Mistletoe Cowboy (20 page)

The short blonde popped her hands on her hips. “Sage, you don't play fair.”

“All's fair in buffalo wings and dancing, Dee Mercer.” Sage tucked her hand into his and led him toward the refreshment table.

“Did I just miss the opportunity of a lifetime or did you save me from a life of heartache?” he whispered.

“The latter,” she said.

“Why's that?”

“She's a female player, Creed. She'd tear your heart out and shred it into bite-sized pieces and then feed it to her cat.”

“Sounds like a vicious woman,” he chuckled.

“All women are vicious,” Sage told him.

He kissed her on the forehead. “Darlin', you are a sage in more than just your name.”

The twinkling lights surrounding them in all the decorations reflected in Creed's green eyes, and when she looked into their depths, she and Creed were the only two people in the whole big room. There was music but it was over in the next county. There was mistletoe but someone else could dance under it and steal a kiss because she knew in that moment that she belonged with Creed.

And it scared her spitless.

“Come on, Creed. Now I've got to take you to the buffet and make an honest man out of you.” She laughed to cover up her instant fear.

“Is there a preacher over there?”

She popped him on the arm and started around the busy dance floor. “I'm making an honest man out of you so that you didn't lie about going for buffalo wings.”

“Well, damn!” he muttered with a chuckle.

As soon as they reached the table she put a wing on a plate, picked it up with her fingers, and held it to his mouth. She hoped Dee was watching and got the message loud and clear.

“These wings are fantastic,” Creed said. “Momma's can't hold a light for them to go by, but if you ever tell her I said that, I'll swear I never said it. You've got to introduce me to Hilda.”

“Not tonight,” April said at his elbow.

“Why?”

“Hilda don't like big crowds. She cooks and stays in the kitchen. The caterers do the serving and toting. You can meet her tomorrow though.”

Creed raised an eyebrow toward Sage.

She shrugged. “Tradition.”

“What?”

April picked up a pecan tartlet. “We have church at the chapel at two thirty tomorrow. The blizzard prevented the Hanging of the Green ceremony we usually have the first of the month, but we'll have it tomorrow. Afterwards, Grand and Sage come home with us for supper. It's just the leftovers from today, but it's just Hilda, me and Daddy, and Grand and Sage. Grand ain't here so you'll have to fill in for her.”

“Is that even possible?” Creed teased.

“Sure it is,” April said. “You just argue with Daddy, say ‘shit fire' when you are mad, and try to steal Hilda from the Canyon Rose. It won't do you any good because she's been here since Daddy was born, but that's the tradition.”

“Expecting a big turnout at the church in this kind of weather?” Creed asked.

“Chapel will be packed full. Folks don't miss church and this ceremony is nice,” Sage said. “I'm going to sneak back into the kitchen and tell Hilda she's outdone herself. You go on and talk cows and tractors with the ranchers.”

“I'm going with you,” April said.

Creed hung his head. “I'm not feeling much love right now.”

April motioned toward a tall dark-haired woman wearing a black dress slit up to her hip coming right at him. “Oh, honey, you could have all the love you want. That is Lisa Reynolds coming at you. She is wild as a March hare in heat so don't let her talk you into something that will get you killed.”

The woman had her eyes fixed on Creed, so he smiled and held up a buffalo wing.

April pulled Sage toward the door leading into the kitchen. “Don't worry about him. He's a big strong boy who can take care of himself.”

“Why would I worry about him?” Sage asked.

“Hey, woman, I saw that kiss. It heated up the room about twenty degrees. Had Maria and Willa Sue both pantin' and wishin' they could corner him up under that mistletoe. Someday I'm going to find me a cowboy like Creed Riley and…” She stopped and blushed.

“And what?” Sage asked.

April whispered, “And we're going to do things that'll make snow boil.”

“April Pierce!” Hilda looked up from the island in the middle of a big modern kitchen.

Hilda was leaning toward the back side of sixty but her hair was still black as a crow's feathers. Her round face sported a few crow's-feet around her dark brown eyes, and her body was a little rounder than it had been when she was twenty. She'd never married and lived in a small house out behind the bunkhouse. But most of her time was spent supervising the staff in the big house. And nobody that had two sane brain cells to bump against each other crossed her.

