My Kind of Christmas (The Christmas Tree Ranch 1)

SLEIGH RIDES, SNOW PERMITTING

CHRISTMAS TREE RANCH, 400 SOUTH RANCH ROAD

After Travis had put up all the signs but one, he drove back through town. He should have known better than to turn down Maggie’s street. But he did it anyway and drove slowly past her house. The living room drapes were closed, but the dim light behind them told Travis she was still up.

The urge to stop, knock on her door, and take her in his arms was eating him alive. But he and Maggie had parted on uncertain terms today. He could tell she’d been dismayed by the way he’d spoken to Hank and then gone back to work with barely a thank-you for the dinner she’d brought. If she was still upset with him, stopping by to see her could only make matters worse. Besides, he needed to get back to the ranch to make sure everything was ready for tomorrow. Bracing his resolve, he kept driving.

He made it all the way to the next corner before he turned around and went back. He wouldn’t stay long, he promised himself. But he couldn’t go home without seeing her.

The storm front was blowing in. A staggering wind whipped his hair and blew his coat against his body as he mounted the

porch and rang the doorbell.

Maggie answered. She was wearing her black leggings and an oversized plaid flannel shirt that might have been her father’s. Travis liked the way she dressed for work. But at home, like this, she looked so natural, so vulnerable and sexy, that it made his throat ache.

She stood gazing up at him without a word.

“May I come in?” he asked after an awkward pause.

She nodded, stepped back, and opened the door for him to step inside. He closed it behind him, shoving against the wind.

Only then did she speak.

“Today I saw a man I didn’t even know. And I still don’t know what to make of him.”

“If you’re waiting for an apology, Maggie—”

“No. An apology just to please me wouldn’t be real. All I want is to understand how the man I know to be so kind and gentle can hate his father so much.”

“You weren’t there.”

“No, I wasn’t. But I know that it was a long time ago. And I know that Hank was in no condition to take in a young boy and keep him. The best thing—the only thing—he could have done was send you home to your family and make sure you didn’t try to come back.”

“That didn’t excuse the things he said.”

“Didn’t it? What about the letters he sent you in prison? He was offering his support, but you didn’t even open them. Your father said some harsh things a long time ago, Travis. You need to forgive him. If you don’t, that anger will poison your soul forever. And as for you and me, there’ll be no chance for us. I can’t fight that kind of negativity. I won’t.”

He reached toward her, needing to heal in her arms, but she stepped back. “Get through Christmastime, Travis. When you’ve finished with the tree season and found a way to make peace with your father, come back to me. Until then, we both need some distance.”

“And the sleigh? What if you still need it?”

“If I do, I’ll ask Conner.”

Will you wait for me?

Travis knew better than to ask that question. Maggie was a free woman, and it was too soon for promises. If he wanted the right to love her, he would have to earn it.

He said a subdued good night, left her, and drove out of town, toward the ranch. Howling wind battered the Jeep. The sound only deepened his melancholy. Maggie was right—he wouldn’t be fit company until he got his life together. But the thought of not seeing her, not being able to hear her voice or hold her in his arms, was like slow starvation.

The biggest sign of all was to go up where the ranch road turned off the highway. In addition to the text, an arrow pointed the way to Christmas Tree Ranch. Travis had saved it for last, to put up on the way home.

Finding the spot he’d chosen earlier, he pulled off the road and got the sign out of the back. The big square of Masonite caught the wind like a sail. It was all Travis could do to hang on to it and wrestle it into place. Bracing it with his body and one hand, he used the hammer he’d brought to pound the long stake into the earth. The first few blows glanced off, but then he felt the point of the stake catch and sink into the earth. A dozen more blows and the sign was securely in place.

Sweating under his coat, Travis leaned back against the Jeep to catch his breath. Overhead, the sky churned with black clouds that hid the stars and the moon. As he looked up, he felt something cold and wet brush his face. One flake, then more, then millions swirled down around him in a cascade of white.

Hallelujah, it was snowing!

Chapter 12