A Coulter’s Christmas Proposal

by Lois Faye Dyer

  Amanda smiled and pressed a little closer to the hard male warmth. Eli muttered unintelligibly and hauled her closer without waking.

  It was all she could do not to laugh out loud. He was incredibly possessive, even while asleep, she thought.

  As she lay there, held safe in his arms, a deep sense of contentment warmed her from the inside out. She understood Eli’s concerns that she have a chance to know what life here on the Triple C could be like in winter. She imagined the challenge of enduring potentially isolating snowstorms.

  But after sharing the past weeks since they’d returned from New York, she’d become more convinced daily that she could live in the Arctic if Eli was there. Not that anyone had invited her to stay.

  The muted sounds of movement downstairs told her Brodie was awake and heading for the kitchen.

  Amanda carefully lifted Eli’s arm from around her waist and slipped out of bed. She grabbed her fleece robe from the chair and slipped into it, bending to press a light kiss against Eli’s beard-roughened cheek before walking to the window.

  She caught her breath, her eyes widening with delight. Outside, snowflakes drifted lazily to the earth. The buildings and grounds were lightly frosted with white, the fence posts and gate directly below the window boasting little caps of snow.

  “Eli, wake up.” She spun and hurried back to the bed, bending to catch his hand in hers.

  “What?” His deep voice was rough with sleep; his eyes heavy-lidded beneath tousled black hair.

  “Snow! It’s snowing outside.”

  “Is that all?” He chuckled, his smile indulgent. “I told you it would be, sooner or later.”

  “I know you did, but ‘sooner or later’ isn’t the same as now.” She tugged on his hand. “Come see.”

  He tossed back the blankets and let her pull him from the bed to the window. He wrapped his arms around her waist, enfolding her, her weight resting against him as they looked out the window.

  The snowflakes continued to drift earthward, their number increasing to deepen the layer of fluffy white icing on the ground, roofs and fence posts.

  “It really is beautiful,” Amanda said, tilting her head back to look up at Eli, her loose hair sliding against the heavy muscles of his bare chest.

  “The first snow of the season always is,” he agreed. He looked down at her. “I hope you still feel that way by December.”

  “I will,” she said firmly.

  He brushed a kiss against her lips. “I’m counting on it,” he murmured. “How about we get dressed, grab some coffee and go outside?”

  She smiled up at him, anticipation spiking. “Can we take the dogs and go for a walk?”

  “If you want to.” He bent and kissed her, his arms tightening, molding her against him as the kiss deepened, turned hotter.

  When Eli tugged the tie loose and her robe parted, letting their bodies press skin to skin, Amanda didn’t protest.

  They didn’t make it downstairs for another hour.

  “Good morning,” Brodie greeted them from the living room.

  “Morning,” Eli replied, pausing with Amanda on their way to the kitchen. “Did you have breakfast already?”

  Brodie nodded. “Eggs and bacon. I left a plate with extra crispy on the counter.”

  “Yum, perfect. Can we get you anything?” Amanda asked. “Coffee?”

  He lifted his mug. “Just refilled it.” He gave her a faint grin when she smiled at him.

  Amanda entered the kitchen behind Eli. “How do you think he’s doing?” she asked, crossing to join Eli at the coffeemaker.

  “What do you mean?” he asked, handing her a steaming mug before picking up his own.

  “Do you think he’s healing well?” Amanda frowned, faint worry niggling at her.

  “He says he’s a million times better than he was in the summer.” Eli too, frowned slightly. “But when he thinks no one is looking, he looks like he’s hurting.”

  “Is there anything we can do?” Amanda had grown fond of Eli’s brother over the past weeks. After observing him with Jane’s little boy, and the puppies, and experiencing his kindness herself, she’d decided that the dark, often moody Brodie had a softer, gentler side.

  Eli raked his fingers through his hair, clearly concerned. “I don’t know what it would be. But if you think of anything, let me know.” He cupped her cheek in the palm of one big hand, his thumb stroking her bottom lip. “I appreciate your being okay with us staying here in the house with him.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she assured him. “He’s family and I know how worried you’ve been.” She covered his hand with her own, trapping his fingers against her cheek. “I think it’s wonderful that you and your brothers care so much for him. And besides,” she added with a smile, “he makes killer breakfasts.”

