The Cowboy Billionaire's Mistletoe Kiss: A Johnson Brothers Novel (Chestnut Ranch Romance Book 2)

by Emmy Eugene

So while Russ and Travis could enter the canine encampment and feed and water the dogs, put them out onto the range and bring them back in, they didn’t train the dogs. Seth had a very specific set of rules a dog had to meet and follow before he took them to the park for adoptions.

  “She’s got a barn with stalls in it,” Russ said. “I’ve seen it, and it would work in a pinch.”

  “We’re overflowing here,” Travis said, glancing at his brother. “You don’t seem too happy about her offer.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t trust her.”

  “Didn’t she find a box full of puppies?”

  “Yeah,” Russ said.

  “Maybe she’s finding dogs left and right so she has a reason to see you.” Travis grinned at Russ, who just shook his head.

  “If she wanted to see me, all she had to do was not break-up with me.”

  “She must’ve had a reason.” Travis spoke quietly, so as to not scare Russ away from talking. They got in the truck, and Russ started over to Canine Encounters. They’d spend a couple of hours there—at least—feeding and watering, moving dogs outside and cleaning out pens. Now that they had to share, things got messier much more quickly.

  “She did,” Russ said. “But I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Okay, fair enough,” Travis said, though his curiosity did plague him.

  “So what did you want to talk about?”

  “Will you be busy with Janelle tonight?” Travis asked.

  Russ heaved a big sigh. “Most likely.”

  “Great.” Travis smiled out the windshield as his brother pulled up to the big building that housed the dogs. “Because Millie is coming over to help me set up a Christmas tree.”

  Russ snapped his attention to Travis. “You’re kidding.”

  “I am so not,” he said. “Our date last night went amazing, and I told her I wanted her help getting the ranch…more festive.”

  Russ blinked and then laughed. “Festive,” he said through chuckles. “Right. No way you used that word.”

  “Fine, maybe that was Millie’s.” Travis shrugged, feeling happier than he had in a while.

  “You want the ranch to be more festive?”

  “Yeah,” Travis said. “We love Christmas, and we don’t even hang up a wreath.”

  “And you want to see Millie again.”

  Travis didn’t deny or confirm Russ’s statement.

  “Did you kiss her last night?”

  Travis shook his head. “You won’t believe this, but her mother was actually waiting on the front steps when we got back.”

  “Wow.” Russ started chuckling again. “You’re right, I don’t believe that. You sure you didn’t just chicken out?”

  Travis hadn’t chickened out at the wedding, and he was shocked Russ didn’t know he’d already kissed Millie. Rex surely knew, and the brothers didn’t usually keep secrets from one another.

  Russ got out of the truck, and Travis followed him. Several dogs barked as Russ and Travis entered the building, and he stopped at the supply shelf to grab a few leashes. He and Russ would get the dogs outside first so they could clean the kennels, and some of them required leashes.

  Travis kept his head down and his hands moving. He had plenty of time to think about Millie and Christmas and the impact all of this would have on the family when he wasn’t feet away from some distrusting dogs.

  Seth usually kept the bigger and needier dogs away from the ones that had learned and calmed down already. But Seth wasn’t here, and Russ and Travis had to do what they could in his absence. And honestly, that meant keeping the dogs alive was their base responsibility.

  Travis opened the last gate to let out the last three dogs, and they ran joyfully out into the fenced area Seth called the range. He circled the building and went in a service door several yards down, picked up a shovel and got to work cleaning out their pens.

  Russ came around with water, and then loaded up the cart with food. Together, they got the dogs taken care of in an hour and a half, and Travis’s back ached.

  “You know what would be awesome?” he asked as he rolled the cart back to its spot by the pantry.

  “What?”

  “Another dog enclosure.” Russ looked at Travis, and he knew that glint in his older brother’s eye.

  “I’m swamped already,” he said.

  “Then we give more work to Brian, and Tomas, and Darren,” he said. “We can afford the overtime.”

