“Heidi! Guess what!”
“Um, what?”
“Okay, gotta take a deep breath. So, Gabe just gave me my Christmas present, and do you know what it is?”
“I have no idea,” Heidi said, laughing. “You’d better just tell me.”
“All right. Well, he had a friend who made some investments . . . No, there is too much. I’ll sum up. He just bought a summer house, and it’s right by River’s End! It’s like a mile down the road, and we’ll come stay there, and I’ll get to see you.”
Heidi squealed. “No way! That’s so fantastic!”
“Isn’t it? Listen, I can tell that you’ve got family dinner going on, so I’ll hang up now, but I’ll call you back later, all right?”
“Sounds perfect. Thanks for letting me know.” Heidi hung up the phone and slid it into her pocket, then bounced up and down a little in her chair. “Sorry. I’m just happy. This is turning out to be the best Christmas I could possibly have imagined.”
“I agree,” Mark said, squeezing her hand under the table.
***
It was so hard to get out of bed the morning after Christmas. Heidi lay there for several minutes after her alarm went off, thinking about the last week and everything that had happened. What a whirlwind. None of it even seemed possible, and yet it all was.
Her parents would be staying at the ranch until the following day. They were taking snowmobile rides that morning, and they wanted to see the new venues that had been added over the last few months. Heidi had to pull Christmas inventory from the shelves and replace it with new merchandise. So hard to believe that Christmas was over, especially that Christmas. Nothing could ever top the miracles she’d just seen.
Finally, she managed to climb out of bed and into the shower. She’d be doing some climbing on stepladders and whatnot at work, so she chose jeans instead of her pioneer dress and pulled out her pink River’s End Ranch T-shirt. With her hair in a ponytail, she was ready to go.
When she got to the store, she saw a figure huddled up against the building, and she thought it was Reggie again. She was about to call out and tease him, but then he turned, and she saw that it was Mark.
“Hey there,” she said as she walked up to him. “Been waiting long?”
“Oh, only about fifteen minutes or so. Let’s open the door quickly and go inside, pretty please.”
She laughed and turned the key in the lock, letting them both in. Mark blew into his hands a few times. “I keep underestimating how cold it is here.”
“Yeah, that’s a mistake you don’t want to make.” She looked up into his eyes and noticed how troubled he seemed. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Everything. No, nothing. It’s just . . .”
She led him over to Santa’s throne that was still set up and nudged him to sit on it. “We don’t open for about ten more minutes, and if you need more time than that, we can open a little late. Tell me what’s going on.”
He threaded his fingers through hers and brought her closer until she was sharing the throne with him. It was a little squishier than a loveseat, but it was nice and cozy. She laid her head on his shoulder. He smelled good, like soap and toothpaste and just a hint of aftershave.
“Todd and my dad were talking last night about the next steps in getting the house rebuilt, and I started thinking about going home and heading back to work. I need to water my plants and stuff like that, but I was feeling glad that I have a house to go home to, and then it was like this whole entire feeling of wrongness just slapped me upside the head, like I couldn’t just go home like that. It kept me up for hours until I finally decided what I want to do.”
“And what’s that?” Heidi asked, listening to his heartbeat accelerate.
“I want to ask you to marry me, Heidi. I want to put a ring on your finger before I go home, and then I want to look for work up here. Coming to that decision was the only thing that gave me peace last night. So . . . now I just need to find out what you want, and if you’d like me to put a ring on your finger and start looking for work up here.”
She twisted around a little so she could see his face. “Really?”
“Really. Remember when I told you how crazy I am about you? Turns out, I was telling the truth, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Go figure, huh?”
“Yeah. Go figure,” she said softly. The last weekend had been so full of miracles, she didn’t think she could take anymore, but here was another one, and it was a very nice one indeed.
