Page 23 of Merry Christmas, Cowboy (Home to Texas #2)

It wasn’t the answer he was expecting. Nicole was usually full of energy and life. For sure he thought she’d like to hear the radio. “You got it.”

“It’s just that I’m in a noisy classroom all week long, and don’t get me wrong, I love my students and love the job, but sometimes, it’s nice to just be.”

He smiled. “We have that in common. I like quiet too. Most times. As soon as Cody comes home from school, it’s all happy noise, television, or games until we go to bed at night. So, a little daytime quiet is just the ticket.”

He drove on and they sat quietly, each in their own thoughts. Every once in a while, he’d sense her watching him, and would turn to meet her eyes. She’d smile and then continue to look out her side window as the scenery passed before them.

*

Twenty minutes into the drive, Nicole faced him. “Can I pour you some coffee?”

“Sounds good about now. Thanks.”

She reached into the bag between them, and carefully poured coffee into the thermos cup. The aroma of the steaming hot brew filled the truck with a delicious scent and she handed him the cup.

He took a sip. “It’s good. What about you?”

“I’ll have a cup too,” she said, digging into the bag and coming up empty. “Oh darn.”

“What?”

“I forgot to put my own cup in here.”

“It’s okay with me, if we share. That’s if you don’t mind.” He gave her a quick look.

It wasn’t as if they hadn’t locked lips a couple of times. “I swear I’m healthy. No bugs. In fact, I almost never get sick.”

“I’ll remember that.”

He handed her the cup and she didn’t hesitate to take a sip. The brew was fresh and warmed her up inside. “How about a muffin?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“Blueberry or lemon?”

“I think I need to taste test both of them.”

She chuckled. “I think you do too. But afterward, you have to tell me which one you like the best. I’m going to be baking some for the bake sale, next week.”

“It’s a deal.”

She handed him the blueberry and he gobbled it down quickly. “Oh, wow. This is amazing. What’d you do, bake them this morning?”

“I get up early sometimes to bake.”

He looked at her seriously. “More of that peace and quiet you like?”

“Exactly.” She handed him the lemon muffin this time and watched him take several nonstop bites. His throat moved as he swallowed and she gulped air at how appealing he was.

“I’d say you can’t go wrong with either,” Garrett offered.

She blinked and took a second to clear her head. Heavens, he was talking about the muffins and her mind had gone to an entirely different place.

“Oh, um, so you like them both equally?”

He nodded. “But then, I’m not your best critic, Nic. I like everything you bake.”

The compliment warmed her heart and thoughts swam in her head about her life, and Christmas, and what would happen after the holiday. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

The highway took them past residential areas and then out to long stretches of land that were still snow laden. Granted, the snow was only an inch deep and too thin to create real snowmen, but that freak snowstorm must’ve blown the tumbleweeds to parts unknown.

About ninety minutes later, the scenery changed from a fine dusting of snow covering the ground to land untouched by the storm. Garrett turned off the main road and headed down a path leading to barren terrain and big, wide open spaces.

Nicole spotted something and pointed up ahead, where a steep hill walled up the land. “Look, over there.”

Garrett turned to where she was pointing. “Looks like we hit the jackpot.”

“You think? It’s hard to tell, but it could be,” she said, ridiculously excited at the thought of finding success. How could a tumbleweed discovery make her so darn happy?

Garrett drove on further and parked alongside the road. “Let’s go check it out.”

The air was warmer now, by at least twenty degrees and sunlight poured over them as they climbed out of the truck. Garrett grabbed her hand and they dashed to the hillside barricading dozens of tumbleweeds.

Nicole grabbed Garrett’s hands. “We found them!”

“We sure did.” Garrett grinned and brought her into the circle of his arms, hugging her tight as if they’d discovered the secrets of the universe or something. His laughter filled her up inside, her glee matching his and, after several moments he brushed a quick kiss to her lips and took her hand.

“Let’s go load them up.” He tugged her along, his grip on her tight and sure. It didn’t matter that the kiss was innocent and chaste, her mouth tingled from his touch and the possessive way he held her hand felt as natural as the air she was breathing.

Once they reached the nest of them, they used discretion, picking out the cream of the tumbleweed crop. Garrett thought enough to bring her a pair of heavy-duty work gloves and she put them on. “Here’s some that look big enough for the base,” she said.

