Page 19 of Merry Christmas, Cowboy (Home to Texas #2)
“I don’t know.” Her shoulders slumped. “I hope so. I can’t deal with him right now.
Men are too complicated for me. I’m not going to worry about him or any man right now.
” She sat down in a lush love seat that faced a triple mirror.
One glance at the puss on her face made her shake her head and get up.
“Nicole, what’s wrong?” Julie asked. “This morning at school you were excited about buying a house and now you’re…”
“It’s a big step.”
Julie and Taylor did another eye exchange. She wasn’t fooling her friends. They knew her better than that.
“It is, but that’s not what’s wrong with you,” Taylor said.
“It’s silly, really.”
“What’s silly?” Julie asked.
“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, because we’re barely friends and all.”
“Oh, so this is about Garrett?” Both of her friends nodded as if they were expecting this.
“Maybe.”
“Spill.” Julie put her hands on her hips. She meant business now, but then she offered a softer, “Please,” and Nicole didn’t have the heart to deny her.
“There’s really nothing to tell, but I walked into Char-Pie today and there he was, having a good ole time with a gorgeous woman. Laughing and smiling and not showing his grumpy self.”
“Garrett has a grumpy self?” Julie asked.
“He sure does. I’ve been calling for the past couple of days to check in on him about his arm, and he’s been moody. Not really saying much. I got the feeling he wasn’t happy to hear from me.”
“It’s not that,” Taylor offered. “Coop said he’s been antsy and experiencing cabin fever, not being able to work. Remember the doctor told him to take it easy to give his arm a chance to heal. You know men, they need to work and I bet it’s driving him crazy that he can’t right now.”
“So, he decides to date Miss America?” When he was supposed to be fake-dating her? When they had a Christmas pact?
“Number one, you don’t know that he’s dating her. Number two, that doesn’t sound like Garrett,” Taylor said. “And number three, you must care about him a lot to feel this blown away.”
Nicole’s eyes squeezed shut.
“Oh, wow, Nic,” Julie said. “You’re falling for him.”
“I guess I am, but it doesn’t feel good. I don’t want to feel this way.”
“Garrett’s a great guy,” Taylor said. “But I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I see the way he looks at you.”
“But I don’t make him laugh. Or smile.”
“Don’t you? Coop and I have both noticed a change in him lately. He’s pretty closed off, but we think you’re changing that.”
Nicole gathered her wits. She’d made one move in the right direction today in shopping for a house to buy. And she was going to make another decision now too. “I’m going to focus on the fundraiser. It’s only one week away now. And then I’m going to focus on family. And Christmas.”
“Are you forgetting the deal you made with Garrett?”
“No, I’ll still own up to my end of the pact for the next week, and that’s where it’s going to end.
” She couldn’t entertain any notions of her being with Garrett.
He needed the money from the sale of Cottonwood Ranch, for Cody’s future and he was leaving as soon as he finished up at the house.
He had another life waiting for him and Cody in Northern California that didn’t include her.
She wasn’t ready for another heartbreak ride. Once a year on that merry-go-round was more than she could handle.
*
It was taking Garrett double the time to paint the hallway than it should, but at least he was doing something .
It was the fourth day of his recovery and the stitches were still in, his arm was still tender to the touch.
It was a slow healing process, and he was super careful not to strain his left arm.
The last thing he needed was to rip open his wound.
Man, oh, man. Being injured like this put one thing first and foremost in his mind.
It wasn’t the time lost, or the work yet to be done.
It wasn’t that he could barely sleep at night, or that he had trouble dressing in the morning. No, none of that mattered.
What his injury told him was that if something happened to him, Cody would be alone in this world. Nothing scared him more; nothing kept him up nights more than that realization.
Hell, there are no guarantees in life and accidents happened all the time.
Carrie’s image popped into his head immediately.
He’d made a solemn vow to his sister that if something ever happened to her he’d take care of Cody.
He was honoring that vow, and he loved the boy very much.
But he couldn’t guarantee that he was always going to be here.
Paulette’s car pulled up in front of the house and he heard the engine shut down. A few seconds later, there was a knock at the door. He took off his gloves and walked over to open the door. Paulette and Cody greeted him at the same time.
“Hi, you two.”
He ruffled Cody’s hair, as the boy walked past him and entered the house.
“How’s your arm, Mr. Brown?”
Garrett lifted up his arm to show off the clean bandage. “Healing. It’s getting better every day.”
“That’s good.”
“Thanks for driving Cody home. Want to come in?” he asked, as the girl lingered in the doorway. “I’ve got some doughnut holes and chocolate milk.”
“Oh no, thank you. I just wanted to remind you about my choir performance. You said for me to remind you about it.”
“Oh, yeah, when’s that again?”
“Tonight.”
“Tonight?” Garrett scratched his head. Was he losing his marbles? “It’s Friday already?”
Cody chewed on a doughnut hole he’d snatched out of the kitchen, sidled up next to him and giggled. “Yes, it’s Friday today. Don’t you remember?”
Paulette glanced at his bandaged arm again. “If you can’t make it, I’ll—”
“No, no. Of course, we’ll be there.” He’d promised Cody they would go. And Paulette had been a godsend to him for all she’d done. He wasn’t about to disappoint either one of them.
“Great, if you’re sure.” Paulette reached into her pocket and handed him two tickets. “Here you go. The performance starts at seven at the church. I’m glad you’re both coming.”
“We’ll see you there. And thanks again,” he said, gesturing with the tickets in hand.
Once Paulette drove off, he closed the door and walked into the kitchen where Cody was sitting devouring another doughnut hole. “Hey, go easy on those. How many have you had?”
“Today?”
“Yeah, today.”
“Four.”
Garrett grabbed the bag and looked inside. He’d brought them at Char-Pie yesterday and now the bag was half gone. “From now on, two’s your limit, Code. And have some milk with it, but not chocolate milk.”
“Aw.” Cody made a sour face. Well, someone had to be the adult in the room.
“No aw-ing. Okay.” It’s for your own good , he wanted to say. But that never worked with him or Carrie when their folks tried to make a point. “We’re going to eat healthy tonight.”
The day after he returned home from the hospital, he’d been visited by Julie and Taylor. Both of them had delivered trays of food, casseroles and lasagna and chicken. They’d sent him enough food for the entire week. He’d been speechless and humbled by their kindness.
But the one person he really needed to thank was Nicole.
She’d called every day to check on him and had probably deliberately kept her fundraising committee away from Cottonwood, so he could rest. Time was running out, the fundraiser was just days away.
She must be under a lot of pressure and now as he thought back on it, those phone calls with her had been brief and awkward.
His fault. He hated feeling weak and the object of people’s sympathy.
He’d always been the strong one, out of necessity and sheer will, and this week had thrown him for a loop. In many ways.
Now that his arm was healing, he wanted to do something for her. To thank her for taking such good care of Cody. Knowing he was in her care had been a great relief to Garrett while he was in the hospital and he wanted to show his gratitude.
But flowers were out of the question. Her ex-fiancé had ruined that.
What he really wanted to do was take her to a nice, kid-free dinner. To be able to have an uninterrupted meal and good conversation. If Nicole was nothing else, she was a good friend.
Although, he thought about her constantly. Couldn’t get the woman off his mind lately or the hospital kiss that had both warmed his heart and knocked him out.