Christmas with the Rancher

by Mary Leo

  “He may be, but that’s no concern of mine.”

  “I may not have spent a lot of time with you since you and your mama moved to the windy city, but I know that look. It’s the same look you had when you were troubled by him as a girl.”

  She pulled a chair out and settled in it, willing to listen to anything he had to say about Travis as long as she could keep her emotions to herself.

  She sighed. “He’s a stubborn cowboy who’s used to getting his own way.”

  “That he is. And if I’m reading you right, you’re a stubborn city girl who’s used to getting your own way. Between the two of you, there isn’t anything that’s gonna get resolved, unless one of you gives a little.”

  She watched her dad for a minute while he added the cinnamon and a dollop of maple syrup to the milk, then stirred. Steam rose up from the pot and permeated the air with that wonderful sweet scent that took her back to her childhood.

  “Well, it won’t be me. I intend to get my own way with this real-estate deal. That hasn’t changed. Just because you’re avoiding me and haven’t signed the documents yet doesn’t mean I’m any less determined to make this happen.”

  She couldn’t admit she was unsure about everything in her life at the moment. Instead, she needed to put up a tough businesslike front or her entire world would begin to unravel.

  “I can respect that. But we’re talking about Travis now, not the sale.”

  “I merely want to make sure you understand that I haven’t changed my mind. You promised that you’d sign the paperwork once you read it.”

  He pulled two old-fashioned thick mugs out of a cupboard and poured in the steaming milk. Bella’s mouth watered in anticipation.

  “I’m a man of my word.”

  “Have you read them yet?”

  He walked over to the table and handed her a mug, then pulled out a chair and sat across from her.

  “Why don’t we enjoy our milk first? It’ll go down a lot easier if we don’t talk business right now.”

  “Dad, I—”

  “Has he kissed you yet?”

  She flinched just as she was about to take a sip of the steaming amber colored liquid and it spilled out on the wooden table. A table that bore the scars of decades of meal preparations. She instantly jumped up, grabbed a cloth from the counter and wiped up her mess.

  “Did it burn you?” her dad asked as he took the towel from her to wipe his side of the table.

  “No. I’m fine. Why did you say that?”

  “Say what?”

  She poured what was left in the pot into her cup, placed the pot on the wooden table and sat back down in her chair.

  “Why did you ask if he’d kissed me?”

  “Did he?”

  “On the cheek, but I have a feeling that wasn’t the kind of kiss you’re talking about. It was sweet.”

  “That’s it?”

  “I don’t want anything more,” she lied and took a sip of the milk. It tasted every bit as good as she remembered it, smooth and rich, exactly how she liked it.

  “Why not?”

  “Because he broke my heart.”

  “Now how’d he do that? If any hearts were broken it most likely was his. You were the one who left, not him.”

  “Through no fault of my own.”

  She wrapped her hands around the cup and shuddered as the temperature from both the cup and the milk warmed her.

  “I know you wanted to stay. But your place was with your mama. She wanted more for you than she had and I couldn’t give it to you while we lived in Briggs. She was happy in Chicago. Are you?”

  He blew on his milk then took several big gulps.

  She joined him, deciding the temperature was perfect. Just warm enough to bring out the subtle flavors of cinnamon and maple.

  “Of course I’m happy. How could I not be? I’m about to get an amazing promotion and move into my dream condo overlooking the lake. This deal alone will give me more money than I ever dreamed of making.”

  Repeating the reality calmed her.

  “So you equate money with happiness?”

  “No—not entirely—but it sure does make life easier if you have it. You’ve struggled your entire life with trying to make a go of this inn. Wouldn’t you have been happier in Chicago with Mom and me running a profitable business?”

  His brow furrowed. “I’m not cut out for the city. I’m a cowboy who just happens to run an inn. I need open sky and open range.” He reached across the table and rested his hand on Bella’s. All at once, his love swept over her. “I have a feeling you do, too. You can’t tell me that you don’t love this valley. Not when you loved it so much when you were growing up here. That kind of emotion for your hometown doesn’t disappear.”

  “You don’t know me anymore, Dad. I’m not that starry-eyed little girl who just about lived for my friends and Christmas fairy tales. I grew up, and sure this valley has some sentimental value, but I’m past caring about it. I’ve moved on and it’s time you did, too.”

  Saying the words out loud caused her stomach to pitch.

  “I can’t believe that.”

  She looked down at her mug of steaming milk. It was beginning to lose its charm. “It’s true. I don’t care about Briggs or Christmas or Travis Granger.”

  The words caught in her throat.

  “Yet here you are, and Amanda tells me you’re joining in on the snow-sculpture contest tomorrow with Travis, the boy you say who broke your heart. Just how did he do that, again?”

  She hesitated, not really sure she wanted to tell him. Thinking how it sounded so childish. “It’s silly, I know, but to a young teen it was devastating. As soon as I left, he took up with the popular girls from school. The girls he always told me he disliked. Even now he seems to be the town stud.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “I saw him at Belly Up, flirting with several women.”

