Mistletoe Cowboy (23 page)

“Can I see those rings and that engagement ring beside them? I'm buying a ranch in the Palo Duro Canyon,” he said.

“What for? We drove through there one time. I hated it.” She pulled the rings out and handed them to him.

If the man's ring fit his finger and if the woman's ring fit his pinky, he would buy them. If not, it wasn't meant to be. He picked up the smaller ring and it slipped on his pinky perfectly. The larger ring fit his ring finger just as well.

“Who is she?” Macy flipped her blond hair back over her shoulder.

“It's complicated.” He put the engagement ring on with the band and held his hand up to the light.

“That's a fine diamond. One of the best we have in the store. Not the cheapest or the biggest but the best for fire and brilliance. Personally, I've always liked gold but some women do prefer white gold. That's platinum, by the way, and it's expensive,” Macy said.

“I'll take them and now I need to look at a bracelet.”

“Tell me about her and I'll make a recommendation.”

Creed shook his head. He didn't want to buy something for Sage that his ex suggested. He wanted something very special that only he would understand the reason behind the gift.

“Tennis bracelets are here. All women love diamonds,” Macy said.

He barely glanced at them before moving on. He checked his watch. He had fifteen minutes.

Macy pointed toward a plain gold bracelet and that's when he got the idea.

“Show me some of those things that dangle on a bracelet like that.”

She pulled out a tray of gold and silver charms and set it before him. “Like these.”

“Do you have a bracelet like that only in white gold or platinum?”

She put a tray of white gold bracelets in front of him.

She pointed to one substantial enough to hold the charms he had in mind. “Then that's what I want. Can you put these charms on it and have it ready to go in ten minutes?”

“I can put them on as you pick them out.” Macy reached for a tool under the counter and held it up.

Creed picked out a dog, a cat, a Christmas tree with a sparkling diamond at the top, and a round disk engraved with mistletoe in the middle. Tiny opals created the berries. It was a perfect gift. Each year he would add a charm to it that signified something wonderful that had happened in their lives.

“Wow! That is some present,” Macy said. “Really, Creed, tell me about her.”

“Like I said, it's complicated. So you are happy?” he asked, changing the subject.

He hadn't seen her since she'd come home from that trip and told him that their engagement was over. But now, looking at her and hearing her talk about how happy she was and what a wonderful marriage she had, he wondered why he'd ever fallen for her anyway. Nothing stirred inside him. Not anger. Not bitterness. Certainly not passion.

She handed him the bracelet tucked inside a long red velvet box that matched the engagement ring box. “There you go.”

Fingertips brushed together and still he felt nothing. She rang up his bill and he didn't even flinch.

She handed him the credit card receipt. He signed the bottom and shoved his copy into his shirt pocket.

“Creed, I never meant to hurt you. I really did think I loved you when I accepted your proposal.”

“Macy, I'm over it. I've got to go now. Merry Christmas.”

He looked at his watch and hurried out into the mall before he realized that the small bag had the jewelry store logo on it. He had five minutes so he went to a kiosk that sold small-tooled leather items.

“Help you?” a lady wearing boots and a denim miniskirt asked.

“Yes, ma'am,” he said. “What kind of wallet are the ladies using these days?”

She picked up one that looked like an oversized old-time cigarette case and handed it to him.

“I'll take it. And how about cell phone cases?”

She showed him a rack where dozens hung.

“This one. This one and this one.” He laid three out on the counter.

She rang up his bill and he'd barely gotten the items paid for when his phone rang.

“Yes?” He expected to hear Sage telling him that she had been waiting for ten minutes, but instead she was out of breath.

“I ran into an old friend and we got to talking and I'm just now in the paper store. Give me ten more minutes.”

“You got it,” he said.

A window display caught his eye as he slowed his pace and took his time getting to the rendezvous place. He stopped and a wide grin spread across his face. There was the perfect gift for Sage. She'd all but stolen his favorite red and black plaid flannel shirt, and hanging right there on a mannequin was one very similar to his. The plaid was a little smaller and the flannel not as soft since it hadn't been washed a hundred times, but she'd love it for a nightshirt.

