The Christmas Tree Read online

  “What would have been the point? Besides, Colt does care about her. I don’t think he’d like it if I got into a fight with the woman.”

  Allison smirked. “Oh, men always like that. But I guess I know what you mean.” She wiped at the counter with her towel. “Connie and I used to get along real well. She’s never been quite the same since Caleb. I don’t really want to see her hurt, either.”

  “She did give me an idea, however.” Sadie studied the menu. “I think I’ll get some food to go.”

  Allison pulled out an order pad. “Food for two?”

  “You got it.” Sadie smiled. If the saying about the way to a man’s heart being through his stomach was right, she figured feeding Colt two dinners in a row would have him eating out of her hand, so to speak. “Two roast beef sandwiches, fries, and sodas, please.”

  “You got it. Anything else?”

  “Yes. Directions to Colt’s office.”

  * * *

  She pulled into the gravel lot and parked in front of a temporary trailer. Large lights blazed around the construction site, creating flickering shadows of the men in work pants and hard hats rushing back and forth. She grabbed the two bags of food Allison had given her, and headed for the trailer.

  “Hello?” Sadie knocked and stepped through the door. “Colt?”

  Janice’s head poked around a computer monitor. Three pencils were stuck at random angles in the bun knotted at the back of her head. “Sadie! What are you doing here? Meeting up with Colt?”

  Sadie walked into the trailer and looked around. Empty except for Janice. “I know he’s busy, but I thought I’d bring him some dinner, see if he has time to grab a bite with me.”

  Janice nodded approvingly. “The McCoy men can always find time to eat. It’s nice to see someone taking care of Colt.”

  She blushed. “It’s just dinner.” Shifting on her feet, she fought the urge to scuff her shoe on the floor. “Is Colt around? Did he find the flooring yet?”

  “We found most of it. A thousand square feet are still MIA.” Janice sniffed. “Allison’s roast beef on rye. Good choice.”

  Sadie’s mouth dropped open. “That’s quite a nose. I’m sorry I didn’t bring you anything. If I had known you’d be staying this late, I would have.”

  Janice waved her hand. “I’m almost out of here. And I have dinner plans of my own.”

  Sadie put the bags down on a chair and crossed her arms. “The McCoy men are busy tonight, huh?”

  Janice stared at her for a beat, then burst into laughter. “I told Chuck we weren’t fooling anyone. He’s going to blow a fuse when he finds out Colt knows about us. He does know about us?”

  “I shared my suspicions with him. If it’s any consolation to Chuck, I think Colt is okay with it. Chuck should just talk to him about it.”

  “There are a lot of things those two need to talk about.” Janice pinched her lips together. “But we’ll start with this.” She picked up a radio. “Colt, there’s a delivery here you need to sign for. Where are you at? I’ll send the delivery person to you.”

  A burst of static and some mumbled sounds came through the radio, indecipherable to Sadie, but Janice nodded and put the receiver down. “When you go down the steps, take a right. After the first big light, hang a left and keep going straight. You’ll run into Colt.” She reached behind her and grabbed a hard hat. “Put this on.”

  “Is there construction going on this late?” She settled the hat awkwardly over her ponytail.

  Janice snorted. “No, but that doesn’t matter. Federal regulations. Everyone must wear a hard hat on an active construction site. No exceptions.”

  “Got it.” She reached for the food but Janice shook her head.

  “Leave it. You and Colt can eat in here. I’ll be gone in five minutes.”

  “Thanks, Janice. Have a good night.”

  “Oh, I intend to.” She winked and pushed her glasses back up her nose.

  Sadie stepped into the cold night and shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. Her sneakers crunched on the gravel and the bright light nearly blinded her as she neared it. Turning left, she walked into a hard shadow. “Excuse me,” she said. The man nodded and stepped around her on the path. The light illuminated his face, causing Sadie’s feet to stumble to a halt. He had walked a couple of steps when her brain kicked into gear.

  “Wait, excuse me again.” She strode up to the man. “Aren’t you a client of David Carelli’s?”

  He stiffened. “No, you’re mistaken.”

