My Kind of Christmas (The Christmas Tree Ranch 1)

“Oh, all right.” Conner fished in his wallet for some bills, which he laid on the table. “But why did you stop me when I started to tell her about the trees? I thought we’d want the whole town to know. And who better to spread the word than the mayor?”

“It’s a little early to spread the word. We need to be sure we can do this. And we need to have our plan in place.” Travis rose, stuffed the napkin with their notes into his pocket, and stepped away from the booth. “Besides, Maggie’s good friends with Hank. We don’t want her sharing our plans with him.”

“You mean your father? The man who owns the hardware store?”

“That’s right.” He led the way to the door and walked outside. “He’s had a monopoly on the Christmas tree business for years. If he finds out we’ll be competing with him, there’s no telling what he might do to stop us.”

“Like what?” Limping, Conner still managed to keep pace with him.

“Maybe call a lawyer and find some petty excuse to shut us down. Maybe spread some ugly stories, or even pay somebody to sabotage the trees.”

“Wow. You really don’t think much of that guy, do you? What happened between you two anyway?”

Travis shook his head. “That’s a story for another time. What do you say we drop by the city and county building and pick up the application for our business license? We can fill out the forms when we get home.”

They had reached the truck, where Bucket greeted them with wags and yips. Travis gave him the sliver of pizza he’d saved. The dog wolfed it down.

“You’re spoiling that mutt,” Conner said.

“Makes more sense than spoiling a woman. At least dogs don’t have a hidden agenda.” Travis climbed into the cab and waited for Conner to walk around and get in on the passenger side.

“Man, you must’ve really been burned,” Conner said. “When did you figure out Maggie was using you?”

“When I laid it on the line and she told me the truth.” Travis started the truck and pulled out of the parking space. “She wanted me to mend fences with Hank so he’d agree to play Santa Claus in the Christmas parade, with me handling the sleigh.”

“Given what you’ve told me, I’d guess that was a deal-breaker. Too bad.”

“She was playing up to me, helping me unload furniture—all a waste of her precious time,” Travis said. “Even if I was willing to work with Hank, there’s no way I could manage those big horses, especially in a crowd of people. I don’t know the first thing about it.”

“I can hitch and drive a team,” Conner said. “I did it on my grandpa’s farm when I was a kid. Maybe I ought to call Maggie and volunteer.”

“Think about it,” Travis said. “By Christmas week, if all goes well, we’ll be cutting into Hank’s profits big-time. He won’t want anything to do with either of us.”

“If Hank’s the one who ends up playing Santa. Hey, you could do it. Just put a couple of red pillows in that red suit.

It would be great for business. And think how happy it would make Maggie.”

Travis gave him a scowl. “No comment. If you want to talk, let’s talk about something else.”

They drove down Main Street in silence before Conner took his cue and changed the subject. “Say, if we’re going to apply for a license, we’ll need a name for our business. Have you got any ideas?”

“Not off the top of my head,” Travis said. “We need something about Christmas trees. And some way for folks to know that they’ll be buying them fresh from the ranch, not from a lot in town . . .”

“Then how about Christmas Tree Ranch?” Conner suggested.

“Christmas Tree Ranch . . .” Travis repeated the name in his mind. “Christmas Tree Ranch. That’s perfect.”

“Hot damn!” Conner grinned. “We’re really doing this! And we’re already on our way!”

* * *

Maggie glanced out of her window in time to see Travis’s pickup, with Bucket in the back, pulling up to the county wing of the building that housed the clerk’s office. It appeared that Travis and Conner were on their way to apply for a business license.

She understood why Travis had kept Conner from sharing their plans. She’d crushed his male ego the last time they’d met, and Travis was not a forgiving man. His rebuff had stung her. Even so, she couldn’t help being curious. Conner had started to say that they’d found something on the ranch when Travis cut him off. And then, when Travis had agreed to let the city take the sleigh, it was Conner who had stopped him.

What was going on?

Maggie tried to tell herself it was none of her business. But whatever affected Branding Iron’s Christmas celebration was her business. As mayor, anything that went wrong would be her responsibility.