A Cowboy for Christmas

With two kids and an active life, widow Faith Dustin only wants peace and quiet for Christmas. But her snowy Pine Gulch ranch is nothing but chaotic. All that keeps Faith going is her helpful neighbor, cowboy Chase Brannon. He’s always been “good ol’ Chase,” her faithful friend. Until he kisses her under the mistletoe...

Years ago Chase blew his chance with the woman he’s loved since childhood. Now he’s determined to step out of the friend zone...and into the role of husband. But the scared and stubborn Faith won’t let herself fall. With Christmas just days away, Chase will need all the magic of the season—and the help of her two matchmaking children—to unwrap a second chance at love.

Praise for New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne

“Romance, vivid characters and a wonderful story; really who could ask for more?”

—Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author, on Blackberry Summer

“This quirky, funny, warmhearted romance will draw readers in and keep them enthralled to the last romantic page.”

—Library Journal on Christmas in Snowflake Canyon

“Entertaining, heart-wrenching, and totally involving, [Evergreen Springs] is a sure winner.”

—Library Journal

“A sometimes heartbreaking tale of love and relationships in a small Colorado town.... Poignant and sweet.”

—Publishers Weekly on Christmas in Snowflake Canyon

“RaeAnne Thayne is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors... Once you start reading, you aren’t going to be able to stop.”

—Fresh Fiction on Snow Angel Cove

“Plenty of tenderness and Colorado sunshine flavor this pleasant escape.”

—Publishers Weekly on Woodrose Mountain

“Thayne, once again, delivers a heartfelt story of a caring community and a caring romance between adults who have triumphed over tragedies.”

—Booklist on Woodrose Mountain

“Thayne pens another winner... Her main characters are strong and three-dimensional, with enough heat between them to burn the pages.”

—RT Book Reviews on Currant Creek Valley

Dear Reader,

I’m so excited to bring you the story of Faith Nichols Dustin and Chase Brannon, at long last. I introduced them two years ago in The Christmas Ranch, the first book in my current Cold Creek miniseries. I loved Chase and Faith from the beginning. Faith had just suffered a great tragedy and the world seemed a bleak place. Chase was not only her neighbor but her best friend—caring, loyal and fiercely protective of her.

I knew a few basics about their lives and the journey they would have to find happiness again together, but uncovering the details of their story has been a true delight.

I’m always so happy when I have the chance to return to Pine Gulch and visit old friends! It’s been ten years since I wrote my first book based in Cold Creek Canyon (I know! I can’t believe it, either!) and the people who live here almost feel like family.

Wishing you and your loved ones the very best this holiday season.

RaeAnne

The Holiday Gift

RaeAnne Thayne

www.millsandboon.co.uk

RAEANNE THAYNE finds inspiration in the beautiful northern Utah mountains, where the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author lives with her husband and three children. Her books have won numerous honors, including RITA® Award nominations from Romance Writers of America and a Career Achievement Award from RT Book Reviews. RaeAnne loves to hear from readers and can be contacted through her website, www.raeannethayne.com.

To Lisa Townsend, trainer extraordinaire, who is gorgeous inside and out. And to Jennie, Trudy, Karen, Becky, Jill and everyone else in our group for your example, your encouragement, your friendship, your laughter—and especially for making me look forward to workouts (except the burpees—I’ll never look forward to those!).

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Praise

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Something was wrong, but Faith Dustin didn’t have the first idea what.

She glanced at Chase Brannon again, behind the wheel of his pickup truck. Sunglasses shielded his eyes but his strong jaw was still flexed, his shoulders tense.

Since they had left the Idaho Falls livestock auction forty-five minutes earlier, heading back to Cold Creek Canyon, the big rancher hadn’t smiled once and had answered most of her questions in monosyllables, his mind clearly a million miles away.

Faith frowned. He wasn’t acting at all like himself. They were frequent travel companions, visiting various livestock auctions around the region at least once or twice a month for the last few years. They had even gone on a few buying trips to Denver together, an eight-hour drive from their little corner of eastern Idaho. He was her oldest friend—and had been since she and her sisters came to live with their aunt and uncle nearly two decades ago.

In many ways, she and Chase were really a team and comingled their ranch operations, since his ranch, Brannon Ridge, bordered the Star N on two sides.

Usually when they traveled, they never ran out of things to talk about. Her kids and their current dramas, real or imagined; his daughter, Addie, who lived with her mother in Boise; Faith’s sisters and their growing families. Their ranches, the community, the price of beef, their future plans. It was all grist for their conversational mill. She valued his opinion—often she would run ideas past him—and she wanted to think he rated hers as highly.

The drive to Idaho Falls earlier that morning had seemed just like usual, filled with conversation and their usual banter. Everything had seemed normal during the auction. He had stayed right by her side, a quiet, steady support, while she engaged in—and eventually won—a fierce bidding war for a beautiful paint filly with excellent barrel racing bloodlines.

That horse, intended as a Christmas gift for her twelve-year-old daughter, Louisa, was the whole reason they had gone to the auction. Yes, she’d been a little carried away by winning the auction so that she’d hugged him hard and kissed him smack on the lips, but surely that wasn’t what was bothering him. She’d kissed and hugged him tons of times.

Okay, maybe she had been careful not to be so casual with her affection for him the last six or seven months, for reasons she didn’t want to explore, but she couldn’t imagine he would go all cold and cranky over something as simple as a little kiss.

No. His mood had shifted after that, but all her subtle efforts to wiggle out what was wrong had been for nothing.

His mood certainly matched the afternoon. Faith glanced out at the uniformly gray sky and the few random, hard-edged snowflakes clicking against the windshield. The weather wasn’t pleasant but it wasn’t horrible either. The snowflakes weren’t sticking to the road yet, anyway, though she expected they would see at least a few inches on the ground by morning.

Even the familiar festive streets of Pine Gulch—wreaths hanging on the streetlamps and each downtown business decorated with lights and window dressings—didn’t seem to lift his dark mood.

When he hit the edge of town and turned into Cold Creek Canyon toward home, she decided to try one last time to figure out what might be bothering him.

“Did something happen at the auction?”

He glanced away from the road briefly, the expression in his silver-blue eyes shielded by the amber lenses of his sunglasses. “Why would you think that?”

She studied his dearly familiar profile, struck by his full mouth and his tanned, chiseled features—covered now with just a hint of dark afternoon shadow. Funny, how she saw him just about every single day but was sometimes taken by surprise all over again by how great-looking he was.

With his dark, wavy hair covered by the black Stetson he wore, that slow, sexy smile, and his broad shoulders and slim hips, he looked rugged and dangerous and completely male. It was no wonder the waitresses at the café next to the auction house always fought each other to serve their table.

She shifted her attention away from such ridiculous things and back to the conversation. “I don’t know. Maybe because that’s the longest sentence you’ve given me since we left Idaho Falls. You’ve replied to everything else with either a grunt or a monosyllable.”

