Page 93 of A Jilted Bride for the Cowboy

But could she trust Graham? Absolutely. Maybe he’d also brought over Christmas morning gifts tonight. That was probably it.

“You can take your bags into the family room. Mom and I will go grab the trays with hot chocolate and vinertarta and be right in. Dad’s there already.”

He grinned and nodded as he turned away, bags in tow.

“You did tell him tonight is about books.” Mom scowled as they headed to the kitchen.

“I did.”

Mom pursed her lips. She didn’t need to say more to let Cadence know she wasn’t amused that someone would disregard their family tradition. Either Graham would prove himself trustworthy to her parents, or he wouldn’t. It didn’t change — couldn’t change — how she felt about him. He was a winner, no matter what they thought.

Cadence carried the tray of vinertarta, a festive layered cake Mom always picked up at the local Icelandic grocery. The slices were surrounded by professionally decorated cookies that would taste of preservatives. The cake, however, would taste of a lifetime of Christmas Eves. She hadn’t seen an Icelandic bakery in western Montana. Maybe she’d need to learn how to make this delicacy herself.

Back at Sweet River Ranch, Nadine had been baking a glorious array of cookies and treats, everything from gingerbread men to cinnamon shortbread to cranberry pie. Those staying at the resort over the holidays were going to eat well.

Now, Cadence rested the tray on the antique coffee table. Next to it, Mom set down hers, loaded with four mugs of hot chocolate mounded with mini marshmallows. The towering white tree in front of the window was decorated in red balls and bows this year. Orchestral Christmas music flowed gently from the speakers.

Graham looked yummy in a dark green sweater with silver threads and black… jeans? That was a new look for him, but she liked the compromise. Liked that he hadn’t forgotten all the ways he’d loosened up since moving to Montana nearly nine months ago. He’d left off his glasses, so he must have picked up new contacts. His eyes were gorgeous, either way, as he smiled at her and patted the seat of the white sofa beside him.

Gratefully, she sank against him and nestled under his arm. If her parents didn’t want to see the love she and Graham shared, they didn’t have to look.

“Well, here we are.” Dad looked at Mom as though helpless to figure out how to proceed with a fourth person in the room.

“Indeed.” Mom sat primly on a slipper chair. “Graham, may we ask you to read the Christmas story?”

“Absolutely.” If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. He simply shifted to pull his phone out of his hip pocket. In no time flat, he was reading the precious story from Luke chapter two.

Cadence listened with her eyes closed, then Graham’s words echoed in the still room.

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

Cadence had a lot to ponder, too. The birth of the Savior seemed all the more poignant this year as she’d watched Stephanie’s abdomen swell with her and Tate’s firstborn. They’d spent time together through the fall and become friends.

Graham offered a prayer for blessing without being invited to, as though he figured it was part of the reading. And why not? Then he reached for his bags. “I’m sure you’re wondering what oversized books I must have brought tonight, but… allow me?” He passed pillow-shaped packages to Dad, then to Mom, and then to Cadence. “Go ahead.”

Mom and Dad looked at each other, shrugged, and began to open them. Cadence did, too, allowing her parents to get ahead of her while she kept a covert eye on progress.

“Oh!” Mom pulled a fuzzy red blanket covered with white snowflakes out of her package. “It’s… soft. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I figure books and winter require blankets.”

Dad’s was navy with the same design as Mom’s. Cadence peeked at hers, a pale blue with red-and-white candy canes. She hugged it close. “Thank, Graham. But you’ll be the only one without a blanket to snuggle under later during reading time.”

He winked. “Yours might be big enough for two.”

Heat flushed her face. “It might.”

Cadence sipped her hot chocolate as they began to open books. Her parents oohed and ahed over the ones she’d bought them, and they’d picked up one from her favorite fantasy series for her.

Graham handed packages to each of her parents, this time in appropriate shapes. He hadn’t asked her their reading taste, come to think of it. But he may have perused the display cases in the living room on one of his visits this week. What had he picked?

Dad pulled out a copy of “In-Laws Are Better Than Outlaws” as Mom opened “Prayers for Your Newlywed Daughter.” They both gaped at Graham. Then at her.

And then Graham was on one knee in front of her, clutching a small gold book in his hands. “Merry Christmas, Cadence. This one is for you.”

With quaking hands, she took it from his hands and read the title: “Will You Marry Me?” It was too light to be even a paperback. She opened the book-shaped gift box to see a velvet nest inside. Her gaze flew to meet Graham’s.

“Will you? Will you marry me?” His voice all but broke on his question. His eyes pleaded with hers.

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