Boughs of Holly

by Shanna Hatfield

  She jumped and Sam cringed.

  “Sorry about that, honey. He just has to come around to things in his own good time.” Sam patted her hand. “Have you really never decorated your own Christmas tree before?”

  “Well, once I got to help decorate the tree at the church we were attending. And another time I assembled an artificial tree for a patient, but she insisted her daughter put the decorations on it.” She shrugged and carried dirty dishes to the sink. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “Well, I say it is.” Sam got up and managed to carry over his dirty dishes.

  After the kitchen was set to rights, Holly helped Sam with his exercises, encouraging him with each movement. When they finished, he was exhausted. Before Sam went to his room for a nap, he’d requested she bring in a dilapidated old box from the garage that held Christmas ornaments and lights.

  Carefully, she folded back the flaps on the top of the box. Dust made her sneeze, but a nostalgic scent, one she couldn’t quite name or place, floated up to her and brought out her smile. She went into the bathroom and returned with a fluffy towel. She set it on the seat of the wide chair by the couch then began getting out the ornaments, one by one, and wiping them off with a rag before setting them on the towel.

  She heard the jingle of Seth’s spurs as the back door opened and closed followed by the thump of his boots as he walked through the kitchen.

  “You ready to go?” he asked from the doorway. Holly looked up at him and caught her breath. He was so incredibly handsome and at that moment, with snow dusting the shoulders of his western-cut chore coat, hat dangling from his big hands, and chaps covering his long legs, she thought he really should think about a career modeling for western magazines.

  When he forked a hand through his thick hair, she wanted to do the same. Seth, with his eyes that looked like a frozen winter stream and soft, short beard that only added to the aura of intrigue around him, was a very handsome man. One she found increasingly difficult to keep out of her thoughts and heart.

  Perhaps Seth had the right idea, to stay away from each other. She still hadn’t decided if he liked her or loathed her, because his attitude could swing either direction at any given moment.

  “You don’t have to take me along, Seth. It’s okay.” She rose from her position on the floor and wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on the dust rag.

  “Pops is set on you going, so you might as well come along. Put on an extra pair of socks. Do you have any thermals?”

  “As in long johns?” she asked.

  Seth nodded.

  “No. I’ve never spent the winter somewhere I needed them.”

  “I’ll find you a pair.” He turned and disappeared. Only a few minutes passed before he reappeared with a pair of thermal pants and tossed them to her. “I know those will be too big, but at least you won’t freeze with them on. Put on layers. It’s the best way to stay warm. When you’re dressed, meet me at the barn.”

  With that, he turned again and left. She listened to his footsteps and the jingle of his spurs as he crossed the kitchen and went out the back door.

  Holly hurried to her room where she removed her jeans and pulled on the thermal pants. They were several sizes too big, but she found a loose pair of jeans and pulled them on, then yanked on a second pair of socks. She pulled off her sweater then slipped on a tank top followed by a turtleneck, then a sweatshirt.

  In the warmth of the house, she was about to break into a sweat, so she calmly moved to the back door where she’d left an older coat to wear outside to the barn and pulled it on. She wrapped a scarf around her neck, tugged on her gloves, and stuffed her feet into snow boots Seth brought home after a trip to town one day last week. She’d tried to refuse them, aware they were expensive, but he’d told her she needed them if she planned to spend any time outside at the ranch.

  “Consider it a bonus for all you’ve done for Pops.”

  She’d wanted the boots, so she didn’t argue with him further.

  Holly took a deep breath and stepped outside into the glistening world of white. Bullet and Pistol excitedly waggled their backsides as they raced up to her, eager for attention. She petted them both and kept up a conversation with the two dogs as she made her way to the barn. Seth was just pulling the cinch tight on Steele’s saddle as she walked up. In the three weeks she’d been there, she’d almost asked numerous times if she could go for a horseback ride, but she hadn’t.

