><><><
Oh
well, she thought, in for a dollar and out for a dime. That didn’t sound right,
but the gist was she might as well just get started and maybe the words would
be obvious. Punching in the number of his cell did little to convince her that
was true. She forced a smile anyway as she heard it ring.
“Hey
baby.” She heard the smile in his deep voice. She also felt the tingles
throughout her body that any connection to Phillip produced.
“How
are you?” she asked starting with a cowardly and safe question.
“Busy
as hell and missing you more. Are you okay?”
“Fine.”
“How
about Amos?” His tone shifted a bit, and she heard worry enter.
“He’s
cranky as you could imagine so he must be recuperating. The only problem is
keeping him out of the barns. It takes Curly and me to do that.”
“Rafe
can’t help?”
Helene
thought of her handsome cousin who had come back to the ranch after a
catastrophic shoulder injury ended his rodeo career. He wasn’t likely to help
much of anybody, not even himself, but she tried to think of something
positive. When it didn’t come, she simply said, “He’s still recuperating.” She
wasn’t sure that was the whole truth as it had been five months since a bull
nearly killed Rafe. The physical injuries were as recovered as they’d ever be.
Emotional were more iffy.
“I
wish I could be there but…” Once again his tone had changed. She knew he was
feeling his own pressure. He handled it well, or he wouldn’t be in high stakes
finance, but it didn’t come without a physical cost.
“What
I wanted to… Well it’ll be awhile longer before I can leave Uncle Amos. He
really does need me here as much as anything to be sure he takes his meds and
doesn’t overdo.”
The
hesitation was brief. “I understand. When will you be back then?”
Having
split their living between two homes, one on the ranch and the other in Boston, had a lot of
complications not the least of which was going to be this year for Christmas.
“I
don’t see how I can until the end of January.”
“No
Tahiti then?” His voice was toneless,
revealing none of what he was feeling. That was so typical of Phillip when he
wanted to drop a barrier between others and himself.
“I’m
sorry, love, but I just can’t do it to Uncle Amos. And with Rafe as he is, well
they need me.”
“I
need you too.” He wasn’t condemning her, but she still knew he’d gone into a
defensive mode.
“And
I need you. Phillip. I want a Montana Christmas this year with you here too. I
know you planned for us to go to the islands again, but can’t you cancel that
and come here instead, have a real family Christmas?”
This
time there was a definite pause, but she waited before she added, “You know
what Christmas means to me. I’ve told you how it always was.”
Phillip
had told her what holidays had meant to him-- violent drunkenness from some of
his mother’s boyfriends. It hadn’t improved as his sisters grew up and added
their own chaos. His experiences had been far from Helene’s-- even though most
of hers hadn’t involved parents but rather the ranch and her uncle and aunt.
For her, Christmas holidays had been an escape from pressure. Up in the
mountains at their ranch, she had always been rejuvenated. She understood how
different it had been for Phillip, but she could show him another way if he
would give her a chance.
“Please
at least think about it,” she said. “I know I just dumped this on you but think
about it. If you just can’t do it, well, we’ll work out something.” She had no
idea what as she was not going to leave her uncle until he was fully himself
again.
“Baby,
I won’t say no to you. You know that. All right.” Now his voice definitely took
on a humorous twist. “What does this business of a family Christmas—Montana style mean?”