Her voice trailed off and she yawned, her eyes closing.
“Night, baby girl. I love you.”
“Love you, Mama,” Alice mumbled.
With her nightly cup of tea, Eve sat down on the yellow couch, thinking about how her life with Brent had started. He’d romanced her, taken her dancing on the beach. They’d laughed. Oh, how they’d laughed. He’d been handsome and chivalrous, and she’d loved him madly.
She had regrets, a whole cartload of them, but loving Brent wasn’t one of them. There was still pain, yes. But looking into Alice’s eyes and seeing her daddy there...well, it was worth it.
The very last thing she’d expected when she’d moved to Alabama was falling hard for a cowboy whose grumpy exterior hid a heart that was bigger than even he knew.
And she prayed—not for him to fall in love with her, because that felt selfish—but for his heart to heal enough for him to be open to all of the good things life could bring.
She sighed and reached for her tablet on the coffee table. Since the night of the fire, she’d put off opening it until after the Christmas party. Well, it was after the party.
Wynn’s offer to plan Red Hill Springs’s festival would help make ends meet in the long run, but it wouldn’t get her through the next month. She’d maxed out her credit card and ordered more blank T-shirts, but the state of her bank account combined with the lack of orders just made her feel defeated.
She couldn’t wait any longer. With only a few days until Christmas, she had to get her orders out. She opened her email and sat straight up. In shock, she scrolled through dozens and dozens of orders.
How?
Looking closer, it appeared that some of the orders were from the foster moms. They were buying the shirts she’d made that said things like Strong as a (Foster) Mother. But there was another whole group.
Flipping over to Instagram, she looked at her notifications and saw that she’d been tagged by Wynn Grant in a post of her daughter wearing the Future Rodeo Champ shirt.
It had been liked over four thousand times.
What?
She’d been so panicked about making ends meet and now she was, well, panicked. How in the world was she going to get these shirts done before Christmas?
Chapter Seventeen
“I still don’t know how you did it,” Eve said to Wynn as she slid another T-shirt onto the press. The Christmas pop station was playing on her speaker and, as she worked, Eve’s feet moved to the upbeat music.
“All I did was post a cute picture of my kid wearing one of your shirts. It’s not even a big deal.” Wynn hung a recently completed shirt on the clothesline Eve had strung across the room and handed Lacey one that was ready to fold and wrap.
“It’s a big deal to me.” Eve picked up the lid on one press and peeled back the transfer paper, then lifted the shirt off and passed it to Wynn before going back to the other press and doing the same thing.
“And to me, too. Otherwise, we’d have to find a new tenant. And right now, instead of helping y’all, I’d be up at the house watching some Christmas cartoon on the Baby Channel for the four hundredth time.” Lacey folded the finished shirt, slid it into a cellophane bag and sealed it with one of Eve’s stickers. “Perfect. I think that’s the whole order.”
Eve walked over and checked the finished shirts against the order before pulling the receipt and mailing label out of her folder. “Okay, so now we put the shirts in the bag, seal it up, label it and toss it in that box over there with the ones I did last night.”
“I’ll package these while y’all start on the next order,” Lacey said, pulling out one of the cute pink-and-white mailing envelopes and stuffing it with the T-shirts. “So Eve, I think you missed a spot.”
“What? Where?”
Lacey laughed. “You could definitely hang some mistletoe from the ceiling fan.”
Eve pressed a hand to her forehead. “I thought you meant on the shirt and I almost had a heart attack. Tell you what, you bring the mistletoe and I’ll hang it.”
“As long as you don’t kiss me!” Lacey laughed again.
“I don’t think you’re the Cole she wants to kiss,” Wynn joked, with a sideways glance as Eve’s hands suddenly got busier with the heat press.
“What happened with him yesterday?” Lacey took her time straightening the label on the package before smoothing it into place, not looking at Eve.
“Something happened with Tanner?” Wynn looked from one to the other. “Okay, guys, spill. What’s going on?”
