“I can’t believe you were snooping around in my house!”Ignoring his hand, she clambered down and moved toward the courthouse.“You had no right to look at my work in progress.Who does that?”
“We should talk about it.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.It’s not finished.I’m going to change the whole thing.”
“Why?”
“It’s not what I do.I’m landscape artist.”
“The cowboy in the painting, is me, isn’t it?”
“Willow!”
It was her mother’s voice, thank goodness.Looking around, she spotted her mom and Janice waving.“Thanks, Mom,” she muttered under her breath.She’d never been so glad to see her.
“Thanks for the lift,” she called over her shoulder.
“Happy to take you home whenever you want to leave.”
“Don’t worry about me.”She left quickly, rushing toward her mom and Janice, but he kept by her side, steering her through the crowd with a hand protectively at her back.
As usual, just about the whole town had rocked up for the stroll.
Suddenly, she wanted to cry.Hunter Grant was so exactly the kind of man she could’ve fallen for if she were the falling-in-love kind—caring, protective, sweet.As it was, allowing someone else into her life, opening her up to experience one more person’s pain and worries, was simply not something she could ever allow.
She’d made peace long ago with the fact she’d was never going to be anyone’s bride.Growing old without a partner wasn’t that bad, more and more women were apparently opting to do that these days.Living on the ranch fortunately meant she’d never be completely alone.She had her brothers and their families, that was more than many other people had.
So why did she have a hole where her heart was supposed to be and why could she feel the warmth of Hunter’s hand at her back right down to the soles of her feet?
Quickly, she moved away from him and slipped through the crowd until she reached her mom.
Chapter Three
As Willow walkedaway, Hunter spotted a few of the cowboys he’d worked with on the Circle C.He hadn’t seen them for a while, it would be nice to catch up.Maybe they would help to take his mind off of a certain brunette, even if it was only for a couple of hours.
As he turned to leave, he heard his name.Becket, Cooper, and Hayden were approaching him.
“Come and join us,” Becket invited.
“It’s fine, I don’t want to intrude on your family.”
Cooper slapped him on the back.“You’re part of the family now, come on.Have you been on one of these strolls before?”
“Once or twice, but I don’t think I’ve ever made it further than Grey’s Saloon.”Hunter’s hands were in the pockets of his jeans, his eyes on Willow who was walking ahead of them, her hand tucked in her mom’s arm.Laura, Ellie, and Rose, her sisters-in-law on her other side.
Main Street, dressed in Christmas, had been closed to traffic, only pedestrians were allowed.It was a cheerful, festive occasion and it seemed as if the whole town had turned up to share in the fun.
All the shops had Christmas displays in the window and the diner, Grey’s Saloon, the bookshop, Java Café, and the chocolate shop were open.
Elves were having a picnic in the window of one of the beauty shops, a fashion store featured a Christmas ball with tiny woodland animals formally dressed for the occasion in their window, and a store with Western clothes had Santa and his elves in a rodeo scene.All very Chrismassy, but not even the bright lights could take his focus away from the gentle sway of Willow’s hips.
Along the way, the Westons often stopped to talk to neighbors and friends.The Weston cousins, Dylan and Carson, also stopped to talk to them at some point.Hayden had been talking to them over the last few months.Apparently, some family feud had split up the original Weston ranch, and they were going to work together to join the two ranches again.Hunter liked the two cousins, they were good people; hopefully Hayden’s plan would work.
They met the O’Sullivans and Mitch Miller and his wife, Riley at the chocolate shop.The women, he’d gathered over the past few months while working on the Weston ranch, were firm friends and met up weekly for their book club.
Hunter offered to get hot chocolate for everyone and ended up at the counter with Willow at his side.
“I don’t know how my mother does it,” she was muttering under her breath.
