Tasha's Christmas Wish (9781460341315) Read online

His eyes traveled down to Tasha as the golden glow of the porch light washed over her. “Hey, good to see you.”

  She motioned to his snow pants. “Looks like you’re right in the middle of something. I won’t stay long. I just came to get the photos. I’m having a little trouble getting a good read on the Heather doll, so the pictures should help.”

  She seemed to be in a hurry. Dinner was probably Grace’s idea. Tasha might not know anything about it. “Yeah, I’m headed out to go sledding with the kids. I can run and get those photos real quick.” He turned and his sister was standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

  “Dinner will take at least an hour. Why don’t you go sledding with Philip and the kids and have a nice meal with us.” He noticed that Grace deliberately didn’t look at him.

  Tasha glanced at her khaki pants. “But I’m not dressed—”

  Grace stopped her midsentence by pulling snow pants and ski gloves off a coat rack in the entryway and placing them in Tasha’s hands. “Now you’re dressed. They might be a little big on you. They’re mine.”

  She cast a nervous glance toward Philip. “Grace, I really had just intended to—”

  “I insist. Go have some fun. I’ll call you in when dinner is ready.”

  “I don’t know if I’ll be able to stay for dinner.”

  Grace raised an eyebrow. “That’s no problem. Go sledding and we’ll see after that.”

  She glanced again at Philip, who shrugged his shoulders. “Big Sis says how it’s going to be around here.”

  Normally, it bugged him when his sister tried to fix his life, but this time he was grateful that she’d pushed a little. The thought of Tasha’s not staying would have made the evening less bright.

  Tasha stared down at the ski jacket. “I haven’t been sledding since I was a teenager. I used to love it, though.” Tasha seemed to be figuring out that any protest would be highly ineffective against Grace and her plans. So much for just dropping by to pick up the photos.

  “Good. It’s settled, then.” Grace pivoted and returned to the kitchen.

  Tasha stepped into the snow pants. Philip caught her arm when she wobbled while standing on one leg. She zipped up the snow pants. After discarding her own thin knitted mittens, she slipped the ski gloves on.

  Philip put on his own gloves. “Thanks for being such a good sport.”

  “I don’t mind. I think I’m due for a little fun anyway.”

  Philip peered in at Grace as she chopped vegetables and sang to Shawn, who sat in his high chair. Shawn amused himself by smearing banana on his tray. The aroma of garlic floated into the hallway. A round layer cake with chocolate frosting rested on the counter. His sister had outdone herself.

  “Just got to get these carrots cooked.” Grace stopped chopping and smiled at them. “You’re going to love this meal.”

  They headed toward the door.

  “I wasn’t planning on staying for dinner,” Tasha protested.

  “Well, you make a plan and my sister makes a plan. Guess who wins.”

  Tasha laughed.

  Crisp evening air settled on his cheeks when they stepped outside. Laughter and yelling directed them to a snow hill about a hundred yards behind the house. Moonlight gave the snow a cool blue overtone. They walked past a garden shed, their feet crunching in the snow.

  A sled with two people on it swooped down the hill. Mary stood at the top of the hill, cheering. In a spray of snow, the sled came to a stop. Both people, a short one and a tall one, got up and shook the snow off. Travis, the tall one, wiped the snow off his sister’s back with his gloved hand.

  Philip and Tasha trudged toward the kids.

  Philip glanced in her direction. “This will be fun, I promise.” Enjoying the moment, he winked at her. “Are you feeling adventurous?”

  She lifted her head and placed her hands on her hips. “I used to be able to sled with the best of ’em.”

  A cry of “Look out below” started at the top of the hill and grew closer. Tasha glanced up the hill as the sled angled straight toward her, but she didn’t move.

  “Watch out.” Philip shouted as he pushed Tasha clear of the sled. They fell into the snow. The landing was soft, like falling in a pile of pillows with a firm mattress underneath.

  Tasha laughed. “Thanks for the gallant rescue, Sir Philip.”

