A Little Country Christmas

by Carolyn Brown

  Landon reached for the snowsuit Dixie was holding. “I’ll put it on her. Are we going to put our snowman in the front yard or out back?”

  “In the front for sure,” Dixie said. “It’ll be cute, and it can be our outside decoration. Claire and I planned to wrap some lights around the porch posts and put a wreath on the door, but we got busy with last-minute quilt orders.”

  Landon zipped up Sally’s snowsuit and carried her toward the door. “Ask Mommy if she’s got something for the eyes and the nose. We could use a carrot, and maybe some buttons.”

  “I’ll bring them right out.” Dixie headed to the kitchen.

  Landon set Sally down in the snow and laughed when it came almost to her knees. “Princess, you could use a pony to ride right now so you wouldn’t be butt-deep in this white stuff,” he said.

  Dixie returned with a carrot, several buttons, and a long, thin piece of plaid fabric in her hands. “I figured he could use a scarf, and this was destined for the trash can.”

  Her blue eyes sparkled like a reflection of the summer sky on the ocean water, and she looked so darn cute in that knit cap that he wanted to kiss her. He glanced down to see that she was wearing shoes, not boots. If only he knew her size, he would buy her a pair of boots for Christmas.

  I can’t do that, he thought. Clothing or boots is not something a guy buys his girlfriend for Christmas.

  Girlfriend! He was struck speechless at the thought. Was he really ready for that?

  Good grief! He shook the notion from his head. They hadn’t even gone out on a date, much less talked about taking their friendship to the next level.

  Dixie snapped her fingers. “Earth to Landon.”

  “What? I’m sorry, I was daydreaming,” he admitted.

  She held up the strip of fabric. “Scarf?”

  “It’s perfect,” Landon said.

  Sally sat down on her butt, picked up a fistful of snow in her mitten and licked it, then giggled and shivered. Then she crawled through the snow right behind Landon as he began to roll a snowball across the yard. In only a few minutes the yard was bare, and his snowball was about the size of a softball.

  “Looks like our snowman really is going to be small,” Dixie laughed.

  “Nothing is going like I pictured,” Landon said. “I wanted a perfect tree, and now there’s not enough snow to make a decent snowman.”

  “Hey, perfect, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.” Dixie gathered up a handful of snow and threw it at him.

  He stepped to the side to avoid getting hit and slipped and fell on his back.

  “Are you all right?” Dixie dropped down on her knees beside him.

  “Can’t…,” he sputtered, then managed to get out one more word, “breathe.”

  Without any forewarning, she pinched his nose shut, opened his mouth, and began trying to resuscitate him. When she blew into his mouth, he coughed and sat up.

  “It worked!” Her eyes widened out as big as silver dollars. “I saw that done on television, and thought it was crazy, but it really works.”

  He sat up, grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her onto his lap. “Need mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.” He pulled her lips to his in a steamy, hot kiss that came close to melting what snow was left in the yard.

  Sally crawled up in his lap right along with her mother and touched his face with her snow-covered mitten.

  “I guess we shouldn’t make out in front of the baby,” he whispered.

  “I thought that I was reviving you, not making out,” she teased.

  “I might need more to keep from dying. That was a nasty fall and you caused it when you threw snow at me.” He raised an eyebrow.

  She gave him a peck on the cheek and stood up. “I wouldn’t let you die,” she joked.

  “What about when we get done with supper. If I feel faint, will you make sure I don’t die?” He reached up and took her hand in his.

  “Oh, hush.” She moved Sally to a bare place on the ground. “You weren’t ever going to die. You’re just a big flirt. Do you tease all the girls like this?”

  “I saw a bright light beckoning me to leave this world.” He let go of her hand and stood up with Sally in his arms.

  “That was the moon, silly cowboy,” she told him. “This baby girl’s little nose is red. Let’s get our snowman done so we can take the pictures and go inside. Hey, speaking of pictures, I sent Claire one of our tree and she loved it.”