He walked into the store and bought the shirt. It was the last one so they had to take it off the mannequin. They wrapped it for him in shiny red paper and slipped it down into an enormous plastic bag with the store logo on the front. He put his leather purchase bag and his jewelry store bracelet down in the bag with the package and tied a knot in the top. The two ring boxes were in his coat pocket.

***

Sage was on her way to the meeting point when someone ran up behind her and touched her on the shoulder. She whipped around and came face to face with Victor Landry.

“Sage Presley! It is you!”

“Hello, Victor. What in the world are you doing in Amarillo, Texas?”

“My folks moved here last year. I can't believe after all this time that you are right here in front of me. I hear you are the next rising Western art star. I've got to be honest—when you left college, I didn't expect much.”

She winced.

“Well, you did have commitment issues. I figured it was in all things, not just relationships, but I was wrong.” He ran a hand down her arm. “Let's go to dinner and talk art.”

Dammit!

She hadn't wanted to go to dinner with Victor when they were practically living in the same dorm room. She damn sure didn't want to go to dinner with him that day.

“Hey.” Creed waved from ten feet away and quickly joined her.

“Creed, meet Victor Landry. Victor, this is Creed.”

Sage felt his eyes go to her left hand but it was holding so many bags that there was no way she could shove it into her pocket.

Creed shifted his bags to his left hand and stuck the right one out. “Pleased to make your acquaintance. You live around here, do you?”

“Victor and I were art students together at college,” she explained.

“I remember being quite a bit more than that,” he said. “And to answer your question, no, I live in New Orleans. It's a wonderful place to feel the art.”

He was a tall, lanky blond-haired man. He wore black dress slacks and shoes with tassels on the toes. A pale pink shirt collar showed from under a pink and gray argyle sweater and his watch was a very good Rolex knockoff.

“Well, it was good to see you, Victor. We've got to get home and do chores before dark. If you see any of our old crowd, tell them hello for me.” Sage's voice was so high-pitched that it even sounded strange in her ears.

He stuck a hand between the V-neck sweater and the pink shirt and handed her a card. “Call me, darlin'. We really should get together and talk art.”

She pocketed the card. “Got to run. Come on, Creed. Cows have to be fed.”

She didn't even look back to see if Creed was behind her but set a course out of the mall as fast as she could go.

“What was that all about?” Creed asked when they were inside the truck.

“It was about nothing. Victor and I had a six-month thing. He wanted more than I wanted to give. End of story. Now let's go home.”

“Must be old flame week. I walked into the… into a store and there was my ex-fiancée working behind the counter. Her husband got transferred to this area and she's teaching school down in Hereford.”

“What's she doing working in the mall?” Sage asked coldly.

“Selling stuff while she's not teaching, I guess,” he said.

Sage looked out the window and bit her lip to keep back the smart remarks that were on the tip of her tongue. She'd been in such a good mood when she went into the mall, but a demon had taken up residence on her shoulder when she came outside. The devil could go by any number of names: jealousy, anger, fear. But it was there, so she turned a cold shoulder to Creed and stared out the window.

He stopped at Home Depot and asked if she was getting out.

She shrugged so he went in and bought a roll of insulation without her.

He stopped at Walmart and she was out of the truck and practically jogging inside before he could put the vehicle in park. She bought the most expensive dog and cat food in the place and three of the biggest pots of poinsettias she could find. He loaded his cart with groceries, toilet paper, and laundry soap.

She helped unload the items when she got home, fed the dog and the cat, and went to her room. She slammed the door, picked up his flannel shirt, and threw it at the wall. The nightshirt she found in her dresser drawer was old and soft but it wasn't as comfortable as Creed's shirt.

Finally she threw herself across the bed and wept even though she didn't know why she was angry or why she was crying.

***

Creed didn't know what in the hell he'd done to make her mad. He'd been up front and told her about Macy. After all, he'd bought an engagement ring and matching wedding bands. If things had worked out between them, he sure didn't ever want it to come up that he'd actually bought the rings from his ex.

He turned on the Christmas tree lights, sunk down into the sofa, and picked up the remote control. He flipped through channels until he found reruns of
NCIS
.