Eve shared a glance with Lacey. “It’s nothing, honestly.”
Wynn narrowed her eyes. “Not buying it. Does this have something to do with Garrett’s big news?”
“He told you?” Lacey asked.
“Of course. We’re partners. And more importantly, Abby’s my best friend.”
Lacey beamed up at Wynn. “Aren’t you excited? I’m over the moon that our baby will have a cousin around the same age.”
Wynn patted her stomach under her loose tunic. “I think Red Hill Springs is about to experience a population boom.”
Lacey squealed and Eve laughed, both of them crowding Wynn into a hug. “Congratulations!”
“Thanks. We’re excited.” Wynn’s cheeks were pink. “But even baby news is not enough to distract me from my question. What happened with Tanner?”
“Ask Eve. She’s the one who followed him when he left.” Lacey took the T-shirt Wynn handed her and folded it. “According to Devin, he came back all silent and broody.”
“Ooh,” Wynn said. “That doesn’t sound good.”
Eve took her time with the next T-shirt, centering the design carefully. “I’m not sure what to say, other than he’s struggling a little with the idea of risking his heart again.”
Wynn frowned as she took a shirt off the line. “What does that mean, exactly?”
Looking down at her hands, Eve said, “Well, he said he thought we should stop seeing so much of each other.”
“Oh no,” Lacey said. “What’s he thinking?”
“Self-preservation.” Pulling the T-shirt off the press, Eve handed it to Wynn with a shrug. “I get it. When my husband died, I wanted to hide.”
Wynn raised an eyebrow. “I’m guessing you didn’t, though.”
“No. I had Alice and a job I had to go to. But I stopped going out with friends, chitchatting at the coffee shop on the way to work... I even stopped going to church for a while. It’s hard to reach out when you’re just trying to keep breathing.”
Lacey had big tears in her eyes. Eve nipped a tissue from the box on the counter and handed it to her. “Your hormones are showing.”
“You didn’t ask my opinion, but I’m going to give it to you anyway.” Wynn kept their little assembly line going as she spoke.
“Like that’s a surprise,” Lacey quipped. Then, as Wynn held up a folded fist, she shot both hands into the air. “Joking. I’m joking.”
Wynn shook her head with a small eye roll. “This is a character flaw I can live with.” Turning back to Eve, she said, “My opinion is you should tell him how you feel. You do like him, right?”
Eve nodded, miserably.
Lacey had gone back to work folding and packaging the T-shirts, but she looked up now. “Our esteemed mayor is right on this one. You should tell him. It’s never good to keep that sort of thing bottled up.”
“It took me a while to work up the courage to tell Latham how I felt, especially since we had some history to work through.”
Eve didn’t say anything, but in the pit of her stomach, a knot was growing.
“I know what you mean. I was so determined I wasn’t going to fall in love with Devin again after he walked out. But then I went and did it, anyway.”
Wynn was nodding her head in a big exaggerated motion. “Lay it all out there.”
“I told him,” Eve blurted.
Both heads swung toward her, the Christmas music sounding loud in the sudden lack of chatter.
“No! You did?” Lacey pressed her fingers to one eye, wincing the other one closed.
“What happened?” Wynn sat down on a kitchen chair. “I’m guessing it wasn’t good if he came back, what did you say, Lacey? Silent?”
“Silent and broody,” Lacey confirmed.
“I think his exact words to me were I don’t know what you want me to say.” Eve’s eyes filled with tears, and she wiped them away, horrified. “Oh, I don’t know why I’m crying. I understand him. I get that the number of things he has to care about is growing exponentially and he can’t figure out how to handle it.”
“Oh, honey.” Lacey’s eyes were full again, her emotions so close to the surface. “He’ll come around. These Cole boys are tough nuts to crack.”
“I know. And I’ll be fine either way. I always am.”
