12 Gifts for Christmas Read online

  Des reached her in a few seconds and handed her the tool. “You’re doing fine.”

  “Thanks.”

  After she took it, he swung back to his foothold. As he started to climb down, he was suddenly seized by nausea and a blast of dizziness. His vision blurred and he lost his grip. Then everything went black.

  “Des!” Ally cried out, watching in horror as his body suddenly slid down the ice and his head hit the hard surface—his bare head. He hadn’t stopped to put on his helmet. She moaned in anguish.

  His body came to rest facedown at the bottom of the ice waterfall. It had all happened within seconds. “Des!” she cried out in panic. No answer. “Des?”

  He was out cold, possibly injured. She had to help him. She pulled out her ax and found the former hole she’d made with it. Slowly she eased herself down in increments until she reached his body. She removed her harness so she wouldn’t be hampered and crouched beside him.

  She was trained in first aid, and did a quick assessment.

  His face had gone the color of ash but she found a pulse, though it was a slow one. He wasn’t bleeding and he didn’t seem to have a spinal injury, thank heaven.

  Something must have happened to him after he’d handed her the tool. Something that had caused him to lose consciousness.

  Oh, Des … I need to get you to a hospital, fast.

  Just the day before Miguel had told her there was no cell phone service in this area to call for assistance. So she’d either have to leave him here and go for help, hoping hypothermia didn’t set in in the meantime, or drag him to the truck. She chose the latter.

  After removing his crampons, she turned him over, grabbed hold of his harness and began pulling him toward the car. They were still on the ice, and she had to dig her crampons in with every step, slowing her progress and draining her strength.

  Ally prayed every inch of the way over the flat cascade of ice. Several times she heard a moan from Des. Relieved for even that much response, she finally reached their vehicle. After removing her crampons and helmet, she went through several of his pockets and found the keys.

  Once she’d opened the rear door, she grabbed him in a fireman’s lift the way she’d been trained in the Tetons and managed to get him inside. He had to weigh at least two hundred pounds of hard muscle, but she couldn’t stop to rest. Frantic to reach help, she raced around and got behind the wheel of the truck. Thank heaven it was only a few kilometers to the village.

  All the while her mind was replaying the horrific moment in the raft with Rex when they’d hit the rapids. He hadn’t been wearing a helmet, either. She’d told him to put it on after they’d put the boat in the water. But like Des, he’d said he would get it in a minute but had left the shore without it. They’d gone into the rapids at the wrong angle and the boat had flipped. Rex had been thrown from the boat and his head had hit a boulder. He never regained consciousness.

  This was like déjà vu. Des couldn’t die, too! She wouldn’t let him.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “DES? Can you hear me?”

  That voice crying softly to him … A woman’s voice … An American, he realized, since every once in a while he could hear her speaking English to him. Who in the hell was she?

  Slowly his senses picked up other things. The warmth of two feminine hands closed around his, the subtle fragrance of wildflowers found in the highest meadows.

  “Please wake up and talk to me,” the sweet voice called to him.

  With that urgent entreaty, he made the effort and opened his eyes to discover an enchanting face bent over him, wet with tears. She’d been crying. He didn’t understand why.

  The tips of her light brown hair, streaked with gold highlights, brushed against his jaw. Those liquid-filled eyes of amber brown … He’d seen them before. But where? Right now they were full of anxiety and a plea for him to stay with her.

  “I’m Ally. Do you remember me?”

  He was trying to think, but the pain at the side of his forehead kept interfering with his concentration. “Ally who?” he whispered.

  “Ally Bonner. Miguel asked if you would take me ice climbing.”

  Something clicked in his brain. “You’re the Teton girl who wears the cowboy boots!”

  “Yes!”

  Her smile of relief radiated a universe of sunshine. It seeped into those dark places where he’d been living for such a long time. “Thank heavens you’re going to be all right.”

  He took a deep breath. “I remember reaching you and handing you the ax. Then I was overwhelmed by dizziness and couldn’t hold on.”

  She squeezed his hand before letting go. “So that’s what happened! I watched you fall. I’ve never felt so helpless in my life.”

  “I’ve never felt that sick in my life. I was supposed to be protecting you. Where am I?”

  “At the clinic here in Puerto d’Ara.”

  “Why are you crying?”

  He heard her take a shuddering breath. “Because you’re alive… . My … fiancé wasn’t as lucky.”

  Fiancé? “What happened to him?”

  “We were doing a float trip together down the Snake River with a group of tourists from the dude ranch I help my family run. Like you, he said he’d put his helmet on in a minute. When we hit the rapids at the wrong angle, it tipped and Rex was thrown. He hit his head on a boulder. We managed to rescue him from the water but he was unconscious… . He never came out of the coma,” she said on a whisper.

  Des’s stomach clenched, imagining the horror of it. He’d heard her anguish.

  “When I saw you lying there, I couldn’t bear it.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss, Ally.”

  She drew herself up and wiped her eyes. “It’s in the past now. What’s important is that you’re awake and will live to climb another day.”

  “Thanks to you. How did I get here?”

