Sleigh Bells in Valentine Valley (19 page)

“I think we're presentable,” she said. “Say hi to Ethan for me.”

“Say hi to your bed for me.”

She laughed and went to find her jacket. As she zipped it up, she ducked her head back in the office. “Wonder what the widows have in store for us . . .”

“I'm almost afraid to find out.”

A
s Tony and Ethan got into his pickup truck early Tuesday evening, Tony looked at his son, the keys still in his hand.

Ethan glanced at him. “You have to start the car to drive it, Dad.”

“Gee, thanks, I wasn't sure. But if I drive it, we'll be at your mom's in three minutes, and we won't have time to talk.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Ethan asked, wearing a frown of curiosity.

“I don't know. I guess I just wondered how you've been with your mom living here and working for me and everything.” Tony wasn't really sure what he wanted to hear, but his secret relationship with Kate was making him wonder if Ethan could sense a change.

Ethan's eyes widened. “Well, of course it's okay for Mom to be here. I don't have to drive two hours to Vail and back on the weekends. Don't worry, I'm not one of those stupid kids who thinks his parents will get back together. Now if one of you would suffer from parental guilt and buy me a new phone, I'd be even happier.”

“Yeah, I don't think so. When you have some regular money coming in, we'll talk.”

“Dad—”

“But you really don't have any problems with the changes around here?”

“Gotta admit, I wonder if it's hard to work together. You fought the other morning.”

“That was a disagreement, not a fight.”

“Mom said the same thing. What did you two do, write a script?”

Tony sighed. “I just want you to remember you can talk to me about anything.”

“Just not a phone.”

Tony gave up and started the car. At Kate's house, without being told, Ethan hopped out and let his mom sit in front. Tony figured it was so he could text without being noticed, but maybe not. Kate was wearing a long wool coat over nice pants, with leather boots peeking out underneath. Her hair was casually disheveled, and her eyes gleamed as she smiled at him above the big scarf that wrapped around her neck.

And for just a moment, he wondered how his life would have been different if they'd never divorced, if this had been just another family outing for the three of them—if there would have been a fourth.

And he stopped that thought right in its tracks. He wasn't having a relationship with her, they weren't married—they were having ex-sex. That was it.

But people were starting to associate them together, and that probably wasn't wise. But part of that was his fault—he'd hired her. And now she was having ideas about his business she had no . . . business having.

But that wasn't true. Throughout this festival idea, she'd never once brought up the fact that she was technically an investor. He had to admire that.

They crossed the bridge over Silver Creek, then turned down the snow-covered road on Silver Creek Ranch land. The Widows' Boardinghouse had a big sign outside advertising it as such, as if they really took in boarders. But anyone who knew them knew they were widows and best friends who'd decided to live together after their husbands had died. Nate had renovated the old Victorian himself, fixing plumbing and walls and painting. As Tony drove down the driveway to park near the back door, he couldn't help but admire the wraparound porch, strung now with Christmas lights, and the lit candy canes lining the drive.

“I helped them with the decorating a couple weeks ago,” Ethan said.

Kate smiled over the back of the seat. “That was nice of you.”

“Yeah, their grandkids are all grown up, and their great-grandkids are too little. I'm like their in-between grandchild, they said. Whatever that means.”

“Isn't that your dad's car?” Kate suddenly asked Tony.

He pulled in next to an old jeep. “Yep. Isn't that peculiar.”

“Well, he's on their preservation fund committee,” Kate pointed out. “They're all friends.”

“Uh-huh.”

Ethan hopped out, and Kate whispered to Tony, “Don't show too much curiosity, or they might show too much about us.”

“You're worried they're on to us?” Tony asked in surprise.

She opened the door and glanced at him. “I don't know. Besides being afraid of them when I was a kid, I thought they had mystical powers.”

He laughed, got out of the pickup, and walked around the front. “Mystical powers?”

“Mind readers. You know Mrs. Palmer reads tarot cards, right? She once sat me down to ‘practice' on me, and I swear she knew I was going to be a lawyer before I did.”

