Undercover Christmas
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To her surprise the canyon opened up and in the middle of the small valley sat a huge, Gothic-looking house. It towered three stories. Nothing about it looked hospitable. No Christmas lights stretched across the eaves. Nor did any blink at the windows. Under the grayness of the approaching storm, the place looked dismal and downright sinister. Not that she’d expected a warm reception.
Marni pulled her car in front of it and cut the engine. She sat for a moment, rehearsing. She was Elise Mc-Cumber. She checked herself in the mirror. Nice eye shadow, El. She was seven months pregnant. She patted the maternity form. “How ya doin’, ‘Sam’?”
Then she shook her head in disbelief that she was doing such a fool thing and opened the car door.
It didn’t look as if anyone was home. No dogs ran out to greet or bite her. What few vehicles were parked along the side of the house were snow-covered. What kind of ranch was this? Didn’t El say they raised horses?
An uneasiness raised goose bumps on her skin. She looked up. A face peered out at her from a tiny window under the eave above the third floor. Then the face was gone. But the uneasy feeling remained.
“Well, someone’s home,” Marni muttered. “And the family now knows I’m here.” She took a deep breath and mounted the steps.
An older woman answered the door with a dish towel in her free hand. “Yes?” she inquired, giving Marni a disdainful once-over.
“I’m Ma—Elise McCumber,” Marni said. “I’m here to see Chase Calloway.”
“And what may I say this is in regard to?” she asked, even more cool and reserved than before. Unless Marni missed her guess, this was the same woman she’d spoken with on the phone earlier.
“It’s personal,” Marni said meaningfully as she opened her coat and patted “Sam.”
The woman rocked back on her sensible shoes.
“Would you please tell Mr. Calloway I’m here. Elise McCumber.” Marni started to step into the foyer but the woman blocked her way.
“Mr. Calloway isn’t seeing—”
“I’ll take care of this, Hilda,” called a male voice from some distance behind the woman.
The moment Hilda moved out of the doorway, Marni stepped in from the cold, breathing a sigh of relief. She’d gotten her foot in the door, so to speak.
Marni wasn’t surprised to find the inside of the house as forbidding as the outside. The interior provided little warmth, from the dark hardwood floors and trim to the somber wallpaper and heavy dusky draperies. In the corner sat an artificial Christmas tree, flocked white and decorated with matching gold balls positioned perfectly around its uniform boughs. So different from the McCumber tree at the farm with its wild array of colorful ornaments, each homemade and placed on the tree by the McCumber kids.
At the sound of boots on the wooden floor, Marni turned to see a large older man in western clothing coming down the hall. He filled the hallway with his size alone—he had to be close to six foot six—but also with his imposing manner. Marni took a wild guess. Jabe Calloway.
“Yes?” he asked, assessing her with sharp, pale blue eyes. He seemed surprised by what he saw. “You’re inquiring about my son?”
Marni watched the housekeeper scurry toward the back of the house as if the place were in flames.
“I’m Elise McCumber,” she said, saying the name over and over in her head like a mantra. Or a curse. “And you’re…?”
“Jabe Calloway,” he said, plainly irritated. “What is it you want with my son?”
“I want to talk to him. What it’s about is between Chase and me.” A strange sound made Marni turn. She blinked in surprise as a younger man hobbled into view from down the same hallway Hilda had disappeared. Marni told herself this couldn’t be Chase Calloway.
“Chase,” his father said, also turning at the sound. “There’s no reason to concern yourself with this. Ms. McCumber was just leaving.”
“But this is my concern,” Chase said.
Under normal circumstances, Marni would have reacted poorly to the fact that Jabe Calloway was trying to shuffle her off without even a chance to talk to his son. But what was normal about any of this?
She stared at Chase, too surprised to speak. She’d just assumed he’d be handsome, knowing El. But this man set new standards for the word, from his broad shoulders and slim hips to his long denim-clad legs. He had a thick cap of wild dark hair that fell over his forehead above a pair of blue eyes that put his father’s to shame. The resemblance between the two men was remarkable. But while Chase had his father’s strong, masterful features, his mouth was wider, his lips more sensual, even turned down as they were now. He was the kind of man women dreamed of. This explained a lot.
