A Ranger For Christmas (Linda Lael Miller Presents; Men 0f The West Book 40)

by Stella Bagwell

  She pulled a playful face at him, then gestured to a table at the far end of the porch. “You go sit,” she told him. “I’ll get our drinks.”

  Chuckling, he shook his head. “All right, fraidy-cat. You go sit. I’ll get our drinks. Something tall with plenty of ice.”

  By the time he’d returned a couple of minutes later, she had pulled off her hat and combed fingers through her hair. The long sleeves of her shirt were rolled up on her arms to give him a view of smooth pale skin and toned muscles.

  “Sweet iced tea with lemon,” he announced as he set the tall foam glass in front of her. “With a straw.”

  She gathered the drink with both hands and took a long sip. “How did you know I wanted a straw?”

  “Because most women like them.”

  She rolled her eyes, but he could see she was trying hard not to smile. “I’m not most women.”

  He would certainly agree with that statement. After nearly two weeks of working side by side with the woman, he still couldn’t figure out exactly what was making him so attracted to her. Sure, she was pretty and she had a damned good body. But he’d dated plenty of women with pretty features and alluring curves before. Yet none of them made him feel like Vivian made him feel. It didn’t make sense.

  “Yes, I’m learning that.”

  She didn’t reply and he used the silence to down a portion of his soda.

  After a moment he said, “Mort asked if I’d be willing to work Sunday night. He says with all the Christmas activities going on the park will be flooded with guests. I told him no problem. I could be here. Did he ask you?”

  “Yes, he mentioned it to me yesterday and I told him I could be here. I don’t mind working and the caroling is enjoyable. I’m looking forward to it.”

  She turned her gaze on the short lawn in front of the cantina, then drummed her fingers lightly on the tabletop. Sawyer got the impression she was nervous about something, he just couldn’t imagine what might be causing her to be on edge. If he’d done something to upset her, she wouldn’t be bashful about telling him.

  “Is anything wrong, Viv?”

  She looked at him, and for one brief second he thought he saw a sad shadow pass across her face. But then she smiled and like all the other times she’d smiled at him, he felt like she was handing him the moon and the stars and everything in between.

  “No. Not at all. I—Actually I have something to ask you.”

  “And that makes you nervous?” he asked with faint surprise. “You should know you can ask me anything.”

  Her lips took on a wry slant. “Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve done anything like this. And I feel rather awkward.”

  He’d thought she was going to question him about something here at work. Now he wasn’t so sure.

  In an effort to lighten her mood, he teased, “Maybe if we went inside and stood beneath the mistletoe you’d lose that awkward feeling.”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “Stop it! We’re not going to talk about that damned mistletoe anymore. Or kissing or anything close to it! I’m the mother of a twelve-year-old. I’m six years old than you. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

  With any other woman it probably would make him back away, Sawyer silently admitted. But with Vivian those credentials only made her sexier.

  “Should it?” he asked.

  A grimace flattened her lips. “I’m sure you flirt with plenty of older divorcees, who also have children.”

  Normally the sarcasm in her voice would have amused him, but not today. He was beginning to realize that he wanted her to take him seriously as a man. One that desired her more than she could possibly guess. The idea was a scary one for Sawyer. Especially when he’d always been bound and determined never to couple the words serious and woman in the same sentence.

  “You’re the only older divorcee I know who also happens to be a mother.”

  “Exactly my point. I’m not your type. Nothing about me is your type.”

  How could she possibly know the type of woman he preferred? She’d never met any of his dates. “Has someone been telling you about my past girlfriends?”

  “Past? Oh, Sawyer. Sometimes you are so funny.”

  To his amazement, he felt a flush of embarrassed heat crawling up his neck. “Okay, so I’m not a monk. I have some past girlfriends and some that are more recent.”

  She sipped her tea, then waved away his words. “No matter. How many women you date is none of my business.”

  But Sawyer wanted it to be her business. And that made no sense at all. “Okay, so what did you want to ask me?”

