Holidays on the Ranch (Burnt Boot, Texas #1)(16)

“Whew!” he said. “I’m glad you came along when you did.”

“I know, darlin’. Madam Fate sent me at just the right time.”

Finn set the coffee down and took two steps forward. His arms went around her waist and hers went around his neck. She felt as if any minute she’d drown in his blue eyes when she looked up at his face. The tip of her tongue moistened her lips as his eyelashes slowly came to rest on his cheekbones. It would be their first kiss and already her chest was so tight, she couldn’t breathe.

“Hey, is dinner on the table? Need me to set the table?” Martin yelled as he ran down the hall.

Callie quickly backed up, picked up a pot holder, and opened the oven door. She could feel Finn’s eyes on her as he handed the boy the plates from the cabinet. She had to remind herself to breathe in and breathe out, or she would have fainted right there on the kitchen floor.

“Hey,” she said, “since we won’t have enough decorations for the tree, maybe we could each buy an ornament on Friday night when we get paid.” If she said something, maybe normality would return and she’d quit feeling like her whole body was on fire.

***

Callie acted as a measuring stick and stood beside the first cedar tree. Finn shook his head. “Too small. It’s not even as tall as you, so it’s not five feet three inches.”

“It’s a foot taller than me,” she argued. “That leaves room for the tree stand and the star without it bending at the ceiling.”

“It’s too skinny, and besides, when we cut it down, it won’t be that tall,” Martin said.

“And it’s got a big hole in the branches right there,” Finn pointed out.

So they trudged on another quarter mile through the brush and mesquite. She stole sidelong glances toward Finn as they searched for the right tree. It didn’t matter if he wore fatigues or tight-fittin’ jeans; he still had the cowboy walk that made women take a second look. Honey and Betsy would have gone after him even if there wasn’t a feud or he didn’t own a prime piece of Burnt Boot land.

“I see it!” Martin yelled and ran on ahead with Shotgun at his heels.

Finn sat down and braced his back against a big pecan tree. “Why can’t I buy that kid some boots?” he asked abruptly.

She cleared a space of pecans and sat down beside him. “I told you why, and I don’t want to talk about it. We should pick up these pecans for our Christmas baking.”

“There’s probably a hundred bags of picked-out pecans in the freezer. Verdie said they had a bumper crop last year.”

A snowflake floated down from the pale gray skies and rested on her cheek. He gently brushed it away with the tip of his forefinger. And then the whirr of blades cut through the cold wind whistling through the treetops.

She grabbed his hand. “Shhh, do you hear that?”

He went completely still, only his eyes moving to check the skies. “It’s probably a medical helicopter going down to Dallas. We are safe, Callie.”

She blinked several times. “Certain noises still make my heart race.”

“The whirring of the blades. The rapid gunfire on television. The smell of any kind of fire might always send our minds back over there,” he said.

“Don’t I know it.” She shivered.

He scooted closer to her, draped an arm around her shoulders, and drew her to his side. “They didn’t tell us about this part when we signed up, but it is what it is.”

“Are we talking about the war?” she asked.

“I think it’s all tangled up together like one of those yarn balls my sister has when she knits,” he said. “War. Relationships. It’s all a ball that has to be untangled a few inches at a time.”

He tipped her chin up with his gloved fist, but that time she didn’t have the chance to moisten her lips. His mouth claimed hers, and the whirlwind took them away to another world where there was no noise to startle either of them. She clung to him like a lifeline in an angry sea with choppy waves. When the kiss ended, she leaned against him, wanting more and yet knowing it was a bad idea.

“I’ve wanted to do that since you got out of that van. Hell, I wanted to do that in Afghanistan for a long time, but I was afraid you’d knock me on my ass.” He chuckled.

“What is that noise?” She couldn’t tell him that she would have pushed him into the nearest empty bunk, not knocked him on his ass.

“I reckon we’ve got a boy and a dog on their way back to tell us they’ve found the perfect tree,” he explained.

Martin broke through a copse of mesquite and threw himself on the ground. “Y’all old people had to stop and rest, did you? Well, me and Shotgun done found our Christmas tree, and it’s perfect. Hey, these are pecans. We got to come out here and pick these up so we can make lots of Christmas candy instead of just one pan full of fudge.”

“Or you could pick them up and sell them,” Finn said.

“They’re a long way from the house.” Callie was amazed that her words sounded normal with her heart about to jump right out of her chest.

“Shotgun can come with me. He’ll protect me, won’t you, boy?” Martin grabbed the dog’s ears and kissed him on the nose. “Now y’all have to get up and help me cut down this perfect Christmas tree.”