  “Where would we even put the new building?” Travis asked, though he’d already picked out a spot for it. He just needed to talk to Seth, who’d been preoccupied with his wedding, and getting all the new dogs, and planning a honeymoon.

  “In the corner,” Russ said, naming the exact spot Travis would’ve chosen. “We extend the fence, what? Twenty feet, and it connects to the existing range. Plan for all the same supply and food storage out there, and done.”

  “Done,” Travis said, wishing it was as easy as waving a wand and saying the word to get the building built. But he knew it would be hours of swinging a hammer and measuring and making things line up.

  A new project excited him, though, despite his stony exterior. He couldn’t believe he was going to agree to this. Then again, he’d gone out with Millie, and she had much more potential to ruin his life than a new dog enclosure did.

  “Okay,” he said. “Let’s start with the plans this afternoon. We can order supplies tomorrow and get excavating.”

  Russ whooped, a huge smile crossing his face. “I want to drive the backhoe.”

  “Of course you do,” Travis said. “Fine. Whatever.”

  Russ clapped him on the shoulder as they walked back to the ranch truck. “And Trav, it’s a dog enclosure. We don’t need custom cabinets or fancy trim.”

  “You sure?” Travis gave his brother a smile and climbed into the truck. “Okay, what’s next?”

  “Horses,” Russ said. “With any luck, most of the stalls will be cleaned out by the time we get there.”

  “Let’s hope,” Travis said, enjoying a moment in the truck where he could rest.

  The necessary work around the ranch got done, as Travis knew it would, and he showered while Russ pulled out blueprint paper. Just the fact that they had blueprint paper in the homestead made Travis realize how awesome the ranch was. He’d designed and built the stables for the horses, both barns, and their personal storage shed. With his skills and mind for design, their ranch really was one of a kind.

  After he’d showered, he sat down with Russ and started talking about what kind of enclosure they needed as a back-up.

  “I don’t see why it has to be lesser than the one we have,” Travis said, swiping on his phone. “And we have those plans right here.”

  “You want to build the exact same thing?”

  “No, because the orientation would be wrong. But we need the kennels. The outside doors. The shelving in the pen and the pantry near the front door. We need the outside entrances.”

  He started to sketch while Russ watched. “How many can we get in the space we have?” he asked while Travis’s pencil went whoosh whoosh whoosh across the paper.

  Travis glanced down to the part of the paper he hadn’t drawn on yet, doing some quick math in his head. “Eight.”

  “Only eight?”

  “Wait, I have an idea.” He erased and redrew, pulling the bottom lines longer. “We don’t need twenty feet to get to the enclosure if we do it this way.”

  Russ leaned over, and Travis caught a whiff of manure and horses and sweat. “You better go shower before Janelle shows up,” he said, a nice way of saying you stink.

  If it were Rex talking, he would’ve just said it, with a “bro” on the end.

  Russ got up. “I want to see that when I’m done.”

  “I’ll work fast,” Travis said, not even looking up as his brother left. Twenty minutes later, Russ returned to the kitchen counter where Travis had a nearly complete sketch.

  He leaned away from it, his fingers tigh
t from where he’d been gripping the pencil. He rolled his shoulders and pushed the drawing toward Russ.

  “Sixteen,” he said. “We can do them in a double stack, with a door out the front leading to the range. The pens can be left open for a double-long area or closed so dogs can be isolated.”

  Russ studied the huge sheet of paper, his eyes flitting all over the place. “Entrance on the side. Brilliant.” He looked at Travis. “This holds more than the one Seth currently has.”

  “But not even all the dogs we have right now,” Travis said. “And it’ll take at least a month to build.”

  “Let’s call Seth.” Russ picked up his phone and started tapping on the screen.

  “We can’t call Seth,” Travis said, practically knocking the phone out of his brother’s hands. “He said not to call unless something was on fire or one of us was in the hospital.”

  “We need to get started on this,” Russ said.

  “Yeah,” Travis said. He got up and rounded the counter to pull a notebook out of the drawer next to the fridge. “And we don’t need Seth’s permission. He knows we need another building. Let’s just start on it. It’ll be his Christmas gift.”