  She glanced around as though she was checking to make sure they were alone, then leaned slightly toward him. “I want to invite you to Three Rivers for dinner on Saturday night—uh, that’s tomorrow night. Most of the family will be there and we’ll be trimming the Christmas tree afterward. It’s always a fun time.”

  Sawyer was totally stunned. Go to Three Rivers Ranch and meet her family? This was not even close to what he’d been expecting.

  “Are you serious?”

  His doubt put a frown on her face. “Completely serious. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  He was about to answer when several rangers suddenly emerged around the corner of the headquarters building and approached the porch of the cantina. His buddy Zane was among the group and as soon as he spotted Sawyer and Vivian, he headed straight toward them.

  Ambling up to their table, his grin encompassed both Sawyer and Vivian. “Hey, you two. How’s your day been going?”

  “Couldn’t be better,” Vivian answered. “We just finished putting the stage together for the caroling. Now all it needs is decorations. Are you good at decorating?”

  Chuckling, Zane gestured to Sawyer. “He’s the man for that job.”

  “Thanks for volunteering me,” Sawyer managed to retort, while three-fourths of his brain continued to spin wildly with Vivian’s invitation. What did it mean?

  Frowning, Zane bent forward to peer closer at Sawyer’s face. “What the heck, buddy? Are you feeling okay? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

  No. He wasn’t seeing a ghost, Sawyer thought. He was seeing an end to all the things that had once made him happy. Damn it, how could a woman rearrange a man’s thinking in so little time?

  “I’m fine and I’ll be even better when you get the heck out of my face.”

  Zane looked at Vivian and winked. “I know how to take a hint. Sorry you’re saddled with such a crab for a partner,” he said to her. “Maybe you can talk Mort into sending you over to our side of the park.”

  “Thanks, but I can handle Sawyer’s crabbiness.”

  Laughing loudly, Zane slapped Sawyer’s shoulder. “See you later, buddy.”

  Sawyer acknowledged his friend by lifting a hand in farewell. Across the table, Vivian was studying him closely.

  “You do look a little pale,” she said. “And you were rather short with Zane. Are you feeling all right?”

  “Zane doesn’t take me seriously. Besides, he has a tough hide. I’m just a bit hungry, that’s all.”

  “I’ll go inside and get you a pastry or candy bar,” she said. “You just sit and relax.”

  She started to rise from her chair, but Sawyer swiftly reached across the table and caught her by the hand. “No. I’ll get something later,” he told her. “I’m—uh, I’m still thinking about your invitation. I’m having a little trouble understanding you—why you want me at a family function. Ever since we first met you’ve been pointing out that we’re mismatched.”

  Her gaze dropped pointedly to where his hand had trapped hers against the tabletop, but Sawyer wasn’t ready to let go. Not yet. Not when her little hand felt so warm and soft in his.

  “We’re not mismatched as work partners,” she corrected him. “I think we’re perfect together.”
>
  Perfect would be her completely naked, lying next to him in a big soft bed, he thought, as he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand.

  “I’m not talking about work partners,” he murmured.

  She eased her hand from his and drew in a deep breath. “Look, Sawyer, the two of us spend our days together. You’re important to me so that makes you important to my family. They’d like to meet you and I had hoped you would want to meet them. But if you’d rather not, just say so. I’ll understand.”

  You’re important to me. He never wanted to hear a woman say those words to him. Unless it had been from his mother when he’d been a very small child and hungry for affection. But Onida had never said such a thing to him. And now—well, it was hard for him to believe he was special to Vivian.

  “Hmm. So it’s as simple as that, is it?”

  She looked away from him and Sawyer watched her throat move as she swallowed.

  “Yes. As simple as that.”

  Sawyer was hardly convinced, but decided her motive for the invitation no longer mattered. There was no way in hell he could turn down the chance to spend time with Vivian away from work, where they could be just a man and woman together.

  “Then I’d be very happy to accept your invitation,” he told her. “What time should I be there?”