Later, after her two friends left, as Alice played outside on the front porch, Eve worked on the final few orders by herself. She hadn’t intended to lie.
She would be fine. Eventually.
Probably?
She just really hoped she wouldn’t have to find out.
* * *
With the new-old barn shored up with the help of their friends, it was ready for use. Just in time, too. Devin’s first client, a barrel racing champion that had suddenly started shying from barrels, was arriving the day after Christmas.
The temperature was warm today. Unseasonably warm for December, but the weather was supposed to take a turn for the worse. Or better, Tanner supposed, if you were one of those people who liked to have cold weather on Christmas.
He set his shotgun against the wall of the barn. Snakes loved hay bales, and as warm as it was today, it was possible they’d be moving. He picked up his pitchfork and started shoveling hay into the large stall where his brothers were arranging it.
“Rain coming in tonight,” Devin said.
Garrett groaned. “I’m sick of rain.”
“But then the temperature is supposed to drop like a rock. We’re gonna have to find coats and gloves for the Christmas Eve service at church tomorrow night.”
“I’m not sure I even have gloves.” Garrett frowned.
“Next,” Tanner said. Devin and Garrett followed him to the next stall. There was a lot of work to do on the farm to make sure the animals would be safe in freezing temperatures. They weren’t any more used to the cold than Garrett was. Difference was, animals were more adaptable.
He knew one person who would be overjoyed to have a fire going in the fireplace while she and Alice drank their hot chocolate on Christmas Eve. He’d really messed things up there, a fact he was sure to hear about from Lacey when they sat down for supper tonight. In fact, maybe he’d skip supper tonight.
“You’re scowling.” Devin’s voice broke into his thoughts.
“So?”
“So, you’ve barely said a word to anyone since yesterday afternoon.”
“I’m not chatty. Sue me.”
“You’re not chatty on a normal day. This is downright sulking. Am I right, Garrett?”
“Uh-uh. Leave me out of this. You kick a hornet’s nest, that’s on you.” Garrett turned his back on the two of them and shoved hay into the corner of the stall with his rake.
Tanner supposed in that analogy he was the hornet’s nest. Not exactly a flattering comparison.
“What happened yesterday?” Devin never had been able to leave well enough alone.
“Eve told me she loves me.” That should shut his brother up. None of the Coles liked to talk about their feelings.
“I hate to break it to you, but that’s not as shocking as you think it is. And you said?”
“Nothing.” He saw the look that passed between Garrett and Devin. “I’m dealing with it.”
Devin scoffed. “Dealing with it by ignoring it? That’s real mature.”
Tanner took a deep breath and fantasized about punching Devin and knocking the breath out of him so he couldn’t talk.
“I’m thinking about it,” Tanner muttered.
Garrett stopped and leaned on his rake. “It’s not about what you think, bro. What do you feel?”
So much for Coles not talking about their feelings. He growled, so annoyed that, for some reason, the truth blurted out. “I feel like I’ve repressed my feelings for so long I don’t even know if I have any, okay? You two get married and suddenly turn into Oprah Winfrey?”
“Deflecting.” Devin gave Garrett a knowing look, and they both nodded.
“You two are ridiculous. I don’t know why I bother talking to either of you.” Tanner stabbed the pitchfork into the pile of hay and threw it into the stall.
“Seems like you might be feeling anger, Tanner.”
“Yeah, I think you found that one feeling.” Devin held out a work-gloved fist, and Garrett bumped it with his, laughing.
Tanner gave up. There was no having a serious conversation with the two of them. He picked up his shotgun from the wall. More than once, his dad had killed a rattlesnake that slithered out of the hay. Seemed like a fitting metaphor for the ambush that had just happened.
The fact that they were right about him avoiding his feelings just made things worse.
He walked out the back door of the barn and whistled for Toby. He was saddling his horse when Devin joined him. “Sorry we ganged up on you. I’m not gonna pester you, I just wanted to give you something to think about.”
Tanner buckled the billets one at a time. “I’m listening.”