Chase’s muscular shoulders were draped over a pair of crutches. He limped toward her, his jeans trimmed to allow for the cast on his broken left leg. Eyes downcast, he seemed intent on maneuvering the crutches across the slick floor. Or on avoiding looking at her. On closer inspection, Marni decided it was the latter. The coward.
A few feet from her, he stopped and looked up for the first time, his pale blue eyes welding her feet to the floor.
Marni didn’t move an eyelash as his gaze flicked over her. Would he recognize her for the impostor she was?
He frowned, those blue eyes intent on her face. She let out a silent oath. She knew this wouldn’t work; any man who’d been intimate with a woman would know whether or not she was his lover when he saw her. One look at this man, and Marni knew she’d never be able to fool him. He made her feel as if he could see beyond the dye job and the eye shadow right into her deceitful soul.
“I wondered when you’d show up here,” Chase said.
So much for that theory. “What did you expect?”
His gaze dropped to her swollen abdomen, then insolently moved back up to her face. His eyes iced over. “Not this.”
She shot him a look that she hoped would give him frostbite. Had he thought Elise wasn’t serious when she’d told him she was pregnant? Or maybe he thought by rejecting her she’d just go away.
“We need to talk about the baby,” Marni said, putting a protective hand over “Sam.”
Chase clenched his jaw, eyes narrowing. “The baby? I thought I told you on the phone, this wasn’t going to work. What is it you want?”
“For you to own up to what you’ve done and accept some of the responsibility,” Marni snapped.
Hushed voices drifted down from the second floor.
“For what I’ve done?” Chase demanded. He seemed to be fighting to keep his voice down. “What are you trying to pull here?”
The muffled voices silenced. Marni looked up to see a small crowd gathered at the top of the wide, circular staircase. All eyes stared down at her.
“This is not the place to discuss this,” Jabe interjected abruptly. “Let’s take it into the library.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Chase said, locking his gaze with hers. “I don’t know who you are or what you want. But I can assure you of one thing, that…baby…isn’t mine.”
Chapter Two
After that stunning declaration, Chase turned on his crutches and hobbled off without a backward glance.
Marni started after him, planning to use one of his crutches to help refresh his memory, but Jabe put a firm hand on her arm.
“I’d like a word with you in private,” Jabe said. “Come this way.”
She had a word for him—and his son. “Excuse me, I don’t mean to be rude, but you and I have nothing to discuss. Your son, on the other hand, is a whole different matter.” She heard a door slam in the direction from which Chase had disappeared. The group at the top of the stairs didn’t even bother to pretend they weren’t eavesdropping.
Jabe studied her with a look of mild surprise. “I think you’re wrong about that, Ms. McCumber, I believe you and I might have a great deal to talk about.” He motioned toward an open doorway down the opposite hall. “Please?”
Marni had a feeling the word didn’t come easy to him. And although she suspected he planned to read her the riot act once they were behind closed doors, she also saw it as an opportunity to share a few choice words she had for him about his son.
“You might be right,” she said to Jabe.
The group at the top of the stairs descended in a scurry of curiosity before Jabe and Marni could escape. The oldest of the women broke free of the others and approached them.
“Is there a problem?” she inquired, pretending to ignore Marni. She had a diamond the size of Rhode Island on her ring finger and wore her marital status like a badge of honor. This had to be Mrs. Jabe Calloway.
“Nothing to concern yourself with, Vanessa,” Jabe assured her. “Go on in to dinner. I’ll be along shortly.”
Vanessa looked as if she’d been dragged into her late fifties kicking and screaming. From the bleached blond hair of the perfect pageboy to her tightly stretched facial features, she looked like a woman at war with the aging process.
She gave Marni a disdainful look, hesitating on the protruding belly for one wrathful moment before she turned and swept away. Over her shoulder she said, “Don’t be late, dear. You know how Hilda hates it when you’re late.”
Her words sounded hollow, lacking authority. It was obvious who ran this household, just as Elise had told her.
Marni took a calming breath as she followed Jabe Calloway down the hall. She reminded herself why she’d come here. To talk to Chase. To give him a chance to explain, if not rectify, the situation. To give Chase a chance, period. Because Elise loved the man. Although at this moment, good looks aside, Marni could not fathom why.
