He leaned closer. “Be careful when you open it.”
“It’s not alive, is it?”
“No, but it’s kind of delicate.”
She glanced over at him and her heart squeezed. He’d made her something and now he was almost breathless as he waited to find out what she thought of it. Her world shifted in that moment as she fell helplessly, hopelessly in love.
Opening the top of the cracker box, she reached gently inside and pulled out…a foil angel.
“It’s for the top of the tree,” he said.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Hey, are you crying?”
“No.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Yes. Oh, Tucker.” Laying the angel carefully on the floor next to the tree, she turned to him and climbed into his lap.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“They’re good tears.” She nestled against his warm body and sighed. “Tucker, it feels like Christmas.”
“Yes.” He stroked her hair. “Yes, it does.”
THE MORNING FELT SO RIGHT that Tucker hated to think about leaving. But the storm had ended and he needed to contact the ranch. After attaching the angel to the top of the tree, he shoveled a path to the outbuilding and gave Houdini the rest of the oats and some of the carrots Lacey had left over. Then he texted Jack, who responded that someone would be over with a snow-mobile within the next two hours.
Tucker relayed that information to Lacey over breakfast. She’d served him scrambled eggs, bacon and the best cinnamon toast he’d ever eaten. He wanted to stay and spend the day with her, but that wouldn’t be happening for several reasons.
First of all, he had to help get Houdini back home. And although Lacey was on vacation, he wasn’t. The ranch was short-staffed over the holidays, and he was needed there. He’d made a point of saying he would cover for the hands who’d gone home to their families over Christmas.
He gazed at her sitting across the table from him. She still wore her bathrobe. Without makeup and with her hair still tousled, she looked like a teenager. He thought how wonderful life would be if he could spend every morning across the breakfast table with her.
He put down his coffee mug with a sigh. “I hate to go.”
“Couldn’t you come back later? Borrow a different snowmobile?”
He shook his head. “Not really. They need me at the ranch.” Then he had an idea. “Would you like to come over there for Christmas dinner? I’m sure they’ll want to show their appreciation for what you’ve done, and at least that way we could spend some time together.”
She regarded him steadily. “I would love that.”
“Great! Dinner’s around four. I’ll come over with a snowmobile and get you about three, and then bring you back here after dinner. I won’t be able to stay all night, but I could stay for…a little while.”
“Okay.” Her smile told him she knew exactly how they’d spend that little while. “That sounds very nice.”
It sounded more than nice to him. It sounded promising.
“And by the way, I’m looking forward to seeing all the decorations at the ranch.” She swept a hand around the room. “All this has changed my attitude. You were smart to insist on creating our own celebration.”
“It worked for me, too. I—” He heard a cell phone, but it wasn’t his. “I think you have a call.”
“Yeah.” She looked disconcerted. “Excuse me.” She picked up her phone from the kitchen counter and walked into the bedroom with it.
Tucker wasn’t sure how he knew who had called, but he knew, all the same. He’d bet his last dollar Lenny was on the phone. His stomach felt queasy and he stood up, unable to sit any longer. Coffee mug in hand, he paced the living room.
He couldn’t hear what Lacey said, but from the low pitch of her voice, he knew the conversation was serious. Maybe something had come up regarding a member of her family. He tried to convince himself this was a family matter, but he didn’t believe it. The way things worked in his world, the minute he started getting invested in a woman, something like this happened.
After what seemed like an eternity, she walked out of the bedroom. “That was Lenny.”
His stomach pitched. “Oh?”
“He misses me.” She looked slightly dazed. “He said he made a terrible mistake by breaking up with me and he wants to get back together. He said he’d find a way to get out here today, so we could spend the holiday the way we’d planned.”
He wanted to yell at her that Lenny couldn’t come to this cabin and enjoy the tree he’d dug up, or the decorations he’d made, or the woman he’d fallen in love with. Because he was in love with Lacey, probably had been a little bit in love with her for years.
Cruelly, he’d had these few hours to fall completely head-over-heels, and now she would go back to Lenny because that’s what women did. They had a great time with Tucker and then went back to their regularly scheduled lives.
He swallowed. “So I guess you won’t be coming over to the Last Chance, after all.”
“I didn’t say that.” There was an edge to her voice.
He started the painful process of putting blockades around his heart. “No, but you won’t, will you?”
“I don’t know, Tucker.” She sounded almost angry. “Do you want me to?”
“That’s entirely up to you, Lacey.” He might have said more, but the roar of a snowmobile cut off their conversation. It was too soon for Lenny to be arriving, so it had to be someone from the Last Chance. Tucker grabbed his hat and coat from the peg by the door. “I need to get going.”
“I’m sure you do.”
He paused by the door. “Give the ranch a call if you decide you want to come for dinner.” He’d deliberately said the ranch because he’d never given her his cell phone number and he wasn’t going to stop and do it now. He had to get the hell out of there before the pain overwhelmed him. She was going back to Lenny. Goddammit, she was going back to that idiot Lenny!
LACEY STOOD WITHOUT MOVING, her cell phone clutched in her hand. Tucker hadn’t been able to get out of there fast enough, and her head was still spinning from his dash to freedom. She could hear him outside laughing and joking with whoever had come to pick him up. It seemed as if he’d already put her out of his mind.
Heartbreaking though it might be, she had to face the possibility that she was simply a bright spot in his life, a person he’d remember fondly but not someone he’d keep around for the long haul. Years ago Tucker had dated lots of girls, but he’d never stuck with one for very long. Maybe he was built that way.
When she’d told him about Lenny, he’d leaped to the conclusion that she was going back to him. Maybe he’d been relieved about that. He’d left the Christmas dinner invitation up to her instead of saying that he really wanted her there. In actuality, she had no idea how much she meant to Tucker. She only knew how much he meant to her.
He’d left before she could tell him what she’d said to Lenny. What we had wasn’t love. I know that, now, because I’ve truly fallen in love, maybe for the first time in my life.
How odd that she’d told Lenny, but Tucker was oblivious. If she had any pride at all, he would remain oblivious. Then she looked at the tree in the corner with the angel on top and decided that pride was overrated.
Tucker might not know it, but he had a lot of love to give and she was just the person who could bring it out in him. She wasn’t going to abandon her feelings for him because he was too dense to realize he needed her. They needed each other. They’d proved that last night and this morning.
Loving him seemed right, and even if he didn’t totally love her back, he had some affection for her. After all, he’d dug up the tree for her, and he’d made an angel to go on top of it. Those two things meant more, in her estimation, than the great sex they’d shared, although that was a bonus. It was good to be turned on by the man you loved.
The sound of the snowmobile starting up prompted her to walk over to the window. They’d tied Houdini’s lead rope to the back of the snowmobile and Tucker was just now climbing on behind whoever had driven over to get him. He turned and glanced back at the cabin.
She raised a hand in farewell, even though she didn’t think he could see her. But she counted it as a good sign that he’d looked back. He might not be as ready to write her off as he’d seemed. She wondered if pride had kept him from telling her that she meant something to him.
Glancing at the cell phone in her hand, she took note of the time. She’d give him a couple of hours to get situated before she called and asked for a ride to the ranch. She had no intention of waiting until three.
She wasn’t nearly through with him, and he wasn’t through with her, either, not if she could help it. If nothing else, she could use some help replanting the tree he’d dug up.
TUCKER WAS GETTING DRESSED after a long-overdue shave and shower when the bunkhouse phone rang. He was the only person down there, so he hurried over to the wall phone while he fastened the snaps on his dark green Western shirt. He picked up the phone. “This is Tucker.”