  Travis started making a list of the things they’d need to order and have delivered to the ranch. The only indication that time had passed was the growling of his stomach.

  The doorbell rang, and Travis jerked his head up. “What time is it?”

  “Five-thirty,” Russ said. “Holy cow, Janelle is going to be here soon.”

  Travis turned toward the front door. “That means that’s probably Millie.”

  A wicked grin graced his brother’s face. “I’ll get it.”

  Travis darted in front of him. “No, you will not.” He glared Russ right back into the kitchen. “Feed Winner, Cloudy, and Thunder. I’ll bring Millie to meet you.” He nodded and slicked his palms down the front of his jeans. At least he’d showered before getting too involved in the new project.

  Drawing in a deep breath, he reached for the doorknob. He twisted and pulled and Millie stood there, looking radiant and beautiful in a pair of jeans that looked to be painted on her legs, a pink and white checkered shirt that was probably supposed to make her look like a cowgirl, and a pair of sexy cowgirl boots.

  Travis lost the ability to speak, let alone think.

  “Hey, baby,” Millie said easily. “You wanna come help me unload my car?” She hooked her thumb over her shoulder, and Travis jumped into action.

  “Unload the car?” he asked, stepping out onto the front porch with her. “What did you bring?”

  “Oh, that’s a surprise.” She gave him a flirty smile that had Travis’s brain screaming something about mistletoe as he followed her down the steps.

  Chapter Eight

  Millie’s first impression of the ranch was of the beauty of the land. The glorious views of the Texas Hill Country couldn’t be beat, that was for sure. But this ranch had no personality. The gate had been built decades ago, and none of the brothers had bothered to put any personal touch on it at all.

  Millie wasn’t a designer, but she did have an eye for details that made a space stand out, feel inviting, and be functional too.

  “Holy cow,” Travis said as he stood at the back of her car, gazing into the trunk. “I thought we were just doing a Christmas tree?”

  “We are, silly.” She nudged him a couple of inches to the side so she could lift out the first bin. “Now, start taking stuff in.”

  “What is all this stuff?”

  “Ornaments,” she said. “Lights. Garland. A wreath.” She started toward the house, tossing over her shoulder, “And we should talk about doing something festive on the front gate.”

  Travis said something behind her, but she’d already gone too far from him to catch the actual words. She didn’t care. She loved setting up decorations, even if there wasn’t going to be a party here later.

  But there was. Travis just needed to give her more details, and Millie could start planning the most amazing family get-together for the holidays.

  She kept them focused on moving in bins and the huge boxed Christmas tree, then she turned to Travis and asked, “So, how many people are we talking for this party?”

  He surveyed the piles they’d brought in and took off his cowboy hat. “What?”

  “For your family Christmas party,” she said. “The brothers, that’s five. Parents. Seven. And Jenna. Eight. Will Isaac come? Does he have a girlfriend?” Millie already knew Isaac was dating Luisa Cruise, but she didn’t want Travis to know she knew the town gossip. She didn’t, not really.

  “What about your grandparents?”

  “Just my grandmother,” he said. “Grandpa died a few years back.” He looked at her, and he looked like she’d hit him with a two-by-four. “Grandma will probably come.”

  “Probably?”

  “I haven’t exactly talked to anyone about having a party,” he said.

  Millie’s chest tightened. “Oh.” She bent to pull the lid off one of the bins. “Okay. So when you do, be sure to let me know. It’s hard to plan a party if you don’t know the guest list. Or at least a ballpark.”

  “The ballpark is probably ten people,” he said. “Maybe a dozen. I don’t see how it would be more than that.”

  “Well, if Rex was bringing someone. Heck, if all the brothers brought a plus-one, you’d be at ten, and that doesn’t include parents, grandparents, or friends.”

  “A plus-one?”

  “Yeah.” She giggled and pushed against Travis’s chest. “A guest. It’s normal to bring a guest to a party.”