  Philip stood up on his knees and brushed snow off his own legs. “I did the best I could on short notice.”

  Mary’s face, surrounded by a fur-trimmed hood, came into view. “Are you making a snow angel?”

  Tasha lifted her head and looked around. “I hadn’t thought about it, but since I’m down here I might as well.”

  Mary plunged into the snow beside her. “I’ll make one, too.”

  Tasha plowed the snow with her arms and legs and Mary laughed. Philip took in a deep breath, filling his lungs with cool, fresh air.

  Damaris and Travis grabbed a sled and headed back up the hill. The swishing noise of their snow pants grew fainter.

  Philip stood with his hands on his hips, listening to the laughter. The hat he wore had jingle bells on the end that made noise every time he moved his head.

  Tasha sat up and pointed at the hat. “Hardly dignified doctor attire.”

  He loved the warm tone of her voice. “Says the clothing designer who wears bunny slippers. Anyway, everybody has to have some fun.”

  “All done,” said Mary. “Help me up, Daddy.”

  Philip walked the few feet through the snow and held out his hand for Mary. He turned toward Tasha. “Are you finished, too?”

  She nodded, and he held out his other hand to her.

  “The secret,” said Mary, using the tone of a teacher instructing a class, “is not to get your foot-or handprints on the angels. That makes them turn out nice.”

  “Good advice, Mary,” Tasha said as Philip wrapped his hand around hers. “Heave-ho.” Philip pulled the girl and the woman up in a single motion. Tasha stood on her feet, her face very close to Philip’s. Her lips turned up into a smile. He felt an electric charge that shot down to his toes.

  “Thanks for the help,” whispered Tasha. Stepping back, she pounded her gloves together to get the snow off them.

  Mary jumped up and down, clapping her hands. “The angels are perfect, just perfect.”

  Still wobbling a bit from the moment that had passed between him and Tasha, Philip turned to look at their handiwork.

  “They do look very good, Mary,” Tasha said. She squeezed the little girl’s shoulder. Mary leaned against her.

  Philip stood back, loving the connection that was beginning to be forged between Tasha and his daughter.

  Philip leaned over and picked up a sled. “Come on, ladies. Let’s go for a run.”

  They headed up the hill just as Travis and Damaris swept past them, screaming and sending snow flying around their sled.

  As Tasha ran up the hill, Mary reached out and grabbed her hand. Philip felt a tug at his heart. Except for Grace, he hadn’t seen Mary express affection for another woman since Heather’s death. Philip ran to catch up with them.

  At the top of the hill, Philip tossed the sled on the ground and sat on the back.

  “Mary, you sit toward the front. Tasha, you sit in the middle.”

  Mary jumped on the front of the sled and Tasha squeezed in between them, holding on tightly to Mary. Philip stuck his legs straight in front of him so his feet could rest on the steering bar. His arms slipped casually around Tasha’s waist.

  “I’ll push you off, Uncle Phil.” Travis had come up behind them, holding the other sled. Damaris was still making her way up the hill, her feet turned sideways like a duck to get better traction.

  The sled lurched forward. They skimmed over the snow’s glassy trail, made smooth by repea
ted sled runs. All three of them screamed as they caught air going over a series of bumps. Each time they landed with a hard thud, Tasha laughed. Philip held on to her, enjoying the closeness. The sled picked up speed on the steep downward slant. Air rushed past his arms and neck as he steered them on the smoothest path.

  The sled slid past the end of the trail. A temporary wall of snow shot up around them. Snow sprinkled his cheeks and neck. He shivered and laughed at the same time.

  They glided to a stop as the ground leveled.

  Mary jumped off the sled. Snow covered her from head to foot. Only her brightly colored fleece hat was visible. She swiped flakes away from her eyes. “That was fun.” She shook the rest of the snow off like a dog getting out of the river. “Let’s do it again.”

  “Like father, like daughter,” said Tasha. “You both have an adventurous streak in you.”

  “Only if we haven’t scared Tasha out of her wits.” Philip touched her shoulder.

