Page 55 of The Cowboy's Christmas
“Let’s do this one,” she told him. “I want to put ithigh.”
“High it is.” He lifted the laughing girl to sit on one of his shoulders. “Easy,” he said as she leaned dangerously toward the tree.
“Got it,” she said, before directing her sister to give her another ornament. STAT.
“I want up, too,” Sophie said, tugging Savannah to her feet.
Up she went, camel fight style, and Savannah and Quinn moved around the tree while Deke handed out ornaments to the girls who giggled from their high perches.
They were all laughing, and a touch winded, when Quinn and Savannah set the girls back on the floor. Quinn rubbed his bicep, which Savannah imagined was stinging from holding the same position for so long.
“I fear we may have started a Christmas tradition,” Savannah said as she retrieved her cup and took a gulp.
“The Christmas tree camel fights. Sure to catch on.”
She gave him a sideways look, and he moved closer, keeping his gaze on the activity at the tree. She shifted beside him, and when he glanced down, she kept her profile to him. Even so, he read a measure of satisfaction in her face. She was doing okay.
Then Sophie pulled a silver container out of the ornament bin and started to pry the lid off. Savannah instantly put down her mug.
“Sophie,” she said, “we aren’t using those ornaments this year, okay?”
The little girl looked into the box as Savannah walked around the coffee table to crouch next to her.
“But these are pretty,” she said.
“I know, sweetie. Um…let’s…” Her voice trailed off as Deke held out his hand for the box. Wordlessly the little girl put the lid on and relinquished the treasure. Deke handed the box to Savannah, who gave him a nod of thanks, then stood.
“I have something you’ll like a lot,” she said to Sophie. “Let’s dig a little deeper.” She shifted the remaining ornament boxes in the bin and came up with a child’s shoe box. “These are my little horses. I’ve hung them every year. There are six of them, so you can hang three each.”
Sophie pried off the lid, then gave a gasp and held up a miniature Appaloosa with a wreath around its neck.
“Wow,” she breathed as Jessa peered into the box, then lifted a palomino.
Savannah’s smile faded as soon as the girls’ attention was fully engaged with the horse ornaments, and when she came back around the coffee table to stand by Quinn, he put his arm around her, offering comfort. Savannah leaned into him, the box still held in both of her hands, then she stood straight, her shoulders rising as she drew in a deep breath.
Without looking at him, she set the silver box on the mantel and returned to the tree to help the girls decide where to put the little horses.
Quinn glanced at the box, then back at Savannah. She looked up unexpectedly, meeting his gaze, then gave a small nod.
She was fine.
He hoped that was true.
*
After the treewas decorated and the boxes and bins stowed in the basement for easy access when the tree was taken down, Savannah ushered the girls off to bed, leaving Deke and Quinn talking cattle. Better for Deke to get his ranch hit by talking rather than doing, and she was grateful for Quinn hanging around after a long evening.
When she returned to the kitchen, she found a trio of bourbon-filled shot glasses lined up on the table.
“To top off a successful evening,” Deke said.
“Thank you.” Savannah did not wait for a toast, if one was coming, but instead lifted the glass to her lips, enjoying the burning warmth on her tongue, followed by the bloom of sweetness. Both men had been concerned about her—it had been obvious in the way they’d watched her throughout the decorating—and she felt lucky to have people who cared about her.
Her gaze drifted to Quinn, and she felt a warmth that had nothing to do with the bourbon. Despite his reticence for talking about himself, she felt as if she knew him. Or maybe it was a matter of being on the same page. There was something about him that made her feel connected on a deeper level than one would have expected, given the length of time they’d known one another.
Or maybe she was biased by the way he kissed.
After the bourbon was finished, and Deke and Quinn had agreed that Herefords were getting a bum rap after the cattle industry had decided decades ago that Angus were superior, Quinn took his glass to the sink and reached for his heavy canvas coat, which was draped over the back of a chair.
