One Christmas Wish Read Free

everything.
    Twelve years since he’d up and joined the Navy without saying good-bye.
    Her hands dove for her lap and she clasped them together, trying to wring out the panic.
    In high school he’d been good looking—the classic Texas quarterback. Tall and broad, light sandy hair. Eyes that she swore twinkled when he smiled. But now he was a man. A man who could easily win People ’s “Sexiest Man Alive” title…
    “Is this seat taken?” he asked with that southern refinement that’d had her swooning since she was six years old.
    “Uh.” The mad pulsing of her chest had seemed to fry the connection between her brain and her mouth. “No,” she finally managed.
    With comfort and ease, he slid onto the stool and helped himself to a beer from the steel ice tub. “I’m Isaac,” he said, a small smile making magic in his eyes.
    Yes. She was quite aware of that fact. But apparently he didn’t recognize her. Not that he should. The last time he’d seen her, she was lying in a hospital bed half dead. Ben had told her Isaac sat with her all day before he left for boot camp. Of course, she’d been unconscious so she’d have to take his word for it.
    “Are you here with the bride or groom?” he asked when she didn’t say anything.
    “Um.” She wasn’t prepared for this. Not to see Isaac. She knew he was coming, of course, but he wasn’t supposed to be here. Now. She thought she’d be able to avoid him, and yet here he was. Sitting down next to her.
    Hitting on her?
    “I’m here with both the bride and groom, actually.” She forced herself to maintain eye contact. The power of it stirred her up inside. His eyes were such a deep, lovely shade of brown. “What about you?” she asked, straining her throat so she wouldn’t sound so awed by him.
    “Groom.” He nodded toward her brother. “Ben and I go way back.”
    They went way back, too, she was tempted to remind him. She’d been in love with Isaac. She’d loved him the way she’d never loved anyone. And yes, she’d been young, a silly girl back then, but her feelings had run so deep they’d drowned her whenever she saw him. Kind of like they were now.
    She gulped down a swallow of gin and tonic. On a normal night, she didn’t opt for liquid courage, but she was desperate.
    “Great party,” Isaac observed, seemingly unfazed by her silence. He’d always been that way. Confident, comfortable in his own skin. Unlike most of the football players at their prep school, he was nice to everyone. Not just nice. Kind. Maybe that was why her heart had attached itself to his when she was so young. Because she’d recognized a strong tenderness that reminded her of her father.
    “Is it always this cold in Aspen?” The man asked, still making a heroic effort at a real conversation. He’d never been one to give up easily.
    “Only for nine months out of the year,” she answered with what she hoped was an easy smile. “Where are you from?” It came out automatically, even though she knew the answer. She knew everything about him. Or at least she had, back then. They’d grown up together. Isaac’s father had been an oil executive and his family had owned the ranch a few miles away from theirs…
    “Outside of Dallas, originally.” Something dark crossed his face. Someone who hadn’t known him well wouldn’t have noticed because he recovered so quickly. But she’d spent all of those years watching him.
    “I recently got out of the Navy, though,” he said, his smile intact again. “So at the moment, I live in San Diego. What about you? Are you from Aspen?”
    “Um.” God, those eyes made it so hard for her to think a pure thought. “Not originally, but I live here now.”
    He nodded as though prodding her to continue.
    But she couldn’t.
    “What do you do in Aspen?” he prompted.
    That should be an easy one… She surreptitiously pinched her hand so she’d snap out of this trance. “I work for Ben and Paige. At the ranch.” Good. That was