“Understanding murder is simple compared to understanding a woman, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. You been married a bunch of times. What advice would you give me?” He talked to the character on the television.

Gibbs said, “Grab your gear.”

“That's exactly what I probably need to do, ain't it? Grab my gear and go back to Ringgold, Texas.”

Noel pushed the pie plate around the floor, licking the last crumbs of her dog food from the corners. Angel sat in front of the tree and washed her paws.

“All is quiet. All is calm,” Creed said. “Except in my heart. What in the devil made me think I could meet my soul mate and everything would work out just wonderful in two weeks? The season made me crazy is what happened. Blame it on Christmas.”

Noel jumped up on the sofa and laid her head on Creed's lap. Angel pranced across the floor and curled up on his other side.

“Grab your gear,” he repeated. “Sounds like the best advice one man could give another in my predicament.”

The whir of the sewing machine sounded through the whole house. The thing was old as God and sounded worse than a threshing machine. Well, almost, anyway! Ada remembered when her mother bought it in 1948. She was just a little girl that year and Essie had already gotten married and moved away. It was probably just tired of working and ready to retire to the attic with everything else Essie couldn't bear to part with.

Ada cut the small squares and Essie sewed them together. The pattern, showing them which colors went together, was tacked on the wall and provided plenty of fodder for arguments.

“That thing sounds like a threshing machine. You sure you oiled it?” Ada asked.

“Three times a year. On New Year's Day. On Mother's Day to remember Momma. And on Labor Day because I've made it work so hard,” Essie said.

“Why didn't you ever buy a new one?”

“Didn't need a new one and this one reminds me of Momma. We only got to go home to Oklahoma once a year at first because it cost so much to travel. And she'd always have the machine set up to make me a couple of new outfits.”

Ada laid the scissors down. “I remember. She'd get so excited when your letters came, and the week before you were supposed to be there she'd cook all kinds of things.”

“And send half of it back with me.” Essie smiled. “We'd eat on that food all the way home. We even shared with the folks on the train until we got our first car and could travel that way.”

Ada went back to cutting squares. She'd thought she could sell the ranch and she hadn't been wrong about Creed. He was the one. She'd known it in her bones that first day and they hadn't been lying.

But she couldn't leave Sage on the porch the same way that Essie had left their mother all those years ago. She just couldn't.

Essie wouldn't remember because she stayed a few days and then disappeared again. Ada was the one left behind to witness her mother's tears, long sighs, and broken heart until the next time Essie came home to Oklahoma.

“Just look what all we're getting done,” Essie said. “Sage is going to love this.”

“Yes, she is,” Ada said around the lump in her throat.

“We'd never get it done in time if I didn't have the quilting machine. Top it out today and tomorrow and quilt it on Wednesday,” Essie said as she worked.

“You ever make one of these for your grandkids?”

“Every one of them has a quilt. Gave it to them at their wedding showers. Did I tell you that Calvin's oldest granddaughter is getting married in June? That'll be the first great-grandchild to get married so we'll start one for her after the holidays are over. What do you think? A wedding ring pattern?”

Ada didn't have the heart to tell Essie that she wouldn't be there after the holidays.

“I cried every time I had to leave Momma and Daddy. Especially after Daddy died and it was just her standing there on the porch waving until I couldn't see her anymore,” Essie said. “I'm glad we're together, Ada, in our last years. Being alone ain't no fun at all and getting old alone is a pitiful damn shame. Especially on Christmas. This has been the best season since I lost Richard.”

***

Sage had slept little and alternated between bouts of crying and cussing all night. Grand would be home in a few days. After the cold shoulder she'd given Creed the night before for no reason whatsoever, she'd best get to work on it. He damn sure wouldn't want a thing to do with a moody woman who wouldn't talk to him.

“Oh, shit!” She wiped her cheeks and went back to cussing.

It had been a date.

A real, honest-to-god date.

He'd taken her to dinner and to shop and damn, after seeing Victor she'd forgotten to go to the art store. And she'd acted like a bitch on a PMS high. She hadn't kissed him good night; hell, she hadn't even thanked him for the day.

