My Kind of Christmas (The Christmas Tree Ranch #1)(40)

“And you don’t know us,” Conner said. “We’re just a couple of crazy fools with a dream. When you’re done checking that horse, we’ll show it to you.”

*

Half an hour later, they were seated in the ATV with Conner driving and the cart loaded with tools hitched on behind. Last night’s hail and wind were gone. The weather was sunny but cold.

The road Travis and Conner had worked so hard to clear was still bumpy in spots. But with a good snowfall, it would do for the sleigh and horses. Travis looked up at the blue sky and murmured a silent prayer for December storms.

“Whatever you’re about to show me, you’re being damned mysterious about it,” Rush joked. “I hope it’s not something illegal?”

Conner laughed. “Wait and see.”

They came up over the last low rise, and there were the trees, like a carpet of festive green spreading over the hollow.

“Now you know why we call it Christmas Tree Ranch,” Conner said. “All we need to do now is get these babies ready to sell. Today we start trimming.”

“And that’s what these tools are for?” Rush glanced back at the loaded cart.

“Right,” Travis said. “But don’t worry, we’re not planning to put you to work. We’ll unhitch the cart and leave Conner to start trimming while I take you back. Then I’ll need to go into town to get my truck out of the way. There’s only one garage in Branding Iron, but the man who owns it is as good as gold. I hope your insurance company will take his word on the estimate.”

“I’ll go with you to make sure they do,” Rush said.

They left Conner with the tools to start on the trees, and Travis drove the ATV back to the house. They’d be taking Conner’s Jeep into town and leaving the loaded Hummer behind the house, where Rush had moved it. “Give me a minute to make a call,” he told Rush. “My lady lives in town. If she sees that wrecked truck with no sign of me, she’ll be worried.”

The words my lady tasted sweet in his mouth—still strange and new, but after last night, somehow fitting.

“So you’ve got a lady, have you?”

“I do. She’s the mayor.” Travis placed the call, and Maggie picked up.

“Hi.”

He guessed from the crispness in her voice that she was already at work.

“What’s up?”

“I just didn’t want to worry you.” He told her briefly what had happened. “I wanted to get word to you before you saw the truck,” he said.

“Thanks. I didn’t see it, but if I had, I’d have been calling the police and the hospital in a panic.”

“It’s nice to know you care that much.”

“You know I do.” There was a pause. “Somebody just walked in. Gotta go.”

She ended the call, leaving Travis a trifle let down. But this was Maggie, he reminded himself. If he wanted to keep her, he would have to get used to sharing her with the whole town.

After driving into Branding Iron, Travis and Rush contacted Silas Parker, who owned the garage. Silas, a master mechanic who’d been in business twenty-five years, was able to give the insurance company a reliable estimate of the truck’s value and a description of the damage. Before the wreck was towed away, Travis cleaned out the glove box and rescued the road map of Texas, which he gave to Rush.

“Maybe now you won’t get lost again,” he joked as they climbed back into the Jeep.

“Who knows? Maybe I was supposed to get lost.” Rush tucked the map into his expensive-looking lambskin jacket. “It’s almost noon. Can I treat you to lunch before we head back?”

“It’s tempting, but I need to get back and spell Conner on trimming those trees.” Travis started up the Jeep and headed out of town. “Think about the offer we made you. We’re starting from scratch this year, but given time and work, this ranch could be a nice place, with plenty of room for your clinic.”

“I will think about it,” Rush said. “But money-wise, I’m scraping bottom. What I need right now is a steady paycheck. I’ve got to at least try my luck in Fort Worth. That, or look somewhere else.”

“Well, keep us in mind. The door’s open, for now at least.”

Travis let Rush out by the Hummer, shook his hand, and stood with Bucket, watching him drive away. Then, shifting his thoughts, he went into the house, made a few sandwiches to share with Conner for lunch, packed them up with some cold sodas, and set out on the ATV with the dog riding in back.

They were shooting for Thanksgiving weekend to start selling trees. With just days left, the task of trimming, cutting, putting up signs, running an ad in the Cottonwood Springs paper, and setting up their display would keep them busy almost around the clock. They’d be lucky to find time for sleep. Even his relationship with Maggie would have to be put on hold.

They had one chance to make their plan succeed. The days ahead would be do or die.

*

By the end of that first day, Travis and Conner were sore, scratched, and exhausted. Trimming seven-and eight-foot trees, making them look good, and doing it efficiently was harder than they’d ever imagined it could be. They’d worked until the daylight was gone, then loaded up the cart and headed back to the house.

The horses were waiting at the pasture gate. After turning Patch and Chip into the barn, the two men stumbled into the house to gulp down milk and warmed-over pizza from the fridge. They’d planned to work on their advertising plan, but they were too tired to think. It was all they could do to shower and fall into bed.