A Cowboy's Christmas Wedding

“You need to talk to my dad about cooking. He’s really awesome in the kitchen. He had to learn after my mom died.”

The sadness that flitted across the girl’s face was like a wisp of fog, gone before it could fully form, but still there. Saedra’s throat sprouted a lump. Poor thing. She should really cut Cabe some slack. He’d been through a lot.

“Is there a phone book I can use?”

Rana stared at her as if she was speaking a foreign language. “Phone book?”

“Yeah. You know. The yellow book with newspaper pages with numbers on them.” She sent the girl a teasing smile.

“No, but there’s Google.”

“Do you have internet?”

“Of course.” Rana gave her a look that clearly said the Jensens weren’t complete rednecks. “But I think you should go into town with my dad. You know, see what you can find. Maybe one of the Lions Club halls would work if it’s not being used.”

Not on her life—at least as far as going anywhere with her dad.

“That’s okay.” She tried for a sunny smile, although she wasn’t entirely certain if she succeeded. “I think I’ll wing it on my own. How far is town from here?”

A perplexed frown filled the girl’s face. “You passed it on your way here.”

That was town? Oh, dear. She’d thought for sure she’d missed a turnoff and that there was a big shopping mall and a residential area somewhere off in the distance. This might be more difficult than she imagined.

“What’s the next biggest town?”

“Maybe Susanville.” Rana swept a lock of brown hair off her face. “Or Reno.”

Reno. That might be an option. She’d driven through there on her way to New Horizons Ranch.

“Okay, great. I’m off, then.”

“Not without my dad.”

Saedra tucked her chair in, the legs screeching on the hardwood floors. “I don’t need your dad.”

“What if you get lost?”

“How can I get lost? There’s only one road.”

“There’s other businesses tucked off side streets.” The girl jumped off her stool. “Dad!” She turned toward the front of the house. “Saedra needs to go into town.”

“No,” Saedra cried, holding out her hands. “That’s okay. I can explore on my own.”

“Da-ad!” Rana called again.

“It’s okay, Rana. Really. No need to bother—”

“What’s all the yelling about?”

Crud. He must have been right around the corner.

“Saedra needs you to take her into town,” the girl announced.

The man filled the doorway, and without his cowboy hat, his brown wavy hair made him appear more boyish. Not at all what she would have expected.

“Actually, I’ll be fine on my own.”

“But you don’t know where anything is.” Rana met her father’s gaze. “She needs to visit the florist and maybe stop off at someplace that rents tents.”

“No, no.” Saedra pulled out her cell phone. “I’ll be fine on my own.” She shot him a smile. “Have Google, will travel.”

Cabe’s lips lifted, but not into a smile. No. More of a grimace. She could tell he searched for a graceful way out of his daughter’s request, but couldn’t think of anything.

“What time did you want to leave?”

She released a sigh of disappointment. “Really, Cabe. It’s okay. I’m sure you have a million things to do, what with guests arriving tomorrow—”

“Don’t listen to her, Dad. She’s trying to be polite, but we don’t have time for that. Trent and Alana’s wedding is in two weeks.”

And somewhere in there was Christmas, as Rana had mentioned. Come to think of it, where were all the Christmas decorations? Not so much as a jingle bell in sight.

“I can take you to town in an hour.”

“Perfect!” Rana couldn’t contain her excitement. “I’ll stay here and research outdoor weddings. Maybe someone can rent us a portable building or something.”

Saedra spun to face the little girl. “You’re not going with us?” She was certain her panic showed on her face.

“Nah. I have some homework to do. But I stay here alone all the time. No need to look so worried.”

Worried was not the word. Dismayed. Maybe even nauseous.

“In fact, I think I’ll get started on that homework now.” Rana reached for a bowl of apples sitting on a rose-colored countertop. “I’ll see you after.”

Only if Saedra didn’t run screaming for the hills.

* * *

NOT EVEN AN hour had passed and already she’d interfered with his life.

Relax, Cabe, it’s not like she doesn’t have a good reason.

Cabe tried to remind himself of that fact as he pulled up in front of his home. His daughter had had a point earlier. The sooner they got the major details of Alana’s wedding done, the sooner Saedra would be out of his hair. He was certain the woman could manage the minor details on her own.

