One Christmas Wish by Brenda Jackson

CHAPTER TWENTY

“GODDY! LOOKHOW big Mr. Vaughn’s boat is.”

Sierra was looking. She hadn’t known that what Vaughn had referred to as a boat was really a yacht, and it was a beauty.

“Good morning, ladies,” Vaughn said, climbing down off the yacht and heading to meet them.

It was hard to believe a week had passed since their day in New Orleans. He’d only come into the restaurant twice this week due to working late at the office, usually past ten. On those nights that he hadn’t seen her, he would call her. This had been a good week for them. “Hello, Vaughn,” Sierra greeted when he reached them.

“Hello, Mr. Vaughn,” Teryn chimed happily. Then, glancing around the pier, “There are a lot of boats but yours is the biggest.”

Vaughn laughed and Sierra loved hearing the sound. It was deep, rich and raspy and always sent sensations sparking through her. Although he hadn’t shared any details, she knew he had a special day planned for her and Teryn. She was just as excited about today as her goddaughter.

“You and I have been invited to a party.”

Sierra tilted her head back to look up at him. “We have?”

“Yes. Arnett Staples is giving Nina a birthday party, and Isaac and Donna Elloran are hosting it at their place.”

Donna Elloran, the mother of a one-year-old son, was on the Christmas committee with her and a very likable person. The Ellorans also owned an ice cream shop a few doors down from her restaurant. She’d gotten to know Nina through Donna—they were best friends. Nina and Arnett, who had gotten married last year, had grown up in the cove but currently lived in California.

“Sounds nice. When is it?” If she attended the party with Vaughn, it would be the first time they’d be seen together in public...if you didn’t count the two times they’d met for breakfast at the Witherspoon Café. Or today. There was no doubt in her mind that even now people were noticing that she and Teryn were standing by his yacht.

“The party is next Saturday night.”

“I need to make sure arrangements can be made with my sitter for Teryn and will let you know.”

A huge smile stretched his lips. “Okay.”

There were times Sierra couldn’t get over just how down-to-earth Vaughn was. He acted as if he was just a normal guy when he was anything but that. His family had been wealthy and from what she understood, Vaughn and his sister had inherited their parents’ millions. Yet both he and Zara had decided not to live on their riches and had jobs.

“Will we go on the boat now?” Teryn asked excitedly, making it obvious she was ready to board.

“Yes, we can.” Taking both of their hands, Vaughn helped them on the yacht. “Welcome aboard.”

“I’MGLADTHATyou and Teryn enjoyed yourselves today, Sierra,” Vaughn said as he walked them to their car.

“Thank you for inviting us,” Sierra said. “And thanks for dinner as well.”

“You are welcome. I couldn’t let you ladies go home hungry.”

After returning to the dock, he had treated them to dinner at the Bounty, a seafood restaurant on the pier. He had ordered a pirate’s platter, which had been plenty for the three of them.

Teryn was skipping ahead, and Vaughn couldn’t help but smile. “She certainly has a lot of energy.”

Sierra chuckled. “Yes, she does. But trust me, as soon as she gets home and takes a bath she’ll be out like a light and sleep through the night. You kept her busy today.”

“I wanted to make sure she had fun.”

“Trust me, she did. We both did, and having pizza delivered out to sea for lunch was a great idea.”

“Thanks. Mr. Johnson said as long as we weren’t too far out that he could deliver it for us. I’m glad the weather cooperated. It was a nice day to be out on the water.”

Although there had been a breeze, it was still a fairly sunny day. He had rented a kiddie fishing pole to teach Teryn how to fish. She was so happy when she caught her first one, although she’d had to throw it back. She had been fine with that. She’d also been excited when they came across a pod of dolphins.

Because his yacht provided all the comforts of home, Teryn still was able to watch her favorite cartoon shows on television. She had been eager to practice her Christmas carols with them and that had been fun. Sierra thought Vaughn had a nice sounding voice when he was singing.

There were a number of boaters out on the water. Ray, Ashley and their twins cruised by, as well as Kaegan, Bryce and the baby.

“It was good seeing so many taking advantage of the nice weather today,” Sierra said.

“Yes, it was. I’m hoping the work on my home dock will be finished by the time I take my boat out again. I like having it parked at my place instead of here.” He’d told her earlier how he’d had the old dock torn down and was having a new one built.

“How often do you take it out?” she asked him.

