“So… I guess Chloe’s not coming?” asked Pax.
“Never again,” Jack ground out. “She can’t insult reindeer and expect me to go crawling back to her door.”
Sparrow lifted her head higher and pranced her step. Jack smiled. The reindeer were a deal killer. If a woman didn’t love Christmas, believe in Santa, or like reindeer, she wasn’t the woman for him. How had he dated Chloe for three months and not known that? What a waste of time.
Pax leaned forward, folding his arms over the back of Jack’s seat. “Did you really like her?”
Drake doffed Pax’s shoulder. “He wouldn’t be so mad if he didn’t.”
Jack thought about that for a minute. “I liked her. She was fun and bubbly, and I thought we had the start of something.” He hated to admit even that, considering how she’d slammed the door on his heart and future. “I’m a fool for love, boys.” He hunched his shoulders.
His brothers laughed easily. While their banter and teasing would usually pull him out of the dumps, he struggled to get on top of the gloom.
“I don’t know why you guys want to go through all this.” Pax dragged his gloved hand down his face. “It’s horrible.”
One corner of Jack’s lips ticked up. “Have you seen how stupidly happy Caleb and Forest are?” He turned slightly to ensure Pax acknowledged his brother’s good fortune. “That’s why we put ourselves through this.”
Pax leaned back, sullen. “Dating’s miserable.” Pax was the shy one of the family. He preferred hours in the barn, working in solitude, to talking to a stranger.
They turned a corner, and Jack slowed the sleigh. “Did you want to stop at the diner?” he asked.
Pax shook his head quickly.
Jack grinned to himself. “Jovie might be working.”
Jovie had had a crush on Pax since they started kindergarten together. She was the bane of his existence as a kid, tagging along behind him every chance she got and offering to share Zingers from her lunch if he’d sit with her. Something happened in junior high, and Jovi stopped coming around the ranch and stopped sharing sweets. Pax never told anyone what happened–even when Mom threatened to ground him from flying. Whatever it was, it mortified Pax. Living in a small town meant they had to figure out how to co-exist. But there were times when Jack caught Jovi watching Pax when she thought no one was looking.
Pax rolled his eyes. “All the more reason to cruise on by.”
Drake glared. “Be nice, or I’ll call Ginger and have her put you on the Naughty List.”
Ginger was Santa’s daughter, who had taken over wearing the red suit and delivering gifts a couple of years ago. She was also a good friend and spent summers on the ranch with the boys. They’d slay Scrooges for any of the Kringle girls.
“Forget Ginger,” Jack laughed. “I’ll call Stella to straighten you out.”
Pax turned Christmas red at the mention of the crazy, fun, loud, and knows-no-personal-boundaries Kringle. Jack loved her upbeat personality, but she was a bit much for Pax.
Jack slowed in front of Mrs. Broadhead’s house, and they all clammed up as they went inside to deliver her gift basket. She pinched Drake’s cheek, hugged them all, and then sent them on their way because she had book club coming over that afternoon and needed to clean the bathrooms.
Jack couldn’t help but notice the picture of her large family as they exited the house. She and her husband were in the middle, surrounded by their children and grandchildren. It was a dream he may never have. His heart wasn’t broken but weary and worn out, and his dreams of a Merry Christmas slipped away like smoke.
They headed back to the ranch; the sleigh traveling faster than most of the trucks on the road that had to engage their four-wheel drive.
They went around a bend, and the Reindeer Wrangler Ranch’s land came into view. They had moved the herd to the field next to the road to give them a change of space.
Apples, a reindeer with a sweet tooth, trotted along the fence line, chatting with Sparrow in their reindeer language. Sparrow shook her head, and Apples grunted.Great, thought Jack,even the reindeer are speculating on my love life.
He turned down their lane, his married brothers’ houses on the opposite side of the road from the open fields.
“I’ll take the sleigh to the barn and unhitch Sparrow,” volunteered Pax as he motioned to the house. Caleb and Forest’s side-by-sides were parked out front. Something was up.
“Thanks.” Jack stopped at the house and got out. Drake followed, and they made their way up the front steps, pausing to stomp the snow off their boots before going inside. The sound of sleigh bells faded as Pax headed to the barn.
Cinnamon and sugar danced in the air, and the scent of pine smoke came from the massive fireplace, where a fire crackled at all hours. Mom loved having a fire through the holidays, and the boys ensured her wood box was never empty. Especially this year, as she carried the added weight of Dad’s illness.
Jack exchanged a grin with Drake. Cinnamon in the air meant mom was baking. They headed for the kitchen, his stomach growling in anticipation of one of her lighter-than-air cinnamon rolls covered in thick cream cheese frosting.
He pushed the swinging kitchen door open and landed in what looked like the middle of a family meeting. Caleb stood by the stove, feeding Ryder small pieces of a cinnamon roll. Faith was at the table, her tablet in front of her. Mitzi was beside her, her paper planner open and Forest’s arm across the back of her chair. Their son, Billy, was in school until three.
