“From McCall,” he lied.
“Oh, that woman you dated a couple of years ago?”
He nodded, grateful she’d jumped to that conclusion.
“Your mother and I keep hoping you’ll get married,” she said with a pout.
“Maybe someday.” He tried to escape, but she was still holding his arm.
“Sparky said Lucky Caldwell stayed at the motel the same night you did. Did you know that?”
Mike couldn’t help shooting a glance at Josh, who shrugged imperceptibly—but if Aunt Cori knew he’d been with Lucky, he would’ve heard about it long before now. “Actually, I did. I gave her a ride into town. She was stranded out at the Victorian with no heat or water.”
“Oh, that’s right. Your mother called me that day.” She shook her head. “It’s too bad Lucky’s back. I thought that was behind us.”
“I think she’s out of town.” Mike kept his voice low. He didn’t want any other family members to hear Lucky’s name and jump into the conversation. He was afraid they might be able to make the connection his aunt had missed. With so few cabins at the motel, he figured it was patently obvious where he’d been and what he’d been doing, but that could’ve been because he had a guilty conscience. Certainly no one in his family would ever expect him to get involved with Lucky.
“Yeah, maybe she’s left town already,” Uncle Bunk piped up, overhearing their conversation despite Mike’s attempts to keep it quiet. “Seems no one’s seen her the past couple of days.”
Mike swallowed a groan as his mother joined in.
“Did someone say Lucky’s gone?”
The relief and hope in her voice irritated him. “She’s just out of town for Christmas,” he said.
“What makes you think she’s out of town?” Rebecca asked, coming to take her son, who was wide awake and demanding to be fed. Now pretty much everyone was listening.
“She has family in the Washington area.”
Rebecca settled baby Brian in her arms and threw a blanket over her shoulder to nurse. “How’d she get to the airport?”
Mike shoved his hands in his pockets in an effort to appear as uninterested as possible. “I guess she drove.”
“She couldn’t have. Her car’s parked behind the Victorian.”
Mike blinked at his sister-in-law as he tried to assimilate this information. “Her car’s where?”
“Behind the house. We saw it this morning when we went riding, didn’t we, Josh?”
Josh frowned, as if he’d rather not say.
“Josh?” Rebecca repeated.
He nodded grudgingly.
His mother shook her head. “I knew it was too good to be true.”
Mike tried to look indifferent but felt a scowl descend instead. “She probably had someone give her a ride,” he said, and Josh added a “Maybe.” But Mike was far from convinced. If someone had taken Lucky to the airport, why would she move her car around back, where there wasn’t even a driveway? If it snowed very heavily while she was gone, she’d return to find her Mustang buried.
She wouldn’t do that. The only reason she’d hide her car was to make people believe she’d left. She didn’t want anyone to know she’d be alone for Christmas.
ONCE HE KNEW Lucky was sitting in that big Victorian with the tree he’d given her and probably not much else, Mike grew agitated. She always pretended to be so tough, so unconcerned about her own needs. Why couldn’t she simply admit she had no plans so he could have—
What? he asked himself. Kept her company? He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t have anything to do with her.
Jamming a hand through his hair, he did his best to fade into the background of the celebration he was no longer enjoying. But, after another thirty minutes, he was damn near claustrophobic with all the relatives pressing in on every side.
Mumbling something about not feeling well, which was the only acceptable excuse he could come up with, he apologized for having to leave early and hurried to the door.
His mother intercepted him before he could reach it. “Mike, did I hear your father correctly? He said you’re sick. What’s wrong?”
Mike struggled to remove any revealing expressions from his face. “I think I’m coming down with something,” he muttered.
“But if you go home now, you’ll miss opening presents with us.”
“I’ll come back and open mine in the morning, if you want.”
Worry clouded her features, and she put a hand to his forehead. He hated it when she treated him as if he was still a little boy, but he was glad he’d tolerated her ministrations when she delivered the verdict that he did seem a bit warm.
“You don’t want to be sick for the rest of the holidays,” she said. “Go get some rest.”
Now that he had her blessing, he strode outside, trying to convince himself that he’d ignore the uncharacteristic emotions flowing through him and head straight to the ranch. But deep down he knew he wasn’t going home.
He was going to Lucky’s.
LUCKY WAS AWAKENED by a noise.
She held her breath, waiting to see if the sound would be repeated. A moment later, she heard a soft knock.
Someone was at her door. But who? Who would drop by her house on Christmas Eve at—she squinted to make out the numbers on her watch—nearly ten o’clock?
Whoever it was, she wouldn’t answer. She wasn’t supposed to be home, for one thing. And she was afraid Smalley might be back, bent on a little mischief after a few holiday beers.
Crouching low, she crawled over to sit with her back against the wall next to the door, where she couldn’t be seen if her visitor decided to circle the house and peek through the windows.
Whoever it is will go away.
Her palms began to sweat as she waited nervously, but her visitor didn’t leave. Another knock sounded, this one more insistent than the last, and a voice came through the door. “Lucky, it’s me, Mike.”
Lucky covered her mouth. She would have preferred Smalley! Why wasn’t Mike with his family? Had he come home early and spotted the Christmas tree lights? How had she been stupid enough to fall asleep with them on?
“I know you’re in there,” he said. “And I’m not leaving until I see you, so you might as well open up.”
Obviously it was no use pretending anymore. With a sigh, Lucky stood and unbolted the lock. She hated appearing pathetic, especially to Mike or his family, but there wasn’t any way to avoid looking pathetic tonight. How many other people spent Christmas alone? Probably not many, at least not in Dundee, and certainly no one in Mike’s big happy family.