Page 31 of Mason: His to Convince

Maggie swayed, catching hold to the door frame with one hand and reaching for Caitlin with the other,

“And what brother is that, little one?” Nick quietly asked, going down on one knee and looking directly into her small face.

“My brudder Jason. Come see, Nick,” Caitlin continued, grasping his hand and pulling him in the proper direction. “It what I asked Santa to bring me.”

“Mr. Kord can't stay,” Maggie cut in, picking up Nick's coat for emphasis. “I'm sure he has other things to do.”

“As a matter of fact I was hoping you'd let me hang around for a while. It is Christmas, after all, and with Mason and Rebecca out of town I...”

Maggie never heard the rest of his words. With his mention of Mason and Rebecca her last hope for a way out of this situation vanished.

The disappointment on her face was not lost on Nick. Turning his attention back to the golden sprite before him, Nick dutifully admired every feature of the special toy. For several minutes the big man and the petite girl knelt together on the floor. The sight of his dark head bending over her daughter while he listened to every word made a lump form in Maggie's throat.

Turning away she wiped a tear from her cheek. The sound of running footsteps preceded two boisterous boys down the stairs and Maggie groaned. What else could possibly go wrong she thought? She'd been hoping to get Nick out of here before this happened and now it was out of the question.

“Mom, make Jason give me back my new CD, he's had it all afternoon,” Todd whined, never noticing the stranger in the room.

“Ah, take it baby,” Jason responded, calling his little brother a name that always inflamed him.

“I'm not a baby, you take that back,” Todd howled, getting ready to head butt his sibling.

“Boys, that's enough. It's a holiday; can't you get along for one day,” she asked in frustration, flinging Nick's coat down on the couch and wrapping an arm around the squirming Todd.

“Todd, why don't you call Tommy and see what he got for Christmas,” she suggested, trying to defuse the situation.

“Okay Mom,” Todd complied somewhat resentfully. “But tell him to leave my stuff alone.”

“All right, go on. You can use the phone in my room. Jason I wish you'd stop antagonizing him. You know how hard this last year has been on him.”

“Yeah right, like it hasn't been hard on the rest of us.”

Maggie put a hand to her temple, gently massaging. The man in the living room had been temporarily forgotten in the heat of the moment, but Nick had taken in every bit of the scene played out before him. The stress and fatigue etched in Maggie's face pulled at him and he had a sudden impulse to take her into his arms and comfort her.

She was a young widow with three children. Trying to celebrate Christmas must be exceptionally hard on her he realized, absently studying Maggie's oldest son.

He was much taller than Maggie, his hair so black it almost looked blue. Funny, Jim hadn't been especially tall and Maggie was barely average height. Suddenly the boy looked directly into Nick's eyes and the color was startling. Recognition sent a fiery jolt through him and he took a step in the boy’s direction.

Maggie quickly stepped between the two males who were silently sizing each other up. “Jason, this is Mason's brother, Nicholas. Nick, this is my son Jason.”

Nick didn’t miss the slight emphasis she placed on the wordmy, even transfixed as he was. Looking at Jason was like goingback in time. Every feature was stamped Kord. Even the small dimple in his chin marked him.

“Nick was just leaving,” Maggie said firmly, interrupting their silent assessment.

Maggie's hands shook when she picked up his coat and handed it to him. For a breathless moment she was afraid he wouldn't take it. Her throat was so dry she could hardly get the words out as she thanked him for stopping and escorted him to the door.

She'd loved him once. Loved him with every beat of her heart, every breath in her body, but that was long ago, before he'd denied them their chance for happiness, denied their love. Now the only feeling he inspired was fear. Jason had never questioned his parentage and Maggie never brought it up. Jim was a good father, treating Jason exactly as if was his own child and Maggie promised never to reveal the truth. It was a promise she intended to keep.

“Good night, Nick,” she forced out, holding the door open, “Have a safe trip back to ah…Colorado isn’t it?” she questioned hopefully, refusing to back down even though her insides were shaking.

“All right Maggie, I’ll go, but I’ll be back,” he told her softly, the look in his eyes pinning her. Suddenly he laid his large palm against her cheek.

“I know things have been difficult for you and I’m trying to understand how you must be feeling, but this is far from over Maggie and it’s best you realize that right now. I’m not thinking too clearly at the moment, but based on a gut feeling, I’d say you have a lot of explaining to do.”

Maggie nodded and silently closed the door as the only man who had the power to destroy her life walked off into the night.

Chapter Twelve

Incredible heat penetrated Mason’s consciousness. At first he merely kicked off the covers and rolled farther away from Rebecca. Not understanding the source of such warmth, he sought only to avoid it. Pale light filtered through the gap in the bedroom drapes directly into his eyes and he flung up an arm to block it out. He finally came awake to the howling wind and the sound of sleet hitting the window.