The table had been set and the women went right on into the kitchen and started bringing out dishes. Creed was amazed when his stomach growled. It was already close to four o’clock and it would be chore time in less than an hour.
“We’ll have a little something and then get on about the feeding,” Lawton said as if he could read his mind. “Ranchin’ don’t stop just because baby Jesus was born in a manger.”
“It was a nice service though,” Hilda said. “I couldn’t believe that Amelia let her daughter wear boots with that beautiful dress.”
“It’s the style, Hilda,” April said.
“And she didn’t have a Creed Riley to carry her into church.” Sage smiled.
Lawton motioned for everyone to sit down, said a quick grace, and looked right at Creed. “If Ada decides not to sell, I’ve got a place for you right here on the Canyon Rose, Creed.”
Creed nodded. “Thank you, Lawton. But I’ve got my heart set on havin’ my own place. I appreciate the offer, but if she backs out it wasn’t meant for me to be in the canyon so I’ll just go on my way and find where it is I’m meant to settle down.”
Besides, before I tell Sage exactly how I feel, I want to have something to offer her. She deserves more than a hired hand.
“Offer still stands if you change your mind,” Lawton said. “Now pass me those buffalo wings and help yourself first. Once April gets a hold of the bowl we won’t get any.”
“You got that right. I was too busy to eat very much at the party. And believe me, I don’t get this kind of food in Weatherford, Oklahoma!”
“That where you live?” Creed asked.
“That’s where I go to college.”
Creed passed the bowl to Lawton. “And what are you going to be when you grow up?”
“A rancher. I’d like to be one right now but Daddy is on Momma’s side and you can’t fight City Hall.” She shot a look down the table at Lawton.
“You remember that. When you get your education you can learn ranchin’. There’s plenty of time.”
Time, Creed thought. Not everyone had plenty of time. He had one more week and then he’d either be out of time or he’d own a ranch. His whole future hinged on whether or not Ada Presley sold him the ranch.
* * *
Creed set the milk bucket under the cow and reached for his phone before he started his final chore of the evening. His brother, Ace, answered on the second ring.
“Hey, are y’all thawin’ out? Our snowman looks like a snow blob now. There’s nothing left on the ground and Jasmine wanted a white Christmas so bad.”
“Bring her out here. Roads are clear and the weatherman says we’re having a white Christmas for sure. It’ll take days and days to melt all this,” Creed said.
“Oh, no. Not a chance. Momma is already carryin’ on because you are gone and the whole family won’t be at her place over the holidays. Why couldn’t you have found something within driving distance?”
Creed chuckled. “I did. I’m only five hours from y’all and I’ll try to make arrangements to be home sometime over the holidays another year, but this one, it’s impossible. You got a minute?”
“Oh, boy! That tone means you’ve got a problem. That weird artist givin’ you fits?”
“Yes, she is, but she’s not weird. She’s beautiful. How did you know for absolute sure, I mean without a doubt, that you had fallen for Jasmine before you married her?”
“You have a hell of a big problem if you are askin’ that question,” Ace answered.
“Well?”
“Thing is, I didn’t. Only a couple of people know the real story of me and Jazzy. Can you keep a secret?”
“Of course.”
“I didn’t know I’d fallen for Jazzy before I married her. She offered to marry me because of that damned clause in Grandpa Riley’s will. He said I had to be married within a certain time and I had to stay married a year or else the whole ranch went to our cousin, Cole.”
“Holy shit!”
“Don’t know if it’s holy even during Christmas, but you got it right. Remember when Grandpa’s old lawyer died and the new one took over his files? Well, he found that part in the will and I had a week to get married or lose everything. I told Jazzy about it and she offered. We flew to Las Vegas and we intended to keep it a big secret between just the two of us. You know the rest. It was broadcast on television and the secret was out.”
“Damn!”
“That’s what we thought, but then we had to live together…”
Creed chuckled then. “And your three younger brothers had moved into the house with y’all. How’d you ever figure out that you’d fallen in love?”
“It just happened. One day I couldn’t wait for the year to be up. The next I couldn’t live without her. So tell me what’s going on,” Ace said.
“I think I’m to that latter place and it’s only been two weeks. Things in the real world don’t happen that fast, do they?”
“Sometimes in the real world they happen in the blink of an eye. When are we going to meet this woman?”
“Anytime you want to make a five-hour trip to the canyon.”
* * *
Sage painted when she was nervous. It settled that antsy feeling inside her and took her mind off whatever was chewing on her nerve endings. That evening she picked up her brushes with intentions of beginning a new mistletoe picture. She’d envisioned it that morning in church. She’d