  She wasn’t there to have fun, she was there to help Sam recuperate. But when the old cowboy insisted she go with Seth to cut down a tree, she was thrilled by the thought of having such a traditional Christmas experience. Additionally, the prospect of finally riding a horse left her barely able to contain her excitement.

  “Are you going for a ride?” she asked, rubbing a hand along Steele’s neck.

  “Yep,” Seth said, giving the cinch strap one last tug to make sure it was snug before dropping the stirrup. He settled a set of saddlebags over Steele’s back behind the saddle then pushed the big barn door closed.

  When he swung into the saddle without saying another word, Holly turned and started back toward the house.

  “Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” he called after her. “I thought you wanted to cut down a tree.”

  Holly spun around and grinned as he held a hand out to her. “I get to ride with you?” she asked, feeling like a giddy ninny as she walked back over to where he waited.

  “Unless you want to walk through knee-deep snow,” he said and waggled his glove-covered fingers at her. “Put your foot in the stirrup and I’ll pull you up behind me. Just swing your right leg over Steele’s back.”

  She did as he directed and felt exuberant as she looked at the view of the world around her from the back of the tall horse.

  “Now, put your arms around my waist, so you don’t fall off,” Seth commanded.

  Careful not to lean too close and hold him too tightly, she wrapped her arms around him.

  A sigh of frustration rolled out of him and he clamped his hand over hers, pulling her closer. “Get a good grip or I’ll be fishing you out of a snowbank.”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him not to be such a grouch, but she refrained. Instead, she scooted a little closer and wrapped her arms tightly around his trim waist. At this intimate proximity, his back seemed ever broader, his muscles harder. Holly latched onto her runaway thoughts and pulled them back in line as Seth made a clicking noise with his tongue and Steele started forward.

  They rode in silence until the buildings were just small dots behind them and a mountain with snow-covered trees loomed in front of them.

  “Are we still on your land?” Holly asked, curious just how much property the Stafford men owned.

  “Yeah. Our property line ends on the other side of the mountain. It goes from the highway to the mountain and then to that hill you see back there.” Seth pointed to a speck in the distance on the other side of the ranch buildings. “My great-great-grandparents settled here back in the late 1800s. They had a little cabin on a quarter section of land. Joseph and Maggie were their names. They worked hard, cleared the trees off the land, and started raising cattle. By the time my great-grandparents wed, the family owned a full section of land.”

  “What’s a section?” Holly asked.

  “It’s six hundred and forty acres.” Seth glanced back at her. “We own a little more than two thousand now, although about two hundred acres are there.” He pointed to the tree-covered mountain.

  Holly didn’t know what to say to that. She’d never known anyone who owned their own mountain before.

  Seth shifted slightly and Holly tightened her hold, leaning her head against his back. She smiled when his voice rumbled in his chest as he spoke. The vibration of it soothed her as they rode through the deep snow.

  “As a gift for his young bride, Joseph had given Maggie a holly plant, or so the story goes. They named this place Holly Hills. Before long, the holly was growing everywhere like
a bad weed. It tried to overtake the pasture, sucked up the ground moisture, and a few animals died after eating it. My great-grandpa spent years getting rid of the holly. And yet,” Seth pointed to a little sprout of holly edged with frost, “it still manages to survive.”

  “Do you still call the ranch Holly Hills?”

  Seth shook his head. “No. My great-grandpa changed it to Stafford Ranch once he thought all the holly was gone. Pops and I come out in the spring and dig up any new plants we find.”

  “Do you think we could cut a few pieces to take back with us?” Holly asked as they reached the tree line and started upward.

  “Sure. If there isn’t any where we cut the tree, we’ll grab some from the plant we passed back there.” He glanced back at her over his shoulder. “Have you really never had your own Christmas tree before?”

