Her Mistletoe Cowboy (5 page)

“Ivy Bishop, Miss Perpetual Workaholic, are you telling me you have a … puppy!”

“Yes.”

“How? I only spoke to you two days ago.”

“I know. Let’s just say we both are in need of a new home.”

“See, I always said you are a big softie, even if you can stare down a hostile client in all of five seconds.”

“Thankfully there are no clients adverse to change out here, only one cowboy who has been most accommodating.”

“You’ve met Rhett?”

“Yes, the poor cowboy had two unexpected and high maintenance house guests overnight until my power was connected.”

“Rhett’s a sweetheart, even though he’s now a reclusive sweetheart, but he wouldn’t have minded having you stay.”

“Thankfully, even if he did, now I have power we won’t be seeing much of each other.”

“Ivy … I know slimeball James’ betrayal is still fresh but don’t let your hurt cut you off from all the good things in life. There are decent guys out there and Rhett is one of them.”

“Slimeball?” she said, voice choked as a familiar pain kicked in at the mention of James’ name. “Is that all you’ve got?”

Trinity laughed. “You know I’ve already used every adjective beginning with a and b so now am working my way through the alphabet.”

Ivy couldn’t help but join in with her laughter.

“Listen, Ivy,” Trinity continued, her voice sobering, “I mean it. Rhett is a good guy and a safe one. You do need to talk to someone besides me and your puppy. You can hang out with Rhett and there will be no chance you will end up where you are now.”

Ivy didn’t realize she was frowning until she spoke. “Safe? As in he would have preferred a guy for a neighbor?”

“No, you goose. You’ve seen him. Much to the relief of all the single females in Marietta he’s as straight as the ranch fences he’s always fixing.”

“So, why then is he safe? Has he had a relationship end too?”

“No. After his mother had her first heart attack he went through a rough patch hanging out with the wrong crowd and getting into trouble. Thankfully he soon came to his senses.”

The memory of the bleakness of his eyes returned to haunt her. There had to be a further chapter to Rhett’s story. “So did his mother recover?”

Trinity sighed. “Not from her second heart attack. This will be his first Christmas without her so you can understand why having a fling, let alone a relationship, isn’t exactly on his mind.”

Ivy blinked to keep her own loss at bay. “I sure can.”

“When his father moved to town, Rhett also caused quite a stir by refusing to inherit the family ranch just because he was the first son in three generations. He made sure the ranch went to his eldest sister, Peta. He quit the rodeo circuit, bought Little Rose Crown and is now determined to make it on his own. He has become quite the workaholic, like someone else I know.”

She ignored Trinity’s teasing tone. “So he really is safe?”

“Yes. So hang out with him, Ivy. It will do you both good. Now, I’ve got to go to take Mom to her physiotherapist appointment. So I’ll talk to you later. Oh, and send a photo through of Miss Hypo Milly. I want to see this puppy that has melted your tough city girl heart.”

“Will do.”

Ivy stared at her now blank cell phone screen. Maybe her oldest friend was right? Maybe, despite all her plans to be alone, she would need a small dose of human contact?

She shook her head and returned the cell phone to her bag. Her grandparents had sacrificed everything to raise her so she’d studied and then worked hard to make sure they never wanted for anything. They mightn’t be with her but she couldn’t let them down. She would continue to provide for the orphans’ charity that she and her grandparents supported and she would also ensure she had the funds to restore her grandfather’s home in his memory.

She collected the car keys that lay beside her bag. But before she could focus on her career she had to re-establish her emotional equilibrium and that meant keeping to herself and staying out of her cowboy neighbor’s way.

‡

I
vy carefully closed
the Rose Crown ranch house front door. Milly might be asleep in a makeshift bed in the warm kitchen but she still hated leaving the pup alone. She’d do a super-fast shop in Marietta and be back before Milly grew hungry again.

Ivy shivered as a bitter breeze engulfed her. The Montana mountain wind chill factor made a mockery of her jacket’s so-called puffer-fill. She pulled her coat closed at her throat and peered through the swirling snow. She could only hope the road wouldn’t be snowed over or icy. Her city driving skills had already been tested yesterday on the drive in.

She pressed the garage remote to open the door. But she had no option but to visit Marietta for food otherwise she and Milly would have to impose on Rhett’s hospitality again. She squared her shoulders. And that wasn’t going to happen. She’d make good on her statement she was here for solitude not socializing.

The sound of a truck pulling up at her front gate was just audible over the groan of the slow-opening garage door. She swung around to see Rhett striding toward her.

“Morning.”

His grin was as white as the snowflakes dusting his coat but heated her far more than any hot water bottle could.

“Morning.”

In the corporate arena, words never failed her. But for a bizarre reason she felt tongue-tied.

“Z’s Hardware called and the supplies I need to fix the barn are in a day early so if you’d like a lift to Marietta I’m going there now.”

“Thanks.” She paused, searching for the right words to refuse him without sounding ungracious. Wind again buffeted her and she tasted snow. Visibility was deteriorating let alone the road conditions. She swallowed back her refusal. “Actually, that would be great. I’m not yet used to driving in the snow.”

He glanced at her chic red car, built for sunny city streets. “No problem. With the way this weather’s closing in, at least if we go in my truck we’ll know we’ll get there and back.”

She nodded, pressed the remote to close the garage door and followed Rhett to his black pickup. He held the passenger side door open.