  “Didn’t mean nothing. He’s dated a lot of girls in this town, and some from other towns. Never could settle on one, though. That boy’s been in love with you ever since you two first met.”

  “He sure has a funny way of showing it.”

  “Might be true now that he’s all grown up and a little full of himself, but he’s one of the reasons why your mama took you away.”

  “What? I don’t understand.”

  “She was afraid you’d end up like her if you stayed in this town.”

  “What does that mean?”

  He paused, gazed down at the table, then back at Bella. “Your mama loved you like nothing else and only wanted what she thought was best for you.”

  “What are you trying to say, Dad?”

  She slipped her hand out from under his.

  “I don’t want to disparage your mama, but she believed if you stayed in Briggs, you’d end up like she did. Pregnant when you were still a teen, stuck in a small town, married to a man you resented.”

  His words burned through her.

  “What? That’s why we left? I was twelve. Travis and I were just kids.”

  His eyes welled up. “I fell in love with your mama when we were kids, like you and Travis did. But your mama didn’t share those same feelings.”

  “She loved you. She told me she did.”

  “At some point when we were young, maybe she did. As time went on, and life got more difficult, she didn’t like being near me, and resented this inn. When she watched you carry on with Travis, she saw history repeating itself. Her own mama had done the same thing. She wanted to break the cycle.”

  “And you let her?”

  “There was no stopping your mama once she put her mind to something.”

  Bella knew she had the same trait.

  “Did my mom purposely not leave a
forwarding address when we moved?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Is that why I was only allowed to visit a couple of times, and she came with me? And you only came out to Chicago a handful of times?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you let her get away with that?”

  “She had sole custody. I didn’t have a choice.”

  Tension gripped Bella’s insides, causing the milk to sour in her stomach.

  “Did you ever sue her for custody?”

  “Sure did. I couldn’t bear being that far away from you. I thought it would bring you both back to me, but all it did was make her more determined to take control.”

  “And you didn’t continue to fight for me?”

  “Not after that. No. I’m sorry I...”

  He reached out for her as her eyes pooled with tears, but she couldn’t be consoled. She pushed herself up from the table once again knocking over her mug, but this time she didn’t stop to clean it up.

  Chapter Five

  Bella didn’t go back to bed after her talk with her dad in the kitchen. Instead she dried her eyes on her rose-embossed hankie, pulled herself together and prepared for the day. Now that she knew the facts of her parents’ divorce, she could continue on her mission. Even though it had broken her heart, her mom had been right in taking her out of this dead-end town and away from Travis and her dad. Neither one of them were worth any more of her concern. Her dad had given up the custody battle and Travis had moved on years ago. No way did he still love her. That was simply misguided thinking on her dad’s part.

  She’d been allowing Christmas nostalgia to sidle into her heart, thinking that her dad and Travis deserved the benefit of the doubt. Now that she knew their true character, she relocked the door to her heart, tighter this time, so nothing could seep inside.

  If her dad didn’t want to sign the agreed upon offer willingly, then she’d have to force his hand. They’d made a verbal agreement to have the inn closed by Christmas Eve, and Bella intended to see to it that he kept that commitment.

  The first thing that had to be done was to inform the guests that the inn would be closing and they’d have to find accommodations elsewhere. She called several local motels in the area, as well as in Jackson which was less than an hour away, and was able to secure several rooms at the same price the guests were paying at Dream Weaver Inn. The local motel owners were more than happy to have the business. The managers of the motels and inns in Jackson weren’t as eager. They were almost booked solid and only had their higher-priced rooms available, but when she mentioned her dad’s name and the Dream Weaver Inn, they were more than happy to accommodate.

  She printed up the notices on the inn’s official stationary and slipped them under each guest’s door well before breakfast was served in the dining room. The relocation notices caused quite the uproar with the guests, her father, and—she assumed—Travis who was also informed by an official email from Dream Weaver Inn that his snow-sculpting contest would have to be moved to another location or cancelled. Personally, she didn’t care what he decided to do with it, but the event would definitely not be sponsored by Dream Weaver Inn, nor would it take place on the inn’s front lawn.

  There was a knock on her room door, probably her dad asking her to reverse their plans. She took a deep breath to strengthen her resolve and opened the door.

  “You can’t do this,” Travis blustered. He looked as adorable as ever in his black hat, low on his forehead, a black shirt and jeans that hugged his hips like they were tailored just for him.

  She tried to ignore the constant attraction she couldn’t seem to shake, no matter what she thought of his behavior. It was frustrating and the sooner this whole thing was over with the sooner she could go home and be rid of him once and for all.

  “Coffee’s still hot if you want a cup,” she told him, pointing to the tray she’d brought up from the kitchen. The tray sat on a small round table in front of the windows, loaded down with a basket of muffins, an assortment of jams and jellies, honey, butter and the leftover fudgy cookies from Holy Rollers. “There’s an extra mug on the dresser you can use. Go ahead and help yourself to a muffin or a cookie. The cookies seem to taste even better this morning.”

  She didn’t want to get into it with Travis, thinking coffee and a muffin might soothe his obviously bruised ego.