“Yep, let me get those,” he said, coming over.

He found several more that size while she picked up the smaller and mid-range-sized tumbleweeds.

They worked as a team and after thirty minutes and countless trips back and forth to the truck, they had what they needed.

The bed of the truck was brimming with beautiful, thorny, would-be snowmen.

Garrett took a few minutes to tie them down using strong thin rope for the drive home then he took his gloves off and nudged them into the back pocket of his jeans.

Nicole looked at their bounty, which to the naked eye wouldn’t appear to be much and gave a big glorious sigh. “We did it.”

“We did.”

She met Garrett’s eyes from over the truck bed. “Actually, I don’t think I could’ve done this on my own. You were a big help.”

He strode over to her, his eyes blazing so perfectly blue. “We make a pretty good team.”

Nicole mentally backed up a step. She couldn’t allow any more feelings to emerge for Garrett. It was hard enough reminding herself every day that he wasn’t going to be here much longer. “Yeah, well, if you ever need a hand after you move you know where to find me.”

It was meant to be a joke, but Garrett’s lips immediately pulled down and he searched her eyes intently, as if she’d just ruined the party. As if he’d forgotten his plan in life. Well, someone had to do a reality check.

“Yeah, I do.”

Without another word, he moved to his side of the truck, and she moved to hers. They both climbed in, the euphoria from earlier wiped completely clean. Garrett waited for her to buckle up and then pulled away, making a U-turn to head back toward Last Stand.

Nicole stared out the window as the scenery rolled by.

The weather got increasingly colder and she snuggled deeper into her jacket.

Garrett noticed her discomfort and turned on the heater.

He was almost the perfect man, and she stilled her heart from growing any closer to him.

Because, maybe she had ruined the party, but better that than the alternative, destroying her heart. She sighed and closed her eyes.

At times like these, reality really sucked.

*

Garrett hired two of Coop’s crew to help him for the next few days.

He was working on updating the bathrooms, trying to catch up on the time he’d lost. His injury wasn’t an issue any longer; he’d gotten his stitches out with a warning to take it easy on that arm.

He wasn’t a fool, well, when it came to his health at least, and he’d realized he couldn’t keep to his plan without a little extra help.

Toby and Andrew had some time to spare, and Coop was glad Garrett could offer them the work. Business usually slowed down this close to the holiday and Garrett’s job offer had come at a good time for them.

As soon as the bathrooms were completed and the fundraiser was over this weekend, he’d begin work on the exterior of the house. That work should take him close to his February deadline.

Garrett was sipping coffee in the kitchen, mulling over his choice of fixtures for the bathroom.

He’d picked nickel, the latest trend, and was second-guessing his decision now.

Lately, he’d been second-guessing everything in his life.

And wondering if the path he’d chosen was the right one for all concerned.

Nicole had hit the nail on the head the other day, reminding him that he had plans outside of Last Stand; plans that didn’t include her.

The thought jabbed him in the gut and made him wonder if he knew what the heck he was doing with her. She’d gotten under his skin. He looked forward to seeing her. Missed her when he didn’t. And now, he was busting his butt to move away from her.

But his decisions about his life couldn’t be based on his love life or lack of.

He had Cody’s welfare to think about and his livelihood.

He’d already made an investment and planned a life in California, the house was literally waiting for him to remodel, yet every half an hour or so, he was checking his phone to see if Nicole needed to come by Cottonwood.

If she had a new holiday event for them to attend, to see if she needed his help in any way.

His phone rang, almost on cue, and he smiled, until he saw Blake Charles’s photo pop up. He scratched his head, and couldn’t deny his deep disappointment when it wasn’t Nicole. “Hey, Blake. How are you?”

“I’m doing well and I think I have some really good news for you. I have a client here, who’d like to come by and see the work you’ve done so far. He’s very motivated to buy a ranch in Last Stand, and he’s well, shall I say, he more than meets the bank’s eligibility requirements.”

Garrett’s heart began to pound. “But the place isn’t done yet. I’ll need at least another four to five weeks here.”

“I understand. And so does he. Like I said, he’s very motivated. He just wants to see the place while he’s in town and I was hoping to bring him by in a day or two to see the progress you’ve made.”