She hugged the pillow but it didn't hug back and it didn't wipe away the fresh batch of tears flowing down her cheeks. She had her mood swings every so often like most women, but what she experienced the previous night was brand new territory. If only she could get a line on why she was so upset, she'd face off with her demons and destroy them.

“I'm twenty-six, not fourteen,” she said.

The clock flashed five o'clock when she finally gave up and slung her legs over the side of the bed. When Sage was angry, she painted. When she was happy, she painted. She'd never tried painting through tears, but maybe if she cleared the multitude of thoughts from her head, she'd figure things out.

She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and jerked a sweatshirt over her head. The nightshirt hung out the bottom, and her dark hair looked like she'd fought with grizzly bears all night. She pulled it up into a ponytail using only her fingers for a brush.

Palette in hand. Paint squeezed onto it.

She picked up the right brush and started filling in the limbs of the tree behind the little dark-haired girl's head. Her soul settled as she worked.

When she had picked up a canvas it was white. That's the way yesterday had started. A clean slate with the promise of something beautiful just around the corner. He'd knocked on her bedroom door and when she opened it, he had been leaning against the jamb. The first thing he did was tell her how beautiful she looked and then he kissed her ever so sweetly on the lips.

“I'm here to collect Miz Sage Presley for a date,” he'd said.

It was like sketching in the lines for the picture.

Then they'd had such an amazing day right up until she felt Victor's hand on her shoulder. And that's when her brush slipped and she ruined the whole picture.

She stood back and looked at the canvas in front of her. “But why?”

Then the answers came flowing so fast that she could hardly understand them.

It was painful to let go of the past. Victor reminded her of abandonment. He'd gotten so angry when she wouldn't commit to living with him and even madder when she told him that she wouldn't be back to college that next fall.

She picked up her brush and the picture began to take shape. Creed would never understand why she'd acted so crazy. She couldn't explain in words to herself. But sometime in the night, she'd faced off with her demons and she was ready to tell Creed that she was madly in love with him.

It was eight o'clock when she looked up from her picture the next time.

Angel hopped out of the basket and rubbed around her legs. And the puppies started whining.

“Noel, feed your babies,” Sage whispered.

But there was no Noel. She wasn't on her blanket and the three puppies were crawling around crying for her.

“Must be in Creed's room,” she said.

Even with Angel trying to trip her, the sound of puppies and kittens in the background, and a sparkling Christmas tree, the house felt empty. His door was wide open. The bed was made so tight that she could have bounced a quarter on it. Yet there was no Creed and no Noel.

“Must be milking,” she said. “But it wouldn't take three hours.”

She reached around the door and flipped on the light. Angel jumped on the bed and a sheet of paper floated to the floor.

Her name was written on the outside and the next breath caught in her chest like a rock, refusing to move. She picked up the note and carried it to the living room where she melted into a chair. Her heart raced and her breathing returned in short, raspy gasps.

Angel jumped up in her lap and curled up for a nap. Sage made herself open the note and read it, knowing fully well what it would say before she saw the first lines.

Dear Sage,

Your grandmother and I had an agreement. If either of us didn't want to go through with the sale then we had the option of backing out. I'm calling that option and going back to Ringgold.

Chores are done for the morning. You'll only have to milk a few days. Sorry that I've left you with that job.

I love the ranch. It's exactly what I want, but I don't think the whole panhandle of Texas is big enough for both of us. You've got my number. Call me if you want to talk.

Creed

She dropped it. Her shaking hand wasn't blistered but it felt hot. She was on her feet and headed for the front door when she heard the loud thud on the front porch. The noise stopped her in her tracks and then another one hit, shaking the floor under her bare feet.

She jerked the door open and plowed right out onto the porch. Her socks did little to protect her feet from the cold porch, and the cold north wind whistled right through her sweatshirt.

Creed stood at the edge of the porch, looking at the two tiny log cabins. She wanted to shoot him and then hug him, in that exact order. Noel sniffed the larger of the houses and stuck her head in past the leather flap covering the doorway.

“You are leaving?” Sage hugged herself against the wind.

“Looks that way. I was already in the truck and pulling out when I saw the insulation in the back. I don't leave jobs unfinished. I'll drill a couple of holes to snake the electric cord into the house and put the bulbs inside the attics. You can move them out when you get ready.”

