Page 5 of The Mountain Man's Secret Santa
I think back to all of my interactions with Granger. He was nothing if not professional, until I pushed him that night. Could I have been wrong about him?
“I need to go.” I shrug out of Autumn’s arms, grab the pregnancy test out of Junie’s hand, and grab a box of our assorted cookies before heading out the door to confront my destiny.
***
It didn’t take melong to find out where Granger’s cabin was. Bale Blackwood from the fire station was more than happy to give me his address. Now that I’m standing on hisfront porch holding a box of cookies in one hand and clutching my purse with a wrapped-up pregnancy test labeled "To Granger from your Secret Santa" inside, I reconsider my plan. The only thing that pushes me forward is knowing Granger has a right to be involved in his child’s life.
With a sigh, I raise my hand and knock on his front door. A few seconds later, the door swings open to a surprised Granger standing there holding a tiny version of himself on his left hip. “Icelyn, what are you doing here?”
He already has a family?
The baby he’s holding looks like he’s only five or six months old—old enough that Granger’s wife or girlfriend was already pregnant when we had sex the first time.
How could I have been so wrong about him?
Bile rises in my throat, but I swallow it down. “I have a delivery for you.” I put on a smile and hand him the box of cookies I brought as a peace offering. Now that I know about his family, I decide to pretend I’m just out making deliveries for our bakery.
Granger looks from my outstretched hand to my tight smile. “You don’t look so good. Why don’t you come in and have a seat?” He takes my elbow as the little boy in his arms babbles happily at me.
Is this what our baby might look like?
I’m so captivated by the baby that I don’t even notice I’m reaching for him once Granger helps me sit on the couch. “Can I hold him?”
“Sure.” He hands me the baby. “His name is JJ.”
“JJ,” I say, touching his soft head to my cheek. “He’s perfect.”
“We think so.” A beautiful woman enters the living room, wearing a proud parent’s smile. Granger’s wife or girlfriend sits down beside me on the couch. Feeling like an outsider amid this happy family moment, I try to hand JJ to his mother, but she stops me with a hand on my arm. “I should go.” I make a weak effort to escape.
“I think you should stay, Icelyn.” How does she know my name? “My brother can’t stop talking about you.”
I blink in surprise. I had to have misheard her. “Brother?” I ask, needing clarification.
“Yes, Granger is my brother, and little JJ there is his nephew. My husband is on deployment for a year, so Granger generously let us move in with him for a while. He’s been helping me with the baby. He even took my place at my job as the county food inspector while I was on maternity leave. Which reminds me, I need to stop by your bakery and introduce myself. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” she takes JJ out of my arms and stands, “I need to lay this little guy down for a nap.” I watch them leave the room, still shocked by the revelation that Granger doesn’t have a baby momma but a sister and a nephew.
When Granger’s sister and nephew are safely out of earshot, I turn my attention to Granger. “I’m sorry. I held on to the idea that you were a bad guy who only wanted one thing from me, when I might have been the one to come onto you first.” I don’t add that there’s no maybe about it. “I have something for you.” I dig through my purse until I find what I am looking for—a small package wrapped in Christmas paper with a bow on top. “Here.” I hand it to him and wait for him to open it—praying that it’s not too late for us.
six
Granger
Ican’t get overthe fact that the woman I've been pining after these months is here in my cabin, handing me a Christmas gift. I look at the tag: "To Granger from your Secret Santa." The urge to rip open the gift is as strong as my desire to pull Icelyn into my arms and never let her go. But common sense wins, reminding me I need to protect my heart. “Icelyn, this probably isn’t a good time right now.” Then a thought hits me. It’s been two months since I last saw her. Is she here because she’s pregnant?
Before I can ask, she begins to speak. “I know I was a bitch the last time we were together, and I’m sorry. But I want you to know that I have feelings for you—I always have, I just didn’t know how to act on them. I’ll understand if, after you open your gift, you want to do this separately…” she trails off, her words making my heart race.
Like a man possessed, I rip the Christmas paper to shreds in my haste to find out what is inside the tiny box. I lift the lid to find a white pregnancy test, cushioned in red-and-green striped tissue paper, with the one word staring back at me: pregnant.
“You’re pregnant?”
“Yes, and you’re the father.”
I roll my eyes at her, “Of course I’m the father.”
She lowers her eyes, “I wasn’t sure you would believe me after the way I acted the last time we were together.”
I place a finger under her chin and raise her head so she is looking into my eyes. “We were each other’s firsts. We’re going to be each other’s last and only.” I lower my head and capture her mouth with mine, the feel of her lips under mine making me sigh in relief that she’s really here with me and that she’s going to have our baby. “I don’t care how this started or how we got here, but I want you to know I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life raising a family with you and growing old together.” I pull back and look into her eyes.
“I love you, too, Granger. And I want nothing more than to share my life with you and all of our children.”
