Christmas in Three Rivers: Three Rivers Ranch Romance Novella Collection

by Isaacson, Liz

  “It’s sophisticated,” he continued. “But comfortable. Like home.”

  “Thanks,” Sandy said, pleased he found her aesthetic to be exactly what she’d been aiming for. She tried not to let herself read more into what he said than just the words. She’d done that before to her detriment. Her pulse sped against her will, and Sandy leaned back in her chair to put some distance between herself and Tad.

  “You finished?” He nodded to her mostly full plate.

  “I may have eaten a few cookies before you got up.” She pinned him with a mock glare. “Lazybones.”

  He laughed, the sound morphing him from the serious, traumatized Tad into the carefree, handsome man Sandy felt herself falling for.

  “Well, let’s go.” He pushed his plate away. “Though we haven’t eaten nearly enough pancakes to sustain us until lunch.”

  “I don’t cook, I’ll have you know.” Sandy stood, surprised when Tad rounded the table and helped her into her jacket. The weight and heat of his hands through the fabric sent a bolt of heat down her arms. Her fingers tingled.

  “You own a pancake house.” He lingered so close behind her, his breath drifted across her neck. “And those cookies changed my life.”

  She turned into his arms, a breathless laugh escaping her throat. Her heart rippled like a flag in a stiff Texas wind. He gazed down on her, his expression heated now, matching hers.

  “Well, cookies aren’t a meal,” she managed to say before stepping away. Gail’s gaze on Sandy’s back felt like a load of bricks, and Sandy would not do something right here in her pancake house she couldn’t take back. Couldn’t explain. Couldn’t maintain.

  Because though Tad had just said he didn’t like flying, he hadn’t said he wasn’t going back. Sandy headed for her car, reminding herself that Tad was only in town for a visit. He wasn’t going to stay permanently.

  The fact made her heart do a double-beat before it settled into its normal rhythm, completely resigned to only enjoying Tad for a few more days.

  Tad’s excitement grew with every mile that passed between town and the ranch. The openness of the land calmed him, coated his raw nerves in a balm he hadn’t known existed. Three Rivers reminded him a lot of Stillwater, but his hometown had never felt so welcoming, or a place where he could be Tad Jorgensen without any strings.

  He released a breath and it felt like the invisible band that had been binding his lungs for the past two months had snapped. Finally. A text came just as Sandy turned from asphalt to dirt. He glanced down and caught Chuck’s name before the screen darkened. The tension returned, but Tad pushed it back. It felt so good to just breathe, and he didn’t want to let that go just yet.

  His boss could wait. Probably just checking up on him anyway. Tad wasn’t expected to be back until after the New Year.

  Sandy rounded the corner, her knuckles so white Tad sensed a storm beneath her happy surface. “I should’ve rented a car,” he said. “Then you wouldn’t have to wait for me.”

  “I don’t mind waiting.” She pulled up to a large barn sporting a sign that read “Bowman’s Champion Breeds.”

  But she looked like she minded. Sandy stared straight out of the windshield, seeing something besides the innocent barn in front of her.

  “I just want to talk to…what did you say her name was?”

  “Brynn.”

  “Brynn.” Tad put the name in his memory, thinking about a girl he knew from Stillwater, whose name was Lynn. Brynn rhymed, and he knew he wouldn’t forget. He opened the door and got out of the car.

  A winter wind whipped across the range, nipping at his jacket and tousling his hair. He smiled into it. Even the winter in Three Rivers couldn’t be nasty. Not really.

  A woman opened the door to the barn and leaned into the jamb. “Mornin’,” she said. Her dark hair had been contained in a braid that came over her shoulder, and she wore a cowboy hat that threw her face into shadows.

  “Are you Brynn Bowman?” Tad stepped forward to shake her hand.

  “I am. What can I do for you?”

  “I have a few questions about what you do here.” Tad glanced around, trying to take in the arenas, the fenced areas, the barns in one single swoop. The inkling of an idea toyed in the back of his mind.

  “I train horses to be rodeo champions,” Brynn said, looking him up and down. “You ride?”

