The thought of seeing him every morning thrilled and frightened her in equal measure. She wasn’t sure which feeling she liked more.
Adam stood on the porch, watching Kitty’s path long after her shapely
body disappeared into the forest. His cheeks were aching from smiling so hard. She’d turned out to be completely different from the girl he’d imagined her to be. If he was being honest, he’d expected her to baulk at the smell, and tell him she was above cleaning up dog shit from the floor. The fact she’d got down on her hands and knees and scrubbed his floor had intrigued him. He couldn’t imagine Mia, or any of the other women he’d worked with in LA, agreeing to clean up after the pooch. What was it that made Kitty so different?
It had given him the opportunity to get another look at that body, too. Once she’d taken that ridiculous padded jacket off, revealing a pale pink sweater that moulded her curves, he’d found it hard to tear his eyes away. Maybe that’s why he’d made that stupid request for her to come down to the cabin every day. God knew, he didn’t really need any help with the puppy. The tiny ball of fur didn’t do much more than eat, yap and crap everywhere.
He really needed to get out more. Maybe if he wasn’t so isolated, he wouldn’t find her nearly so attractive. Boredom, that was all it was, right?
The puppy yapped loudly, running out to the porch and sitting down at his heel. The steaming pile of crap aside, he really wasn’t a bad mutt.
He gave another short, sharp bark.
‘What is it, boy?’ Adam dropped to his haunches and tickled the dog beneath his chin. In return he got a nuzzle, soft fur pressed against his arm, and he smiled again, somehow enjoying the companionship.
The dog’s gaze was pointed up the mountain, following the trail of footsteps that led into the woods. ‘You worried about Kitty?’ Adam whispered. ‘She’ll be fine. Nobody would dare go up against her.’
Taking one last glance up the mountain, Adam shook his head and walked back into his cabin, pulling the door closed just as soon as the dog had followed him inside. Damned if he wasn’t feeling as interested in her as the stupid mutt was.
He wasn’t at all sure how he was supposed to feel about that.
Kitty arrived back at the big house to a scene of intense activity, with Annie running from room to room, her face flushed and shiny from her exertions. Kitty’s face was red, too – more from her encounter with Adam than the short, frozen journey back from the cabin. She was still a little breathless at the memory.
The smell of cinnamon and allspice filled the air, along with a clean pine scent wafting from the huge tree propped up in the hallway.
‘You’re here!’ Annie said, staring at Kitty with relief. ‘Thank goodness, we’ve got a lot of work to do.’
Jonas’s head popped up from beneath a huge pile of paper chains. ‘We have exactly three hours to decorate the house for Christmas.’
Unlike Annie, Jonas looked as though he was thoroughly enjoying himself. A Santa hat was jauntily perched on top of his blond curls, and he had tinsel wrapped around his neck like a scarf. Music echoed out from the speakers in the living room; the perennial Christmas tunes that everybody knew. Stacked in the hallway were boxes full of old decorations, with beautifully painted glass baubles that looked like family heirlooms. Her heart warmed to see him so happy. He really was a good kid.
‘What’s the rush to decorate?’ Kitty asked, as the oven timer bell began to chime, sending Annie bustling back to the kitchen. The old housekeeper grabbed a thick padded oven glove to pull a baking tray full of fragrant cookies from the hot stove. Kitty trailed behind, still trying to work out what was going on.
‘Mrs Klein is coming home, we just got the call from the hospital. Mr Klein is arranging for her ambulance right now. He wants us to get this house shipshape and ready for Christmas, to cheer her up.’
The atmosphere here was a complete contrast to the relative calm of the cabin – the puppy’s accident aside. She could feel her pulse start to speed with the tempo of Annie and Jonas’s running around. It was impossible not to get caught up in the whirlwind.
Since she’d arrived, Kitty had wondered about the sort of woman Mary Klein was. Along with her husband, Mary had worked hard at the family business, building it up into a multimillion-dollar empire. When the boys were still small, the couple took the company public, retiring permanently to West Virginia with the proceeds. Beyond that she knew very little about the lady.
‘Then we should make this the best Christmas ever,’ Kitty said, scanning the kitchen for ideas. More than anybody she knew how important it was to be surrounded by family during the holidays. ‘Let’s decorate and bake, and then we can plan some nice things for Mrs Klein, something all the family can enjoy with her. What sort of things does she like?’
A smile pushed up Annie’s plump cheeks. ‘Oh, bless you, you’re a good girl. You’ve never even met her and you’re trying to cheer her up.’ Her expression darkened. ‘Which is more than I can say for some people.’
Kitty didn’t ask who she meant; with Mia still in the city, and Everett stuck in meetings in LA, it was pretty obvious.
‘Does Mrs Klein like Christmas movies?’ Kitty asked.
‘Oh yes, she loves them. Back when the boys were young they’d all sit together and watch It’s a Wonderful Life. This family has always been crazy about the movies.’
‘Then we should get a screen put into her room,’ Kitty suggested. ‘If she’s up to the company we could all watch movies with her. There’s something so heartwarming about watching festive films surrounded by the people you love.’
Both women were silent for a moment, lost in their thoughts. They had more in common than you’d first think by looking at them, Kitty thought. They were living far, far away from home, with families that weren’t their own. Maybe that’s why silly things such as holiday traditions seemed so important to them.
‘She’d love that,’ Annie said softly. ‘I’ll ask Adam to arrange for the big screen to be put in her bedroom. We can have a different movie each night – I know all her favourites – and we can introduce Jonas to some Klein family traditions. It’s just a shame she won’t be able to go to church. That’s the other thing she likes to do every Christmas Eve, without fail. You never heard somebody with a voice as sweet as hers – she loves singing along with all the carols and hymns.’
Kitty frowned. There was no way they could transport Mrs Klein to church, not with her hip in such a fragile condition. Though they had plenty of Christmas music set up on the stereo system, it wasn’t the same as hearing a choir of voices; it didn’t come close at all.
Leaning her elbows on the kitchen counter, she propped her chin up with her hand. If Mrs Klein loved church services and carol singing, then that’s what she would have. She didn’t know how and she didn’t know where, but somehow Mrs Klein would get her Christmas Eve service.