“Now I know who to blame,” he said under his breath.

She looked back at him as she walked up the steps to the porch. “What was that?”

“Nothing.”

Ethan already had his coat off in the cow-themed kitchen. Tony swore that every time he came by, they had some new knickknack. As he hung his coat on the bull horns near the door, he saw cows on the kitchen towels and black-and-white-spotted bowls holding fruit on the table in the kitchen nook.

And then he saw his dad coming through the door from the dining room, and he was wearing an apron that said
M OO
! on the front. Tony gaped.

Mario reddened.

“He was frying the chicken,” Mrs. Thalberg said matter-of-factly. “It spatters.”

So his dad wasn't only a guest; he'd helped prepare the meal. Now wasn't that interesting. “Dad, you should have worn your work overalls.”

“Probably,” Mario said impassively.

“No point settling down in here,” Mrs. Ludlow said in her no-nonsense voice. “Dinner's hot and ready to be served.”

“Thanks for bein' on time,” Mrs. Palmer said, linking her arm with Tony's.

Her dress had candy canes on it today in diagonal stripes, matching the driveway decorations. He felt festive every time he saw her.

The dining room table overflowed with fried chicken and salad, corn bread and asparagus. In the corner of the room was a desk that still had a big square computer monitor, which had seen better days. Nate had lamented more than once that he'd offered to buy them a new one, but they liked their old computer and didn't want to learn anything else.

As they ate dinner, the widows never ran out of things to say, discussing the success of their first Christmas market and plans to improve it for the next year. Tony's dad was a part of each discussion, and Tony thought he noticed him speaking more often than not to Mrs. Thalberg.

And then, as if on cue, they turned as one to look at Kate.

Mrs. Ludlow's graceful hands moved gently through the air as she talked, and she peered at Kate pointedly through her glasses. “So you've been away from your law firm for several weeks now, Katherine.”

Kate swallowed her food the wrong way and started to cough.

Ethan pounded her back. “You okay, Mom?”

Kate nodded, eyes watering, and took a sip of her wine. “Sorry . . . just startled at the sudden change of topic. Yes, Mrs. Ludlow, I've been in Valentine Valley for three weeks now.”

“Do you miss your work?”

“I do, but I'm filling my time with other projects. And getting ready for Christmas, of course.”

“We know you're working for Tony,” Mrs. Thalberg said, sending him a brief smile, “but what else are you doing?”

“She went snowboarding for the first time last Sunday,” Ethan said, in between bites of his buttered roll. “I taught her.”

“I'm so impressed,” Mrs. Palmer said, her hand pressed to her chest. “I always wanted to give that a try.”

The guests gaped at her, while the other two widows just shook their heads.

“I cross-country skied all my life,” she insisted. “But when I broke my hip, my grandson Adam said he'd tie me up like a calf if I risked my health again. Did you like it, Kate?”

“I did, ma'am,” she said, smiling. “Ethan's a good teacher.”

“I didn't teach her to lose control and run into the woods,” Ethan pointed out.

Tony looked down at his plate and took another bite of fried chicken.

“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Ludlow said with concern. “You weren't hurt?”

“Dad rescued her,” Ethan volunteered. “He told me all about it.”

Tony hid a wince as the three widows eyed him curiously. “I was closest,” he said. “Love the asparagus.”

Mrs. Thalberg passed him the bowl then said to Kate, “You should be having more fun like snowboarding. I swear, child, you've spent your life working toward a goal.”

And she couldn't stop, Tony thought, but he wasn't about to bring up her festival idea.

“You should remind yourself of the fun things you've done and not focus on work,” Mrs. Ludlow said. “It's rare for adults to have this kind of time off, Katherine. You can reevaluate your life and your choices.”

Tony shot his dad a quick frown. What the hell were they all about?

“That's sound advice,” Kate said noncommittally.

“For instance,” said Mrs. Ludlow, turning to Tony, “you see Katherine regularly. Perhaps you can encourage her by asking what fun things she's done recently.”

