“And he has the sense to get out and let us talk,” April said. “If you don’t want him, kick him over the fence onto the Canyon Rose. I won’t let him get away.”
“I’m mixed up about this whole thing. He’s a good man but…”
“Ain’t no buts involved except the way he fills out those jeans. I can see where you’d be in a tizzy though, girl. It would break my heart if Daddy sold the Canyon Rose even if he did hand me a cowboy like that one on a silver platter,” April said. “Is he good in bed?”
“April!”
“Well, that ought to have some bearing. And I can see the way he looks at you and he mops, for God’s sake, Sage.”
Sage pushed her chair back, poured two mugs full, set one in front of April, and shoved the sugar bowl across to her.
“Well, we aren’t going to solve my problems, so let’s work on yours.” Sage turned the subject around.
April flicked her wrist. “My problems aren’t ever going to be solved. Momma wants me to finish college and go on to vet school, and I want to learn to run the ranch that I’ll inherit. Momma says that Daddy is still young enough to produce another baby or two and that the new wife will insist that the new kids wind up with the ranch, especially if the new wife gives Daddy a son.”
“If Lawton was going to remarry, he would have already done it,” Sage said.
“That’s what I think.”
“He’ll always love Eva.”
April nodded. “She hasn’t remarried either. She used to date a lot but lately she’s married to her job.”
“Think they’ll ever come to their senses?”
“I didn’t, but then I come over here and you’ve got the ugliest dog on the face of the earth and there’s a cat and kittens. I think I believe in miracles again. Hell’s bells, Sage. Santa Claus might even come down the chimney at Canyon Rose again!” April laughed.
“Want to see Angel and the babies while the coffee cools?”
April followed Sage into the living room.
The yellow cat looked up at the intruder with indifference and curled tightly around her kittens.
“Ahh, they are so cute. What are you naming them? Going to keep them all?” April asked. “That was one of my favorite parts of coming to the ranch in the summer. There were always baby kittens to play with.”
“Haven’t decided on names, but they’ll be taking up permanent residence in the barn as soon as it gets warm. Creed assures me that Angel will kill her weight in rats at least three times a day.”
“Well, they should have Christmas names since their momma is Angel and they were born in a manger. If there’s a boy, name him Rudolph.”
Sage picked up one of the fat little kittens and held it to her cheek. “This one looks like a Rudolph, doesn’t it? Boy or girl, I christen you Rudolph today.”
“Well, I’ve done my day’s work. I named a kitten for Sage Presley. Call the Smithsonian or at least the Guinness people because it has to be recorded in someplace real special,” April said. “I’m headed home now. I’ll be back. Next time I’ll knock before I rush in. I wasn’t thinking about the cowboy and you being in the bunkhouse together.”
“We were just getting Christmas decorations.”
“Sage, honey, you don’t lie worth a damn.”
April took a couple of sips of the coffee, donned her coat, and closed the front door just as Creed opened the back one. He brought in another big container and carried it all the way to the living room. “Looks like the tree has dried out. Want to eat or start decorating? Where’s April?”
“I’ll put a frozen pizza in the oven and we can string the lights while it cooks. April went home,” Sage answered.
“Cardboard pizza. My favorite,” Creed said.
“Don’t make fun of it. It’s better than a bologna sandwich, and that’s the alternative.”
“I was serious. When I was a little kid, Grandpa Riley would make them for me. I don’t know if it was really the pizza or spending time with my grandpa that I liked. The tape on this box says it’s got the tree lights in it. I’ll hold them on my arms and you can put them on the tree.”
“This ain’t your first rodeo, is it, Creed?”
“No, ma’am. And none of us want to suffer the wrath of Momma if we don’t put the lights away right when they come off either,” he answered.
“She must be kin to Grand. Don’t matter if it takes a whole week—the lights best be stored just right without any tangles.”
He got the first strand ready and waited for her to slide the pizza in the oven. She kicked off her boots and giggled on her way across the living room floor.
“Do I look crazy standing here with lights around my arms like knitting yarn?”
“No, I was thinking that you are pretty vulnerable. If you drop those lights one might break and we’ll have to test them all. And if you drop them they’ll tangle all up and we’ll have to spend hours getting them ready to go on the tree.”
“So don’t drop the lights, right?” he asked.
“So I could do whatever I wanted to you right now, including hanging those jingle bells on you somewhere,” she teased.
“I’ll stand very still.”
“Creed Riley, you aren’t any fun at all.”
“Sounds like fun to me.”
The air around them crackled with heat and suppressed desire. The back of Sage’s neck tingled. If someone had told her the week before that she’d be flirting with a cowboy on the Rockin’ C by the next Saturday, she would have had them declared insane.
She grabbed the end of the light string and deliberately brushed her breasts against his arm. His sharp intake of breath said that it affected him every bit as much as it did her. She bent over to start