Beneath that afternoon shadow, a muscle clenched in his jaw. “That doesn’t mean anything happened. Maybe I’m just not in a chatty mood.”

She certainly had days like that. Heaven knew she’d had her share of blue days over the last two and a half years. Through every one of them, Chase had been her rock.

“Nothing wrong with that, I guess. Are you sure that’s all? Was it something Beckett McKinley said? I saw him corner you at lunch.”

He glanced over at her briefly and again she wished she could see the expression behind his sunglasses. “He wanted to know how I like the new baler I bought this year and he also wanted my opinion on a...personal matter. I told him I liked the baler fine but told him the other thing wasn’t any of my damn business.”

She blinked at both his clipped tone and the language. Chase didn’t swear very often. When he did, there was usually a good reason.

“Now you’ve got my curiosity going. What kind of personal matter would Beck want your opinion about? The only thing I can think the man needs is a nanny for those hellion boys of his.”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment, just watched the road and those snowflakes spitting against windshield. When he finally spoke, his voice was clipped. “It was about you.”

She stared. “Me?”

Chase’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “He wants to ask you out, specifically to go as his date to the stockgrowers association’s Christmas party on Friday.”

If he had just told her Beck wanted her to dress up like a Christmas angel and jump from his barn roof, she wouldn’t have been more surprised—and likely would have been far less panicky.

“I... He...what?”

“Beck wants to take you to the Christmas party this weekend. I understand there’s going to be dancing and a full dinner this year.”

Beck McKinley. The idea of dating the man took her by complete surprise. Yes, he was a great guy, with a prosperous ranch on the other side of Pine Gulch. She considered him a good friend but she had never once thought of him in romantic terms.

The unexpected paradigm shift wasn’t the only thing bothering her about what Chase had just said.

“Hold on. If he wanted to take me to the party, why wouldn’t Beck just ask me himself instead of feeling like he has to go through you first?”

That muscle flexed in his jaw again. “You’ll have to ask him that.”

The things he wasn’t saying in this conversation would fill a radio broadcast. She frowned as Chase pulled into the drive leading to his ranch. “You told him I’m already going with you, didn’t you?”

He didn’t answer for a long moment. “No,” he finally said. “I didn’t.”

Unease twanged through her, the same vague sense that had haunted her at stray moments for several months. Something was off between her and Chase and, for the life of her, she couldn’t put a finger on it.

“Oh. Did you already make plans?” She forced a cheerful smile. “We’ve gone together the last few years so I just sort of assumed we would go together again this year but I guess we should have talked about it. If you already have something going, don’t worry about me. Seriously. I don’t mind going by myself. I’ll have plenty of other friends there I can sit with. Or I could always skip it and stay home with the kids. Jenna McRaven does a fantastic job with the food and I always enjoy the company of other grown-ups, but if you’ve got a hot date lined up, I’m perfectly fine.”

As she said the words, she tasted the lie in them. Was this weird ache in her stomach because she had been looking forward to the evening out—or because she didn’t like the idea of him with a hot date?

“I don’t have a date, hot or otherwise,” he growled as he pulled the pickup and trailer to a stop next to a small paddock near the barn of the Brannon Ridge Ranch.

She eased back in the bench seat, a curious relief seeping through her. “Good. That’s that. We can go together, just like always. It will be a fun night out for us.”

Though she knew him well enough to know something was still on his mind, he said nothing as he pulled off his sunglasses and hooked them on the rearview mirror. What did his silence mean? Didn’t he want to go with her?

“Faith,” he began, but suddenly she didn’t want to hear what he had to say.

“We’d better get the beautiful girl in your trailer unloaded before the kids get home.”

She opened her door and jumped out before he could answer her. Yes, sometimes she was like her son, Barrett, who would rather hide out in his room all day and miss dinner than be scolded for something he’d done. She didn’t like to face bad things. It was a normal reaction, she told herself. Hadn’t she already had to face enough bad things in her life?

After a moment, Chase climbed out after her and came around to unhook the back of the trailer. The striking black-and-white paint yearling whinnied as he led her out into the patchy snow.

“She’s a beauty, isn’t she?” Faith said, struck all over again by the horse’s elegant lines.

“Yeah,” Chase said. Again with the monosyllables. She sighed.

“Thanks for letting me keep her here for a couple of weeks. Louisa will be so shocked on Christmas morning.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem.”

He guided the horse into the pasture, where his own favorite horse, Tor, immediately trotted over as Faith closed the gate behind them. As soon as Chase unhooked the young horse from her lead line, she raced to the other side of the pasture, mane and tail flying out behind her.

She was fast. That was the truth. Grateful for her own cowboy hat that shielded her face from the worst of the frost-tipped snowflakes, Faith watched the horse race to the other corner of the pasture and back, obviously overflowing with energy after the stress of a day at the auction and then a trailer ride with strangers.

“Do you think she’s too much horse for Lou?” she asked while Chase patted Tor beside her.

He looked at the paint and then down at Faith. “She comes from prime barrel racing stock. That’s what Lou wants to do. For twelve, she’s a strong rider. Yeah, the horse is only green broke but Seth Dalton can train a horse to do just about anything but recite its ABCs.”

“I guess that’s true. It was nice of him to agree to take her, with his crazy training schedule.”

“He’s a good friend.”

“He is,” she agreed. “Though I know he only agreed to do it as a favor to you.”

“Maybe it was a favor to you,” he commented as he pulled a bale of hay over and opened it inside the pasture for the horses.

“Maybe,” she answered. All three Dalton brothers had been wonderful neighbors and good friends to her. They and others in the close-knit ranching community in Cold Creek Canyon and around Pine Gulch had stepped up in a hundred different ways over the last two and a half years since Travis died.

She would have been lost without any of them, but especially without Chase.

That vague unease slithered through her again. What was wrong between them? And how could she fix it?

She didn’t have the first clue.

* * *

What was a guy supposed to do?

Ever since Beck McKinley cornered him at the diner to talk about taking Faith to the stockgrowers’ holiday party, Chase hadn’t been able to think straight. He felt like the other guy had grabbed his face and dunked it in an ice-cold water trough, then kicked him in the gut for good measure.

For a full ten seconds, he had stared at Beck as a host of emotions galloped through him faster than a pack of wild horses spooked by a thunderstorm.

Beckett McKinley wanted to date Faith. Chase’s Faith.

“She’s great. That’s all,” Beck had said into the suddenly tense silence. “It’s been more than two years since Travis died, right? I just thought maybe she’d be ready to start getting out there.”

Chase had thought for a minute his whole face had turned numb, especially his tongue. It made it tough for him to get any words out at all—or maybe that was the ice-cold coating around his brain.

“Why are you asking me?” he had finally managed to say.

If possible, Beck had looked even more uncomfortable. “The two of you are always together. Here at the auction, at the feed store, at the diner in town. I know you’re neighbors and you’ve been friends for a long time. But if there’s something more than that, I don’t want to be an ass and step on toes. You don’t have to tell me what happens to bulls who wander into somebody else’s pen.”

