Page 76 of Christmas with the Cowboy
“What happened?” she asked as she stepped back and then took his hand, leading him to the sofa. He shrugged out of his coat and laid it over the chair before sitting. Bruno sniffed the heavy canvas, before settling on the rug next to the chair, keeping a close eye on the coat as if it might try something.
“A lecture from my daughter. Believe it or not, she knew that there was something between us.”
“Imagine that,” Trenna said with a lift of her eyebrows as a frisson of uneasiness went through her. “A kid picking up on stuff.”
“Yeah. And this is at fourteen. I’m kind of scared of what fifteen brings.” Reed slid his arm around her. “I told myself that with everything going on in her life, being away from her friends, Gregg’s cancer, that she needed me to be focused only on her. And that’s true. But Trenna,” he let out a breath, which had Trenna holding hers. “I was afraid that if I messed up with you again, that it would be forever. That if we got serious, and then something happened that I’d never get another chance.”
Trenna started to speak, then stopped when she realized she didn’t know what to say. Instead, she slid her hand around the back of his neck and brought her forehead to meet his. “I love you, so I hope we have what it takes to battle through whatever lies before us, whether it’s doubts or my dad or a missing horse.”
She felt him smile and drew in a soft breath.
“We have it,” he said simply.
“You didn’t seem that sure earlier.”
“I hadn’t pinpointed the problem.”
“Have you now?” she asked softly.
“Yeah,” he said flatly, an uncertain expression playing over his features. “I didn’t know if I was enough.”
She started to speak, but he lightly touched her lips, silencing her.
“It struck me that you wouldn’t be fighting so hard to stay with me if I wasn’t.”
“Not enough?” Trenna brought her hands up to frame his face. “You’re everything. You always have been.” She met his lips in a soul-melding kiss, a you’re-mine-forever kiss.
“Just so you know, I have expectations,” Trenna said after coming up for air. “A lot of them.”
“Yeah,” Reed replied before bringing his forehead down to rest against hers. “Me, too. And there’s no time like the present to get to working on them.”
Epilogue
Lex did notdiscover her Christmas surprise. Reed was certain of it, because on Christmas Eve she’d been so busy baking with her aunt Em and learning to play cribbage with her uncle Cade, and generally getting teased by laid-back Uncle Spence, that she didn’t have time to wander to the barn. And since Reed had voluntarily brought in a handful of fresh hay for her guinea pigs, she had no reason to go there at all.
But she began to suspect something was up when, after the presents were opened on Christmas morning, her grandfather got to his feet and said, “Want to help me feed, Lex?”
“I thought you handled that while Grandma was cooking breakfast.”
“I forgot to feed Boomer.”
She gave him a long look, then shifted it to Reed, who was sitting next to Trenna on the sofa. “I see.”
Reed stood and held out a hand, which Trenna took. “We’re going to check on Trenna’s battery cable while you guys feed,” he said.
“And I have some things to unpack from my truck,” Cade said heading into the kitchen for his coat.
“I’ll help,” Em called after him.
Lex gave Spence, who was still lounging on the sofa closest to the fire, a long look. “Don’t you need to go outside, too?”
Spence stretched and got to his feet. “I could use some air.”
Lex rolled her eyes and then headed to the mudroom to dress with everyone else. She definitely sensed that something was up, but everyone played their parts, going to their respective vehicles, or in Spence’s case, standing on the porch, breathing deeply.
“Are you coming?” Daniel asked impatiently, already halfway to the barn.
“I am,” Lex replied, playing along. She shot Reed a look and he grinned. She grinned back, then followed her grandfather to the barn. A moment later a joyous shriek erupted from inside.
