A Cowboy's Christmas Reunion (The Boones of Texas 1)

She wasn’t sure if their back-and-forth jabs were adorable or pathetic, so she just stood there, hands on her hips, smiling.

“You’re a lucky bastard, Carl. For not breaking your hip—” Teddy paused, smiling at Josie “—and for your sweet daughter.”

“Don’t I know it.” Carl lifted two buckets of gingerbread onto the counter. “On the house. The least I can do after Hunter installed all those locks. According to Lola, he made a couple of batches, too.”

“He did?” Josie asked, surprised. That’s why he’d stayed late? After tending to a sick dog, a grumpy old man and household repairs—he’d stayed late to make gingerbread. And walked her home without kissing her good-night. She swallowed.

“You would have known that if you hadn’t gone out partying with Annabeth.” Carl sighed.

Teddy frowned. “Now, Josie, you need to be careful. You don’t want to go ’round attracting the wrong sort of fella’s attention.”

Josie looked at each of them, then burst out laughing. “I know. Stonewall Crossing is full of shady sorts,” she teased. At the look on their faces she added, “I’ll be careful.”

“Thanks for the gingerbread, Carl. I’ll make sure Hunter knows it’s from you.” Teddy winked at her. “So good to see you, girl. Carl, I want you and Josie to come have dinner with us. Holiday dinners are always nicer when you’re surrounded by friends and family.”

Before she could argue, her dad said, “We couldn’t impose on you, especially during the holidays, Teddy.”

Thank you, Dad. No way she was up for a big Boone family dinner, during the holidays, with Eli reminding her of the wake of destruction she’d never meant to cause. No way, no how—

“I wasn’t asking, I was telling.” Teddy shook his head. “I’ll see you both next Saturday, night before the parade and the Gingerbread Festival.”

“Well, then, I’ll bring some of my Portuguese sweet bread and some dessert.”

“Perfect.” Teddy picked up the two tubs of gingerbread. “This is gonna be the best holiday in a long time.”

If that was true, then why was her stomach twisting in knots?

* * *

THE HEAT WAS cranked up in the teachers’ lounge, making Hunter shed his coat and hang it on one of the hooks on the far wall. He made a beeline to the coffeepot. Between Mars’s deteriorating condition, the box of baby raccoons left outside the clinic doors and the explosive meltdown of one of his students, he needed a big cup of coffee to keep going. When he got home, he was going to have a couple of glasses of something stronger.

“Thanks for covering at the last minute,” he heard Annabeth Upton saying to someone. “When Tyler told me he’d roped you into Career Night, I figured you couldn’t say no. Not with your dad’s love life in the balance.”

He turned to see Annabeth and Jo, chatting just inside the teachers’ lounge. He swallowed the last of his coffee and poured himself another. He didn’t know how often he’d thought of her, eyes closed and lying in the snow, but the image warmed him from the inside every time.

“They’re adorable,” Jo said to Annabeth. “If I can just get my dad to man up and court her, I won’t have to worry over him being alone.”

“Says the woman who insists there’s no good in relationships,” Annabeth countered.

“I didn’t say that.” Jo sighed. “I said I was no good at relationships.”

No good at relationships? His Jo? How could that be? They’d fit together naturally, mind and body. He’d never laughed as much or yelled as loud as he had when he’d been with Jo.

“Because you refuse to try.” Annabeth shook her head, seeing him. “Which is a conversation for later. I’m going to make sure everyone’s checked in.”

Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. He crumpled the empty coffee cup and threw it in the trash.

“Sure.” Jo watched Annabeth walk away before turning to look around the room. She looked a little lost, hesitant. And then she saw him and rolled her eyes. “I should have known you’d be here, Dr. Boone. All impressive in your white coat.”

He glanced down at his white coat. “Jealous? I have an extra one in the truck.”

She shook her head. “No, no, no. Wouldn’t want anyone to think I could perform an emergency something on their...parakeet.”

He nodded. “Emergency parakeet procedures are pretty damn tricky.”

She laughed, surprising them both. “Good to know.”

He tried not to stare at her eyes, her lips, the way she brushed the curls from her shoulder. He cleared his throat. “Here to inspire a future generation of authors?”