Pamela Britton - A Cowboy's Christmas Wedding

“Did you not have the time because of the NFR?”

He gripped the steering wheel even harder, probably leaving dents, his knuckles screaming in protest.

“Hey. You okay?”

“Fine.” He had to force the word past his lips.

“You look sort of...ill.”

Deep breath. “We don’t decorate the house.”

Cabe turned left, out of his driveway, but he could still feel her staring at him, still tell by the way she shifted in her seat that the words surprised her.

“Why not?”

He scanned the road left and right, the waning sunlight causing him to have to lower the brim of his hat so he could see better. “We just don’t.”

But he knew the moment he said the words that they’d only leave her more curious. He wasn’t exactly holding true to his vow to appear more friendly, now, was he?

“Is it a religious thing?”

“No.”

“Okay, good, because if it’s just a timing thing, I can help. Now would be a really good time to do it, too, you know, before things get too crazy with the wedding.”

“No.”

“No to doing it now? Or no to decorating entirely?”

“I don’t want the house decorated.”

Silence. He could sense her surprise. Off in the distance he noticed storm clouds, and Cabe mentally cursed under his breath. In all the hullabaloo surrounding her arrival he hadn’t bothered to check the weather forecast. If it was going to snow, that meant he needed to prepare, but by the time he returned from town, it’d be pitch-black outside.

She still hadn’t spoken and he knew he’d probably been too harsh. But, damn it, she needed to get it through her head that Christmas was not a good time of year. Not since...

He swallowed.

Kimberly.

“Your wife and brother died around this time of year, didn’t they?”

It felt like he’d been sucker punched. As if she’d probed an old wound that sent spasms of pain through his insides. Physical pain.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

He stared straight ahead still, but he spotted movement, nearly gasped when he felt her hand on his thigh a moment later.

“Cabe, I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean... I wasn’t trying to...”

What? Be nosy? No. She wasn’t trying to be that. He knew that, but he still wanted to lash out at her, had to take deep breaths to keep from saying something he knew he might regret later.

“If it helps, I know what you’re going through.”

Oh, yeah? Had she lost a wife and a brother on the same day? Had she lost the mother of her only child? Her best friend?

“Dustin died just before the NFR and so, for me, Thanksgiving is hell.”

Dustin. Trent’s best friend. And hers, too, from the sound of it.

“I didn’t mean to pry.”

She released his thigh. He closed his eyes against the pain, but it wasn’t just emotional pain. Something else had filled him, something that had to do with the way her hand felt against his leg, something that made him so instantly upset, he found himself gunning the engine.

“Let’s just get this over with, shall we?”

He headed toward town, glancing back at her in time to see her nod.

But deep down inside, in a place Cabe had forgotten existed, a place that reminded him that he was a man who’d been without a woman for far too long, Cabe wanted to cry. Admitting that he was human, that he found Saedra attractive, was the worst thing of all.

He betrayed his wife with every damn thought.

Chapter Three

They couldn’t get to town soon enough.

The man could reduce her comfort level to that of sitting on lava rocks.

Let’s just get this over with, shall we?

Maybe she should give him tit for tat. Maybe she should spoon him a taste of his own medicine. Maybe she should make him feel as uncomfortable as he made her feel.

When they pulled to a stop in front of a cute little place that had obviously been converted from a single-story house into a florist shop, she smiled brightly and asked, “You’re coming in with me, right?”

His eyes widened, his face rearranging itself into that of a man who’d just been told he would receive a tetanus shot. “I wasn’t planning on it.”

He wore his black cowboy hat again, and to be honest, it really did make his eyes look ridiculously pretty. They were so light. So startling in color. It wasn’t fair that eyes such as his should be wasted on such a sourpuss of a man.

“You should come. You’re Alana’s best friend. You know her better than I do.”

Nope. Not a happy camper. Good.

“Fine.”

Fine, she mimicked in her own head, happy to escape the truck.

The low-slung home had been painted purple, sparkly Christmas lights surrounding the perimeter of a large picture window in front. Inside she could see refrigerators full of flowers and large plants everywhere. When she opened the door, her nose picked up the scent of eucalyptus and roses. It made her smile for some silly reason.

“I just love roses,” she said, looking into his handsome face and seeing his frown. “Do you think Alana likes them, too?”

“No.”

Terrific. Maybe this hadn’t been such a bright idea, after all.

“Ooo-kay... So what kind of flowers does she like?”

She saw him peek around the shop, saw his gaze settle on some giant Christmas baskets wrapped in cellophane, then move on to a basket of flowers with giant red mums and light green fern.

“There.” He pointed. “Sort of like those.”

Okay. It was a start.

“Can I help you?” asked a perky-looking blonde with ultrashort hair that featured a streak of red nearly the same shade as the flowers.

“Actually, yes.” Saedra approached the front counter. “I need to order flowers for a wedding.”

The woman smiled brightly. “Okay, great. We have a book right here of arrangements if you want to look it over.” She pulled what appeared to be a photo album from behind the counter. “When is the wedding?”

The moment of truth. “Um. In a couple weeks.”

Lips painted ruby-red dropped open revealing a pierced tongue that caught Saedra’s attention. Then she said, “You’re kidding, right?”

Saedra winced. “Um, no.”

“How many arrangements were you thinking?”

“How many can you squeeze in?” Cabe asked for her.

“How big is the bridal party?” the clerk asked.

“Not big.” Saedra smiled encouragingly. “We need a bouquet for the bride and something for the maid of honor and a groomsman, and maybe some flowers for centerpieces and whatnot.”

The words seemed to kill the deal because the woman shook her head. “Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t be an issue, but we’ve been slammed. One of the biggest businesses in town is having a huge Christmas party for their employees, and we have our regular orders, plus a few other parties. Sorry. But I really don’t think we can do it.”

Saedra told herself not to panic. There was still the one other florist in town, and if that failed, the local grocery store.

“All right, thanks.”

On her way to the door, she stopped at a display of Christmas ornaments, tiny angels dangling from bright red strings, glass balls covered with glitter, twinkling lights glinting off it all.

“Aren’t those pretty?”

Cabe had already left the shop. She felt her own mouth drop open, watched as he climbed into his black truck, before glancing back at the tree. How sad that Christmas no longer held any joy for him. No wonder he was always in a grumpy mood.

“You might try Reynolds Florist shop on Second Street,” the clerk said.

“Thanks. I’ll do that.”

A half hour later, she knew it was useless. “Maybe I could pick some wildflowers,” she muttered. “I’m sure there’s some up in the hills, right?”