Page 48 of Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas
“Where are you headed?” Camille asked, doing her best to make an effort to be friendly.
“Harry pulled a shoe.” He grimaced. “It’s lost somewhere between the lot and the trees, so I doubt we’re going to find it before spring. I’m going to grab Harry and meet the farrier by the barn. Just what we needed on one of our busiest days of the year.”
See, Camille lectured herself.He’s perfectly nice when he’s not trying to get you to go out with him.“Can we help with anything?”
“Check with Steve. He’s in the store,” Ryan said over his shoulder as he headed toward the lot, where Harry was tied to the hitching post. A crowd of people swarmed around the horse, making Camille cringe. It had been a long time since she’d had to interact with so many people at once. “He’ll give you a list, I’m sure.”
Maya jogged ahead of her toward the store, and Camille pretended that she wasn’t moving at a turtle’s pace to try to delay the inevitable. The gift shop wasn’t that far away, though, and she reached the entrance far too quickly. Even getting inside was tough, with families and couples crowding the doorway as they walked in and out.
By the time she reached the register where Will and Steve were working, Maya was already busy refilling the coffee maker and cider warmer, and Camille was doubting her decision to stay at the ranch.How bad could staying with Mrs. Lin really be?Immediately, her inner voice assured her that it could’ve been very, very bad.
A man examining the wreath display stepped back, almost running into Camille. Although she managed to dodge, the closeness of all the people pressing in on her made her breathing speed up and her skin prickle with discomfort. Just as she decided to bolt, Steve looked up from the register and saw her. He lit up, a smile stretching across his face, making the corners of his eyes crinkle and erasing all of his habitual sternness. His welcoming look woke the butterflies in her stomach, and they swooped and darted around as she looked back at him, unable to hold back her own broad smile. Suddenly, being in the crowded, noisy store seemed a little less awful.
“Hey, Camille!” Will greeted her as he wrapped a glass star-shaped tree topper in tissue. “We’ve sold two of your sculptures already this morning. I’m so glad they didn’t burn.”
“Will,” Steve scolded, giving her a worried look, but she just choked on a laugh.
“I agree.” She shifted behind the counter to stay out of the customers’ way. Her new position had the secondary benefit of putting her very close to Steve. “I’m also glad that your dad knows how to break into a 1979 Buick Electra so we could get to those pieces.” Peeking up at him through her lashes, she saw that he was giving her one of his stern-but-trying-not-to-laugh looks. It was quickly becoming one of her favorites.
Unlike his dad, Will just laughed outright as he slid the wrapped star into a bag and handed it to the waiting customer.
“Camille, if you’re not too busy telling my son about my less-admirable skills, would you mind taking over packaging?”
As she watched Will bag up a box of bulbs, she gave an internal sigh of relief. Packaging didn’t look so bad. She had plenty of experience from shipping her artwork, and the only customer contact was taking the items and handing them back when they were wrapped and bagged. “I can do that.”
“Great. Thank you.” Steve sounded almost as relieved as she felt. “Will, did you want to work the tree lot or the register?”
“Tree lot.” Judging by the lack of hesitation, it seemed that Will needed a break from the store. Camille could fully empathize with that. “C’mon, Camille. I’ll show you were you can hang up your coat.”
He led her into the small office at the back of the store. “Just throw it on any of these hooks.”
She slipped off the coat she’d borrowed the day before. Even though she had bought a new one at Target, she kept wearing Steve’s, telling herself that she didn’t want to get her new one dirty doing barn chores. The truth was that she loved his. When she was feeling sad or overwhelmed or shaky, she’d bury her nose in the collar and inhale the faint traces of his scent. It calmed her down and made her feel safe, just like his unexpected, comforting hug in the fire marshal’s office the day before. She’d turned his coat into a warm security blanket, and she didn’t want to give it up.
Stuffing her new stocking hat and mittens into one of the coat pockets, she tried to smooth her hair, but she knew it was hopeless. Glancing at Will, she saw he was smirking as he pulled on his coat.
“I know.” She flattened her hands on either side of her head, trying to hide as much of her hair as possible. “I broke the cardinal rule: once the hat goes on, it has to stay on for the rest of the day.”
“Nah, it’s fine. Take out your ponytail.” A little warily, she tugged off the hair band, not sure where he was going with this. “Bend over so your head’s upside down, and shake it out.”
Now she really thought he had to be messing with her.
“Hurry up,” he urged. “Dad’s having to ring things up and wrap, and he’s horrible at wrapping. If he had his way, he’d roll everything up in newspaper, slap some duct tape on it, and throw it into a plastic garbage bag.”
She did what Will said, amused despite herself by the silliness of it all.
“Okay, stand up and flip your hair back.”
Her hair flip was only semisuccessful, so curly strands hung in her face. She shoved them out of her eyes and looked at Will expectantly.
“Nice, just…” He reached toward her head and then paused. “If it’s okay?”
“Go ahead.”
After he quickly adjusted a few strands, he stepped back and eyed the end result before giving a satisfied nod. “Check it out.”
Glancing at her reflection in the small window, she frowned. It was hard to see much, since the sun was shining outside, but from what she could tell, it looked a little…wild. “It’s not too…?” She blew out her cheeks and flicked her fingers in an explosive gesture.
“Nope.” He grinned at her before dashing out of the office. “It’s perfect.”
