, his eyes growing even wider.
Remington extended the back of his left hand so the dog could smell him.
The animal’s nose twitched.
“It’s okay,” Remington said. “Everything will be okay.”
The poor thing was so gaunt, Remington feared he might not make it. He probably had many health issues. When the vet opened tomorrow, they’d be the first in line.
Tentatively, the puppy reached out and licked Remington’s hand right at the seams of where his fingers used to be. As if the dog knew he’d been hurt and was trying to salve things for him.
Stunned by the tears that sprang to his eyes, Remington viciously swiped them away. What the hell? Why was he crying over a dog? Especially a dog that was going to be A-okay now that he’d found him. Remington would absolutely make sure of that.
The puppy didn’t protest when Remington picked up his quivering little body, tucked the dog against his side, and zipped up his coat tight around him. Using great care, he climbed back into the saddle and rode home, feeling the shepherd’s heart beating wildly against his own.
Chapter 22
Hang tough: Catchphrase of encouragement and solidarity for paratroopers who endure bad weather, missed jump spots, and malfunctions.
After spending Christmas Day alone, Remington took the dog to the vet the following morning. The puppy had spent a restless night whimpering until Remington took him out of the mudroom. It seemed like a good idea to keep the untrained dog blocked in, but once he was beside Remington, the puppy calmed instantly, curled up next to him, and promptly fell asleep.
Only to wake up an hour later, licking Remington’s face to let him know he needed to go outside. The process repeated itself throughout the night, until the last time, just before dawn, Remington gave up trying to sleep and went to make coffee.
He took the puppy with him as he did his chores and fed his livestock. He fed the dog a small amount of raw hamburger meat he had in the fridge, then loaded him into the SUV, and off they went to the vet.
“What am I going to call you?” Remington asked the dog as he settled him into a box and put it on the floorboard of the backseat, wanting to protect him as much as possible. He’d get a proper canine seat belt in town.
That’s the moment he realized he was fully adopting the puppy.
He’d told himself during that night that the arrangement was temporary, that he’d find him a good home. He’d never had a real pet before. Sure, growing up on a ranch, there had always been lots of dogs and cats around, but he’d never claimed one as his own.
Too much trouble, he’d told himself. Animals didn’t live as long as people, and he didn’t want to get too attached, because eventually he’d lose the pet and it didn’t seem worth the grief.
Now, looking at the dog over the back of the seat, he saw the shortsightedness of that philosophy. No one knew how long they had to live, and forsaking momentary joy to prevent long-term sorrow, well, that trait kept a guy from truly living.
“You don’t know how to let love in,” his first love, Maggie, had flung at him when he confronted her about her betrayal. “Until you stop being afraid of love, you’ll never find it.”
He’d thought it was a good thing that he hadn’t fully let her into his life, or he’d have been shattered when she took off with his best friend.
But now?
It was sad really, the lengths he’d taken to avoid romantic entanglements. He’d run to the other side of the world for twelve years. Hiding out from his family, from an ordinary life, from his feelings most of all.
The veterinary clinic had just opened when Remington walked in with the puppy in his arms.
The receptionist had hopped up from her chair, making a fuss over the puppy as his sister-in-law, Kaia, waddled from the back of the clinic in a lab jacket.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“The regular vet has the flu, so they asked if I could fill in.”
“But your third baby is due any day now.”
“So? I’m not in labor now.” Kaia was a tough woman, and she took motherhood in stride. She loved children and animals equally. “My obstetrician says I can work as long as I feel like it. And today I feel like it.”
“What does Ridge say?”
“He says, ‘whatever you want, Kaia.’ There’s a man who knows how to please his woman.”
“Meaning?”
Kaia just shook her head at him. “Talk to your brother if you want to know the secrets to a happy marriage.”
“Umm.” Remington thrust the puppy at her. “Here.”
“And who is this?” Kaia cooed and pulled her stethoscope from the pocket of her lab coat.
“Found him on the back forty.”
“Oh dear. Lucky you found him when you did. As thin as this little guy is, he’s been out there awhile. It’s surprising that coyotes hadn’t gotten to him. Bring him on back to the exam room.” Kaia motioned.
“Do you have other patients ahead of me?”
“You get the family express pass.” She smiled. “And it’s early on the day after Christmas. No one else is here yet.”
Clutching the puppy to his chest, Remington followed his sister-in-law to the exam room.
“Set him down,” she instructed, maneuvering her expanded belly around the stainless steel exam table.
