A Soldier's Christmas (3 page)

Logan stood outside on the porch and
watched the thick flurries fall to the already covered ground. Nobody would be
going anywhere, at least, for a while. But as he watched, the cold started to
seep through his warm fleece and chill his body. Eventually his face felt
frozen and he knew it was time to head back inside. He had no idea how long
he’d stood out there, but the fresh air felt good, and it reminded him of Emma.
She loved the snow. Would she be out sledding, because he knew how much she
loved that? He’d love to go sledding with her. He couldn’t remember ever doing
that as a boy, and he certainly hadn’t gotten the opportunity as an adult.

Turning, he walked back into the B&B
and felt a blast of heat warm his body straightaway as he stamped his numb feet
against the mat in the entrance.

“Are you ready for breakfast?”

Logan focused on the voice and smiled. “I
think I am now. Thank you.”

Adele, the owner, turned and led him
through to the dining room.

Inside, he looked around the Christmas
themed dining room. The tables had been covered in red and white-checkered tablecloths.
A Christmas tree stood in one corner and was full of handmade decorations,
which hit him with a sense of nostalgia. When he was a young boy, every Christmas,
his mom would buy art supplies and they’d spend a few nights, after homework
was finished, making decorations for the tree.

“Would you like to sit over there?” Adele
offered, and he accepted by making his way to the chair.

Adele looked to be in her late fifties or
early sixties and he wondered if she’d ever been in law enforcement because her
interrogation when he’d checked in yesterday had been difficult to ignore.
She’d asked a lot of questions in a roundabout way, but, luckily, he’d been
able to ignore them. Something told him that he wasn’t going to be so lucky
over breakfast.

“Thank you.” He sat at the table next to
the tree and smiled when she poured him a large cup of coffee.

He was partial to the dark brew and was
used to drinking the thick sludge they served in the mess tent. As he drank the
strong coffee, he felt his insides begin to thaw out.

“No cream or sugar?” Adele raised a brow.

“No, ma’am.” He took another sip of the
steaming brew.

Adele’s face lit up. “Please say that
again.”

“Ma’am.”

Adele sighed.

“I could listen to you calling me that all
day. I bet that charm works with the ladies.” She put her hand to her chest and
fluttered her eyes, “If only I was ten years younger.”

“Try thirty, Mom.”

Logan chuckled as Adele’s son, Greg, came
up behind her.

She swatted at him. “I’ll go and bring your
breakfast out. Full American?” she questioned.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Oh.” She fanned herself on the way out of
the room.

Greg dropped into the chair opposite. “Do
you mind?”

Logan shook his head.

“Ignore my mom. She loves theatrics.” Greg
grinned.

“Was she ever in law enforcement?” Logan
couldn’t resist asking. His voice held a trace of amusement as he drank from
his cup of coffee.

Greg paused for a minute and roared with
laughter. “I take it she tried to get your life story when you checked in.”

“She did. She was good too.”

“I bet she was, and no, she’s never worked
in law enforcement. But she does spend all her spare time watching re-runs of
Murder She Wrote. She imagines everyone has something to hide.”

“Well, she’ll be disappointed to discover
that I’m boring.”

“Here you go.” Adele placed his breakfast
in front of him just as his stomach rumbled. “And a fine young man like
yourself isn’t boring. I’m sure there’s something that I can uncover.” She
winked, and walked away.

Logan shook his head at the spirit of the
woman, and started to eat his breakfast while Greg seemed happy enough to just
sit and keep him company.

Greg was around his own age, and, with his
over long blond hair and whisker-covered jaw, would probably be a hit with the
ladies. A wedding band was missing, but that didn’t mean anything with a guy,
although, if Logan were married, he’d be sure to wear his ring. He’d want the
world to know that he was married to the woman he loved.
Emma
.

“You married?”

Greg laughed. “More blunt than my mother,
she has a subtleness about her that catches most people unaware. And the answer
is no. Never. You?”

“Never.” But he hoped to be in the near
future.

“There
aren’t
that
many single girls around here. Usually when they get to a certain age, they
leave for college and don’t bother coming back.” He shrugged. “There is one
special lady, but she’s damn stubborn.”

“Aren’t all women stubborn?” Logan shoveled
the hash browns into his mouth, and savored the taste. They were delicious. In
fact, the breakfast was an experience, and it was obvious that whoever cooked
was proud of the food they made.

