A Very Daring Christmas (The Tavonesi Series Book 8) (31 page)

Jake put an arm between them. “Back off, buddy.”

The man stepped away. The muscles around his eyes twitched. He folded his hands in front of him in an almost prayer-like gesture.

“I was sent in here to ask you a favor, Miss Kelley.”

“She’s not in any shape for favors.”

“It’s for the kids.”

Cameron put out her hand and waved Jake back. “What is it?”

“We—the staff—were hoping that you might come in on Christmas Day and help us distribute presents to the kids in the pediatric surgery ward. It wouldn’t take long. And it would mean so much. The kids loved the voiceovers you did for
Jungle Tales
. Some of these kids don’t have family close enough to visit.”

The private-duty nurse came in, scowling. “Both of you, out.”

Cameron reached for the staffer’s arm. “What time?”

“Noon or shortly after.” The man in scrubs cast her a smile. “Thank you.”

“Out,” the nurse repeated in a near bark. The staffer scooted out the door as the nurse wedged herself between Cameron’s bed and Jake. “You too, Mr. Ryder.”

“Night, Cameron.” He looked at the nurse. “Night, Nurse”—he peered at her name tag—“Beatrice.”

Beatrice crossed her arms and watched him go. Then she turned a tight-lipped smile to Cameron. “That one? He spent fifteen minutes in the children’s ward before coming in here. Doing magic tricks. It’ll take the staff
hours
to calm them down enough to sleep.”

Cameron blinked slowly, then blinked again.

Well, didn’t that just take the cake.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sabrina tossed Cameron’s bag onto the bed in the guest room. “I thought we’d never get you out of that hospital.”

“I think it helped that your mother is one of their biggest donors,” Cameron said as she sat on the edge of the bed. A brightly wrapped package was nestled among the pillows. She picked it up with her uninjured hand and read the tag.

“You shouldn’t have,” she said to Sabrina. “I don’t have a present for you. I meant to go into town yesterday and—”

“I don’t need a thing. But you need that. Open it.”

Cameron struggled with the bow.

“Let me help.” Sabrina made quick work of the ribbon and the paper.

Cameron lifted an exquisite gold scarf out of the tissue paper.

“To make a stylish sling to cover your cast. You did say you were wearing a gold dress tonight? You’ll look your gorgeous best.”

Tears stung Cameron’s eyes. If she could’ve requested the perfect sister, she would’ve asked for Sabrina.

“I’ve put everyone to so much trouble. I’m so sorry.”

Sabrina joined Cameron on the bed and slipped her arm around her shoulders. “Hey, making you happy is one of the great joys of my life. Besides, we Oscar survivors have to stick together.”

Cameron’s laugh made her bruised ribs shudder with pain. She tried to cover her grimace with a quick smile. She wasn’t much in the mood for a party. But the Tavonesis liked to celebrate in high style. The last thing she wanted was to put a damper on their evening. Especially since it was Christmas Eve.

She fingered the scarf. The weave was so fine it felt like liquid gold against her skin. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

Sabrina released Cameron and stood. “I’ll be back to help you dress. You can relax up here in peace until then. I asked Spencer to have a tray sent up for you.” She bent down and kissed Cameron on the cheek. “Mother has invited half of Sonoma. Jackie will be back from her emergency at the rescue center in about an hour, and Pippa and Amber are already here. It’ll be a bit of a madhouse. But, unfortunately, Kaz’s plane has been delayed. “

“I’m so sorry. I know you miss him.”

“He’ll be here tomorrow. Best Christmas present I could ask for.” She nodded to Cameron’s cast. “If you decide you’re not up for so many people—for a party—we’ll just have a glass of champagne here in the room and call it a night.”

“I want to come down. At least for a while.”

“Then I’ll be back around seven.” Sabrina’s lips tilted into a smile. “In the meantime, rest that busy brain of yours. I can feel the wheels churning.”

Cameron took Sabrina’s hand in hers. “I think that’s what therapists call projection.”

Sabrina laughed. “Takes one madwoman to know another. But I mean it. See if you can rest for a while.”

“How’s Dylan doing?”

