Page 28 of Christmas with a Cowgirl

But that just wasn’t who she was.

Mathew was a sweetheart, and she’d already grown close to him. It wasn’t hard to foresee just how much she would miss him when they left.

She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. It wasn’t just Mathew she’d miss. The other night when they went looking for a Christmas tree, there had been a connection between herself and Tristan which resulted in her losing sleep for the next few days. Each time she arrived for her meeting with Mathew, she had avoided looking directly at Tristan unless it was absolutely necessary.

It was a strange feeling, to say the least—like she and Tristan were two magnets being pulled together. She couldn’t tell if that was something he was interested in, and for the sake of Mathew, she’d opted to pretend none of those feelings were present.

Her job was to take care of the boy, not fall in love with his father.

Dianna said a quick thank you for the ride as Grace pulled into the parking lot. Then she launched from the vehicle toward the path that would lead her straight for the barn. She heard the screaming before anything came into view.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she quickened her pace. Finally, two adults, a child and a white horse came into view. Mathew was on the ground, the screams coming from him. Tristan hovered over him, his expression a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. He glanced up as she neared.

She almost thought she saw relief in his eyes, but she couldn’t be certain. The man holding the reins of the white horse looked at a complete loss. He said something to Tristan, who shook his head and raked a hand through his hair.

Dianna already knew what the problem was. It was very likely that Tristan knew the problem too, but it didn’t appear he was telling the ranch hand.

Breathless, she skidded to a stop. Before Tristan or Mathew could say anything, she stepped between the ranch hand and Tristan. “What do you think you’re doing?”

He held up the lead rope. “Mr. Owens told me I needed to get the Wood family a horse.”

“No.”

“No?” The ranch hand glanced nervously between Dianna and Tristan. “I’m pretty sure he told me to get them a horse.”

“He wouldn’t have told you to get themahorse. He would have told you to get themtheirhorse.” Dianna placed her hands on her hips. “Mr. Wood and his child are here for therapy sessions. They get to have the same horse every practice. Where is Molasses?”

The man glanced back toward the barn. “I think he was being looked at by the vet.”

“Then that’s what you tell the Wood family. Their horse would be available momentarily.”

“But—”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. At least now, Mathew’s meltdown was starting to subside, or at least not be as bad as it was. She lowered her voice and moved closer to the ranch hand. “This little boy struggles with change. He needs to work with the same horse he’s been with.”

“I didn’t know about that.”

Dianna let out a sigh. “Well, next time you should double check. I appreciate your help while I was gone, but this isn’t the kind of experience we should be offering our guests. Would you mind taking this one back and getting Molasses once the vet is done with him?”

He nodded. “Of course, ma’am.” He touched the brim of his hat and turned around.

She took a deep, steadying breath before she faced Mathew.

Tristan stepped forward. “That wasn’t neces—”

Dianna held up a finger and crouched down on Mathew’s level. “Hey, kiddo.”

He wiped his hand across his face, rubbing his nose, then he blinked at her. “Hi, Miss Dianna.”

“Can we talk about what just happened?”

Mathew frowned and cast his eyes down. “Okay.”

“What made you feel so upset just now? Was I right in guessing it was because they brought a different horse?”

He didn’t answer.

“You know I would have been here soon to get the right horse for you.”

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