Christmas with the Rancher

For one thing, Travis seemed to have grown into the man that Jaycee had only mildly described in her letter. Now he seemed to be more of the town stud instead of the school flirt that Jaycee had noted.

Dusty yammered on about how glad he was to see her. How he was a Realtor now, with his own business out of Jackson, Wyoming. He even gave her a card, but all Bella wanted was to get the heck out of there, and not just the tavern, but the entire state.

And as soon as the world stopped spinning, she would do just that.

Chapter Three (#ulink_b26b5d45-d37f-565a-9842-1d6f5249a5ea)

“It’s the only way you’re going to get home without falling on your butt again. Them city boots of yours might look good, but they’re worthless in all this snow. Come on.” Travis held out his hand. “You don’t have to even talk to me if you don’t want to.”

It had taken Bella the better part of thirty minutes for her world to completely stop spinning after Dusty had given her that twirl. Three beers—or was it four or even five, she’d lost track—combined with no food had given her a buzz she wasn’t prepared for. And by the time she was ready to fight the elements, the snow had accumulated to an impossible level. Her only course back to the inn was to either walk, which seemed totally problematic, especially since she’d already fallen once, or she could ride up front with Travis in his red horse-drawn sleigh all lit up like a Christmas tree. Clearly he was taking the season to a whole new level.

The sleigh held not only Travis, which was bad enough, but Dusty, his pretty little wife, Dora, who couldn’t be more than five foot two inches tall in heels, bartender Milo Gump, a mountain of a man under a brown cattleman’s pinch-front hat, his pink-haired, pregnant wife, Amanda, and Jaycee, without her baby. Her husband, Fred, had stopped by to take little Bella home right after Jaycee had nursed her, thank you very much. They were all seated inside the covered sleigh, sharing thick wool blankets, looking warm and cozy despite the bitter cold, singing Christmas carols.

Of all the things Bella did not want to do, sitting up front with Travis and sharing a blanket while those two magnificent, perfectly marked, bay-colored Clydesdales with their classic white socks and well-defined blaze faces pulled everyone home, was on the top of her list.

“I can walk. I’ll be fine,” she told him in no uncertain terms and turned away from the sleigh, facing what had to be the snow challenge of her life.

But Dusty had other ideas.

Before Bella could take one step, he jumped down from the sleigh, picked her up by her waist and deposited her on the red leather coachman’s seat next to Travis.

“This is for your own good, darlin’,” Dusty said, and a moment later the sleigh was gliding over the snow-laden street heading in the opposite direction from the inn with Bella trying to stay as far away from Travis as possible.

“Come on and move in closer. I won’t bite,” Travis said while a raucous version of “Sleigh Ride” echoed from the group sitting inside the sleigh.

“No...thanks,” she told him, her jaw quivering.

He glanced over at her. “Your stubbornness is going to give you frostbite. You look like you’re shaking.”

She turned to face him. “You had this planned, didn’t you?”

“Sure did.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I thought so.”

“Don’t be so dang smug. This has nothing to do with you. I always take them home when I bring my sleigh to town. Just makes sense, especially in all this snow. Nothing personal. Now, slide on over here and get under this blanket before I have to take you to the E.R. for hypothermia.”

He moved the reins to one hand and with the other held the blanket up for her to slide under. A fiercely cold breeze slapped her face with snow and her hesitation at once dissipated. She slid over as close as possible without touching him, tucked the blanket over her legs and at once felt warmer.

“Now, isn’t that better?”

“It’ll do.”

The sleigh hit a small drift and suddenly her hips and legs rested against his, the warmth of his body permeating hers.

“Mmm, I like that,” he said. “Reminds me of when we used to sit together up in the attic at your place.”

“Yeah, well, it’s only because we hit a bump in the road.”

“I’d say we’ve hit more than a bump.”

She threw him a look, but didn’t respond. Her thoughts weren’t quite clear at the moment, and she didn’t want to say anything that she’d regret later. Instead, she slid away from him until he hit yet another drift and she slid into him once again.

“Give it up, Bella. You’re too cold and this seat is way too small for you to act as if we barely know each other. Snuggle up and make yourself comfortable. It’s going to be a long ride.”

She relented and allowed herself to find comfort in the warmth of his body, and in so doing she caught herself silently singing a rousing rendition of “Jingle Bells.”

Being that close to him generated enough heat to instantly do away with her shivers. She hated the undeniable fact she still had feelings for him despite all the hours she’d cried herself to sleep when she was a teen. Living so far away had purged the childhood hurt, and had transformed her into a take-charge, hard-as-nails businesswoman who prided herself on being completely in control of her emotions. Very little fazed her or made her cry anymore. In some business circles she was even referred to as cold, uncaring and even downright heartless.

Yet here she was getting all torn up over her close proximity to Travis Granger, so much so that her eyes welled up.

And she’d been certain she’d gotten over him years ago.

Yeah, right.

* * *

THE NEXT MORNING, Travis awakened early, unable to sleep. All he could think of was Bella Biondi’s body rubbing up against his under that blanket in the sleigh. And that smile...get outta town. Way too much emotion had been surging through his veins for a sound sleep, especially since he’d spent the night at the inn, only steps away from Bella’s room. He’d boarded his horses and stowed his sleigh in the stable behind the inn. It was easier for him to stay in town during the week before Christmas, where Nick always provided a free room.

He’d gotten offers to go home with two childhood classmates who he’d once hung around with after Bella and her mom had left town, but he wasn’t interested in lighting a fire under those relationships. Truth be told, he’d never been interested in either one of those women other than as friends, but to this day, they never seemed to get the message.

Until last night when he told each of them flat out, and even then there was the whole “benefits” conversation. A waste of time, he told them.

With Bella back in town, his entire focus had shifted, especially since he’d caught something in her eyes last night while they were riding inside the sleigh: a genuine, unfiltered happiness. More than once he’d spotted her pretty lips mouthing the words to a Christmas carol, as if she had no control over the surge of joy that overtook her. It was that surge he wanted to appeal to. That playfulness he thought he might tap into and keep her right there in Briggs, at least until he could get her to let her guard down and enjoy the holiday he now knew she secretly still loved. No one who truly disliked Christmas would sing along with the group, no matter how cool she acted or what she said.

Sometime around dawn, he’d gotten up, showered, dressed and took off for the only place in this entire town where he might find something that would help bring out that playfulness: the attic inside Dream Weaver Inn. He thought if he could locate the tiara he’d overheard her talking about with Jaycee that maybe he’d be able to help her find Christmas in her heart. He knew she hadn’t taken it because he’d wandered into her bedroom right after she’d left and found it lying on the floor next to her bed. At the time, even though Nick had told him she and her mom had moved away, he hadn’t believed it. Instead, he assumed they’d be returning one day soon, so he’d picked it up and placed it on her pillow.

Regrettably, she had never returned and her bedroom had later been converted into a guest room. Knowing Nick never threw anything away, Travis hoped the tiara would be somewhere up in the attic and he intended to find it.