She’d spent the afternoon sightseeing while I’d lain down for a rest. It made me feel like an old man doing that. But lying flat on my back was the only thing that ever relieved the pain.
Before she came back, I hunted around in my closet until I found my Santa costume. I used to wear it on the holidays for Annie when she was younger. I hadn’t worn it in years.
After that, I got a fire going in the fireplace, then did my stretching exercises until I heard her car pulling up on the gravel driveway.
When she came in through the door, it was like life started up again. In the few hours she’d been here, the place had come alive in her presence, and it had felt too quiet after she’d left.
Both the dogs scampered at her feet as she rushed inside, a swirl of cool air following her in.
“Red Oak Mountain is lovely! I thought North Pole was the best town of all, but Red Oak Mountain might be just as nice, maybe even nicer. Although you don’t have a reindeer farm. It’s hard to compete with that.”
I chuckled at her enthusiasm. I’d smiled more today than I had in a whole year.
“We’ve got a few old horses and a bunch of cattle down the mountain in Red Oak Valley. Does that count?”
“Horses are pretty special, too. Maybe you’ll show them to me. I went to that bookstore you mentioned, Bookish. What a cute place! Did you know they have a whole corner of mountain man romances in there? I didn’t even know that was athing.”
Robin was infectious.
“Did you buy any of those mountain man romances?”
She twitched her lips into a gorgeous smile. “Of course I did. I need something to remember this place by after I leave.”
That put the reminder right in between us. She was only here temporarily. It’s not like she was a woman from town. Whatever the hell was happening right now was just part of a temporary adventure. Nothing permanent.
But I could still enjoy the time I had with her, right?
I ignored the tiny sting in my chest at the thought of her getting in her car and driving away. It was ridiculous to think this was anything more than a strange anomaly in the long, straight stretch that my life had become. My days tended to blend together until they were a blur of nothing.
But today was going to stand out in that blur as the most exciting day I’d had in years.
“What titles did you get?” I asked her, my curiosity getting the best of me.
She sat down on the couch and pulled a huge stack of books out of one of the bags she’d walked in with.
“Well, first isThe Mountain Man’s Secret Lover. That soundedspicy. Then there’sTrapped With The Mountain Man,Ho-Ho-Ho With The Mountain Man, andPicking Pumpkins With The Mountain Man.”
Robin put the first stack down and picked up the second. Then she recited those titles, too. She wasn’t kidding about liking to read.
We ended up sitting on that couch and talking for hours. The dogs got tired of playing and lay down in front of the fire while we chatted. And the winter sun crossed the sky until it threatened to dip below the tree line.
“If we want to see the Winter Wonderland Festival, we should go soon,” I told her. A sunbeam was shining on her through the window, making her look like she practically glowed.
“I definitely want to do that. But… are you sure you feel up to it?”
I hated that she’d seen me at a low point. I didn’t like the worry I saw peeking through her expression. “Yeah. I’mfine. I just overdid it earlier with the wood chopping.”
It was almost time for my next pill, so I got up to take it now. It would help me get through the event.
She stood up. “Do you mind if I change first? I have a special outfit I bought just for Christmas Eve.”
I couldn’t wait to see whatthatlooked like.
***Robin screamed and squealed, completely oblivious to the fact that she was drawing a lot of attention. “This is amazing!”
We were riding on the Peppermint Twister. It was a typical fair ride. The kind that spins every which way. The ride came to all the Red Oak Mountain Festivals, but right now it was dressed up to look like Christmas with garlands of red and green tied around the edges of the platform and plastic reindeer decals stuck to the sides of the long metal posts that lifted the seats in the air.
She grabbed my hand as we spun around faster, and I couldn’t believe my luck. Robin was making it feel like we were on a date. And even though I’d said no to approximately a thousand women since I got injured, I didn’t want to say no to her.
