Page 24 of Her Candy Cane Cowboy
I’m hoping to convince her to agree to come with me to the bonfire later. I think she’d enjoy the spiked cocoa. I always do. I also like how we all sing Christmas carols but I’m not sure she’d like that especially after what she just told me.
I want to take all the bad memories her ex and no-account friend gave her and override them with good ones we create together. I want to make her smile. Make her laugh. I want her to realize that my love will surround her, that it’s so wide and deep, it’ll be her cushion. Her shield.
That’s my goal. I still want to beat her ex’s ass, though. That’s a secondary goal. That asshole.
I put on a dress shirt and jeans, then pack my stuff and load it into the trunk of the rental car since I’m leaving soon. I enjoy being here. Love visiting with Mary and Christopher and the guys.
But I miss my ranch. Miss my horse. I even miss doing chores. Over the years, that land became a part of me. Lucky River is a town that makes me feel like I’ve always belonged there.
The first day my birth parents brought me to town and introduced me around…I still recall their proud smiles. The tears in my mother’s eyes. Everywhere we went, people hugged me. Some of them cried, said they’d hoped for years I’d be found.
My brothers were raised hearing about their missing sibling and once the initial meeting was over, they accepted me and treated me like we’d grown up together. Being a teenager, I’d acted cool, like I wasn’t affected that I’d never been forgotten.
Lost in thought, the trip back to town goes by in the blink of an eye. I slow as I draw near the community center. The street in front of it is filled with cars and pickup trucks and it takes me a few minutes to find parking.
No sooner do I step out into the cold than I get a weird premonition that something’s about to change. Before that thought clears my head, my phone dings with an alert.
I wait until I’m inside the warmth of the center to check it. The weather app I use because of needing to watch out for the wellbeing of my livestock shows a half dozen dire warnings.
An incoming winter ice storm being touted as the storm of the century is headed to Texas and will hit in the middle of the night tonight. That means the airport will shut down and if I don’t change my plane ticket home to an earlier time, I won’t make it back to spend Christmas with my family.
And it’s a sworn promise among us that we will always be together on Christmas because we missed so many holidays together in the past.
It also means I can’t stay for the bonfire. I glance up from my phone and see Ginger across the room. Her head is bent and she’s looking at her phone and frowning.
She’s wearing a white sweater and black jeans that hug the curves I love. The curves I already want to see again. I fight to keep my thoughts from recalling how I’d tasted her. How I’d lost myself in her sweet body. Otherwise, I’m going to have my cock bulging on display for the entire crowd here to see.
I approach and her frown instantly disappears with her smile. I like seeing that my presence can chase away her frown.
“Did you see the weather?” She taps her phone screen and when I nod, she adds, “I need to leave. I can’t risk missing Christmas with my dad. I got a ride to the airport when I flew out here but with this storm coming, the transportation company notified me that they won’t be operating. I’ll have trouble finding a way home.”
I don’t like seeing her worried, but I like that this situation presents a chance to spend more time with her. “Lucky River isn’t far from Coyote Bend. We can land at the same airport where I left my truck if you change your ticket. I can drive you home from there.”
“Are you sure?” She pulls her address up and shows it to me. “That’s not too far for you to take me?”
I’d drive her from one end of the world to the next if she needed me. “Not at all.”
She touches my arm and beams at me. “You’re my hero.”
I feel ten feet tall knowing I was the one who made the happiness shine in her eyes. “I’ll run back to the ranch and say my goodbyes. You head to the Inn and get your stuff. I’ll pick you up there.”
I quickly leave and book it back to the ranch. I get online and change my flight, then walk out to where the bonfire has already begun. Everyone greets me, and I tell them what’s going on with the incoming weather. They’re concerned about me flying back but I assure them I’ll beat the storm in.
Then I hug Mary and Christopher as tightly as I can. We’ll see each other again next year, but saying goodbye is hard every time I leave.
Mary tells me to be careful, and to call her when I get home. I promise I will as I get in the car to drive back to town.
When I get there, Ginger is bundled in her coat and her cheeks and the tip of her nose are red.
I jump out to load her luggage. “You should have waited inside where it’s warm.”
“Yes, Mr. Wolf.”
She turns to get into the passenger side, and I swat her on her curvy ass. “Don’t make me give you a spanking for your sassiness.”
She sticks out her tongue and gets in the car. “Just so you know, threatening to spank me isn’t a deterrent.”
I get in and adjust the heat to warm her. “You’d like that, huh? I’ll make a note. My beauty is due for a spanking.”
