Holding Out for Christmas (The Christmas Tree Ranch 3)

“I can drive you and bring you back,” Megan said. “What have you got to lose except a little time?”

Ronda May frowned. “Okay. But I’ll drive myself. Then I can leave when I want to.”

“Fine,” Megan said. “I’ll get us a booth and wait for you there.”

Megan unloaded her purchases from the cart to her trunk and drove to the burger joint on Main Street. Buckaroo’s wasn’t crowded at this midafternoon hour. She ordered coffee at the counter, found a quiet booth, and sat down to wait.

Ronda May hadn’t seemed too eager to accept her invitation. Maybe she wouldn’t show up. But if nothing else, Megan could at least say she’d made the effort.

Ten minutes passed. Then another ten. Megan’s coffee had cooled to lukewarm. The Christmas songs on the antiquated speakers were on their second repeated loop. She glanced at her watch. Maybe it was time to give up and go home.

She was shrugging into her coat when Ronda May walked in the door of the restaurant. She’d evidently taken time to run home, put on a fresh pink sweater, arrange her blond hair into a twist, and dab on some lipstick. She was glancing warily around, almost as if she were hoping that Megan wouldn’t be here. Maybe that was part of the problem. Maybe she felt intimidated by a woman who was older, better educated, and better dressed. But then, she certainly hadn’t seemed intimidated last night, or earlier in the store.

Megan gave her a smile. “I’m glad you made it. Have a seat, and I’ll order us some coffee and pie.”

“No pie for me,” Ronda May said, taking a seat in the booth. “I’m trying to lose weight. Chuck told me he cheated because I was too fat.”

“Chuck sounds like a total jerk,” Megan said. “Okay, just a coffee for you and a refill for me.”

She gave the order to the server. Ronda May gazed down at the red Formica tabletop while they waited. “You told me you wanted to talk,” she said. “So talk.”

“Okay.” Megan took a breath. “First, about Conner. We’re friends, but we’re still getting to know each other. After last night, we agreed to back off until he’d settled things with you. So, has he?”

Ronda May dumped cream and sugar into her coffee, which had just arrived, and stirred it with a spoon. “I went to see him last night. Today when I saw you, I was going to tell you how hot things were between us, but we really just talked. He knows I still want him.”

“And does he still want you?”

Ronda May took a cautious sip of her coffee. “He told me I’d make a good wife and a good mother. But I don’t think he meant for him.” She dumped another packet of sugar into her coffee. Her eyes met Megan’s across the table. “What I think is, he’s in love with somebody else—not you, somebody he can’t have. We were doing fine until the Christmas Ball, last year, when this sexy singer came out onstage. Conner’s eyes almost fell out of his head. He couldn’t stop looking at her. It was like I wasn’t even there. After that, things were never the same between us. I was hoping he’d be over her by now. But I think maybe he’s waiting for her to come back. So don’t you get your hopes up, either.”

Lacy strikes again. Megan stifled a groan.

“What is it you really want, Ronda May?” she asked, changing the subject. “If you could have anything, within reason, what would it be?”

Ronda May answered without hesitation. “I want to get married. I want to walk down the aisle in a beautiful white gown and veil, with everybody looking at me. And I want the man who’s waiting at the altar to put that ring on my finger and show the whole world how much he loves me. I want to cut the cake and throw the bouquet and go on a honeymoon. Is that too much to ask?”

Megan shook her head. “You deserve all that and more,” she said. “But getting married is just for one day. Being married is for a lifetime—a lifetime of hard work, raising a family, and sharing years of joy and heartbreak. For that, you need a man who’ll be a faithful partner and always love you. It doesn’t sound like Chuck was that man.”

“No.” Ronda May’s answer was accompanied by a melancholy sigh. “Bu

t I thought Conner was. He treated me better than any boyfriend I’ve ever had. He opened doors for me and took me to nice places—and he never got mad or hurt me or yelled at me, even when I did stupid stuff. I really loved him. But he didn’t want to get married. After a while, I got tired of waiting. That’s when I got engaged to crappy Chuck.”

Megan sipped her coffee. Any animosity she’d felt toward Ronda May had fled. All she could think of now was finding a way to convince this sad young woman of her self-worth.

“I want you to think about something,” she said. “You’re a pretty girl, you’re smart, and you’ve got hopes and dreams. What if you didn’t need a man to make you happy? What if you could find ways to be happy on your own until the right man comes along? Look at Maggie. Look how long she must’ve waited to find Travis. In the meantime, she’s worked and made something of herself—she’s even been mayor of this town.”

“Maggie’s gorgeous. But it’s not just that. Her father was an important man in this town, and he saw to it that she had the best of everything—nice clothes, a car, the right college. She even got to be mayor because her father was mayor before her.”

Before Ronda May averted her gaze, Megan caught a glimmer of tears. “My dad’s got a little farm that barely pays enough to put food on the table. He and Mom have got seven kids in a three-bedroom house. Since my sister got married, I’m the oldest girl, so I’m the one who has to babysit. I’ve been waitressing since I was in high school, even saved up enough to buy my wedding dress. But I might have to sell it now that I lost my job—that’s right, I lost it last night, after I spilled wine on you and Conner told the hostess.”

Putting down her cup, Ronda May slid out of the booth and stood. “So don’t feed me this sunshine-and-rainbows crap about making a happy life for myself. I’m dirt-poor, I was never good in school, and I won’t be pretty forever. The best I can hope for is to marry a decent guy, like my sister did, and get out of that house before I’m so old that nobody will want me.”

Stunned into silence, Megan didn’t try to stop her as she walked out of the restaurant. She’d hoped to encourage the young woman, to make her see that she could be happy and independent without a husband. But how could anybody argue with Ronda May’s raw logic? For her, there was only one way out of her cheerless situation—get married.

After leaving a tip for the coffee, Megan walked out to her car and drove home. She felt emotionally drained. Even the Christmas music on the radio failed to lift her spirits. At least she understood where Ronda May was coming from and why she’d pushed Conner to marry her. But that didn’t help her own situation. Her relationship with Conner was as unsettled as ever.

Forget it for now, she told herself as she pulled into her parents’ driveway. She would bring her purchases inside, put away the groceries, check on her mother and Daniel, and then shut herself in her room with her guitar and work on her song. Maybe this time she’d come up with something good. Even if she didn’t, it would at least take her mind off her worries.

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