  “Yeah, he does that.” Eli pressed a slow, sweet kiss against her mouth.

  Her coffee forgotten, Amanda welcomed the wave of love, lust and emotion that took her under.

  He raised his head, his warm breath ghosting over her kiss-dampened lips. “I love you.”

  Her vision instantly misted. “I love you, too,” she murmured back.

  “Breakfast,” Eli declared, releasing her with obvious reluctance. “Or we’ll end up back upstairs in bed and you won’t get to go walking in the snow.”

  They left the house not quite an hour later. Amanda wore a thigh-length jacket over her jeans with knee-high UGG boots and wool gloves that matched her white knit hat and muffler. Eli’s only concession to the cold was a sheepskin-lined coat and gloves. He replaced his usual cowboy boots with pac boots, but unlike Amanda, he opted for his black Stetson instead of a knit hat.

  The air was crisp and clean; the silence unbroken.

  “I love this!” Amanda exclaimed, turning in a circle with her arms outstretched. “Let’s get the puppies and take them with us.”

  Eli grinned indulgently and caught her hand in his as they crossed the pristine, unmarked white expanse of the ranch yard to reach the barn. When they stepped inside, they were greeted with the whicker of Jiggs and Shakira, still in their box stalls. A chorus of sharp barks filled the air as the rottweiler pups added their voices to the horses’.

  “Jeez, you guys are noisy.” Eli entered Shakira’s stall, Amanda following him. While he checked the water level in Shakira’s bucket, she petted the pretty mare.

  Then Eli unlatched and swung wide the outer door to the corral and Shakira exited, pausing just outside to lower her head and sniff the snow.

  “Let’s let Jiggs out,” Eli said.

  Moments later he pushed open the stall door and the black stallion quickly moved into the corral. He joined Shakira in nosing the snow, pawing experimentally; then the two of them raced around the corral fence.

  “I think they like it,” Amanda observed, laughing when the two horses bucked and kicked, looking for all the world like two children racing and playing.

  She looked up at Eli, standing beside her in the open doorway, and noted the quirk of his lips as he watched the horses play.

  “I think you’re right,” he said.

  Behind them, the dogs barked louder.

  “Dogs next,” Eli said, turning Amanda back into the barn. She crossed the aisle while he closed the door, and he joined her as she reached the stall where the pups were contained. Black muzzles poked through the open sections between the slats while other pups leapt in a frenzied attempt to join them.

  “Hi there,” Amanda crooned, laughing when Eli opened the gate and the eight puppies spilled out in a mad tumble of wriggling, overjoyed furry bodies. Their mother ambled out more slowly, pausing to receive a pat.

  “Watch out.” Eli wrapped his arm around Amanda’s waist to keep her from being bowled over. “Are you sure you want to take them with us?” he said dryly as they were surrounded by bouncing, jumping half-grown dogs.

  “Absolutely.”

  They left the barn, the pups racing ahead of them and out the half-ope
n door. By the time Eli and Amanda stepped outside, the dogs were rolling in the snow, then standing to shake the cold white stuff off their fur.

  “They’re hilarious,” Amanda commented as Eli took her hand and they headed down the lane past the barn and toward the studio and Lodge.

  “They’re crazy,” Eli said bluntly, but he laughed out loud when two of the dogs grabbed the same stick and tugged, their faces comical with surprise when their feet slid out from under them and they sprawled in the snow.

  “But they’re fun,” Amanda said. “Is Cade going to keep them all?”

  “He said several neighbors have approached him about adopting some of them, but to be honest, I think my brother is having trouble giving them up.”

  “I hope he asks Brodie and Jane’s little boy before picking any of them to give away,” Amanda said. “They’re both really attached to the dogs.”

  “Yeah, they are.” Eli grew thoughtful. “And what about you?”

