The Cowboy's Christmas Plan

by Shanna Hatfield

  After hanging up, Cadence called Peter Hanson and confirmed the appointment for ten the next morning.

  When Trey stopped by the house, she let him know about Neil’s friend, and the appointment in Portland. They decided they would get up early and be on the road by six in the morning. It was a two and a half-hour drive and Trey wanted plenty of time to find Mr. Hanson’s office. If they had time to kill before the meeting, they could get a cup of coffee or some breakfast.

  Cadence made a big batch of blueberry muffins and a slow cooker full of hash brown casserole for the men to eat for breakfast before she went to bed.

  The next morning, she dressed in a black power suit with a bright blue silk chemise, a pair of black heels, and pinned her hair into a neat, no-nonsense French twist. Carefully applying makeup and a spritz of perfume, she snapped on a silver watch, picked up her black wool coat and purse, and hurried out of her bedroom.

  She quietly opened Cass’s bedroom door, crossed the room and dropped a light kiss on the little girl’s forehead before rushing into the kitchen.

  Trent promised to keep an eye on Cass. He’d take her to visit Aunt Viv for lunch then bring her back to the ranch before dinner.

  Cadence hoped after their meeting, Trey would be willing to do a little Christmas shopping.

  As she poured two travel mugs full of hot coffee, she glanced out the kitchen window. Trey stopped his truck close to the back door. Hurriedly pulling on her coat, she hustled outside, slid her way down the back steps and right into Trey’s arms.

  “If you’d hold your horses a minute, I was coming to help you to the truck,” he said with a grin in his voice. It was still too dark outside for her to see his face, although the flash of white teeth illuminated by the porch light helped convince her of his smile.

  “I’m perfectly capable of maneuvering the few steps to your vehicle,” Cadence said, sounding like the formal, aloof woman who had first arrived at the ranch. Trey turned loose of her and she took two steps before she started sliding in her high heels. He grasped her arms before she fell and pulled her to him. He turned her around and stuck his hands inside her coat, running his fingers up and down her sides.

  “What are you doing?” Distracted and unsettled, she glared at him. If her hands hadn’t been full of coffee, she would have smacked him. Now was not the time or the place for Trey to stir her emotions into a roiling mess. How could he not know that every touch of his hand made her insides quiver and her thoughts jumble? She needed to stay cool-headed and focused.

  “Just checking to see if you laced those stays back up and pulled ‘em too tight.”

  Cadence laughed in spite of her decision to remain serious and in business mode until after the meeting.

  “No, I did not. And I’ve never worn stays, for your information. They went out ages ago, if you have any notion of fashion history.” Cadence accepted his help climbing into the pickup and buckled her seat belt while he shut her door.

  “I’ve got a notion about quite a few things and half of them you probably don’t want to hear right this moment,” Trey teased as they drove down the driveway.

  Cadence shot him a warning glare. “Do you think you could possibly focus on the matter at hand this morning? If I’m going to get through this without turning into a sobbing heap of useless female, you better just leave me and my uptight self alone.”

  Trey remained silent for a while, taking the opportunity to study Cadence. While she had relaxed and learned to have fun in the past several weeks, he could see she used that cool, detached persona to maintain a certain level of distance and professionalism. It was, in a sense, like a coat of armor, protecting her from getting close enough to anything to get hurt. Or attached. Or involved.

  The fact that she had set it aside completely with him spoke volumes to his heart. He suddenly wondered if she let the guy who jilted her make a dent in that armor.

  “Cady, can I ask you something?”

  She shot him a wary glance, but finally nodded her head.

  “Viv said the reason you came to Grass Valley was because you were engaged and the guy left you at the altar. Did you… do you love him?” Trey asked, half-afraid of what her response would be. What if she was still in love with the guy? What if she wasn’t interested in a future with him?

  “No,” Cadence whispered. Curious, she wondered what had brought Trey to this line of questioning. She supposed he would ask at some point, she just didn’t think today would be the day for that particular conversation. “No, I didn’t love him.”