  She studied his face. “No, I saw you at the restaurant arguing with David. He said you were a client.”

  “I said you’re wrong.” The man took a step forward, crowding her against the side of a trailer. The cold metal behind her back sent a shiver racing down her spine, and the ripe odor of sweat rolling off of him prompted her to breathe through her mouth. “I suggest you keep your mouth shut about whatever it is you think you saw.”

  She swallowed. “Of course. Right.” She hated the wobble in her voice. She took a deep breath and slowly straightened her frame. This man might have a couple inches on her, but she wouldn’t let him intimidate her. Much. “Of course I won’t tell Colt that one of his employees has been discussing BB with his main competitor. Or that it sounded like David was paying you for the information. I’m sure Colt wouldn’t be interested in that at all.”

  Sadie tried to keep her breathing even, but her body tensed, automatically preparing itself for fight or flight. The man slapped a dirty hand on the wall behind her shoulder, his body odor nearing the level of a chemical weapon attack when he raised his arm. She pressed her eyes shut. She shouldn’t have let her ego goad her into provoking the man. She should have appeased him and then gone to Colt.

  “You don’t seem to understand the concept of shutting your mouth,” he said. “But I’ll help you out with that if you talk to Colt about what you think you saw.” He dropped his head closer. “I’m not playing, lady. You open your mouth, you get hurt. Understand?”

  She nodded. Appeasement was the key now. “Bite me.” The man’s eyes widened in response, mirroring Sadie’s own surprise. That had just slipped out. What was wrong with her? Ever since she had arrived in Pineville she was doing and saying things out of character. Getting arrested. Making out in cars.

  She blamed Colt.

  Two meaty paws landed on her shoulders, anger vibrating through the man. Her breath caught in her throat. She tried to remember a self-defense class she’d taken, its namesake acronym cataloguing moves she was supposed to employ in a certain order that would lay any attacker out flat. The instructor had guaranteed it. Her mind whirled, grasped at a thread, pulled it in. SAFE! That was the acronym. But her lists failed her for the first time, her mind blanking at what action the S stood for, much less the A, F, or E.

  A scowl rippled across the man’s face. Sadie gulped, told herself that he wouldn’t actually hurt her, not out here in public. It wouldn’t make sense.

  But telling herself that and believing it were two very different things.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Colt rubbed his neck as he walked down the gravel path. What a waste of time an improperly labeled crate could cause. One of his men had just found the last batch of missing lumber, however, and Colt was headed home. Just as soon as he found the now missing deliveryman Janice had sent his way.

  If Sadie had been in charge of shipping, the labeling mix-up never would have occurred. Disorder didn’t stand a chance against her organizational skills. A smile tilted his lips. The character trait that had driven him nuts when they’d first met, he now found appealing. Though not as appealing as her other attributes. Just thinking of those attributes, especially the soft, curvy ones, made his skin tingle. He couldn’t wait to feel her beneath him again, hear her soft moans, see her sweet smile.

  A smile he planned to make bigger when she learned of his surprise. His friend on the planning commission hadn’t yet gotten back to him after their conversation that mor
ning, but in a couple of days Colt hoped to present an expedited building permit to Sadie, giving them the official go-ahead to start the remodel. Seeing that item on her to-do list, Colt had known it was one load he could take off her shoulders. Imagining the reward she might give him for her surprise made his breath quicken. Not that that was why he’d done it. A smile from Sadie would be reward enough. But a man could dream.

  Christ, just thinking about Sadie had him hallucinating her. He peered into the darkness and stuttered to a stop. It was Sadie, with one of his men standing way too close.

  And then he put his hands on her.

  Colt’s mind blanked of all thought except tearing the guy’s head from his neck. He was beside the pair instantly, ripping the man away from Sadie and pile-driving him into the gravel. The worker’s hard hat spun off his head and rocked awkwardly by the man’s knee, like a turtle on its back. Rising stiffly to his feet, the man bent over and swiped his hat off the ground.

  “What’s going on?” Colt growled.