  “I’m a little attached,” she admitted. But she knew better than to say any more. She and Eli never talked about the future. He was a bit like a skittish horse, and she was afraid that too much pressure might send him running.

  Eli pulled her to a stop, his hands at her waist as he eased her closer, until her thighs rested against his and her hands lifted to clasp the heavy jacket over his biceps.

  “What?” she asked when he stared intently down at her for a long, silent moment.

  “You’re an amazing woman, Amanda Blake,” he murmured.

  He bent his head, his lips warm against hers, chasing away the chill of the frosty morning. As always when he kissed her, Amanda felt the world slip away. The sounds of the dogs barking and gamboling around them grew muted, the world narrowing to Eli’s heat and his arms around her.

  Long moments passed before they moved on, their boots kicking up snow as they continued down the lane. They passed the studio with its roof and deck frosted in white and kept walking. Only the creak of tree limbs as they bent under the growing weight of snow and the yips and barks of the pups broke the silence.

  “Mariah is excited about all of you being home for Christmas,” Amanda commented. “She wants to have everyone stay in rooms at the Lodge for a few days so we’re all together for one long celebration. Cade told her your mother started that tradition.”

  “Yeah, Mom loved decorating the Lodge for the holidays.” Eli’s gaze grew slightly unfocused, as if he was seeing memories. “We’d wake up on Christmas morning and race down to the lobby, where Dad always had a fire going in the fireplace. Piles of presents were under the tree and our stockings were stuffed with gifts and hanging from the mantel.”

  “It sounds lovely,” Amanda said, tucking her hand through the crook of his arm. Beside, ahead and behind them, the half-grown rottweiler puppies romped and played, tunneling their noses through the snow until they had little piles of cold white stacked on top of their muzzles. They gamboled around Eli and Amanda, their glossy black-and-tan coats gleaming against the pristine white of the new coat of snow.

  “We didn’t celebrate Christmas after Mom was gone,” Eli said idly, his gaze on the dogs. “I haven’t thought about it much, but it might be nice to have all of us at the Lodge for Christmas Day again.”

  Amanda’s heart caught. Each time Eli made an offhand comment about his childhood in the years after his mother died, she wanted to hold him close and shelter the little boy he’d once been. But the man was always so matter-of-fact about what sounded to her like emotionally barren years that she always forced herself not to overreact. She knew that the loss of his mother—and those hard years afterward—were a large part of why Eli was so wary of commitment.

  “I love the idea of having a family celebration at the Lodge,” she said lightly. “And just FYI, Mr. Coulter, I love Christmas. So be prepared for major decorating and massive amounts of good food, including roast turkey and homemade fudge. And cookies. You’ll have to help decorate cookies.”

  His face registered disbelief. “I have to decorate cookies? Can’t I just eat them? You know, to make sure you baked correctly?”

  “Nope, not nearly enough participation.” She laughed when he groaned.

  As Amanda contemplated the Christmas they would spend together, emotion slowly flooded her. She realized with a start that this was what it felt like to be completely content and happy. Even if their relationship was fated to end, she would cherish these weeks for the rest of her life.

  The days rolled by. Busy and productive, Amanda was shocked to realize one morning that it was only two weeks until Christmas. Each day, she spent several hours working on the biography of Eli’s mother and was happy with the results. When she sent her agent a preliminary draft, he responded with enthusiasm.

  She reveled in the time she spent outdoors with Eli. Far from disliking the cold, snow and relative isolation on the Triple C, she found she loved the small community.

  When Eli pulled her away from her computer one morning, insisting she had to come outside because he had a surprise for her, she donned her coat and went willingly.

  He opened the door and she closed her eyes, letting him lead her out onto the porch.

  “Can I open my eyes now?” she asked, one hand gripping Eli’s wrist. Both of his hands were cupped over her eyes as he stood behind her, keeping her blindfolded. “Do I hear bells?” she added, tilting her head slightly to better define the jingling sound.

  “Yes, you hear bells,” Eli said with amusement. Then his hands lowered to rest on her shoulders.

  Amanda’s eyes popped open and she blinked, focusing.