  “Then what made you decide to marry him? Why would you plan to marry someone if you didn’t love them?”

  “I wanted…” Cadence released a sigh. This wasn’t going to be easy to explain, especially since she recently worked through her real reasons for wanting to marry Bill. “Bill was the young hot-shot attorney at the office when I started working for Neil. He had it all - looks, money, position, charm. When he turned his attention toward me, I was flattered. I wasn’t anybody, just Neil’s assistant. I grew up in a hard-working middle class home. I didn’t have any advantages. I wasn’t the prettiest girl in the office or the smartest or the most popular. I still don’t know why he was interested in me in the first place.”

  “I’ve got a few ideas,” Trey muttered to himself. Who wouldn’t want to be with Cady? She was beautiful, intelligent, exciting, and sweet just to name a few of the dozen words he could think of to describe her.

  “Bill kept asking me on dates, for lunch, to coffee, and I continued to turn him down. That went on for about a year. Although there wasn’t any policy against it, I just thought it wasn’t a good idea to date anyone who worked in the office. I should have listened to my instincts.” Cadence glanced over at Trey. Although she wouldn’t want to go through a similar experience, the result of it was worth the pain and trouble if it meant being at the Triple T.

  “I finally gave in and went on a date with him. We dated casually for quite a while then this past spring Bill seemed to get more intense about our relationship. He proposed in July and wanted to get married right away. I agreed and planned a beautiful fall ceremony. He ran off with his secretary the week before our wedding. Neil was the one who broke the news to me. Bill sent out an email to the partners the night before telling them he was taking two weeks off and getting married, to Miss Roberts. I couldn’t keep working there when he came back with his new bride, so I packed up that day and left. He’d already talked me into getting rid of my apartment and all of my furniture. Essentially homeless and unemployed, Aunt Viv offered to take me in until I could figure out what to do, and you know the rest of the story.”

  Trey stretched across the seat, captured her hand, and gave it a squeeze.

  “I’m so sorry, darlin’. No one should have to go through something like that, especially not you.”

  “Don’t go feeling sorry for me, Trey. I made my choices and had to face the consequences. I realized shortly after arriving in Grass Valley that I didn’t love Bill. If I had, it would have hurt more. In a way, I think I was relieved. The person most important to Bill is himself and I know that would never have changed, only gotten worse. I was an idiot for getting involved with him and an even bigger one for thinking I could marry him. I loved his prestige and position, his popularity and his charm, but I never, ever loved him. Believe me, if the opportunity should arise for me to marry, the only reason it will happen is because I am head over heels in love with the man.”

  Trey was glad to hear that, because he planned to be the one holding Cady’s hand when she said, “I do.”

  “You got any prospects on that head over heels thing?” Trey teased.

  “Possibly.” Cadence felt relaxed now that she shared her story with Trey. She was also a bit punchy with only a jolt of coffee in her system. “There are quite a few eligible bachelors out at the Triple T.”

  Trey stiffened. If any of the hands had been sniffing around Cady, he’d fire them all. He felt Cadence put a hand on his
thigh and give it a light pat, lighting a fire with her touch that did nothing to help his frame of mind.

  Cadence grinned at him. “But their boss man is the only one of interest.”

  Trey relaxed and pulled her hand to his lips, placing a warm kiss on her palm. “It’s not nice to tease me like that, you know.”

  “I know,” Cadence said, leaning over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “But it’s fun.”

  ><><

  The meeting with Peter Hanson went better than expected. Trey, and especially Cadence, was impressed with his level of knowledge and both liked him immediately. By the time they wrapped up their meeting, he assured them he would do his best to get the case before a judge immediately. He would keep them posted and let them know when to show up in court.

  “We may run into a small problem, though,” Peter said.

  Trey and Cadence sat waiting for him to continue. He had sounded so sure that things would go along smoothly and there shouldn’t be any problem gaining custody of Cass.

