Page 51 of My Secret Santa Dallas

She twisted her head, a smile flirting at her lips. “Even while I irritate you to madness?”

“Even then.”

I tilted my head to the sky, “A lot of shit in my life is up in the air right now. I don’t know if I can go back to Cali, but I don’t know if I will have a life back in Cali. I feel morehappiness here than I ever did in San Fran, but it’s a lot that I can’t figure out.”

“Like me,” she said.

“Your life is in Texas,” I said. “And I think a new life might be starting for me here.”

Blair nuzzled into me, “You know, Texas has ranches. Case in point, I work on one.”

What was she saying? Was there any hope here? Should I ask? Should I press? Did I dare dream?

“When are you going to Georgia?” I asked, letting this issue slide a little.

She let out a long breath. “I was thinking tomorrow evening after the drawing. Would you drive me to the airport?”

“Sure,” I told her, and then tightly wrapped my arms around her. “Now, let us have some time to ourselves.”

Blair laughed, “So, are we going to the backseat or doing it right here?”

I slapped her thigh. “My bits would shrivel up and die in this cold. Let’s just sit here and gaze at the sky.”

“Alright, everyone,” Betty announced, her voice filled with warmth as we stepped into the diner with a second to spare, “I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, but it's time for the Secret Santa drawing!”

She reached into the hat, one of those old-timey top hats with a large brim, and pulled out the first name, holding it up for all to see. “Gregory Treeve, our esteemed mayor, will be our first participant.”

The mayor stepped forward; his salt-and-pepper hair brushed back, and made his way to the front, his eyes twinkling with holiday cheer.

“Remember, when you get your name, keep it to yourself,” Betty reminded us. “It’s called Secret Santa for a reason.”

Betty handed him the hat, and dipping his hand in, he made a show of swirling his hand around the bottom, and drew a name, a wide grin breaking on his face as he read the name, and tucked it into the front pocket of his shirt.

I looked at Blair, wondering who he had picked to make him grin so wide.

Names after names were called, and I saw many people I didn’t know, like Marty Wilson, the proprietor of The Silver Screen Theater, or Laura Bennett, the Innkeeper at Whispering Pines Inn. There were even Ranger Lisa Morales and Mr. Richard Stevens, the elementary and high school principal.

Most people were happy with who they picked, but a few looked perplexed, as if they didn’t know what to get for that person. They called Blair before me, and her brows lifted high when she took out her slip of paper.

“That’s…surprising,” she mentioned, and tucked the paper into her jeans pocket.

They called up a few of the guys from the ranch and then got to me. I dipped my hand in and pulled out— Nurse Alice Daniels. What could I get a nurse?

Returning to my seat, I nudged Blair, “Who did you get?”

She slid me an eye. “Not telling.”

I groaned, “Spoilsport.”

She checked her watch. “We must leave for the airport in the next ten minutes.”

Still wondering what to give a nurse, I nodded, “Sure.”

Forty-five minutes later, I was seeing her back as she slipped through the door of the departure gate, the feeling of her kiss still lingering on my lips. I didn’t know what would happen to her in Georgia, but I hoped it wouldn’t stop her from returning home quickly.

“Home…” I grunted. “When the hell had this place become home for her?”

I got to the freeway and headed north to the mountains and the ranch. While half of my mind was on Blair, I still didn’t know what to do about my Christmas present for the nurse.

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