golden retriever, shot out of the house in a tangle of legs and excitement. Her father yanked open the passenger door and, slithering to the ground in her too-big borrowed boots, Ava found herself wrapped in a bear hug which took her breath away.
“Your mother’s had me up since dawn and just about driven me mad with her pacing back and forth,” he said. “And now that you’re here, she’s crying her eyes out. I tell you, Ava, I’ll never understand what makes a woman tick.”
“Oh, hush up, you big softie,” her mother sobbed happily, wading between him and Jason’s thrashing tail and reaching for Ava. “Who was so impatient to see his little girl again that he was ready to strap on skis and piggyback her home last night, so that she could sleep in her own bed instead of a stranger’s house? Come here, darling, and give your mom a kiss. It’s wonderful to have you home again.”
Her mother smelled of cinnamon and mincemeat and almond paste—lovely nostalgic reminders of Christmases past, when life had been full of simple, innocent pleasures, and affection freely expressed. That this year’s was clouded with guilt and secrets when it should have been the most joyful of all, filled Ava with a regret so intense that she, too, started to cry.
“This is supposed to be a happy time,” Leo reminded her, with pointed emphasis.
“That’s why they’re both in tears.” Blithely unaware of the hidden undercurrents swarming through the cold air, her father gave Leo one of those man-to-man slaps on the back meant to convey masculine amusement at the vagaries of women. “They cry when they’re sad, when they’re happy and when they’re mad. And just for good measure, they cry when they get married, so better get used to the sight, Leo, because from what I hear, you’ll be learning that firsthand before much longer. Here, let me give you a hand with that luggage, then come on in and join us for morning coffee.”
The mere idea of Leo Ferrante cosying up for a visit under her parents’ roof was enough to dry Ava’s tears on the spot. “He can’t possibly!”
“Why not?” her father said. “It’s the least we can do, to thank him for meeting your flight—and for taking such good care of you last night.”
Oh, if he only knew the direction that care had taken!
“Thanks,” Leo said easily, running a hand over his jaw, “but although coffee sounds good, a shower and shave sound even better.”
He looked, Ava thought, as eager to be gone as she was to be rid of him. “We absolutely understand,” she said, with what she feared must seem like insulting relief. “Goodbye, and thank you for…everything.”
He leveled a satirical blue gaze her way. “Glad I could help.”
Help? Averting her eyes, she bent to fondle Jason’s silky ears. Ye gods, things had been bad enough to begin with. How much worse they’d become was something only she and Leo would ever fully understand, and she didn’t appreciate his pitiful attempt to turn the situation into a joke!
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