He hoped.

She came bounding down the steps of his house like a teenager and looking younger than her years in her off-white jacket and a matching knit hat that hugged the contours of her face. The sun had already started to set, golden rays of light catching the twin edges of her pigtails and setting them afire. Pigtails. It should look stupid on someone her age, but on Saedra Robbins, it only made her look sexy. Just the sight of her sent a jolt through his insides, one that left him feeling flushed and edgy and out of sorts.

She jerked on the door handle, the loss in cabin pressure popping his ears, the smell of her assaulting his senses an instant later. Vanilla and cinnamon.

She didn’t even bother to greet him. “You don’t have to do this.”

It must have been his own internal grumpiness that made him say, “I wouldn’t if I didn’t want to.”

She’d slipped into the interior of the ranch’s black truck easily, the cabin pressure lowering once again as she slammed the door closed, that space between them suddenly smelling entirely too good for his peace of mind.

“You’re just saying that to be kind.”

Yes, he was, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Rana will understand if we tell her you changed your mind.”

“Actually, I think my daughter will make my life miserable if I don’t do exactly as she asks.”

She frowned. He faced ahead, squinting his eyes against the sunlight on the truck’s hood.

“Okay, fine.”

He put the truck in gear, trying not to spin the tires as they set off down the drive.

“What’s on your list of things to do?”

He could sense her staring at him. He refused to look at her because if he did, he might start thinking those crazy thoughts again, the ones that made his body do things it shouldn’t be doing.

You’re hard up, buddy.

Maybe he was. That had to be the reason he clenched the steering wheel so hard. Why he refused to look at her. Why he tried not to even breathe deeply. It sure as hell had nothing to do with wanting to go to bed with the woman. She’d be the last woman on earth he’d want to do that with, for myriad reasons. They were polar opposites in personality. He liked things nice and quiet, had worked hard to carve out a routine life that revolved around his ranch and catering to guests. She was used to living life in the limelight. And next year she was making a bid for the National Finals Rodeo on her barrel-racing horse....

Nope. Never in a million years would he be interested in a woman like Saedra Robbins.

“Speaking of the wedding, why don’t you have any Christmas decorations up?”

He almost slammed on the brakes. They were at the end of his driveway.

“Did you not have the time because of the NFR?”

He gripped the steering wheel even harder, probably leaving dents, his knuckles screaming in protest.

“Hey. You okay?”

“Fine.” He had to force the word past his lips.

“You look sort of...ill.”

Deep breath. “We don’t decorate the house.”

Cabe turned left, out of his driveway, but he could still feel her staring at him, still tell by the way she shifted in her seat that the words surprised her.

“Why not?”

He scanned the road left and right, the waning sunlight causing him to have to lower the brim of his hat so he could see better. “We just don’t.”

But he knew the moment he said the words that they’d only leave her more curious. He wasn’t exactly holding true to his vow to appear more friendly, now, was he?

“Is it a religious thing?”

“No.”

“Okay, good, because if it’s just a timing thing, I can help. Now would be a really good time to do it, too, you know, before things get too crazy with the wedding.”

“No.”

“No to doing it now? Or no to decorating entirely?”

“I don’t want the house decorated.”

Silence. He could sense her surprise. Off in the distance he noticed storm clouds, and Cabe mentally cursed under his breath. In all the hullabaloo surrounding her arrival he hadn’t bothered to check the weather forecast. If it was going to snow, that meant he needed to prepare, but by the time he returned from town, it’d be pitch-black outside.

She still hadn’t spoken and he knew he’d probably been too harsh. But, damn it, she needed to get it through her head that Christmas was not a good time of year. Not since...

He swallowed.

Kimberly.

“Your wife and brother died around this time of year, didn’t they?”

It felt like he’d been sucker punched. As if she’d probed an old wound that sent spasms of pain through his insides. Physical pain.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

He stared straight ahead still, but he spotted movement, nearly gasped when he felt her hand on his thigh a moment later.

“Cabe, I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean... I wasn’t trying to...”