“Just...remember even if you think something’s impossible, that doesn’t mean it is.” His brother waited a moment and then, when Tanner didn’t answer him, walked away.
A few minutes later, Tanner was riding out, his shotgun on his lap. He had no idea where he was going. Just away from here. Away from prying brothers, awkward questions and advice that made him think.
Guiding Toby the long way around the property, he skirted the pasture and wound through the woods. It was cooler, more peaceful in the woods. The chatter of birds and bugs wasn’t intruding, not like Devin’s incessant chatter.
He was able to breathe outside, away from people, but even so, he couldn’t seem to clear his head of thoughts of Eve.
He sighed. It was inevitable that he ended up near the cottage. He couldn’t seem to stay away. No—the cabin was smack in the middle of his property. Of course he had to pass nearby. He slowed Toby to a stop.
The front door was wide-open. He could hear her singing “Jingle Bells” off-key, at the top of her voice. He shook his head. She was so utterly herself. Funny, energetic, eternally hopeful.
How was he supposed to keep from falling in love with her?
With Sadie lounging nearby, Alice played with her animal figurines in the sandy spot at the bottom of the stairs. She was singing, too, her happy voice drifting back to him.
Sadie lifted her head and growled. Was she growling at him? No, she was looking the other direction, the hackles on her back rising. Her growl grew louder, and she eased to her feet, her attention glued to something he couldn’t even see.
And then he heard it. A rattle.
Toby shied, and Tanner fought to keep him under control as the huge muscles bunched underneath him. There. It was small, but no less deadly than a huge snake. And it was close to Alice. Too close.
Thoughts tumbled end over end in his mind. He didn’t want to scare her or for her to make a movement that would cause the snake to strike.
His hand closed around the shotgun. He would only have one chance. He edged Toby closer, the horse catching Tanner’s apprehension, his feet stomping the ground. Alice’s head lifted, her eyes lighting.
Out of time.
“Alice, cover your
ears and cover your eyes. Now.” He whipped the shotgun up, snapped the barrel into place and fired the shot, all in one smooth movement.
Before the report of the shot had stopped reverberating, he’d vaulted off his horse and to Alice, snatching her up into his arms. Her little body was trembling, but she was alive, unharmed. With a sob, he said, “I’m so sorry, baby. You’re safe now. It was a bad snake, but it’s gone.”
He murmured it over and over again into her hair, soothing her with his voice and his hand at her back, until she stopped shaking. When he looked up, Eve was on the porch, her eyes on him, tears streaking her face.
“A snake?”
“Rattler.” He held out his arm, and she stepped into it. He held them both close and let the feeling sink in. The feeling that he wasn’t alone. That they were both here and they were both safe.
Alice’s head popped up. “Mama, I’m hungry. Can I have something to eat?”
His hands were still shaking, but he laughed as Eve said, “Yes, I think we can make that happen.”
He let Alice ease down. “Stay inside, okay, princess?”
“’Kay.” Alice ran inside, followed closely by Sadie. He had a feeling neither Sadie nor Eve would let Alice out of their sight for the rest of the day.
“Interest you in a PB and J?” Eve’s tone was light, but her eyes were wary.
“I have to go.”
Her hand on his arm stopped him, and he raised his eyes to meet her gaze. “Thank you. If you hadn’t happened to be here...” She let her sentence trail off, but she didn’t have to say the words.
He nodded. “I’ll see you around.”
Was it possible for a broken heart to hurt even more? Tanner sighed, his thoughts going back to what his brother had said. Just because you think something’s impossible doesn’t mean it is.
Was it really that simple?
Chapter Eighteen
All through the next day, the terrifying moment replayed over and over in Eve’s mind, even as she made her traditional Christmas Eve hot cocoa. She’d been in the kitchen singing along to her music, finishing up local T-shirt orders when she’d heard Tanner’s voice. A tone she’d never heard from him before.
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