A Snow Country Christmas (The Carsons of Mustang Creek #4)(32)

It was no longer just one scholarship, they’d decided over appetizers and then an array of salads varying from shrimp to garlic chicken. They could now safely give out five from the current endowment. They had their usual table at Bad Billy’s and the place was hopping due to the influx of skiers. The old jukebox was getting a definite workout, with an emphasis on Patsy Cline and Willie Nelson.

“Details?” Raine tried to look like she didn’t understand the demand. “Of what?”

“Nice try,” Hadleigh said after a sip of iced tea. “Let’s talk you and Mick Branson. Don’t ask how we know, because of course we do.”

Drake was probably to blame, since he played poker with Tripp Galloway and Spence Hogan once a week, and he regularly bought horses from Tate Calder, so all their husbands were probably a font of information.

“I’m not sure what you want to know. He’s...nice.” Raine took another shrimp and popped it in her mouth to avoid the conversation. Billy’s poppyseed dressing was so good it should probably be illegal.

Melody wasn’t letting her off the hook. “In the looks department, I agree. Better than nice. Let’s upgrade it to deliciously handsome. And there’s no doubt he’s successful. He seems to be spending a lot of time here in Bliss County all of a sudden. He spent Christmas Eve at your house and I’m guessing there was mistletoe involved. What’s up?”

“He just came so he could see Slater’s movie with the family as a surprise Christmas gift.”

“I watched it, of course. It was fabulous. But nope.” Bex shook her head. “A phone call at the right moment could have done the trick. Speculation has it he came here to see you. I have it on good authority.”

“Whose?”

“Blythe’s, via my mother-in-law. The networking around here is incredible.”

Lettie Arbuckle-Calder was connected. “Like I don’t know that,” Raine muttered.

“I’d say he’s not your type, but maybe I’m wrong.” Melody, a jewelry artist, spoke thoughtfully. “I’ve met him and he has a soulful aura.”

Hadleigh snorted. “You should have been a hippie, you know that? A soulful aura?”

Melody wasn’t one to take anything from Hadleigh without arguing, even if they were fast friends. “Hippie, huh? Let’s talk about someone who makes quilts for a living. There’s hippie for you. I think you’re the only person I know with an incense burner.”

“That’s an air freshener.”

Bex said mildly to Raine under her breath, “I’ll put a stop to this. Been doing it for years now. Otherwise it could go on for an hour.” Loudly, she interrupted, “I think we were talking about Mick Branson, right? Tell us about him.”

Too bad putting a stop to the bickering meant shining the spotlight back on Raine. “He’s creative and imaginative, once you see beneath that corporate businessman image. Yes, he raises money for Slater’s films, but that’s because he sees the vision.”

“Or the money.” That was Bex, so practical.

“Nope. To see his face when the documentary came on at prime time on a day that isn’t easy to secure was priceless. Mick did it for all of us. I’d say he moved heaven and earth to make it happen.”

“You’re in love with him.” Hadleigh looked delighted. “I can see it.”

“You can’t see love,” Raine argued, sidestepping an actual answer. She’d only just begun to admit her feelings to herself and to Mick. She wasn’t quite ready to share them with others yet, not even friends.

“Yes, she can,” Melody disagreed, jumping right into Hadleigh camp. “She has a special magic.”

“She can. She’s a wizard.” Bex pointed a finger at her friend. “She’s got a potion or something she takes.”

“I do not,” Hadleigh protested despite her grin. “There’s no simmering pot, no incantations.”

“Wizard.” They said it accusingly in unison.

“I’m empathic and gifted with insight,” she corrected loftily, then turned to Raine. “Do we have wedding plans yet?”

“No!”

“We will soon,” the wizard decreed. “The resort will be perfect as a venue. Elegant enough for out-of-town guests, but convenient for everyone else. Blythe wouldn’t dream of anyone else doing the bridal shower but her.”

“He hasn’t asked me.” Raine had to point it out.

“What would you say?” That was Bex.

“It doesn’t matter, he won’t ask. If he wanted to get married, he would have by now.”

The three of them looked at each other, and then burst out laughing. Melody was the one who said, “Honey, take it from three married women, it doesn’t work that way. They only cave when they find the right woman.”

“And once they do, they’re pretty wonderful,” Hadleigh informed her in a theatrical whisper. “Don’t tell Tripp I said that because I’ll deny it. Those cocky pilot types are full enough of themselves already.”

“I agree.” Bex’s husband had also been a pilot before he decided to become a horse breeder. “And they’re wonderful, only if given some instruction,” she explained with a cheeky smile. “They need guidance.”