  “Well, I’m not surprised.” Landon packed together a nice-sized snowball. “It is the prettiest tree in the whole state,” he said as he finished making their tiny little snowman. “And we’re about to have the cutest midget Frosty in Texas too.”

  “Our tree really doesn’t look bad when we consider what it looked like at first,” she told him as she tied the scarf around the snowman’s neck.

  Sally clapped her little mitten-covered hands together and hugged the snowman. Then she kissed him on the button nose, took a step back, and said, “My Fossy.”

  “That’s right, baby girl,” Landon agreed with her. “That is your Frosty, and now we need some pictures of you with him.”

  “Lan-Lan.” Sally stretched her arms up toward Landon.

  “Guess you’d better let me take the picture since she wants you to be in it,” Dixie said. “This way when I tell her that you were the one that helped make this Christmas special, she’ll have a face to go with your name.”

  Landon dropped down, set Sally on a knee, and pasted on a smile, but he didn’t feel the happiness he had before. He didn’t want to be nothing more than a picture in a book that Sally could look at through the years ahead. He wanted to be part of her life like he was right at that moment—for the rest of her life.

  Chapter Five

  Landon had wrestled with his feelings all night, sleeping sporadically and waking to question his decision to move back to the other side of Texas. Sure, he had family there, but he’d made a family right there in Sunset in the past few months, and Levi had offered him both the cabin to live in and a job if he wanted to stay on at the Longhorn Canyon. His old nanny, who had passed away years before his mother, would tell him to follow his heart.

  Finally, at daybreak, he got up from his bunk. He was still trying to figure out which road to take when the door opened and a blast of cold air seemed to blow Levi Dawson, the ranch foreman, into the bunkhouse. Levi removed his coat and hung it on a nail inside the door, then made his way into the kitchen.

  The ranch foreman was just over six feet tall, had light brown hair that he kept cut close, and green eyes. He was a big guy, outweighing Landon by at least twenty pounds, and his chest was as broad as a Dallas Cowboy football player’s. “You the only cowboy up and around?”

  “Yep.” Landon nodded. “Thought I’d go ahead and get breakfast started. What are you doing out so early? I don’t usually see you around for another hour.”

  “Claire has breakfast with all the ladies this morning,” he answered. “She told me to eat a bowl of cereal or else come to the bunkhouse. So here I am. Want me to make the biscuits?”

  “I’d appreciate that a lot. I can do them thwock biscuits, but when it comes to scratch, mine make hardtack look like feather pillows.”

  “Thwock?” Levi removed his hat and set it on top of the refrigerator.

  Landon grinned. “That’s when you take a can from the refrigerator and thwock it on the side of the cabinet to open it.”

  Levi chuckled. “I can do a damn sight better than that. Got something on your mind that’s keepin’ you from a good night’s sleep?”

  “How’d you know I didn’t sleep?”

  “Just a guess since you look like hell and you’re up before dawn.” Levi got the flour and other ingredients from the pantry and set about making a huge pan of biscuits.

  “That old cabin still up for grabs?” Landon asked.

  “Anytime you want it,” Levi answered. “Has Dixie gotten under your skin?”

  “Maybe.” Landon to
ok the crisp bacon out of the skillet and put it on a paper towel to drain and started frying a second pound.

  Levi chuckled. “We’ll be glad to have you long as you want to stick around, but I’ve got a feeling that your brothers will want you to come home at some point if you stay in Texas. You might want to talk that over with Dixie before you make any final decision.”

  “I can’t ask her to leave the only stable home she’s ever known,” he said.

  “That would be her decision,” Levi told him. “Yours is to decide where you want to live. You’ve got a job here, and I’m sure you’ve got one with either of your brothers,” Levi told him as he slid the pan of biscuits into the oven and then clamped a hand onto Landon’s shoulder. “Every one of us on this ranch has been where you are right now. We questioned ourselves, our motives, and even our hearts when we knew they were steering us right. You ain’t alone, and if you need someone to talk to, just holler at me.”