It was all he could do not to haul off and deck the guy for the implied comparison that Faith was just some lonely heifer, waiting for some smooth-talking bull to wander by.

Instead, he had managed to grip his hands into fists, all while one thought kept echoing through his head.

Not again.

He thought he was giving her time to grieve, to make room in her heart for someone else besides Travis Dustin, the man she had loved since she was a traumatized girl trying to carve out a new home for her and her sisters.

Chase had been too slow once before. He had been a steady friend and confidant from the beginning. He figured he had all the time in the world as he waited for her to heal and to settle into life in Pine Gulch. She had been so young, barely sixteen. He wasn’t much older, not yet nineteen, and had been busy with his own struggles. Even then, he had been running his family’s ranch on his own while his father lay dying.

For six months, he offered friendship to Faith, fully expecting that one day when both of them were in a better place, he could start moving things to a different level.

And then Travis Dustin came home for the summer to help out Claude and Mary, the distant relatives who had raised him his last few years of high school.

Chase’s father was in his last few agonizing weeks of life from lung cancer that summer. While he was busy coping with that and accepting his new responsibilities on the ranch, Travis had wasted no time sweeping in and stealing Faith’s heart. By the time Chase woke up and realized what was happening, it was too late. His two closest friends were in love with each other and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

He could have fought for her, he supposed, but it was clear from the beginning that Travis made her happy. After everything she and her sisters had been through, she deserved to find a little peace.

Instead, he had managed to put his feelings away and maintain his friendship with both of them. He had even tried to move on himself and date other women, with disastrous consequences.

Beck McKinley was a good guy. A solid rancher, a devoted father, a pillar of the community. Any woman would probably be very lucky to have him, as long as she could get past those hellion boys of his.

Maybe McKinley was exactly the kind of guy she wanted. The thought gnawed at him, but he took some small solace in remembering that she hadn’t seemed all that enthusiastic at the idea of going out with him.

Didn’t matter. He knew damn well it was only a matter of time before she found someone she did want to go out with. If not Beck, some other smooth-talking cowboy would sweep in.

He hadn’t fought for her last time. Instead, he had stood by like a damn statue and watched her fall in love with his best friend.

He wouldn’t go through that again. It was time he made a move—but what if he made the wrong one and ruined everything between them?

He felt like a man given a choice between a hangman’s noose and a firing squad. He was damned either way.

He was still trying to figure out what to do when she shifted from watching the young horse dance around the pasture in the cold December air. Faith gazed up at the overcast sky, still dribbling out the occasional stray snowflake.

“I probably should get back. The kids will be out of school soon and I’m sure you have plenty of things of your own to do. You don’t have to walk me back,” she said when he started to head in that direction behind her. “Stay and unhitch the horse trailer if you need to.”

“It can keep. I’ll walk you back up to your truck. I’ve got to plug in my phone anyway.”

A couple of his ranch dogs came out from the barn to say hello as they walked the short distance to his house. He reached down and petted them both, in total sympathy. He felt like a ranch dog to her: a constant, steady companion with a few useful skills that came in handy once in a while.

Would she ever be able to see him as anything more?

“Thanks again, Chase,” Faith said when they reached her own pickup truck—the one she had insisted on driving over that morning, even though he told her he could easily pick her up and drop her back off at the Star N.

“You’re welcome,” he said.

“Seriously, I was out of my depth. Horses aren’t exactly my area of expertise. Who knows, I might have brought home a nag. As always, I don’t know what I would do without you.”

He could feel tension clutch at his shoulders again. “Not true,” he said, his voice more abrupt than he intended. “You didn’t need me. Not really. You’d already done your research and knew what you wanted in a barrel racer. You just needed somebody to back you up.”

She smiled as they reached her pickup truck and a pale shaft of sunlight somehow managed to pierce the cloud cover and land right on her delicate features, so soft and lovely it made his heart hurt.

“I’m so lucky that somebody is always you,” she said.

He let out a breath, fighting the urge to pull her into his arms. He didn’t have that right—nor could he let things go on as they were.

“About the stockgrowers’ party,” he began.

If he hadn’t been looking, he might have missed the leap of something that looked suspiciously like fear in her green eyes before she shifted her gaze away from him.

“Really, it doesn’t bother me to skip it this year if you want to make other plans.”

“I don’t want to skip it,” he growled. “I want to go. With you. On a date.”

He intended to stress the last word, to make it plain this wouldn’t be two buddies just hanging out together, like they always did. As a result, the word took on unnatural proportions and he nearly snapped it out until it arced between them like an arrow twanged from a crossbow.

Eyes wide, she gazed at him for a long moment, clearly startled by his vehemence. After a moment, she nodded. “Okay. That’s settled, then. We can figure out the details later.”

Nothing was settled. He needed to tell her date was the operative word here, that he didn’t want to take her to the party as her neighbor and friend who gave her random advice on a barrel racing horse for her daughter or helped her with the hay season.

He wanted the right to hold her—to dance with her and flirt and whisper soft, sexy words in her ear.

How the hell could he tell her that, after all this time, when he had so carefully cultivated a safe, casual relationship that was the exact opposite of what he really wanted? Before he could figure that out, an SUV he didn’t recognize drove up the lane toward his house.

“Were you expecting company?” she asked.

“Don’t think so.” He frowned as the car pulled up beside them—and his frown intensified when the passenger door opened and a girl jumped out, then raced toward him. “Daddy!”

Chapter Two

He stared at his eleven-year-old daughter, dressed to the nines in an outfit more suited to a photo shoot for a children’s clothing store than for a working cattle ranch.

“Adaline! What are you doing here? I didn’t expect to see you until next weekend.”

“I know, Dad! Isn’t it great? We get extra time together—maybe even two whole weeks! Mom pulled me out of school until after Christmas. Isn’t that awesome? My teachers are going to email me all my homework so I don’t miss too much—not that they ever do anything the last few weeks before Christmas vacation anyway but waste time showing movies and doing busywork and stuff.”

That sounded like a direct quote from her mother, who had little respect for the educational system, even the expensive private school she insisted on sending their daughter to.

As if on cue, his ex-wife climbed out of the driver’s side of what must be a new vehicle, judging by the temporary license plates in the window.

She looked uncharacteristically disordered, with her sweater askew and her hair a little messy in back where she must have been leaning against the headrest as she drove.

“I’m so glad you’re home,” she said. “We took a chance. I’ve been trying to call you all afternoon. Why didn’t you answer?”

“My phone ran out of juice and I forgot to take the charger to the auction with us. What’s going on?”

He knew it had to be something dramatic for her to bring Addie all this way on an unscheduled midweek visit.

Cindy frowned. “My mother had a stroke early this morning and she’s in the hospital in Idaho Falls.”

“Oh, no! I hadn’t heard. I’m so sorry.”

He had tried very hard to earn the approval of his in-laws but the president of the Pine Gulch bank and his wife had been very slow to warm up to him. He didn’t know if they had disliked him because Cindy had been pregnant when they married or because they didn’t think a cattle rancher with cow manure on his boots was good enough for their precious only child.

