Second Chance Christmas (The Colorado Cades) by Tanya Michaels Page B

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    “Losing your touch, bro?”
    “I...” For a moment, Justin was tempted to resurrect the decades’ old habit of confiding in his brother and asking for advice. The image of Elisabeth’s face haunted him. She’d looked upset at his house yesterday. He didn’t know how to interpret her assertion that she was no longer the same person she’d been six months ago. And now Arden was worried that Elisabeth lacked the emotion she’d felt for Justin.
    A sudden, vibrant memory assailed him, of making love to Elisabeth on a warm summer night. He’d rolled her over, not paying enough attention to the mattress edge and nearly sent the both of them careening to the floor. She’d cracked up, laughing between her kisses, completely unselfconscious, uninhibited in both her passion and her humor. That moment had stuck with him for a long time afterward, making him grin inwardly when he heard a guy in town say that both Donnelly women were attractive but that Elisabeth was a lot more “buttoned-up.” Justin had seen her unbuttoned. Had he done something to damage that, to extinguish that flame in her?
    He hoped not. For her sake, he hoped that behind closed doors she was just as unexpectedly passionate with Steven—although he automatically recoiled at the image of her laughing and kissing anyone else.
    “Did I lose you?” Colin asked, sounding perplexed. “You go through a tunnel or something?”
    “Reception can be pretty lousy in the mall. How about I let you go, and you can text me later if your plans change or if you have a definite time for when you’ll get to town Tuesday? You still have a spare key?”
    “Yep.”
    “Travel safe,” Justin said. And slow down . Even if his brother had days when he didn’t care whether he lived or died, there were others who did. At least Colin always wore his helmet.
    He disconnected the call and walked back through the mall, wondering how much closer Arden was to Santa now. Had Hope’s picture already been taken? He didn’t—
    “Justin!”
    He stopped in his tracks, scanning the bustling crowd for the pint-size owner of that now-familiar voice. Despite some mixed feelings about letting Kaylee get too close to him before moving away, he couldn’t fight the smile already spreading across his face. The little girl was holding hands with a disgruntled Elisabeth; they’d been about to enter the ice cream shop.
    He greeted the six-year-old with a friendly fist bump. “What brings you to the mall?”
    “Ice cream!” Kaylee declared.
    “I’m running some errands for my mom while Dad and Steven are snowmobiling. The ice cream was just an added bonus,” Elisabeth said.
    “As I recall, you used to get some wicked cravings for ice cream.” He remembered her, wearing only his shirt, blending peppermint milk shakes to cool them down after a hot couple of hours in her bedroom. To Kaylee he said, “Bet I can guess what Beth’s gonna order. Peppermint ice cream.”
    Elisabeth ducked her gaze. “Everyone orders peppermint this time of year. It’s the seasonal special.”
    But Kaylee looked impressed with his deductive skills. “How do you know what she’s gonna order?”
    “Because peppermint’s been her favorite since even before she was born.”
    Patti Donnelly had once shared the information that peppermint had been the only thing that soothed her queasy stomach when she was pregnant, so she’d taken it in as many forms as possible—peppermint tea, hard candies, peppermint ice cream. It had always been one of Elisabeth’s favorite flavors, and Patti claimed her daughter’s fondness for it had started in utero.
    “You can’t have food before you’re born,” Kaylee said, exasperated.
    “You don’t think babies get food in their mommies’ tummies?” he asked.
    “Elisabeth?” The little girl tugged on her guardian’s purse, her face very serious. “How do babies get inside mommies’ tummies?”
    Elisabeth smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand,