Holidays on the Ranch (Burnt Boot, Texas #1)(15)

Chapter 5


Callie pulled the seat belt around her body and propped an elbow on the console between her and Finn. Immediately he did the same, their arms touching, sending bursts of heat all the way to her shoulder.

“Didn’t you love the Christmas tree over there beside the piano?” She tried to ease the tension in the air from the back seat.

“Y’all want a fake tree or a real one or no tree?” Finn asked.

Martin removed an earbud. “Did I hear something about a tree? I always wanted to go out in the woods and cut down a real tree.”

“How about you?” Finn asked Callie. “We don’t have a lot of decorations, but there appears to be plenty of cedar trees on Salt Draw if y’all are up for a hike through the property. If we find the right one, we could maybe get it put up before we go to town for the official lighting ceremony this evening.”

Martin let out a whoop in the back seat of the truck. “Can it be a big one? Big enough to reach all the way to the ceiling when we put the star on the top?”

“If we can find one that big. I only have a small box of decorations, but I suppose there aren’t any rules that say we have to fill it all up this year, is there?” Finn said.

“Heck no!” Martin said. “Will there be presents under it?”

“You believe in Santa?” Finn asked.

Callie poked Finn on the shoulder. “You remember what I told you over there in Afghanistan? If you don’t believe, there won’t be presents on Christmas morning. I believe in Santa, and you’d best be a believer if you want a new set of Rudolph antlers.”

“What’s that about antlers? Is that what you want, Finn?” Martin asked.

Finn smiled into the rearview mirror. “Ask Callie.”

“I bought a set of antlers for him when we were over there in the war zone,” Callie explained. “He had to believe or he wouldn’t have gotten them. I imagine that he’s lost them by now and needs a new set.”

“I did not. I brought them to Salt Draw with me, and I wore them last year,” Finn said.

“What do you want for Christmas, Callie?” Martin asked.

“A box of candy and a pair of warm socks and maybe some perfume,” she said.

Finn’s hand found hers and squeezed. “You’re not hard to please.”

“Not when it comes to presents. Presents are just an added bonus. If I have family all around me, then I’m a happy lady,” she said.

“That’s what she asks for every year,” Martin said. “She’s got an old empty box that she keeps her jewelry in and an empty perfume bottle that she sets on her dresser. I think someone important gave them to her, but she won’t never tell me who it was.”

Finn made a turn from the paved road and crossed the cattle guard under the sign that said Fiddle Creek, which was swinging between two tall metal posts. In a few minutes he’d parked the truck in the backyard and Callie bailed out without waiting for him to play the gentleman and open the door for her.

She hurried from truck to kitchen, grabbed a faded apron from a hook beside the pantry door, slipped the bib string over her head, and opened the oven without tying the waist strings.

“Man, this place smells good. I’m hungry enough to eat every bit of that roast all by myself.” Martin came in right behind her, sniffing the air and rubbing his stomach.

Finn shook his head. “I don’t think so. I’m getting my fair share of that food. My stomach was growling so loud right there at the end of the church service, I was afraid that baby Jesus would think it was a howling wolf and start crying.”

“Martin, you get on back to your room and change your good clothes. Put on your old shoes if we’re going to be stomping around in the woods.” Callie kicked her high heels into the corner and reached around behind her waist to tie the apron.

“Let me do that,” Finn said quickly.

Tying apron strings wasn’t a big thing, but it felt so personal and intimate. Callie quickly moved toward the coffeepot, poured the last cup, and popped it into the microwave. “That will be hot in a minute.”

“For me or you?” he asked.

“We’ll share it, since it’s the last cup.”

The bell dinged and he took it out, offering it to her first. “You don’t think that woman will really bring an apple pie over here tomorrow, do you? Truth is, I don’t even like apple pie.”

“I remember you bitchin’ and moanin’ about it when they served it instead of peach or cherry in the mess hall.” She grinned. “And don’t worry, she was just mouthin’ to get ahead of Honey. Lord, who names their child ‘Honey’?”

“It’s probably a nickname,” Finn said. “But I don’t care what it is. I don’t intend to be drawn into their feud. Verdie made it sound like a silly little thing, but those two were pretty serious this morning.”

“Yep, they were. And it looks like you are going to be the match that lights the bonfire.” Callie handed the cup to him.

He closed his hands around hers for a few seconds before taking the cup. “I think Gladys was teasing about the intensity of this whole thing. It was just a catfight, and it’ll blow over.”

Her fingers tingled long after he’d backed up and leaned against the counter. “I think Gladys was dead serious, but don’t you worry, I’ll keep those big mean old kitty cats from tearing you to shreds with their sharp claws.”