They had reached a peace accord of sorts after Addie came along. Still, he almost thought his and Cindy’s divorce had been a relief to them—and he had no doubt they had been thrilled at her second marriage to an eminently successful oral surgeon in Boise.

“The doctors say it appears to be a mini stroke. They suspect it’s not the first one so they want to keep her for observation for a few days. My dad said I didn’t have to come down but it seemed like the right thing to do,” Cindy said. “Considering I was coming this way anyway, I didn’t think you would mind having extra visitation with Addie, especially since she won’t be here over the holidays.”

He was aware of a familiar pang in his chest, probably no different from what most part-time divorced fathers felt at not being able to live with their children all the time. Holidays were the worst.

“Sure. Extra time is always great.”

Cindy turned to Faith with that hard look she always wore when she saw the two of them together. His ex-wife had never said anything but he suspected she had long guessed the feelings he had tried to bury after Faith and Travis got married.

“We’re interrupting,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“Not at all,” Faith assured her. “Please don’t be sorry. I’m the one who’s sorry about your mother.”

“Thanks,” Cindy said, her voice cool. “We spent an hour at the hospital before we came out here and she seems in good spirits. Doctors just want to keep her for observation to see if they can figure out what’s going on. Dad is kind of a mess right now, which is why I thought it would be a good idea for me to stay with him, at least for the first few days.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

“Thanks for taking Addie. Sorry to drop her off without calling first. I did try.”

“It’s no problem at all. I’m thrilled to have her.”

The sad truth was, they got along and seemed to parent together better now that they were divorced than during the difficult five years of their marriage, though things still weren’t perfect.

“I packed enough for a week. To be honest, I don’t know what I grabbed, since I was kind of a mess this morning. Keith was worried about me driving alone but he had three surgeries scheduled today and couldn’t come with me. His patients needed him.”

“He’s a busy man,” Chase said. What else could he say? It would have been terribly hypocritical to lambast another man in the husband department when Chase had been so very lousy at it.

“I should get back to the hospital. Thanks, Chase. You’re a lifesaver.”

“No problem.”

“I’m so sorry about your mother,” Faith said.

“Thank you. I appreciate that.”

Cindy opened the hatchback of the SUV and pulled out Addie’s familiar pink suitcase. He hated the tangible reminder that his daughter had to live out of a suitcase half her life.

After setting the suitcase on the sidewalk, Cindy went through her usual drawn-out farewell routine with Addie that ended in a big hug and a sloppy kiss, then climbed into her SUV and drove away.

“My feet are cold,” Addie announced calmly, apparently not fazed at all to watch her mother leave, despite the requisite drama. “I’m going to take my suitcase to my room and change my clothes.”

She headed to the house without waiting for him to answer, leaving him alone with Faith.

“That was a curveball I wasn’t expecting this afternoon,”

“Strokes can be scary,” Faith said. “It sounds like Carol’s was a mild one, though, which I’m sure is a relief to everyone. At least you’ll get to spend a little extra time with Addie.”

“True. Always a bonus.”

He had plenty of regrets about his life but his wise, funny, kind daughter was the one amazing thing his lousy marriage had produced.

“I know this was a busy week for you,” Faith said. “If you need help with her, she’s welcome to spend time at the Star N. Louisa would be completely thrilled.”

He had appointments all week with suppliers, the vet and his accountant, but he could take her with him. She was a remarkably adaptable child.

“The only time I might need help is Friday night. Think Aunt Mary would mind if she stayed at your place with Lou and Barrett while we’re at the party?”

Her forehead briefly furrowed in confusion. “Oh. I almost forgot about that. Look, the situation has changed. If you’d rather stay home with Addie, I completely understand. I can tag along with Wade and Caroline Dalton or Justin and Ashley Hartford. Or, again, I can always just skip it.”

Was she looking for excuses not to go with him? He didn’t want to believe that. “I asked you out. I want to go, as long as Mary doesn’t mind one more at your place.”

“Addie’s never any trouble. I’m sure Mary will be fine with it. I’ll talk to her,” she promised. “If she can’t do it, I’m sure all the kids could hang out with Hope or Celeste for the evening.”

Her sisters and their husbands lived close to the Star N and often helped with Barrett and Louisa, just as Faith helped out with their respective children.

“I’ll be in touch later in the week to work out the details.”

“Sounds good.” She glanced at her watch. “I really do need to go. Thanks again for your help with the horse.”

“You’re welcome.”

As she climbed into the Star N king-cab pickup, he was struck by how small and delicate she looked compared to the big truck.

Physically, she might be slight—barely five-four and slender—but she was tough as nails. Over the last two and a half years, she had worked tirelessly to drag the ranch from the brink. He had tried to take some of the burden from her but there was only so much she would let him do.

He stepped forward so she couldn’t close the door yet.

“One last thing.”

“What’s that?”

Heart pounding, he leaned in to face her. He wanted her to see his expression. He wanted no ambiguity about his intentions.

“You need to be clear on one thing before Friday. I said it earlier but in all the confusion with Addie showing up, I’m not sure it registered completely. As far as I’m concerned, this is a date.”

“Sure. We’re going together. What else would it be?”

“I mean a date-date. I want to go out with you where we’re not only good friends hanging out on a Friday night or two neighboring ranchers carpooling to the same event. I want you to be my date, with everything that goes along with that.”

There. She couldn’t mistake that.

He saw a host of emotions quickly cross her features—shock, uncertainty and a wild flare of panic. “Chase, I—”

He could see she wasn’t even going to give him a chance. She was ready to throw up barriers to the idea before he even had a chance. Frustration coiled through him, sharp as barbed wire fencing.

“It’s been two and a half years since Travis died.”

Her hands clamped tight onto the steering wheel as if it were a bull rider’s strap and she had to hang on or she would fall off and be trampled. “Yes. I believe I’m fully aware of that.”

“You’re going to have to enter the dating scene at some point. You’ve already got cowboys clamoring to ask you out. McKinley is just the first one to step up, but he won’t be the last. Why not ease into it by going out with somebody you already know?”

“You.”

“Why not?”

Instead of answering, she turned the tables on him. “You and Cindy have been divorced for years. Why are you suddenly interested in dating again?”

“Maybe I’m tired of being alone.” That, at least, was the truth, just not the whole truth.

“So this would be like a...trial run for both of us? A way to dip our toes into the water without jumping in headfirst?”

No. He had jumped in a long, long time ago and had just been treading water, waiting for her.

He couldn’t tell her that. Not yet.

“Sure, if you want to look at it that way,” he said instead.

He knew her well enough that he could almost watch her brain whir as she tried to think through all the ramifications. She overthought everything. It was by turns endearing and endlessly frustrating.

Finally she seemed to have sifted through the possibilities and come up with a scenario she could live with. “You’re such a good friend, Chase. You’ve always got my back. You want to help make this easier for me, just like you helped me buy the horse for Louisa. Thank you.”

