Free Colorado Christmas by C. C. Coburn Page A

The kid had it rough.
    “There you are!” Jessie said, joining them. “I see you’ve met an old school friend of mine, Nicolas.”
    “He’s going to teach me how to swim.”
    Jessie glanced up at Will, her eyebrows raised. “Really? And when does he propose to do that?”
    “When he gets his mom’s permission.”
    “Good luck! She’s extremely overprotective,” she added in an undertone. “You’ll need to produce documented evidence of certification as a swim instructor. Advanced level.”
    “A level-three ski instructor’s certificate won’t do?”
    Jessie giggled. “Hardly!” She smiled at the kid. “Ready for your session, Nicolas?”
    “Sure. Nice meeting you,” he said to Will, then ambled with an awkward gait toward the hydrotherapy pool enclosure.
    “What’s his problem?” Will asked.
    “Slight cerebral palsy. But he’s smart as a whip and a great kid.” She turned to Will. “That was sweet of you, offering to teach him to swim.”
    As Will observed the kid undoing his leg braces, he reflectedthat he’d had so many more opportunities in life than this little guy. “Maybe I’ll teach him to ski, as well.”
    “Will O’Malley! Your reputation as a pied piper is well-deserved,” she said. “Provided his mom agrees, I know Nicolas would love spending time with you. He’s eight, and he doesn’t have a dad, so there’s no male role model in his life. I’ll talk to his mom about your offer when I get the chance. I take him home after therapy,” she explained, “but we don’t usually have time to chat.”
    “No hurry. I’m pretty busy this week, organizing a fundraiser at the ranch. But next week I’m free.” A thought occurred to him. “I’m getting some flyers for the barbecue printed up. I’ll drop them over and leave one for Nick. Maybe he can get his mom to come along and I could ask her myself.”
    As he showered, Will wondered if the judge ever swam at the rec center. At least here she wouldn’t find him flat on his back covered in Christmas trees or pig kisses.
     
    “ HOW WAS YOUR DAY, Mom?” Nicolas asked. “You look kinda frazzled.”
    Becky kicked off her shoes and flopped down on the sofa beside him. “Where did you learn a word like that?”
    “School.”
    Becky smiled absently. Will O’Malley definitely made her feel more than a little frazzled. He made her feel hot and bothered. And after his antics this week outside the courthouse—and that kiss he’d managed to plant on her throat that still made her tremble at the memory—she was equal parts embarrassed, aroused and frazzled. The man’s strangely taciturn behavior in court yesterday still had her puzzled, though.
    “Flowers?” Nicolas sniffed the roses Becky had brought home with her from the courthouse. “Pooh! They stink.”
    Becky couldn’t help smiling at his typically little-boy reaction. “They might stink to you, young man, but to a woman they smell beautiful.”
    “Who sent them? He must be rich.”
    Becky smiled to herself. No, he wasn’t rich, far from it…. She caught herself, then frowned. What was she doing, letting herself daydream about a delinquent like Will O’Malley?
    “What’s up, Mom? Am I in trouble?”
    Becky stretched out her arms. “No, sweetie. Come and give Mommy a hug and tell me about your day.” She kissed the top of her son’s red mop of hair as he curled up on the couch beside her.
    But her mind kept wandering from Nicolas’s animated description of his day at school—he’d made friends with a couple of girls—to Will O’Malley and the very flattering thought that he must have worked very hard to pay for the roses. She’d been much too abrupt with him in the florist’s shop, but seeing him there, covered in flowers and that silly pig running amok, had unsettled her.
    “And I’m gonna get swimming lessons. Proper ones.”
    Becky was pulled from her musings. “Swimming lessons?”
    “Yeah, this really neat guy said he’d teach me to