  “Are you happy being the foreman of this ranch? Don’t you want a place of your own?” Landon asked.

  “I couldn’t be happier than I am right now. I’ve got a wonderful wife, a son, and we’re plannin’ on havin’ a couple more kids. I’m treated like a son here on the ranch, and I never wanted the responsibility of havin’ a big place of my own. This right here is enough job for me.”

  “You think I could be happy being the foreman on one of my brothers’ ranches?” Landon expertly cracked two dozen eggs into a bowl and whipped them with a fork.

  “That’s a question only you can answer. I can’t do it for you. Ask yourself if you want to work for one of your brothers or if you want to go it on your own right here,” Levi said. “I’m going to kick those sleepin’ cowboys out of their bunks. Is the coffee ready?”

  Landon pointed to the other end of the cabinet. “Two full pots.”

  “Then maybe they won’t cuss me too bad,” Levi said.

  * * *

  Dixie had customers in and out of the shop all day. She wasn’t so busy that she needed to call Claire, but she certainly didn’t have time to get bored. Several of the quilts that customers wanted to give as Christmas presents had been picked up throughout the morning. That afternoon a few ladies came in with gift cards they’d gotten at the various holiday parties around the area and wanted to buy fabric so they could start their projects right after the New Year.

  The second that she flipped the sign on the door from OPEN to CLOSED her cell phone rang, and her heart dropped. Between customers she had told Sally all about Santa Claus and how they were going to go see him that evening, and she had a horrible feeling that Landon was calling to tell her that he couldn’t make it. She stared at the phone without even seeing the caller ID for two rings, then she realized that the call was from Claire.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “How did things go today?” Claire asked. “I had planned to come in for a few hours, but I got busy wrapping gifts and time got away from me. Now it’s almost time to go to the fire station to get Wyatt’s picture made with Santa Claus. If I didn’t have you to work for me, I’d sell the shop. I still love having my own business, but…” She paused.

  Dixie looked at her phone to be sure that they hadn’t been cut off, but then she heard Claire’s voice.

  “…don’t tell anyone,” Claire went on. “I’m going to surprise Levi on Christmas Day. I’m pregnant again, and I just love being a stay-at-home mama. Never thought I’d say that, but there it is.”

  “Congratulations,” Dixie said, “and my lips are sealed, but please don’t sell the shop.”

  “I won’t, not until you get tired of working there. Then it’s going on the market. We’ll talk about giving you a raise after the first of the year, because you’re basically going to be running it by yourself,” Claire told her.

  Dixie’s thoughts spun around so fast that she had trouble latching on to one long enough to form a decent reply. Finally, she said, “Thank you for having that much faith in me.”

  “You’ve earned it many times over,” Claire assured her. “I understand from Levi that you and Landon are taking Sally to see Santa last night. We should put Sally on one of Santa’s knees and Wyatt on the other for a picture. Wouldn’t that be cute?”

  “I love that idea. I could put one in the memory book that Landon is making,” Dixie said.

  “I sure wish that guy would stay with us. Levi says he’s the best help we’ve ever had on the Longhorn Canyon,” Claire told her. “But we can’t tie him down if he doesn’t want to stay. See you later.”

  The call ended, but Claire’s words about tying Landon down kept going through Dixie’s mind as she got Sally dressed in a cute little red velvet dress for her Santa Claus picture.

  A lonely tear escaped from one of her blue eyes and slowly made its way down her cheek. She swiped it away with the back of her hand. She wouldn’t need an album to remind her of Landon. A picture of him in his weathered black-felt hat, tight jeans, and chambray work shirt would be burned into her mind forever. Add that to the sight of his clear blue eyes lighting up every time he looked at Sally, and the feel of his lips when he brushed a good-night kiss across her forehead. Then she had her own personal album of Landon Griffin that she could bring to mind anytime she wanted.

  A hard rap on the door sent her down the hall with Sally in her arms. She opened the door to find him standing there, all decked out in his best cowboy hat, a leather jacket, and shined cowboy boots.

