Christmas Kisses

Chapter 21: Happy Birthday, Tessa

Sean glanced between his dad and Cecelia. The day after Thanksgiving he'd noticed a change in both of them. Was he losing his mind? They actually seemed to be making mushy eyes at each other. After the way things had gotten tight during Thanksgiving dinner, he'd figured his dad would be as close-mouthed as ever and Cecelia would act all bright and happy trying to relieve the tension. Now, there was no tension in the air and his dad was watching Cecelia with a little smile. Have I entered another dimension?

Cecelia said, "Are you almost ready? If we leave now, I'll get you to the party in plenty of time. Tooty gave me directions to the Branigan ranch. It's only about twenty minutes outside of town.

Sean shut down the game he was playing on his iPhone. "I'm ready." He stood and stretched. "Just let me run upstairs for my jacket and Tessa's present." He headed down the hallway and glanced back once to see Mac and Cecelia smiling at each other again. Sheesh!

In the hallway, he had to pass the locked door. That dang door was always locked. Almost every day when no one was looking he tried the knob. From past experience, he knew secrets were hidden behind locks. Was his father hiding secrets? He'd bet a year's allowance he was. And I'm going to discover them.

The drive to Tessa's house was filled with Cecelia's usual upbeat chatter, which Sean didn't pay much attention to. Suddenly, he asked, "Why is the door in the hallway always locked?"

Cecelia abruptly stopped talking. Her reply was a little too breathless. "It's just a junk room."

Yep, they're definitely hiding something. "Why keep it locked?"

"Ah, the junk belongs to the owner of the house and she doesn't want anyone going through it."

"So, my father doesn't own the house."

"No, he's renting it. As you know, I'm also renting one a few blocks over. Sometimes you want to try out an area before you purchase a home."

Her explanation sounded reasonable, but Sean knew she was lying. Cecelia wasn't a good liar. Now he was more determined than ever to break into that room.

Cecelia pulled his dad's Toyota SUV into a long drive leading to a cabin. A real cabin. An old cabin. A log cabin. "Hey, this place is fantastic." He glanced past the cabin to a big red barn with a couple of corrals nearby. "So, Tessa's father is a rodeo star?"

"From what I understand. I knew his wife, Monica, in New York before she moved here and married him."

"Really? Did she meet her husband at a rodeo in New York?"

Cecelia grinned. "No, actually, their story is very romantic."

Sean refrained from rolling his eyes. Women were so into romantic stuff. When she didn't continue, he said, "And?"

She grinned. "Okay. I'll tell you the story. Monica was a very successful interior designer in New York. In fact, she decorated my brother's penthouse and well, they even dated."

Sean focused his full attention away from the horses and back to Cecelia. This story was getting good.

She continued, "Anyway, Monica had some bad luck and lost everything—her job, residence, just everything. Because she'd previously known my brother, she called him to ask about a job lead, and ended up spilling her story. To make a long story short, he checked around and found out there was an opening with a local rancher and rodeo star who had busted his leg and needed a housekeeper and someone to watch Tessa. Because Monica was desperate, she applied for the job. Dirk, after talking to my brother, felt sorry for her and decided to offer her the position." Cecelia lifted a hand to her mouth and chuckled. "I guess things got interesting after that because Monica had never been "domestic" in her life. I have to tell you, that when I knew her in New York, she was spoiled and impossible and I didn't much like her. Now–" she moved her hands in an expansive motion, "–she's a sweet country gal who loves Tessa, her husband, and their six month old baby, Candi. I swear she's not the same woman I knew."