* * *
THE LIBRARY WAS as large and masculine as Jabe himself. He motioned to a chestnut-colored leather couch that spanned one wall. Built-in bookshelves bordered the room. A huge rock fireplace stretched across the only open wall. An oversize brown leather recliner hunkered in front of it. Several other chairs were scattered around. Everything in the room seemed to have been sized to one man—Jabe Calloway.
Marni scanned the bookshelves as she headed for the couch, curious if the books were for looks only or if someone in this family actually read them.
“Do you like to read?” Jabe asked from behind her.
She nodded as she spotted one of her favorites and pulled it from the shelf, surprised to find the cover worn.
“You’re a Jane Austen fan, too?” Jabe asked.
Marni turned, the copy of Pride and Prejudice still in her hand. Jabe Calloway didn’t seem to be someone who would enjoy Austen.
“She’s one of Chase’s favorites.”
“Really?” Marni said, her surprised gaze momentarily connecting with his before she put the book back and went to the couch. “I didn’t know that.” She was beginning to realize how little she knew about Chase Calloway; she wondered how much Elise really knew.
“The subject of books probably never came up,” Jabe said as he took a seat across from her.
She started to sit on the couch, forgot how awkward sitting was “pregnant” and basically fell into the soft, deep, low sofa.
“Did Chase tell you about this house?” Jabe asked, obviously making small talk, probably thinking he could mollify her once he had her alone. “It was built by a wealthy horse thief turned politician a hundred years ago.”
She didn’t comment, not half as impressed with the horse thief as he was. Nor was she interested in this house.
He must have realized that. He quit smiling and leaned back in his chair, studying her openly. “Tell me about my son.”
Was he serious? “Has he always tried to avoid responsibility?” she asked instead, attempting to get comfortable in the deep couch in her present condition. She ended up resting her arms on Sam.
Jabe seemed to consider her question. “No, as a matter of fact. Chase has always taken his responsibilities very seriously. That’s why I’m surprised by his attitude toward you.”
“Me, too,” Marni said. Although, in truth, she wasn’t all that surprised. Furious, yes. Surprised, no.
“I have to be honest with you, Ms. McCumber, you aren’t what I expected,” Jabe said. “When I heard that a woman was calling here, claiming to be pregnant with Chase’s child, well—” He waved a big hand through the air as if it went without saying what he thought. He settled his gaze on her, his look almost kind, but Marni feared he could spot her for the fraud she was.
“Tell me, if you wouldn’t mind, how did the two of you meet,” Jabe said.
Marni licked her dry lips and related to Jabe the story Elise had told her. But unlike El, Marni began at the beginning. “It started with a little fender bender in Bozeman last June.”
“Really?” Jabe said. “In one of the ranch trucks or one of Chase’s cars?”
Marni met his eyes. So this was a test. “The ranch’s white truck, the three-quarter ton with the stock rack and the words Calloway Ranches printed in dark blue on the doors.”
He nodded with an apologetic smile. “Please continue.”
Marni told him everything El had told her. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how much time and patience a person had, Elise had a way of recounting the smallest, most insignificant details, often overlooking the big picture. It was the thespian in her.
“I felt so awful about running into him that he asked me to dinner. At dinner, something just clicked between us,” Marni said, condensing Elise’s account. “The rest is history, as they say.”
“How long did you date?” Jabe asked.
Date? “We spent four days together.”
He lifted an eyebrow at that. Marni couldn’t say she blamed him. Only Elise could fall in love over dinner and think four days constituted a lifetime commitment.
“In August I realized I was pregnant.”
“I’m surprised Chase wouldn’t use protection,” Jabe said.
Marni was surprised this conversation had taken such a personal turn, and had it been her who was pregnant she would have told him it was none of his business. But if there was a chance of getting Jabe on Elise’s side—“We always did, except for one night in a hot-springs pool near Yellowstone,” she said, lowering her gaze, wondering why she felt embarrassed when she hadn’t even been there.
When he said nothing, she continued. “Chase called me in August to say he couldn’t see me anymore. He said it had to do with his family and was very complicated.”
Jabe looked confused. “Why didn’t you confront him in person before this?”
Her chin went up defiantly. “I decided to have the baby on my own.” Not unlike what Marni herself would have done in the same situation.
“What changed your mind?” Jabe asked.