What? Be nosy? No. She wasn’t trying to be that. He knew that, but he still wanted to lash out at her, had to take deep breaths to keep from saying something he knew he might regret later.

“If it helps, I know what you’re going through.”

Oh, yeah? Had she lost a wife and a brother on the same day? Had she lost the mother of her only child? Her best friend?

“Dustin died just before the NFR and so, for me, Thanksgiving is hell.”

Dustin. Trent’s best friend. And hers, too, from the sound of it.

“I didn’t mean to pry.”

She released his thigh. He closed his eyes against the pain, but it wasn’t just emotional pain. Something else had filled him, something that had to do with the way her hand felt against his leg, something that made him so instantly upset, he found himself gunning the engine.

“Let’s just get this over with, shall we?”

He headed toward town, glancing back at her in time to see her nod.

But deep down inside, in a place Cabe had forgotten existed, a place that reminded him that he was a man who’d been without a woman for far too long, Cabe wanted to cry. Admitting that he was human, that he found Saedra attractive, was the worst thing of all.

He betrayed his wife with every damn thought.

Chapter Three

They couldn’t get to town soon enough.

The man could reduce her comfort level to that of sitting on lava rocks.

Let’s just get this over with, shall we?

Maybe she should give him tit for tat. Maybe she should spoon him a taste of his own medicine. Maybe she should make him feel as uncomfortable as he made her feel.

When they pulled to a stop in front of a cute little place that had obviously been converted from a single-story house into a florist shop, she smiled brightly and asked, “You’re coming in with me, right?”

His eyes widened, his face rearranging itself into that of a man who’d just been told he would receive a tetanus shot. “I wasn’t planning on it.”

He wore his black cowboy hat again, and to be honest, it really did make his eyes look ridiculously pretty. They were so light. So startling in color. It wasn’t fair that eyes such as his should be wasted on such a sourpuss of a man.

“You should come. You’re Alana’s best friend. You know her better than I do.”

Nope. Not a happy camper. Good.

“Fine.”

Fine, she mimicked in her own head, happy to escape the truck.

The low-slung home had been painted purple, sparkly Christmas lights surrounding the perimeter of a large picture window in front. Inside she could see refrigerators full of flowers and large plants everywhere. When she opened the door, her nose picked up the scent of eucalyptus and roses. It made her smile for some silly reason.

“I just love roses,” she said, looking into his handsome face and seeing his frown. “Do you think Alana likes them, too?”

“No.”

Terrific. Maybe this hadn’t been such a bright idea, after all.

“Ooo-kay... So what kind of flowers does she like?”

She saw him peek around the shop, saw his gaze settle on some giant Christmas baskets wrapped in cellophane, then move on to a basket of flowers with giant red mums and light green fern.

“There.” He pointed. “Sort of like those.”

Okay. It was a start.

“Can I help you?” asked a perky-looking blonde with ultrashort hair that featured a streak of red nearly the same shade as the flowers.

“Actually, yes.” Saedra approached the front counter. “I need to order flowers for a wedding.”

The woman smiled brightly. “Okay, great. We have a book right here of arrangements if you want to look it over.” She pulled what appeared to be a photo album from behind the counter. “When is the wedding?”

The moment of truth. “Um. In a couple weeks.”

Lips painted ruby-red dropped open revealing a pierced tongue that caught Saedra’s attention. Then she said, “You’re kidding, right?”

Saedra winced. “Um, no.”

“How many arrangements were you thinking?”

“How many can you squeeze in?” Cabe asked for her.

“How big is the bridal party?” the clerk asked.

“Not big.” Saedra smiled encouragingly. “We need a bouquet for the bride and something for the maid of honor and a groomsman, and maybe some flowers for centerpieces and whatnot.”

The words seemed to kill the deal because the woman shook her head. “Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t be an issue, but we’ve been slammed. One of the biggest businesses in town is having a huge Christmas party for their employees, and we have our regular orders, plus a few other parties. Sorry. But I really don’t think we can do it.”

Saedra told herself not to panic. There was still the one other florist in town, and if that failed, the local grocery store.

“All right, thanks.”

