But where is the mistletoe?
She looked up and a scrub oak had sprouted above the cedar, its branches bending out like naked arms over the cedar tree, and sure enough, there was a single bit of mistletoe nestled in the fork of the branches.
Creed’s arm was thrown around her shoulders and he stopped so quickly that she felt a small jerk. “Would you look at that? I swear the stuff is everywhere.”
Her eyes followed his pointing finger and there it was, blown no doubt by the hard wind and stuck in the gate. One little twig of mistletoe. The scene branded itself into her brain, warming her from the inside out. It was symbolic of leaving the past behind and looking forward to the future.
“Hold up. I’ve got to take a picture to send to my folks. They can’t fathom this much snow. Reckon I should tell them that gate is six feet tall?” he asked.
Her smile was weak. “It’s bad enough. Don’t exaggerate.”
The tractor cab wasn’t cozy, but it was a lot warmer than the temperature outside. Her face tingled as the nerve endings thawed, but it still felt stiff where the tears had dried. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d cried like that. Certainly not when either of her previous relationships had ended, and not when she’d gotten Grand’s phone call saying that she’d sold the ranch.
Those times she’d been angry, not sad.
“Look, the wind has blown most of the snow off the pond and it’s frozen. Want to go ice skating?”
He stopped the tractor. “I don’t have skates. Do you?”
“No, but a pair of old socks pulled over your boots makes a pretty good substitute. Let’s go have some dinner and then come back this afternoon. I was in junior high the last time the cold lasted long enough to freeze up the pond.”
* * *
Creed would have moved heaven and earth to make her happy right then. Her tears had practically brought him to his knees. He’d felt a loss when his grandmother died and again when they lost his grandfather. But he’d still had six brothers, sisters-in-law, his mother and father, and a whole support team to comfort him. When her Grand went, April would be there and the neighbors. But they weren’t real kinfolks.
“Only if you promise not to laugh at me. I’m not real graceful on the dance floor.”
“What’s that got to do with ice skating?”
“Honey, a dance floor is not as slippery as a greased pig. If I can’t master the dance floor, it’ll be tough to master an icy pond.”
Her laughter was music to his ears.
He went on, “If you could shake a little cornmeal or saw dust on the pond, it might help me stay upright. Or maybe I could rig up a pillow to my ass.”
Her eyes twinkled. “That visual is beyond funny. We could just get Grandpa’s old sled out of the hayloft and play with it. It’s wide enough for both of us. We could drag it up the hill.”
“What hill?”
“The roads are still icy so they aren’t open yet,” she said.
“Are you serious?”
“It’s that or skating.”
He weighed the options.
“Neither. Let’s make popcorn and hot chocolate and watch an old Western movie on television. We can cuddle up together under a nice warm quilt on the sofa and Noel and Angel can check on us if we fall asleep.”
“Right now that sounds like a wonderful plan. You ever seen McLintock! with John Wayne?”
“Only about twenty times. It’s one of my favorites.”
“It always reminds me of Lawton and Eva. We’ve got it on DVD so we could watch it this afternoon.”
“Sounds a lot better than bustin’ my butt on the pond or breaking my neck with your grandpa’s sled. Why does it remind you of Lawton and Eva?”
“Well, Lawton is kind of like a young John Wayne. He doesn’t look like him. Lawton is a whole lot more handsome. But he’s got that bigger than life force about him. And Eva, well, she’s this fiery redhead with a flaming hot temper to go with her hair. They’re clashing all the time over April.”
“Think they’ll ever get back together?”
“Oh, no! She’s settled into her real estate business and he’s a cowboy. And she hates the canyon. I mean she really hates it. It would never work, but still the movie kind of reminds me of them.”
Creed would watch a musical chick flick that afternoon if it would take Sage’s mind off the cemetery and the empty space between the mound of snow where her grandfather was buried and the next one over where her dad’s remains had been put to rest. And Creed did not like musicals or chick flicks.
For their noon meal they had grilled cheese sandwiches and hot tomato soup that she’d spiced up with some garlic powder and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Afterwards she arranged a dozen cookies on a platter and set them in the middle of the table.
“Toes about thawed out?” he asked.
“They’re tingling,” she answered.
“Won’t be long then. Let’s take a cup of hot chocolate to the living room and watch Lawton and Eva.”
“Wait until you meet them both. I swear this could be their story, only theirs doesn’t have a happy ever after ending.”
“You believe in happy ever after?”
“Only in books and movies.”
She pulled the quilt from the back of the sofa over them. He put an arm around her and pushed a strand of electrified hair out of her face. She pushed a button on the remote and the music at the start of the movie began. Until that moment, Creed had never realized that the movie was a chick flick before chick flicks were even popular. The first song talked about birds and bees, flowers and trees, until they were up to their knees in love.
The first scene showed a hat on the weather vane and two cowboys arguing
