Christmas in Three Rivers: Three Rivers Ranch Romance Novella Collection

by Isaacson, Liz

  Thunder broke the sky; lightning flashed above them.

  He stared at her, and she couldn’t figure out how to feel. Should she just tell him she missed him, the way he had? Confess that every time she’d considered deleting his number from her phone, she got physically ill? Confide in him and say she imagined kissing him every time she opened the storeroom?

  “You are a maddening woman.” He strode forward again, breaking the spell between them before Andy could decide what to do.

  “You’re just as frustrating,” she said as she rushed to catch him. But his long legs made her have to take three steps for every two of his.

  “I have one sister. That’s all. We get along great. My parents are another story.”

  Andy didn’t know what to add to the conversation; she just wanted him to keep talking.

  “They run the Heart Warriors center in Amarillo. I didn’t want to do that. I left when I was eighteen. Haven’t been back in a decade.” His short sentences were punctuated by his long strides. “I thought I didn’t want to work with horses and patients. I thought I wanted something else. When Courage Reins opened…well, I got a job here, and I realized I loved it. What I didn’t love was being told what I had to do with my life.”

  He stopped suddenly and faced her. “I should go home. I should take over the program for my parents. But I don’t want to. I don’t want Reese’s job, or Pete’s job. I don’t want the responsibility. I just want to work with the horses and the patients. That’s enough for me. It won’t be enough for my dad.”

  “That doesn’t make you a failure.”

  He gave a short, barking laugh. “No, it doesn’t. You’re right. What makes me a failure is everything else I tried until I figured out I’m just a horseman.” He stomped off again, leaving Andy to wonder what was so wrong with being a horseman.

  Lawrence couldn’t believe he’d told Andy everything—well, maybe not everything. But he did trust her, and she did deserve the truth. He hated that he’d gotten angry when she’d asked about his family. She’d given him an hour to cool off, and if anything, seeing her on his doorstep with pie had kicked his desire for her into a new gear.

  She caught up to him just as the first raindrops fell. He paused, judging the distance to the tree. Too far. He turned and looked back at the row of cabins.

  “We’re going to get soaked.” He looked down at her. She wore her jacket and those sexy tight pants. No hat. No gloves. At least the pie was covered with plastic wrap.

  “I don’t care.” She put the pie on the ground and stepped into his arms.

  He welcomed her into his embrace, surprised at this turn of events but not complaining. “You don’t?”

  The sky opened and water poured out. They were both soaked through in seconds. She tilted her head up, taking partial refuge under the brim of his cowboy hat. “I do want some of that pie. But I guess it can wait.”

  “Hmm.” He wasn’t sure why it needed to wait, but he couldn’t look away from Andy, from the raindrops on her eyelashes, from the pinkness of her lips. She licked them, and he reacted by pressing his mouth to hers.

  She melted into him, threaded her fingers through his hair, and kissed him back.

  Hours could’ve passed and Lawrence wouldn’t have known. Kissing Andy had always possessed a bit of magic, and this time felt downright divine. With the rain pounding down around them, he kissed her and kissed her, hoping this was only the beginning of what they could have together.

  When he detected a wobble in her chin, he pulled back. “Cold?”

  “Just a little.” She brushed her lips along his. “We should go back before we freeze, though.”

  He bent to retrieve the pie, tucked her hand in his, and ran toward his cabin. She came with him, which caused joy to punctuate the perfect kiss.

  Once under the safety of his porch, he looked her up and down. “Uh, you’re going to need dry clothes.”

  “I’ll wear something of yours while you run the dryer.”

  “Uh, Andy? My stuff is way too big for you.” He opened the front door and ushered her inside the cabin. “Maybe you can borrow something of Juliette’s.” He didn’t want her asking Kelly or Chelsea. He might never get her back if she went over to one of their houses to borrow clothes.

  “Aren’t they in Montana?”

