She didn’t need to wait to see Dr. Prescott tomorrow to find out that her leg had healed. She could tell it had. She was getting stronger. The best Christmas gift she could have had this year was to get the news from Sean Knight that Tenterhook’s fracture was healing. It could have been a lot worse for both of them. She knew that sometimes injuries were so bad that the horse ended up being put down. Tabby didn’t know what she would have done if Tenterhook had ended that way.
When dinner was over, she placed a few cookies and an extra piece of cake on a paper plate and wrapped it before she headed back to her apartment. She didn’t need anyone’s help getting up and down the stairs anymore. She’d mastered the walking cast quite well and without the pain she’d initially felt, she was able to have more mobility around the ranch.
Still, Trip offered. “Do you need help carrying that up the stairs?”
“I’ve got it. Besides, there is no way I’m going to let these cookies fall. They were way too good. Make sure you let Brenda know. I forgot to tell her before she and her family left.”
“I’m glad you were able to come for dinner,” Trip said.
She frowned. “Why wouldn’t I? I always come for Christmas dinner.”
“I thought perhaps you had another invitation you’d want to accept.”
“Yeah? With who?”
Trip made a face that made Tabby chuckle. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with Kas. I think you’re the real reason he’s been staying in Sweet so long. I thought for sure you’d be spending Christmas with him.”
Tabby and Kas had been spending time together and it had been wonderful. She’d fallen hard for him even knowing he was only staying in Sweet for another week or two.
“Kas’s parents came home for the holidays. I told him I wanted to have dinner with you seeing how it’s the first Christmas without Levon. He’s coming over in a little while.”
“Tell Kas I’ve got a beer in the fridge with his name on it.”
He grabbed one of the cookies left on the plate. By nightfall, that plate would be empty.
“Will do. Goodnight, Trip. Merry Christmas.”
He reached out and wrapping his arms around her, he gave her a gentle squeeze. “Merry Christmas. I put some ice melt on the steps earlier but it’s been snowing. So be careful.”
“I will.”
She left the house through the kitchen door, as it was closer to the garage where her apartment was located. It was still snowing, and as she walked past the barn and the arena, she heard the horses in the stable. Oh, how she loved the sound of that. She’d just made it to the staircase at the garage when she saw headlights coming down the driveway.
Although she was cold, she lingered at the bottom of the steps. It was probably Dusty coming back from dinner at his parents’ house in the next town. But as the car came closer, she realized it wasn’t Dusty’s pickup. It was Kas’s Range Rover.
Her heart skipped a beat. She had expected to see Kas tonight. But he was earlier than she’d expected. Now that he was here, she couldn’t contain her excitement to see him.
“This is a surprise,” she said after he parked the Rover and climbed out. “I didn’t expect you this early.”
His warm smile was wide and inviting. “I couldn’t wait for a chance to kiss you under the mistletoe.”
Tabby snapped her fingers. “Too bad we’re fresh out of mistletoe.”
She noticed the bag in his hand as he walked toward her.
“Is that for Trip?”
“I don’t think it would look good on Trip.”
Her eyebrows stretched on her forehead. “Oh, really?”
“Don’t worry. It’s not lingerie or anything scandalous, although I have to admit I toyed with the idea of getting you something like that. But I didn’t want to scare you off.”
“Do I have to wait to see what it is?”
“Don’t you want to do it inside the apartment?”
She turned back to look at the barn. “The horses are talking. I really wanted to see Tenterhook first before I went upstairs.”
“Then you’ll definitely need this if you stay out here any longer.”
He opened the bag and pulled out a cowboy hat.
“Oh, I love it! I’ve felt so naked without my hat since the accident.”
Somehow, between being thrown off of Tenterhook and the ride in the ambulance, she’d lost her cowboy hat. Given her current condition, she hadn’t been able to get a new one.
He brushed off the snow that clung to her hair and placed the cowboy hat on head, adjusting it a little until he got it right.
“How does it look?”
“Beautiful,” he said in a low voice.
His gaze was intense, something she’d come to enjoy when he looked at her. He made her feel alive, like she was the only woman in the world.
And he made her feel beautiful. He didn’t need to say the words for her to feel it.
Feeling a little off balance, she said, “If you go saying that to all the girls you meet you’ll have them all falling for you.”
“The only woman I care to say that to is you, Tabby.”
Warmth spread through her, making her lightheaded. She didn’t wait for Kas to come closer to her. She moved toward him and fell into his arms. Lifting her face to him and feeling the snow hit her cheeks, she kissed him on the lips, letting her mouth linger for a brief moment before pulling away.
“Thank you for this. For