Remington settled the puppy onto the table, and the little dog peered up at him with the saddest eyes. “I’m right here, buddy. I’m not going anywhere.”
“So . . .” Kaia stuck the earpieces of the stethoscope into her ears and bent over the dog. “You spent Christmas alone, out riding fences and rescuing puppies.”
“No. Just the one pup.”
She grinned at him. “I understand. Get the Alzates and Lockharts together en masse, and things can swiftly get overwhelming.”
“Since the Middle East, loud noises . . .” He shrugged. “I’m still a work in progress.”
“Aren’t we all.” She laughed. Then she paused before saying, “Aria didn’t come to Christmas dinner either.” She cut him a sideways glance as she placed the bell of the stethoscope to the puppy’s chest to listen to his heartbeat.
“No?”
“She said she needed to catch up on her sleep. Apparently, I’m guessing there were a lot of sleepless nights when you guys were in Twilight?” Again, she peered up at him from a sheaf of dark hair the same color as her sister’s and leveled him a knowing gaze.
His sister-in-law was fishing for info. He knew it. Aria hadn’t told her a thing about what had gone down in Twilight. Remington shrugged. He didn’t want to encourage Kaia’s nosiness. “How’s the dog?”
“Heart and lungs sound okay. Are you going to keep him?”
“He seems to have bonded with me.”
“I like that idea.” Kaia straightened and sent a bright smile at him. “Have you thought of a name?”
“Not yet.” Remington shook his head. “How old is he?”
“He looks to be about eight weeks,” she said.
“He seems much younger than that.”
“It’s because he’s so small. He must have been the runt of the litter. And like I said, he’s underweight. What did you feed him last night?”
“A little raw hamburger meat. I didn’t want to overdo it, so I only gave him a big spoonful.”
“I’ll give you a prescription for some food to build up his health. It’s pricy, but he shouldn’t have to be on it for long.”
“I don’t mind the cost.” Remington jammed his hands in his coat pockets.
“We don’t know what happened to him out there, but clearly he lost his mother. It will take some time for him to heal.”
Remington knew all about healing and time.
“Don’t be surprised if he has some bad habits because of what he’s been through. Plus, he’s a puppy and, like all babies, he needs lots and lots of patience.”
“Got it.”
“He has some sores that look as if they’re getting infected, probably from those mesquite thorns. I’ll put him on an antibiotic along with giving him the shots and other medications he’ll need.”
“Thanks, Kaia.”
“I think you’ve got yourself a fine companion here, Remington. Why don’t you leave him with me an hour and go grab some breakfast?”
He didn’t want to leave the little guy all alone, but Kaia was already shooing him out of the office. Pulling his Stetson down lower over his forehead, he sauntered outside and across the street to the diner.
Millie’s Diner was a hopping place at this time of morning, the parking lot jammed with cars. When he spied Aria’s car in the lot, he almost pivoted and trotted back across the road to the vet clinic.
Hell, man, you can’t avoid her for the rest of your life. Make peace with the fact you’re going to see her occasionally.
Yeah, okay, but did he have to make peace with it right now? His stomach was in his throat and his palms were sweating at the thought of seeing her.
Cowboy up, Lockhart. You might be a lot of things, but you’re not a coward.
Tilting up his chin, he ambled into the dinner. He looked neither left nor right, just made a beeline for the barstools, in the shape of saddles, positioned at the counter. He plunked down, ordered a cup of black coffee and the sunrise special—two scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and hash browns.
He’d just brought the coffee cup to his lips when her scent filled his nose. That sweet floral smell that would forever say “Aria” to him.
“Hey, cowboy,” she said and took the saddle next to him. She motioned to the server and said, “I’ll have what he’s having.”
Remington closed his eyes. Being in the same diner with her was one thing. Having a full-blown conversation was another.
She leaned closer and dropped her voice. “I’m sorry if I made a misstep with your Christmas gift.”
He shook his head. He was so knotted up inside, he could barely speak. “You didn’t.”
“Didn’t I? Because you sure cleared out of there pretty quickly. The minute I drew your name, I knew I should have told Kaia I wanted to draw another. But then she would want to know whose name I’d drawn, and it would turn into a thing.” She flapped a hand. “I didn’t want it to turn into a thing.”
“It’s fine. You did fine.” He still couldn’t look at her. Instead, he stared into his cup as if the liquid was black gold.
“Did you . . .” She paused and he could feel the heat of her gaze burning the side of his face. “Open the gift?”
He nodded.
She grabbed a napkin from the napkin holder in front of him and started pleating it with tight, precise movements. She was nervous. “Did you like it?”