  “Although it isn’t uncommon for a single person or domestic partners to adopt a child, it would help things along if you two were together or in some way committed to each other. Just think about it.”

  Cadence’s cheeks were bright with color and Trey knew he would choke as his ever-tightening collar threatened to cut off his air supply.

  Sensing their discomfort, Peter laughed and walked them to the door. “I’ll be in touch as soon as I have any news.” After shaking both their hands, he returned to his office and left them at the elevator.

  Cadence made a big show of buttoning her coat, pulling on her gloves, and knotting her scarf around her neck. Trey watched the numbers on the elevator with his hands in his pockets.

  When they reached the ground floor, Trey automatically put his hand to the small of Cadence’s back and guided her to the parked pickup. After assisting her inside, Trey started the truck and drove to a shopping mall.

  Parking the pickup in a space an empty space near the far end of a row, Trey smiled and offered her his arm as he held open the door for her. She took it with a nod and then walked inside to do some Christmas shopping. Cadence had already given Cass most of the things she purchased the day she shopped with Denni.

  She and Trey bought more clothes, a few toys, and some storybooks for the little girl. They found a fuzzy red Christmas stocking and had fun selecting little gifts and treats to fill it. When they finished with that, Trey asked Cadence if she’d like to shop on her own for a while and meet him at a restaurant at one end of the mall for lunch in an hour. She agreed and they split up.

  Cadence bought a few more family gifts then wandered the mall trying to think of something more to purchase for Trey. She had ordered a gift for him from an online auction a couple of weeks ago, but she really wanted to find a few other things for him. She felt guilty that so much of his time in recent weeks had been spent with her and now with Cass.

  He was a very busy man and so many people depended on his direction and leadership. She wasn’t sorry for the time spent with him, just the impact it could have on the ranch.

  When she’d voiced those concerns to Trey a few days ago, he had assured her Trent was capable of managing things without him and it was their slow season anyway. As hard as the Thompsons and the hired help all worked, she wasn’t sure she wanted to see what their busy season looked like.

  Then again, she very much hoped to be right in the middle of it when next summer’s harvest time rolled around. She couldn’t picture life anywhere other than at the Triple T, right beside Trey.

  Sighing, she stared in the window of a jewelry store at a display of wedding bands and engagement rings. She knew Trey cared for her, but she wondered if he loved her the way she loved him. Only time would tell.

  She thought back to her engagement to Bill. When he had proposed it was at an elite restaurant where he publicly got down on one knee, effectively preventing her from saying no and causing an even bigger scene. The ring he gave her was one she hated. Despite her allergy to gold, Bill purchased a solid gold band highlighted by a two-carat traditional round diamond circled by smaller diamonds.

  She thought the ring was large and gaudy and hadn’t particularly looked forward to wearing it every day for the rest of her life. It made the skin on her finger raw and sore, yet he insisted she wear it whenever they went out together. It was another sign she chose to ignore that Bill was all wrong for her. That ring was one thing she had been glad to take off her finger and leave in an envelope on his desk the day she left the law firm.

  Without the opportunity to shop for an engagement ring, she was surprised at the variety of choices.

  Just for fun, she went into the store and asked if she could see a few of the rings. One in particular caught her eye. The band was silver and wide, a sensible choice for a busy ranch wife, with beautiful diamonds lining the inside of the band. The ring was lovely, elegant, and simple. Amazingly, it fit her hand like it had been made with her in mind. Smiling, Cadence thanked the clerk, handed back the ring, and returned to her shopping and musings.

  After Peter’s comments that morning about her and Trey being a couple, along with their teasing each other on the drive to Portland, she couldn’t seem to stop mulling over the idea of becoming Trey’s bride.

  ><><

  Trey happened to see Cadence walk into the jewelry store, wondering what caught her interest. He waited a moment then peeked in the store window. He spotted Cady looking at rings.

