Christmas Cowboy Kisses. Carol Arens
Чтение книги онлайн.
Читать онлайн книгу Christmas Cowboy Kisses - Carol Arens страница 7
Название: Christmas Cowboy Kisses
Автор: Carol Arens
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Историческая литература
Серия: Mills & Boon Historical
isbn: 9781472004147
isbn:
The backdoor rattled open and Gideon stepped inside, carrying Joy’s blue-speckled bowl in one hand. He hung his coat and Joy’s shawl on the hook by the door, and then sat to slide from his boots. “Things are looking good out there, Joy,” he said. “I found your pan on top of the chicken coop and gathered the eggs. Fed the chickens first, though, to lure them off their nests. The cow gave me almost a full bucket of milk and I put it in the milk house. Every bit of stock is fed and the barn is warm enough with the heat they put out to keep them all safe and sound.”
“I can’t thank you enough, Gideon,” Joy said sincerely. “Now, get washed up and sit down at the table. I’ll fry up the eggs and we’ll eat.”
* * *
By breakfast time a few days later, the snow was piled up higher than the windows. Finished with his meal, Gideon leaned back in his chair and shot a look at Joy. He was amazed at how quickly they’d settled into a routine, almost like a real family. And now his suggestion would make it feel even more so.
“If you’ve a mind to, we could head out across the meadow after a bit and see to cutting you that tree you’ve got your eye on, ma’am. The wind’s died down some and I think we could make it without any trouble.”
Joy’s heart skipped a beat as she thought of the thrill of decorating the pine she’d marked as her own. “That would be such fun, Gideon. I’d about given up hope of a Christmas tree this year. If you could make that particular dream come true, I’d be most grateful.”
“Can I go, too, Pa?” Joseph wanted to know. His face glowed as he considered the joy of having a real Christmas, tree and all.
“I fear not, Joseph. It’ll be all we can do to make our own way out there, and besides, Grandpa here needs you inside to keep an eye on things while Joy and I are gone.”
“That’s right, sonny.” Grandpa’s words were firm as he backed up Gideon’s stance. “I need somebody to look after me a bit and tote things hither and yon. Maybe you’d like to watch me whittle something to hang on the Christmas tree once your pa drags it into the house.”
“I’d like that, sir,” Joseph said, rising to stand by Grandpa’s chair. “Can I go get your whittling stuff for you?”
He’d apparently watched when Grandpa had wrapped up his knife and the wood he was working with and laid it behind the stove yesterday. Now he waited impatiently for the chance to retrieve it and put Grandpa to work at his task.
Gideon spoke up. “Let’s you and me get going, Joy. I think your grandfather is in good hands, don’t you?”
Joy chuckled as she prepared for the trek across the meadow, bundling up warmly and waiting at the door for Gideon to lead the way.
They made it to the barn quickly, and then Gideon found the bucksaw hanging on the wall. “You ready, ma’am?” he asked with a grin.
“Whenever you are,” Joy said, her heart lifting as she considered the man standing before her. She tilted her face upward and smiled at him. “I’m so glad you’re here, Gideon.”
In a swift movement, he held her shoulders in his hands and bent to her, dropping a quick kiss on her forehead. “So am I,” he said, his voice husky, as if some emotion held him in its grip.
Joy smiled at him again, feeling the residue of warmth he’d left behind on her skin. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks and ducked her head, fussing with her coat buttons as if they needed attention. “Let’s go then,” she said finally, savoring the memory of her first kiss.
Chapter Four
The expedition was a rousing success, for within an hour Gideon had formed a crude tree stand and nailed the small evergreen onto it before carrying it into the house. Joseph clapped his hands with glee as his father carried the tree to the parlor and gave it pride of place before the front window.
Joy and Gideon toted the boxes of decorations from the corner of the parlor where Joy had left them after her foray into the attic in hopes of her dream tree becoming reality. Dishes were forgotten as they gathered in the parlor to place the homemade wooden stars, the gingerbread men and even an angel on the fragrant tree. Joy brought out tinsel left from years gone by and hung it strand by strand on the branches. Gideon found the candleholders and clipped them on the ends of the branches while Joy located the box of candles, most of them with hours of burning left in their slender white lengths.
She found some colored paper left over from another year and showed Joseph how to make chains, cutting the paper and then sealing the loops with paste made of flour and a dab of water. They were soon joined by Gideon, and by the time they’d used up all the heavy paper Joy had saved, the chain was almost twelve feet long and Joseph pronounced it “beautiful.” They wound it around the tree several times and the little boy beamed at the sight.
“After it gets closer to dark, we’ll light the candles,” Joy decided. “It’s only the twenty-third of December, but we’ll enjoy it awhile. Tomorrow, we’ll make cookies and bake a pumpkin pie.”
“I can’t thank you enough for letting us join in your Christmas celebrations,” Gideon said in a low tone as they stood before the tree, Joy reaching to make sure the candleholders were firmly in place.
“We wouldn’t have had it without you here,” she said softly. “I’m so thankful you came to our door, Gideon. Even though I didn’t like the circumstances behind it, what with you losing your horse and wagon.”
He slid one arm around her waist and bent to whisper in her ear, “I’m thinking it was meant to be, Joy. That we were meant to find each other this way.”
She blushed and cut a quick look at him. “Maybe so. I only know that you and Joseph are welcome here, and Grandpa and I are thankful for you.
“I have some knitting to catch up on, Gideon. I think I’ll ask you to light the fireplace and warm up the parlor a bit. Then I’m going to sit on the sofa and work on my project. I have to have it done by Christmas.”
He grinned at her. “I watched you a bit last evening before we went to bed, just knittin’ away on what looked suspiciously like a hat for my young’un.”
“I got out all my odds and ends of yarn, so it’ll be a hat of many colors. I won’t be able to knit his mittens to go with it until after Christmas, but I might be able to work on a scarf. The hat’s almost done and straight knitting on a scarf takes no time at all.”
“You’re a kind woman, Joy. My boy’s already taken a shine to you. You’re the first female he’s latched onto since he was born.” He cleared his throat and glanced to where his son sat next to Grandpa, watching as the old man whittled away, paper spread on the floor to catch the whittling scraps.
The low murmur of voices reached them as Joseph and the old man next to him considered the small manger Grandpa had formed from the wood. “How’d you do that, sir?” the boy asked softly.
“Just as easy as pie once you get the hang of it, sonny. I thought I’d do a couple of figures to hang on either side of it, maybe Mary kneeling by the manger and Joseph standing by.” Grandpa grinned at the boy. “Did you know you СКАЧАТЬ