Cowboy Unwrapped

“Then I’m afraid I don’t know anybody. Sorry.”

“No problem. Just thought I’d ask.” He wasn’t worried. Somebody would have a sleigh he could use. Amethyst was in town and eager to spend time with him. Christmas had just become a whole lot more festive.

2 (#ufcc001ab-7ea1-5b22-93af-8c71063a0220)

AMETHYST DROVE TO her parents’ house singing at the top of her lungs. She couldn’t wait to tell Sapphire that Jake Ramsey was in town. Her sister was the only person on the planet besides Jake who knew about that hot night in Jackson Hole. Talking about it, when it might never happen again, seemed like a mistake. Sapphire had promised to keep it to herself.

Ah, but Amethyst had so hoped it would happen again. She had a gig in Jackson Hole for New Year’s Eve and she’d planned to contact him. She’d decided to wait until the last minute, though, in case he was off duty and had a date for New Year’s. What they’d shared didn’t fit in the category of dating and that made it twenty times more exciting.

But she’d been aware that he could meet someone in Jackson Hole who didn’t have big dreams of a recording contract and was willing to work around his shifts at the fire station. Amethyst didn’t want to stand in the way of him getting his happily-ever-after even though she wasn’t in the market.

He hadn’t found anyone, though, or he wouldn’t have asked her to come out to the ranch for a sleigh ride. The boy she’d known in high school and the man she’d enjoyed one scorching night with wasn’t a cheater. Far from it. With his sun-bleached hair, green eyes and firefighter physique he was the all-American good guy.

She was a little surprised that some woman in Jackson Hole hadn’t snapped him up, but since no one had, she hoped to make use of whatever stolen moments were available while he was here. A sleigh ride into a snowy landscape dotted with pine trees and devoid of people was a good start.

Grady Magee’s truck in her parents’ driveway told her that he and Sapphire had arrived from Cody. Amethyst was thrilled for her sister, a talented ceramic artist who’d vowed never to become involved with a creative guy again after several debacles. But Grady, whose recycled metal sculptures had taken the art world by storm, had changed her mind.

Coincidentally, Grady and his older brother Liam had also lived at Thunder Mountain for a couple of years while their mom had recovered from a debilitating car accident. Grady had been at the ranch when Jake had lived there, so as she parked behind Grady’s truck she decided to immediately mention seeing Jake instead of waiting for a private chat with Sapphire. Come to think of it, Grady and Sapphire might be going to Thunder Mountain for Christmas Eve. Maybe she could tag along.

Dinner with five imaginative people at the table was lively. Clearly, Amethyst’s mom, Sheridan High School’s art teacher, and her dad, who’d had his own jazz band for years, had welcomed Grady into the fold. Amethyst could see why.

Unlike the other artists Sapphire had dated, he obviously fed her creativity instead of stifling it. Tonight she was 100 percent herself. Her clothes were vibrantly colored and a hand-carved comb held back her auburn hair to show off beaded earrings that dangled to her shoulders. Best of all, every time she looked at Grady her face glowed, so moving to Cody and working in Grady’s renovated barn must agree with her.

Conversation flowed so fast that Amethyst didn’t have a chance to mention Jake until they were having dessert, chocolate lava cake that was a family favorite.

Grady heaped praise on the dessert. “I could live on this.”

“Me, too.” Amethyst scooped up another spoonful of cake and syrup. “Before I fall into a sugar-induced coma, though, I wanted to tell you that I met Jake Ramsey in town just before I drove here.”

Sapphire’s eyes widened. “Oh, really?”

“Yep.” Amethyst sent her a warning glance. “We bumped into each other in the hardware store.”

“Jake’s home for Christmas?” Grady’s happy smile was one of his many endearing traits. “I didn’t know he was coming back. That’s terrific.”

“I remember Jake from when you dated him,” her mother said. “Nice boy, although he always seemed a little quiet for you.”

“He was sort of shy back then. Not as much now.” She didn’t dare look at Sapphire, who had barely managed to cover a snort of laughter with a cough.

