Page 58 of The Cowboy's Christmas
“No.” She made a beeline to the coffeepot. She’d slept. And dreamt. She couldn’t remember the dreams, but she’d awoken hot and bothered. No problem guessing the source of her frustrations.
“Good.” Deke focused back on the paper in front of him.
After pouring a cup and putting in a liberal splash of half-and-half, she sat across the table from Deke.
“You were about to share good news,” she said.
“Yeah. I might have found a ranch hand.”
Savannah set down her cup, unprepared for the flash of panic that went through her—or what the panic meant. She slowly picked up her cup again and held it in both hands as she planted her elbows on the tabletop. “Who? How?”
“The who is Jeff Barnett. The how is word of mouth. I called Big Z’s and asked if they could put up a notice on the bulletin board being as we aren’t getting to town that often. They did, and I got a text this morning.”
“Jeff Barnett,” Savannah said slowly. “I don’t know the name. Is he local?”
“Transplant. He left for a bit and now he’s back. I arranged to talk to him at the Main Street Diner tomorrow. It’s after the girls see Santa, and I thought that you or Quinn could walk them through the stores and then we’d go to the light show afterward? It should be dark by then.”
The light show being the Garden of Lights, which was a new addition to the Marietta Christmas agenda. It was more of a stroll than a show, and both she and Deke thought Sophie and Jessa would enjoy it.
“I promised the girls I would take them shopping for their parents,” Savannah said. She didn’t mind letting Deke hire the temporary help. After all, she’d hired the last guy.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this? The shopping…and everything?”
“I’m not going to go to pieces, Deke.”
He gave her a how-do-you-know-until-you’re-there look.
“I took outtheornaments last night and hung them on the tree before I went to bed.” She tilted up her chin. “They look good.”
Deke had been asleep in the chair when she’d removed the box from the mantel, working in the glow of the hall light, and slowly opened the lid. A small part of her had wanted to shut the lid again, put the box away quickly before she had to face old memories, but another part, a stronger part, had insisted that she continue.
Her expression softened as she met her uncle’s gaze.
“I love Matt and I love what the ornaments represent. It makes me sad to see them, but it also makes me glad for what we had. I need to celebrate that.”
But she hadn’t felt celebratory when she’d hung them. She’d felt introspective, and while she couldn’t say she felt total acceptance of what had happened, she’d felt something that was akin to closure. She was moving on, embracing life, because that was what the living were supposed to do—live.
Deke lifted his eyebrows as he digested her words, then gave a nod. “All right.”
She sipped her coffee, closing her eyes as blessed caffeine started to do its work. “I hope the guy works out so that we can cut Quinn free.”
Sending him back to his wandering ways.
Was he really a wanderer?
He thought so, but was it a permanent condition?
Savanah shooed the thought away, then her gaze jerked up when Deke said, “If he wants cut free.”
Savannah’s hands tightened on the cup, but she hoped that she’d managed to keep her face expressionless. Deke was no fool, and she and Quinn were probably radiating signs of mutual attraction. But then, regardless of what his reasoning had been, Quinn had gently rejected her, so…there they were.
“I’m sure he’ll be glad to get home. And no matter what he says, we’re paying him.”
“I have every intention,” Deke assured her, his gaze shifting to the kitchen window. “Speak of the devil.”
Savannah focused on her cup again, tamping down the small burst of adrenaline that made her heart rate bump up.
“There’s coffee,” Deke said after Quinn had knocked lightly, then let himself in.
