Page 120 of The Holiday Gift

“I’ve already got it on,” Des proclaimed, yanking the neck of her sweater aside to show the swimming suit strap.

“Good thinking.” Carson smiled at her. “I’ll just show you where you can leave your things, then.”

They walked away and Jenna led her into the opposite direction, into the beautiful gourmet kitchen of the home, which currently bustled with about a dozen of her friends.

“Hey, Caidy!” Emery Cavazos greeted her with a smile, looking elegant and composed as always while she transferred something chocolate and rich-looking onto a tray.

“Hi, Em.”

Nothing to worry about in here, she thought. She loved these women and got together with them often at various social functions. She could just pretend this was one of their regular parties.

“You know, Caidy would be perfect for that little matter we were discussing earlier,” Maggie Dalton exclaimed.

“What matter?” she asked warily. With the Cold Creek women, one could never be too careful.

“We’ve all been admiring the new vet—a gorgeous widower with those two adorable kids,” Jenna said. “We were trying to figure out someone we could subtly introduce him to.”

“We’ve already met.” And locked lips. More than once. She decided to keep that tidbit of information to herself. If she didn’t, the whole town would join her brothers in trying to hook her up with Ben, who had made it quite plain they would never be matched.

Caroline Dalton—married to the oldest Dalton brother, Wade—tilted her head and gave Caidy a long, considering look. “You know, Mag, I think you’re absolutely right. She’s perfect for him.”

“I...am?”

“Yes! You both love animals and you’re wonderful with children.”

“We need to figure out some way to get them together.” Emery, the traitor, joined into the scheming.

Had she become such an object of pity that all the women in town felt they had to step in and take drastic action to practically arrange a marriage for her? It was a depressing thought, especially because Ben had made it clear he wasn’t even interested inkissingher.

“Thank you, but that’s not necessary,” she said quickly, hoping to cut off this disastrous conniving at the pass. “As I said, Dr. Caldwell and I have met. He treated a dog of mine who was injured a few weeks ago. And in case you didn’t know, he’s currently living on the foreman’s cottage at the River Bow.”

“Oh, I hadn’t heard he and the children moved out of the inn,” exclaimed Jenny Boyer Dalton, principal of the elementary school. “I’m so happy they’re not staying there for Christmas. No offense, Laura.”

“None taken,” Caidy’s sister-in-law said. “I agree.”

“That was a brilliant idea,” Caroline said. “See, youareperfect for him!”

She could see this whole situation quickly spiraling out of control, with everybody in town jumping on board to push her and Ben together. What a nightmare that would be. He would hate it, especially when he had clearly brushed her off two nights ago after that stunning kiss.

In desperation, she hurried to try a little damage control. “I think you all need to give Ben a break and let him settle into Pine Gulch before you start picking out china patterns for him. The poor man hasn’t even had the chance to move into his own house yet.”

He would be going soon, though. The house he was building would be finished after the holidays and he and the children would be moving off the River Bow. The thought of not seeing those lights gleaming in the windows of the foreman’s cottage—of not having the chance to listen to Jack’s knock-knock jokes or being able to tease a reluctant smile from Ava—filled her with a poignant sense of loss.

The rest of winter stretched out ahead of her, long and empty. Not just the winter. The months and years to come, each day the same as the one before.

She would miss all of them dearly. How would she live in Pine Gulch knowing he was so close but out of her reach?

Maybe the time had come for her to take a different path. She could probably find a job somewhere outside Pine Gulch. Separating from her family would be painful but she wasn’t sure which would hurt more—leaving or staying.

“Only friends, huh? That’s too bad.” Maggie Dalton gave a rueful sigh. “Don’t you think if you tried, you could stir up a little interest in more? I mean, the man ishot.”

Yes, she was fully aware of that—and was positive none of these women had known the magic of his kiss. The problem wasn’t how attractive she found Ben Caldwell. He didn’t feel the same way about her and she couldn’t figure out a darn thing to do about it.

She wanted to cry, suddenly, right here in front of her dearest friends—each of whom had the great fortune to be married to a wonderful man who loved her deeply. They were all so happily married, they wanted everyone else to know the same joy. Caidy didn’t know how to tell them the likelihood of that happening to her was pathetically slim.

Not that she wanted that. She was perfectly happy right now.

“You’d be surprised how often friendship can develop into more,” Emery said. “Dr. Caldwell really does seem like a nice guy. We don’t get all that many available men in Cold Creek besides the guys who come to snowmobile or fish. Maybe you should think about seeing if he wants to be more than friends.”

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