On her way to the door, she stopped at a display of Christmas ornaments, tiny angels dangling from bright red strings, glass balls covered with glitter, twinkling lights glinting off it all.

“Aren’t those pretty?”

Cabe had already left the shop. She felt her own mouth drop open, watched as he climbed into his black truck, before glancing back at the tree. How sad that Christmas no longer held any joy for him. No wonder he was always in a grumpy mood.

“You might try Reynolds Florist shop on Second Street,” the clerk said.

“Thanks. I’ll do that.”

A half hour later, she knew it was useless. “Maybe I could pick some wildflowers,” she muttered. “I’m sure there’s some up in the hills, right?”

“You’ll have to get them from Reno or Susanville.”

“Why? Wildflowers don’t grow locally?” she teased.

He blinked, glanced down at her, then frowned. “I meant the flowers.”

“You don’t like my wildflowers idea?”

“There’s no wildflowers up in the hills this time of year.”

No sense of humor, either. What a mess. At least she had some experience with his type of problem. Her best friend, Trent, had been in a similar frame of mind after the accident that had claimed the life of their mutual best friend, Dustin, and nearly taken Trent’s own life, too. Trent had only learned to walk again with Alana’s help, which was how they’d all met, only Trent seemed light-years ahead of Cabe emotionally.

“So maybe we can make a bridal bouquet out of papier-mâché?”

Blank stare.

“Or Christmas bows.” She sat up straighter. “Speaking of that, I wonder if Alana wants a bachelorette party? You know of any good strip clubs?”

She was just joking, of course, hoping to get a rise out of him. He just started the truck and asked, “Where to next?”

“Hell in a handbasket?”

He glared.

“I guess the local rental place.” She kept from rolling her eyes, but only just barely. “There is a rental place around here, isn’t there?”

“There is.” He put the truck in gear. “Doubt they rent tents.”

Cabe the Cheerless. Her new nickname for him.

“Maybe they rent holiday cheer.”

He about gave himself whiplash. “Excuse me?”

“Kidding, kidding.” She lifted a hand. “Drive on, Jeeves.”

* * *

FANCIED HERSELF A COMEDIAN, did she? Too bad he didn’t feel much like laughing—at least not while she was around.

“Is there a place that sells meat by the bulk, too? I was thinking I could cook a tri-tip dinner.”

The sun had sunk below the horizon, reminding Cabe of the time. Would the rental place even be open? Just after five and already the sun was down. He hated this time of year.

“There’s a local butcher’s shop. He might have some ideas.”

“Good. We could go there, too.”

He nearly closed his eyes. He had no idea what the hell was wrong with him, but every time she was near he had the darnedest time concentrating on anything but her shapely curves. It was as if he’d been injected with teenage hormones, and frankly, he didn’t like it. Not one bit.

“Anyplace else you’d like to see?”

“Weeell, the Eiffel Tower and maybe Westminster Abbey, but I figure I’ll get to Europe someday. No need to go now.”

She was jerking his chain again, of course, and he wished he knew why the heck her sense of humor always drove him nuts, too. Between his inability to keep his mind off how good she smelled, and her caustic quips, he would have liked to turn the truck around and go home.

“What about a craft store?” She stared at some sort of list she’d written up. “Do you have one of those? Might as well get it over with.”

“If you’re thinking fake flowers for Alana’s wedding, she wouldn’t like that.”

“Ah!” she said so loudly that it nearly startled him. “An actual opinion. Thank you!”

Smart-ass.

The words were on the edge of his lips, ready to tumble into the abyss of rude comments. Instead, he gripped the wheel and headed for the rental company.

They didn’t rent tents.

The owner—a baldheaded man who seemed only too happy to ogle Saedra indefinitely—suggested a party rental place Cabe had never heard of. Alas, that meant another trip across town, only to be told they didn’t rent tents, either. They suggested a local men’s club that had their own tents, which they sometimes rented. So that prompted yet another trip across town, but that turned out to be a dead end, too.

“I give up,” Saedra said, flopping into the passenger seat of his truck a half hour later.

“Thank God.”

She glared. He glared back. She smiled. He looked away.