“They are, but this one is…well, she’s
giving me the run around.” Greg leaned in close. “We had a couple of nights
together and now she’s not interested. If you ask me, her mom has said
something to her. Her mom had a bad fall a while back and is still struggling
to get back on her feet, which is why Anna came home.”

“Have you asked her what’s going on?” Logan
asked, and wondered why he couldn’t keep his mouth shut instead of sounding
like a girl. Guys didn’t shoot that shit, right?

“I will. Let’s get back to you.” Greg
smirked, and Logan realized he caught him. He’d been avoiding talking about
himself. “A man who looks like he belongs in the military suddenly arrives in
town, and doesn’t know how long he’s planning on staying. I’m curious. I told
my mom to leave it alone, but I have you pegged. You are a soldier or recently out.”
He raised a questioning brow.

Logan nodded. “Current.”

“Hmm, so what are you doing in our small
town?”

Logan stayed silent.

“I’m guessing you don’t have family around
here because you’d be staying with them.”

“Correct.”

Greg chuckled. “I’ll find out. I always
do.”

“Not until I’m ready for anyone to know.”
Logan pushed his empty plate slightly away from him, and drained his cup of
coffee. “Thank you for keeping me company over breakfast.” He stood. “Tell your
mom that was the best cooked breakfast I’ve had, and I’ll see you around.”

He patted the guy on the shoulder on his
way past to let him know that he wasn’t offended by his questions.

He was impatient to start his day, and needed
to find a way of getting out to the farm where Emma lived.

Over breakfast, he’d been tempted to ask
Greg about the Kellers, but that would tip his hand as to why he was in town.
The last thing he needed was for word to get back to Emma that a soldier was in
town asking about her family before he’d had the chance to talk to her himself…if
he decided to approach her. He knew more than anyone did about her, except what
she really looked like or felt like to the touch.

The weather had let up some, but Logan had
been advised not to venture out in his truck until the main roads had finished
being cleared. Apparently, the locals didn’t listen to this advice because
there were people about, and some appeared to be doing last minute Christmas
shopping. One or two women that he’d watched while he drank more coffee had
come out of a couple of the stores with neatly wrapped presents under their
arms.

He wondered what Emma was doing with the
heavy snow, and whether she’d be in town or even in work, which gave him a
thought.

If he couldn’t drive out and find where
Emma lived, he could walk around town and check out Elizabeth’s Emporium. He
didn’t need to go inside, but nothing was stopping him from checking it out,
and if he caught sight of Emma, then so be it.

His heart thumped in his chest at the
thought that he might get to see Emma, even if it was from a distance.

With his mind made up, he drained the cup
of lukewarm coffee and grabbed his jacket from the stand at the entrance near
the door. Cabin fever was about to end as he stepped onto the porch and looked
around before he stepped into the snow.

The B&B was only a few minutes walk to
Elizabeth’s Emporium, and, although the brisk walk warmed him, his feet started
to drag, the cold nipping at his exposed skin and his thoughts, as he
approached the store.

The spirit of Christmas was strong at the
store. There wasn’t a window free of decorations, or Christmas lights. A
Christmas tree was decorated to the side of the entrance and the lights
twinkled against the green background.

“You coming or going?”

He looked around and realized he blocked
the entrance of the store while he stood looking at the tree.

“I’m sorry.” He backed out of the way. “I’m
just admiring.”

“Hmm.” The woman in question ignored him and
disappeared through the doors, a frown marring her lips—she seemed to
need some Christmas spirit herself.

A heavy sigh followed while he stepped
further away and watched through the window, and that’s when his heart stopped
beating for a few seconds.
Emma
. Her
lovely hair was pulled into a band at the back of her head, and her trim figure
was encased in jeans and one of the ugliest sweaters he’d ever seen—a
jarring mixture of red and green knit that had white reindeer jumping all over
it amongst oversized knitted snowflakes. The sweater made him smile but the
sight of her made his fingers itch as he ached to touch her. She had purple,
knee-high snow boots on her feet and she looked so damn comfortable that he was
tempted to walk in and tell her who he was.

“Emma Keller.”

The voice startled him, but he smiled when
he met the woman’s gaze. “Hello, Betty.”

“You can’t take your eyes from her,” the
old woman from the night before said with a twinkle in her eyes. “She’s single...if
you were wondering.” She winked, and carried on along the sidewalk.

Well, that’d been easy. Finding out if she
was single had seemed like a monumental feat but he’d needed to know before he
showed up on Emma’s doorstep. It was good to know that he wouldn’t be screwing
her life up by his unexpected arrival.

