“Forty-seven years ago. That’s not exactly regular behavior. Besides, you took Felix.” She threw her arm to the trailer.
Felix huffed a giant breath of moisture into the air:Don’t drag me into this.
She folded her arms and cocked a hip. “Oh, you’re knee deep in it, big guy. It’s not like he stuffed you in that trailer.”
The cowboy turned sharply to stare at her.
Clove squirmed. It wasn’t like most people understood Felix. He had his own way of speaking and she and Grandma–and a few children–could understand him. She must look crazy talking to a reindeer.
“It’s time to go home, Grandma.” She motioned for her to get out of the truck.
“No one’s going anywhere tonight,” said the cowboy.
“Oh?” She moved her hands to her hips, ready to do battle. “Are you itching to spend Christmas in jail for kidnapping?”
He dropped his chin to his chest as if she wore him out with her empty threats. When he lifted his head, his brown eyes twinkled with hidden knowledge. The image was so sharp it cut through her snow-fort defenses and she drew a quick breath.
“The axle is broken.” He pointed to the spot where the trailer tipped the most. “Unless you want Felix to fly, we need to get it fixed.” He stepped away. “No one is going home tonight.”
“Fly home?” She giggled in a manic way that was like scraping ice off a windshield. She shuddered. She hated that sound. “Who said anything about flying reindeer?”
His eyes moved to Grandma and then Felix. Without a word, he turned on the heel of his expensive cowboy boots and walked back toward the store.
“Where are you going?” she asked. Keeping him in her sights was better than him catching her unaware. “You’re just going to leave us all here to freeze?” Okay, now she was pushing his buttons. But she kind of wanted to see how far she could push him before he exploded. So far, his self control far outweighed hers and it left her on uneven ground.
His shoulders bunched up around his ears and then dropped with his exhale. He came back and stopped in front of her. “I’m going inside to ask about a repair shop.” He touched the open door and then held out a hand to her like a gentleman. “You’ll be warmer inside the truck. The engine still works so you can turn on the heater if you’d like..”
She had half a mind to refuse his kindness.
“Come on. It’s getting cold in here.” Grandma waved her into the cab.
She didn’t take his offered hand, grabbing the steering wheel instead to hoist herself up. Stupid lift kit. Who needed a truck this tall, anyway? “Why didn’t you have running boards like a regular person?”
“Because I have long enough legs to get in without them.” His eyes dropped to her legs. “So do you. Try not to break anything,” he grumbled at her as he shut the door.
Her mouth fell open. He’d noticed her legs? She snapped it shut and folded her arms. That was beside the point. “I told him not to be upset.”
Grandma shook her head. “You owe that man an apology–and a lot of money.”
Clove groaned and dropped her forehead to the steering wheel. She didn’t want to think about the nice leather cover and how the steering wheel was heated and how nice that felt because she was chilled to the bone. It smelled good in here, too; like the kind of cologne that they sold in department stores and hay and snow andhim. Men shouldn’t smell good. Someone should tell him that.
This was a traitor’s truck–a kidnapper’s. She shouldn’t like it, but she did. It was all sorts of manly and comfortable..
“What is going on?” she asked pitifully. This whole thing was absolutely ridiculous. Two weeks before Christmas and she was out chasing her flying reindeer and Grandma in the frigid cold and dark of night. Honestly, there was no good explanation.
Grandma chuckled, and Clove turned her head so she could see her. “We’re going to save Christmas, dear.”
Clove closed her eyes. “I was afraid you were going to say something like that.”
CHAPTERSEVEN
“Chestnuts!” Drake threw his hat on the convenience store counter. It slid across the formica and then stopped before falling off the edge. Not giving Clove a complete dressing down for trying to steal his truck and wrecking his trailer had taken every ounce of his patience. She’d used up the very last drop of it the moment she got out and told him he had no right to be upset.
No right?
No right to be angry that she dented the heck out of his property, broke the axle, and put them back at least two days? Maybe even a week!
Not to mention, they were stuck in some no-name town in the middle of nowhere with a flying reindeer. How the peppermint was he supposed to keep Felix on the groundandfix the truck?
