Page 13 of Cowboy’s Christmas Baker

She didn’t answer, but he decided to wait her out.

“Hill,” she said after a moment.

“Okay,” he told her. “Great. You’ll have the room overlooking the hillside. Should we start carrying stuff in?”

She nodded, and they went back down the stairs and pulled on their boots again.

When he opened the front door, they were both a little startled as a skinny tabby cat skittered off the porch and looked back at them, its eyes wide.

“She’s scared,” Katie said, freezing in place.

“She’s probably one of the barn cats,” Harrison said automatically. “No one has lived in the house for a while.”

“Maybe she’s curious,” Katie said, eyes locked on the cat. “Do we have any food?”

“Just your granola bars in the car,” Harrison said. “We’ll go shopping after we unload.”

“Can I feed her one?” Katie asked.

“Sure,” he said. “If she’ll take it. Barn cats are basically wild animals though, so she probably won’t want to come near you.”

“Okay,” Katie said. “I’ll try.”

They went as quietly as they could to the truck and he handed her a granola bar out of the bag.

She took it and hurried back to the porch, leaving him to carry in all their stuff on his own.

That suited him fine. He was just glad to see her take an interest in their new home, even if it was only in a half-wild kitten. He loved the way her eyes came to life, sparkling with intention when she came out of her silence.

And there really wasn’t all that much to carry anyway. They’d each only packed a couple of suitcases. The truck would arrive in a day or two with everything else.

He grabbed an armload and stopped short when he spotted Katie sitting in the snow, speaking quietly to the shadows under the porch and holding out a bit of granola bar on her open palm.

He walked around the house to let himself in the back door so he wouldn’t frighten the little animal any more than it already was.

She’s only going to be disappointed, he reminded himself. But he was still happy to see her trying.

After a few more trips, Harrison had everything in the house when he spotted a figure approaching from the barn.

“Hey there,” the man called out in a friendly tone, giving Harrison a wave.

“Hey,” Harrison called back to him, striding down to meet him. “You must be Brian.”

“Sure am,” the man said with a big smile. “I’ve been taking care of your cows and horses for you.”

“Thank you so much,” Harrison said, meaning it. The seller had offered to keep an employee tending to the herd and the pair of horses daily until Harrison’s arrival—something he never would have thought to negotiate, but which had allowed him time to pack and come out here today with Katie without having to hire help from afar.

“It’s my pleasure,” Brian replied with a smile. “He paid me through tonight so you could get settled. But you can join me later, if you want the lay of the land.”

“That would be fantastic,” Harrison said, relief washing over him. “I appreciate it.”

“No problem at all,” Brian said. “Glad you’re keeping it a dairy farm. It’s a pretty place.”

“Sure is,” Harrison agreed. “You live around here?”

“Yep,” Brian said. “We’ll talk about it tonight. I don’t want to slow down your unpacking.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Harrison said.