Kate didn't bother to hide her eye roll. “Mrs. Ludlow, I'm fine. I exercise—”

“For your health,” Ethan interrupted. “Good thing I taught you boarding for fun.”

“Thank you, E.,” she said, then continued, “I have dinners out—”

“It's always about work,” Ethan said.

“Ethan.” Tony said his name in a warning tone.

“And I like to read,” Kate said firmly, daring their son with her pointed gaze to say something else.

Ethan mumbled, “Work briefs,” and took a big bite of his drumstick.

The widows laughed, and Tony saw Kate force a smile.

“What my son doesn't mention is how often I crush him at Xbox—video games,” she said sweetly.

He hunched his shoulders.

“And I know something fun we can do together,” she added in a bright tone.

Tony almost felt sorry for the kid.

“Did you ladies read the reindeer story in the
Valentine Gazette
?”

“Oh, that lovely story by Jessica Fitzjames,” Mrs. Palmer said, clapping her hands together.

“Well, they're choosing which kids in elementary, middle, and high schools wrote the best ending.” Kate gave Ethan's hand a squeeze. “I'd love to help you write your own ending.”

“Aw, Mom,” Ethan mumbled.

It was a while before she released his hand.

They spent another hour with the widows having Christmas cookies in the parlor, which the widows had decorated with their various crafts, from crocheted afghans to a painted screen near the fireplace. But for the holidays, there were dozens of little Christmas figurines everywhere, so much so that Tony was afraid to move too much for fear of knocking one over.

Being together at the widows', it was almost as if he and Kate were a married couple again rather than divorced. It made him uneasy. Instead, he rattled on about how good the Christmas cookies were, and that they could win a competition.

After dropping off Kate and seeing Ethan ensconced with his homework an hour later, Tony stood in the screened-in porch in his backyard, shivering in his jacket, and called her. “What the hell was that about?” he asked.

“I have no idea. If I didn't know better, I'd think they were matchmaking!”

“They don't have any idea about us—they can't.”

“Well, we spend a lot of time together, mostly because of Ethan.”

“‘Mostly'?” he teased. “Please. We spend a lot of time together because I stupidly gave you a job.”

There was a moment of silence. He grimaced and closed his eyes.

“Stupidly?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“Sorry. Meant that as a joke, and it came out badly. I obviously don't have a problem with you at work. Hell, I'll never think of my office the same way again.”

“Maybe you regret it because of my band festival idea.”

He sighed. “No, I don't regret it.”

“Then tell me the truth, Tony. What do you think?”

“Okay.” He rubbed his free hand on his arm to warm it and stomped his feet. “For someone new to the ‘event coordinator' position, you gave the proposal a lot of thought, and estimated the details well.”

“Thanks,” she said.

Her voice sounded a little breathless with pleasure, and that's when he knew he was going to give in.

“It's more money than I'm used to spending, but maybe you're right, that it's time to take a chance. You have the green light.”

“Great!” she said warmly.

“
But
—and this is a big but—I can pull the plug if it seems like it's not working out. You have to check with me every step of the way. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

She'd answered so quickly that he knew she didn't think it was possible he'd need to cancel. But then she'd always been confident in everything.

Which was probably why the setback with her law firm really seemed to have knocked her for a loop.

He'd once liked her ambition, but he felt like it had ruined their marriage. To see it again up close made him feel uneasy.

K
ate came in for the day shift on Wednesday feeling energized and excited. She tracked Tony down in his office, and for a moment, they looked at each other, remembering what they'd recently been doing in this small room.

Kate cleared her throat. “You wanted an update on the festival.”

He lounged back in his chair, hands folded on his stomach. “And I just gave you the okay last night.”

“Well, I don't have much time. I researched the special permit and got the rules—mostly it's all about decibels. We'll have to be careful about that. I started a Facebook page for the tavern—I made you an admin—and a Twitter account, too. I'll be getting sponsors, too, and banners advertising them. I hope potential sponsors don't balk because I'm your ex-wife!”

Tony held up both hands. “Whoa, there! What about all this talk of knowing how to have fun?”