He opened his mouth to say that wasn’t at all his intention but he could see by the stubborn set of her jaw that she wasn’t ready to hear that yet.

“I’ll talk to Aunt Mary about keeping an eye on the kids on Friday. We can work out the details later. I really do have to go. Thanks again.”

Her tone was clearly dismissive. Left with no real choice, he stepped back so she could close the vehicle door.

She was deliberately misunderstanding him and he didn’t know how to argue with her. After all these years of being her friend and so carefully hiding his feelings, how did he convince her he wanted to be more than that?

He had no idea. He only knew he had to try.

* * *

Faith refused to let herself panic.

I want you to be my date, with everything that goes along with that.

Despite her best efforts, fear seemed to curl around her insides, coating everything with a thin layer of ice.

She couldn’t let things change. End of story. Chase had been her rock for two years, her best friend, the one constant in her crazy, tumultuous life. He had been the first one she had called when she had gone looking for Travis after he didn’t answer his cell and found him unconscious and near death, with severe internal injuries and a shattered spine, next to his overturned ATV.

Chase had been there within five minutes and had taken charge of the scene, had called the medics and the helicopter, had been there at the hospital and had held her after the doctors came out with their solemn faces and their sad eyes.

While she had been numb and broken, Chase had stepped in, organizing all the neighbors to bring in the fall harvest. He had helped her clean up and streamline the Star N operation and sell off all the unnecessary stock to keep their head above water those first few months.

Now the ranch was in the black again—thanks in large part to the crash course in smart ranch practices Chase had given her. She knew perfectly well that without him, there wouldn’t be a Star N right now or The Christmas Ranch. She and her sisters would have had to sell off the land, the cattle, everything to pay their debts.

Travis hadn’t been a very good businessman. At his death, she’d found the ranch was seriously overextended with creditors and had been operating under a system of gross inefficiencies for years.

She winced with the guilt the disloyal thought always stirred in her, but it was nothing less than the truth. If her husband hadn’t died and things had continued on the same course, the ranch would have gone bankrupt within a few years. Through Chase’s extensive help, she had been able to turn things around.

The ranch was doing so much better. The Christmas Ranch—the seasonal attraction started by her uncle and aunt after she and her sisters came to live with them—was finally in the black, too. Hope and her husband, Rafe, had done an amazing job revitalizing it and making it a powerful draw. That success had only been augmented by the wild viral popularity of the charming children’s book Celeste had written and Hope had illustrated featuring the ranch’s starring attraction, Sparkle the Reindeer.

She couldn’t be more proud of her sisters—though she did find it funny that, of the three of them, Faith seemed the one most excited that Celeste and Hope had signed an agreement to allow a production company to make an animated movie out of the first Sparkle book.

Despite a few preproduction problems, the process was currently under way, though the animated movie wouldn’t come out for another year. The buzz around it only heightened interest in The Christmas Ranch and led to increased revenue.

The book had helped push The Christmas Ranch to self-sufficiency. Without that steady drain on the Star N side of the family operation, Faith had been able to plow profits back into the cattle ranch operation.

As she drove past the Saint Nicholas Lodge on the way to the ranch house, she spotted both of her sisters’ vehicles in the parking lot.

After taking up most of the day at the auction, she had a hundred things to do. As she had told Chase, Barrett and Louisa would be home from school soon. When she could swing it, she liked being there to greet them, to ask about their day and help manage their homework and chore responsibilities.

On a whim, though, she pulled into the parking lot and hurriedly texted both of her children as well as Aunt Mary to tell them she was stopping at the lodge for a moment and would be home soon.

The urge to talk to her sisters was suddenly overwhelming. Hope and Celeste weren’t just her sisters, they were her best friends.

She had to park three rows back, which she considered a great sign for a Tuesday afternoon in mid-December.

Tourists from as far away as Boise and Salt Lake City were making the trek here to visit their quaint little Christmas attraction, with its sleigh rides, the reindeer herd, the village—and especially because this was the home of Sparkle.

As far as she was concerned, this was just home.

The familiar scents inside the lodge encircled her the moment she walked inside—cinnamon and vanilla and pine, mixed with old logs and the musty smell of a building that stood empty most of the year.

She heard her younger sisters bickering in the office before she saw them.

“Cry your sad song to someone else,” Celeste was saying. “I told you I wasn’t going to do it again this year and I won’t let you guilt me into it.”

“But you did such a great job last year,” Hope protested.

“Yes I did,” their youngest sister said. “And I swore I wouldn’t ever do it again.”

Faith poked her head into the office in time to see Hope pout. She was nearly three months pregnant and only just beginning to show.

“It didn’t turn out so badly,” Hope pointed out. “You ended up with a fabulous husband and a new stepdaughter out of the deal, didn’t you?”

“Seriously? You’re giving the children’s show credit for my marriage to Flynn?”

“Think about it. Would you be married to your hunky contractor right now and deliriously happy if you hadn’t directed the show for me last year—and if his daughter hadn’t begged to participate?”

It was an excellent point, Faith thought with inward amusement that Celeste didn’t appear to share.

“Why can’t you do it?” Celeste demanded.

“We are booked solid with tour groups at the ranch until Christmas Eve. I won’t have a minute to breathe from now until the New Year—and that’s with Rafe making me cut down my hours.”

“You knew you were going to be slammed,” Celeste said, not at all persuaded. “Talk about procrastination. I can’t believe you didn’t find somebody to organize the variety show weeks ago!”

“I had somebody. Linda Keller told me clear back in September she would do it. I thought we were set, but she fell this morning and broke her arm, which leaves me back at square one. The kids are going to be coming to practice a week from today and I’ve got absolutely no one to lead them.”

Hope shifted her attention to Faith with a considering look that struck fear in her heart.

“Oh, no,” she exclaimed. “You can forget that idea right now.”

“Why?” Hope pouted. “You love kids and senior citizens both, plus you sing like a dream. You even used to direct the choir at church, which I say makes you the perfect one to run the Christmas show.”

She rolled her eyes. Hope knew better than to seriously consider that idea. “Right. Because you know I’ve got absolutely nothing else going on right now.”

“Everyone is busy. That’s the problem. Whose idea was it to put on a show at Christmas, the busiest time of the year?”

“Yours.” Faith and Celeste answered simultaneously.

Hope sighed. “I know. It just seemed natural for The Christmas Ranch to throw a holiday celebration for the senior citizens. Maybe next year we’ll do a Christmas in July kind of thing.”

“Except you’ll be having a baby in July,” Faith pointed out. “And I’ll be even more busy during the summer.”

“You’re right.” She looked glum. “Do you have any suggestions for someone else who might be interested in directing it? I would hate to see the pageant fade out, especially after last year was such a smash success, thanks to CeCe. You wouldn’t believe how many people have stopped me in town during the past year to tell me how much they enjoyed it and hoped we were doing another one.”

“I believe it,” Celeste said. “I’ve had my share of people telling me the same thing. That still doesn’t mean I want to run it again.”

