“Now, how did that get up there?” It was Jack’s turn to laugh. He knew darn well it was Dunder setting a trap to stop someone else from coming into the barn who wasn’t supposed to be there.
“It’s a Christmas mystery,” Drake responded dryly.
Jack put an arm around his shoulders and pointed at Raelynn. “This little girl needs her first sleigh ride. Think you have enough Christmas cheer left in you to brighten her day?” He did his best to ignore the way Ashely’s shoulders slumped.
Drake straightened. “I always have enough cheer for that.” He leaned over and looked Raelynn in the face. “You mean to tell me you’ve never ridden in a sleigh before?”
Raelynn shook her head, all seriousness.
“We need to rectify that immediately.” He held out his elbow, and she slipped her little hand inside. “Right this way. You can even pick out your reindeer.”
“Sparkle!” she exclaimed.
Jack shook his head. “Sorry. She’s too small to pull the sleigh.” He tightened his grip on her lead rope in case she followed Raelynn.
Ashley didn’t have a choice and dutifully fell into step behind her charge. Drake listed Raelynn’s reindeer options, giving the stats on each one.
Once Ashely was far enough away, Jack brushed off his palms. He glanced around, hoping Natasha had seen him hand off Ashley to his brother.
She was nowhere to be seen.
He threw his hands in the air and asked Sparkle, “What’s a guy gotta do?”
She lifted a shoulder and headed for the barn:You coming? I’m hungry.
“I’m coming. And before you ask, you can have hey cubes and oats tonight. You earned them.”
She swished her tail.
As he went to the barn, he considered other ways to show Natasha he was serious about her and her alone. Too bad he couldn’t take her for a sunset sleigh ride—the flying reindeer kind. That would be romantic.
They reserved magical sleigh rides for the ladies the wranglers would marry. While he may not have a problem marrying her, Natasha seemed to have a huge problem with him.
If he was going to make headway, he’d have to start soon. The movie would wrap up by Christmas Eve, and Natasha would be on a jet plane back to California.
Time was not on his side.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Natasha hurried away from the set, intent on getting out of these tights and washing her face. There wasn’t much daylight left, and she didn’t want to waste even one minute. Faith had promised to take her out to the herd to film, and wardrobe changes were inconsequential when she was about to tell a story.
Story was in the air on the Reindeer Ranch. She could feel it tugging at her fingertips and in the wind when it lifted her hair. Everything about this place seemed magical—and oddly ordinary. It was like a blinking star. If you looked too closely, it stopped twinkling. But, if you believed and didn’t try to explain it, it flickered in your peripheral vision.
The thoughts had come to her while watching—while appearing not to watch—Sparkled and Raelynn. That reindeer was something else. The way she reacted to Raelynn on camera was unnatural. She’d grown up around animals. Horses mostly, but cattle, sheep, goats, and the occasional alpaca were under her care. Even the beloved family border collie, the most intelligent dog breed, wouldn’t behave like a person.
The biggest problem she could see with this movie is that no one would believe Sparkle wasn’t animated.
However, a few brief clips about the ranch, filmed with Faith, would bring legitimacy to their film. She hadn’t talked about this with Jennifer because she didn’t want the woman to make this all about the studio.
It wasn’t. Not for Natasha. She legitimately wanted to help Faith find another reindeer out there—one that would allow the herd to continue for generations to come. These reindeer… they were special.
In no time, she was running up Faith’s front steps and across the wrap-around porch to knock on the door. It swung open, and her heart stopped in her chest. She quickly looked down. “What are you doing here?” she asked, feeling bashful and more than a bit of chagrin.
Her conversation with Jack hadn’t gone all that well. She’d called him a cowboy Casanova to his face and evaded his questions. Not exactly a stellar move on her part, especially because she wanted to be honest with him. She just wasn’t sure if she could trust her gut. She’d done that once before and been burned—her heart charred.
Possibly for life.
The dumb thing hadn’t fallen for anyone new in a long time, and it was scary to think that she may have found the guy who could heal it.
