Page 58 of Two Risks I'd Never Take Again

“Thanks.” His blue eyes twinkled. “I’ll meet you back here in five minutes. Should I wear my hat?”

“While it makes you look like a cowboy, I’d hate for it to get wet.”

“True. Wouldn’t want to ruin it.” He pulled me close. “Thank you. I love it.”

I circled my arms around his waist and buried my head in his chest. “Merry Christmas, Garrett.”

He rubbed my back. “Merry Christmas.”

A short time later, we eased into the warm bubbly water, and I sat next to him rather than in his lap.

“I think I’m going to be over here a lot.” I lifted my legs until my toes popped out of the water. “This feels incredible.”

“I’m glad to hear it. And I know it’s farther from the shop and that the kitchen here is smaller, but you can live here if you want.” He stared at the bubbles. “You said you loved it here on the ranch.”

“I’ll think about that.” I definitely wouldn’t be making a decision on that before the wedding.

“No pressure.” He bumped his feet against mine. “Whatever makes you happy.”

I couldn’t think about what made me happy right now. That was off limits.

Christmas morning arrivedway too early. I’d spent a large chunk of the night trying not to think about what made me happy. And I’d failed. But today was a new day.

Without changing out of my jammies, I yanked on tennis shoes and a coat. As I stepped out the front door, Garrett walked out of his cabin.

“Perfect timing.” He wore cowboy boots and his hat with his flannel jammies, and it was a sight.

“If we are the only ones in jammies over there, I’m not going to laugh.” I pulled my coat closed as he opened the door of the truck.

“I’ll laugh, but that’s not going to be the case. Dad said he was changing back into his when we left the barn just a bit ago.” He ran around and slid in behind the wheel.

“You’ve already been up and working.”

“I helped this morning since we are down a few ranch hands.” He parked in front of the house. “But Christmas morning is pretty casual around here. We’ll go change before we have Christmas dinner later this afternoon.”

I followed Garrett into the main house, and Beau met us at the door.

“Hey.” His voice was almost a whisper. “Look over there.” He pointed into the eating area.

Blue lay on the floor, and a large cat hung over the side of a chair, flipping its tail in Blue’s face.

“Princess cracks me up.” Beau chuckled.

“Princess, I take it, is the cat and not a pet name for Lilith.” I watched as Blue twitched his ear, his only recognition of the cat’s presence.

Beau’s chuckle morphed into a full laugh. “I wonder what would happen if I called her that.”

Garrett shook his head as he kicked off his boots. “Lilith’s cat is funny. She is some sort of exotic, and she acts like she can’t stand Blue, but anytime that dog’s inside, she is right by him, trying to get his attention.”

Beau nodded. “Blue is mostly an outside dog, but it’s cold. And it’s Christmas. Also, don’t let the ear twitch fool you. He’s thrilled to get her attention. He just acts like it’s no big deal.”

“What are y’all going on about?” Ava stepped inside.

“We were discussing Princess and Blue’s complicated friendship.” Beau moved out of the way. “Come on in. I made coffee. Lilith should be out in a minute.”

We all gathered near the kitchen island, and coffee mugs were passed around.

“Once everyone gets here, we’ll go sit by the tree.” Ava shuffled around the kitchen in her slippers, turning on the oven and pulling food out of the fridge. “The breakfast casseroles should be done when we finish opening gifts.”

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