Page 37 of Evergreen Christmas

Roxie flushed with joy. “Thank you. Can I feed her another one?”

“Oh, she’s probably ready to take off again now that she’s had a snack. Move a little closer—we’ll give her a pet and then she’ll probably take off.”

Roxie did as Jordyn asked, allowing Jordyn to lift her arm toward the mare, then stroked her neck gently and stepped away.

“All right, girl,” Jordyn said to Star. “Go have fun.”

Star, satisfied with her snack and a dose of loving attention, moved away then took off, sprinting across the back lot again into the distance.

“Can I follow her, Uncle Tucker?” Roxie pleaded, bouncing excitedly. “And watch her for a while?”

Smiling, Tucker nodded. “Go ahead. But be sure to keep your distance because she doesn’t know you well enough yet to feel completely secure.”

Roxie ran across the field, shouting over her shoulder, “I will, Uncle Tucker!”

Tucker walked over to Jordyn’s side, and they stood there by the Fraser fir tree, watching Roxie skip across the back lot, waving at Star as she galloped in the distance.

Jordyn grinned, the charming delight on Roxie’s face warming her heart. “I do believe Roxie is the most well-mannered child I’ve ever met.”

“She gets that from her mama.”

The somber tone in Tucker’s voice drew Jordyn’s eyes. He still stared straight ahead, watching Roxie, leaving only his profile visible, but a muscle clenched in his jaw.

“Her mother, Macy, was a good woman,” he continued quietly. “She loved the holidays—any holiday—but especially Christmas.” A gentle smile curved his lips. “She was good for Nate, and he was good for her. They grew up together here in Noel. Shared a lot of history between them.” He shook his head, his smile fading. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen a couple more in love than they were.”

It was nothing Jordyn didn’t already know, but hearing the words . . .

Well, that hurt just a little bit more than she’d expected.

Neck heating, she lowered her head, half ashamed. What kind of woman would be jealous of a man’s late wife? Of course, Nate had loved Macy. He’d married her and had a child with her. From all accounts, he’d been deeply in love and had every right to miss Macy.

Only, she couldn’t quite shake the longing that had rooted deep inside her. The one that kept her wishing Nate might have had a little room left over in his heart for her, too.

“I’m glad he was happy,” she said quietly. “That kind of love can be hard to find nowadays.”

“Yes,” Tucker said. “It can.”

They fell silent, the cold wind whistling between them as Star galloped in the distance, Roxie still watching with avid interest.

“Nate could be happy that way again,” Tucker said. “If he allowed himself to, that is.”

Her cheeks prickled under the weight of Tucker’s scrutiny, and she glanced over at him, the compassionate—somewhat pitying—look in his eyes making her squirm with humiliation.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to butt into your private life,” Tucker said. “Or his, for that matter. He’d kill me if he knew I was talking to you like this. But I know he’s pushed you away already. I also know that he took a deep liking to you the moment he met you. And I can tell you firsthand, that doesn’t happen for Nate. Not even with Macy. Not ever.”

Her heart stumbled as she whispered, “For me, either.”

Tucker ducked his head and faced forward again, his blue eyes—so like Nate’s—following Star’s progress across the field. “I’m sure you know as well as I do that horses are a lot like people. Most of ’em have times when they’re afraid of what they don’t know and are unsure whether they can trust people they’ve just met. They feel emotions as deeply as we do and sometimes it scares them . . . especially considering their happiness is dependent upon the actions and goodwill of someone else.”

Jordyn fixed her gaze on Roxie, waving back as Roxie, smiling, waved in Jordyn’s direction.

“Nate’s scared, is all—though he’ll never tell you that,” Tucker said. “He just needs a nudge from the right woman. One who’s fallen for him as deeply as he’s fallen for her. One with light hands who’s used to throwing her hat in the ring, taking a risk and accepting the possibility of getting hurt.” He glanced at her again. “You understand what I’m saying, J?”

Pulse fluttering with a heady surge of excitement and dismay, she nodded.

Tucker grinned. “Good. Because as far as Nate’s concerned, if you take him by the bit and nudge him in the right direction, he’ll come around eventually.”

Chapter Eight

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