Not even April.

“Sorry, Hilda. You weren't supposed to hear that.”

Sage rounded the island and bent low to hug the five-foot woman, but it didn't take her mind off what she'd heard April say about Creed, and she damn sure didn't like the look in Lisa's eyes when she pranced all prissy-like across the dance floor.

“Well, I did and I'd best not hear any more such things coming from your mouth. You are going to be the mistress of Canyon Rose someday and that's no way for a lady to talk. Now, tell me about your trip to the artist thing, Sage. Did you do well this year?”

“Very well. Enough that I get to paint another year.”

Hilda wiped her hands on a bibbed apron that hung around her neck. It covered a red pearl-snap shirt and a pair of jeans. “That's good. Now tell me about this cowboy that Ada put so much trust in.”

“What have you heard?” Sage picked up a finger sandwich. “Is this your chicken salad? When I get married you've got to give me the recipe for my wedding present.”

“You are marryin' up with that cowboy?” Hilda asked.

Sage fumbled the sandwich and had to maneuver fast to keep it from making a mess on her dress. “Hell, no!”

“Never knew Ada's Indian sense to be wrong. You'll bring him around tomorrow for me to meet, won't you?”

“Of course I will. It's Christmas,” Sage said.

“Well, I'm glad you're home, child, and safe. Storm like we had, it's a wonder you didn't get stuck off in a bar ditch somewhere.” Hilda pulled another pan of wings from the oven. “Now go back to the party. Them dresses cost too much to be standin' in the kitchen with me. Go show them off.”

***

The tall woman pressed against Creed as if she wanted to get her message of availability through to him by touch. The blizzard hadn't frozen his ability to reason and there was no way you could rearrange the aura around her to spell anything but trouble. Not even the love of the Christmas season and the mistletoe hanging above them had worked its magic to the point that Creed wanted to do more than dance with the lady. Fact be known, he would have rather been doing chores with Sage than two-steppin' the tall lady around the floor.

“I'm recently divorced. Got a pretty nice little cotton farm up in Silverton in the divorce settlement. I'll show you mine if you show me yours,” she whispered.

They were directly under the mistletoe when Lisa tangled her fist into his hair and pulled his face to hers. “Merry Christmas to me, Creed Riley. May it be the start of something hot and wonderful.”

And then her lips were on his. He kept his mouth shut tightly, even when she pried at it with her tongue. He didn't shut his eyes, so everything on her face was out of focus. Her mascara had globs as big as cow patties and there were crow's-feet around her eyes. Was that a mole she'd covered up with makeup? No, it was a tiny bit of chocolate chip from a Christmas cookie.

“You don't kiss worth a damn,” she said as she pulled away. “We'll have to work on that, but I do love playing the role of teacher.”

“I'm not a very good student.” He smiled.

“Then you might get a spanking with a ruler. I've got my ways to make you into a very good boy.”

The gritty growl in her voice left him cold, as if he'd rolled in the snow strip stark naked. He'd tasted the faint remnants of cigarettes covered up by beer and chocolate. But there was no stirring in mind or body that wanted him to show her anything he had. And he was too old to go back to school, even if the teacher did promise to work with him.

Lisa stepped back abruptly and Sage stood behind her.

“May I cut in?” Sage asked.

Lisa's laugh was brittle. “Sure thing. Don't throw him back, Sage. He's not trained, but there's promise in that sexy body.”

Sage's body next to his had a very different effect. Instantly, he wanted to kiss her. Hell, he wanted to do more than that. He wanted to carry her up that staircase and kick open the nearest bedroom door.

The vision of tumbling her onto a bed and letting the hot kisses take them on another wild journey stirred every nerve in his body. “How long do we have to stay?”

“Until the last dog is dead. April and I are cohostesses at the party. And why were you kissing that hussy?”

“I didn't kiss her. She kissed me. Sometimes the mistletoe is your friend. Sometimes not so much. Where did all these women come from? I thought the canyon was like a man cave.”