“We’re still close enough to my family that we can drive down there and see them every so often, and instead of just me going on vacation with them, we can both go. Guardian will take excellent care of Callie on a day-to-day basis, which takes a load off Todd’s mind, and personally, I think this is excellent timing for a wedding or something awesome like that.” He brushed his lips across hers. “I love you, Heidi. Will you marry me? Pretty please? With sugar on top?”
She laughed. “I would have said yes even without the sugar on top, but yes, Mark, I will marry you. Yeah, it’s a little soon, but I don’t think I’ll be any more sure in a week or a month—I’m pretty darned sure right now.”
He bent his head to kiss her, but he couldn’t quite reach her because of the way they were smashed into the chair, so they both stood up and he took her in his arms. “I’ll go online and start looking for jobs in about eight minutes,” he said.
“Oh? Why eight minutes?”
“Because I’m going to kiss you for four, and then you need about four minutes for me to help out while you set up the register. Eight minutes is as soon as I can do this thing.”
“That’s very reasonable,” she said, lifting her face for a kiss. And she wasn’t counting or anything, but he did kiss her for just about four minutes, with small breaks every so often for breathing. Then he began to tidy up the front of the store while she turned on the cash register.
She always had liked Christmas. But for some odd reason, she thought that maybe, she’d remember this Christmas most of any she’d have for the rest of her life.
Epilogue
Since they’d met and fallen in love on River’s End Ranch, it only made sense that Heidi and Mark would get married on River’s End Ranch. They asked Pastor Kevin to perform the ceremony in the little chapel in the Old West town, which he gladly did, with both their families in attendance. The event barn was perfect for their reception, and Heidi had to agree, it was a great addition to the place, even though she hadn’t been so sure when she first heard the idea.
Mark had been able to get a job at the small hospital in Orfino, which was close enough that Heidi could keep her job at the store. They found a cute little house to rent about halfway between both their jobs, and for their wedding present, Todd and Callie bought them smoke detectors, which they installed promptly. Todd and Callie’s house wouldn’t be ready for another month, but they had found a nice apartment to rent in the meantime, and it looked like the electricians who installed the bad wiring would be put out of business and wouldn’t get to do the same thing to anyone else.
Heidi grinned as she put the last wedding picture in her photo album. She looked so happy, gazing up into Mark’s eyes as they cut the wedding cake Miranda had made for them. Miracle upon miracle, blessing upon blessing had come their way. What an amazing start to their lives together, a story she’d love to share with their own children someday, part of that wonderful future she envisioned for the two of them.
The End
Would you like a sneak peek of Blacksmith’s Beauty by Caroline Lee? It’s coming up next in River’s End Ranch!
“It’s mid-December, man. Put on a shirt, for crying out loud.”
Elf Redfern paused mid-swing to look over at his new best friend. Andrew was stomping snow off of his work boots as he pulled his gloves off, but Elf hadn’t even noticed the door opening, that’s how hot it was in the smithy.
Rather than responding, he focused once more on the delicate flower pet
al he was affixing to the iron stem. His iron roses had become hugely popular souvenirs from River’s End Ranch, and this one was just…about…
“Done.” He straightened and ran the back of one gloved hand across his forehead, wiping the sweat away. “Now, what were you saying?”
Andrew had unzipped his coat and was lounging against the table that held all of Elf’s finished creations—and the cash register—with his legs crossed at the ankle and a bag of sunflower seeds already in his hand. The engineer always seemed to be snacking on something.
“I said,” Andrew repeated around a mouthful of seeds, “That it’s mid-December, snowing outside, this is Idaho, and you need to put a shirt on.”
Elf snorted and stepped back from the anvil. With a pair of tongs he carefully lifted and then plunged the iron rose into a handy bucket of water. The steam that exploded upwards was fragrant in a way he couldn’t ever describe. He loved it.
“It might be snowing outside, but it’s burning up in here. And besides, I’m not violating any regulations.” He wore a heavy leather apron with his gloves, and was so covered in sweat and soot that it wasn’t like he was naked or anything. At least, none of the tourists had complained…
He smirked. “You’re just jealous that you have to wear a uniform and I don’t.”
