My Kind of Christmas (The Christmas Tree Ranch #1)(63)

*

Travis whistled a tune as he washed the sawdust out of his hair and buttoned on a clean flannel shirt. He wouldn’t make it to Maggie’s until well after 9:00. Since they both had to work tomorrow, he wouldn’t plan to stay more than an hour or two. But even the thought of holding Maggie in his arms in front of a cheerful fire was enough to warm his chilled bones.

In high spirits, he put on his coat, let Bucket inside for the night, and went out to the Jeep.

The night was clear, the stars like pinpoints of ice against a black sky. The road was bumpy with frozen slush, but the highway was dry. Coming up on his right was Hank’s Hardware. Strings of Christmas lights still glowed around the tree lot, but there were no cars outside the wire fence.

Slowing down, Travis caught sight of Hank walking alone between the rows. With his head down, his leg dragging wearily, he appeared to be counting his unsold trees.

He looked so lonely and forlorn that Travis was almost tempted to pull off the road, get out of the Jeep, and go to his father. But no, he’d only start another quarrel, he told himself. Besides, he and Maggie had set aside this time to be together, and he’d already kept her waiting long enough. Eyes on the road, he kept on driving, past the Shop Mart and on into town.

Maggie’s porch light was on, and there was a faint glow in her living room window. He parked on the street and strode up the walk to the front door. Not wanting to startle her, he gave a light tap instead of ringing the bell.

As if she’d been waiting right there, she opened the door at once, pulled him inside, and melted into his arms. “I was afraid you weren’t coming,” she murmured between kisses.

“Nothing could have kept me away.” He breathed her in, filled his senses with her sweet fragrance. “It’s been a long day. I’m dead on my feet. What do you say we sit down?”

She took his coat and led him to the sofa. He sank into the soft cushions with Maggie nestled against his side. The fire in the fireplace had burned down to glowing coals, but the warmth was still inviting. There were snacks on the table—chips and dip, cheese and crackers. But he was too tired to eat them. All he wanted was to hold her.

They talked for a while, small talk interspersed with kisses. Little by little, his mind began to blur. His eyelids grew heavy, and he drifted off in her arms.

*

“Hey, sleepyhead.” She woke him with kisses. “It’s after eleven. We need to get you on the road.”

Travis groaned and opened his eyes. The fire was out, the room dark and cooling. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I didn’t come here to fall asleep.”

“It’s all right. I know you’re tired.”

“This has happened before, as I remember.”

“Yes, it has. But as I remember, I was the one who fell asleep. Now we’re even.”

He put on his coat and kissed her good night. Maybe the time would come when he could kiss her good morning and make her breakfast in bed. He’d have to do it right—one didn’t just shack up with a woman like Maggie. But what was he thinking? It would be a long time before he was in a position to marry any woman, let alone the classy mayor of Branding Iron.

At this hour, on a Sunday night, the streets were all but deserted. But as he pulled away from the curb, he noticed a vehicle partway down the block, leaving the curb at the same time. The strange thing was that, in the dead of night, the headlights weren’t on.

As a patrolman, his first response would have been to warn the driver. But as an ex-con, he’d lived in the shadows long enough to know better. All his prickling instincts told him he was being tailed.

Just to make sure, he drove around the block. The vehicle, which appeared to be a dark, older-model sedan, followed a half block behind him.

Nerves quivering, he turned down Main Street, hoping the street lights would give him a look at the driver. But the sedan hung back, widening the distance. All Travis could make out was a single driver with a face hidden by the lowered visor.

What did the bastard want? If he was looking for a confrontation, he was taking his time. Was the driver someone who knew him, maybe an enemy from prison? Was he armed?

Travis had never thought to ask if Conner carried a gun in his Jeep. Steering with his left hand, he opened the glove box and felt inside. Nothing. And nothing under the driver’s seat.

By now he was headed out of town. He passed the Shop Mart, then Hank’s Hardware, dark now except for the security lights mounted below the roof of the store. Another half mile and the car was still behind him. He thought about making a run for it on the highway. But the rugged Jeep wasn’t built for speed, and the sedan could easily have a souped-up engine.

Should he cut across the fields, where the low-slung sedan would probably get stuck? He was weighing that option, looking for a gap in the roadside fence, when he realized that the sedan was no longer following him. Slowing the Jeep, he made a U-turn on the empty highway and switched the headlights on high beam. As he moved back toward town, a pair of red taillights vanished into the dark. There was no other vehicle in sight. The sedan was gone. It was almost as if he’d imagined seeing it.

He was about to shrug off the incident and drive on home when a new thought struck him. His heart slammed.

Maggie!

What if the mysterious driver had tailed him to make sure he was headed out of town, so he could go after Maggie?

Pulse galloping, he pulled off the road, yanked his phone out of his pocket, and called her number.