  “The lady and I were having a discussion, and then you attacked me. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” George Kammer, one of his foremen, stood, chest heaving, clenching and unclenching his fists.

  He kept his eyes on Kammer. “Sadie, did this man hurt you?”

  “No, I’m okay.” The tiny wobble in her voice pushed him a step closer to George. Only Sadie’s hand on his arm stopped him from throwing down with his foreman.

  She stepped between him and Kammer. “Don’t get into a fight over this. Really. I’m fine.”

  Colt dropped his eyes from his foreman to her steady gaze. She was unharmed and no longer afraid. The weight on his chest lowered from a one-hundred-pound iron to a fifty. “Why did he grab you? What’s going on?”

  George answered instead. “I didn’t grab her. I just wanted to make it clear that she can’t go around telling stories about people. She has some crazy idea she saw me with David Carelli.” He lifted his chin. “It wasn’t me.”

  Colt glanced back at Sadie. She nodded. “I think he’s the one who’s been leaking information to David. When I was out to dinner with him, I heard the two of them arguing.” She turned her head to look at George again, shifted closer to Colt. “It was him. I’m certain.”

  “She’s lying!” George pawed a hand through his hair, eyes darting between Colt and Sadie. “I swear. I haven’t sold anything to Carelli. You’ve got to believe me.”

  “No. I don’t. Collect your things and get out of here. You’re done.”

  George stepped back and rested one hand on the side of the trailer, his fingers covering the faded BB logo painted on its side. “I need this job, Colt. I needed the money. You don’t understand.”

  Colt slammed his fist on the side of the trailer, the metal reverberating dully. “No, I don’t understand. If you need money, you come to me and ask for a loan, for extra work. You don’t sell me out.”

  “Who did it hurt?” George asked. “So Carelli got a couple more contracts. There’s plenty of work to go around.” He sneered at Sadie. “If this b—”

  Colt’s fist stopped the next word before it left the foreman’s mouth. The blow sent George crumpling to his hands and knees and pain rocketing up Colt’s arm. Cursing, Colt shook his hand until the sting eased. George licked at a trickle of blood at his lip and Colt smiled grimly. “Are we finished, or do you want to go another round?”

  The foreman rose slowly to his feet. He turned his head to the side and spat. “We’re done. I can see eight years of hard work don’t mean anything to you.”

  “Not against even a day of disloyalty,” Colt said. “Why don’t you ask Carelli for a job? A real one.” Sadie pressed up against his side, her body fitting his like a key to a lock. She rested a hand on his chest and it swelled under her touch. It wasn’t often he got to be someone’s savior. His brother had been the hero. Even though he hated that Sadie had known even a moment of fear, he had to admit he’d enjoyed punching someone out for the woman standing next to him.

  Kammer wiped a sleeve across his mouth. “I’ll do that. He pays better than you anyway.” George walked around the corner of the trailer, his shoulders slumped. The crunching of the gravel beneath his boots faded away.

  Sadie blew out a shaky breath. “Well, that was exciting.” She forced a harsh chuckle between her lips.

  He swung around and rested his hands on her shoulders. “Are you all right?” She nodded. “You’re not hurt anywhere?”

  “I’m fine.” She reached up and grabbed his right hand. “What about you? Do you think you broke anything when you hit him?” Her fingers probed gently around the bruise, massaging away the soreness.

  He flipped his hand and wound his fingers between hers. “Nothing’s broken. This isn’t my first fight, you know.” He raised their joined hands, kissed her knuckles. They stood there for a minute, eyes locked, hers glistening in the ambient light. Their breathing was the only sound he heard, the rest of the world as foggy as the haze puffing out of their mouths. The pounding in his chest that had started to ease when the adrenalin from the skirmish wound down kicked back up a notch. Her presence did that to him.

  He tugged her hand until she fell into step beside him, heading back to the office. “Are you my delivery person?” he asked. “Janice said you had a package for me.” His eyes traveled up and down her body, seeing each slim curve, even in the dark. “I hope I’m looking at it.”

