Page 48 of Cowboy Friend Zone for Christmas

Soon, it was just Noelle, Nash, his brothers, and the Hofstetters left in the room.

“I am so grateful for everything you did today. There are no adequate words,” Noelle gushed as she reluctantly handed Landry back to his mama. “I can’t believe you did all of this.” She fluttered her hands at the room. “For me.”

“How could I not?” Shelly murmured the words against her son’s cheek. “You went to a lot of trouble to be there for me when this little guy made his early appearance.” Her eyes were glistening when she raised her head. “You were in the ER yourself, for pity’s sake! I’ll never forget it.”

Noelle’s eyes grew damp as well at the memory. “You and Landry managed to turn the worst day of my life into something beautiful. For that, I will always be grateful.”

“We could stand here and mush all over each other until we’re old and gray…” Flint edged into their tight circle with a playful waggle of his eyebrows to tug Noelle toward the front door. “Yo, Nash,” he called over his shoulder. “Come get your woman and go.”

Nash gave him a dark look from the other side of the room where he and Ames were gathering armfuls of birthday gifts to carry to the truck.

Noelle dug her elbow into Flint’s side. “Are you going to help them or what?”

“Nope.” He pressed an extra noisy kiss to her cheek. “The best thing I can do for Nash right now is let him carry his own weight.”

Nash must have overhead Flint’s comment as he strode in their direction. “How about we let you walk home, Mr. Unhelpful?”

“On second thought…” With a wink at Noelle, Flint hurried deeper into the room to grab a load of gifts.

Nash dropped his brothers off at their ski lodge first. Then he drove three doors down and pulled into the driveway of a much larger chalet — two full stories of cedar walls, windowed outsets, and balconies.

“This is really nice!” She shot Nash a curious look. “Who lives here?”

“Nobody at the moment.” He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. “I talked to the realtor about it yesterday and told her I’d bring you here this evening for our first walk through.” He kissed her fingers. “Assuming you said yes to the question I asked you earlier.”

“You want to purchase a home for us in Pinetop?” Noelle wasn’t sure she’d heard right.

“I’m open to the idea.” He lowered their joined hands back to the console between them. “The Castellanos have offered to make us a prominent part of their Christmas show this year. If we accept their offer, we’re going to need a more permanent place to hang our hats while we divide our time between here and Texas.”

She exhaled slowly as she absorbed his words. “So you’re not selling Canyon Creek Ranch?” It was a relief to hear it.

“Definitely not,” he assured. “Remember, Ames has a pilot’s license, so we can jet between here and Dallas anytime we need to.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “How do he and Flint feel about spending more time in Pinetop?” Her own feelings on the topic were mixed. As much as she’d enjoyed getting to spend time with Shelly and the baby, the rift between her and her parents had grown even wider.

“Believe it or not, they’re pretty sold on it.” He gave a dry chuckle. “I suspect our friendship with the Lee sisters has sweetened the deal. Plus, they claim they’re having more fun than they expected, not having to risk incurring a major injury every time they step into the ring. None of us intended to ride broncs forever.”

A mid-sized white SUV pulled into the driveway beside them.

“That’s our realtor.” Nash smiled tenderly at her. “You ready to do some house shopping, babe?”

“I’m ready.” She blew him a flirty kiss. “I like our new ground rules, Nash.” As she reached for the door handle, he abruptly tugged her back in his direction.

“Which one?” His voice was low and teasing. “The part about getting to kiss me in public now?”

“Definitely that one.” Her voice was dreamy. “And getting to tell you how much I love you anytime I want to.” During her abduction, she’d been terrified she might’ve missed her final chance.

“Tell me again,” he begged huskily.

“I love you, Nash Carson.” She gazed deeply into his eyes. “Always and forever.” She would never get tired of telling him that, and never get tired of seeing his expression soften when she did.

“I love you, too.” He kissed her with his eyes as he reluctantly let her go. “Let’s do this, babe.” Joy glowed in his gaze as he pushed his door open and stepped into the mountain breeze.

EPILOGUE

December

Noelle smoothed her hands down the front of her white crushed velvet dress. It was far from a typical wedding gown. However, the moment she’d laid eyes on it at one of the boutiques down the street, she’d known it was the perfect dress in which to exchange wedding vows with her favorite ranch manager and rodeo star. Vintage lace edged the neckline and sleeves. The hem draped to the floor and extended in a short train behind her. More vintage lace edged the train.

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