New Year Kisses

‘Thanks.’ He nodded distractedly, aware of May’s brooding silence as she sat at the kitchen table drinking her own warm brew, studiously ignoring him, it seemed.

‘Help yourself to milk and sugar,’ March told him dismissively as she placed a mug of coffee on the table for him. ‘In case you’re wondering, January is over in the shed dealing with early milking,’ she added dryly.

Was he really that obvious? Max wondered with a scowl. Probably, he conceded heavily. To January’s sisters, at least…

‘Now that we’ve cleared the drifts away from the doors and a path over to the shed,’ May put in pointedly.

While he lingered in his bed trying to build up the courage to get out of the warmth of the bedclothes into the cold of the room, May implied, but didn’t actually say.

‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ he offered—and as quickly realized how ridiculous he sounded; what on earth did he know about any of the workings of a farm?

March obviously found the offer just as ridiculous, giving a wry smile. ‘Stay out of everyone’s way?’ she suggested scathingly.

Feeling inadequate did not sit easily on Max’s shoulders; having it pointed out to him by the more outspoken of the Calendar sisters only made it worse!

He stood up noisily. ‘I think I’ll just go over anyway and see if there’s anything I can do for January.’

May sat back, looking at him derisively. ‘I think you’ve already done enough for her, don’t you?’ she murmured enigmatically.

Max’s gaze narrowed on her speculatively as he pulled on his heavy jacket. Obviously whatever headway he had made with May yesterday had been completely voided by having January linger in the bedroom with him last night, May definitely back to her old protective self.

Family disapproval was also something Max had never encountered before—mainly because he had never so much as suggested meeting any of the family of the women he had been involved with over the years!

God, he really had to get out of here. And not just the farmhouse, either!

Which may prove a little difficult, he discovered on opening the door; May really hadn’t been joking about the snowdrifts! They were as high as four feet along the side of the shed and the hedgerow of the track up here to the house.

‘Our uncle—Sara’s father—is going to come up from the road and clear it later this morning,’ March assured him with a mocking grin—obviously having enjoyed the look of dismay on his face for several minutes first.

Max didn’t even bother to reply as he closed the door behind him, pausing in the porch to pull on his walking boots before staggering across to the cow shed. And it really was staggering, the ground extremely slippery underfoot. But at least the snow seemed to have stopped falling.

Quite what he had expected once inside the shed, he really had no idea. But it certainly wasn’t to hear the sounds of the electric milking machines—or to see January as he had never seen her before!

Faded denims were tucked into knee-high wellington boots, a coat that looked several sizes too big for her reaching warmly down to her knees, a scarf muffled up about her face, her ebony hair all but hidden beneath a multicoloured woolen hat.

Grey eyes—the only part of her face visible!—were full of laughter as she looked up and saw his astounded expression.

She pulled the scarf down from over her mouth, grinning ruefully. ‘See what I mean about the impracticality of love at first sight!’ she derided.

Max recovered quickly, the beautiful grey eyes the same, as was her smile. ‘This certainly beats the toothpaste tube and the bare feet,’ he acknowledged dryly, moving further into the shed.

It was warmer in here than outside, probably because of the heat given off by the animals themselves. Although there were other disadvantages, the animals giving off a smell that was overwhelming.

He grimaced. ‘May still seems a little—annoyed with me, this morning.’

‘With you, too?’ January shrugged. ‘She’ll get over it.’

Max was still curious as to where the elder Calendar sister had been when she’d claimed she was going to the dentist. But as neither of her sisters seemed to have the least suspicion, and May herself was completely unforthcoming, he didn’t think he stood much chance of finding out.

‘I’ll be finished in here soon, if you would like to go back to the house,’ January offered. ‘Unless, of course, it really is a little too frosty over there?’ She quirked dark brows teasingly.

‘I’m sure I can cope,’ Max drawled. ‘But I’ll wait for you, anyway.’

In actual fact, he quite enjoyed watching January’s dexterous movements as she finished milking the first set of cows before moving on to the next.

He also couldn’t help smiling as he imagined the faces of the guests staying at the hotel if they could see the glamorous singer from the piano-bar now. January’s gorgeous figure was completely hidden in the bulky clothing she wore, and, as far as he could tell, she didn’t have on even a dusting of make-up, not even a lip gloss.

And yet she was still beautiful to him, he realized somewhat dazedly. What was happening to him?

It certainly wasn’t the right time for his mobile telephone to start ringing. Mainly because he could too easily guess who the caller was going to be!

Despite the time difference between here and America, Max knew from experience that Jude was a man who needed very little sleep—and who didn’t appreciate that others might not be quite so fortunate!

‘Shouldn’t you get that?’ January prompted curiously as he made no effort to take the intrusive telephone from his pocket.

He shrugged. ‘If it’s important, I’m sure they will call back.’

But as the telephone kept ringing Max was more convinced than ever that the caller had to be Jude; the other man really didn’t take no for an answer! Besides, when hadn’t Max been available to take Jude’s calls?

He looked about his surroundings self-derisively. When standing in the middle of a cow shed, with the woman who was slowly driving him insane, that was when!

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