LITMIR.BIZ

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I know we talked about families before. Earlier today you said you are going to see your sister in Austin tomorrow. Do you see her at Christmas?”

      “Some years I spend Christmas at her house. Some years I go back and forth between my parents and my sister. Mom has moved to Fort Worth. She’s a high school principal there. After the divorce my dad moved his insurance business to Dallas because he had so many customers in the area. I see him some, but not as much as my mom. My grandmother lives with her and my grandfather is deceased.”

      “So this year what will you do at Christmastime?”

      “I plan to stay here and keep trying to help where I can until the afternoon of Christmas Eve. Then I’ll fly to Austin to be at my sister’s. I have a feeling the holidays will be extremely difficult here for some people. I’m coming back Christmas afternoon and I’ve asked people here who are alone to come over that evening—just a casual dinner. So far there are about five people coming.”

      “That’s nice, Stella,” Aaron said, sounding sincere with a warmth in his gaze that wrapped her in its glow.

      “What about you, Aaron? Where will you spend Christmas? You know more about my family than I do about yours.”

      For an instant he had a shuttered look that made her feel as if she had intruded with her question. Then he shrugged and looked at her. “My parents moved to Paris and I usually go see them during the holidays. My brother is in Dallas and I’ll be with him part of the time, although he’s going to Paris this year. I like to ski, and some years I ski. This year I’ll see if I can help out around here. You’re right. A holiday can hurt badly if someone has lost his home or a loved one. After losing his brother, Cole will need my support. So I’m going to spend the holidays in Royal.”

      As he spoke quietly, there was a glacial look in his eyes that made her feel shut out. She wondered about his past. More and more she realized how little she knew about him.

      Their waiter appeared to take their drink order, and Aaron looked at her, his brown eyes warm and friendly again. “The last time we were together you preferred a glass of red wine. Is that what you’d like now?”

      She shook her head. “No, thank you. I would prefer a glass of ice water. Maybe later I’ll have something else,” she said, surprised that he remembered what she had ordered before. She didn’t want to drink anything alcoholic and she also didn’t care to do anything to cause him to talk about the last time they were together.

      “Very well. Water for the lady, please, and I’ll have a beer,” he said to the waiter.

      As soon as they were alone, Aaron turned to her. “Let’s dance at least one time and then we’ll come back to place our order. Do you already know what you want? I remember last time it was grilled trout, which is also on this menu here.”

      “I don’t know what I want and I need to read the menu. I’ll select something and then we’ll dance,” she said, trying to postpone being in his arms. If she could gracefully skip dancing, she would, but he knew from the last time that she loved to dance. He was remembering that last time together with surprising clarity. She figured he had other women in his life and had forgotten all about her.

      “Let’s see what we want. When he brings drinks, we can order dinner. I remember how much you like to dance.”

      “You have a good memory.”

      “For what interests me,” he said, studying her.

      “What?” she asked, curious about the intent way he looked at her.

      “You’re different from last time. Far more serious.”

      Her breath caught in her throat. “You notice too much, Aaron. It’s the storm and all the problems. There are so many things to do. How can I look or feel or even be the same person after the event that has touched each person who lives here,” she said, realizing she needed to lighten the situation a bit so he would stop studying her and trying to guess what had changed and what was wrong.

      “C’mon. One dance. You need to get your mind off Royal for just a few minutes at least. We can order dinner after a dance. You’re not going to faint on the dance floor from hunger. Let it go for a minute, Stella. You’ve got the burden of the world on your shoulders.”

      She laughed and shook her head. “I don’t think it’s that bad. Very well, you win,” she said. By trying to stay remote and all-business, she was drawing more attention instead of less, which wasn’t what she wanted.

      “That’s more like it,” he said, smiling. “What time do you leave in the morning?” he asked.

      “I’ll fly the eight-o’clock commuter plane from here to Dallas and change planes for Austin.”

      They reached the dance floor as the music changed to an old-time fast beat. She was caught in Aaron’s direct look as they danced, and his brown eyes had darkened slightly. Desire was evident in his expression. Her insides clenched while memories of making love with him bombarded her.

      His hot gaze raked over her and she could barely get her breath. How could she resist him? He was going to interfere in her work in Royal, interfere in her life, stir up trouble and make her want him. The last part scared her. She didn’t want Aaron involved too soon because he was a man who was accustomed to taking charge and to having things his way.

      Watching him, she gave herself to dancing around the floor with him, to looking into brown eyes that held desire and a promise of kisses, to doing what he said—having fun and forgetting the problems for just a few minutes. The problems wouldn’t go away, but she could close her mind to them long enough to dance with Aaron and have a relaxing evening.

      As they danced the beat quickened. Smiling, she shut her mind to everything except dancing and music and a drumming beat that seemed to match her heartbeat. The problems would be waiting, but for a few minutes, she pushed them aside.

      Her gaze lowered to Aaron’s mouth and her own lips parted. Having him close at hand stirred up memories she had been trying to forget. If only she could go back and undo that night with him, to stop short at kissing him.

      The dance ended and when a ballad began he held her hand to draw her closer.

      “Aaron, I thought we were going to have one dance and then go order dinner,” she said, catching her breath.

      “I can’t resist this. I’ve been wanting to dance with you and hold you close.”

      The words thrilled her, scared her and tormented her. They danced together and she was aware of pressing lightly against him and moving in step with him. Memories of being in his arms became more vivid. His aftershave was faint but she recalled it from before. Too many things about him were etched clearly in her memory, which hadn’t faded any in spite of her efforts to try to avoid thinking about him.

      The minute the song ended, she stepped away and smiled. “Now, we’ve danced. Let’s go order so we get dinner tonight.”

      “There, that’s good to see you relax a little and laugh and smile. That’s more the way I remember you.”

      “I think you just wanted to get your way.”

      “No. If I just wanted to get my way, we wouldn’t be here right now. We’d be upstairs in my room.”

      She laughed and shook her head, trying to make light of his flirting and pay no attention to it.

      At their table she looked over the menu. She selected grilled salmon this time and sipped her cold water while Aaron drank a beer.

      “See, it’s good to let go of the problems for at least a brief time. You’ll be more help to others if you can view things with a fresh perspective.”

      “I haven’t done much of this. The calls for help have been steady although it’s not like it was at first. We’ve had some really good moments when families found each other. That’s a triumph and joy everyone can celebrate. And it’s touching when pets

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