“May I cut in?” Sage asked.
Lisa’s laugh was brittle. “Sure thing. Don’t throw him back, Sage. He’s not trained, but there’s promise in that sexy body.”
Sage’s body next to his had a very different effect. Instantly, he wanted to kiss her. Hell, he wanted to do more than that. He wanted to carry her up that staircase and kick open the nearest bedroom door.
The vision of tumbling her onto a bed and letting the hot kisses take them on another wild journey stirred every nerve in his body. “How long do we have to stay?”
“Until the last dog is dead. April and I are cohostesses at the party. And why were you kissing that hussy?”
“I didn’t kiss her. She kissed me. Sometimes the mistletoe is your friend. Sometimes not so much. Where did all these women come from? I thought the canyon was like a man cave.”
Sage’s fingers played in the hair hanging on his neck. The visual of hauling her off to the bedroom changed to carrying her into a cave with candles glowing in the corners and stretching her out naked on a pile of thick, soft bearskin rugs. With Sage, he just might enjoy role-playing after all.
“But I never did like whoopin’s,” he mumbled.
“What did you say?”
“Lisa offered to take me home and teach me how to kiss. She’d be the teacher and I’d be the student and if I didn’t get it right, I’d get a whoopin’ with a ruler,” he said honestly.
“That hussy! I’ll show her a whoopin’, but it won’t be with a ruler.”
“I’ve handled worse than her, Sage. I can fight my own battles.”
The dance ended and Lawton tapped Creed on the shoulder. “We’ve got a discussion going about breeding buffalo with Angus. We’d like your input.”
* * *
Sage made herself walk slowly up the staircase but she wanted to run. Greenery had been looped around the banister and red velvet bows were attached on every fifth rung. The sides of the landing were strung with gold tinsel garland and caught up at the top with another bow and a big ball of mistletoe.
The kissing was over. She’d already let it go way too far.
She bypassed the restroom at the top of the stairs and circled around to April’s room. She stopped at the edge of the railing and looked down at the party. The feeling of Christmas was in the air. Lights twinkled everywhere. Ladies kept trying to work their way under the mistletoe as they danced. When they did, the kisses were anything from brief pecks on dry lips to downright take-it-to-the-hayloft sexy. A riot of red, green, gold, and silver decorated the whole room as well as the big tree. And then there were the two-foot trees that decorated the tables shoved away from the dance floor.
A beautiful sight with a great party, and she’d forgotten that Grand wasn’t there for the first time in more than fifty years. April was sitting at a table with Willa Sue and Maria. Lawton had Creed cornered beside the Christmas tree.
Sage started to turn around and go into April’s bedroom when her skin tingled like it did when Creed touched her. She looked back down and he was gazing up. He grinned and waved, then went back to his conversation.
She eased into the bedroom, turned on the light, and shut the door. The blue dress was crumpled on the bed beside her when she sat down. She pulled the phone from her tiny gold evening bag and hit speed dial. Her grandmother picked up instantly.
“Hey, are you having fun?” Grand asked.
“You are supposed to be here.”
“And I’m not. Deal with it. We work hard all year and we only party at Christmas and Independence Day. If you are sitting in April’s room sulking, you deserve to be miserable.”
“How did you…” Sage stammered.
“I might not be there, but never doubt my Indian sense.”
“Or Hilda’s cell phone or the gossip hotline, right?”
“Doesn’t matter how the ESP shit works. I just trust it and I don’t fuss about the way it comes to me. Now get back downstairs and have fun. I understand Creed is gettin’ on well with Lawton and that April didn’t wear that topless dress.”
“It was you that sent that to Lawton, wasn’t it?”
“It was not! I sent it to her mother and she sent it to Lawton. A mother has a right to know how her girl is looking in public.”
“And what if that dress had been mine?”
“You are twenty-six, Sage. You’ve got better sense than that.”
“Don’t you miss all this? It’s Christmas. We only had each other all these years and Christmas was our favorite time of the year,” Sage asked.
“Sure I miss it. I miss your grandpa. I miss the ranch. I miss my son. I miss your mother, who was like a daughter to me. I miss you. I miss all of it. Don’t mean it’s not time for a change. I’m hanging up now. Call me tomorrow after the Hanging of the Green and tell me all about the weekend.”
* * *
Lawton stood beside April as the last of the guests left after midnight. Hugs and handshakes and the door shut behind Lisa, the very last one to leave. She sent a wink and a kiss blown from her fingertips across the room toward Creed and gave Lawton an extra long hug. The lights still flickered. The mistletoe was still in place. The band had gone home and the caterers were cleaning up.
“Wonderful party,” Creed said.
“Thank you. Hilda takes care of it every year. I just show up and make sure my daughter is dressed right,” Lawton said.
“Daddy!” April hissed.
Sage hugged Lawton. “I missed Grand but it really was a good party.”
“I talked to her during the party and she and Hilda were on the phone with each other most of the night. I don’t think she missed much.” Lawton chuckled.
“Well, we’ll be leaving now. See you tomorrow at church,” Sage said.
“And afterwards you will be here to