“I haven’t seen him in forever,” Grady said. “By the time I came back from working that pipeline job in Alaska he’d hired on with the fire department over in Jackson Hole. Did he say if he was still at that job?”

“I believe he is.”

“I’ll bet firefighting’s a good fit for him. We used to tease him about his overdeveloped sense of responsibility. He didn’t pull pranks like the rest of us. Anyway, it’ll be great to see him. Always liked the guy.”

Amethyst could feel her mother’s assessing gaze. No doubt she was remembering the gig in Jackson Hole and wondering if there was more to the story than met the eye, especially after Sapphire’s “Oh, really?” comment. Jane Ferguson was no fool and when it came to her daughters she seemed to know when a romance was in the making.

But this time her radar was off because there was no romance. Lust, definitely. But romance suggested a soft-focus ending to the story and Amethyst had no interest in that. She was hoping that a talent scout or someone with connections in the music industry would show up at one of her gigs. With luck, that could lead to a recording contract and a move to LA. Marriage and a family didn’t fit in with that dream.

After the meal Sapphire offered to clean up the kitchen and recruited Amethyst to help for old times’ sake. The minute they were alone she lowered her voice. “So? Did you know about this visit?”

“I didn’t, and when I saw him in town I thought that meant he wasn’t interested anymore. But you know how I am—can’t just let something go. So I followed him into the store to find out for sure if he was deliberately ignoring me.”

“And?”

“He’s still interested.” As she remembered the gleam in his eyes when he’d learned her roommate was gone, she couldn’t hold back a grin.

“Then why didn’t he contact you?”

“It’s Christmas. He has family stuff. I have family stuff.”

Sapphire nodded. “Makes sense. But surely you can work something out.” She peered at her. “You want to, right?”

“You bet I do. You should have seen him standing there looking all rugged in his sheepskin coat and Stetson. Those green eyes are killer. I was ready to attack him on the spot.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“For starters he invited me out to the ranch for a sleigh ride tomorrow afternoon.”

“You mean a sleigh ride or a sleigh ride?” Sapphire wiggled her fingers to make air quotes.

“That’s tough to say with so many people around. Besides, it doesn’t matter. I let it drop that Arlene is out of town for the holidays.”

“She is?” Sapphire clapped her hand over her mouth and glanced at the kitchen doorway. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I think Mom already knows something’s going on.”

“Probably. It’s my fault. I didn’t expect you to suddenly announce that your red-hot lover boy was in town.”

“I wasn’t going to. Then I remembered that he and Grady lived at Thunder Mountain at the same time, so I felt obligated to mention it.”

“Absolutely. Grady’s always thrilled when he gets a chance to connect with some of his foster brothers. Anyway, that’s fabulous news about Arlene being gone.”

“She’s a good roommate. Not as good as you, but we get along and she pays her share of the rent on time.”

“I worried that she’d talk you to death. When I worked with her at the Art Barn co-op she was quite the chatterbox. Sweet, but extremely verbal.”

Amethyst smiled. “She is, but I love her work and she’s given me a gorgeous watercolor of the Bighorns that I put in my bedroom. Whenever she carries on too long, I suddenly have to record another track for my next album and I scoot upstairs to my studio. Like I said, we get along.”

“I’m glad. And she had the good sense to be out of town at a critical moment in your personal life.”

“No kidding. Anyway, I need to go home tonight and put clean sheets on the bed and spruce up the place a little.”

“Like he’ll care. Hey, listen, I know hanging out in a crowd with your studmuffin isn’t optimal, but Grady and I are going over to Thunder Mountain tomorrow night for their Christmas Eve celebration if you want to come along. We could—oh, wait, I just remembered something. There’s a cat. His name’s Ringo. I’ll bet Jake’s forgotten about your allergies.”

“Is Ringo indoor or outdoor?”

“Both. He has a bed in the kitchen. I don’t think he gets on the furniture in the house, but still, you don’t want to go out there and start sneezing your head off.”