  “Oh, no.” Tad chuckled at the very thought. “I’m not into rodeo.”

  Brynn finally smiled. “I didn’t think so.”

  Tad cocked his head and peered at her as Sandy finally joined him. “What does that mean?”

  “It means I can tell who the rodeo boys are,” she said. “I can usually peg what event they do.” She glanced up. “And you’re not even wearin’ a hat.” She looked at Sandy. “Better hang onto him, Miss Sandy. Three Rivers has a severe shortage of non-cowboys.”

  Every muscle in Tad’s body stiffened. “She’s not—we’re not—”

  Pink stained Brynn’s cheeks. “Oh, sorry.” She spoke more to Sandy than to Tad.

  “I mean, Sandy’s great—”

  “Better stop while you’re ahead.” Brynn laughed. “Come on in. If you’re not a cowboy, I really want to know what you think I can help you with.”

  With horror still holding his body hostage, Tad looked helplessly at Sandy. She wore a smile and a mischievous sparkle in her eye. “I am pretty great.”

  “And pretty,” he said. “I mean, I think you’re pretty and you’re great and….” Tad wanted to stuff old socks in his mouth just to get himself to shut up.

  Sandy’s blush assured him he hadn’t messed up too badly. Yet. “So what are you doing here?” she asked as she made to follow Brynn into the barn.

  “I need a new job,” Tad said. “And my dad raised horses and ran a boarding stable.”

  Sandy froze. “So you want to work out at the ranch?”

  “No.” Tad tugged her to get her to move, but she wouldn’t. “Not necessarily. I just want to see what Brynn does here. Maybe I can partner with her.”

  “But you’d still drive out here to work each day.”

  “Maybe.” Tad tried to see further into the barn, but it looked like all hallways. “I don’t know anything yet.”

  “When do you have to be back in Vegas?”

  “January third.” Tad swallowed back the confession that he was one text away from quitting. “I just want to explore some options.” He reached out and tucked Sandy’s highlighted hair behind her ear. “I’m not making any major decisions today.”

  She leaned into his touch, and Tad wondered if she’d let him kiss her. Right here, in this barn that smelled like sawdust and horseflesh. Tad had never wanted so badly to kiss a woman. And that got his feet moving like nothing ever had.

  He could not kiss Hank’s sister. Not without at least talking to his friend. Not when he didn’t have a future to offer her.

  Sandy smiled and smiled and smiled through dinner. She’d never felt more like a Barbie doll. But Willow was blonde and bubbly and bright—she complimented Hank perfectly. If Tad hadn’t been there, Sandy would’ve dissolved into a puddle of goo by the time they said grace.

  As it was, the steadiness of the man beside her kept her in the conversation. Lulled her jealousy back into the dark recesses of her mind. Prompted her to laugh at appropriate times and stay engaged.

  But, ugh. Engaged. It was the last thing Sandy wanted on her mind.

  Willow flashed her diamond at every opportunity—or maybe it just seemed that way to Sandy. Either way, Sandy’s mother and daddy had completely fallen for Willow’s charms by the time they took their coffee in the living room.

  “Hank, can I talk to you for a second?” Tad’s question blindsided Sandy. He wasn’t going to join them in the living room? She had to go in there with her parents and Willow alone?

  She stared at him, silently pleading for him to offer her his elbow like he’d done a few times today. She hadn’t realized how reliant on him she’d become.<
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  “Sure thing.” Hank kissed Willow before she proceeded into the living room, like they couldn’t ever part without exchanging a kiss first. Sandy nearly rolled her eyes.

  But her mind lingered on kissing and if she could share one with Tad. She’d spent the day with him, and it had been one of the best days of her life, bar none. By far one of the better dates she’d had in a couple of years.

  The man knew how to talk about real things. Things that mattered. Things that she was interested in. Things beyond ranching and horses, though they did speak of those too. She’d asked him about his daddy’s boarding stable and if he actually had liked working there.

  He’d admitted that he’d felt trapped in his Wyoming small town. Another thing they had in common. Difference was, he’d left his, and Sandy was still dreaming of a day when she could.