His fingers itched to touch her. His heart
ached to talk to her.
He shook his head
,
he wasn’t ready yet
. He needed it to be perfect and he’d
waited this long, so a little bit longer wouldn’t hurt him. It might give him
another rough night with thoughts of her waking him, but he could wait.

He glanced through the window again and
found that he couldn’t look away or move. She had him captivated, and his body
hummed with pleasure at how close she was to him.

One more night, and he’d find a way to her,
even if it killed him.

Once Emma discovered that Travis, her
brother, was about to head into town for a few hours, she’d grabbed it as a
lifeline and hitched a ride with him. She didn’t think Elizabeth would mind her
being underfoot for a while until Travis was on his way home.

She’d needed to escape the house once she’d
written in her diary to express her feelings about missing Logan. One thing she
couldn’t understand was why her family was so against her communicating with
him in the first place. Well, okay, she got that she’d dated Seth at the time
when they’d first started corresponding, but it had been over twelve months
since that had dwindled into nothing when Seth left town. So why continue to be
unsupportive?

Perhaps she needed to listen to her mom for
a change and pull herself together instead of constantly having a cloud of
heartache following her. Easier said than done, though.

As she bent at one of the tables in the
coffee section, Emma felt a chill race along her arms. It wasn’t unpleasant,
and the goose bumps that were left in its wake made her glance around the
store. Her gaze landed on the front window as she caught the back of a man as
he left the sidewalk.

Strange
.

Elizabeth nudged her hip with her own.
“Okay, you need to talk.” Elizabeth followed her to the counter and waited patiently
while Emma took her time with the dirty pots and the display. “You’ve acted odd
for a while now, but today it’s...I don’t know really, but I guess it’s more
noticeable. It’s as though you can’t be bothered with Christmas, and that isn’t
like you at all.”

Elizabeth knew her well. In fact, Elizabeth
had known her since she was a teenager, and she used to come inside the store
with Bree. She could talk to Elizabeth, at least, she’d never had trouble talking
with her before, but now she found it difficult.

“Emma, honey. You know I don’t spread
gossip like the others in town, but please know that I’m here for you if you
need to talk.”

Emma nodded, not trusting her voice. She
could feel tears burning her eyes but she didn’t let them fall.

Elizabeth squeezed her hand before she went
off to see if anyone else needed help, leaving Emma with her mind still on
Logan.

He held her heart, and she needed to do
something to find him instead of feeling sorry for
herself
.
So that’s what she’d do. She would head to North Carolina after the holidays,
and find out about her man.

Everything had been affected because of her
sorrow: her writing, her relationship with her mom, and even working in town.
Her mind was constantly elsewhere instead of on the present.

She took in a steady breath and marveled at
the calm flowing through her. It was definitely the best plan—to find
Logan—and her spirits were starting to pick up. All she had to do was get
through Christmas and keep everything to herself. There was no way she’d allow
her mom, or the rest of her family, to talk her out of her brilliant idea.

“That’s a beautiful smile.”

Emma pulled herself back into the present
and stared at Betty. Matchmaker Betty was what everyone called her, and she
relished the title.

“Thank you, Betty. I’ve just made my mind
up about something so my smile is warranted.”

“Hmm.”

Betty crossed her arms and looked her over.
Emma was used to this, and couldn’t keep the amusement off her face.

“There was a man outside.” Betty smirked
when Emma’s gaze flickered to the window. The same window that she’d looked
through when she’d gotten the goose bumps. “He was
mesmerized
with you,” she added, and looked rather smug about it.
“He was cute as well. Far too young for me.” She chuckled.

Emma smiled. “I’m sure he was just passing
by.” Even as the words left her mouth she wondered about him and whether or not
he was the reason that she’d reacted not too long ago.

“You need a nice young man, Emma. Someone
to tangle in the sheets with.”

“What?” Emma choked in surprise, heat
rushing to her cheeks.

“I might be old, but I was young once.”
Betty had a dreamy look across her face. “You haven’t smiled for a while now. I
think you should go visit with Adele and try to catch sight of the handsome
young man who’d disappeared in that direction. Maybe he could put a smile on
your face”

Emma smiled softly. “I’m sure he was
handsome, but I’m fine, Betty.” Emma bent and kissed Betty’s cheek. “I really
am...now you have a lovely Christmas.” Emma quickly walked away before Betty
had her agreeing to go and find the ‘handsome young man’.