The Mechanics of Mistletoe

by Liz Isaacson

  “H-hey,” he said, grinding the word through his throat.

  She came up the steps, a laugh flying from her mouth. “I have the best news ever.”

  “Yeah?” Bear slid his arm around her waist as easily as he drew his next breath. “Let me guess.”

  “All right.” Sammy beamed up at him, pure happiness shining from her face.

  “You got my chicken tenders for lunch.”

  “Yes,” she said. “But that’s not it.”

  “It’s not? I had to talk to two people on the phone to get those delivered.”

  She put her hands on his chest and grinned. “You hate talking to people on the phone.”

  Except for her. “It’s not my favorite,” he admitted. “Let’s see…you got that black Mustang running.”

  Her smile slipped as she gazed up at him. “I did. How did you…that’s not it.”

  “No?” He tilted his head at her, trying to see all of her secrets. They’d talked quite a bit over the past couple of weeks, and Bear made the mistake of dropping his gaze to her mouth again.

  He’d been doing that a lot lately, and tonight, she wore shiny, sexy, pink lip gloss on those very kissable lips.

  “You’ve been working on the Mustang for a week,” he said. “It was a lucky guess.” He looked over his shoulder as he heard a bang inside the house. “I can’t guess the best news ever. Better just tell me.”

  Her smile returned, and she said, “I signed a contract with Luther Farm Supply.” She squealed and bounced on the balls of her feet. “I get to work on all the tractors that come in. It’s a huge contract that’ll basically ensure that my shop will survive for a long time to come.”

  “Wow,” Bear said. “That is great news.”

  “You don’t seem that excited,” she said.

  “I’m not,” he said with a smile. “If you’re working on everyone else’s tractors, who’s going to come work on mine?” He cocked his eyebrow at her, a pointed question mark to the one he’d already vocalized.

  “I’ll come work on yours anytime,” she said, her flirtatiousness already on high tonight and they hadn’t even left yet. She looked away from him. “Let me say hi to Lincoln and give him a hug, and then we’ll go.”

  She started to slip away from him, and Bear’s grip on her waist tightened. “Just one sec,” he said, bringing her right back into his arms.

  Her eyes searched his, and Bear didn’t know what to say. He reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear, his confidence pushing through his nerves. “Sammy, can I kiss you?”

  “Oh,” she said, surprise dancing through her expression. A nervous chuckle sounded in his ears. “I…I haven’t done that for a while.”

  “Neither have I,” he said, and he honestly couldn’t believe he was going to kiss her right there on the front porch. Anyone—literally anyone—could walk by and see them. Lincoln could open the door and see them.

  “I think we’ll figure it out,” he said, dipping his head closer to hers. The brim of his cowboy hat touched her forehead, and he quickly removed it. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” she said, her eyes drifting halfway closed.

  Bear looked at those pink lips again, really hoping that he’d spoken true and that he’d figure out how to kiss this wonderful woman. He closed his eyes too, only a moment before his mouth met hers, and Bear relaxed, pure bliss running through him.

  He pulled in a breath through his nose, adjusted his hand along Sammy’s waist to move her closer to him, and kept on kissing her.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sammy’s blood had turned to lava the moment Bear had removed his cowboy hat. And when he’d kissed her…she couldn’t even stand up on her own. She hadn’t kissed a man in a while, but Bear had been right—they figured it out.

  He pulled away, but Sammy didn’t want the kiss to be over. She pressed her lips together and ran her hands up the sides of his face, easily bringing him back to her for another kiss. She wanted time to explore his lips and breathe in and out with him. She wanted tonight to be amazing for both of them, and he’d sure started it off with a bang.

  Someone catcalled, and Sammy ducked her head, effectively breaking the kiss and burying her face in his chest. She giggled, glad it was muffled by his shirt—and the growl that emanated from his chest.

  “I’ll go say hi to Lincoln,” she said, finally looking up at him.