  Smiling to himself, he wondered if Peter’s comments had gotten her thinking of matrimony. It was certainly all he could think of right now. He would marry Cady tomorrow if he thought she’d say yes. After their talk that morning, he was going to do his best to make sure she was loopy in love with him before he popped the question. He didn’t want there to be any doubts at all on her part. He just hoped it wouldn’t take too long for her to get to that point.

  As for him, he’d fallen in love with her the day she dumped ice water all down him at the café. She had taken their house and made it feel like a home again, chasing away the shadows left behind by the death of his father.

  Cady made them all feel special, cared for, and loved.

  He hadn’t expected to fall in love. Certainly wasn’t planning on it. Had even tried to tell himself he couldn’t let it happen. But he could no more deny his feelings for Cady than he could fly over the moon.

  Watching her through the glass, he saw her pay attention to one particular ring. She tried it on with a wistful look on her face then handed back to the clerk. She smiled, picked up her bags and headed toward the door. Trey ducked around the corner and waited until Cadence walked by before hurrying into the store and up to the sales clerk who had waited on Cady.

  “Excuse me,” Trey said, turning the full power of his smile and charm on the sales girl.

  She glanced his direction then did a double take. It wasn’t every day she got to wait on a drop-dead gorgeous cowboy with electrifying blue eyes. “May I help you, sir?”

  “The woman who just left, the one who was looking at rings, can you show me what ring she tried on?”

  “Certainly, sir.” The girl’s voice sounded a bit deflated and her smile wasn’t quite as bright. She placed the engagement ring on a velvet covered display pad. “This is the one.”

  “Isn’t that interesting?” Trey couldn’t hide his grin. He picked up the ring and looked at it. The diamonds glistened in the light. “You’re sure this was the one? Not a gold ring?”

  “Absolutely certain, sir. She mentioned that she is allergic to gold,” the clerk said, giving him a cool look that dared him to question her response. “And this ring fit her perfectly.”

  “Can you tell me what size this is?” he asked, much to the girl’s surprise.

  “Yes, sir,” she said, with a genuine smile and gave him the size.

  He continued thumbing the ring and finally set it back down. “Do you make customized rings?”

 
Taken somewhat by surprise, the sales clerk assured him they had one of the most talented craftsmen in the city in their employ and he just happened to be in the store. Sitting down with him, Trey listened to what he had to share, took down some information and thanked him for his assistance.

  Hurriedly leaving the store, Trey looked at his watch and hustled to meet Cadence for lunch. When he rounded the corner, he saw her standing outside the restaurant, several bags resting at her feet.

  Walking up to her, he kissed her cheek and started to pick up the bags. Cadence snatched two before he could see what they were.

  “No peeking in these,” she said with a grin as he gathered the rest of the bags and held the door open for her.

  After enjoying a leisurely lunch, they decided they couldn’t leave without dessert. Trey ordered a slice of chocolate coconut cream pie while Cady enjoyed a pumpkin cheesecake. As Trey savored the first bite, Cadence laughed at him.

  “Is it really that good, Trey?” she teased.

  “Yep. I have a thing for chocolate and coconut, and beautiful housekeepers.”

  Cadence blushed and changed the subject. “Are you ready for the Christmas program? Have you been practicing sounding like Santa?”

  “I’ll be ready by the program. I’ve been practicing but something is missing.” Trey tried to look and sound serious.

  “Oh? What’s that?” Cadence took another bite of her cheesecake.

  “A sweet little gal to sit on my lap and whisper wishes in my ear.” Trey’s wicked smile nearly made her drop her fork, especially when the hot gleam in his eyes brought a warm spark to her own. “Want to volunteer?”

  “No. Since I won’t be helping you with that, I suggest you get busy practicing on your own.”

  “Come on, Cady,” he urged as he finished his dessert. “You wouldn’t want the kids to be disappointed, would you?”

  Her raised eyebrow let him know she still wasn’t falling for his ploy. Quickly finishing her dessert, she excused herself to the restroom.