  “I have a key to Garth’s place.” Lawrence plucked it from the drawer in his kitchen. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He hurried out the door and down the path. Surely she’d wait, right? She wouldn’t kiss him the way she had and then disappear into the night.

  He dashed into Garth’s cabin and hurried into the bedroom. He grabbed the first thing of Juliette’s he saw in the closet—a sundress—and hightailed it out of there. When he got back to his cabin, Andy had the inklings of a fire going in the hearth.

  “Grabbed the first thing I saw,” he said. “I felt weird doing that.”

  She took the dress. “This is fine. I’m not good at making a fire. I’ll change, and you finish that?”

  She disappeared into the bathroom, and Lawrence stood staring at the closed door. When he’d invited her to dinner, he didn’t think he’d end up kissing her. Never in his wildest—okay, maybe in his wildest dreams, he thought she might let him.

  She came out of the bathroom holding her wet things, the pink sundress complementing her dark hair and skin. He sucked in a breath and focused on what he should be doing. He took her clothes and ducked into his bedroom to change and start the dryer.

  With that all done, he got the fire going properly, and pulled two blankets from the front closet. He gave one to Andy, who wrapped herself in it before settling on his couch. “Got any movies?” She yawned. “All that turkey is catching up to me.”

  “No napping until after pie.” He put his blanket on the other end of the couch, nudged up the heat, and moved into the kitchen to collect the pie. “Movies are in the cabinet next to the hearth.”

  He grabbed silverware and returned to the living room. “Can I sit here?” He indicated the spot right next to where she’d been sitting. “Then we can share the pie.”

  “Yeah.” She held up a case. “This one okay?”

  He didn’t care what they watched. Excitement to simply be with her made his nerve endings dance. “Yeah, fine.”

  She slid in the disc, handed him the remotes, and took her place on the couch. He passed her a fork, adjusted the volume, and started the movie. They ate in silence, Lawrence’s mind spinning through where this could go next.

  He’d never told anyone about his family, and it felt good to get the weight off his tongue. Andy hadn’t asked him about what he’d done in the past eight years before landing at Courage Reins, nor had she seemed to judge him for leaving his family just to become what he’d already been.

  He felt insignificant next to her, and a pinch started behind his heart. Could she really want someone like him? The constant struggle, the familiar battle, raged as strongly now as it had the first time they’d been together.

  “You done?” she asked as she scooped up another bite. “You’ve stopped eating.”

  “Just thinking,” he said.

  “About what?” She abandoned the movie in favor of him. “Kissin’ me again?” Her playful tone and twinkling eyes sent heat through his core.

  “Now that’s what I’m thinking about.” He leaned over and tasted her whipped cream lips.

  “Mmm, tasty.” Her whispered words caused a shiver to shake his spine.

  He touched his lips to hers again. “I was thinking about why you want to be with me.”

  She pulled back a couple of inches to look into his eyes. She searched and searched, and he didn’t know if she found what she wanted or not. “Why wouldn’t I want to be with you?”

  “Why did it take me ordering something from your boutique to get you to apologize?”

  “Same reason you haven’t gone home in ten years.”

  Pride. He understood that. Couldn’t blame her for it, though
they probably should both get over being too proud to apologize to those they loved. Not that she loved him. Lawrence cut off his thoughts before they could derail.

  “And you really want to be with a horseman? Someone like you….” He trailed off, unsure and unwilling to let her see how weak he felt, how inadequate. He kissed her again, grateful when she returned the gesture.

  Grateful he didn’t have to explain anything else.

  Grateful she stayed in his arms through the rest of the movie, long after her clothes had dried.

  Grateful God had brought her back to him, at least for one day, though Lawrence prayed for a lot longer.

  Andy puzzled through Lawrence’s words as she bustled around the shop, the two other ladies she’d hired just for Black Friday as busy as she was. No matter how often she circled the store, she found more tops that needed to be refolded, additional tissue paper that had fallen from inside sweaters, hangers that needed to be straightened.

