“I’d best not drink all I want. I love good wine so I’ll finish this glass, but two is my limit,” she said.
“It’s the Indian blood.”
Using the hinged tongs she filled her bowl with salad and buttered one of the bread sticks. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“They don’t hold their liquor so well.”
She pointed her bread stick at his nose. “Darlin’, I’m only an eighth Indian. The rest of me is red-hot Irish and I can hold my liquor. I’m not having but two glasses because the third one takes all my inhibitions away and that Irish gets crazy.”
Creed chuckled. “Remind me to stop by the liquor store on the way home. I’d like to see that Irish crazy come to the surface.”
* * *
Sage ate slowly, not because it was her nature, but because she wanted the moment to last forever. Sitting in the dark shadows of an Italian restaurant across the table from the sexiest cowboy in Texas made her feel special, protected, and complete.
“Do you think the animals miss us?” she asked.
She could have bitten her tongue off for such a stupid question. Dogs and cats shouldn’t even cross her mind.
“Don’t worry, Momma. The babies will be fine until we get home.” He chuckled.
Hearing him call her that startled her. Was she really ready for a little dark-haired girl to call her Momma? Or a son?
Mercy! What would she do with a son? She’d never been around little boys that much, only at church and in very small doses. She understood girls better after being around April.
Creed came from a family of seven sons. From that standpoint, the odds were that she’d have boys and lots of them.
“What in the world are you thinking about? Noel and Angel will be fine, honest.” Creed gently squeezed her hands.
“Tell me more about their new little houses,” she said quickly.
Creed went on. “I’m buying insulation this afternoon so I can finish their houses. They’ll be done tomorrow and we’ll see how they do on the front porch. I think Angel is getting stir-crazy in the house. She sits on the windowsill behind the Christmas tree and I can see it in her eyes. She wants to be outside.”
“And Noel?”
“She’ll be happier on the porch. And pretty soon those puppies are going to open their eyes and scoot right off that blanket. Then there’ll be a puddle or worse everywhere you walk.”
“Yuck! I see your point.”
He picked up the silver salad tongs and filled her bowl first and then his. “They’ll still run in and out, and you can go outside to visit them.”
She took a bread stick and handed the basket to him. “What about your dogs? Will they kill the cats?”
He shook his head. “No, they might have a few issues with Noel, but they’ve been raised around cats. They’ll bark at them, but they won’t kill them.”
She swallowed hard. “What kind of issues?”
He laid his fork down and cupped her chin in his palm. “They won’t know if she’s a dog, a bear, or a miniature alpaca.”
“Never thought of crossbreeding a dog with an alpaca.”
“Well, Noel is living proof that it can be done,” he said.
* * *
Snowflakes the size of silver dollars drifted lazily down from the gray skies to rest on them as they left the restaurant. Creed threw his arm around her shoulder and together they hurried toward the pickup.
“More snow! We should have that white Christmas for sure.” She dusted the flakes from her denim duster when she was inside the truck. She switched on the radio as Creed stomped the extra snow from his boots and settled into the driver’s seat.
“Don’t put up your boots or sleds just yet,” the DJ said when Creed turned on the engine. “We’ve got another winter storm watch in effect. We won’t get as much snow as last time, but the weatherman says there’ll be another inch of accumulation. It will move on toward the east by morning. What’s one more inch when we’re already dealing with eight inches, folks? Just puts us in the mood for the season. And now for five uninterrupted Christmas songs to keep that mood going…”
Creed sang, “Sleigh bells ring, are you listenin’,” along with the singer as he backed out of the parking lot.
“Paint store?” he asked before he turned one way or the other onto the highway.
“It’s next door to the mall. We can go there afterwards.”
“And after the mall shopping, we’ll hit Home Depot for insulation and Walmart for supplies and pet food, right?”
She nodded.
“Navigate for me.”
She looked across the seat. “Do what?”
“Tell me when to turn and how to get to this mall. I’ve been in Amarillo a couple of times but it was for rodeos. We hit town, did the rodeo, went to a couple of clubs, and back to our hotel or to our travel trailers.”
“Turn right at the next light, then left at the one after that, and you’ll be able to see the mall on the next block. Park anywhere you can find a spot.”
The light was green so he made a right. The next one was red and Sage pointed toward the mall parking lot. It looked like an enormous car dealership. He made the turns and crept up and down the lanes until a red car finally backed out not far from the mall’s main entrance. He snagged the spot and unbuckled his belt. Before he could get around the truck, she was already outside with the door slammed. She grabbed his hand and set a long-legged pace straight ahead.
She had a list of presents she needed to purchase and he could tag along or he could go his own way and they’d meet up later. It was most likely the last time she’d get to Amarillo before Christmas day and every minute counted.
“Now what?” he said when they were inside out of the cold.
Christmas carols came through the central stereo system. A huge tree full of shiny decorations,