  “Dang it all, Bella, you have no right to cancel the snow-sculpting event one day before it’s supposed to take place. I’ve got a truckload of clean snow arriving in two hours for the contestants. There are more than seventy-five people signed up for the event. They’ve already paid their entry fee, not to mention all the hours some of them have worked on their plans.”

  “I only did what my dad and I agreed upon,” she told him, then sat down in front of her laptop. She was busy securing a reputable estate dealer who was free to come in and give her a price for all the furniture inside the inn. Something her dad had agreed to do, but hadn’t. She intended to have all the details finalized by December twenty-third which gave her only four more days to get everything sorted out before her meeting on Christmas Eve with TransGlobal. The trip to Florida would have to wait until after Christmas.

  “Unless your dad has signed those papers, and correct me if I’m wrong, even then he still owns the place until Escrow closes. You have no authority to do any of this.”

  “My dad and I have a verbal agreement. The law is on my side. We made that deal before I arrived and I’m simply implementing the terms. I have a recording of his acceptance on my phone.”

  Travis’s eyes went wide. “You recorded a conversation between you and your father?”

  “It’s a good business practice.”

  “He’s your father.”

  A loud thump echoed overhead and Travis glanced up but didn’t mention it to Bella. She’d hired a company to remove everything in the attic. Her dad had taken out what he’d wanted and left everything else up there. She wanted nothing to do with any of that junk any longer.

  “It’s still business.”

  “Is that how business is done in Chicago?”

  She turned to him shaking her head. “No. It’s what I’ve learned since I’ve gotten burned a couple times.”

  His anger softened as he approached her. She could tell he was changing gears to use a different approach. She refused to be taken in by his charms once again. “Bella, this is Briggs. Nobody’s going to burn you here.”

  “Oh? The possibility is very real.” She wanted to tell him she’d already been scorched by her parents, but she let it slide...for now.

  “You can’t mean that. Besides, you told Amanda while we dined on your favorite cookies and hot cocoa that you would try your hand at snow sculpting. That couldn’t have been a lie. I saw the truth on your face.”

  Footsteps clomped down the attic stairs and a few seconds later another set of footsteps stomped back up.

  “What the heck is Nick doing up there?” Travis asked turning to face the door as if he was ready to check it out. She didn’t want him involved so she went along with his illusion that it was Nick making all the noise and not the two guys from the company she’d hired to haul everything away.

  “He’s sorting out his things. Anyway, what you saw was a sugar high. It’s worn off now. A lot has changed since yesterday.”

  “Tell me what’s changed and I’ll try to fix it.” He took a couple steps closer to her. She stood and wanted to lash out at him about his decision to go along with her parents and not contact her. She wondered if he had any idea how much that hurt.

  “Some things can’t be fixed.”

  “There’s always a way to make things right again.”

  “Right according to whom?”

  “According to whatever it takes to change your mind about all of this. It’s not only about
the snow-sculpting contest, you’re evicting your dad’s guests only days before Christmas. Who does that?”

  “I do, when it benefits my family.”

  More noise came from the attic, but this time Travis seemed to ignore it.

  “Throwing your dad’s valued customers out in the snow and cancelling something fun that this town has been anticipating is somehow beneficial to you and your family? Enlighten me, ’cause I’m blind as to how that works.”

  “I don’t have to ‘enlighten’ you. It’s my decision to make and I’ve made it. Besides, this is none of your business.”

  “Now see, that’s where you’re wrong. Since you’re trying to cancel one of my events that makes it my business. And I don’t intend to let you get away with it. The snow-sculpting contest will go on as planned.”

  “Not on my father’s property it won’t, or I’ll have the lot of you arrested for trespassing.”

  He leaned in, only a whisper away from her face, smiled and said, “Apparently you’ve forgotten how stubborn and resourceful I can be.”

  His breath smelled of candy canes and chocolate. Did he have to be so tempting? Nevertheless, she stood her ground, not wanting him to get the upper hand. “Don’t test me.”

  He chuckled. “Is that supposed to scare me?”

  “No. It’s supposed to make you back off.”

  “Never going to happen.”

  “Then it should be an interesting couple of days.”

  * * *

  BY THE TIME Travis got to the lobby he saw Miller’s Moving & Storage van getting ready to pull away from the inn with what he quickly figured out was everything from the attic. At first, he was going to let it all go, but he reconsidered and ran out to stop them. He ended up saving a few of Bella’s things, including the trunk, knowing darn well she was acting on pure meanness rather than any kind of reason. He’d hang on to everything for as long as she was in town in case she reconsidered. After that, he didn’t know what he’d do with her things, but for now, he’d store them at his house.

  Travis pulled out his phone and went into immediate action enlisting his family’s help as he sat on the brown leather chair in the lobby watching as guest after guest checked out and received maps and instructions from Janet, the fifty-something woman behind the front desk, for their next night’s lodging. Janet handled each one with her usual good-natured demeanor. She’d been working that desk for as long as Travis could remember, and seemed to enjoy dealing with people.