He winked at her as he passed. When he reached the stage, he slid the big sack off his shoulder, placed both hands on his stomach and issued a hearty “Ho! Ho! Ho!”, then attempted to discreetly pull strands of fake beard out of his mouth. Sloan had to laugh. Automatically she glanced to see where Jake was.
The minute she noticed him staring with fierce intensity at Santa Claus, she knew the jig was up. “Oh-oh,” she murmured and hurried forward, practically pushing her way to Jake’s side.
She arrived just as he thrust out an accusing finger. “Hey, how come—”
She clamped a silencing hand over his mouth and steered him out of the group of children. Only when she judged they were a safe distance away did Sloan remove her hand from his mouth and kneel down in front of him.
“That was Dad. How come he’s wearing Santa’s clothes?” Jake demanded.
“Santa had to be somewhere else tonight, and because he knew how disappointed all the children would be, he asked your dad to pretend to be him just for tonight,” Sloan explained. “And Santa asked him to keep it a secret. So don’t you tell the other kids. Okay?”
“If it’s a secret, how come you know?”
For a split second she wasn’t sure how to answer that. “Mothers always know everything.”
He sighed a big sigh. “Like where my sandals were.”
“Exactly.” She almost hugged him for that. “Now, Santa left a present for you, so you go get it. But remember—not a word to the others. Promise?”
“I promise.” He nodded. Then his expression turned a little smug that he knew something his friends didn’t.
Releasing him, Sloan straightened and watched as Jake ran back to the stage area, all smiles. Jessy came up on her left and exchanged a knowing glance with her.
“He re
cognized Trey, didn’t he?” she guessed.
“You saw that, too,” Sloan realized.
“It was obvious. To everybody,” she added. “I’m not surprised. It’s hard to fool a Calder.”
Sloan immediately thought of Wade Rogers, and remembered Trey’s utter lack of suspicion about the man. She felt a little guilty for not fully sharing his opinion. Blind trust had never been something Sloan found easy to give.
Without thinking, she skimmed the crowd, looking for Cat and Wade. Almost immediately she made eye contact with Cat, who waved, then signaled that she and Wade were leaving. Sloan acknowledged the message with a high lift of her head and waved back, then nudged Jessy.
“Cat and Wade are off to dinner.” She nodded in the direction of the departing couple.
“Good. I was hoping Cat wouldn’t feel under any obligation to do more than put in an appearance here.”
“Do you think Wade is the right man for her?” Sloan couldn’t help wondering about that.
“It doesn’t matter what I think. Her feelings are the only ones that count,” Jessy replied in a calm, steady voice that fully accepted whatever decision Cat made.
Chapter 10
Forty-five minutes after leaving Triple C headquarters, Cat and Wade pulled up to the east gate. “Which way?” Wade asked, glancing at her while keeping one hand on the steering wheel.
“Blue Moon is to the north,” Cat pointed left.
The headlights sent long beams of white over the winter landscape as the rented SUV made the turn and took aim on the Big Dipper.
Being alone with him was something Cat welcomed, although she still found herself searching for what to say. Wade kept the conversation neutral, and she was grateful for that, answering his questions about the area as they drove into the night.
“How far is it to town?” he wanted to know, adding, “I mean in minutes. The distances out here in Montana are mind-boggling.”
“Oh, we don’t even notice the miles.” Cat laughed. “It’s about fifteen or twenty minutes. I’m not sure you would even call it a town.”
“Typical wide spot in the road, huh?”