“I guess it’s plastic flowers and rain ponchos for everyone.” She was joking, of course, he could see that, and it was damn hard to keep his lips from smiling in return. “Maybe we could hand out umbrellas for wedding favors.”

“Please, no.”

The smile grew, and from nowhere came the thought that she reminded him of the young fillies he used to break for a local rancher. Obstinate and pigheaded at times, but a heart of gold deep inside. She really was taking her duties seriously, and she was clearly crushed that it wasn’t all coming together.

“Seriously, I need to go to a craft store to look for wedding favors.”

“We could always get jelly beans and bubblegum balls.” He didn’t know where the words came from, but he was glad to hear her chuckle.

“You’re okay with gum balls but not plastic flowers. Who knew?”

His lips smiled, but they did so without his permission. He forced them back into a pinched line.

“Next you’ll suggest frozen pizza and hot dogs for dinner,” she added.

He didn’t want to like her.

He’d spent the past hour trying to ignore how appealing she was only to realize it was more than her physical good looks. It was the sparkle in her eyes, too.

Kimberly had had the same sparkle.

“Speaking of dinner.” He saw her take a deep breath, watched as she turned in her seat and faced him, giving him a smile. “How about we grab a bite to eat?”

Chapter Four

“No.”

Saedra tried not to let his single-word retort get her down. So what if he didn’t want to go to dinner? No reason to cry over it. Not that she was crying, mind you; it just surprised her that right when she thought she’d made some progress, he’d gone back to his old self.

Face it. You’re not used to rejection.

It sounded completely egotistical, but it was, in truth, a fact of life that she attracted male attention...lots of male attention. This had cost her many female friendships over the years, so much so that she’d taken to having male friends, like Trent and Mac, rather than deal with all the drama. And now here was a man who clearly didn’t like her.

“No problem. Let’s head to the craft store,” she said.

He didn’t go into the store with her. Didn’t so much as look at her when she climbed back into the car empty-handed.

“No gum balls,” she said.

He started the truck’s engine. She gave up. Clearly, she fought a losing battle.

They arrived back at the ranch shortly thereafter, Saedra armed with a list of things to ask Alana, but she was sidetracked by Rana the moment she entered through the door.

“Ohmygosh.” The teenager tugged her toward a room toward the back of the house, Cabe all but sprinting past her and disappearing to goodness knew where. “I found the perfect tent for Alana’s wedding.”

She opened the door to a room that was clearly Cabe’s study, a room filled with books, something that brought Saedra up short. Gorgeous brown oak shelves matched a desk in front of a giant picture window, and Saedra caught a glimpse of their reflections in the glass thanks to the darkness outside.

“I’ve been looking online and it turns out there’s a place that rents tents in Reno, which is only a couple of hours away, but the website says they deliver, and so I called, but they were closed already, but if you look right here...”

Rana still had ahold of her arms, twin braids nearly slapping Saedra in the face as the girl spun to face the computer, her fingers tapping the keyboard of a sleek laptop.

“See?”

After the dismal few hours she’d just spent, it was a balm to Saedra’s soul to witness the girl’s enthusiasm. Maybe her stay at the Jensen household wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

“Don’t you love it?”

She would have to admit, the tent looked perfect for their purposes, though it didn’t look a thing like a traditional tent, more like the Swiss Alps with its multiple peaks and steep edges.

“It says the tent’s designed to repel snow off the edges and that they have portable heaters you can rent, too.”

Saedra hadn’t known how tense she was until she expelled a deep sigh of relief. “It’s perfect.”

A squeal leaked out of the girl just before she turned and gave her a hug.

“Do we know how much?” Saedra asked, leaning toward the screen.

“No price.”

That didn’t bode well.

“But Trent said cost wasn’t an issue, remember?”

Yeah, but there was cost and then there was cost.

“Let’s see what else they have.”

They cruised around the website, Saedra spying several tents that might work. They also rented tables and chairs and chafing dishes, silverware and plates— everything they needed.

“One-stop shopping.” Saedra turned to Rana. “Good job, kiddo. This place looks perfect. I’ll call them tomorrow.”

“My mom used them once.” The little girl lost her smile for a moment. “We had a fundraiser out here for my school before...”