Page 50 of Christmas with the Cowgirl
More than a kiss had ever been?
Those words were still spinning in his mind later when, back at the Baylor ranch, he went up to check in at Nic and Jackson’s place, as promised.Nic was there, but Jackson and Jeremy were apparently out with Maverick.
“He’s trying to tire them both out, so they’ll sleep tonight,” Nic told him.“Jeremy’s catching the Christmas spirit, and getting a bit excited.”
“Hard not to catch it, here,” he said, trying not to think about his mistletoe encounter just an hour ago.“But that’s great to hear.He hasn’t had much of that since…”
His voice trailed off, but he glanced at the photograph on what Nic called the family wall.There were shots of her and Jackson, her and her parents, and all of them together.But he’d been surprised to see a lovely shot he himself had taken just a month before the accident that had shattered Jackson and Jeremy’s lives.A shot of the boy at about age six, laughing and smiling up at his mother.
“He still misses her horribly, and he always will,” Nic said.“And that’s as it should be.”
“It doesn’t bother you?Having that picture up there?”
“Why would it?She was Jeremy’s mother, and if not for her I wouldn’t have the greatest gift anyone can ever give.”
Miles looked at this woman who had changed his friend’s life forever, and for the good.
“Leah was a wonderful woman.And as someone who knew her fairly well, I can tell you how happy she would be that you came into their lives.”
Nic sighed.“I just wish she could know they are both loved and ever will be.”
Miles felt that odd combination of tightness in his throat and a pang in his gut.Happiness for his dear friend, and the pang…well, that was for himself, he guessed.In an effort to avoid what he was sure would have been a grim tone if he’d tried to say what he was feeling, he forced an only half-felt lightness into his voice.
“Maybe you can ask Santa to deliver that message.”
She blinked, then smiled.“I might just do that.He’ll be at the Christmas market, after all.”
“Of course he will.”And if the real Santa were to show up anywhere on earth, it’d be a place like Last Stand.
He managed to keep that crazy thought to himself.
“So, are you and Riley going to the parade and tree lighting tomorrow night?”
Damn.The woman never, as Jackson often said, missed a thing.“I’m thinking of going, and I’m sure she is,” he answered carefully, “so…yes, I guess?”
“What, she too old for you?”
He almost gaped at her.He’d completely forgotten about the eight-year gap.He said the first thing he could think of, the point he’d made to Riley herself not long ago.“Hey, now, would you be saying that if it was the other way around?A bit sexist, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t think you were that kind of jerk,” she said with satisfaction.“So what’s the problem?She working you too hard?”
“She works harder,” he said.“I don’t know how she keeps going like that every day.”He shrugged.“Maybe she’s too tired and not going.”
Nic rolled her eyes.“What is it with you guys?Come on, Miles, it’s obvious she rings your chimes—sorry, it’s that time of year—so why aren’t you going together?”
He grimaced.“Ever think maybe I don’t ring hers?”
Nic’s brow furrowed, and she studied him for a moment.“Hmm.”Then, without a word, she turned on her heel and walked out the front door just as Jackson and Jeremy and the panting but happy-looking golden dog came in.She kissed all three of them, lingering a bit longer with Jackson, and was gone.
“Uh-oh,” Jackson said to him after sending Jeremy back to wash up hands obviously grubby from throwing Maverick things to fetch.
“Uh-oh?”Miles asked.
“That was a woman on a mission.What were you two talking about?”
“I…the Christmas parade and tree lighting.”No way was he going to say it was the idea of him and Riley that had set her off.
Jackson frowned.“Not usually something that would get her revved up.Now if you’d told her you weren’t staying for the wedding…”
