Sweet Christmas Kisses (150 page)

Sleep deprivation and delayed grief had obviously scrambled her brain.

“Open the door,” Michael said when she continued to stare at him in stupefaction, his muffled voice reaching her through the barrier.

Snapping out of her trance, she rose to obey the command. He stood on the threshold for a moment and then took two steps inside. She swallowed when the door swung shut behind him and had the sudden wild notion she should have hidden in the storeroom.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at your aunt’s?” she asked.

“I heard about your dad. A neighbor called my mom.”

“So you drove here over night?”

“I was planning to come back to open the store, but I decided to leave earlier. I needed to see you.”

“You came for me?” Her eyes filled as fresh sobs clawed at her throat. How had he known she needed him?

“Of course.”

“That is so sweet,” she said, hearing the wail in her voice but unable to stop it.

Michael didn’t say another word. He simply pulled her to his chest.

Then the world shifted.

In all the years Noelle had known Michael Campbell, he’d never touched her beyond a quick hug or kiss on the cheek. Now, she felt surrounded by him. By heat and the scent of soap and outdoors. She’d never realized he had a rather impressive chest or that her head fit perfectly in the hollow of his neck.

Assaulted by unknown and frightening sensations, she let out a suppressed whimper, which her new knight in shining armor must have interpreted as distress, because he started rubbing her back.

Which only served to set off a chain reaction that nearly made her jump out of her skin.

“Shh…” he murmured. “It’s all right. Your dad’s alright.”

Her dad?

Oh…right. Dad. In the hospital. Heart attack. Almost dying.

She should be thinking about her father, not how she could drag her lips across his neck if she turned her head slightly. A little further north and his mouth beckoned.

Holy… what is wrong with me?

****

If anything was guaranteed to make a grown man quake in fear, it was female tears. Michael could hike his way to the remotest location with only a compass and the sun or stars, but navigating the tricky waters of a woman’s emotions left him lost in the wilderness. His ex-wife had wielded tears like a weapon, using the waterworks to fillet with guilt or turn the screws of manipulation.

None of that could be applied to Noelle. She wasn’t using tears for effect or to get what she wanted. Her sorrow came from a bone-deep place of fear. Noelle’s sobs tore a jagged hole in Michael’s chest, which surprised him. He liked her, of course. She’d nearly been his sister-in-law, and in the last year, she’d become a good friend.

As soon as he’d heard about Nicholas Robinson, Michael had known where he needed to be. Now he was holding her, and the sensation of her slight body nestled against him set off a whole host of different emotions… and none of them remotely approached the
friend
realm.

A delicate shudder transferred from her body to his. “Better?” he asked.

“Mmm.”

The sound set his nerve endings racing. Every male hormone inside him recognized that delicate murmur. Had she…

Noelle pushed against his chest, and he let her go. They stared at each other for a moment as an electric charge surged in the room.

“I’m a mess,” she said, wiping her sleeve across her wet cheeks. “I didn’t even bother to dress.”

“I think I would’ve noticed if you were naked,” Michael said. He would have come home even sooner if that had been the case.

Noelle’s eyes rolled. “Funny. I meant I must look like death warmed over.”

Her dark blond hair was perched precariously on top of her head, and her hazel eyes had dark circles under them. “You look beautiful.”

The words came out before Michael could stop them. He wasn’t sure who was more surprised, he or Noelle.

“I still can’t believe you drove all night.”

“I don’t mind a road trip or early mornings. In my line of work it’s a necessity. Mornings are the best time for fishing, and you can’t beat watching a sunrise from the top of a mountain.”

“Or you could be crazy,” Noelle said, a soft, teasing smile curving her lips. “I’ve never understood your need to roam the woods, surrounded by wild animals.”

“The wild animals are usually safer than the humans,” Michael said. They were certainly preferable to a wife who could never be satisfied.

“You might be right,” she said, biting her lip.

She was probably thinking about Doug again. No doubt he was a reason for her tears as well.

Michael nodded to the train parts scattered across the floor. “Do you want some help?”

