Page 104 of Christmas Eve Cowboy


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Chapter Seven

Lucy woke up to the sun streaming through her open drapes, and stayed where she was to appreciate it. She wasn’t due at her aunt’s for hours, but she had some baking to do that would use up her morning. She felt a small pang of regret that she wasn’t waking up at the ranch in Caleb’s arms and immediately tried to think of something else. She was lucky, she was blessed, and she wouldn’t allow one man to spoil that for her.

But had she been too hasty? Was there room for compromise? He’d be coming back to see his father more often, and she would always be welcome to visit her parents in Seattle. Could they manage a long-distance relationship? After another night without him beside her she was beginning to wonder whether her future had to be completely Caleb-free.

She stretched out her legs and heard a disgruntled meow from Colin, who had reluctantly returned from next door and attached himself to her side. He wasn’t happy with her, which meant he pretended to ignore her even while still hanging around, an attitude Lucy couldn’t help but admire and wish she could emulate.

The water in the shower was hot, the heating was clanking away as usual, and when she went down to the kitchen all the electrical equipment was operating perfectly. She paused at the door and noticed there were fresh flowers on the table, which she hadn’t put there herself. She approached them with the caution usually reserved for someone discovering an unexploded bomb.

There was no card attached to the festive red ribbon tied around the vase, but she had to wonder if they had something to do with Caleb. Although, he didn’t have a key . . . She frowned. Had she left a door open last night? She went to check the alarm and found it was turned off. If she’d forgotten to set that, had she also neglected to check the doors? Usually if someone got into your house, they took things rather than leaving flowers.

She fed Colin and turned the oven on to make sure it was up to temperature when she started baking. Not having to rush around and deal with guests was always a pleasure, although she loved chatting to new people and had already turned some chance visitors into regulars. She gazed out of the window at the bright sunshine and hoped that by the New Year the roads through the forest would be open so that she could recoup some of her losses.

Her phone buzzed with a text from her parents wishing her happy holidays. She replied with a GIF of a tree and some additional kisses. Dan sent her a goofy text and she replied in kind, which made her smile and wish he was here. No one from her family had visited since her grandma had died, which meant she hadn’t seen them for nine months. Her mom had tried to coax her back to Seattle with the promise of plane tickets, but Lucy had been working flat-out to keep the B&B running without the necessary staff. As she hadn’t wanted her parents to know how difficult things really were, she’d just said she couldn’t make it, causing hurt feelings and a silence that hadn’t been comfortable at all.

She didn’t think they wanted her to fail—in fact they would be shocked and hurt at the very suggestion—but they did expect her to screw things up. They always had . . . She put on some coffee, made herself some festive oatmeal, and let her thoughts wander to what Caleb might be doing. He hadn’t texted her again, but that wasn’t surprising. He’d said he was busy, and he was a man of his word. If she did get a chance to see him before he left, maybe she’d float the idea of a long-distance relationship by him and see what he thought.

She might have gotten over her girlish crush on Caleb, but only because she’d fallen in love with the real man he’d become.

A knock on the back door made her jump.

“Hey! Open up!”

She opened the door and revealed her brother Dan grinning at her.

“Surprise!” He hauled her into his arms and hugged her tight. “Looking good, little sis!”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Lucy asked as she looked up into his beloved face. “And how did you even get here?”

Dan was already on the move, his gaze taking in the kitchen.

“Nothing much has changed in here. I keep expecting Gran to come around the corner in her apron to find me something to do rather than eat all her cookies.”

“She wasn’t a great believer in idle hands,” Lucy agreed. “I haven’t wanted or needed to change much in here. Everything works just fine.”

Dan continued walking. “Okay if I take the small room at the back of the house?” He yawned. “I think I’ll take a nap. Wake me up for dinner.”

“You can have any room you like. I don’t have guests right now.”

“So I heard.” His voice faded as he headed up the stairs. Lucy followed him out into the hall. “From whom?” He didn’t answer, and she heard the upstairs door close behind him. Had he been talking to their auntie Linda? She was the only person in town who knew exactly what was going on with the power. She had no reason to know Lucy had been trying to keep that information on the down low.

Lucy went back into the kitchen and started making the dough for her dinner rolls. They needed two rises, and if she didn’t get them going right now, they wouldn’t be ready for the celebration. She was also making gingerbread cookies, but they didn’t take long, and she could easily make them while the bread dough was proofing.

She’d just set the dough to rise when the doorbell rang. She washed her hands, wiped them on her already floury apron and walked through to the front entrance hall. Her welcoming smile wavered as her parents came in.

“Lucy, darling.” Her mother, Isla, rushed in and hugged her tight. “We couldn’t bear the thought of you being here all alone on your first Christmas without Gran.”

“When exactly did you decide that?” Lucy inquired as her father came to kiss her cheek. He was a quiet man who was happy to let his wife do most of the socializing and organizing while he continued his studies in molecular biology at the hospital lab. “I mean, it’s lovely to see you, but this is rather short notice. How do you know I can even put you up?”

Her mom laughed and patted her cheek. “Feisty as ever, I see. We heard about the power outage and that you’d had a terrible time with the generator, so we thought a visit was in order.”

“Heard from whom, exactly?”

“Does it matter, pet? We’re here now and we’re just so thrilled to see you!”

“We are.” Her dad winked as Isla started up the stairs. “Can we put our bags in number two? That’s where we always used to stay when your gran was alive.”

“Be my guest,” Lucy said automatically as they tromped up the stairs, leaving her alone again and talking to an empty hall. “What ishappeninghere?”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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