Daniel climbed in and sat down. “All right. What’s next?”
“Wait,” Eva said, frowning. “The sleigh is for more than one person, right?”
“Right,” Jeremiah said.
Eva turned to Penny. “You need to get in there with him. It won’t look good if he’s riding alone.”
Penny went still, aware that another meddling attempt might be in progress. “I….”
Eva gestured impatiently. “Up, up, up you go.”
“Are you sure? I —”
“IpromiseI’m not trying anything. This is about doing the job I was hired to do.” She pointed to her phone. “He needs someone in the sleigh with him. It looks better that way. My only goal is a good shot.”
Penny glanced at Daniel and was surprised to see him gazing at her with an expression of, well,hope.
He held out his hand, his brown eyes alive with anticipation, his smile encouraging. “Shall we?”
CHAPTER 10
Oh, gosh. There was no ambiguity in Daniel’s warm brown eyes or in his outstretched hand —none. He wanted her to join him in the sleigh. The spark of attraction she’d glimpsed the day before wasback.
Unsettled by a swirl of emotions that she would most definitely need to unpack later, she took a deep breath and made her decision.
“Sure,” she said, pleased that her voice sounded calm and matter-of-fact. “A sleigh ride with Bessie through the orchard sounds like fun.”
She took hold of Daniel’s hand and climbed in. The hand was strong and sure, with the same roughness she’d noted before. Before she knew it, she was up in the sleigh.
“Glad you decided to join,” he said, sliding over to give her room.
“I am, too.” The cushioned bench was comfortable, with plenty of leg room. A gust of wind brushed past her and she reached into her coat pocket for her gloves.
Jeremiah glanced back at them as he finished adjusting a strap. “All good up here,” he said, “but you need blankets.” He hurried to a basket near the barn door and returned with a pairof tartan wool red blankets. “One for each of you. Don’t want you shivering.”
“Thank you, Jeremiah,” Penny said. She passed Daniel his blanket and draped hers over her legs, welcoming the instant warmth.
“Bessie knows the course, so just sit back and enjoy the ride.”
“Anything we need to do?” Daniel asked.
Jeremiah handed him the reins. “If you need to stop for any reason, gently pull. But you shouldn’t need to do that. Bessie knows the course, including the turn. She’ll take good care of you.” He patted the horse’s dappled hindquarters. “Ready, girl?”
Bessie snorted in the affirmative.
Jeremiah stepped back. “Enjoy the ride.”
And with a smooth pull, they were off! Penny felt a surge of excitement as the sleigh whooshed forward, gliding easily over the snow. With a shake of her white tail, Bessie trotted eagerly down a path between two rows of apple trees, her hooves crunching steadily.
Daniel let out a laugh, clearly enjoying himself. “This is awesome.”
Penny smiled, pleased to hear him laugh. He was right —the ride was beautiful. Though the night sky was dark, there was enough light from the barn to illuminate the fresh snow dusting the apple trees’ bare branches. The air smelled fresh and clean. Bessie’s steadyclomp-clomp-clompsvibrated through the sleigh, the bells on the back of the sleigh jingling ever-so-softly.
Daniel gestured to the horse. “Did I hear right that you only met Bessie today?”
“You heard right,” she replied.
“I’m surprised by that.”