“I wanted to be sure this was Chase’s decision and not yours,” she said truthfully. Well, as truthfully as she could, all things considered.
“I see. You think I have that kind of control over my son?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. After meeting Chase, Marni wondered just how much control anyone could wield over the man. “Do you?”
He shook his head ruefully. “Chase is his own man, I assure you. But I know my son. If you’re carrying his child, he’ll accept responsibility.”
She wished she was as convinced of that as he seemed to be. Could Elise have been wrong about Jabe Calloway? Could he be an ally rather than the diabolical family patriarch? That would mean, though, that Chase was the louse Marni suspected he was. In her heart of hearts, she’d hoped there would be a good explanation for Chase’s denial of Elise and her baby. Marni was a sucker for happy endings.
“When I called yesterday, Chase pretended not to know me and told me not to call again,” Marni said. “That doesn’t sound like a man who accepts responsibility.”
“That doesn’t sound like Chase.” He frowned as he studied Marni openly. “I’m sure you’re aware that Chase has had some…problems since the accident”
Accident? “When he broke his leg,” Marni said with a silent groan as she realized her mistake. She should have shown more concern for his injury or at least asked about it. Elise would have. “It looks like he’s getting around fine now. Did he break it skiing?”
“You haven’t heard then?” Jabe asked, sounding surprised. “I just assumed that you had and that was why you were here.”
He made her feel guilty. And that made her mad. “I would have sent a card, but Chase wasn’t even taking my calls.”
“That was my fault,” Jabe said. “I was the one who told Hilda to turn away your calls. I was afraid you were trying to take advantage of my son because of his injury.”
“Take advantage of his broken leg?” she asked.
“You don’t know about Chase’s memory loss?”
Memory loss?
“Chase suffered some temporary memory loss because of the accident.”
“I’m sorry, what accident was this?” she asked, wondering if he really believed she was buying the memory loss.
“A hit-and-run driver,” Jabe said. “Chase saved my life.”
Marni felt a good shot of repentance. Chase had been injured saving his father’s life and she’d thought Jabe was lying about Chase’s memory loss.
“Right after the accident, he couldn’t even remember his sisters-in-law,” Jabe said. “Now it’s just gaps in his memory, he says.”
Wait a minute. What was he saying? “You think El—I might be a…gap…in his memory?” she asked incredulously. Wasn’t that a bit too convenient?
“Fortunately, his memory seems to be coming back. What do you do in Bozeman?” Jabe asked, changing the subject.
Without thinking, she said, “I own a boutique. With my sister.”
“Really? Is it profitable?”
Oh, so he thought she’d gotten herself pregnant to get the Calloway money. “Very,” she said, then reminded herself she was supposed to be Elise, and added, “My sister runs the shop. I’m a theater stage designer.”
“Very enterprising,” Jabe said, eyeing her even more closely. “You build sets locally?”
“I just returned from a theater tour in London,” she said smugly, proud of her sister’s talents and her success, completely forgetting she was suppose to be El. “I’m not after your money, Mr. Calloway. I am more than capable financially of raising this child alone if that becomes necessary. I came here to give your son one last chance to decide whether or not he wants to be part of this baby’s life. It would appear, he’s already made his decision.”
Jabe Calloway seemed to flinch at her candor. His blue eyes took on a remote look. His face contracted in pain. For a moment, she thought he might be ill.
“Are you all right?” Marni asked in concern.
He blinked at her as if he’d forgotten she was there, took a bottle of prescription pills from his pocket, popped two in his mouth and washed them down with a glass of water on the table next to him.
“I’m fine. Just allergies. What did Chase tell you about my relationship with him?”
Another test? Marni met his gaze, wishing he hadn’t asked. “I know the two of you have never gotten along.”
“Did he tell you why?”
Marni looked at the older man, sensing something far more complex than what Elise had told her about Chase and his father. “He said you were a hard, uncompromising man who cared more about money than people and that you use your money to extract a high price from your sons.” She could see that the words hurt him, but also that they must have rung true. “I’m sorry.”
Jabe Calloway looked away for a moment and when he turned his gaze back to Marni’s, his blue eyes glistened. “Do you love my son, Ms. McCumber?”
“Very much,” she said, remembering the look on El’s face when she’d talked about Chase. “And I believed he loved me.”