He tried keeping his gaze trained on her and not let it slide down to her shoulders, a part of her body he’d kept looking at today. She was wearing jeans and an off-the-shoulders blouse. Those shoulders had begged to be kissed all day.

“It depends,” he finally said. “I like going fishing, so I try to take it out most weekends. Not so much now as we head into winter. Today was an exception. It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is in a few weeks.”

“I know. Then it’s the holiday season and I can’t wait. The one thing I missed when I moved away was Catalina Cove during the holidays.”

Vaughn leaned in and asked in a low voice, so Teryn wouldn’t hear, “Have you come up with your one Christmas wish yet?”

“No, not yet. I’m surprised she didn’t ask us about it today. Count our blessings,” she said, grinning.

When they reached Sierra’s car, Teryn turned and asked, “Mr. Vaughn, will you be decorating your boat for the Christmas parade?”

He smiled down at Teryn. “Umm, I hadn’t really thought about it. What do you think I should do?”

“Decorate it for the parade,” she replied, hopping up and down.

His eyebrows lifted. “Will you help me?”

“Yes! I’ll help,” she said excitedly.

He turned to Sierra. “What about you? Will you help us decorate my boat?”

She smiled. “I’d love to help.”

“I’MGLADYOU’VEdecided to give Vaughn a chance, Sierra.”

Sierra sat curled up on the sofa, enjoying a glass of wine. She’d had no intention of calling Dani, but her sister couldn’t resist calling her to see how things had gone today.

“Let’s not get carried away, Dani. Vaughn and I agreed to take things slow.”

“Umm, a date two weekends straight. That’s taking things slow?”

Sierra took a sip of wine, deciding for the time being not to mention Vaughn had asked her to attend a party with him next Saturday. “I don’t consider today a date. It was a fun day for Teryn. She really enjoyed herself.”

“I think it was nice to include her. Some men wouldn’t.”

She knew that was true. “Vaughn was the one to suggest we do things with her, so she could feel included.”

“Again, some men wouldn’t be so thoughtful. I’m going to admit I had misgivings about Vaughn Miller at first, because I didn’t want you to get caught up with the first guy you dated after your divorce, but from what I’m hearing, he sounds like a keeper.”

“Not sure I want a keeper, Dani. I like his company, but I don’t want to get wrapped up in any man again. I’ve learned when the going gets tough, they get going.”

“Not all men.”

“Enough of them do,” she said bitterly as memories flooded her mind. “Knowing I was about to lose my very best friend in all the world was hard on me. Instead of Nathan understanding what I was going through, he would get mad saying Rhonda was taking up too much of my time, and that surely she had other friends she could turn to. He couldn’t understand that it didn’t matter that Rhonda might have had other friends, I was her best friend and there was a difference. It’s sad he couldn’t see that.”

That was why she’d never told Nathan about being a pen pal to a prisoner either. He would not have understood her need to reach out and give words of encouragement and motivation to anyone who needed to hear it. She often wondered about the person who received her letters and hoped they had helped him or her in some way.

After the call with Dani, Sierra decided to see if there was anything interesting on television. When she picked up the remote, her phone rang. Thinking it was Dani calling her back she clicked on without checking ID and said, “Okay, what did you forget to tell me, Dani?”

There was a pause and then a deep, throaty voice said, “It’s not that I forgot to tell you something. I didn’t get a chance to get something from you today, Sierra.”

She swallowed, recognizing the male voice. “And what didn’t you get from me, Vaughn?”

“Open your door and I will tell you.”

Open her door?Sierra stood and went to the stairs. Looking down, she saw through the transom window above her door that the motion light was on. Lifting the hem of her caftan she walked down the stairs. She checked the peephole to make sure it was Vaughn before opening the door.

When she saw him standing there, she felt a gush of pleasure inside of her. “Haven’t you seen me enough today, Vaughn?” she teased, stepping aside for him to enter.

“Not nearly enough,” he answered, giving her a too-sinful smile as he entered her home and closed the door behind him.

“So, what do you need from me?” she asked, tilting her head back to look at him. She wished he wasn’t looking at her like he could eat her alive, and more than anything she wished she wasn’t remembering the night when he practically had.

His hair was slightly damp and touched the collar of his shirt. That, and the fact that he was wearing a different outfit, indicated he’d showered and changed before coming here. He smelled good, too.

When he didn’t say anything but kept looking at her, she figured she needed to repeat her question. “So, what do you need from me?”

He took a step closer to her. “I’d rather show you, Sierra.”

He cradled her jaw in his hand, leaned down and captured her mouth with his.