  “Oh, my,” she said with awed delight. “It’s gorgeous.”

  Just outside the gate sat an old-fashioned sleigh. The two-passenger seat was upholstered in black leather with tucks and buttons, and the polished black lacquer of the body was decorated with gold-pinstriped scrolling. A bright red Pendleton blanket had been tossed on the seat and Mariah’s deep bay gelding was hitched between the shafts. The sleigh’s curved black runners were shiny with wax.

  “You like it?” Eli asked.

  “I love it.” She spun to look up at him. “Where on earth did you get it?”

  “It belonged to Mom and Dad. Brodie found it in the storage building and started restoring it last month.” Eli pointed at the sleigh. “I did the painting, but Brodie welded and restored the body. He did a great job, don’t you think?”

  “I think you’re both amazing. It’s absolutely beautiful.”

  “I’m glad you like it. Want to go for a ride?”

  “Yes.” Amanda caught his hand and tugged him off the porch and down the walkway to the sleigh.

  She paused to pet Sarge for a moment before Eli helped her up onto the seat and stepped up after her.

  “Cover up,” he instructed, lifting the blanket to tuck it around her. “The air will feel colder when we start moving.”

  Satisfied she was comfortable, he lifted the reins, and they were off.

  Amanda quickly discovered that the breeze created by Sarge’s swift trot chilled her, and she snuggled against Eli’s side beneath the blanket. They moved quickly down the lane, past the barn and toward the studio and Lodge.

  As they glided across the ranch, she could feel his eyes on her. “Eli?” she asked. “What’s the matter? You look a little…I don’t know. Nervous, maybe?”

  “Amanda, I have something to ask you.”

  Her heart caught, her breath catching too on a swift inhale as she studied his face.

  He tugged her gently closer under the warm woolen blanket.

  “Amanda Blake, I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to care for anyone. I can’t imagine having to live the rest of my life without you. I hope I’m not wrong, but I think it’s possible you’re okay with living here on the Triple C. In fact, you might even like it. So…” He paused, searching her face. “Will you marry me and put me out of my misery?”

  She smiled, her eyes misty at his words. “Oh, Eli
. Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure? I don’t want you to do this just because you think it’s what I want. We have time, you know. Plenty of time.”

  “Amanda, if you don’t say yes, I’m going to lose my mind.”

  “Well, then, yes. Yes! A thousand times yes!”

  When they returned to the barn an hour later, she was chilled to the bone but she didn’t care. After unhitching Sarge and giving him oats and water, they returned to the house.

  They’d barely shed their coats inside when Brodie left his room and walked toward them down the hallway.

  “Brodie!” Amanda caught the big man in a joyful hug and kissed him exuberantly on the cheek.

  “What’s that for?” he asked when she stepped back, his confused gaze going from her to Eli and back.

  “She likes the sleigh,” Eli said with a grin.

  “I love the sleigh,” Amanda emphasized. “Thank you so much for restoring it and for letting us use it.”

  Brodie ran his palm over his head, rumpling his black hair. “The sleigh’s just as much Eli’s as mine and he did a lot of the work on it,” he said gruffly, clearly uncomfortable with her praise and thanks.

  “I’ve already told him thank you,” she said.

  “Yeah, she did,” Eli drawled, his gaze heating as it met hers.

  “Am I missing something?” Brodie asked. “Is there something else you’re not telling me?”

  Amanda smiled shyly at Eli. She wasn’t ready to share their secret with the world just yet.

  Amanda decided it was time to change the subject. “You know, I could use some hot chocolate. I need something to warm me up. All that cold air chilled me to the bone.”

  The remaining two weeks until the holidays raced by. Amanda went to Billings to go Christmas shopping with Cynthia, Mariah and Jane. She’d ordered a beautiful full-color art book online that had a section on the work of Lucan Montoya to give to Eli, but she wanted something more personal. Nothing seemed perfect but she finally settled on a pair of butter-soft black leather driving gloves lined with fur. He’d mentioned that he needed a thinner, more flexible pair so he could better feel and gauge the tension on the reins when he drove the sleigh.