  His eyes met hers, and Sammy didn’t dare move. He held such power over her, and she actually liked it. She saw the desire sparking in his electric blue eyes, and she’d felt it in the gentle strokes of his mouth against hers.

  “We did all right, right?” he asked, his voice low.

  “Oh, yeah,” Sammy said. “That was just fine.”

  Bear laughed, and he rolled his eyes as he settled his hat back on his head. He threaded his fingers through hers and turned toward the door. They went into the homestead together, and while Sammy had been here every weeknight for the past few weeks, she still enjoyed the stunning craftsmanship in the house.

  Micah Walker had done things with wood Sammy had never seen before, and she saw the name GLOVER carved into the arch above the doorway that led from the foyer into the kitchen. “I haven’t seen your surname up there before.”

  “Yeah, it’s subtle.” Bear led her under the arch and into the huge room that took up the entire left side of the house. The kitchen sat against the far wall, with a long, dining room table separating one space from the other. The living room held three full-size couches, where Lincoln sat with Bear’s cousin, Ranger.

  “Link,” Bear said. “Come give your momma a hug.”

  “Sammy,” Link said, flying from the couch and toward her. Ranger stood as Sammy extended her arms to catch Link. She laughed as he hugged her tight. “You’ll never guess what I did today,” the boy said, and Sammy hadn’t seen him this animated in a long time.

  She grinned at him. “No, I won’t.” She’d had an amazing day before showing up at Shiloh Ridge, and that kiss with Bear had made it the most spectacular day Sammy had lived in many years.

  “Zona had to take a phone call while we were in the field, and she jumped out of the tractor while it was moving.” Lincoln’s eyes were so wide, and Sammy found herself looking at him the same way.

  “That’s insane,” she said, her motherly instinct telling her to warn him never to jump out of a moving tractor.

  Before she could, he was off talking again. “And I was in the tractor alone, Sammy, and I got to drive it for a few minutes.”

  “Alone?” Sammy straightened and looked at Bear. He wore a disgruntled look on his face, but he didn’t say anything.

  “It was just going in a straight line, Sammy,” Ranger said, and both she and Bear looked at him.

  “It was awesome,” Lincoln said.

  Sammy didn’t know what to say, so she just ran her hand down Lincoln’s cheek and nodded.

  “Should we go?” Bear asked, and Sammy nodded. They reached for each other at the same time, and Sammy did like that.

  He offered her a small smile and said, “I’ll talk to Zona.”

  “He’s obviously fine,” Sammy said, trying to dismiss her worry about sending Lincoln to the ranch. She trusted Bear; he wouldn’t let anything happen to her son.

  “Is Jeff getting any better?” Bear asked as he opened the garage door and held it for Sammy to walk through.

  She sighed and shook her head. “Not really. I just don’t get what he gets out of being so antagonistic.”

  “He must get something,” Bear said, hitting the button to lift the garage door. “Or he wouldn’t do it.”

  “I’m going to have to say something to him,” Sammy said. “But I don’t know how.” She waited for him to open her door, and she gathered her skirt and climbed into the car.

  Bear leaned in after her. “You look amazing tonight, by the way. The boots really, uh, complete the outfit.”

  A flush worked its way up his neck, and Sammy grinned at him. “Thank you,
Bear.” She looked down at her purple blouse. “I don’t wear a lot of skirts.”

  “I like it,” he said, swallowing. He backed out of the doorway and closed the door. As he went around, she tried to figure out how to tell him how handsome he looked tonight.

  She wasn’t great at compliments, she knew that. She thanked her guys at the end of the day for their good work, but she didn’t tell them they looked great in jeans and that button-up shirt in blue, white, and yellow.

  She cleared her throat, and when he opened the door, she said, “Bear, I think you look great tonight too.”

  He looked down at his shirt. “Thanks,” he said. “I may have asked Ace for help with the shirt. Bishop too.”

  “It took three of you to pick out a shirt?”

  Bear grinned at her. “Apparently, it did.”