“I wasn’t even involved with the show and I still have people stop me in town to tell me they hope we’re doing it again,” Faith offered.

“That’s because you’re a Nichols,” Hope said.

“Right. Which to some people automatically means I burp tinsel and have eggnog running through my veins.”

Celeste laughed. “You don’t?”

“Nope. Hope inherited all the Christmas spirit from Uncle Claude and Aunt Mary.”

The sister in question made a face. “That may be true, but it still doesn’t give me someone to run the show this year. But never fear. I’ve got a few ideas up my sleeves.”

“I can help,” Celeste said. “I just don’t want to be the one in charge.”

Faith couldn’t let her younger sister be the only generous one in the family. She sighed. “Okay. I’ll help again, too. But only behind the scenes—and only because you’re pregnant and I don’t want you to overdo.”

Hope’s eyes glittered and her smile wobbled. “Oh. You’re both going to make me cry and Rafe tells me I’ve already hit my tear quota for the day. Quick, talk about something else. How did the auction go today?”

At the question, all her angst about Chase flooded back.

She suddenly desperately wanted to confide in her sisters. That was the whole reason she’d stopped at the lodge, she realized, because she yearned to share this startling development with them and obtain their advice.

I want you to be my date, with everything that goes along with that.

What was she going to do?

She wanted to ask them but they both adored Chase and it suddenly seemed wrong to talk about him with Hope and Celeste. If she had to guess, she expected they would probably take his side. They wouldn’t understand how he had just upended everything safe and secure she had come to depend upon.

When she didn’t answer right away, both of her sisters looked at her with concern. “Did something go wrong with the horse you wanted to buy?” Celeste asked. “You weren’t outbid, were you? If you were, I’m sure you’ll be able to find another one.”

She shook her head. “No. We bought the horse for about five percent under what I was expecting to pay and she’s beautiful. Mostly white with black spots and lovely black boot markings on her legs. I can’t wait for Louisa to see her.”

“I want to see her!” Hope said. “You took her to Chase’s pasture?”

“Yes, and a few moments after we unloaded her, Cindy pulled up with Addie. Apparently Carol Johnson had a small stroke this morning and she’s in the hospital in Idaho Falls so Cindy came home to be with her and help her father.”

At the mention of Chase’s ex-wife, both of her sisters’ mouths tightened in almost exactly the same way. There had been no love lost between any of them, especially after Cindy’s affair with the oral surgeon who eventually became her husband.

“So Cindy just dropped off Addie like UPS delivering a surprise package?” Hope asked, disgust clear in her voice.

“What about school?” ever-practical Celeste asked. “Surely she’s not out for Christmas break yet.”

“No. She’s going to do her homework from here.” She paused, remembering the one other complication. “I haven’t asked Mary yet if she’s available but in case she’s not, would either of you like a couple of extra kids on Friday night? Three, actually—my two and Addie. Chase and I have a...a thing and it might run late.”

“Oh, I wish I could,” Hope exclaimed. “Rafe and I promised Joey we would take him to Boise to see his mom. We’re staying overnight and doing some shopping while we’re there.”

“How is Cami doing?” Faith asked. “She’s been out of prison, what, three months now?”

“Ten weeks. She’s doing so well. Much better than Rafe expected, really. The court-ordered drug rehab she had in prison worked in her case and the halfway house is really helping her get back on her feet. Another six months and she’s hoping she can have her own place and be ready to take Joey back. Maybe even by the time the baby comes.”

Hope tried to smile but it didn’t quite reach her eyes and Faith couldn’t resist giving her sister’s hand a squeeze. Celeste did the same to the other hand. Hope and her husband had cared for Rafe’s nephew Joey since before their marriage after his sister’s conviction on drug and robbery charges. They loved him and would both be sad to see him go.

Joey seemed like a different kid than he’d been when he first showed up at The Christmas Ranch with Rafe, two years earlier, sullen and confused and angry...

“We’re trying to convince her to come back to Pine Gulch,” Hope said, trying to smile. “It might help her stay out of trouble, and that way we can remain part of Joey’s life. So far it’s an uphill battle, as she feels like this is where all her troubles started.”

Her sister’s turmoil was a sharp reminder to Faith. Hope might be losing the boy she considered a son, and Celeste’s stepdaughter, Olivia, still struggled to recover from both physical injuries and the emotional trauma of witnessing her mother’s murder at the hands of her mentally ill and suicidal boyfriend.

In contrast, the problem of trying to figure out what to do with Chase seemed much more manageable.

“Anyway,” Hope said, “that’s why I won’t be around Friday to help you with the kids. Sorry again.”

“Don’t give it another thought. That’s exactly where you need to be.”

“The kids are more than welcome at our place,” Celeste said. “Flynn and Olivia are having a movie marathon and watching Miracle on 34th Street and White Christmas. I’ll be writing during most of it, but hope to sneak in and watch the dancing in White Christmas.”

She used to love those movies, Faith remembered. When she was young, her parents had a handful of very old, very worn VCR tapes of several holiday classics and would drag them from place to place, sometimes even showing them at social events for people in whatever small village they had set their latest medical clinic in at the time.

She probably had been just as baffled as the villagers at the world shown in the movies, which seemed so completely foreign to her own life experience, with the handsomely dressed people and the luxurious train rides and the children surrounded by toys she could only imagine.

“That sounds like the perfect evening,” she said now. “Maybe I’ll join the movie night instead of going to a boring Christmas party with Chase. I can bring the popcorn.”

“You can’t skip the stockgrowers’ party,” Celeste said. “It’s the big social event of the year, isn’t it? Jenna McRaven always caters that gala so you know the food will be fantastic, plus you’ll be going with Chase. How can any party be boring with him around?”

Again, she wanted to blurt out to her sisters how strangely he was acting. She even opened her mouth to do it but before she could force the words out, she heard familiar young voices outside in the hallway just an instant before Barrett and Louisa poked their heads in, followed in short order by Celeste’s stepdaughter, Olivia, and Joey. Liv went straight to Celeste while Joey practically jumped into Hope’s outstretched arms.

It warmed her heart so much to see her sisters being such loving mother figures to children who needed them desperately.

“Joey and Olivia were coming to the house to hang out when I got your text,” Louisa said. “We saw all your cars so decided to stop here to say hi before we walk up to the house from the bus stop.”

“I’m so glad you did,” Faith said.

She hugged them both, her heart aching with love. “Good day?” she asked.

Louisa nodded. “Pretty good. I had a substitute for science and she was way nicer than Mr. Lewis.”

“Guess who got a hundred-ten percent on his math test?” Barrett said with a huge grin “Go on. Guess.”

She made a big show of looking confused and glancing in the other boy’s direction. “You did, Joey? Good job, kid!”

Rafe’s nephew giggled. “I only got a hundred percent. I missed the extra credit but Barrett didn’t.”

Her son preened. “I was the only one in the class who got it right.”

“I’m proud of both of you. What a smart family we have!”

Except for her, the one who couldn’t figure out how to protect the friendship that meant the world to her.

