The way her body had felt wrapped around his.
Looking up, he saw a sprig of mistletoe hanging from the doorway. He almost reached up to take it down. He hadn’t celebrated Christmas in twenty years, and he sure as hell wasn’t about to start now.
As his hands brushed against it, he had second thoughts. This wasn’t his place. It belonged to Kristy, and if she wanted to decorate for Christmas, she could. He knew it was all part of the scenery. The snow went hand-in-hand with Christmas; although, from what he had seen on the drive in, there wasn’t more than a few inches of snow on the ground.
Striding into the room, he let his luggage hit the floor with a thump and went to glance out the window. Just like before, the room had a spectacular view of Mistywood Forest just beyond the farm. The pine trees were still capped in snow, and the forest continued for as far as the eye could see.
“Damn,” he whispered. He’d almost forgotten how much he loved Alaska. His country occasionally surprised him with hints of snow, but mostly it was sun and sand. Alaska purified everything with snow in the winter and lush greenery in the spring and summer. More than anything, he wanted to see a moose. He hadn’t stuck around last time to go exploring, but this time, he would.
This time, he would do everything he hadn’t been able to do last time. Kristy Cohen had stolen his heart four years ago and he was determined to find out exactly what happened to change things. He had no intention of leaving until he got his answers.
5
“Kristy?” someone called out from the hallway.
Kristy was still struggling with the bundle of lights when Arella suddenly shrieked and took off around the corner. Sighing, she gave up what she was doing and followed suit to greet her aunt.
Her Aunt Julia was still in excellent shape for an older woman. Although her hair had long since turned completely grey, it was still long and thick, and there wasn’t a single wrinkle on the woman’s face. Julia used to tease her and say it was because she made her husband, Darren, do all the work, but they both knew that wasn’t true. Julia was a hard worker.
“Aunt Julia,” she said with a big smile. “I didn’t realize that you were coming out here today. Is everything okay?”
Her aunt was already leaning down to scoop Arella up in her arms. “Everything is fine, dear. I’m just here to check on you.”
Really? She wanted to check on Kristy mere hours after Kashif arrived? That couldn’t be a coincidence. Narrowing her eyes, she crossed her arms. “The truth, Aunty.”
Julia kissed Arella on the cheek and set her down with a sigh. “Fine. Darren happened to check the logs…”
“What?” Kristy cried out. “How often does he do that?”
“Don’t get all excited, dear. He’s looking out after you and he was concerned about some cancellations, but when he saw who had checked in this morning, I thought I’d better come check on you.”
Setting Arella down, she scampered off to play with the dogs while Kristy drew in long breaths.
“First of all, he has no right to log into the system to check up on me. Mistywood Farm is mine, and allowing Sheikh Kashif to stay here is good business.”
“Darling, he’s the father of your child. There’s nothing business about that.”
Kristy winced. “I don’t think he knows. He didn’t mention it. I’m sure as hell not telling him, and I don’t want you saying anything either.”
“You loved him,” she reminded her gently. “And you don’t really know what happened.”
“It wasn’t love. It was infatuation. Stupid, childish infatuation, and I know exactly what happened,” Kristy said hotly. “I was too naive to realize that I was nothing to him but a temporary bed warmer. It won’t happen again.”
“Kristy,” Julia said sadly. “You don’t know that for sure. You’ve been angry for so long that you haven’t even tried to see his side of the story. You need to let your guard down, darling.”
Stiffening her back, Kristy shook her head. “I can’t risk it. I won’t risk him finding out about Arella.”
Julia narrowed her eyes. “You’re going to hide Arella from him? Most women want the father around.”
Kristy’s eyes widened. She had to make her aunt understand. “No,” she hissed. “Aunt Julia, he has money and power. Those are things that I don’t have. Arella might be the illegitimate daughter of royalty, but she’s still his daughter. If he decided to take her away from me, there is nothing that I could do about it.”
“You don’t really think that he’d do that, do you?”
“I don’t know, but given everything that happened, it’s not a chance that I’m willing to take. I’m not lying to him. I’m simply omitting information until I know for sure that I can trust him.”
Putting her hands on her hips, her aunt stared at her. “And if he point-blank asks you?”
Kristy inhaled sharply and shook her head. “I don’t know. Hopefully, it won’t come to that. He’s always been his country and his family first. Well what happens when he finds out about this family? Will he do the right thing or will he walk away again and simply send me another check?”