  “Is it now?” He slipped his arms around her waist, and Millie would be lying if she said she hadn’t given him the playful nudge to get his arms around her.

  “I guess I don’t go to a lot of parties,” Travis said.

  “Oh, cowboy, that’s obvious.” She laughed and stepped out of his personal space. “Okay, let’s start unboxing so you can see your choices.”

  “I have choices?”

  “There’s always choices when it comes to decorating,” Millie said.

  A man cleared his throat, and she looked up to find one of his brothers standing in the doorway.

  “Oh,” Travis said quickly. “Millie, this is my older brother, Russ. Russ, Millie Hepworth.”

  “So great to meet you.” Millie strode forward and shook his free hand. He held a steaming cup in the other. “I mean, I’ve probably met you before, but not for a while.”

  “True,” Russ said. “Your brother is Chris, right?”

  “One of ‘em,” she said, smiling. “Are you going to help us with the decorations?”

  “No, ma’am.” He chuckled. “I’m pretty useless with that stuff.” He took a sip of his drink. “But I wanted to let you two know I made hot chocolate if you want some.”

  Before Millie could answer, a loud crash filled the room. She spun around to find Travis scrambling to stay standing. He grabbed onto the back of the couch, and she saw what had fallen—an end table with a lamp on it.

  “I’m okay,” Travis said, but Russ just started laughing. The doorbell rang, and Millie felt whipped all over as she turned toward that.

  Russ’s laughter stopped as if someone had muted his voice, and he hurried back into the kitchen, calling, “Don’t you dare answer that!”

  Millie giggled and looked at Travis. “Who is it?”

  “Janelle Stokes,” Travis said. “They’re sort of dating? I don’t know.”

  “How can you not know?”

  “She broke up with him last week, but—” He cut off as Russ entered the room again. “Are you guys going to be here? You could help with the tree.”

  Part of Millie wanted Russ and Janelle to stay and help, and another part really wanted to be alone with Travis. When she pulled out that mistletoe…

  “No, we’re going to her place, remember?”

  “Oh, right,” Travis said. “You’re showing her the blueprints?”

  Russ paus
ed, and Millie noticed the rolled paper in his hand. “Is that okay?”

  “It’s fine,” Travis said, but he wore displeasure in his eyes.

  The doorbell rang again, and Russ pulled the door open. “Janelle, hi,” he said, stepping outside as he spoke. The door closed a moment later, and Millie watched Travis.

  “What’s with the blueprints?” she asked. “What are they for?”

  “New dog enclosure Russ and I are going to build for Seth.” He glanced at the table and bent to right it, setting the lamp back where it went. The shade was askew, and he tried to fix it but only succeeded in ripping it.

  “I think I’m done for the night, Mills,” he said, and the use of her nickname from a decade ago made everything inside her go soft. “Can I just watch?”

  “No,” she said with a smile. “You have to choose what you want. But then yes, you can just watch me hang the ornaments if you want.”

  He sat down on the couch and looked up at her. “Okay, show me the choices.”

  “All right,” Millie said, returning to the bin with the classic red and white ornaments. “But you have to tell me why you don’t want Janelle to see your blueprints.”

  He sighed as she pulled out a box of sparkly, striped ornaments. “We have red and white,” she said. “We’ll pair this with a metallic. All the color choices get paired with metallics for flowers and lights and all of that.”

  “I think I know what a metallic is,” he said. “Gold or silver, right?”

  “Or bronze,” she said. “And I’ve done some copper stuff too, but that was for a bank, and they loved the penny-colored stuff.” She beamed a smile in his direction. “Silver would go with red and white, though if you’re more of a gold guy, I can make that work too.”

  Surprise lit his face. “Gold guy?” He laughed, and the atmosphere around them relaxed. “I have no idea what I am.”

  “Okay,” Millie said. “That’s another goal of ours tonight, then.” She moved over to the next bin. “Here we have a less traditional but still beautiful blue and purple and green assortment.” Pulling out a box of ornaments, she handed them to him. “And in this last one, we have a quite formal white and clear.”