Western Christmas Wishes. Brenda Minton

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СКАЧАТЬ Laurel took him up on his offer to give her a ride to Lakeside Manor to visit Gladys. He should have been more surprised with himself for offering. As he stepped out into the hall of the nursing home in order to give Laurel time alone with her grandmother, he realized he’d fallen into Gladys’s plans, the ones that ultimately dragged him into her granddaughter’s life. He had to give it to her, she was good at meddling.

      As he left the room, he heard Laurel telling Gladys that she couldn’t stay in town more than two weeks. She had signed up to start classes in January. She was going to be a teacher. Reinventing herself, Gladys had said, almost approvingly.

      He didn’t get it. He didn’t want to reinvent himself; he just wanted to find a way to live the life he already had. He’d spent the better part of two years figuring it out. He’d spent a lot of that time alone. As Gladys liked to say, “licking his wounds.” He couldn’t disagree.

      A lot had changed in his life. Too much. And it went beyond his injuries. He’d lost his dad. The family ranch had been sold because Cameron and his siblings hadn’t wanted to return to the place where they’d spent their childhood years working long hours side by side with their father rather than doing what other kids their age had been doing—movies on Friday nights and swimming on weekends.

      The sale of the ranch had given them all the freedom to make their own choices. His choice was to stay in Hope, raise horses and live his life exactly the way he wanted.

      He bought a soda from a vending machine and headed back to Gladys’s room.

      Gladys waved him in, a smile of greeting quick to replace the frown she’d worn when he stepped through the door. If he had to guess, they’d been discussing Curt Jackson. Laurel stood at the window, her back to him. The light cast her in silhouette but didn’t hide the fact that she surreptitiously swiped her hand over her cheek.

      “Did Laurel ask about your Christmas tree?” he asked. “Rose wants to put up a tree.”

      “Christmas tree?” Gladys shook her head. “I don’t have an artificial tree. I usually buy one in town. Laurel, you’ll have to get a tree for Rose to decorate. I think she hasn’t had much of a Christmas the past few years. Probably ever, if I had to guess. Get one of the trees that are in planters, so we can replant it after the holidays.”

      “I’ll take Laurel by the feed store,” Cameron offered. “We can put the tree in the back of my truck.”

      Gladys gave him a narrow-eyed look. “Well, now, isn’t that nice of you.”

      “I usually am nice,” he reminded. “And it isn’t as if Laurel can put a tree in her car, can she?”

      “It’s just... You usually avoid town like the plague. But since you’re being so nice, you can make sure Rose gets to church on Sunday, too.”

      Cam frowned. “I think I’ve just been set up.”

      “It’s important to Rose,” Gladys insisted. “She’s so excited about being in the Christmas program. There are also a couple of programs at school that she will attend. Now you have to make sure you ask because she’s so used to not being able to do those things that she’ll probably just assume that no one is interested in going or taking her.”

      “I’ll make sure she gets to church and I’ll take her to the school programs,” Laurel assured her grandmother. “I won’t let you down.”

      Gladys patted her hand. “I know you won’t. And now, the two of you should go. I need a nap.”

      Once they were outside, Laurel turned to him. “You don’t have to take me to get a tree.”

      Walking toward his truck, she was on his left side. He slowed, and with his hands on her arms, he guided her to his right side.

      “I like to see the person I’m talking to and I don’t like walking with my head constantly turned to the left.”

      Pink tinged her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that.”

      “There’s no reason you should have. I just thought I’d let you know.”

      When they reached his truck, he opened the door for her. She looked surprised by the gesture. “Do men in Chicago not open doors for women?” he asked.

      “I’m sure they do. I just haven’t met any of those men.”

      “Well, now you’ve met one.” He closed the door, needing that solid piece of metal between them.

      He counted to ten, then got in behind the wheel. “I don’t mind taking you to get the tree but do you think we should wait till after school and let Rose help pick it out?”

      “That sounds great, except I’m starving.”

      He started his truck. “We can have lunch at the café in Hope.”

      “You don’t have to do that.”

      He glanced her way before pulling from his parking space. “I don’t mind.”

      “I think you do.”

      He sighed. “I think you like to argue. This back and forth is making me dizzy.”

      She laughed. “I guess maybe I do like to argue. But I also don’t want you to feel like I’m making you do this.”

      They drove in silence for several minutes before he responded. “It’s okay to be pushed from my comfort zone. When I moved into the cottage at Gladys’s, I knew she’d push. It’s her nature. She pushes herself and everyone around her.”

      “Yes, she certainly is a force to be reckoned with. And now you have Rose.”

      “Capital T,” he reminded her. “And she is a force. But so are you.”

      Surprise flickered through her hazel eyes. “Me? I’m not a force.”

      He laughed at her. “Oh, you’re a force, all right. Kittens, Christmas trees, trips to the nursing home.”

      “I’m not making you do any of those things,” she reminded him.

      How well he knew that. The problem was that she didn’t have to force him out of his den—he came willingly for her. He used his music to soothe his horses or to gentle an unexpectedly shy or difficult animal. She was his music.

      That was probably the most dangerous thought he’d had in a long time.

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