  “I brought you.”

  He frowned, but even that hurt. “How?”

  The corner of her mouth lifted. Though she wasn’t conscious of it, he found her smile seductive. “The old-fashioned way.”

  What? He stared hard at her. “You mean you dragged me off the ice by yourself?”

  She nodded, causing her wavy hair to dance along her shoulders. He remembered she’d been wearing it in a ponytail before. Either way, she was a knockout. “Those harnesses come in handy for a lot of reasons. The hardest part was getting you in the back of your truck.”

  “But you managed it. And got me here.” A swell of gratitude and admiration took over, shocking the hell out of him. Only then did he realize there was an IV in his other arm. “What time is it now?”

  “Five in the evening.”

  “How long have I been asleep?”

  “On and off since yesterday afternoon.”

  He’d lost a whole twenty-four hours? “But that’s impossible!”

  “Your body needed the rest. Besides having a slight concussion, the doctor says you have the flu. It hit you hard, that’s why you’ve been sleeping so long.”

  Des was incredulous. He passed a hand over his jaw and felt his growth of beard with disgust. “I remember feeling nauseous for the last few days, but figured it was a bug and would pass. Instead of obeying the warning signs, I endangered your life.”

  “No, you didn’t,” she insisted. “You did such an expert job of preparing me that I was able to respond. But next time, take your own advice and put your helmet on before you do anything else, okay?”

  Des was in awe of this woman. She’d endured heartbreak and grief. Des’s experience with his fiancée couldn’t compare. Now he could truly see it for what it was—a blow to his pride, nothing more. He felt the fool for having allowed it to affect him so much. He’d wasted the past year of his life. On a trifle.

  “What’s put that fierce look on your face?” she asked.

  “I was also engaged once … this time last year, in fact. But I broke it off and am happy to say that by now she has probably found h
erself someone greedier than she is.” At her surprised expression, he explained his words. “When I took her ice climbing for the first and only time, she bruised her ankle, then sued my company to make money off an injury that was so minimal she could walk on it within a day.”

  “Oh, dear. Are you very rich?” she teased.

  “Extremely,” he said in total honesty, unafraid to admit it to her.

  “Is she very beautiful, the way I imagine Bizet’s Carmen? Long black hair? Fiery dark eyes, passionate to her very soul with a figure to die for?”

  “I’ll admit her beauty was extraordinary.” But her soul …

  “Then you’re probably right, and she has the kind of marriage she’s been waiting for all her life, where both grasping parties have their needs completely met.”

  After that comment Des broke into full-bodied laughter, delighted by her intelligence and the fact that she didn’t take herself seriously.

  “Señor Pastrana,” the doctor said as he walked into the room. “I’m happy to hear you laugh like that. It is the best of signs. And I’m glad that you’re now fully awake and talking to Señorita Bonner. She’s been at your bedside since yesterday, waiting for you to open your eyes. Welcome back. How are you feeling?”

  “Good.” It was the truth … since he’d awakened to an angel staring down at him.

  The doctor checked Des’s vital signs while Ally kept watch. “Can you give me a few more details, por favor?”

  “My head hurts, but it’s not that bad and I’m no longer feeling sick to my stomach.”

  “Muy bien. We’ve been giving you antinausea medication in your IV. Keep this up and tomorrow you’ll be able to go home—provided you take care of yourself.”

  Ally’s face lit up. “That’s wonderful news.”

  For several reasons, Des agreed.

  The doctor smiled at him. “You were fortunate your lovely climbing companion here got you off the ice quickly. Otherwise we would have had to treat you for hypothermia. But I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t warn you of the dangers of pushing yourself too hard. You may be the head of a successful business empire and famous throughout Spain, but you are still human.”

  “I’ve had a lot of work to accomplish,” he admitted.

  “Don’t we all, but that’s the reason why this particular flu hit you especially hard. Follow my advice and take it easy for a while.” He smiled. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Gracias, doctor.”

  “De nada.”

  As Des looked at Ally again he considered the doctor’s words. Perhaps he should take some time off from work and find more … pleasurable ways to fill his life.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “DON’T leave yet, Ally.” Des was afraid she’d follow the doctor out of the room.

  She gripped the side rail of his bed. “You need to rest.”

  “I’ve been unconscious for twenty-four hours, I feel like company. Do you mind?”

  As Des said the words, he realized he meant them. But not just any company would do. Only hers. He realized that, too. His friend Raoul wouldn’t believe how quickly his whole attitude was changing. Des would have to text him later.

  “I’ll stay for a while longer.” She pulled up a chair to the side of the hospital bed. “Oh, before I forget, Miguel went up to the amphitheatre and brought back all our things. There was a trail of debris from the cascade to the car.”

  “When you went through my pockets, did you find my phone?”

  “Oh, yes—” She reached in her purse. “Here it is. I’ll put it on your bedside table.”

  “Gracias.”

  “I’m afraid I didn’t have another thing on my mind after you passed out except to drive you here. I’ve still got the keys to your truck, too.”

  “That’s good,” he murmured. “Keep them until tomorrow. That way if you’re willing, you can visit me and then drive me home.”