  “I’m sure I’ll recover, but I want the middle spot again.” She brushed snow off Philip’s jacket. “I stayed drier than both of you.” He caught her hand momentarily in his own and then let it go. Again, his heart rate accelerated.

  Philip heard a thud as snow exploded around his back. He looked up the hill to see Damaris gathering a snowball into her hands and Travis with his arm back, preparing to lob another one at Philip.

  “You want to fight, do ya?” Philip raced up the hill, leaning to scoop snow in his hand on his way. Damaris and Travis got off two good shots before he threw his first snowball, hitting Travis in the back.

  Travis shrieked. “I’ll get you for that, Uncle Phil.”

  Tasha grabbed Mary’s hand. “We’d better help him out.”

  Mary stepped back and screamed, “No way. Kids against the adults!” Mary shouted up the hill at her cousins as she ran to them, “Kids against the adults, guys.”

  She picked up a pile of snow and tossed it in Tasha’s direction. Tasha stepped aside and bent over to get her own ammunition. A snowball hit her back. The two girls giggled as they pelted her several more times before she could fire off her first shot. Another snowball, thrown by Travis, splattered against her hip.

  “Philip, help me. I’m being attacked by munchkins.” Tasha held a hand up by her face to shield herself from an incoming snowball.

  Philip stalked up behind Travis and hit him squarely in the back with a snowball.

  Ten minutes later, Tasha lay down in the snow by Mary.

  Water from a melting snowball thrown at his neck drizzled down Philip’s back. He shivered slightly, but still felt warm.

  Philip collapsed in the snow beside Tasha. Damaris and Travis followed suit.

  Philip gazed at the night sky. A million stars twinkled back at him, one brighter than all the others. The three-quarter moon glowed pure white with only a slight gray marbling.

  Mary lay in between Philip and Tasha. The cousins rested not too far from them. The only sound was their heavy breathing.

  Tasha tried to catch her breath. “This is why I moved out to the country.”

  Philip chuckled. “You mean you’d get arrested if you had a snowball fight like that in the city?”

  Tasha hit his shoulder playfully. “No, I mean that I never noticed how clear and beautiful the sky was until I moved back to Big Sky country.” After pausing for a moment, she laughed. “And I probably would be arrested for being drunk and disorderly if someone saw me lying in the snow staring at the sky in the city.”

  “This is the same sky Mary and Joseph saw when they were going to Bethlehem.” Travis’s voice floated on the cool evening air.

  No one said anything.

  “You’re right about that, Travis,” Tasha whispered.

  Grace’s voice sounded faint in the distance. “Time for supper.”

  Philip pulled himself to his feet and along with everyone else brushed the snow off. The sound of nylon gloves against nylon snowsuits created a sort of rhythm, like a song played only with percussion instruments. The kids bolted ahead with cries of “I’m starving,” leaving Tasha and Philip to gather up the sleds.

  “Thanks for the snowball fight,” Philip commented as they walked side by side. “Most women would have been worried about breaking a nail or getting hat hair.”

  “No problem there. My nails are all broken off from the work I do. And my hair...well, let’s not go there.” They trudged through the snow, the sleds dragging behind. Enjoying the moment he had alone with her, Philip was reluctant to return to the house. He slowed his walk.

  He stopped and looked right at her. He drew his eyebrows together. “You’ve got a snowball hanging from your hair.”

  Her laugh came out in a sputter. “Do I?”

  They stood in the glow of the porch light. Removing his glove, he reached up and touched her hair. He looked to the side rather than meeting her gaze. He tugged on her hair gently.

  He held up a tiny snowball, turning it in the light. “See there.” He gazed directly at her. The brightness of her eyes, the slight upturn of her mouth drew him in.

  “You have a soft touch,” she whispered.

  In that moment, he thought he might kiss her. All these emotions rushed at him like a freight train. He needed to slow things down and sort through his feelings before he did something impulsive. He took a step back. He held his hands up. “Doctor’s hands.”

  She took on a tone of mock seriousness. “And what are my chances of recovery, doctor?”

