Page 16 of Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas
“A little, but it wasn’t like we had a choice, not if we wanted to be safe.” For a moment, she sounded like she was a forty-year-old speaking out of her ten-year-old mouth, and Steve gave her a sideways glance. She quickly reverted to her usual self. “I mean, Monroe pretty much blew up. A lot worse than Zoe’s explosions, even.”
As he held the gift shop door open for her, Steve felt the urge to laugh and cringe at the same time. She wasn’t wrong.
The store was crowded with shoppers, and Steve nodded politely to them as he followed Maya to the register.
“Hey, Dad, Maya, check out Camille’s metal art in the window,” Will called as he rang up a wreath a man was buying. “Three sold already, but I took pictures of all of them first.”
“Who’s Camille?” Maya asked as she obediently headed toward the display.
“An artist who knew Dad and the uncles when they were kids,” Will answered. “She said she has stories, but Uncle Ryan dragged her out of here before she could tell me any.”
Stories?Steve thought as he followed Maya to the deep shelf in front of the bay window. Will’s interest in Camille’s work made Steve even more curious. Although Will enjoyed working in the store, it was mainly because he liked talking to people and getting paid for it. Normally, he was fairly uninterested in the store’s contents, so for him to comment on Camille’s sculptures was unusual. Will’s theory was that one ornament or wreath or figurine was no different from the next. Steve wanted to see the artwork for another reason, too. After his most recent encounters with Camille, he found he was more than a little interested in the way her mind worked.
As soon as he saw the sculptures, Steve smiled. They were completely different from what he’d imagined, but absolutely perfect. Camille’s personality radiated from both of the two remaining pieces: a mare and foal, and an angel. He recognized some of the parts from their original forms—delicate-looking gears and a piece of quarter-inch copper pipe and a small gasket—but she’d combined them in a way that was beautiful and expressive.
“Whoa,” Maya breathed, reaching out to touch the edge of the angel’s wing. “Ilikethese. She took everything that’s supposed to be plain and ugly and made it pretty.”
Steve crouched down to get a closer look at the mare and foal, amazed at the delicacy of a piece made out of metal scrap. “They’re pretty incredible, aren’t they? I wonder if Micah’s seen these yet.”
“He’s going to love the horses,” Maya said, echoing Steve’s thoughts. He picked up the sculpture without even bothering to look at the price tag, knowing that the cost wouldn’t make a difference. He wanted the piece and knew that he’d kick himself if he didn’t grab it before someone else did. The idea of having something so beautiful—especially since it had come from Camille’s imagination and artistic hands—made him feel warm inside.
“Should we get this one?” Steve asked Maya, even though he’d already decided the horses were his. She enthusiastically nodded. Giving the angel a final awed touch, Maya bounced toward the register where Will was waiting.
“We’re getting the horses!” she called out to him, and Will grinned.
“Good.” Taking the piece from Steve, he slipped it into a cloth bag and placed it in a box well lined with shredded paper. “That was my favorite, and Micah’s going to go nuts over it.”
“That’s what I said, too!” Maya bent closer to the patterned bag that encased the sculpture. “Are those robots printed on there?”
Steve leaned in, and sure enough, the fabric was covered in cartoon robots. A wide grin stretched his cheeks. That detail seemed so perfectly Camille.
“Yep.” Will was the one who answered.
“Nice.” Maya gave the bag an impressed look before Will closed the box. “I call dibs on the robot bag after we take the horses out of the box.”
Steve didn’t want to fight his daughter for the bag, but he was getting more and more intrigued by the artist herself. He wished Ryan wasn’t playing his usual game. He didn’t want to fight over Camille as though she were a bone and they were two hungry dogs. She deserved more than that—much more.
“Take a break,” Steve said when Will finished tying up the box with twine twisted together with green ribbon.
“Great. I’mstaaarving.” He drew out the last word dramatically, and Maya giggled. Even Steve smiled a little, feeling slightly more effervescent than usual. He tried to pretend that he didn’t know why that was and handed the newly packed box to Will.
“Mind taking this to the house?” he asked. “Micah can open it tonight, since he hasn’t seen it yet. I bet Zoe will be impressed, too.”
“Either impressed, or she’ll think it’s a major waste of perfectly good engine parts,” Will said, holding the box under his left arm as he scribbled the hours he’d worked that morning onto his tally sheet with his right hand. It was their low-tech version of clocking out.
“You done for the day, then?” Steve asked. “Who’s working this afternoon?” He hoped he didn’t get roped into it. Not only did he and Maya have a ride planned, but he was only good in the store for about half an hour before all his customer-service skills dramatically declined. Besides, his ribbon curls were sadly subpar.
“Zoe. She wants to earn some money for Christmas presents.”
“Not alone she’s not.”
“Uncle Nate said he’ll do paperwork in the office, in case she needs backup.” Will nodded toward the closet-sized room at the back of the store that barely fit a desk and chair.
“On a Saturday afternoon? It’s our busiest time. She’ll be swamped. What about Ryan?”
“He’ll be on tree and Buttercup duty.” There was an amused note in Will’s voice. Everyone knew that Ryan’s least favorite job was following customers around as they picked the perfect tree. Steve sighed, not even asking about Joe or Micah. There was no way either of those two would come into the store while it was open. “Maya, I’m sorry, but we’re going to need to put off our ride until tomorrow morning after church.”
Although she looked disappointed, she didn’t argue. “That’s okay.”