Chapter Three

As he drove up to the Star N ranch house four days after the auction, Chase couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so on edge. He wasn’t nervous—or at least he would never admit to it. He was just unsettled.

So many things seemed to hinge on this night. How was he supposed to make Faith ever view him as more than just her neighbor and best friend? She had to see him for himself, a man who had spent nearly half his life waiting for her.

He didn’t like the way that made him sound weak, like some kind of mongrel hanging on the fringes of her life, content for whatever scraps she threw out the kitchen door at him. It hadn’t been like that. He had genuinely tried to put his unrequited feelings behind him after she and Travis got married. For the most part, he had succeeded.

He had dated a great deal and had genuinely liked several of the women he dated. In the beginning, he had liked Cindy, too. She had been funny and smart and beautiful. He was a man and had been flattered—and susceptible—when she aggressively pursued him.

When she told him she was pregnant, he decided marrying her and making a home for their child was the right thing to do. He really had tried to make their marriage work but he and Cindy were a horrible mismatch from the beginning. He could see now that they would never have suited each other, even if that little dusty corner of his heart hadn’t belonged to the wife of another man.

“This is going to be so fun,” Addie declared beside him. She was just about dancing out of her seat belt with excitement. “Seems like it’s been forever since I’ve had a chance to hang out with Louisa and Olivia. It’s going to be awesome.”

The plan for the evening had changed at the last minute, Faith had told him in a quick, rather awkward conversation earlier that day. Celeste and Flynn decided to move their movie party to the Star N ranch house and the three girls were going to stay overnight after the movie.

If Lou and Olivia were as excited as Addie, Celeste and Mary were in for a night full of giggling girls.

His daughter let out a little shriek when he pulled up and turned off the engine.

“This is going to be so fun!” she repeated.

He had to smile as he climbed out and walked around to open the door. He never got tired of seeing the joy his daughter found in the simple things in life.

“Hand me your suitcase.”

“Here. You don’t have to carry everything, though. I can take the rest.”

After pulling her suitcase from behind the seat, she hopped out with her pillow and sleeping bag.

“Careful. It’s icy,” he said as they headed up the sidewalk to the sprawling ranch house.

She sent him an appraising look as they reached the front door. “You look really good, Dad,” she declared. “Like, Nick Jonas good.”

“That’s quite a compliment.” Or it would be if he had more than the vaguest idea who Nick Jonas was.

“It’s true. I bet you’ll be the hottest guy at the party, especially since everyone else will be a bunch of married old dudes, right?”

He wasn’t sure about that. Justin Hartford was a famous—though retired—movie star and Seth Dalton had once been quite a lady’s man in these parts.

“You’re sweet, kiddo,” he said, kissing the top of her head that smelled like grape-scented shampoo.

Man, he loved this kid and missed her like crazy when she was staying with her mother.

“Doesn’t their house look pretty?” she said cheerfully as she rang the doorbell.

The Star N ranch house was ablaze with multicolored Christmas lights around the windows and along the roofline, and their Christmas tree glowed merrily in the front bay window.

It was warm and welcoming against the cold, starry night.

The first year after Travis died, Faith had refused to hang any outside Christmas lights on the house and had only had a Christmas tree because Chase had decorated her Christmas tree with the kids and Aunt Mary. Faith hadn’t been up to it and had claimed ranch business elsewhere while they did it.

Last year, he and Rafe had hung the outside Christmas lights.

This year, Faith herself had hung the lights, with Barrett and Lou helping her.

He wanted to think there was some symbolism in that, one more example that she was moving forward with her life.

Addie was about to ring the doorbell again when it suddenly opened. Faith’s aunt stood on the other side and at the sight of him, Mary gave a low, appreciative whistle that made him feel extremely self-conscious.

“I should yell at you for ringing the doorbell when I’ve told you a hundred times you’re family, but you look so good, I was about to ask Miss Addie what handsome stranger brought her to our door.”

His daughter giggled and kissed the wrinkled cheek Mary offered. “Hi, Aunt Mary. It’s just my dad. But I told him on the way that he looked super hot. For an old guy, anyway.”

He felt hot in his suit and tie, but probably not the way she meant. Mary grinned. “You’re absolutely right,” she said. “Nice to see you dressed up for once.”

“Thanks,” he answered.

Before he could say more, Louisa burst into the room and started dancing around Addie. “You’re here! You’re here! I’ve been dying to see you and do more than just talk on the phone and text and stuff. It feels like forever since you’ve been here.”

The girls hugged as if they had been separated for months.

“Need me to carry your stuff to your room?” he asked.

“It’s just a suitcase and sleeping bag, Dad. I think we can handle it.”

“Let’s hurry, before Barrett finds out you’re here and starts bugging us,” Louisa said.

Poor Barrett, who until recently had been completely outnumbered by all the women in his life. At least now he had a couple of uncles and an honorary cousin in Rafe’s nephew, Joey.

“Faith only came in from the barn about half an hour ago so she’s still getting ready,” Mary said, her plump features tight with disapproval for a moment before she wiped the expression away and gave him a smile instead. “I heard the shower turn off a few minutes ago so it shouldn’t be long now.”

He tried not to picture Faith climbing out of the shower, all creamy skin with her tight, slender body covered in water droplets. Once the image bloomed there, it was tough to get it out of his head again to focus on anything else.

“It’s fine,” he answered. “We’ve got plenty of time.”

“You’re too patient,” Mary said. Her voice had an unusually barbed tone to it that made him think she wasn’t necessarily talking about him waiting for Faith to get dressed for their night out.

“Maybe I just don’t want to make anybody feel rushed,” he answered carefully—also talking about more than just that evening.

Mary sniffed. “That’s all well and good, but sometimes time can be your worst enemy, son. People get set in their ways and can’t see the world is still brimming over with possibilities. Sometimes they need a sharp boot in the keister to point them in the right direction.”

Well, that was clear enough. Mary definitely wasn’t talking about the time Faith was taking to get ready. He gave her a searching look. Maybe he hadn’t been as careful as he thought about not wearing his heart on his sleeve.

He loved Faith’s aunt, who had opened her home and her heart to Faith and her sisters after the horrible events before they came to Pine Gulch. She and Claude had offered a safe haven for three grieving girls but they had provided much more than that. Through steady love and care, the couple had helped the girls begin to heal.

Mary had truly been a lifesaver after Travis’s death, as well. She had moved back into the ranch house and stepped up to help with the children while Faith struggled to juggle widowhood and single motherhood while suddenly saddled with the responsibilities of running a big cattle ranch on her own.

“I’m just saying,” Mary went on, “maybe it’s time to get off your duff and make a move.”

He could feel tension spread out from his head to his shoulders. “That’s the plan. What do you think tonight is about?”

“I was hoping.”

She frowned, blue eyes troubled. “Just between me and you and that Christmas tree, I’ve got a feeling that might be the reason why a certain person just came in from the barn only a half hour ago, even though she knew all day you were on the way and exactly what time she would need to start getting ready.”

