A Maverick under the Mistletoe

“I’m not hung up on Sutter,” she immediately denied. “In fact, I’ve barely even seen him since he came back to Rust Creek Falls.”

“Because you’ve been avoiding him,” Alex guessed.

She pulled her hand away and stood up to clear the dishes from the table. “Because I don’t want to see him.”

He followed her into the kitchen. “Why would it matter if you didn’t still have feelings for him?”

She hated that he could so easily see a truth that she’d only recently acknowledged to herself. “Our relationship didn’t end amicably,” she admitted. “So there are probably some unresolved issues.”

“Then you need to resolve them,” Alex said gently.

“I need to move on with my life.”

“You’re an incredible woman, Paige. And I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve spent with you, but you’re never going to move on with your life until you put your history with Sutter behind you.”

“It’s five years behind me,” she protested.

“I stopped by town hall on my way home from work to catch the last part of the debate last night,” he told her. “And when you stood up to defend Sutter Traub, there was more passion in your words than in any of the kisses we’ve ever shared.”

She didn’t know how to respond to that except to say, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he said. “And don’t ever settle for less than everything you want.”

“You’re dumping me, aren’t you?”

He shook his head. “I’m letting you go so that you can figure out what you want. If you decide that’s me, you know where to find me.”

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then lowered his head and touched his lips to hers. It was a nice kiss. Light and friendly, and completely uninspiring. She wanted to feel heat or tingles—anything—in response to his touch, but there was nothing.

As she watched Alex drive away, she silently cursed Sutter Traub and the possibility that his kisses had ruined her for any other man.

Chapter Four

Sutter was one of the first voters lined up when the polling station opened on Thursday morning, right behind Collin and Willa, who followed Nathan Crawford. Sutter wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that Nate had camped outside of town hall to ensure that he was able to cast the first ballot.

There was a steady stream of voters throughout the day. Some of them wore their allegiance proudly on their lapels in the form of buttons that proclaimed Crawford or Traub, and by Sutter’s estimation, they were fairly equal in number—and far outnumbered by the voters who came in grim faced and solemn with no indication as to how they were voting or why.

Nate had several factors in his favor. Aside from his campaign being widely supported and well funded—although no one in town really seemed to know where his money was coming from—he’d lived and worked in Rust Creek Falls his entire life. He was friendly and generally well liked, and he always knew what was going on with everyone in town. Of course, that probably had something to do with the fact that Crawford’s General Store was the shopping mecca of Rust Creek Falls and people tended to chat while they browsed, making it the central point of information dissemination, too.

Collin, on the other hand, tended to keep to himself and mind his own business. He lived on Falls Mountain and operated independently out of a renovated workshop on the property. He’d inherited CT Saddles from their great-uncle, Casper Traub, but it was Collin’s artistic craftsmanship that had really put the business on the map. He made custom saddles and tack and pretty much anything of leather, and he’d used the same focus and attention to detail that had made the company a success to develop a solid plan to rebuild the town and revitalize the economy.

The polling station closed at 6:00 p.m., at which time Thelma McGee taped up the tops of the boxes and took them into the back room to be counted by the independent vote counters. The first step was to divide the ballots into separate piles: Crawford, Traub and spoiled ballots. Then each pile was counted once, then counted again to double-check the results.

The candidates were entitled to be present during the counting of the ballots, along with an authorized representative. Nate Crawford was there with his campaign manager, Bill Fergus. His parents, his sister, Nina, several close friends and a handful of campaign workers were waiting outside for the results.

Of course, everyone was there in anticipation of a celebration, but only one candidate could win. And Sutter couldn’t help but think that if his brother lost, it would be his fault, that he’d tainted Collin’s campaign by being part of it. Because he was afraid his family would share that belief, he decided it was somehow less stressful to hide out with Thelma and watch the votes being counted than to wait with his family for the results. So Sutter stayed in the room while Collin opted to remain outside with Willa and the rest of the family, claiming he was too nervous to watch.

It was nearly nine o’clock before the final results were tallied, and although the numbers were close, when Thelma McGee emerged from the back room it was to announce that Collin Traub was the victor. Of course, Nate Crawford was furious, and although Sutter heard him grumbling and predicting dire consequences for the town, he couldn’t dispute the results. For the benefit of the local reporter who was hanging around, he offered Collin a terse congratulations and a brief handshake, then walked out of town hall with his family and supporters trailing after him.