She smiled her thanks as she climbed in and set about pulling her seat belt over her chest. The belt locked. She released the belt and lowered her shoulders to force herself to relax. There was no reason why being in Rhett’s company for the next hour or so would make her tense. This time when she pulled the belt, she did so gently. It still locked. She peeled off her padded black gloves to see if she could better gauge the belt’s tension.

Rhett slid into the driver’s seat as she attempted to do up the belt for a third time.

“Sorry.” He leaned toward her. “This belt’s temperamental. I keep meaning to get it looked at but I don’t usually carry passengers so it hasn’t been a priority.”

His bare fingers brushed hers as he took hold of the webbing. Her breathing stalled. She didn’t know if it was the jolt where their skin touched or the slow glide of his hand past her breasts and down her side as he guided the belt into place that electrified her nerves.

She risked a look at his face to see if he too felt the awareness arc between them, but apart from faint color across his cheekbones his expression appeared nonplussed.

“There you go,” he said, as he started the truck engine. “Sit back, relax and enjoy your chauffeur-driven ride to town.”

*

To Ivy’s surprise
she did exactly that. The warmth of the truck and the exhaustion that continued to drag at her bones caused her to sit unnaturally still. Rhett had turned on the radio and the soft country music reassured her she didn’t have to make small talk. Her fingers laced in her lap, she sat deep in the passenger seat and admired the picture-perfect winter landscape through which they travelled. Every now and then Rhett would point out a mountain landmark and then concentrate on the snowy road.

The welcome to Marietta sign flashed past and they soon drove down the near-deserted Main Street. Small town Marietta lived up to its name. Locals ambled along bare sidewalks. Car parks stood empty in front of stores and at the stoplight a traffic jam consisted of two vehicles. She soaked up the peace. No horns blasted, no voices shouted and no sirens wailed.

She smiled as they passed a store festooned with garlands, festive lights and that sported a mini Christmas tree above the awning. She hadn’t been within the town limits for ten minutes and Marietta felt like her type of community.

“The town has a Christmas Stroll on next week and the stores are all getting ready,” Rhett said, his eyes on her mouth.

“It looks fabulous. I love Christmas decorations.”

He grinned. “In that case you’ve come to the right place to spend Christmas.”

She stared through the truck window at a granite peak whose uppermost tip was shrouded in cloud. From Henry’s description of Marietta she knew this was Copper Mountain. Dressed in the pristine-white of winter, the mountain stood stoic and serene. Her gaze lingered and her throat ached. Her great-grandparents would have travelled down this same street in a wagon and looked at Copper Mountain too. Her grandfather would have run his town errands and all while Copper Mountain would have kept a similar watch over him as it now did to her.

Rhett stopped in front of a store with a wide nativity-themed window display.

“This is Marietta Feed and Supply and you’ll be able to purchase both pet and veterinary supplies for Milly. How about I get what I need from Z’s Hardware and pick you up in half an hour?”

“Perfect. Thanks.”

She unclipped the seat belt. Her cheeks warmed as the action reminded her of Rhett’s earlier help and her body’s instant reaction. She wouldn’t be getting back into his truck in a hurry and when she did she’d be mastering the temperamental seatbelt. She didn’t want another reason to get up close and personal with him again.

Ivy only needed fifteen minutes to cross off every item on the list she’d compiled for Milly. She then texted Rhett that she would meet him at the Marietta Western Wear store she’d seen when they’d driven down Main Street.

She headed back to the main thoroughfare and as she crossed Second Street the smell of freshly baked gingerbread caused her steps to quicken. Somehow she’d missed seeing the sign for the Copper Mountain Gingerbread and Dessert Factory.

She dawdled beside the store window and gazed in at the cabinets filled with all the contraband her city life had lacked. Brownies. Cookies. Tortes. She’d learned the hard way the fewer curves a woman had the less she would be accused of using how she looked to get ahead and the more she’d be taken seriously. At least here in Montana it didn’t matter how curvy she grew.

She continued walking. Soon her kitchen too would smell of gingerbread. She mightn’t have her grandmother to cook with but that didn’t mean she couldn’t create the scents and tastes that were woven through her memories like precious silken threads.

In the western wear store she found thick-soled boots and a red woman’s ranchers’ coat. She kept the woolen coat on and snuggled into its warmth as she left the store. Rhett was parked outside. She slipped into her seat and quickly tackled the seat belt before he could help. She was never so glad to hear the click of metal as the buckle slid into place. And judging by the release of tension in Rhett’s bunched jaw, perhaps he felt as relieved.

Their last stop was the grocery store on the outskirts of town. Working quickly she filled two grocery carts, one solely containing baking supplies. In contrast Rhett filled half a cart.

“Did you buy the whole store?” he asked her with a crooked grin as he loaded her sacks into the now full pickup.

She matched his grin. “Almost. Milly and I have a ton of eating and baking to do.”

Snug in her new coat, and lulled by the soft strains of the radio, Ivy slept the drive home. The sound of Rhett pulling on the parking brake woke her. He helped her carry the mountain of grocery sacks inside.

“Thanks,” she said as he set the final sack on the laden bench. “I’ll won’t need to go to town again for weeks.”

“No worries. Have fun baking up a storm.” He bent to tickle Milly’s stomach as the sleepy pup rolled onto her back beside his boot. His eyes briefly met Ivy’s. “I’ll be seeing you.”