  “We have drinks around six and dinner around seven,” she said. “Why don’t you come around five? That way I can show you around the ranch a bit before everyone starts to gather. Oh, and my brothers will be wearing jeans, so don’t bother dressing up.”

  “Sounds good.”

  The smile that suddenly appeared on her face turned his insides to warm mush and made him forget about the doubts and insecurities he harbored about losing his heart to a woman like Vivian.

  “It will be good,” she promised.

  * * *

  The next evening, a few minutes before five, Vivian stood in front of her vanity mirror and cast a critical eye at her reflection.

  Sawyer had never seen her in anything but the uniform they were required to wear for work. What was he going to think when he saw her like this? That she’d dressed up just to impress him?

  The red-and-green circle skirt hit her midcalf and swirled against her brown suede boots. The red, long-sleeved sweater she’d chosen to pair with the skirt hugged her upper body and turned her wavy chestnut hair to the color of flames.

  Had she overdone it? And why was she even worrying about her appearance?

  A knock on the bedroom door put her self-directed question on pause.

  “Come in,” she called.

  As she picked up a hairbrush from the vanity, she caught the reflection of Hannah entering the room.

  “Wow, Mom! You look awesome!” she exclaimed.

  Her daughter’s enthusiastic compliment eased Vivian’s doubts somewhat, but not completely. “You think so?”

  “Oh, yeah, Mom. You’re beautiful!”

  Turning slightly, she bent and placed a kiss on Hannah’s cheeks. “You look very pretty, too, honey.”

  Forgoing her cowgirl gear for one evening, Hannah was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a white cable-knit sweater. A headband adorned with glittery reindeer antlers held her long blond hair back from her face.

  Hannah glanced down at herself. “Grandma bought these ballerina flats for me when she went to Prescott the other day. I thought it would make her happy if I wore them tonight instead of my cowboy boots.”

  Vivian eyed the red shoes with faux jewels on the toes. “Those are perfect for Christmas. I’m sure Sawyer is going to think I have a beautiful daughter.”

  Hannah tilted her head quizzically to one side. “Mom, are you having a date tonight?”

  Vivian studied her daughter’s curious expression, while thinking a part of her did consider this night to be a date of sorts. Yet she didn’t want to admit it to herself or to anyone else, especially her daughter. Not when it was as clear as day that all she and Sawyer could ever be were friends and coworkers.

  “Why no,” she said, purposely making her voice light and cheery. “This is just having a friend join us for dinner, that’s all.”

  Hannah looked crestfallen. “Oh, that’s a bummer. I thought maybe this guy was somebody you really liked.”

  “Well, I do really like Sawyer. I’m just not sure it’s in the same way you’re thinking.”

  Hannah sat down on the vanity seat and picked up a tube of lipstick. “I’m thinking you never invited any of your coworkers to Three Rivers before. So this guy must be special. That’s what I’m thinking.”

  It did look that way, Vivian realized. Even Sawyer had thought so. But then, she figured he’d never met a woman who could resist him.

  “Your grandmother is the one who insisted I invite Sawyer,” Vivian pointed out. “It wasn’t my idea.”

  Hannah opened the lipstick and held it up for Vivian to see. “May I wear some of this tonight? Please. It’s Christmas and I want to look pretty!”

  “It’s not Christmas yet. And you already look pretty. But—” She picked up a different tube of lipstick and handed it to her daughter. “You may wear this shade. But don’t plaster it on. Just dab it.”

  “Oh! That’s so pale. I want red like yours!”

  “When you get a few years older you may wear red.” Vivian softened her reply with a gentle smile. “For tonight you’re going to look like a proper young lady.”

  Seeing her argument was going nowhere, Hannah handed the pale pink lipstick to her mother. “Okay, you win, Mom. Will you put it on for me?”

  Vivian was applying a sheer layer of color to Hannah’s lips when the landline phone on the nightstand rang. Knowing it was most likely someone from downstairs, she finished with Hannah’s lipstick then picked up the receiver.