  He smiled. “There’s my girls.”

  His girls? That put an extra beat into Dixie’s heart. “Come on in. We just have to get our coats, and then we’re all ready to go.”

  “Oh. My. God!” He stepped inside the house and closed the door behind him. “Y’all are both so gorgeous that it takes this rough old cowboy’s breath away.”

  “We thank you.” Dixie almost blushed. She had curled her dark brown hair, applied a little makeup, and chosen a pretty dark blue sweater to go with her best pair of jeans.

  “I might need to carry a big stick to beat off all the men who’ll be trying to sweet-talk you tonight,” Landon said.

  “Oh, hush!” She grinned as she got Sally into her coat and hat. “It’ll be me needin’ to use that stick to whip all the women who’ll stop whatever they’re doing to flirt with a sexy cowboy like you.” Even in her nicest sweater and jeans, Dixie felt like she paled in comparison to him.

  “We’ll probably take a backseat to the princess,” he told her. “She looks like she belongs in a television commercial for one of those movies they play this time of year.”

  “Lan-Lan.” Sally reached for him.

  He picked her up, set her on one arm, and helped Dixie into her coat with the other hand. Then he carried the baby out to the truck and strapped her into the car seat. “Now we’re off to see Santa Claus and the elves. Have you thought about what you want to tell him to bring you?”

  “If she understood what all that means, she’d probably ask for a squirrel. She’s taken that ornament off the tree a dozen times today, and then fussed at me to put it back on so she could do it all over again,” Dixie said as she fastened her own seat belt. “If you could still fit on Santa’s lap, what would you ask for?”

  “A puppy,” Landon said without hesitation. “Like I told you before, that’s what I asked for every single year until I told Mama that I didn’t believe in Santa anymore.”

  Dixie made a mental note to make a quilt square with a yellow puppy on it that evening when they got back home. And put a red bow around its neck, she reminded herself.

  When they arrived at the Sunset Volunteer Fire Station, the first thing they saw on the bed of a pickup truck out front was a pen full of puppies. A cardboard sign proclaimed that there were plenty more at the Bowie shelter available for adoption at a special Christmas rate. Landon stopped and let Sally reach through the wire fence and pet a couple of the cute little pups. They licked her hands and whined, and it saddened Dixie to not be able to adopt the yellow one with
the big feet and brown eyes for both Landon and Sally.

  “You’re not fooling me,” Dixie whispered. “You’re the one who really wants to get your hands on those critters.”

  “Busted!” He laughed and shrugged. “Looks like there’s a full house in there so we’d better get on inside.”

  A pregnant lady with three little boys came out of the station when Landon opened the door and stood to one side. The lady stopped and said, “What a beautiful baby. She looks exactly like her father. Y’all make such a cute little family. I’m finally getting a girl. Took a fourth time, but we’re all excited.”

  “Congratulations,” Dixie said.

  “Merry Christmas,” the lady told them and shook her head at the oldest little boy, who was pointing at the truck with the dogs. “No, Thomas, you can’t have a puppy. Y’all have a nice evening. I’ve got to get out of here before my husband lets these boys take all those dogs home.”

  “How about that? We make a cute family.” Landon’s eyes met Dixie’s.

  “Of course we do,” Dixie teased, but in that moment, she wished it were a truth.

  Landon blinked a couple of times. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

  “I didn’t hear you telling her that we were just friends.” Dixie waved at Claire and Levi, who were already in line.

  “I didn’t want to burst her bubble.” Landon took his place behind half a dozen people.

  “Me either,” Dixie said.

  “Did you ever sit on Santa’s lap?” Landon asked.

  “Nope,” Dixie answered. “Mama took my half brothers to the mall once to sit on his lap, but I refused. I could tell he was”—she lowered her voice to a whisper—“that he was just a man dressed up in a suit and that his beard was fake. Besides, after too many stepfathers to count, I’d lost all faith in miracles at Christmas.”