While Collin and Willa and the rest of “Team Traub” were laughing and hugging, Sutter found himself looking around the small gathering of supporters for Paige, but she wasn’t there. He knew he had no right to be disappointed. She hadn’t made him any promises, but he’d hoped that she would show up anyway. He’d wanted her to share in the victory he was sure wouldn’t have happened if not for her words at the town hall meeting earlier in the week.

Her absence was proof to Sutter that she wanted to maintain a certain distance between them, that the brief conversation they’d shared after that meeting hadn’t bridged the gap of five years. And maybe that was for the best.

He forgot about Paige—at least for a minute—when he got back to the ranch and discovered that the rest of the family had already gathered there. Bob and Ellie, of course, along with Braden and Dallas and Dallas’s three boys—Ryder, Jake and Robbie. Clayton and Antonia had made the trip from Thunder Canyon with their two children, Bennett and Lucy, in tow, as had Forrest and his new wife, Angie.

Ellie had the champagne in the fridge—and sparkling grape juice for the kids and the nursing mother—so that as soon as everyone was gathered, the drinks were ready to be poured. As hugs and kisses were exchanged all around, Bob popped the corks and started the bubbles flowing. It was a joyous celebration—thankfully with enough people around that Sutter could avoid having any direct communication with Forrest.

When the glasses had been distributed, Sutter raised his and called for attention to toast Mayor Collin Traub. Everyone joined in, clinking crystal and adding congratulations and advice, and Forrest leaned over to tap his glass to Sutter’s.

It wasn’t a big deal—or it shouldn’t have been. But to Sutter it was huge. Because in that moment, Forrest had looked him directly in the eye. Not a word had passed between the two of them, but somehow Sutter felt as if the vise that had been squeezing his chest eased, just a little. For the first time in a long time, he actually felt as if he was part of the family, as if he was home.

* * *

This is probably a bad idea.

As Paige turned her vehicle into the long drive that led toward the Triple T Ranch, she was seriously questioning the wisdom of her impetuous decision to come here, and yet she couldn’t stay away. She’d been pleased to hear about Collin’s victory, but her thoughts weren’t focused so much on the new mayor as his campaign manager. Which was why she knew this was a bad idea.

And yet she didn’t turn her car around; she didn’t drive away. Instead, she parked at the end of the long line of vehicles and tried to ignore the pounding of her heart.

She could hear talking and laughing from inside even as she made her way to the door, and she wondered if anyone would be able to hear the ring of the bell over the cacophony of sounds. But her finger had barely lifted from the buzzer when the door was opened and she was face-to-face with Sutter.

“You didn’t come to town hall.”

She was taken aback by his greeting. Not the accusation of the words so much as the hurt beneath them. She hadn’t intended to hurt him. Truthfully, she wouldn’t have thought that she could. They were supposed to be beyond that.

But somehow, only two days after vowing to put him out of her mind, she was at his door. And no matter how many times she told herself that she hadn’t come to see him, she knew it was a lie.

“I figured I’d already made enough of a public statement at town hall on Monday night.”

“Well, you’re here now, so you can join the party,” he said. Then he pulled her into his embrace and swung her around.

Unable to do anything else, Paige held on as the world spun around her. Even when he released her and her feet were back on solid ground, her head continued to spin. And Paige knew it wasn’t a consequence of the physical motion as much as the euphoria of being in Sutter’s arms again.

This was definitely a bad idea.

“I’m glad you came.”

His smile was so real, his joy so evident, she couldn’t help but want to share in the emotion of the moment with him. But that was a dangerous wish, so she said, “I can’t stay—I just wanted to congratulate Collin.”

The brightness of his smile faded just a little. “Of course,” he agreed, and led her to the living room. “Look who decided to join the party.”

In response to Sutter’s announcement, everyone turned. And Paige realized that every member of the Traub family was there, including the two brothers who now lived in Thunder Canyon, more than three hundred miles away.

“I apologize for crashing the party,” she said, suddenly self-conscious.

“It’s not crashing when you were invited,” Sutter pointed out to her.

Ellie pressed a glass of champagne into her hand. “It’s wonderful to see you, Paige.”