Sage's fingers played in the hair hanging on his neck. The visual of hauling her off to the bedroom changed to carrying her into a cave with candles glowing in the corners and stretching her out naked on a pile of thick soft bearskin rugs. With Sage, he just might enjoy role-playing after all.

“But I never did like whoopin's,” he mumbled.

“What did you say?”

“Lisa offered to take me home and teach me how to kiss. She'd be the teacher and I'd be the student and if I didn't get it right, I'd get a whoopin' with a ruler,” he said honestly.

“That hussy! I'll show her a whoopin', but it won't be with a ruler.”

“I've handled worse than her, Sage. I can fight my own battles.”

The dance ended and Lawton tapped Creed on the shoulder. “We've got a discussion going about breeding buffalo with Angus. We'd like your input.”

***

Sage made herself walk slowly up the staircase but she wanted to run. Greenery had been looped around the banister and red velvet bows were attached on every fifth rung. The sides of the landing were strung with gold tinsel garland and caught up at the top with another bow and a big ball of mistletoe.

The kissing was over. She'd already let it go way too far.

She bypassed the restroom at the top of the stairs and circled around to April's room. She stopped at the edge of the railing and looked down at the party. The feeling of Christmas was in the air. Lights twinkled everywhere. Ladies kept trying to work their way under the mistletoe as they danced. When they did, the kisses were anything from brief pecks on dry lips to downright take-it-to-the-hayloft sexy. A riot of red, green, gold, and silver decorated the whole room as well as the big tree. And then there were the two-foot trees that decorated the tables shoved away from the dance floor.

A beautiful sight with a great party, and she'd forgotten that Grand wasn't there for the first time in more than fifty years. April was sitting at a table with Willa Sue and Maria. Lawton had Creed cornered beside the Christmas tree.

Sage started to turn around and go into April's bedroom when her skin tingled like it did when Creed touched her. She looked back down and he was gazing up. He grinned and waved, then went back to his conversation.

She eased into the bedroom, turned on the light, and shut the door. The blue dress was crumpled on the bed beside her when she sat down. She pulled the phone from her tiny gold evening bag and hit speed dial. Her grandmother picked up instantly.

“Hey, are you having fun?” Grand asked.

“You are supposed to be here.”

“And I'm not. Deal with it. We work hard all year and we only party at Christmas and Independence Day. If you are sitting in April's room sulking, you deserve to be miserable.”

“How did you…” Sage stammered.

“I might not be there, but never doubt my Indian sense.”

“Or Hilda's cell phone or the gossip hotline, right?”

“Doesn't matter how the ESP shit works. I just trust it and I don't fuss about the way it comes to me. Now get back downstairs and have fun. I understand Creed is gettin' on well with Lawton and that April didn't wear that topless dress.”

“It was you that sent that to Lawton, wasn't it?”

“It was not! I sent it to her mother and she sent it to Lawton. A mother has a right to know how her girl is looking in public.”

“And what if that dress had been mine?”

“You are twenty-six, Sage. You've got better sense than that.”

“Don't you miss all this? It's Christmas. We only had each other all these years and Christmas was our favorite time of the year,” Sage asked.

“Sure I miss it. I miss your grandpa. I miss the ranch. I miss my son. I miss your mother, who was like a daughter to me. I miss you. I miss all of it. Don't mean it's not time for a change. I'm hanging up now. Call me tomorrow after the Hanging of the Green and tell me all about the weekend.”

***

Lawton stood beside April as the last of the guests left after midnight. Hugs and handshakes and the door shut behind Lisa, the very last one to leave. She sent a wink and a kiss blown from her fingertips across the room toward Creed and gave Lawton an extra long hug. The lights still flickered. The mistletoe was still in place. The band had gone home and the caterers were cleaning up.

“Wonderful party,” Creed said.

“Thank you. Hilda takes care of it every year. I just show up and make sure my daughter is dressed right,” Lawton said.

“Daddy!” April hissed.

Sage hugged Lawton. “I missed Grand but it really was a good party.”