Andrew snorted his agreement, and popped another handful of seeds into his mouth. He was talented enough to separate all the seeds from the shells while they were in his mouth, and then spit the shells out separately. It was surprisingly meticulous way to snack, and his own uniform shirt was tucked neatly into dark cargo pants.
Elf did have a uniform, but he only had to wear it when he was on duty as the ranch’s mechanic in the mornings. He could make the facility’s four-wheelers, snowmobiles, and golf carts hum…but his real passion was his afternoons. As soon as the clock chimed one, and he could go on his lunch break, he peeled off that uniform shirt and headed for his blacksmithy.
Here, he was surrounded by his real tools, and he could craft anything he wanted to, as long as he did it with old-fashioned tools to wow the tourists. Fine by him; they paid more for knickknacks they saw made, anyhow. The Westons might be paying him an hourly wage for his mechanic’s work on the ranch fleet of vehicles, but he made more money here in the smithy, selling his art to tourists.
And now, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, he’d been selling these little iron roses like hotcakes. Pulling this one out of the water, he was pleased to see that it still looked good. He’d been concerned about the forge heat on that last weld, but it had held. Once it cooled a bit, he’d go over the whole thing with a wire brush, and he bet it would be sold by this evening.
“Nah,” Andrew replied.
Elf started. Not only had he forgotten what they’d been talking about, he’d forgotten that his friend was even there. Not the first time he’d been lost in his creations, he admitted ruefully.
“Nah, what?”
“Nah, I’m not jealous. I don’t want to have to scrape the ladies off me, like you do.”
Elf chuckled as he used the tongs to carefully place the new rose on a workbench to cool. “I think you’re exaggerating.”
“Nope.” Andrew poured another handful of seeds out of the bag. “You know the ladies find you irresistible.” He sounded almost…bitter?
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re some kind of chick magnet. I’m guessing it’s got something to do with standing around half naked.”
“I am not,” Elf protested. “I mean, not the naked thing. Whatever. You know what I mean.”
“I’ll bet you that you standing around that like is just your way of getting women interested. I’ll bet that with those biceps you could have any lady you wanted.” Andrew popped the seeds into his mouth, and bit down hard.
Elf winced, both at the sound of the seeds crunching and his friend’s assumption. The problem was, Andrew was right. Elf had been blessed with an easy smile, a handsome face, and a God-given talent for flirting that made him a favorite with almost every female he met. He’d been on more dates than he could remember, and not a single one of them had meant a darn thing to him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he mumbled, reaching for the bellows to ready the fire for the next round of forging.
“You’re a ladies-man, Elf. You probably think you can get any woman, huh?” Luckily, Andrew’s voice was teasing. “A random woman struts through your door, you know you can just flash those pearly whites at her, and flex those arms, and she’s putty in your hands, huh?”
Unfortunately. Elf snorted, and muttered, “You’re probably right,” under his breath.
Andrew crowed triumphantly. “Modest much, eh?” When Elf glanced over at his friend, the other man was grinning. “Put your money where your mouth is.”
“What?”
“Take my bet.”
Elf was lost. “What bet?”
“You think you can get any woman who walks through your door, huh? You feeling confident?”
How’d things end up this far? Elf shook his head. “You mean, a random single lady walks through the door, and I…what? Seduce her? Date her?” He scoffed. The whole thing was ludicrous. He turned back to his fire.
“Kiss her.”
“What?”
Andrew crunched into more seeds behind Elf’s back. “Kiss her. Say, within a week. You’ve got a week to kiss the next random single lady who walks through that door.”
“What?” Elf swung around to gape at his friend. “And what happens if I don’t?”
“You owe me a hundred bucks.”
Elf almost laughed at the other man’s easy claim. A hundred dollars? Ridiculous. Besides, he had no interest in winning that bet. Over the last months, he’d realized that he didn’t want dates that meant nothing, or flirtations that never went anywhere. Since coming to River’s End Ranch, and seeing his sisters so blissfully happy with their new husbands, he’d realized that he was looking for…
More.