  Sammy laughed, this date already ten times better than their last. She’d realized over the weeks that she didn’t need to go on formal dates with Bear to be dating him. He helped her with Lincoln, and her gratitude for that had no end. She’d told him over and over until he’d finally asked her to stop.

  He liked spending time with Lincoln, he’d said. I really like having him here, Sammy. He’s a great kid.

  Lincoln was a great kid, and Sammy spent a lot of time thinking about what was best for him. In all her thoughts, she’d never once felt like she shouldn’t be with Bear, or that Lincoln shouldn’t be at Shiloh Ridge.

  “I’ve been thinking about your birthday,” she said as he trundled down the road.

  “You really don’t need to do that.”

  “What did you do on your last birthday?” she asked.

  “I worked the ranch.”

  “And?”

  “And what?” He glanced at her, a bit of polar bear in him now, as a slight chill flowed from him.

  “Come on. Did your sister make you a birthday cake? All the Glover brothers and cousins didn’t come to the house and sing Happy Birthday?”

  “My cousin Ida made the cake,” Bear said. “And yes, everyone came to the main homestead for dinner. My sister made that. Mother too.”

  “I knew it.” She flipped down the visor and looked at herself in the mirror. Bear had kissed off all of her lip gloss, and she reached for her purse on the floor of the truck. “Your family is too tight-knit not to have a big birthday celebration.”

  “We are?”

  “Sure,” she said. “You guys all live here and work here. It’s kind of incredible none of you have killed each other, and that you all still talk.”

  “Cactus lives alone, because of that exact reason.”

  “Is his real name Cactus?”

  “It’s Charles,” Bear said.

  “Right,” she said. “And you’re Bartholomew.”

  “No one has ever called me that. Well.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Grandmother did, at least for a little while. Enough for me to know it was my name.”

  “You were close with her, right?” He’d mentioned his grandmother before. Always grandmother, not grandma or gramma. He was very formal with his grandmother and mother, Sammy had noticed.

  “Very,” he said. “She just had two boys—my father and Uncle Bull. I was the oldest grandchild, and I’m pretty sure she liked me best.” He smiled fondly, the memories in his head only ones he could see.

  “Yes,” she said. “I’m sure. My parents liked Heather best too. She was the oldest too.”

  He turned toward her. “Sammy, I’m sure that’s not true.”

  “It certainly was,” she said. “Is. I don’t know.” she turned away from him, a tug of regret moving through her that she’d said anything. She took a deep breath. “It’s fine. I’m just doing the best I can now.”

  “You take excellent care of all of them,” he said, reaching for her hand. “I mean it, Sammy. What you take on is incredible. There are some families with two or three adults doing what you do alone.”

  “You have to say that.”

  “I do not,” he said. “Besides, don’t you know me well enough by now to know I don’t say anything I don’t mean?” He kicked a sly smile in her direction, and Sammy’s stomach swooped again.

  “I suppose you’re right.” She relived the kiss in her mind, a sigh escaping at the end of it. “All right, Bear,” she said. “This date is already a million times better than the other one, and I don’t want to ruin it.”

  “You’re not going to ruin it.”

  “Sometimes I feel like I will,” she said.

  He squeezed her hand. “I feel like that too, because I like you so much. I don’t want to do anything to push you away.”

  “I like you a lot too, Bear,” she said, ducking her head as heat filled her face. “You like Lincoln, and I don’t know. I’m grateful for you, and I know you don’t want me to tell you that. I do need—I just want to go kind of slow.”

  “I’m fine with slow, Sammy.” He spoke in a calm, unrushed voice that soothed all the worries and cares in Sammy’s soul.

  “Great,” she said, sighing as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “You keep driving, and I’m going to take a quick catnap.”

  He chuckled, pressed his lips to her knuckles, and did just what she said. It seemed like no time at all had passed before he said, “We’re here, Sammy.”

  She opened her eyes, taking a moment to get her bearings. Bear stood in the car door again, gazing down at her. “I can just take you home, sugar,” he whispered. “You’re tired, and we don’t have to go to dinner.”