Again, he nodded.
“I wanted to get you something to remind you of Twilight.”
“It does.”
“Good grief,” she said, abandoning the napkin and shoving a hand through her hair. “Talking to you is like talking to a rock.”
“This isn’t the time or place, Aria.”
“Time or place for what?”
“This conversation.”
“And what conversation is that.”
Finally, he gave her a sharp glance. “I need space from you. Is that okay?”
She looked as if he’d just slapped her. The muscle at her jaw worked and her eyes widened. She blinked hard as if trying to hold back tears.
“I don’t mean to hurt you,” he said. “I just can’t do this.”
“Do what?” she whispered.
“Pretend to be friends.”
“I see,” she said, then gathered up her purse and walked out the door.
Leaving Remington with two breakfasts to eat and absolutely no appetite for either.
Aria fled the diner.
She would not cry. No, no, no. There was no way she was going to let that man cause her to cry, dammit. She’d known when she’d taken up with him that he was as hard as stone—at least on the surface.
Yes, he had a softer side. She’d brushed up against it in Twilight and let it trick her into thinking that underneath the gruffness, he was a comfy place to land.
But back home in Cupid, he was prickly as a cactus, and he enjoyed being that way. What had happened between them really was just road sex and no amount of head humming could change that.
She was just going to get over him. She’d made a mistake. They’d made a mistake. No sense compounding it by trying to be friends. He’d come across clear enough on that point.
Not knowing where else to go to salve her soul, she bopped across the road to the vet clinic to cry on Kaia’s shoulder. When she got inside, she found Kaia weighing a sickly puppy.
“First patient of the day?” Aria asked, eyeing her sister’s rounded belly. She wasn’t about to ask her why she was working. Kaia prided herself on not letting pregnancy slow her down a bit.
“Yep.”
“Whose puppy is it?”
“Remington brought him in.”
At the sound of Remington’s name, she felt the hole in her heart widen. Aria moved to scratch the pup behind the ears. The little dog looked up at her with the saddest eyes. Eyes that reminded her of Remington himself.
“Where’d he get him?”
“He found him while he was out riding fences on Christmas Day.”
Hmm. “Remy—er—Remington didn’t spend the day with you guys?”
“No.” Kaia raised her eyebrows at the Remy nickname. “He was invited, just like you were.”
So, she hadn’t been the only one nursing her wounds alone. While she’d been watching old romantic movies on Netflix in front of the fireplace, snuggled under a blanket and eating too many Christmas cookies, Remington had done the cowboy version of self-soothing. Riding fences. In her mind’s eye, she saw him loping along in the cold and finding the puppy. Aww.
“I’d hoped you two might have sneaked off to spend Christmas together.” Kaia shook her head.
Aria grimaced. “Good gravy, why would you think that?”
“Ridge and I were thinking maybe you two had made up.”
“Made up? What are you talking about? You have to have a fight with someone to make up.”
“You two aren’t having a disagreement?”
“No.”
Kaia clicked her tongue like a mother hen calling her chicks. “You don’t fool me one bit, sister.”
“I’m not trying to fool you.”
“Something happened between you and Remington in Twilight.”
“Oh, so you have magical powers now?”
“It doesn’t take magical powers to see how miserable you both are and how you avoid each other.”
“We’re not—” What was the point in pretending? Self-deception was not a pretty color. “Fine, something happened in Twilight.”
“I knew it!” Kaia pumped her fist in the air. “Ridge owes me a hundred bucks.”
“Excuse me? You and Ridge bet on us?”
“Friendly wager between husband and wife. You’ll understand what I mean when you and Remington get—”
“Good Lord, Kaia! We’re not getting married.”
Kaia sank her hands on her hips. “You’re telling me you didn’t hear the humming when you kissed Remington?”
“C’mon.” Aria pushed her hair back from her face with a palm. “Don’t tell me you really, truly believe in Granny’s silly legend.”
“Don’t tell me that you don’t believe. You’re the hopeless romantic in the family.”
“There’s romantic,” she said, “and then there’s loony like you and Ember and Tara when you go on about that damned humming.”
Kaia gave her a cat-who-snacked-on-the-canary grin. “You heard the humming. I can see it in your eyes.” She twirled in a circle with such force the hem of her lab jacket went flying up. “I knew it. How could Remington not be your soul mate when the rest of us locked down Lockhart men?”
Aria rolled her eyes, but her heart galloped, and she got all tingly inside. “It would be really interesting to hear what a psychologist thought about this humming and soul mate nonsense.”