  “If you take it easy and don’t get into snowball fights, you have a fifty-fifty chance of having dry hair again.”

  She put her hand up to her forehead melodramatically. “Oh, Doctor, if only that child hadn’t thrown the fatal snowball.”

  “Uh-oh. Is that soap-opera music I hear? We’d better get inside.” Philip tilted his head in the direction of the door, but neither of them moved. She looked at him with an intensity that made his knees wobbly. Her auburn hair framed her face perfectly. He swallowed hard, but could not bring himself to look away from her.

  A voice from the door shattered the moment. “We’re going to say the blessing without you if you don’t hurry up.” Damaris stood in the doorway barefoot, crossing her arms and bouncing to fend off the cold.

  “Sounds like a threat. We’d better get inside,” Tasha said.

  Philip followed behind her, still not able to fully process all that had passed between them.

  Chapter 8

  Tasha was grateful for the interruption because she feared that if they had been alone any longer, he would have kissed her and she would have kissed him back. And that would have made her life way more complicated than it needed to be.

  There were a thousand reasons not to fall for Philip. He lived in the city and she didn’t. He was still dealing with his wife’s death and she had a business to establish; she didn’t need the distraction of a romance right now. A thousand reasons.

  But still, when she walked into the entryway, she could feel his gaze from behind even without looking. His attentiveness made her dizzy. The sound of children talking and silverware clinking against glass spilled out from the kitchen as Tasha and Philip removed their snow gear. Tasha hung the borrowed snow pants on a hook and almost jumped when Philip put his lips close to her ear.

  “I’ll give you the photos later, when we can get a moment away from Mary,” he whispered, and then held his finger to his lips. He raised his eyebrows in a “keep a secret” signal.

  Tasha nodded. Her ear still felt hot where his breath had touched. She was making dolls for his daughter—that was her relationship to him. That was what she told herself all during dinner while she sneaked glances at his handsome profile. He had a straight nose and an easy smile. His light brown hair fell gently around his face with no hint that it had been styled, mousse
d or gelled in any way. He looked more like a craftsman, like a carpenter or an electrician, than a doctor. In his dress, his demeanor and his looks there was nothing pompous about Philip. He had none of the “I know more than you” arrogance of other doctors she’d met.

  After dinner, the family gathered in the living room. Grace held Shawn while Philip and Travis played checkers. Tasha slipped off the couch and sat on the floor beside Mary and Damaris.

  “Can I play fashion dolls, too?” Tasha scooted closer to the girls. “I love to dress up dolls.”

  The two girls were surrounded by piles of doll clothes and a plastic van.

  Mary looked over at Damaris as she smoothed a doll’s wild hair. “I guess you could play.”

  Damaris didn’t look up as she clipped a pair of mismatched shoes onto a doll. “She can be the dark-haired doll.”

  “What’s her name?” Tasha cupped the doll in her hand and held it close to her face.

  “Crown me, Uncle Phil.” Travis spoke a little too loudly.

  Tasha glanced up as color rose in Philip’s cheeks. He’d been paying attention to her instead of the game.

  “Oh, sorry.” Philip glanced back at the board. “Looks as though you got me beat, Travis.”

  Both girls stopped their busywork and stared at Tasha. Damaris’s jaw dropped slightly. “Her name is Marie.”

  “Can I put a pretty dress on her?” Tasha asked.

  The girls moved a little closer to Tasha.

  Damaris picked up a pile of doll clothes and sat them in front of Tasha. Tasha selected a shiny purple dress with gold trim.

  Grace looked up from the book she was reading to Shawn. “The girls are just not used to having an adult who remembers how to play with dolls.”

  Tasha pulled the dress over the doll’s torso and smoothed out the skirt of the gown. “Playing with dolls is my favorite thing.”

  Philip stopped picking up checkers and watched as the girls offered Tasha advice on how to accessorize the dressed doll.

  “Here, you can have the pink purse.” Damaris handed Tasha an inch-long plastic square with a handle.