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“It’s something Rourke came up with,” Audrie said. “In fact, they’ve ordered a small Christmas tree for me to put in here, and someone’s going to come in and string up some lights. They wanted to create a fully immersive experience. It might be August everywhere else, but Christmas has come early to Snowy Canyon Ranch.”
Rourke had mentioned all that. When someone pulled onto the property, he wanted that person to enter a winter wonderland.
“If only we could adjust the weather to match.” Audrie sighed. She was heading toward him, keys in hand. “As much as I love Christmas, you haven’t been here for the winters. The cold can be brutal.”
“That’s why they picked this place,” he said. “It gets chilly here in early fall, right?”
Audrie nodded. “It’s not unusual for us to get a little snow in September, although not anything like what we get in the winter.”
“We’ll still have to bring in the fake snow machines,” he said. “But Rourke said it’s easier to blow artificial snow when the temperature’s lower.”
“I can’t wait to see that.”
She smiled at him, then started down the steps. It was too awkward for him to hold the door for her, which was what he wanted to do. But he was on the ground quickly enough, waiting for her to lock the door.
“You lock up out here?” he asked.
“My purse is in there,” she said. “There’s a lot of people running around this property right now, but normally, Corbin is a pretty safe town.”
“I can imagine,” he said before he really thought through the words. He didn’t mean to insult her. He rushed to clarify. “That’s the best thing about a small town like this. Everyone knows everyone.”
“I have an alarm on my house,” she said. “You can never be too careful.”
He was glad to hear that. But he was also surprised he was glad to hear it. He should have no personal investment in whether she was safe or not. He shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind as he led her toward the truck he’d borrowed from one of the crew members.
“How are things going this morning?” she asked once they were in the car.
She buckled her seat belt and settled her hands on her lap. Landon smiled as he noticed she grabbed the bar above the window. It was the same move he’d executed the day before when she was driving.
“The usual,” he said. “Be glad you’re in the hair trailer.”
“It wasn’t so peaceful in there, either.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her shaking her head. He was momentarily distracted by backing out of the drive to the main house. The fastest route to the barn was on this dirt road that obviously was not meant for a production crew to traipse back and forth on all day.
“Did something happen?” he asked once they were out of the driveway.
“Jessica interrogated me,” Audrie said. “She wanted to know what I thought of you, if something was going on between us. That sort of thing.”
He was almost afraid to ask, but he did anyway. “What did you tell her?”
“The truth. We were sent to get Christmas cards. That’s all. We just met yesterday.”
Landon didn’t know whether to be disappointed or happy at that response. It wasn’t like she’d said she was repulsed by him or something. He wanted her to think of him as more than just someone she’d run an errand with, even if that response would have been exactly what Jessica wouldn’t have wanted to hear.
“Other than that, it’s been a pretty uneventful morning,” she said as though his mind weren’t spinning based on what she’d said seconds ago.
“Tracie and Peter are amazing to work with,” Audrie said with a big smile. “Tracie even brought me a doughnut and some coffee.”
“I would have done that.” He flipped on the turn signal to take a left on the road that led to the barn where the horse was. “They had me helping unload the horse and getting her all settled. Then I had to meet Jessica to go over basic horse care techniques.”
“You did that in the barn?” Audrie asked.
Landon shook his head. “Over breakfast. I think it would have worked much better in the barn, but Rourke set it up so we’d meet at the food tent.”
She didn’t have a response to that, and in the silence that followed, he wondered if she was a little jealous. He actually hoped she was, if only because it would mean she was interested in him.
There was no reason to be jealous, though. Jessica was an attractive woman, of course. She wouldn’t be starring in romantic cable movies if she wasn’t. But he believed a person’s insides were more important than her outsides. And besides, he seemed to be able to think of absolutely nothing but Audrie right now. There wasn’t another woman who could set foot on this ranch who would catch his attention.