Jabe nodded slowly, and with a visible effort pushed himself to his feet. “You will join us for dinner.”
“Thank you, but I have to get back—”
“I insist,” he said, cutting her off. He must have seen the look in her eye. He quickly softened his tone. “If you would be my guest for dinner, I’ll arrange for you to have a chance to speak with my son again without any interruptions.”
“I can’t see that it would do any good,’ Marni said, sounding as discouraged as she felt.
“You might be surprised,’ Jabe said. “My son is a reasonable man. Right now he’s extremely frustrated by his immobility and his inability to remember everything. He hates being cooped up. Especially here.”
“All right.” What could one dinner hurt? She owed it to El to at least give Chase a chance.
Marni worked her body out of the couch’s soft cushion and let Jabe usher her to the family dining room.
“Set another place,” Jabe ordered as he swept Marni into the room. “Next to me. Elise McCumber will be our dinner guest.”
Marni figured the latter part was addressed to the family now seated around the huge slab of an oak table. While they might not have a choice, they didn’t pretend to be happy about it. Especially Chase. He met her gaze with an irate scowl. Marni got the impression he would have gotten up and left, but someone had moved his crutches out of his reach, which no doubt added to his irritation.
At the foot of the table, Vanessa’s expression was one of shocked disbelief. For a moment, Marni thought the woman would raise an objection.
Instead, she brushed back her perfect pageboy and said, “Cook says the roast is going to be overdone.”
“I like my roast overdone,” Jabe said, pulling out the chair the housekeeper procured for Marni before taking his place at the head of the table.
Vanessa snapped, “Hilda, you may serve dinner now.”
The moment Jabe sat down he began the introductions. Starting on Marni’s right, he went around the long rectangular table. “Lilly is my youngest son’s wife.”
Marni recognized the heart-shaped face and large dark eyes from earlier when she’d seen the woman peeking out the window under the third-story eave. A petite, pretty woman, Lilly wore a pale pink dress that hung from her frail frame. Her white-blond hair was pulled severely back into a knot at her slim neck and the only color in her face was her eyes.
She murmured, “Nice to meet you,” and drained her wineglass with a trembling hand.
“Lilly, you’re hitting the wine a little hard tonight, aren’t you, dear?” Vanessa asked too sweetly.
“I’m worried about Hayes,” Lilly said as she motioned the housekeeper to refill her glass.
Jabe frowned at the empty chair next to Lilly, then at Vanessa. “Where is Hayes?”
“He had to go to Bozeman,” Vanessa said.
“What is he doing in Bozeman?” Jabe demanded.
“I certainly wouldn’t know. He only told me he planned to be back before dinner. I can’t imagine what could have detained him.” She looked over at Lilly as if Lilly knew but just wasn’t telling out of meanness.
Jabe sighed and continued his introductions. “My wife, Vanessa.” He skipped over her quickly. “And this is my middle son, Dayton.”
Dayton Calloway had his father’s blue eyes and a head of dark hair that he’d had meticulously styled, unlike Chase’s more unruly soft locks. A dark mustache curled across Dayton’s upper lip like a thin mean caterpillar. While no way near as handsome as Chase, he was good-looking in a petulant, dark sort of way. Marni got the immediate impression that he didn’t like her for some reason.
He didn’t get to his feet as Marni was introduced. Instead, he just nodded. Out of the corner of her eye, Marni saw Jabe scowl and mutter something directed at his wife about bad manners. Vanessa frowned and glared at Marni as if it were Marni’s fault.
“Felicia is Dayton’s wife,” Jabe continued. A sharp-featured brunette with green eyes, a more than ample chest and a bad disposition sat between Dayton and Chase. Marni knew about Felicia’s bad disposition the same way she knew the price of the expensive ethnic-print maternity dress and matching jewelry the woman wore. Marni had sold it to her at her Bozeman boutique—last week.
“You look familiar,” Felicia said, eyeing her suspiciously.
The truth seemed the best approach. “I believe you trade at the boutique I’m part owner of in Bozeman.” She looked at Chase to see if he registered any shock to hear she owned a boutique. Chase didn’t look up; he sat turning the thin stem of his wineglass in his strong fingers, showing no sign that he was paying the least bit of attention to any of this.