  Or maybe she wasn’t. Tad strutted into the living room, all smiles, and sat next to her on the loveseat. It almost seemed natural for him to lift his arm and drape it over her shoulders. Almost natural for her to snuggle into his side, take a deep breath, and be happy in his arms.

  Sandy wasn’t even sure she knew what happiness felt like. When she’d bought the pancake house came to mind. She’d been happy then. Happy to be an owner of her own business. Happy to be away from waitressing and more into the business side of things. Happy she had a way to make a good living for a long time.

  Even then, though, something had been missing. Sandy felt it as keenly now as she had then. Then, she’d gone home to her dark condo, where she celebrated with an ice cream cake she’d bought at the grocer. Now, she’d go home to her dark condo—where Tad was staying.

  She glanced at him and kept her focus there when he didn’t look at her. His striking square jaw and day-old beard called to her. Urged her to touch his face, feel the scruff of his beard as he kissed her.

  A flush rose through her like a geyser when he turned and looked at her. The tether that had been winding between them all day seemed to solidify. He leaned closer. “You ready to go home?”

  “Could we?” she asked, glancing at the grandfather clock near the fireplace. “I don’t know…my mother might get upset.”

  “Hank said we could, anytime.”

  “Isn’t he coming?”

  “He’s going to stay until late,” he said. “Doesn’t want to leave Willow alone until your parents go to sleep.” Tad touched her knee, sending shockwaves down to her foot and up to her head. “Said something about your dad being a night owl.”

  “He likes to watch the eleven o’clock news,” Sandy confirmed. A yawn played with her throat.

  “You seem like you’re ready to go,” Tad said. “And I don’t care if we miss dessert.”

  “We can stop by a drive-through and get ice cream cones,” Sandy suggested.

  “I like the way you think.” Tad tacked a flirty smile to the end of his sentence.

  I like you, Sandy thought but didn’t say. Still, she struggled with him moving here and taking up a job out at the ranch. Yeah, she knew the job wasn’t exactly at Three Rivers Ranch, but he would be driving out there each day, working with horses. It was only a matter of time before he had the boots and the hat and the Texas twang to go with the new job.

  He’d asked Brynn a truckload of questions, and then he’d bubbled the whole way back to town about opening a breeding stable. He’d breed the horses; Brynn would train them. It was a win-win, according to Tad.

  He’d spent the next hour and a half on the phone with his father, while Sandy helped her mother peel, boil, and whip potatoes into a delectable mash of cheese, salt, sour cream, and butter.

  “…not feeling well.”

  Sandy looked up, surprised to see her mom embracing Tad. “Well, you get on back to Sandy’s and lie down.”

  “I will, ma’am.”

  She scrambled to her feet when Tad looked at her pointedly. “Thanks for dinner, Mom.”

  “Tad says he’s going to get you two dessert.” Her mom smiled at Tad like everything he touched turned to gold. Sandy actually wanted to find out if that was true.

  “Ice cream,” Tad confirmed. He opened the door and ushered Sandy through it. She’d never been more grateful in her life. When they’d escaped the halo of light from the porch, he slipped his hand into hers. Sandy ducked her head and tried to hold back her smile.

  But she couldn’t.

  Tad kept Sandy’s hand in his for as long as possible. After she’d pulled into her parking lot—and found her spot empty—they strolled toward her condo hand-in-hand. Hank had actually started laughing when Tad had mentioned leaving with Sandy.

  He’d sobered quickly enough, though. “You mean you like my sister? Or you like my sister?”

  “I like her,” Tad had said, not giving anything away. “She was nice to me today. Spent her whole day off with me. I just want to thank her.” He’d spoken true. He wanted to thank her. Maybe with a kiss.

  When Hank had boldly asked him that, Tad had shrugged. “Don’t know that she feels the same.”

  “You be careful with her,” Hank warned. “She hasn’t had much luck with men.”

  That hadn’t helped Tad’s self-conscious worries about being good enough for Sandy. Sandy, who owned a successful and thriving business. Sandy, who seemed to have every aspect of her life together, right down to automatic lights that switched on when she unlocked her front door and entered her condo.