  There was a slight hesitation that concerned him before she said, “Of course I will. You went out of your way to accommodate me. Until you fell, I was really enjoying the climb.”

  A nurse came in to change his IV bag, then slipped out again.

  Ally smiled at him. “Can I bring you anything from your room at the posada?”

  “I could use my electric razor. It’s in the bathroom with my other things.”

  “Tell you what. Why don’t I leave now and bring them back to you?”

  “In other words, I could do with a shave.”

  “Did I say that?”

  His black brows quirked in amusement. “You didn’t have to.”

  “Where’s the card key for your room?”

  “A monk’s cell doesn’t have something as modern as an electronic card to open the door—it has a metal key. It’s with my car keys.”

  “Oh—” She reached in her purse once more and brought out the keys. “Which one opens your room?”

  He took hold of her hand to show her. It trembled at the contact. Pleased by the response he said, “It’s the middle one.”

  She quickly eased her hand away. “What room number?”

  “Mine doesn’t have one. It has an exterior entry around the west side of the posada. You can’t miss it since it’s the only one.”

  “That sounds rather mysterious.”

  A low chuckle came out of him. “Wait till you see it.”

  She moved the chair against the wall. “I’ll be back soon.”

  “Hurry,” he called out as she opened the door and left.

  Hurry?

  More than the word, the urgency in Des’s tone caused Ally to tremble again. She couldn’t believe he was the same forbidding stranger she’d met in the posada dining room, let alone the unconscious man she’d brought into the hospital so ill she’d feared for his life.

  The warm, compassionate Spaniard who’d just listened to her heartache and then told her about his own broken engagement showed a completely new side of him, and the change was doing odd things to her equilibrium. The increasingly strong attraction she felt toward him sent off warning bells in her brain. She’d come here for adventure, not to get involved in a romance.

  He was a gorgeous man. Against the pristine white of the clinic’s sheets and pillow, his coloring and rugged features made him the most sensational-looking male she’d ever seen. Too sensational. Too perfect. Unlike her.

  If those black eyes were ever to see what cancer had done to her body … She couldn’t face that. She’d needed to get away from him. Which was why she’d jumped up and offered to go get his things from the hotel. Anything to keep her distance.

  Not that he’d shown any sign of romantic interest. Though she knew he was grateful for her help, she was under no illusions that his attraction to her was as powerful as hers was for him. And even though he had to be feeling terrible right now, he was awake and probably itching to get out of the hospital.

  A dynamic man like him who ran a multibillion-dollar hotel business and went ice climbing to relax was probably a horrible patient and couldn’t take advantage of the rest.

  When she drove back to the posada, she found Inez at the front desk and filled her in. “I know the children were hoping I could eat dinner with them, but Señor Pastrana needs a little waiting on. Tell them I’ll be back tonight and I can read a story to them before they go to sleep. I bought them some Christmas books. Tonight we can read one of my favorites—How the Grinch Stole Christmas. They’ll love it.”

  “I’m sure I will, too!” Inez smiled. “But don’t worry about anything else right now. Des’s health is more important.”

  “He’s doing amazingly well. The doctor said he only had a light concussion.”

  Inez crossed herself. “I’ll tell Miguel. We’ve both been anxious. We visited him twice, but both times he was still asleep.”

  “Thankfully he’s awake now. I better go and get his things. See you later, Inez.”

  After a shower in her room and a change of clothes into jeans and a kelly-g
reen crewneck sweater, Ally dashed out the front doors of the inn and around the side. She felt strange walking into Des’s private hotel room, but he had given her permission.

  Once she stepped over the threshold, she was delighted by the way the room felt and looked like a window into the past. But she didn’t have time to examine everything; Des needed his things.

  Later, when she entered his room at the clinic, his black eyes darted from her to the suitcase.

  “I didn’t know what you’d want so I just brought everything,” she explained.

  For the second time in the past few hours he burst into laughter. The sound thrilled her.

  “Why don’t you put the bag down and pull up a chair so we can talk.” As she did his bidding, he rolled onto his side toward her, taking care with the IV in his arm. “What did you think of my room?”

  She glanced at him. “It felt as if I’d just stepped into a seventeenth-century priest’s inner sanctum. To be honest, I loved it so much I wish I’d known about it so I could have reserved it before I arrived.”

  “You can’t reserve it. When the corporation bought the monastery, I had it all remodeled except that room. It’s mine.”

  “Well, lucky you.” She paused. “I felt kind of naughty, letting myself in like that and then leaving with the suitcase.”

  “If anyone had seen you, they would think I was a very fortunate man,” he said, his gaze fixed on her mouth. A curling warmth traveled through her body. Followed immediately by a burst of panic. If she let the attraction between them go any further, he’d see her scars and be repulsed by them. He wouldn’t want her then.

  “Thank you, but if they knew my secrets, they would think nothing of the sort.” She’d said it to jar him, and it looked as if she’d succeeded because a puzzled expression entered his eyes.

  “Should I bite?”

  Ally shook her head. “It’s not worth the trouble of an explanation.”