  She didn’t complain, instead pressing her eyes closed for a brief moment of gratitude with every sale. The holiday season kept Andy afloat during the slower winter months. Still, her mind wandered to Lawrence as she selected sizes and styles and colors.

  The bitterness and longing in his tone when he mentioned he was just a horseman. The way he pondered why she wanted to be with him. She obviously wasn’t the only one who had her eye on Lawrence, whether he knew it or not. But she couldn’t believe he missed the constantly vulturistic women at the church picnics.

  She’d just gotten him out of her mind when her phone blared, bringing him right back in. Because the ringtone belonged to him. Silencing it, she flashed an apologetic smile to the woman preparing to purchase two pairs of slacks and a trio of holiday sweaters. She shoved the phone in a drawer behind the cash register, determined to focus on her boutique until she could afford to donate some brain cells to Lawrence.

  Her holiday hours extended well past normal, and by the time she locked the door, her feet like she’d walked across live coals. She heaved herself upstairs before she realized she’d left her phone in that blasted drawer downstairs.

  Too tired to go retrieve it, she fell into an Epsom salt bath, knowing she had to redo what she’d done today all over again tomorrow. Though Sundays had been a source of loneliness for her, she suddenly couldn’t wait until she could have her day of rest.

  Sunday came, as Sundays always did, and Andy took her usual seat near the back of the chapel. She’d almost skipped church today—surely God would’ve given her a pass because of the exhausting nature of the last forty-eight hours.

  If she were being honest with herself—something she’d been trying to do more recently—she hoped to see Lawrence at church. She’d even sat down from the end of the pew so he could slide in next to her whenever he happened to arrive. She’d even come early so he’d see her.

  Her patience was rewarded when a warm arm settled across her shoulders, and the leather and horse scent met her nose, and the handsomeness of Lawrence’s face filled her vision. “This seat taken?”

  “It is now.” She leaned into him, satisfied when he cupped her shoulder and pulled her a bit closer.

  A group of women slid onto the bench next to Andy right when the service started, but she didn’t pay much attention to them. They whispered through the first fifteen minutes, and it wasn’t until one of them spoke a little too loudly that she turned toward them.

  But she heard the word “boutique,” and she owned the only boutique in town. Suddenly, her ears went into owl-mode, flicking and zeroing in on the conversation. She couldn’t hear much, because the choir got up and began singing.

  But those women were definitely talking about her. Her and Lawrence.

  Andy straightened under his arm and lifted her chin. If they wanted to gossip, she’d let them. In fact, maybe she should give them something to talk about.

  Wicked thoughts ran through her mind, but she didn’t act on any of them. She already had enough on her plate this holiday season; she didn’t need to add more to it.

  The service ended, and she stood.

  “You in a hurry?” Lawrence asked, peering up at her from under his cowboy hat.

  “Well, no.”

  “Did you make anything for lunch?”

  She hadn’t even thought about lunch. Andy usually grabbed something from the fridge or called in take-out during the busy season. At the moment, she couldn’t remember what, if anything, her fridge held.

  “What did you make?” she asked to save herself from admitting anything.

  “I’m sure you don’t want food poisoning going into the busiest time of the year.” He grinned and added a chuckle to his statement.

  “I probably have a frozen pizza.”

  “I was just gonna say I’m really craving a frozen pizza.” He leaned back into the bench and grinned.

  A flush rose to her face. “Are you inviting yourself to my place for lunch?” She wondered if he’d stay for dinner too. The man was hopeless when it came to cooking.

  He finally stood. Most of the other churchgoers had already left the chapel, including the gossipers. “I haven’t been to your place for a while,” he said. “Seems like a good time to check it out.”

  Stepping into the aisle, he offered Andy his hand. She slipped her fingers into his, a thrill trailing down her back. The storeroom dominated her thoughts as he followed her to the boutique, as they parked in the narrow driveway behind the building, as he captured her hand again and they moved up the back steps.