  Tad took a deep breath. He hadn’t imagined the connection between them, and he wanted to explore it a little bit. Probe. Push. Prod.

  He closed the door behind them, his heart suddenly bobbing in the back of his throat. “Too bad everywhere had closed early for Christmas Eve,” he said. “We didn’t get our ice cream.”

  “I have lots.” Sandy scooted into the kitchen, where she produced a box of ice cream sandwiches, a container of Ben & Jerry’s, and a tub of peanut butter cup ice cream. “I have some of that chocolate topping that hardens, if you want that.”

  “It’s fine,” he said, grabbing an ice cream sandwich. “I’ll have one of these.” He nodded toward her balcony. “Anywhere to sit out there?”

  “Sure.” She put away the ice cream, snagging an ice cream sandwich for herself, and led him onto the balcony.

  The breeze cooled Tad’s heated skin. The ice cream helped too. The calm, serene countryside before him further calmed him. “Sandy, I’m going to move to Three Rivers.”

  She sighed, a sad, defeated sound he didn’t understand. “I figured.”

  “I texted my boss while you were making the creamed peas. I quit.” He looked at her and found resignation in her expression. “Tell me why that upsets you.”

  She shrugged and finished her ice cream. She licked her lips, and the desire to do the same exploded through Tad. “Come on.” He reached for her hand and brought her knuckles to his lips. “Tell me.”

  “I had this wild fantasy,” she said, her voice small and low. “You know, of you taking me away from Three Rivers in your helicopter. We could fly anywhere, do anything.”

  He smiled at the wistfulness of her voice, the stunning innocence of her nature, her dazzling beauty. His mind turned, dampening the rising flame in him that kept yelling, she likes you! She likes you!

  “You don’t like Three Rivers?” he asked.

  “I like it okay.”

  “You own the pancake house,” he said.

  “I know.”

  Tad frowned, trying to make the pieces align. “Help me understand.”

  “I bought the pancake house because I…wanted more.”

  “Will you help me with my breeding stable?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know anything about that. Brynn—”

  “Has her hands full with her own training business. You could help me with the financials and stuff. How to deal with a staff, that kind of thing.” He squeezed her hand. “Just think about it, will you?”

  “I guess.”

  Frustration boiled through Tad. He’d
thought moving here was the right decision—he knew it was. He’d thought Sandy would be happier about it.

  “Sandy—”

  “Let’s go for a walk.” She exploded to her feet. “It’s not quite dark yet. There’s a nice trail around that condo over there. Into a sort of wooded area with a pond.”

  “Sure.” Tad veiled the negative emotions running rampant through him behind a wide smile. “Lead the way.”

  Thankfully, she pressed her palm to his as she led him through her condo and down the stairs. She turned right and walked behind two more condo buildings before turning right again. Several steps later, the soft glow of muted lamps covered them in golden light. It reflected off the inklings of a stream and soon enough, trees lined the walkway.

  “This is beautiful,” he said. “So peaceful. That’s why I want to move here. I can’t feel like this in Vegas.”

  “It’s not always peaceful here,” Sandy said.

  “Oh, I’m sure.” He tugged her a little closer. “Small town. Big rumor mill.”

  She laughed and finally seemed to relax as she tucked herself closer to his side. “I’m happy here,” she said. “I just sometimes dream of going somewhere else.”

  “You can travel,” he said, barely censoring himself from saying we. He liked her. Felt comfortable around her. He wasn’t ready to propose marriage or anything crazy like that.

  “I don’t have time to travel.”

  “Sure you do,” he said. “You took today off.”

  “It’s one day.”

  “I heard you when I came into the kitchen. You told Gail you wouldn’t be in until Tuesday.”

  “It’s Christmas tomorrow.” Sandy drifted away and came back. “So it’s really just one more day after that. It’s no big deal.”

  Tad stopped walking, his heart thundering in his chest. “Will you take me to church with you tomorrow?” He inched closer and slipped his hands around her waist. A feeling akin to joy flooded him when she leaned into his touch.

  “Yes.” She slid her hands up his arms, resting them lightly on his shoulders.