  They reached the office door and Sadie pulled her hand from his, swatted his forearm. “No, I’m not your package, you pervert. I brought you dinner.” She pulled open the door and the light spilled out from the open rectangle, backlighting her figure. Wisps of her blond hair shimmered in the illumination, creating a halo around her head.

  Colt fought the urge to run his fingers reverently through her hair. She was breathtaking.

  “Well, are you hungry?” she asked.

  “Always.” Holding the door, he shooed her inside. Janice’s desk was empty, cleared of everything but Styrofoam containers, two paper plates, and some silverware. “I take it my secretary has left us alone for the night.”

  “She said she had plans.”

  “Uh-huh. More likely an excuse to further her matchmaking. When you first came to town, Janice was overly eager to see you and me together.” He started to unwrap the food. He placed a sandwich on each plate and sucked some mustard off his finger.

  Sadie opened a container of potato salad. “But we’re already matched.” A deep flush stained her cheeks. “I mean, of course we’re not matched matched. I don’t mean to imply anything permanent. I’m only here temporarily, after all.” Her eyes swept down to the table and she became very focused on arranging the napkins, laying the plastic knives and forks precisely in the middle of each white rectangle. “I just meant that we’ve already . . .”

  “Hooked up?” he suggested. His words and tone were blunter than he’d intended. Sadie took every opportunity to remind him that she wouldn’t be around for long and it was starting to tick him off.

  Her eyes darted back to his, a frown crossing her face. “I was going to say we’ve already started dating. But I guess your turn of phrase also applies.”

  He rubbed his forehead. “I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant. You’re more than just a hookup.” He spooned some salad onto both plates and pulled a chair over for Sadie. “Thank you for bringing me dinner.” When she sat down, he released a silent breath and wheeled Janice’s chair around to sit next to her.

  She pulled out two cans of soda from the remaining bag. “I hope you like roast beef.”

  “Anything that comes out of Allison’s kitchen is good.” He looked around the desk. “I don’t suppose you made any of your cookies for dessert?”

  She rolled her eyes. “What is it with you and those cookies? You missed your chance, buddy. All I have for you is some of Allison’s pumpkin pie that she added to our order, on the house.”

  “Jerome keeps rubbing it in my face how good your coo
kies were,” he grumbled. He opened up his sandwich and squeezed a packet of mayonnaise onto one slice of bread and reassembled the stack of food. “I don’t like that other men have tasted your cookies and I haven’t.”

  She lowered her sandwich. “You can’t be serious.”

  “I don’t kid about cookies.” His voice was even but he couldn’t keep his eyes from crinkling.

  Shaking her head, she took a large bite. She tapped on the metal lid of the soda can before popping it open. “When we remodel my grandmother’s house, I’ll make sure to keep the cookie jar full at all times.”

  He took a bite of his sandwich. “About that,” he said around a mouthful of food, “what’s your schedule for the remodel? Do you want to start this weekend?”

  She paused, the can of soda halfway to her mouth. “Wow, that seems fast. But I guess why wait? The sooner we start, the faster I can get it sold. But what about you? Aren’t you needed at BB?”

  “I’m not as indispensable as I thought. Janice and my foremen have done just fine this past week without me. I’ll have to shift some work around now that George is gone, but this is our slow season so it will be fine.” He clenched his hand around the soda can, denting the sides. “My dad might have been right about me. Maybe I’m not best suited to running the business.”

  Sadie covered his hand with her own, the condensation from her soda can clinging to her fingers and dampening his skin. “I think when your business runs smoothly without you it means that you’re a good manager. Everyone’s been trained well. BB is a well-oiled machine because of you. Be proud of it.”

  “Yeah, I guess that’s a good way to look at it.” His thumb stroked hers. “You’re a very positive person. The-glass-is-half-full type of woman.”

  “If you’ve got something in your glass, even if it’s only half full, you’re luckier than a lot of people in the world.”

  Sadie dug around in the paper bag and came out with two plastic containers. Through the clear lid he could see a caramel-orange custard on a flaky crust. She placed one container in front of him and cracked open her own. “And a person is extremely lucky when there is pie.”