“Oh no. You did your duty. As you can see I’m fine… sort of. But I’m sure you’ve got a lot to do in your store,” Noelle said. “I can handle it. I think I’m just exhausted and emotional after what happened last night. Plus, Dad’s illness changes everything. He’s got a long recovery ahead of him. Holly doesn’t think he’ll be able to manage the store and all the Christmas festivities, and Mom will have her hands full taking care of him.”

Michael immediately understood the implication of Mr. Robinson’s illness. “Which means you and Holly will have to take over.”

“Me mostly,” Noelle said, with a huge sigh. “Since Holly has her perfect family to take care of.”

“You have to do it alone?”

A forlorn nod was her only answer.

“What about your plans to leave town? Didn’t you just get a new job?”

“Looks like my move will have to be put off until after the holidays,” Noelle said, frustration evident in her expression, even though she tried to hide it. “I’m sure it won’t be a big deal to start in another month. What does it matter if I stay another few weeks anyway? I survived last Christmas. I can make it through one more.”

“Of course you can.”

As if the bracing words lent strength, Noelle straightened her shoulders. “So today I need to get the store ready, and tomorrow the real setup of the Christmas Village begins. I think Dad already contacted Arindale Farms to rent the animals for the nativity. He also arranges for two trucks to bring all the building pieces over from the warehouse. I’ll need extra drivers for those. Dad usually drove one of the trucks, and Drew handled the other one last year. We’ll need people on both ends to load and unload. I think Dad keeps a list of volunteers somewhere.”

Noelle paused for breath, and Michael opened his mouth to respond, only she took off again.

“Oh! I’ll have to start a sign up for the living nativity. Three shifts every night. I hope we’ve had a bumper crop of newborns to play Baby Jesus this year. And elves. We need elves to help with the Santa pictures. You wouldn’t believe the coordination it takes to get all those little darlings on St. Nick’s lap and snap a picture before they freak out or spit up or pull Santa’s beard off. Or pee. Then there’s story time with Mrs. Claus. Mom usually did that, but I guess we’ll need another volunteer this year. And cookies. There are always cookies. Although, maybe I’ll force Holly to suck it up and do the baking—”

She only stopped because Michael set his hands on her shoulders. “Calm down.”

“I’m calm.” Noelle nodded a few times. “I’m completely relaxed and in control. This will work. I’ll be fine. No big deal. Mom and Dad handle it every year, right? And Holly will help.”

“So will I,” Michael said before he could think about the implication. “I’ll help however I can. We can do it together.”

“Together? What about your store?”

She blinked up at him. Her eyes had turned green with tiny pinpricks of gold, sucking him in like a whirlpool. He had the sudden urge to do something that would forever cross the boundary from friendship.

“I have a very capable manager, and we always get seasonal help,” he said.

Her head shook back and forth. “I appreciate the offer, but I can’t let you take on something like this. It’s my problem. I realize you think I’m your special project because of your brother, but you don’t need to keep saving me.”

Michael knew he should take the out she’d given him. His conscience wouldn’t let him, however. His newfound fascination with Noelle disturbed him, but there was no way he could leave her to deal with Christmas alone.

“I want to help,” he said. “Consider it my Christmas gift to you.”

“All right.” She bit her lip, and then a teasing grin appeared. “I’m not dumb enough to pass up your offer, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Duly noted. I won’t let you down.”

“I know. You never have before.”

A sudden attack of guilt rose to choke him. Michael stepped back, using the excuse of examining the train parts to put some distance between them. If only she knew the truth. Because, while part of him wanted to help a friend, a larger portion hoped saving Christmas for Noelle would erase his own role in sabotaging her marriage to his brother.

“I need three sheep and a donkey.” 

In any other town, with anyone else, the request for live animals might have been strange. For Noelle Robinson, it was one more clue that her life had derailed.

“When will you need them delivered?” George Arindale of Arindale Farms answered without hesitation and without any apparent worry about dealing with Noelle rather than her father.

“Monday afternoon. The parade is the next day,” Noelle said into the phone. “Just pray nothing disastrous happens, and the nativity is set up by then. Oh, and don’t forget the pen where the animals stay at night.”

