Page 67 of Christmas with the Cowboy
“Positive.”
“Her family isn’t going to be home.”
He didn’t think that really mattered.
Lex continued from the living room, her voice half muffled as she bent over the present she was precision wrapping, “But since they don’t talk, I guess that’s not a thing. You don’t think that’ll happen to us, do you?”
Reed made a sputtering noise. “No.”
“So I could really do something horrible—”
He took a few backward steps so that he could see into the living room where Lex sat in her nest of wrapping paper. “You could do your worst, and you’d still be my daughter and I will always talk to you.”
“Even if you were mad.”
“I might need some cooling off time,” he admitted, before frowning. “Are you planning something? Are you going to knock over a bank?”
Lex grinned widely. “No immediate plans.” Her phone rang and she brightened when she saw the screen. “Not Mom,” she said. “Lissa.”
One of her Bozeman friends. He went back to the stove, and Lex retired to her bedroom. She might still want reassurance that he’d love her no matter what, but she also wanted her privacy.
His little girl was a teenager.
Where had the time gone? One thing he was adamant about was being there for his daughter. He hoped against hope that Gregg would beat cancer and she could enjoy her high school years like any other kid, but that might not happen. They could be in for rough seas, and if they hit them, he was going to be her anchor.
That required some sacrifices on his part, but nothing he wasn’t willing to do…even if some of those sacrifices kept him up at night, thinking about priorities, and why things needed to be the way they were.
He didn’t want Trenna to leave, but Lex was his number one priority.
Chapter Fourteen
The first guestarrived before Trenna had a chance to change into her cocktail wear, and she took advantage of being in boots and jeans to slip out of the kitchen and head to her car to find her makeup kit, which had escaped the canvas tote during the drive to the lodge.
The sun had set, and it was growing dark, but it was still light enough for Trenna to recognize the man loading boxes and duffels into his truck with Mason, the ranch foreman keeping a close eye on him.
Jay. She ducked her head as she walked directly to her car, then stopped when the man called her name. Her instinct was to ignore him, but when she looked up, she saw that Mason had stepped into his path.
“I just want to apologize,” he called before scowling at the foreman.
He sounded sincere, so Trenna nodded, and Mason stepped back.
Jay ambled closer, but stopped a respectful distance away. “I’m here to get my stuff. I didn’t have a place to keep it until today.”
Not your fault, Trenna reminded herself.
“Where were you staying?”
“A buddy’s couch.”
“And now?”
“I got a job at the salvage yard and Iron Mike is letting me stay in the watchman’s trailer. It’ll pay the bills for a while.” He kicked the snow in front of him like a kid. “My mom lives with my grandmother so I couldn’t bunk with her.” He raised an earnest gaze to meet hers. “I didn’t know that you weren’t into it when I flirted with you. Most women…” He stopped. “I’m sorry. That’s all I wanted to say. Oh…and sorry for the bar. That was booze talking.”
So, sorry for some things and making excuses for others. But Trenna would take it. Humility was new to the guy, so she didn’t ruin things by mentioning the valve stem.
“I’m glad you got a job.”
“Yeah. Um…Reed’s dad helped.” He glanced over at Mason, then back at her, the intensity of his expression surprising her as he said in a low voice, “I think you should convince your dad not to carry on with what he’s doing. I know it would make you guys a bunch of money, but…”
