Page 94 of The Holiday Gift

“It’s a good bet, kid,” Ben told his son as the three of them walked down the plowed lane through the gentle snowfall toward the ranch house. The snow muted all sounds, even the low gurgle of the creek, on the other side of the trees that formed an oxbow around the ranch.

The cold air smelled of hay and pine and woodsmoke. He breathed deeply, thinking it had been far too long since he had taken time to just savor his surroundings. The River Bow was unexpectedly serene, with the mix of aspens and pine and the mountains soaring to the east.

“I hope Gabi is there,” Ava said, looking more enthusiastic about the outing than she had about anything in a long time. “She’s superfunny.”

“I’m sure she will be. Ridge said their whole family was coming for dinner and she’s part of the family.”

He and his kids, however, werenot.They were only temporary guests and he probably had no business dragging his children to their family dinner, especially after the events of the night before.

He should have said no. Ridge Bowman took him by surprise with the invitation while they were out clearing snow and he had been so caught off guard, he hadn’t known quite how to reply.

The kids would enjoy it. He had known that from the get-go. He was fairly sure he wouldn’t. He didn’t mind socializing. Brooke had loved to throw parties and some part of him had missed that since her death. But this party was obviously a family thing and he hated to impose.

If that wasn’t enough, he also wasn’t ready to face a certain woman yet—Caidy Bowman, of the soft curves and the silky hair and the warm mouth that tasted like cocoa and heaven.

That kiss, coming on the heels of his vivid, sexy dream about her, left him aching and restless. He hadn’t slept at all after he left her house. He had tossed and turned and punched his pillow until he had finally gotten up at 6:00 a.m., before the children, and started shoveling snow to burn away some of this edgy hunger. Mother Nature had dumped quite a bit of snow throughout the day, so he had plenty of chances to work it off.

That kiss. He had wanted to drown in it, just yank her against him and tease and taste and explore until they were both shaking with need. Somehow he knew she would respond just as he had dreamed, with soft, eager enthusiasm.

How did a guy engage in casual chitchat with a woman after he had kissed her like that without wanting to do it all over again?

Despite the December chill, he unzipped his coat. He probably couldn’t do much about his overheated imagination, but the rest of him didn’t need to simmer.

A couple of dogs came up to greet them as they approached the house and Jack eased behind him. Though his son saw plenty of strange dogs at the clinic, he was often apprehensive around animals he didn’t know. A large, untrained mastiff had cornered him once at the clinic a few years earlier, intent only on friendliness, but Jack had been justifiably frightened by the encounter and wary ever since.

“They won’t hurt you, Jack. See, both of their tails are wagging. They just want to say hi.”

“I don’t want to,” Jack said, hiding even further behind him.

“You don’t have to, then. Ava, can you carry the bag with Mrs. Michaels’s salad and toffee while I give your brother a lift?”

She grabbed the bag away from him and hurried ahead while he scooped up his son and set him on his shoulders for the last hundred yards of the walk, much to Jack’s delight. It wouldn’t be long before the boy grew too large for this but for now they both enjoyed it, even with his son’s snowy boots hitting his chest.

In the gathering dusk, the log ranch house was lit up with icicle lights that dripped from the eaves and around the porch. People on the coast would pay serious money for the chance to spend Christmas here at a picturesque cattle ranch in the oxbow of a world-class fly-fishing creek.

Several unfamiliar vehicles were parked in the circular driveway in front of the ranch house and that awkwardness returned. If not for his children’s anticipation, he probably would have turned on his heels and headed back to the cottage.

Ava reached the porch before they did and skipped up the stairs to ring the doorbell. As Ben and Jack reached the steps a woman he didn’t know with dark hair and a winsome smile answered. “You must be the new veterinarian. Ridge mentioned you and your family were joining us. Hi. I’m Becca Bowman, married to Trace. Come in out of the snow.”

He walked inside and went to work divesting the children of their abundance of outerwear: coats, gloves, hats, scarves and boots. Becca gathered them all up and set them inside a large closet under the curving log staircase.

“Are you Gabi’s mom?” Ava asked, sitting on the bottom step to slip out of her boots.

“I’m her big sister actually. It’s a long story. But I guess in every way that matters, I’m her mother.”

An intriguing story. He wondered at the details but decided they weren’t important. Becca had obviously stepped up to raise her sister and he couldn’t help but find that admirable.

“Where is Gabi?” Ava asked eagerly.

“She and Destry are around somewhere. They’ll be so excited to see you. They’ve been waiting impatiently for you to get here for the past hour.”

Ava beamed with an enthusiasm that had been missing for far too long. Maybe staying here at the ranch near a friend for a few weeks would be good for her. Maybe it would finally help her resign herself to their move to Idaho, to the distance now between her and her grandparents.

“Last I saw them, they were playing a video game in the den. Straight down that hall and to the left.”

Ava took off, with Jack close on her heels. He thought about calling them back but decided to let them figure things out. Kids usually did a much better job of that than adults.

“I think dinner is nearly ready,” Becca said to him. “Come on into the great room and I’m sure one of the boys can hook you up with something to drink.”

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