“It’s a trailer these days,” Mr. Arindale said. “Just in case of rain or snow. They’ll be warm and happy in there. You’re responsible for feeding them. I won’t be able to make the trip into town every day for that.”

“Please tell me I don’t have to buy food,” Noelle said. “I have a feeling it’s more complicated than going to the grocery store.”

George chuckled. “No. I’ll deliver enough food every week.”

“Thank goodness.”

“Don’t worry, little girl. Everything will come together. You’ll see. You were taught by the best.”

Noelle hung up, but despite Mr. Arindale’s encouraging words, she couldn’t fight off a sense of impending doom. She’d never fully understood the enormity of the task her parents pulled off every year. Now she found herself sending minute-by-minute prayers that she’d make it through the first day.

“So I take it we have sheep and a donkey?” Holly asked as she emerged from the back with more Christmas inventory.

“We do, and you’re in charge of care and feeding,” Noelle said.

“I’ll send Drew over every night,” Holly said, volunteering her husband without hesitation.

“Way to delegate, Hol.”

The comment earned an I’m-the-big-sister glare. “Shouldn’t you be heading to the storage units for the exhibits?” Holly asked. “You’ll need to meet the trucks to coordinate the transport. Make sure to separate the parts for the nativity from Santa’s Village. If you don’t, you’ll never figure out which section goes where, and we’ll wind up with a giant candy cane as the star of Bethlehem.”

“Why aren’t you in charge of this walking disaster again?”

Holly sent another withering glance and traced a slow circle around her extended belly like she was a certain hostess of a game show displaying the word
pregnant
.

A despairing sigh escaped. “Oh sure, blame your overactive reproductive tendencies. As it happens, I’m leaving in a minute. I was just waiting for—” Noelle caught a flash of color out of the corner of her eye and angled her head to see through the window.

Michael Campbell was making his way across the street from Good Sport. Those deliciously molded jeans were back. So was the fizzy sensation in her belly. Noelle cursed the reaction. She’d hoped to feel nothing when she saw him again. Surely fear and a sleepless night had caused some wires to cross, setting off a train reaction inside her body.

She never should have accepted his offer to help. Especially not now when wild hormones had her wanting to investigate to see just how muscular Michael Campbell was underneath his down vest.

He lifted his head then, and their eyes met. The simmering awareness returned. Noelle’s mouth went dry, and her heart kicked into another gear. Why hadn’t she ever realized how blue Michael’s eyes were? She’d gone her entire life without noticing such an important detail.

A horrifying thought occurred. Did Michael sense her attraction? Had he felt the hormone surge the other night when he’d hugged her? Did he sense the crazy thoughts flinging through her mind now?

Please… don’t let him know.

A corner of his mouth kicked up, and he gave a quick, two-finger salute. Then he reached for the door.

Oh… she was in so much trouble.

A bell jingled, and everyone turned to see who their first visitor would be. The reaction to Michael Campbell’s appearance was mixed. Katie and Bethany barely lifted their heads. They were too busy squabbling over where to put the price sticker on a nutcracker. Jody offered a welcoming smile, although to Noelle’s mind, the come-hither glance was a shade
too
inviting. Jody was under age fifty and therefore not too old to appreciate a healthy, fit man in his prime.

Holly didn’t bother trying to be welcoming. “What are you doing here?” she demanded, suspicion lacing every word.

Noelle winced, hating the fact that the Robinsons, and most especially Holly, considered any male with the last name Campbell one step below a cockroach on the totem pole of filthy, disgusting creatures.

“Michael is going to help us out over Christmas,” Noelle said, trying to head off the storm of outrage gathering behind her sister’s eyes. “Since you’ll be tied up taking care of the kids and growing a new one, he agreed to step in.”

Judging by Holly’s narrow-eyed stare, she was not pleased with the explanation. “When did this happen?”

“Yesterday,” Noelle said, working to keep any trace of guilt… or desire… out of her voice. “He came by the store to check on me, and when I told him I’d be taking over the Christmas preparations, he offered to step in.”

“Right, but this was before. I was having trouble sleeping so I came in early to get started. I was having a thing, and then Michael appeared at the window—”