“Nope.”

“Great.”

Mallory disappeared and Parker went into her bathroom. She emerged with her hair and teeth brushed wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. She grabbed her warm coat from the closet.

“Austin is already out here.”

That was rare. Austin didn’t emerge before ten most days he didn’t have to go to school.

Scout followed them down the stairs and driveway.

Mud followed the path of sandbags, but overflowed onto their lawn. Not a ton of it, but enough to make a mess. She tried to take in the property in sections.

“The culverts filled up,” Mallory told her.

That she could see. Water ran over the top, which would have made crossing the creek impossible. Except they had the footbridge. Parker sent a mental thanks to her dad, if he could hear her.

Scout sat on the north side of the wash as they walked over the bridge.

Parker looked upstream and heard the force of water rolling off the hill.

Mallory pulled her along.

Two white county trucks were parked where the county trucks had once lived. She heard the beep of a skip loader before she saw it.

“Holy shit.” Mud was everywhere.

Her neighbors were up and milling about, shaking their heads.

Austin jumped down off a rock and walked over to them. “What a mess, huh.”

She could see where a path had already been dug out, giving her the ability to drive on and off her property. “When did this happen?”

“Colin says sometime before four thirty this morning.”

“This is crazy.”

“We made out okay. The Sutters’ backyard is ruined.”

One of her neighbors walked in through her gate with a cell phone poised and taking pictures. “This is something.”

“How does the rest of the street look?”

“There’s mud everywhere,” her neighbor told her. “But the county already cleared most of it off to the side.”

The sound of a semitruck rolling up the street had them all turning around. One of the drivers with an excavator peeked around the corner. A Christmas wreath tied to his grille.

“Here we go again.”

“Good morning, Parker.” Colin’s voice had her spinning around.

Not caring that anyone saw, she took several steps in his direction and wrapped her arms around his waist.

He embraced her, spoke softly in her ear. “This can all be fixed.”

She closed her eyes and nodded against his chest. “I know.”

“I’m going to get it all back to normal.”

“I’m counting on that.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Power had been restored by the evening, and the rain had reduced to drizzle and then finally nothing.

Colin had managed a skeleton crew until around three. They pulled everything out of the main driveway, putting much of the debris into piles until the cavalry arrived.

The mud hadn’t penetrated the inside of the guesthouse, which was a blessing. The shed, on the other hand, wasn’t faring as well. It was taking on water. So while Colin directed his crew on Christmas Eve, she was schlepping boxes from the shed up and into the garage.

By six that night, Austin was hibernating in his room and Mallory was in hers talking on the phone.

Parker turned on the news to try and catch the weather report.

She made the mistake of leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

For the second time that day, someone calling her name woke her up. She jumped.

Colin was slipping in the sliding door. “You were asleep?”

She rubbed her eyes. “Long day.”

He kicked off his boots at the door and closed the distance between them.

“I wanted to check on you before I left.”

She patted the space beside her.

“I’m exhausted.”

“I bet.”

She curled into his side. “You have to be, too. You’ve been up longer than I have.”

“But I wasn’t hitting the eggnog last night.”

“Was that only last night?”

The lights of the Christmas tree flashed and reminded her of the date.

“Did you catch the weather report?”

She looked at her watch. “I missed it.”

“My app says more by next week. By then we should have a fair amount of material moved out.”

“So it can fill back up and do it again?”

He stroked her arm as he spoke. “And over, and over . . . until the rain stops.”

“What a frustrating job you have. You get it all right, then Mother Nature messes it up, and you do it again.”

“Public Works Flood Control Division. It’s in the title.”

“Is the gate still open?”

“Yeah. I think the motor took on some water.”

“I have a guy I can call. He probably won’t be here until after the new year.”

“I can have one of my guys look at it.”

She snuggled and yawned. “They have bigger fish to fry.”

“Yeah, but closing that gate is a priority. You’re back here alone. I don’t want you having to chase anyone else away.”

Parker found her eyes closing with the timbre of his voice lulling her to sleep.

“I’ll put more signs up.”

One minute she was talking about signs, the next she jolted because of a pain in her neck. She was on the couch, her head in Colin’s lap, and he was sound asleep sitting upright. The clock on the wall said it was after midnight.

She patted his leg. “Colin?” she whispered.

Nothing.

“Colin?”

He hummed, moved, and placed his hand on his neck.

“C’mon. Let’s get some sleep,” Parker said.

“I should go.”

“That’s silly. It’s after midnight.”

“But your brother and sister.”

She stood and reached for his hand. “We’re just going to sleep. I’m too tired to do anything else.”

“You sure?”

And that’s exactly what they did.

“Merry Christmas, Miss Oakley.” Colin slid up behind her in the kitchen the next morning and wrapped his arms around her while she filled the coffeepot. He pressed his lips to her neck and enjoyed the sigh that released from her lungs.

“Merry Christmas.”

He kissed her, briefly, and released her so she could finish what she started.

“Is anyone up yet?”

“No.”

Colin leaned against the island and watched as Parker’s legs peeked out from under the short bathrobe she wore. Her tousled hair and sexy morning smile were almost too much to bear. “Should I duck out before anyone realizes I spent the night?” he asked.

She glanced over her shoulder while pouring the water into the coffee maker. “Like one of us is married and we were having an affair?”

He smiled. “I guess. Although I’ve never been married and make it a rule not to mess with married women.”

“I’m sure Austin and Mallory realize what’s going on between us.”

He moved to the fridge, removed the creamer he knew Parker liked in her coffee. “I want to be sensitive.”

She took the creamer from his hand, kissed him. “Thank you. But I think we’re good.”