So no, he wasn’t about to put a hundred dollars on the fact that he could get a kiss out of some unsuspecting woman. Not only would it be too easy, it would be meaningless. And he very much wanted to find some meaning in a kiss. He wasn’t going to find it betting on the next woman to walk through his door.
And he was just about to tell Andrew to keep his money when the door to the smithy nudged open. This time Elf felt the cold breeze, since he wasn’t hunched over a lump of hot wrought iron, but when he glanced in that direction, he was surprise no one came inside.
Instead, there was a faint snuffling noise, and Elf was saved from having to respond to his friend when a small pig poked its pink snout through the opening, and then wiggled the rest of the way inside his smithy.
The pig—the pig?—was wearing tiny purple booties—pigs wore shoes?—and what looked like a hand-knitted red and white sweater. It met his eyes—did all pigs have such small beady eyes?—oinked delicately, and then trotted primly for the workbench Elf had just set the iron rose on top of. It pushed aside the leather curtain that circled the piece of the furniture, and tucked itself underneath.
There was a pig in his smithy. A pig!
Elf opened in mouth for a full two seconds, and then closed it again and pursed his lips. Another dozen heartbeats went by—him staring at the workbench in the corner, before he tried again. “Did… Uh. Did a pig just run in here?”
“Sure looks like it,” Andrew replied, popping another fistful of sunflower seeds in his mouth.
“Is that…” Elf blinked and looked around the shop, as if the answers hid someplace nearby. “Is that normal? I mean… I mean, I haven’t been in Idaho long, but are there feral pigs here? It’s winter, right? And I mean, that obviously wasn’t feral, right? Feral pigs don’t wear Christmas sweaters, right?”
“Beats me, but I’m not going to be distracted that easily.”
Elf thrust one gloved hand towards the workbench in exasperation. “
By a pig, man! A pig just ran into my shop!”
“Yep, a cute little piggy. But I’m not going to let dinner distract me from my bet.”
“Your bet?” Elf let the bellows ease off, knowing that he wasn’t going to be starting the next ingots melting any time soon. “Come on, help me catch it and get it out of here.”
Andrew meticulously folded the top of his seed bag and jammed it down into the side pocket of his uniform pants. “Nope. Not ‘til you take the bet.”
The bet? He was still on about that?
“What? Fine.” Elf rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’ll get a kiss from whatever lady you want.” It was galling to admit that he wasn’t being boastful. As much as he wanted to avoid temporary relationships, they didn’t seem to want to avoid him.
“In a week? You honestly think you’re so suave you can get a random lady—the very next single lady to talk through that door—to kiss you within a week, and you’re going to put a hundred bucks on it?”
Elf growled under his breath and, picking up his still-warm hammer, took two steps towards the workbench. Was the leather curtain quivering? How was he even supposed to catch a pig? Did they come when called? “Yes, fine. Whatever. A hundred bucks.” Only at this moment he was beginning to think that he’d pay Andrew just to drop the bet nonsense and come help him with this pig. “Now get your butt over here and cover that corner. I’m going to try to shoo him out the door again.”
Just as the two men moved into position, they heard a voice from outside the shop. “Kalua? Kalua, where are you? Tootles!”
Elf exchanged a confused look with Andrew, who shrugged. The door opened again.
And when she entered, all Elf could think was God bless Andrew’s bet.
The woman was gorgeous. She was wearing a long gray skirt that swirled around her legs in a tantalizing way, and she made that snow-dusted pea coat look good in a way that a Southern boy like Elf could only dream of. She had skin a few shades darker than his own, and it set off her blonde hair and the exotic tilt of her dark eyes. He’d never seen anyone with that combination of coloring before. Maybe that was why his mouth had just gone dry.
Santa's Shopkeeper (River's End Ranch Book 18) Page 10