  His hat shadowed much of his face, but didn’t keep her from wanting to reach out and touch his beard to see if it felt as soft as it looked. She ignored the yearning and answered his question. “No, not really. One year my mom, Genie, and I were in Arizona during the holiday season. We strung popcorn and cut snowflakes out of notebook paper and decorated the cactus that was behind the place where we were staying. That was as close as we got to having a tree. Once I graduated from nursing school, I spent several years working in emergency rooms during Christmas. Since I didn’t have any family, I always volunteered to work the holidays.”

  “That was kind of you,” Seth said, giving her a long look before he turned away. “Did you and your mom have any holiday traditions?”

  “She always made sure I had two gifts: one to open on Christmas Eve and one on Christmas Day. Even if the gift was nothing more than a seashell or a candy bar, it seemed like a big deal to me.” Holly noticed three deer staring at them from the cover of the trees. They appeared so majestic before they turned and disappeared behind a cluster of evergreens.

  “What do you think of this one?” Seth asked, pointing to a tree in front of them. The fir tree was perfectly shaped for a Christmas tree, not too tall, but full with plenty of sturdy branches for holding ornaments. Seth guided Steele in a circle around the tree so Holly could see it from every side.

  “It’s perfect, Seth!” she wanted to clap her hands with delight, but refrained.

  Seth pulled back on the reins and Steele stopped. He looked at Holly over his shoulder and held out his left arm. “Hang onto my arm, put your left foot in the stirrup, then swing your right leg over.”

  She followed his instructions and stepped back in the knee-deep snow, glad for the warm boots he’d insisted she keep. Seth swung down and opened one of the saddlebags, pulling a foldable saw from inside it.

  “Do you want to saw or watch?” he asked, folding out the saw blade and using his boot to kick away the snow so he could reach the trunk.

  “Both?” Holly asked, drawing out his grin.

  “I’ll get it started, then you can finish.” Seth knelt in the snow, ducked beneath the tree, and started sawing. A wonderful fragrance filled the air as he cut into the trunk and Holly breathed deeply. The fresh, slightly tangy aroma made her think of Christmas, warm fires, and winter dreams.

  She gazed down at the valley they’d just ridden across, awed by the panoramic view in front of her. Sunlight shimmered across the snow, frost covered the trees, and magic danced in the air.

  Christmas magic.

  The kind she’d stopped believing in years ago.

  Yet it was all around her, in the air, the silence of the woods, the crunch of snow beneath her feet, the cowboy looking up at her through the branches of a fir tree.

  “You ready to give it a try?” Seth asked, motioning for her to join him.

  She dropped down in the snow and moved close to the trunk, taking the wooden handle of the saw in both hands. Seth put his arms around her, drawing so close, his beard brushed across her cheek.

  “Let me help you get started,” he said in a husky voice barely above a whisper. His hands settled over hers and he guided her as the saw worked back and forth through the trunk. Once she got the rhythm of working the saw, he shifted his hands to the curve of her waist.

  Maybe he wasn’t as immune to her as she thought. Completely attuned to him, she felt enveloped by his presence as she continued sawing the tree.

  When the trunk made a loud cracking sound, Seth put his hands back over hers and helped her make the final cut.

  “Timber!” Holly yelled then grinned over her shoulder at Seth. His face was so close to hers, she could see flecks of cobalt floating in the icy lakes of his eyes. Wondrously, the pale hue of his eyes suddenly darkened, warmed, and she saw something flickering in them that made her think of love and commitments, and a future that had deep roots.

  In the past, such thoughts would have sent her running the other direction. She was Genie’s daughter, after all — a free spirit with nothing to bind her anywhere. No past, no obligations, no ties.

  However, as Seth tugged off his right glove, turned her to face him, and burrowed his hand into her hair, she wanted ties and obligations. She wanted him to be the anchor that kept her from ever floating away. She wanted him.

  “Holly,” Seth rasped, as though he was in pain.

  She understood. Her heart beat so rapidly, it felt as though it might explode. His gaze searched hers, found what he needed. The barest hint of a smile touched his lips before they claimed hers. His arms wrapped around her, taking her down with him into the snow.

