A Snow Country Christmas (The Carsons of Mustang Creek #4)(19)

“He has excellent taste,” Raine agreed. She glanced at Mick’s feet. “And apparently so does a certain small, floppy dog.”

“Thanks.” Mick eyed his snoozing new best friend, and the sleeping giant at her feet. “Raine, you do realize you’re going to need a larger yard for that beast.”

Samson had come over and collapsed at her feet mid-movie and, even at his young age, he already snored. His head was significantly bigger than her foot. She offered helpfully, “If you decide you want my grandfather’s property, I’ll throw him in for free. Problem solved. That’s one big yard.”

Mick chuckled. “Oh yes, I bet your daughter would let that fly. And I might have always wanted a dog, but I’m not sure about a rambunctious horse in canine form.”

“Yeah, I guess I’m stuck with him. But there’s one thing I can give you.” She was impulsive and she knew it. It was exactly how she ordered her world. Follow the heart. If she had a motto, that was it. Raine took a breath and blurted out, “What if I just deeded the property to you on the proviso you keep the cabin as it is? Yours, free and clear.”

It wasn’t hard to see Mick was flabbergasted. He looked at her like she was insane. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

She stood her ground. “I don’t agree. I think it makes perfect sense.”

“Raine...the property is like what I’m looking for and I can afford to buy it.”

“I believe I already told you that I want someone who appreciates it to have it. If you can afford to buy it, you can afford the taxes and to put in a decent road. Fix that top step on the porch, too, will you? Say you’ll keep the cabin. We’ll call it even.”

It seemed like he was searching for words. “You...you can’t give a hundred acres and a historical cabin away.”

The more she thought about it, the better the idea seemed to be. “You want land in this area, and you’d have it.” She needed to make her position clear so she chose her next words carefully. “I’m really being selfish. Mick, I don’t want to sell it. But I can’t justifiably keep it either and let it fall apart. This seems a lot more right to me. You’d be doing me a favor. The guilt of having it on the market has been eating away at me. I think, given your friendship with Slater, you’d let Daisy come out there every once in a while to visit the cabin. That’s so much better than a stranger buying it and not caring that he was Matthew Brighton, the author, and getting rid of it.”

“If you get that animated movie deal I mentioned, you could afford all of that.”

“That’s a big ‘if.’ And I assume these things take time. I would have given it to the Carson family, but they really don’t need more land. For them, it would just be taxes and something else to manage. They would do it, but it would be an imposition on my part.”

“You are part of the Carson family.”

He was right, and he was wrong. “My daughter is. I’ve been made welcome, no doubt about it, but there’s a reason I spend Christmas Eve on my own.”

“Not this year.”

She held his gaze, remembering that brief kiss that was still a spine-tingling experience, the second one even better. “No. I want you to know I don’t share my green chilis with just anyone.”

“That was a Christmas gift all its own. If a genie had popped out of a bottle and asked what I wanted for dinner, that selection would have been my choice.”

There came that heart-stopping smile again. She pounced on the moment. “So we have a deal then? Take the land, keep the cabin, and I’ll make you green chili cheeseburgers every Christmas Eve if you want.”

“Okay, we have a standing date.”

“Mom, Mom.” Daisy rushed in and flopped down on the floor next to Samson, who promptly rolled over to get his belly rubbed. Her blue eyes were alight. “Dad and Uncle Mace are going to take me and Ryder for a midnight ride in the snow tonight. Is that okay? I can just stay over again, unless you mind.”

At least they’d spent the day together, and it was Christmas after all. “I don’t mind.” But Raine had to ask, “Are you going to take your purse on the ride?”

Daisy was appalled. “No. What if snow got on it?”

“Oh no, hadn’t thought of that. It would be a tragedy.” She bent to kiss her daughter’s head. “Go and have fun.”

“Thanks, Mom.” She jumped up and ran off, and Samson decided maybe something was afoot and followed in a lumbering gait, clumsy but somehow still cute despite his size.

“Don’t look smug,” Raine informed Mick. “She loved my gift, too.”

“I’d love to take credit but I can’t.” He didn’t heed her request but looked smug anyway. “There’s a very efficient clerk who understands both retail and young girls and does an excellent job for her company. Daisy should really thank her for the purse. So now you’re free for the evening?”

What she said next might be life-changing. Raine thought it over—letting him know she wasn’t always impulsive. She trusted him absolutely with her grandfather’s property. Her heart was a different matter, because it also included her child. So when she spoke, her tone was cautious. “It seems like I am.”