Page 21 of Deck the Halls with Cowboys
That I was. A damn good one too. “Sorry, it’s second nature to me.”
“Always searching for answers and secrets.”
I turned to her, biting the inside of my cheek. “I just want to know if Denver is cool with everything. Beau said he had a conversation with Mason.” I pressed my tongue into my cheek, knowingdamn well Beau, Jigs, and I were the ones who knew the secret.Mason and Harmony’s secret.Still, we couldn’t say anything. Even though it was the biggest news Hallow Ranch had had in months, it wasn’t ours to share.
This was about Christmas and what it meant to the Langston brothers.
Valerie put the scissors down on the island. Her eyes moved over to where NJ was in her play area in the living room, a Christmas cartoon playing on the TV above the fireplace. “He thought I was scared of him.”
“What?” I breathed.
Her green eyes met mine then, a sadness lingering within them. “I know this idea came out of nowhere to you and everyone else, but I’ve been wanting to give this to Denver since the second I realized I was falling for him, and back then, I don’t think either of us knew Mason would ever be back here.”
“Yeah, what happened between them was…” My words fell off as the memories came back.
“Awful,” she finished for me. I nodded in agreement, pressing my lips together as she continued, picking up the scissors again. “What did Beau say to Mason?”
“Well…”
“He told me to get my head out of my ass and talk to my brother.”
Val and I both whipped our heads around to find the famous bull rider and his wife standing in the foyer, both dusted with snow. Harmony’s curls looked like something out of a fairy tale, untamed and red. At the top of her head, the snowflakes had landed in such a way it looked like she was wearing a crown. Mason, dressed in a thick brown coat and jeans, plucked his hat off and hung it on one of the hooks on the wall. He ran a hand through his hair, giving me a wink. “Beau tells you everything, doesn’t he?”
I pursed my lips. “He has no other choice.”
Mason and Valerie laughed, but it was Harmony’s silence that got my attention. She was staring at me cautiously. Thankfully, the other two didn’t notice. Mason broke away to find his niece,with Valerie following behind him. “She just ate a snack, Mase,” she warned him. “Don’t throw her in the air or anything.”
“Come on, sis,” he groaned. “When are you going to let me have some fun with her?”
Harmony’s gaze wasn’t just on me. It was like she was looking through me.
“You okay?” I whispered to Harm as Valerie called out, “If she pukes on you or anywhere else, that’ll be your mess to clean up.”
I closed the distance between Harmony and myself, gently putting my hand on her arm. “Hey, did you hear me?”
That seemed to snap her out of her. She blinked and shook her head. “Sorry, I just—” She cut herself off and began to unwrap her scarf. “Mase decided to let me know as we were walking out the door that you and Beau know.”
I felt my shoulders relax. “Ah. I see.”
“Sorry, I didn’t have a chance to process it. He sped the entire way over here.”
I gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry. I promise I wasn’t even digging when Jigs told me.”
Harm smiled, hanging her scarf on top of Mason’s hat. “It’s okay. I’m not mad. It just jarred me a bit. You know my husband.”
My eyes lifted over her shoulder, finding NJ suspended in the air above him, his long arms stretched out, his hands at her round belly. She was giggling and kicking her feet, having the time of her life as he chanted her name, his gray eyes sparkling with love. “That I do,” I muttered.
“So, what’s left to be done?” she asked as Valerie came back through the foyer.
“Are you sure you need him as a husband, Harm?” she asked on a groan. “All he does is throw my kid around and give her sugar.”
“Isn’t that the entire job description of the fun uncle?” I queried, grabbing a new piece of paper to link to the chain.
Harm’s raspy laugh filledthe air then.
There she was.
“I didn’t have a fun uncle, so I wouldn’t know,” Val replied dryly.