  Holly had no idea a kiss, a single mind-blowing kiss, could break down every wall she’d ever built around her heart and leave it stripped bare. It felt exposed and vulnerable, yet so ready to love this amazing, gentle, beautiful man.

  Seth pulled back and gave her a questioning look, as though waiting for a word of protest. Instead, she smiled and looped her hands behind his neck, drawing his mouth to hers once again. Passion and longing overtook everything else. Holly had no idea of anything around them except how good and right it felt to be held in Seth’s arms.

  Here, with him, was the home she’d always dreamed of finding; the one place she knew to the depths of her soul that she belonged. The place she’d always longed for, dreamed of, wasn’t a physical address. No, it was Seth. He was her home, her shelter, her hope, her future.

  In the kisses they shared, demanding and generous, desperate yet hopeful, she poured out the love that suddenly filled her heart so full, she could hardly bear the wonder of it.

  Finally, Seth lifted his head and brushed one last soft kiss across her forehead before he rose onto his knees and pulled her with him, wrapping her tightly in his arms again. “That was incredible,” he said.

  Holly smiled against the rough canvas of his coat. “I agree.”

  She felt his smile as his cheek rested against her forehead. “When do you ever agree with me? Between you and Pops ganging up on me the last few weeks, I’ve been the odd man out on every front.”

  “You do know your grandpa argues with you just for fun, don’t you?”

  Seth leaned back and grinned. “We both do.” He kissed her nose then stood, lifting her to her feet. He bent down and rescued his glove from the snow, shaking powder from inside the fingers. “If you keep trying to have your way with me, we’ll never get this tree back to the house.”

  Holly smacked his arm as he tugged on his glove. “I did no such thing, Seth Stafford!”

  He kissed her cheek then reached down and playfully swatted her backside. “That’s the story I’m telling if Pops asks what took us so long to find a tree.”

  Her mouth gaped open. “You would not tell your grandfather we were kissing in the snow.”

  Seth winked at her. “I might be a dumb ol’ country boy, but I’m not stupid. Pops would have a field day with that tidbit of information.”

  Holly grinned and took the saw Seth held out to her as he fished a length of rope out of the saddlebag. “That he would.”

  She watched as Seth tied the rope around the trunk of the tree
then looped the rope around the saddle horn. He stowed the saw back in the saddlebag then turned to her. “Are you ready to go?”

  “I hate to leave, Seth. It’s spectacular,” she said, throwing her arms wide and looking at the landscape below them.

  Seth picked her up and swung her in a wide circle. “The view is nice, but you, my Christmas Holly, are spectacular.”

  When his lips captured hers in a hot, driven kiss, Holly thought she was prepared for the impact, but the jolt that shot through her left her clinging to Seth, eager for more. For a man who claimed not to have much time for dating, he had mastered the art of kissing. Holly had no idea such a simple, natural response between two people could leave her world permanently altered, but it had. After kissing Seth, she knew nothing would ever be the same. Nothing.

  “Let’s get you back to the house before we melt all the snow and set the forest on fire,” he teased. “You are something else, Holly Jones.”

  He swung on the back of Steele, adjusted the rope for the tree and reached a hand down to help her mount. She settled behind him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her cheek against his broad back. Never in her life had she enjoyed a moment more.

  When they drew near to the holly plant growing in the snow, Seth stopped and used his pocketknife to cut several pieces.

  “Do you need more?” he asked as he handed Holly the last branch

  “No, this will do just fine,” she said, trying to decide where to carry the holly.

  Seth took it from her and nestled it down inside the branches of the Christmas tree. “It should be fine there.”

  He stepped into the saddle and reached down for Holly. When she would have swung behind him, he pulled her off balance and she landed in his lap. His arms came around her while his lips hovered achingly close to hers. “Now, this is more like it.”

  Holly had no idea how long it took them to get back to the ranch. Seth kept her thoroughly distracted with his bone-melting kisses until they got close enough Sam could see them if he happened to be spying out one of the windows.