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Shane made a good point. The thing that was holding him back from asking her out shouldn’t be the working relationship they had. It should be how it would affect Mathew.
Tristan got to his feet. “I still hate you,” he muttered as he left Shane’s office, his friend’s laughter following him out the door and down the hallway.
They were only going to be here for a max of ten weeks. He needed to weigh the pros and cons. He’d never jumped into a relationship this fast. Even with Erika, they’d taken it slow. And with what Dianna had mentioned the other night about not having an interest in a relationship, he couldn’t be sure she’d even say yes.
If he asked her out and she turned him down, would both of them still be able to maintain a certain professionality?
All of these questions weighed on his mind, and not one of them would be answered today. He was taking Mathew to pick out a live Christmas tree on the far reaches of Shane’s property. It would be the first one they picked out and chopped down together. Tristan enjoyed celebrating Christmas with Mathew, but they usually didn’t have the time or resources to do many fun activities like this. He was so grateful to Shane for this opportunity. And maybe he could release some of this pent-up energy he had humming through his body like a live wire ready to crackle at the first contact that was made with it.
He headed down the steps of the country club and nearly collided with none other than Dianna. Her genuine smile filled her face, contagious from the very first second the corners of her mouth lifted. “Hi, Tristan. I left Mathew at the cabin. I knew you’d be headed over that way in a minute. How did your meeting with Shane go?”
“Good.”
She fidgeted, shifting her weight as she stood on the step just below his. “I told Mathew to find his snow boots and gather his gloves and hat. I’m sure he’ll be ready for you when you arrive.
“Would you like to come with us?” The words burst from within him like a bolt of lightning that could no longer be contained. “Mathew has been begging me to convince you to come. I know you just had dinner with us a few nights ago, but—”
“I’d love to.”
“You would?”
She grinned. “Picking out a Christmas tree here is a tradition that not even I can pass up.”
11
Tristan
Tristan stayed about a foot away from Dianna as they walked through the snow along a well-marked path. Shane’s property stretched a lot farther than he’d realized. They were supposed to head out to an oversized sleigh that would be pulled by a couple horses. The driver would take them into the woods that grew on the outskirts to the north of the country club.
The air felt colder somehow, farther away from the buildings and the lights from the country club. Clouds overhead made the evening sky dimmer than it usually would have been at this time of day. They probably had only about an hour left of sunlight before it wouldn’t be very wise to chop down a tree.
A breeze picked up, tugging at his coat and the cowboy hat he wore at Mathew’s insistence. Dianna wore a knit hat beneath the hood of her down coat, but she still looked like she was freezing. Perhaps after they brought the tree back, they could get some hot chocolate and sit by the fire.
His hand tightened around the axe that Shane had shoved in his hand before wishing him luck. At first, Tristan had been confident that he could chop down the tree. But by the way Shane had chuckled and reminded him the driver would be more than happy to help, he wasn’t so sure.
Dianna clasped her gloved hands together and kept her gaze on Mathew, who wandered ahead of them. He stopped every so often to touch a tree branch covered in a dusting of fresh snow before moving on to the next one. It was hard not to stare at Dianna’s serene expression. Even if he tried, he wouldn’t have been able to imagine someone looking like they belonged so perfectly in a place like this.
It was enough to make him want to move out to this area. The people were kind and welcoming when he managed to get to town. He looked forward to spending time with Dianna despite not knowing if she’d end up biting his head off for saying something she disagreed with. He adored her passion.
He took in a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. What was he thinking? Moving out here wouldn’t work. It wasn’t just him he needed to think about. Mathew’s well-being mattered the most. There was no telling how Mathew would do if Tristan uprooted his son to make him stay here. He’d have to make new friends, get used to new doctors and therapists, and that was if Tristan could find a place to live. Sure, Mathew had taken a shining to Dianna, but there wasn’t even a guarantee she’d be sticking around after this season.
One more peek in her direction, and his stomach tightened. The thought had been tempting, but his logical side knew better and that was why after the holiday, they’d head back to the city.
When Tristan and Dianna arrived at the sleigh, Mathew had already climbed inside and perched on the back edge with one of his toy horses.
Tristan gestured toward the horses on the other side of the sleigh. “Didn’t you want to sit over there?”
His son shook his head. “Molasses isn’t over there.”
Tristan glanced over at the animals. Sure enough, Mathew was right. Molasses wasn’t one of the horses leading the sleigh. He made his way over to his son and sat down. “I guess Molasses had other things to do today.”
Mathew shook his head. “No. Molasses doesn’t do jobs like pulling sleighs.”
“Oh yeah? How do you know?” Tristan bit back a smile, his eyes meeting Dianna’s as they shared a brief, chest-tightening moment.
“Because Molasses isshowhorse,” Mathew said with a matter-of-fact tone.
Tristan chuckled and his eyes found Dianna’s again. It was small, but something passed between them. Right now she was one of the only people who could appreciate the little moments like this one. Mathew was special. He might not act like society expected him to, but he was intelligent. Sometimes Tristan thought his son was smarter than he was. The kinds of conversations Mathew could have was way beyond his age level. And the ideas he came up with when trying to figure something out… was pretty incredible.