“See? Worrying is
not
what the doctor ordered. He’s fine. Cory set up a pool tournament in the game room and is teaching the kids all his tricks. Jake’s down there too,” she added with a sly grin. “He’s fine too. But he’ll be better when he sees you. It was all Alex could do to keep him busy today and not climbing the walls when I went to spring you from the hospital.”

After Sabrina left, the sounds of arriving guests and the preparations for the party drifted up from below. Cameron opened the door to the balcony and stared out at the post-twilight darkness hugging the hills beyond the vineyard. Sabrina had been right—her thoughts were racing.

Had it only been a couple of months since she’d met Jake in Dominia? Knowing him had made her ferret out and renounce at least one lie she’d told herself. She
did
want a man in her life. She wanted a partner, a husband, a father for her children. She wanted committed love and a real family, and she was willing to work for it, change her life if she had to.

And she had to take hold of what power she had, while she had it, and wield it for the people of the bateyes and for the countless others who would benefit from similar projects. Everybody deserved clean water. Every living being, human or otherwise.

She couldn’t dig wells or purify the water, but she had a name and she had clout.

She found her cellphone on the dresser where she’d left it to charge and called her agent.

The sounds of people in the background told Cameron that Roberta wasn’t alone.

Might as well cut to the chase. “I need you to set up every single interview you can between now and the end of January,” Cameron said, trying to keep her voice steady. “Radio, TV, tabloids, I’ll do them all.”

“It’s Christmas Eve, Cameron.”

“Okay, wait till tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow is Christmas, honey. Are you okay?”

“Better than okay.”

“I’ll get on it right after the holidays. But, Cameron, are you sure you’re up for all this exposure?”

“Either I control my public face or someone else will. Better it’s me.”

“I like your spirit.”

“Merry Christmas, Roberta.”

“You too, honey. You deserve it.”

She didn’t deserve anything more than anyone else, but after she clicked off her phone, she felt better than she had for a very long time. She might be an actress, but in her heart she was a campaigner. And she was tired of waiting for the right conditions, the perfect conditions. Life rolled on, and she wasn’t going to let the waves just pass her by. She’d do what she could. It would have to be enough.

Her arm throbbed. She tipped a pain pill out of the orange plastic bottle, stared at it in her palm. Then she remembered what Jake had said about staying ahead of pain. Her heart clenched as his image rose in her mind. Jake was wrong about one thing. Some pain you couldn’t get in front of no matter how hard you tried to avoid it. Like the pain that came from loving someone out of reach.

She put the pill back in the bottle. She’d need a clear mind for what was ahead. Especially since her heart was speaking so darn loudly and trying to crowd out her thoughts. Jake Ryder might not be ready for what she had to say, but that didn’t mean she would back down. She made a vow. Tonight or tomorrow she’d tell the truth that had bloomed in her with a force that wouldn’t be constrained. She loved him, and she intended to tell him that she did. And while she hadn’t dared to let herself believe that he might love her back, still it was a dare she had to step into or she’d never know.

A knock sounded at her door, making her heart skip a beat. She wasn’t yet ready to face Jake. Relief flooded her when Dylan came in and asked if she’d help him with his bow tie and go downstairs with him. He slid his hand into hers. He too was walking into a world he’d never known before. She imagined the hope and tenuousness shining in his face was mirrored in her own.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jake tucked another package under the towering Christmas tree. He’d spent most of the afternoon trying to decide on the perfect gift for Cameron. At least the torment of shopping had taken his mind off waiting for Sabrina to bring her home from the hospital. The sight of Cameron in the hospital bed the previous night had shocked a few things home.

“Never thought I’d see you playing Santa.” Alana’s voice came from behind him.

“I’m told surprises are the spice of life,” he said as he hugged Alex’s high-spirited cousin.

“Then you must be one very spicy guy right about now.”

“The news got around, did it?”

“You mean Dylan? Or the escapade on the trail that landed my friend in the hospital?”

“Just the tip of the iceberg.”

“I thought as much.” She dropped down into one of the comfortable chairs that had been placed around the tree. “The tree’s beautiful. I hear you had a hand in choosing it. And judging the cookie contest.”

God, so much had happened in such a compressed time. He was beginning to believe the quantum theorists and their hypothesis that time and space weren’t real.

