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“Come in and get warmed up,” she urged him, desperate to get in front of the fire herself.
“I might have to leave the truck here for a while,” he said, getting out. The snow was still falling. Even if he only stopped for a quick coffee – which was her intention – it would take a couple of shovels to dig the wheels out afterward.
Tyler lit the fire while Chloé busied herself in the kitchen. She made some sandwiches to go with their coffee, remembering that they’d missed lunch. Tyler was kneeling on the hearth stoking the fire when she went through to the sitting room. It was getting dark already, and the amber light of the flames shrouded his face in a warm glow. She sighed at the lovely sight.
“Hey, food.” He looked up with a smile. “You didn’t have to do that.”
She put the tray on the small table and sat in the armchair. “We were out much longer than I expected,” she told him.
He slowly slid onto the sofa, his whole body slinking like an elegant panther. “Did you get what you wanted?” He raised an eyebrow in question and her stomach lurched at the sight. She wondered if he was aware just how sexy he looked when he did that.
She shook her head, averting her eyes to the fire. “I don’t know,” she admitted.
“You don’t have to make any rash decisions,” he said, gently. “Take your time. You’ve got a lot to cope with. And besides, it’s Christmas.”
She gaped at him as he took a bite of his ham sandwich. “That’s the trouble, everywhere’s shutting down for the holidays. Don’t these people realize that life still goes on? Businesses can’t all close down just because...”
“Because it’s Christmas?” Even in the dim light she could see his jaw clench. “Well, you’ve certainly changed your tune, Chloé Jenkins.” He turned to face her head-on. “I seem to recall you always being the first one to start hanging decorations and baking fruit cake and mince pies. This house used to smell of gingerbread and spices right up from Halloween to Christmas Day. You always maintained it was the best time of year, when everyone took a break and acknowledged how important the people around them were. I remember you berated your Uncle John one year because he went out to check on the cattle one more time before we all sat down to eat Christmas dinner. You told him work could wait; that Christmas only came once a year.”
She remembered that day only too well. It was the last year Aunt Brenda was with them for the big day. She’d been glad after the old lady passed away a couple of months later that they’d all been there for her last Christmas; that everyone had made it as wonderful as it could be.
A thud hit her stomach like a giant boulder and she sniffed. That was four Christmases ago. The house had been full of people and noise. The happiness of everyone around her had been palpable. Magical.
She had sat next to Tyler at the dinner table, laughing and joking. She knew then that she was falling in love with him, and longed for him to make a move on her. He was the perfect gentleman, though – the perfect everything.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He was suddenly kneeling on the floor in front of her with a large, white handkerchief in his hand.
She hadn’t even realized that big tears had started dripping down her cheeks.
“I’m fine,” she said, sniffing hard as she took the hanky from him. She quickly wiped her face.
“I shouldn’t have said that. It’s none of my business,” he said softly, stroking her arm.
Tingles ran through her at his touch. A touch she’d yearned after for years. But not now, not after everything he’d done. She quickly stood.
“It’s getting late,” she said, switching on the overhead light.
He stood up. “Adam should have gone home hours ago, but I’ll go check on the horses.”
She nodded as he made his way to the hallway. Then he turned back, biting his lip.
“Talking of which,” he said, a little warily. “I’ll need to talk to him soon about his job here. If you decide to stay and rent the land out to me I’ll need to keep him on, I really need the extra pair of hands. But it’s your ranch. At the moment he works for you.”
She sighed. “If I stayed I’d need him to take care of Thunder.”
He nodded slowly. “Maybe we could come to some sort of compromise where he works for both of us. Just kept doing the job he does now, but with two bosses. Would you be happy to split his wages? I’d pay the lion’s share, of course.”
“Yep, that could work,” she said, thoughtfully.
“Great, I’ll speak to him tomorrow. At least it’ll give him some hope. He doesn’t need to be worrying about his job right over Christmas.” Tyler put his hat on. “Yell if you need anything. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He opened the door and smiled at her.
“Okay, thanks for the ride today.”
She watched him swagger toward the stables. He sure had a fine ass. Luckily the snow had stopped but it looked really deep. She felt sorry for the horses being out on a night like this; at least they should be warm enough in the stables. It was good that she could rely on Tyler to look after Thunder.
Closing the door, a thought suddenly crossed her mind. What would happen to Thunder if she sold up and went back to Atlanta?
CHAPTER EIGHT
