Page 39 of Must Love Mistletoe

Chapter Thirteen

The problem withThanksgiving trips north, Beth thought, had always been the travel and the risk of bad weather closing in before anyone got where they were going. Cal hovered and tinkered beneath the hood of her truck, and checked her snow chains, and then hovered some more, while she and Sam loaded the vehicle with baked treats and enough clothes to last a week. He hadn’t said a word about her plans, but his actions spoke loudly enough.

Be safe. I’m right here. I’ll still be here when you get back.

Cal was looking after the place and the ponies while they were away. Four nights, five days. Too long without him.

“I’ll call you when we get there,” she said, and then for his ears only added, “You big mother hen.”

“Give your mom and sister my regards. Red’s family, too.”

She hadn’t asked Cal to go with them. Not this time, although she fully intended to tell her family and Red’s that she was dating him and had never been happier. Or maybe she wouldn’t phrase it exactly like that. She could say she and Cal were seeing each other and, so far so good, and track their reactions. Although that sounded too wishy-washy. Something in between. “I will. One of the reasons I’m taking this trip is to tell them about us. Then, when we get back, you’re going to help us choose a Christmas tree. We’re going to be right here for Christmas and they’re all coming to us. You’ll be here for Christmas, too, right?” She hadn’t exactly asked him outright. Best not to assume.

“I can do that.” His smile was like a ray of sunshine peeking through clouds.

“And you’ll be here when we get back.”

“Right here. Straining at the yoke.” His smile widened. “Who’s the mother hen now?”

“You’re a funny man, Cal Casey.”

Such a gift of a man to wake her wary heart.

*

The valley wasa different place over the next few days. Just like Cal knew deep in his bones that the wolf pack was still around, Beth and Sam had left a gap he couldn’t fill.

Even though he tried to.

If he wasn’t with the cattle, he could generally be found in his workshop, shaping burls of wood into vases or bowls, or carving this year’s Christmas ornament for his mother’s tree—he’d made his mother a Christmas ornament every year since he was five years old, and although some were better than others, she treated every one of them as if it was made of gold. A new belt for TJ in the hope his bull rider brother would finally show off his collection of championship buckles hidden deep in a drawer somewhere. A cheeseboard for Madeline the entertainer. A customized toolbelt for Seth.

Sometimes Seth tracked him down now the building work had slowed for the season, claiming himself in need of refuge from a pregnant woman with a current craving for a naked working man, but his brother was glowing when he said it so there was definitely no trouble in that small corner of paradise.

Jett called in most days because he was making a sled for Claire, and it needed to stay a secret, so where better than Cal’s workshop?

Even Mason sauntered in, wanting Cal to read a report on a bull whose semen he was thinking of buying.

Since when had Mason valuedCal’sopinion?

Still, Cal got his big brother a beer and studied the report and then they went online to look at the pictures, and somewhere in that mix, Mason circled his way around to the real reason for his visit.

“Has Beth ever asked you why Red was late to his wedding, and you were a no show?”

“We touched on it. She doesn’t know every last detail, and she doesn’t need to know them in my opinion, but she knows the bones of what went down.”

“Was it hard to tell her?”

“Wasn’t an easy conversation by any means. I was surprised by how much she already knew. That made it easier.”

Mason stared at his coffee. “Cara asked me why I stood her up at the prom.”

Ah.

“She’s still close to her mother, far as I can tell. I don’t see the point in dissecting the past, do you?”

“Not if you still want to protect her from knowing what her mother did. On the other hand, you could clear your name.”

“Why can’t she just… forgive the sin and the man and stoppickingat it?”

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