“Nope, no judging. Tyler and I were on the contestant side of things, if you recall.”

Alana leaned her elbows on her knees. Her hair fell in soft waves against her creamy skin and framed sparkling eyes. He hadn’t met all the Tavonesi cousins, but those he had met were gorgeous.

“Jake, I know what it’s like to inherit a kid.”

“Pardon me?”

“I said, I know what it’s like to inherit a kid. Could be the greatest gift of your life. Has been for mine.”

“Maybe you’re more cut out for parenthood than I am.”

“No one’s cut out for parenthood. You find your way as you go along. You’ll do fine.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’ll give you my tip book.”

“I haven’t decided.”

“Oh, I think you have.” She tapped her head, the bracelets circling her wrists sparkling in the reflected light from the tree. “It takes a while for the brain to catch up with the heart. Kind of like the Lorax.”

His brain was so scrambled by darting messages that he wasn’t in any shape to field Alana’s words of wisdom. Or their implications. “Have you seen Cameron?”

“Sabrina has her on house quarantine. We’re not to disturb her until she comes downstairs.”

Alana crossed to the tree and adjusted a red velvet bow on one of the lower branches. It had looked just fine to Jake, but Alana had the eye of an artist. He squinted at the tree, blurring the lights into a blaze of white.

“Apparently Dimitri has his hands full,” she said as she turned an unreadable smile to Jake. “Poor dear is not only extremely eligible, but he just got the news that he’s in need of an heir and fast. His father abdicated the throne today.”

“People do those things?”

Alana laughed. “Kings do.” Her smile faded. “It’s too bad. Dimitri never wanted to be king. He’d much rather farm grapes in France and be left to his horses and airplanes. But duty calls. His country is sitting on the largest natural-gas resource in southern Europe. Can’t let that turn into chaos.”

Jake watched her as she pivoted and walked through the room and exited through the arched door at the other end. Was he hallucinating, or did she leave a trail of light in her wake?

Her words had certainly left a trail, one of dawning clarity. In a flash, Jake saw how his prejudices had blocked him from seeing the man. Dimitri wasn’t the carefree guy he pretended to be. He might not be right for Dylan, but he’d be perfect for Cameron. He needed an heir, a family. He was from the same glitzy fast-track world she was from. And if the Tavonesi clan liked him, he must be a good guy.

But the one thing Jake couldn’t let go of, the deep truth he had to cop to, was that Cameron made
him
want to be a better man, to make changes, to go beyond his limitations. Hell, to clearly see the roadblocks he’d set up in the first place. Worse, she challenged him to be the force of good that she’d made him believe he could be.

Harder for him to admit was that she’d made him believe in love. But unlike the man in the tales his grandmother used to tell, the man who’d once fallen in love with a selkie, he wasn’t about to coax Cameron into giving up the life she wanted—the life she’d dreamed of—to follow him into a life that wouldn’t suit her.

But damned if he didn’t want to do just that—to win her, to have her in his life, to live with her spunky challenges and the spirit that was nearly driving him mad.

He made his way into the foyer and grabbed a drink from one of the uniformed servers Alex’s mother had hired for the evening. Feeling like a fish out of place in a foreign sea, he parked himself against a pillar at the other side of the crowded room. Why Parker had insisted that the guests wait until dinner to enter the Great Hall and admire the Christmas tree was a mystery Jake wasn’t going to waste brain cells trying to solve. He had more pressing mysteries on his mind. Like one Cameron Kelley.

A murmur rose.

Jake looked up. And then looked higher.

Cameron stood at the head of the stairs, holding Dylan’s hand. The suit Dylan wore made him look like a kid from a movie set, spit-polished and beamy. But the gold dress Cameron wore hugged her curves and made her look like she’d been dipped in a vat of magic.

Maybe there was some trick of Hollywood that made women heart-stoppingly gorgeous. But if she’d been wrapped in a white hospital sheet, she still would’ve made his pulse leap and his body flood with want.

Dylan tilted a nervous smile up at her. And Jake knew it wasn’t just want that filled every pore of his being. Love seeped through his well-tended walls. He downed his champagne and clutched the empty, delicate glass as if it were a buoy in a rough sea.