Home For a Cowboy Christmas(15)

“She did in the end,” he said with a sigh.

Emmy regretted asking since it seemed to have drudged up some bad memories. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. She wasn’t the woman for me. The brunt of producing an heir isn’t just on me, though. There’s Vic. She’s been dating Ted for six years now. I thought they might get married, but she told me she’s against it. Said there’s no reason for all the formality of it.”

“What do you think?”

Dwight eyed her for a moment. “I think it depends on what the couple wants. I see why some choose to get married. I also see why others decide against it. There are still legal forms that can be filed to get the same results as marriage. There are pros and cons to both, and it depends on who you ask.”

“Well, if that wasn’t a roundabout answer, I don’t know what is,” Emmy said with a laugh.

He shrugged. “It’s how I feel. I want my sister to be happy, and if what she has makes her happy, then who am I to tell her it’s wrong?”

“The more I learn about you, the more I’m beginning to think you’re a unicorn.”

His brows shot up in his forehead. “A unicorn?”

“You know. The mythical beast.”

“I know what a unicorn is. How does that pertain to me?”

Emmy finished her last bite of muffin before saying, “It means that you have qualities most women swoon over. You’re the type of man women everywhere search for and can’t find.”

“Is that right?” he asked in a soft voice, his blue eyes boring into her.

“It is. With the right marketing, I could have women lined up for miles just to meet you. You’d have your pick of a wife.”

Dwight lifted his hands in surrender. “I’d rather do it the old-fashioned way.”

“Yep. Definitely a unicorn,” she murmured as she followed him to his office.

When he took the chair behind the desk, he became ultra-focused on the tasks at hand. He handed her a stack of papers and pointed to the filing cabinet. Emmy went through the stack quickly. That’s when she discovered there was another stack, and another, and another. By the time she finished, the pile on the credenza behind him had been cleared.

While he answered emails, she opened and sorted the mail he’d handed her. There were bills to be paid, but there was also money coming into the ranch from those who had bought cattle, etcetera. A check from someone who had leased one of Dwight’s pastures for their herd. Another from a farm who had purchased some hay.

Emmy put the mail into two stacks and handed it to him when he was ready. He took the bills due and asked her to match up the payments coming in to the invoices he had. It was menial work, but she loved it. It took her mind off other things and kept her busy. And she was learning things about a working ranch that she hadn’t known.

Since she had known nothing, she learned quite a bit.

More than anything, she truly enjoyed herself. Dwight shared stories about the ranch and kept the conversation going all morning until lunch. She was, in fact, disappointed when they paused to eat.

“Don’t worry,” he told her. “There’s a lot more to do.”

“I like the sound of that.”

He shook his head as he laughed. “I’ve never known anyone who actually wanted to do this kind of work.”

“I’m not like most people.”

“There isn’t anything wrong with that.”

She looked up at him to find Dwight’s blue eyes locked on her. His gaze reflected the sincerity of his words. “Thank you.”

He gave her a nod and rose to leave. Emmy glanced around, happy that she had been allowed to spend the time helping. It had taken her mind off other things, which was exactly what she needed.

They had a quick lunch, but just as they were returning to the office, Dwight’s cell phone rang. Emmy heard a man’s voice but couldn’t make out the words. Dwight’s brow furrowed as the conversation continued.

“I’ll be right there,” Dwight said and hung up the phone. Then he looked at her. “One of the calves is stuck. I’ve got to help my men.”

“Of course. Go. I’ll be fine.”

Dwight put on his coat and hat, then paused at the door to look back at her. “I don’t know how long I’ll be. The storm could make things worse.”

“I understand.”

Sam sat between them, looking from one to the other as if he couldn’t decide what to do.

Emmy liked having the dog with her, but she suspected that Sam was also a working dog. “Take Sam.”

“He should stay with you,” Dwight said.

“You need him.”

After a moment, Dwight nodded and called Sam’s name. Then they were out the door. Emmy locked it behind them, then turned and let out a sigh. She went back to the office and finished what she had been doing. Unfortunately, that only ate up about thirty minutes. She needed some music to help fill the silence, something other than the whining wind as it blew around the house.

She looked for a radio of some kind but came up empty. That’s when she saw the black smart speaker. It was angled on the table in the living room behind some ivy. She had nearly missed it. Emmy asked it to play some feel-good music. A smile pulled at her lips when the first beats of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” filled the air. She bobbed her head as she made her way to the laundry room and found the duster once more.