Did that mean Mary thought Faith was avoiding the idea of going on a real date with him? He couldn’t tell and before he had the chance to ask for clarification, Flynn Delaney came into the living room.

The other man did a double take when he spotted Chase talking to Mary. “Wow. A tie and everything.”

Chase shrugged, though he could feel his skin prickle. “A Christmas party for the local stockgrowers association might not be a red-carpet Hollywood affair, but it’s still a pretty big deal around here.”

“Take it from me—it will be much more enjoyable for everyone involved.”

He wasn’t so sure about that, especially if Faith was showing reluctance about the evening.

“Sometime this week, Rafe and I are planning to spruce up the set we used last year for the Christmas show. If you want to lend a hand, we’ll pay you in beer.”

He had come to truly enjoy the company of both of Faith’s brothers-in-law. They were both decent men who, as far as he was concerned, were almost good enough for her sisters.

“Addie’s in town right now and I feel bad enough about leaving her tonight when our time together is limited. I’ll have to see what she wants to do but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind coming out again and riding horses with Lou.”

“I get it. Believe me.”

Flynn had been a divorced father, too. He and his famous actress wife had been divorced several years before she was eventually killed so tragically.

The other man looked down the hallway, apparently to make sure none of the kids were in earshot. “I hear a certain H-O-R-S-E is safely ensconced at your place now.”

“Lou is twelve years old and can spell, you know,” Mary said with a snort.

Flynn grinned at the older woman. “Yeah. But will she slow down long enough to bother taking time to do it? That’s the question.”

Chase had to laugh. The horse and Louisa would be perfect for each other. “Yeah. She’s a beauty. Louisa is going to be thrilled, I think. You all are in for a fun Christmas morning.”

“You’ll come over for breakfast like you usually do, won’t you?” Mary asked.

He wasn’t so sure about that. Maybe he would have to see how that evening went first. He hoped like hell that he wasn’t about to ruin all his most important relationships with Faith’s family by muddying the water with her.

“I hope so,” he started to say, but the words died when he heard a commotion on the stairs and a moment later, Faith hurried down them wearing a silver-and-blue dress that made her look like a snow princess.

“Sorry. I’m so sorry I’m late,” Faith exclaimed as she fastened a dangly silver earring.

He couldn’t have responded, since his brain seemed to have shut down.

She looked absolutely stunning, with her hair piled on top of her head in a messy, sexy bun, strands artfully escaping in delectable ways. She wore a rosy lipstick and more eye makeup than usual, with mascara and eyeliner that made her eyes look huge and exotically slanted.

The dress hugged her shape, with a neckline that revealed just a hint of cleavage. She wore strappy sandals that made him wonder if he was going to have to scoop her up and carry her through the snow.

He was so used to seeing her in jeans and a T-shirt and boots, wearing a ponytail and little makeup except lip balm.

She was beautiful either way.

He swallowed, realizing he had to say something and not just stand there like an idiot.

“You’re worth the wait,” he said.

His voice came out rough and she flashed him a startled look before he saw color climb her cheeks.

“I don’t know about that. It’s been a crazy day and I feel like I’ve been running since five a.m. I’ll probably fall asleep the moment I get into your truck.”

He would love to have her curl up beside him and sleep. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time.

“I’ll have to see what I can do to keep you awake,” he murmured.

“Driving with the windows down and the music cranked always helps me,” Flynn offered.

“I spent too long fixing that hair for you to mess it up with a wind tunnel,” Celeste Nichols Delaney said as she followed her sister down the stairs.

Her words brought Chase to his senses and he realized he had been standing in the entryway, gaping at her like he’d never seen a beautiful woman before.

He cleared his throat and forced himself to smile at Celeste. “We can’t have that. You did a great job.”

“I did, especially with Faith trying to send three emails, put on her makeup and help Barrett with his English homework at the same time.”

“I appreciate your hard work,” Faith said. “I think I’m finally ready. I just need my coat.”

She made it the rest of the way down the stairs on the high heels and reached inside the closet in the entryway, but before she could pull off the serviceable ranch coat she always wore, Celeste slapped her hand away. “Oh, no you don’t.”

Faith frowned at her sister. “Why not? This is a stockgrowers’ dinner. You think they’ve never seen a ranch coat before?”

“Not with that dress, they haven’t. That’s why I brought over this.”

She pulled a soft fawn coat reverently from the arm of the sofa. “I bought this last month in New York when Hope and I were there meeting with our publisher.”

“I don’t want to wear your fancy coat.”

“Too bad. You’re going to.”

Celeste could be as stubborn as the other sisters. “Fine,” Faith finally sighed, reaching for the coat that looked cashmere and expensive. With a subtle wink, Celeste ignored her sister’s outstretched hand and gave it to Chase instead. It was soft as a newborn kitten. He felt inordinately breathless as he moved behind Faith and helped her into it.

She smelled...different. Usually she smelled of vanilla and oranges from her favorite soap but this was a little more intense, with a low, flowery note that made him want to bury his face in her neck and inhale.

“There you go,” he said gruffly.

“Thanks.” It was obvious she wasn’t comfortable dressing up, perhaps because so much of her childhood was spent with parents who gave away most of their material possessions to the people they worked with in impoverished countries.

“Are you happy now?” Faith said to her sister.

“Yes. You’re beautiful.” Celeste’s eyes were soft and a little teary. “Sometimes you look so much like Mom.”

“She must have been stunning,” Flynn said, kissing his sister-in-law on the cheek.

Chase cleared away the little catch in his throat. “Breathtaking,” he agreed.

Her cheeks turned pink at the attention. “I still think we’d have much more fun staying home and watching Christmas movies with the kids,” she said. She smiled at the three of them but he was almost certain he saw a flicker of nervousness in her eyes again.

“Now, there’s absolutely no reason for the two of you to rush back,” Celeste assured them. “The three of us have got this covered. The kids will all be fine. Go and have a great time.”

“That’s right,” Mary said. She gave Chase a pointed look, as if to remind him of their conversation earlier. “You ask me, these parties end way too soon. I suppose that’s what you get when you hang out with people who have to wake up early to feed their livestock. So don’t feel like you have to come straight home when it’s over. You could even go catch a movie in town if you wanted or grab drinks at that fancy new bar that opened up on the outskirts of town.”

“The only trouble is we both also have to wake up early to take care of our livestock,” Faith said with a laugh that sounded slightly strained.

“Louisa. Barrett,” she called. “I’m leaving. Come give me a hug.”

All the children, not only her two, hurried down the stairs to join them.

“You look beautiful, Faith,” Addie exclaimed. “What a cute couple you guys are. Wait. Let me get a picture so I can show my friends.”

She pulled out the smartphone he didn’t think she needed yet and snapped a picture.

“Oh! What a good idea,” Celeste said. “I want a picture, too.”

“We’re just going to a Christmas party. It’s not the prom,” Faith said. Her color ratcheted up a notch, especially when Aunt Mary pulled out her phone as well and started clicking away taking pictures.

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