Page 51 of The Cowboy's Christmas
“Yes,” Sophie said proudly.
“It was the best pink ribbon tree,” Jessa added. “Quinn tied it up, so the branches don’t get hurt.”
“Why don’t you two come into the house with me and help me make cocoa while Aunt Vannie and Quinn put the horses away and get the tree into a bucket of water.”
“We want to help with the water.”
“I think you’re wet enough,” Deke replied firmly. He held up his cast. “I need your help. Remember what happened last time?”
“A big mess,” Sophie replied solemnly. She looked at her sister. “We better help.”
Deke gave Savannah a quick victory smile, then opened the gate to usher his great-nieces inside.
Savannah dismounted and slipped the reins over Rose’s head. “How about I take care of the horses and you take care of the tree? There’s a five-gallon bucket just inside the bay door.”
“Sounds good.” Quinn untied the rope he’d had dallied around the saddle horn, and Savannah took Pete’s reins, leading both horses away as he lifted the tree and carried it toward the barn where it would reside until decorating time.
Quinn returned to the hitching post before Savannah was done brushing the horses. He picked up a curry comb to smooth out the thick hair on Pete’s sweaty back.
“It was a good day.”
Savannah understood that it was more of a question than a statement; that he wanted to know how the day had been for her.
“Totally,” she agreed. Good in that the girls had the time of their lives and good that she felt strong in a way she hadn’t anticipated. “Yesterday was good, too.”
“Yeah?”
Her curry comb paused in midair as she met his gaze. “I saw a porcupine and a yeti.”
“That’s all?”
One side of her mouth tilted up. “Maybe not all.” She focused back on the horse, still smiling.
After they’d let the horses go, she and Quinn stood shoulder to shoulder watching the mare and gelding dive into their hay. Savannah felt him shift his gaze from the horses to her, and she allowed herself to lean into his shoulder in a companionable way.
“I have this,” she said. She hoped anyway. Sometimes her confidence wobbled, but something had broken free within her yesterday. “For today anyway,” she amended, but there was still a note of confidence in her voice.
“If you’re not doing good, I want to know.”
Were they only talking about her handling Christmas?
“Same goes for you,” she said.
He lifted his eyebrows as if to say this wasn’t about him, but Savannah matched his look, and he gave a nod of concession.
It could be that they were exactly what the other needed—at this moment in time, anyway.
Way to go, Universe.
*
After cocoa andcookies, which Deke had ready when Quinn and Savannah came into the house, Savannah helped Quinn haul a bucket of cleaning supplies and a box of dishes out to his barn abode. He’d spent the previous night in the Graff, having returned to town too late to check out, but now he was an official Dunn Ranch occupant.
The electric heater had done its job and the place was toasty warm when he opened the door. He set the box of dishes on the tiny counter, then adjusted the thermostat to a lower setting.
“Don’t want to run up your bill,” he said.
“One heater isn’t going to make that much difference.” She unzipped the plastic cover on the mattress and began to wrestle it free. Quinn wanted to tell her that he could handle it, just as he handled everything, alone, but she was so into it, he didn’t have the heart.