  Sammy’s brain felt a little soggy and slow, but she smiled at Bear. “Don’t you dare take me home. I’ve been waiting for this night alone with you for weeks.”

  “Oh, me too,” he said. “Trust me.” He helped her out of the truck and indicated the restaurant he chose. “Is this okay?”

  Sammy looked up at the hand-painted sign, the white lettering on a black background fun and whimsical. “Pizza, pasta, and pie,” she said. “What’s not to love?” She linked her arm through his and together, they walked inside.

  She enjoyed eating and talking with him. The drive back to the ranch was magical, with a night sky so dark, Sammy could see every star in it. Bear parked in the garage, but then led her away from the homestead, out into the middle of a field.

  “This is a little creepy,” she said.

  “Yeah, but now you can see it all,” he said, indicating the entire universe with one sweep of his hand.

  Sammy looked up, the enormity of the sky boggling her mind. “Wow,” she said.

  “The whole Milky Way,” he said. “Right there.”

  “I can’t even….” Sammy simply couldn’t take in everything fast enough. It was as if God has taken a paintbrush and dipped it in glittery, pale paint. He’d made sure to flick off any extra, and just for good measure, He’d almost wiped the brush clean.

  Then He’d put the bristles against the canvas of the sky and swept in a majestic arc. There were slight pockets, and definite rings of the Milky Way. Some dense spots where more stars grouped together, and some twinklers out in the black expanse by themselves.

  “I love the stars,” Bear said, wrapping her in his arms and holding her as she continued to gaze at the masterpiece God had created for His people.

  “I’ve never seen them like this,” she said, talking really quiet just in case her voice would disturb the peace of this ranch.

  “They’re really something, aren’t they?”

  “Yes,” she said, pressing her cheek to his chest. “Thank you for an amazing evening, Bear.”

  “Thank you for an amazing evening.”

  She tipped her head back, not quite daring to hope for a kiss against this landscape. She looked at Bear, and he gazed back. They moved at the same time, and Sammy pulled in a breath just before Bear kissed her. He moved slow, like they’d talked about, but he deepened the kiss, kneaded her closer, and pulled away far too soon.

  “We should go to the house,” he whispered, but he didn’t move in that dire
ction. Instead, he traced his lips along the curve of her jaw to her ear. Sammy clung to him, using his broad shoulders to balance herself.

  He trailed kisses along her neck from her ear to her collarbone, and Sammy could only focus on breathing. In, and then out.

  No one catcalled, as they’d probably all gone to bed hours ago. Cowboys rose with the sun—and Sammy usually did too. She finally came to her senses and pushed gently against Bear’s chest.

  He pulled back and smiled softly at her. “You should go. Let me go get Lincoln, and next time, I’ll come to you, so I can drop you off like a real date.” He took her back to her truck and she got in while he jogged toward the front porch and up the steps.

  A minute later, he returned with a sleeping Lincoln in his arms. Her son looked so small compared to the bulk of Bear, and she felt her grip on reality slipping. She saw in him a true partner, and she couldn’t help thinking of the three of them as a family. It was far too soon to vocalize that, though, especially after she’d told him she wanted to go slow.

  “Thank you,” she whispered as he laid the boy on the bench seat beside her.

  “See you…when will I see you?” Bear looked hopeful and like he couldn’t wait to see her again. “We could go to Trophy Lake tomorrow.”

  “Let me see what my workload at the shop is like in the morning,” she said, though she didn’t normally take Saturdays off. “I can probably sneak away in the afternoon, at least.”

  “Can I sit by you at church?” he asked.

  “I’ve seen you at church, Bear,” she said. “Your family takes up two benches.”

  “So maybe you should sit by me,” he said. “You think my family is so great. They’re loud, and obnoxious, and nosy.” He grinned, and Sammy shook her head.

  She looked at him, and pure electricity flowed between them. She felt fifteen again, with her first boyfriend. “I’ll sit by you on Sunday,” Sammy said softly.

  “All right,” Bear said. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”