“I thought I would try to set the tree up and test the lights before the kids get home this afternoon and start hounding me about coming over,” she went on.
He wanted to tell her again that he didn’t need or want any more holiday cheer. The little colored wreath was more than enough. He really didn’t have anything against Christmas. When he was a kid, he’d been no different from other boys, giddy with excitement from before Thanksgiving until December 26. Over the years, that excitement had started to fade, then to atrophy and then finally to seep away.
Christmas for law enforcement officers invariably meant domestic disputes, when every emotion was heightened, every family problem exacerbated.
“Are you still okay with them coming over?” Andie said when he didn’t immediately answer.
“What am I supposed to say to that? At this point, I don’t know how to talk you out of it.”
“I’m not the one who needs persuading. Chloe and Will are both very excited to do this for you and they would be gravely disappointed if you changed your mind. Chloe got up early this morning to cut out about two dozen more snowflakes before she left for school, and Will insisted on making paper chains all morning. At this point, I think your paper chain garland would stretch from here to Shelter Springs.”
She gave a rueful smile and he was struck by how lovely she was. She had the most beautiful skin he’d ever seen, creamy and clear. His fingers suddenly itched to touch it, to glide across her jawline, just to see if it could possibly be as soft as it looked.
His reaction appalled him. He had no business being attracted to her. A soft, warm, nurturing sort of woman like Andrea Montgomery deserved far better than someone like him, someone too focused, too set in his ways to make room for family.
Besides what she needed and deserved, he was not in the market for another busybody, interfering woman, not when he had a mother and two younger sisters who filled that role with gusto.
“My walks were cleared this morning,” he said, suddenly achy from more than his damn broken leg.
She blinked a little at what she must have seen as a complete non sequitur. “Oh. I didn’t even register they were clear until you mentioned it! That’s great.”
“Did you talk to Louise or Herm about having Christopher shovel my snow after I expressly told you I would take care of it?”
Her smile slid away at his curt tone. “I saw Louise at the party last night and might have suggested it to her.”
“I said I would handle it, didn’t I?”
“Yes,” she said slowly.
“I might not be particularly mobile yet, but I can still use a damn telephone.”
He didn’t miss the way her shoulders tensed, as if bracing against a blow. The reaction made him feel even worse about himself, if that were possible.
“I was only trying to help. Thank you would typically be the polite thing to say in this situation.”
Guilt, regret and self-disgust turned his tone even more harsh. “I didn’t ask for your help, if you remember. Between you and Wynona, I wasn’t given much choice.”
“If I remember? How could I forget? You’ve been so very gracious about accepting help and have been reminding me constantly that you don’t want me here.”
“Then why haven’t you clued in and stayed away?”
The hurt flaring in her eyes burned through his gut like a hot poker.
“Fine,” she said tightly. “I’ll call Louise and tell her I spoke out of turn when I asked if Christopher could help you with your snow. Is that what you want?”
He didn’t need her to hate him. He just needed her not to like him. “You don’t have to call Louise,” he said gruffly. “I hobbled out to the porch and spoke with Christopher. We’ve made an arrangement between us.”
“You offered to pay him.”
“That’s usually how these things work.”
“His grandmother wanted him to learn how to provide service to others. She said his mother couldn’t be bothered to teach Christopher that basic lesson and that his father is even more selfish.”
She could have no idea how her words gouged, mostly because they were true.
He didn’t want to talk about this anymore. “I’m not a damn charity case,” he growled. “I told the boy I’d pay him to clear my sidewalk and he agreed. End of story. At least somebody in this town listens to what I want.”
Her eyes were the same wintry green as the evergreens just below the tree line on the nearby mountains. “I’m sorry I’ve been such an annoyance,” she said stiffly. “You want me to stay away, fine. I will stay away—after my children decorate your Christmas tree. You said they could and I don’t want to hurt or disappoint them. Where is the key to the shed so I can find the Christmas tree?”