Page 83 of The Holiday Gift

The moment stretched between them and he couldn’t seem to look away, vaguely aware of Jack and Ava climbing into the SUV with their usual bickering.

Finally she cleared her throat. “Thanks anyway, but I’m not quite ready to go. I just need to dust out the two spare bedrooms.”

This wasn’t going to work. He didn’t want this sudden attraction. He didn’t want to feel this heat in his gut again, the sizzle of his blood.

He thought about telling her he had changed his mind, but how ridiculous would that sound?I can’t stay here because I’m afraid I’ll do something stupid if I’m in the same general vicinity of you.

Anyway, now that he had seen the charming little house, he really didn’t want to go back to the cramped quarters of the inn. He would just have to work hard to stay out of her way. How tough could that be?

“The place looked fine. We can dust,” he said. “You don’t have to do that.”

“We Bowmans are a proud lot. Though we might not be in the landlord business as a regular thing, I’m not about to let you stay in a dirty place.”

He decided not to argue. “I’ll check on Luke while we’re in town. If I feel like he is stable enough to be here, I’ll pick him up and bring him out with us when we come back.”

She smiled her gratitude and he felt that inexorable tug toward her again. “Thank you! We would love that, wouldn’t we, Sadie?”

The dog nudged her hand and seemed to smile in agreement.

“Luke is her great-grandson,” she explained to the children. “So I guess I’ll see you all later. I’m glad the house will work for you.”

Space-wise, the house was perfect. Neighbor-wise, he wasn’t so sure.

After he loaded up the kids and started down the gravel drive, he glanced in the rearview mirror. Caidy Bowman was lifting her face to the pale winter sun peeking between clouds, one hand on the dog’s grizzled head.

For some ridiculous reason, a lump rose in his throat at the sight and he had a hard time looking away.

Chapter 5

For the next few hours, Caidy couldn’t shake a tangled mix of dread and anticipation. Offering Ben and his family a place to stay over the holidays had been a friendly, neighborly gesture. She was grateful those cute kids would be able to have the fun of sneaking downstairs Christmas morning to see their presents under their very own tree and that Mrs. Michaels could cook a proper dinner for them instead of something out of the microwave.

Even so, she had the strangest feeling that life on the ranch was about to change, maybe irrevocably.

It was only for a few weeks, she told herself as she finished mucking out the stalls with Destry while Sadie plopped on her belly in the warm straw and watched them. She could handle anything for a few weeks. Still, the strange, restless mood dogged her heels like the collies in a thunderstorm as she went through her Saturday chores.

“You ladies need a hand in here?”

Destry beamed at her father, thrilled when he called her a lady. She was, Caidy thought. Her little girl was growing up—nearly eleven now and going to middle school the next year. She didn’t know what she would do then.

“Since we’ve got your muscles here, why don’t you bring us a couple new straw bales? I’d like to put some fresh down for the foaling mares.”

“Will do. Des, come give your old man a hand.”

The two of them took off, laughing together about something Destry said in answer, and Caidy again felt that unaccountable depression seep over her.

Her brother didn’t really need her help anymore with Destry. She had been happy to offer it when the girl was young and Ridge had been alone and struggling.Morethan happy, really. Relieved, more like, to have something useful to do with her time, something she thought she could handle.

Destry was almost a young woman now and Ridge was an excellent father who could probably handle things here just fine by himself.

She leaned her cheek on the handle of the shovel and watched Sadie snoring away. They didn’t need her. Nobody did. She sighed heavily just as Ridge came back alone with a bale on each shoulder.

“That sounds serious. What’s wrong? Having second thoughts about the new vet and his family moving in?”

And third and fourth. She shrugged, picked up a pitchfork and started spreading the straw around. “What’s to have second thoughts about? He needed a place to stay for a few weeks and we have an empty, furnished house just sitting there.”

“Destry will enjoy having other children around the ranch, especially for Christmas.”

“Where is she?”

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