  The storeroom sat just inside the door, but Andy refused to look at it. She continued into the shop and swept her hand toward the area. “It’s kind of a mess right now,” she said. “I’ll come clean it up later.” She sighed just thinking about it. But she couldn’t open on Monday morning without clean floors and crisp folds in the clothes. She’d spend an hour this evening straightening and creasing, and everything would be set for the next day.

  “It’s so festive.” Lawrence admired the set of Christmas trees Andy had set up late on Thanksgiving night, after one of the most perfect evenings she’d ever spent with a man. She’d also trailed lights along the check-out counter, around the mirrors on the west wall and lining the windows on the east.

  A pine-scented candle warmer sat next to the front door, and another next to the till. Her mannequins wore the most festive and spirited holiday items, and if she flicked on the stereo system, Christmas music would complete the picture-perfect atmosphere.

  Lawrence paced a few steps away, fingered a red bow skirt on a mannequin and twisted back to her. “I didn’t see the shop at Christmas last year. It’s fantastic.” He beamed at her, and something in Andy’s gut jumped.

  He adored her. She could see it, right there on his face. Anyone would be able to see it. Suddenly self-conscious, she turned away, unsure if she deserved such adoration. He hadn’t seen the shop last Christmas because she’d freaked out before she’d gotten the facts and broken things off with him.

  “Let’s see about that pizza.” She headed upstairs, all fantasies about the storeroom shelved for now.

  The following Sunday, Andy arrived last to church, grateful Lawrence had saved a sliver of space for her on a pew near the back. Seemed like more and more people were coming out for services, probably because of the approaching Christmas season.

  She enjoyed Pastor Scott’s sermon, which focused on living more like the Savior. Andy wanted to do that, wanted to be as forgiving and loving as the Lord. She tried to be kind to those she came in contact with, but they usually were potential customers. She thought of the twittering women who’d sat next to her last week. Would she be as kind to them after knowing they’d been speaking about her?

  Frustration sparked at the truth flowing through her mind. She probably wouldn’t be. And it had taken a ruse to get her to apologize to Lawrence.

  A frown buckled her eyebrows. Why did it take me a year to apologize? she wondered.

  The service ended, leaving a multit
ude of questions in Andy’s mind, and she stood with Lawrence.

  Pete stepped up to them. “Lawrence, I need you for a second.” He nodded toward someone exiting the chapel. “That’s Bobby Haskins.”

  Lawrence obviously knew who Bobby Haskins was, and why he was important, because he turned and said, “Give me a minute, okay, Andy?” He didn’t wait for her to answer before he moved down the aisle with Pete and Reese.

  Andy assumed their business with Bobby had something to do with Courage Reins, and she moved a little further into the chapel to help Chelsea clean up after her kids. By the time they toddled down the aisle with the littles, Andy assumed Lawrence would be finished with his business.

  Nobody waited in the lobby, but Pete came through the door and swept Julie onto his shoulders. “You good?” he asked Chelsea, and they stepped out of the church.

  Andy followed in their wake, freezing as soon as she moved outside. The door bumped her, pushing her forward. She stumbled as her brain tried to make sense of the scene before her.

  Lawrence stood several feet away, far enough to keep his words from Andy. But his mouth moved, and he grinned at the group of women who’d gathered around him. The group of single women.

  She and Lawrence hadn’t made lunch plans, but Andy had assumed. Assumed he’d be coming over for something to eat—she’d even run to the grocery store last night to have a variety of frozen meals on hand. He hadn’t seemed to mind the pizza from last week, though it bore the marks of some freezer burn and she didn’t have any extra cheese to add to the top.

  He’d eaten a lot of it, stayed for a movie, kissed her until her legs couldn’t hold her weight. She’d been hoping for a repeat today, but now, the sight of all those women blurred her fantasies.

  She blinked and shook her head. She’d seen Lawrence talking to, laughing with, and helping another woman once. She’d jumped to the wrong conclusion that his sister was his date, just because he paid for dinner. Was she destined to repeat that same mistake now?