Christmas Every Day Part 36

"Nope." In college he'd always been too wrapped up in baseball to go in for any of the other sports.

"Good." Brom nodded, pleased. A glint entered his eyes. "Next time you come up, we play basketball."

"Hey, this is Tahoe. Don't you guys believe in a friendly game of poker?" Kane protested, spreading his hands wide. A little foam emerged from the can and he drank it quickly before it spilled on the gra.s.s. He was a lot better at cards than he was at running around and sweating.

"If all else fails," Brom conceded. "How's your game?"

"Fair to middling," Kane answered easily.

"Uh-huh, famous last words." Brom knew confidence when he saw it. "I think we'll stick to basketball as our next game of choice."

Nik closed his eyes as he stretched out on the gra.s.s. " " We'll talk.

" Jennifer's voice had him opening his eyes again quickly.

"Katie!" Jennifer rose to her knees, calling after her daughter. Katie had scampered away, chasing after a white b.u.t.terfly that refused to accommodate her by getting caught. "Come back here. I don't want you wandering off."

Katie looked over her shoulder at Jennifer, as if weighing her mother's words against the allure. of the b.u.t.terfly. The b.u.t.terfly won.

Jennifer scrambled to her feet. "That girl. You have to keep your eye on her all the time."

"Like her mother," Kane said fondly. "Sit, I'll get her." He handed Jennifer his beer before going to retrieve his pint sized would-be entomologist.

Jennifer pressed the cold can against her throat as she watched Kane chase after Katie. Seeing her father coming toward her, the little girl squealed and began to run in the opposite direction. Kane s.n.a.t.c.hed her up in his arms and then swung her around until it seemed as if her giggles filled the air.

The others understood Jennifer's immediate concern and shared it. She flushed slightly as she looked at Sara. "I guess ever since the kidnapping, we've all been a little edgy about Katie, even in a place like this."

Sara nodded. No explanation was necessary. Brom had filled her in when she had stopped by to visit before arriving in Newport. He had told her how Jennifer's daughter had been kidnapped from the hospital when she was only three days old. Kane had been the police detective a.s.signed to the case. Touched by Jennifer's plight, Kane had broken police department regulations by allowing her to come with him as he tracked Katie down.

And along the way he had broken a few rules of his own. By the time the trail had led them to Brom's door, Kane, who had lived his entire life in shadows, had stepped into the light and fallen in love with Jennifer.

Sara thought that Brom's story was no less dramatic. When his first wife had been unable to conceive, Brom and Alexis had decided to adopt.

Ultimately they had gone a private route when the more conventional method kept stonewalling them. The man handling the private adoption , a once-trusted friend, had turned out to be part of a ring that stole babies from hospitals around the country. Alexis had died suddenly of ova nan cancer just a few weeks before Katie was placed in Brom's arms.

Instantly in love with the infant, Brom had made up his mind to go through with the adoption. His plans had changed abruptly when Jennifer and Kane had shown up to claim the baby. Because she could see how much he loved Katie, Jennifer had invited Brom to visit them anytime he wanted.

It was in the hushed, romantic atmosphere of Sinclair's that he had first met Julia. A few breathtakingly turbulent months later he had married her.

And where was her story? Sara wondered with an envious pang she was ashamed of. Her cousin's story, as well as Jennifer's and Kane's, had almost fairy-tale qualities to their endings. Both couples appeared to be living happily ever after.

Appeared.

But appearances or not, Sara knew that it wasn't going to happen to her. There were no happy endings, real or imagined , in her future.

She wasn't made for a relationship. She was afraid to even consider undertaking one. Afraid of the consequences.

Because of what she had seen and what she had lived with.

To discover that her parents' happy marriage, something qhe had wholeheartedly believed in, was all only an illusion perpetrated for her benefit had made Sara lose faith in her own abilities to perceive things, to see things as they really qvere and not the way she wanted them to be. She didn't trust her own judgment. And she didn't want to repeat her mother's mistakes.

And yet, she wanted.

This wasn't the time, she upbraided herself.

Sara took a thick roast beef sandwich out of the hamper and began eating slowly, trying to block out her thoughts.

The park was alive with noise. Everyone whom Brom had invited had come prepared for a picmc after the game. There were children playing, parents laughing..

Like the old days, she thought, when she believed happiness was everlasting.

No matter how hard she tried to evade them, her memories continued to find her, a determined little army with pointed lances aimed at her heart. Sara raised her eyes from her sandwich as Kane returned with Katie in tow. He plopped the girl down next to her mother and flanked her with his long legs as he sat down. "Ihrning, Sara was aware that Nik was studying her again. And he looked as if he could read her thoughts.

"This is good," she told Julia suddenly, holding up her qandwich. "What kind of dressing did you use?" She didn't qevqqlue chesse from ranch, but it was something to say. " " I didn't make it," Julia answered. "

it's from the restaurant," Brom informed his cousin. qHouse secret."

He winked at Nik. "-A challenge. This he was more than up to. " I bet I can " Sitting up, Nik moved closer to Sara. He slid his fingers down along her wrist to hold her hand steady and took a bite of her sandwich. He felt her pulse race beneath his thumb. qqVho would ever have thought that having someone h her food could turn into an erotic experience? Little q ers of excitement went hurtling into her stomach from directions.

She needed a cold shower, Sara thought restlessly. And another cold dose of reality wouldn't hurt the situation, either She needed both and more, because all she could think about was running her hands along Nik's smooth, muscular back and kissing him again. Never mind that the man had just played a hard game of baseball in eighty-five-degree weather and was undoubtedly sweaty as h.e.l.l.

It didn't change a thing. She still wanted him. Wanted to touch him.

Wanted to make love with him the way she had never wanted anything else before.

Sara cleared her throat, wishing she could rid herself of her feelings as well. Her hand dropped limply to her lap, the sandwich forgotten.

She looked at Julia. "Got anything cold to drink?"

Julia handed Sara a soda out of the ice chest. The lady had it bad for her brother, Julia thought. She wondered what she could do to help things along.

Nik would have gone on eating out of Sara's hand if no one else had been present. Eating out of her hand and progressing on to sample the taste of her skin, the flavor of her lips.

But there would be another time, and soon, he promised himself. For now, he'd enjoy the company of his family. If nothing else, it seemed to set Sara at ease, and that was an accomplishment.

Nik looked at Brom confidently. "You're using Russian dressing with a light cream subst.i.tute, a sprinkling of cayenne pepper and a pinch of garlic for taste. '

Kane shook his head, refusing to believe Nik was serious' You bluffing.

" He unwrapped a sandwich himself and took a bite. It was flavorful, but nothing telegraphed itself to his palate. " n.o.body's that good.

"Brom?" Nik waited for his brother-in-law to vindicate him.

Brom shrugged, mystified at Nik's ability. "I don't know. I'm going to have to check with Josef, but it sure sounds right."

Jennifer didn't need any verification from a third party. " " Never mess with Nik when it comes to ingredients and food," she told Brom and Kane. " The man knows no equal. "

Julia unscrewed a jar of apple sauce for A. J. She dipped a spoon into it and, bracing herself, raised the spoon to the baby's mouth. A. J.

stuck her tongue out and did battle with the spoon. q'Or so he likes to think," Julia put in.

Nik laughed and shook his head as he took his own sandwich from the hamper. "Same old Julia."

Sara took a bite out of her sandwich, her mouth covering where Nik's had been only minutes before. It wasn't possible for her to taste his lips on the bread. So why did she think she did?

"I think I really like your sister," Sara decided out loud.