Page 10 of Christmas Secrets

“I’m glad ye like it. Ye think the others will like it?”

“Dad insisted on one pan fer him and Darro and the others would have to share one,” he responded with a deep chuckle.

Dottie snickered. “I bet that went over like a lead balloon.”

“Aye, ye got that right.”

He was half-way through his second plate and working on his second garlic toast when he finally realized that Dottie was only picking at her food. He knew she was hungry; he’d heard her stomach growl when he came in earlier. It was true that she didn’t have a big appetite, he knew that already, but he’d seen her eat with a lot more gusto than she was putting forth now.

He eyed her carefully. Had she been hurt in the accident and wasn’t saying? He hadn’t seen any hidden bruises earlier, and he’d checked. Sometimes she’d get so tensed up about things that she’d get a stomach ache or a headache just from stress. “Is something wrong? Ye aren’t eating much.”

She glanced up and waved her hand around somewhere behind her head. “This turned out really rich and it doesn’t take much to fill me up. Ye know that,” she responded with a quick smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

Then she took a nibble off her garlic toast and started spearing another bite as if to placate him. He watched her bent head for a moment while he chewed, suddenly sure something was bothering her. They weren’t so newly married that he couldn’t tell when something was amiss. Whatever it was, she didn’t appear to want to share it with him. She was like that sometimes though, a private little thing. He often felt like he needed a mental can opener or something to see into her mind.

“There was no damage to yer car,” he finally offered.

She looked up again, relief evident on her face. “I was just going to ask about that. I was worried with it being the holiday season and all. Being down one vehicle would be hard right now.”

Her eyes slid back to her plate and he got the distinct impression she’d grabbed onto his reassurance like a man scrambling for a life preserver in deep water. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why though.

“Are ye sure something else isn’t bothering ye?” he tried again. “Ye seem a bit out of sorts or something.”

She shot him a guarded smile. “Just wondering what to get my family fer Christmas,” she replied. “Ye know my mum, no matter what it is, she’ll still find something wrong with it, even though she’ll still use it. And of course, Cherry’s gift, no matter how useless it might be, will be the best thing ever,” she added with extra snark.

Ben shook his head. As much as he’d like that to not be true, he figured it probably was. Dottie’s mother wasn’t the easiest woman to get along with. Steeped in tradition and set in her ways, no one could tell her anything. Dottie was sensitive to her criticism and when her mother pitted the girls against each other, it really hurt her. She tried to pretend it didn’t, but he knew it did.

Her father wasn’t quite as bad, but he was set in his ways as to what proper behavior for a young lass should be, and was more than willing to share his opinions and beliefs whenever he had a captive audience. Luckily, politics wasn’t something that interested the man, for which Ben was grateful. Politics and religion could easily alienate the best of families at times. He just seemed to focus on his daughters. He wasn’t even sure her father liked him, although Dottie said her parents approved of him because Ben’s family was a part of Heaven’s Gate Estates.

“I’m sorry, I know yer mum is a hard pill to swallow at times. Ye could always make them a dish of this delicious lasagna fer Christmas,” he teased. “I can’t believe she could find a single negative thing to say about it.”

Dottie snorted bitterly. “Then ye don’t know my mum as well as ye think ye do.” She pushed her chair back and picked up her plate. “Do ye want the rest of this? I’m finished with it.”

Not wanting to see half of the generous piece she’d taken get thrown away, he nodded. “Aye, I’ll take it. I’ve got plenty of room.”

When she walked around the table, he took the plate from her and set it on the table, then grabbed her hand and pulled her down on his knee. With a gentle finger, he pushed the fall of hair back that was hiding the side of her face. “I love ye, Dottie. Whatever is bothering ye, I wish ye’d share it with me. Ye know ye can tell me anything,” he added softly, running his thumb down the delicate skin of her flushed cheek.

She glanced up and then shifted away again. “I just told ye,” she replied stiffly. “The Christmas season always does this to me. My family drives me crazy every year.”

He knew she wasn’t telling him everything because she kept avoiding his gaze. Finally, he turned her chin around to face him. “Okay, honey, I won’t push ye.” He dropped a kiss on her lips and let her go. She jumped up and headed towards her office.

“I have one more email to answer and then we can watch a movie or something,” she threw over her shoulder.

Ben watched her saucy buttocks gyrate as she walked away and felt his body tighten. “Aye, mayhap a Christmas movie. The Grinch comes to mind,” he teased after her.

She shot him a sizzling look before disappearing into her office and he chuckled as he scraped her offering onto his plate. No point in having something this good go to waste. The chickens would lose out on this dinner tonight.

Remembering how the leftover Habanero Roast Lamb supper she’d fixed last spring had turned the chicken’s egg whites pink ran through his mind. He’d been too late to warn her not to give the chickens the left-overs from that meal. They were right hearty chickens though, they kept on laying even if their eggs weren’t usable for the next three days. He grinned at the memory.

After finishing off the meal and scraping the pan, Ben tidied up the little kitchen and headed for the recliner and the television. As he thumbed through the Christmas movie offerings, he thought about his secret surprise for Dottie. He was feeling a tad guilty because he’d cautioned her so much about keeping expenses down to pay for the used SUV they had bought for a second vehicle. She needed a car to get back and forth from town, and she hated feeling stranded when he was out working with the truck, so it had been an important purchase.

Still, he’d wanted to do something special for her for Christmas. Snowmobiling was a sport his lass totally loved, so he’d borrowed some money from his dad and bought a barely used Polaris Switchback from one of his cousins. It was stored at Neamh right now in the shed where Darro kept all the snowmobiles for Heaven’s Gate.

Polaris was well-known for its easy handling and durability on and off the trails and he wanted her to be safe. The red Switchback would appeal to her since red was one of her favorite colors. Maybe one of these days he could afford one for himself to match hers, but for now, he’d stick with the reliable Artic Cat. It was a beast, but it worked great for helping the dogs with the sheep in the winter.

She was going to be so surprised and he couldn’t wait to see her face. It was difficult for him to keep his secret, but he was determined that she wouldn’t figure it out. He knew she’d already been in the closet and shaking packages under the tree, but he hadn’t put any names on his gifts yet. The sneaky little devil would have to wait.

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