  Before she could say hello, her mother’s voice sounded in her ear. “You might want to hurry on down. Your guest is coming up the drive.”

  “Oh! I’ll be right there.”

  She dropped the phone on its hook and hurried toward the door. “Sawyer’s here. I’m going outside to meet him.”

  Hannah hopped to her feet. “I’m coming, too!”

  Vivian paused long enough for Hannah to catch up with her, then grabbed her daughter’s hand as the two of them rushed through the house and out the front gate.

  As they stood waiting for Sawyer to park his truck, Hannah looked up at her and grinned.

  “Mom, you’re acting like Santa is coming to give us a bunch of gifts.”

  All day, she’d been trying to contain her excitement at having Sawyer here on the ranch. But now that he’d actually arrived, Vivian felt practically giddy.

  “Santa Claus doesn’t wear blue jeans.”

  Hannah’s eyes twinkled. “This one might.”

  Sawyer as Santa? No. He wasn’t the daddy type, much less the Santa type. But he had already given her a special gift. He’d made her feel like a woman again.

  Chapter Nine

  For the past few miles since Sawyer had passed a sign reading Bar X Ranch, the fencing along both sides of the narrow dirt road had changed to that of pipe painted a pristine white. Once he’d finally turned into the Three Rivers entrance, he’d expected a Western-style mansion to soon come into view. Instead, he drove another two miles when he topped a rocky rise and found himself gazing at the Hollister homestead spread across a wide, desert valley.

  As he drew closer, he could see the large three-story house was painted white and trimmed with black. Most of the structure was shaded by massive cottonwoods, along with smaller mesquite trees. A considerable distance to the right of the house, an enormous work yard consisted of several barns large enough to serve as airplane hangars, a few smaller utility sheds and a network of holding pens.

  The road coming into the ranch circled beneath a stand of cottonwoods to pass dire
ctly in front of the house. Uncertain as to where he should park, Sawyer eased his truck to a stop a few feet away from a gate leading into the front yard.

  By the time he’d killed the motor and climbed to the ground, he spotted Vivian and a young girl hurrying down the walkway toward him.

  Smiling, Vivian waved at him and Sawyer lifted a hand in acknowledgment as he walked across the drive to meet her.

  “I see you made it,” she said as the three of them met at the yard gate. “Did you have any trouble finding the place?”

  “No. The directions you gave me were easy to follow.” He could hardly tear his eyes off Vivian, but out of courtesy he turned his attention to the girl hanging on to Vivian’s arm. “You must be Hannah,” he said. “I’m Sawyer Whitehorse.”

  The girl looked from him to Vivian, then back to him before she smiled and offered her hand to him. “You’re right, I’m Hannah. Welcome to Three Rivers, Mr. Whitehorse.”

  Smiling at the charming child, he shook her hand and said, “Thank you, Hannah. And I’d like it very much if you’d call me Sawyer, okay?”

  “Sure. That would make me happy, too!”

  “Well, now that you two have introduced yourselves to each other, what would you like to do?” Vivian asked Sawyer. “We can go in and wait for everybody to gather in the den. Or we can go to the ranch yard and show you around.”

  “Oh, yeah, Sawyer! You’ll like the ranch yard. I’ll show you my horse and saddle!” Hannah exclaimed. “And we have a bunch of new yearlings. Our mares were really busy this spring!”

  Clearing her throat, Vivian glanced helplessly at Sawyer. “She’s all ranch girl.”

  “Well, I’m all for Hannah’s idea,” Sawyer said, instinctively knowing already that he and Hannah were going to be friends. “I’d love to see the horses.”

  “Yippee!”

  Hannah started to race off ahead of them, then suddenly put on the brakes. “I forgot. I need to go get Nick. His feelings will be hurt if he doesn’t get to go.”

  “That’s right,” Vivian told her. “Go get Nick. Sawyer and I will walk slowly and you two can catch up with us.”