“I'm not moving them. This was your idea, Creed Riley. You shove them out into the cold.”

“You better get back inside. You're going to freeze to death,” he said.

“What would you care? You wouldn't even know about it if I did. I could fall and break an arm and not be able to get to a doctor but you wouldn't give a damn. You'd be gone. I was a fool to trust you. I was an idiot to think we might have something. Nobody finds their soul mate in two weeks.” Her voice got louder with every word.

She was shocked when he crossed the porch, picked her up, and carried her back inside the house. Her head rested on his chest and through the thick coveralls she could hear his heart thumping every bit as fast as hers. Noel raced inside the house with them and didn't stop until she was curled up around her hungry puppies, but Sage wasn't even aware of the dog.

Creed sat down on the sofa with her and grabbed a fluffy throw to wrap around her feet.

“I don't want to leave,” he said.

Those five words were better to Sage than winning the lottery.

“I don't want you to go,” she whispered. “I'm sorry about yesterday. I can't begin to explain, but it all came down on my head at one time.”

“Next time trust me enough to talk to me about it. Don't shut me out, Sage. Tell me what's buggin' you and we'll work through it together,” he said.

“Is there going to be a next time? You are leaving.”

“I think I'll stick around for a while.” He grinned. “You don't like to milk cows and you are too softhearted to put the animals outside. And I'd hate to think those two perfectly fine houses will be sitting empty.”

“I love you,” she said softly.

Creed's kiss was long, hard, and lingering. She tried to melt her body into his and become one with him but that damn throw was in the way. She tugged it out from between them and tossed it on the floor.

She pulled back. “It's crazy. I know it is. We've known each other less than three weeks.”

“Soul mates know.” His kiss was more demanding, somehow hotter and sweeter at the same time.

“Did you?” she mumbled as his lips left hers and worked their way down to the hollow of her neck.

“I knew before you did.”

She pushed him back and stared into his eyes. They had gone all soft and dreamy like she loved. “When did you know?”

***

He couldn't very well tell her that he'd finally seen the big picture in a jewelry store with his ex-girlfriend. That he'd figured out he was a lucky man because Macy didn't marry him because he had been given the time and opportunity to meet Sage, his true soul mate.

“When doesn't matter, Sage. I love you. I think I always have. I just had to look a long time before I found you.”

“So this is it? We are in a relationship?”

“I am. Are you?” he asked.

“God, I can't even think with your hands touching my skin,” she said.

“Want me to stop so you can think about it all day?”

“Hell, no! Please don't stop. Wait!”

He pulled his hands free and sat up. “For what?”

“What are we going to do when Grand comes home? We can't sleep together in this house with her in the other room, and I don't ever want to spend another night without you.”

“I guess we'll clean out the bunkhouse for us or for Miz Ada,” he chuckled.

“It's not funny. I can't imagine telling her good night and her knowing I'm sleeping with you.”

“Are you proposing to me, Sage?” Creed asked.

She blushed redder than the shiny bulbs on the Christmas tree. “One baby step at a time, cowboy. I'm damn sure not proposing. I've just got one little toe in the commitment pool.”

“Good, because I would have said no.” He laced his fingers in hers and stood up, pulling her toward the bedroom.

“Why? Am I just relationship material and not bride material?” She didn't hesitate when he headed toward the bedroom.

“No, ma'am, but when there's a proposal, I'll do it,” he told her.

She stopped in her tracks and pointed at the puppies. “Creed! Look!”

He looked down and that damned ugly mutt was smiling. And all three puppies were looking up with their little eyes opened up wide.

“Their eyes are open. Stop! We've got to look at them.”

Creed was fully aroused and ready to make love to Sage. Tomorrow morning, he'd make breakfast and they'd share it in bed before they had another round of wonderful sex. Then they'd have dinner and go back to the bedroom. Things really were looking wonderful.

They'd just declared their love for each other. It should be a spectacular day. He wished he had a bottle of champagne to celebrate or even a six-pack of beer. But they had been angry with each other when they went to Walmart and neither of them even thought about buying beer or even a bottle of wine.