‘I have some Arnica in my saddle bag—’
‘Benji.’ Sierra momentarily rested her face in his hand. ‘Stop. I’m fine.’ Turning, she placed a kiss on his rough palm. ‘Let’s go get a beer. Relax.’
He exhaled deeply. ‘Yeah.’
But when he would have walked at her side, Sierra scooted to his back and jumped. He caught her – of course he caught her. And as she laughed, he gave her a piggyback to the front porch.
Poppy saw them coming. She ran up to them, and by the time she reached them she was jumping up and down. ‘My turn! My turn!’
Sierra laughed, but she slid off Benji’s back, said, ‘I’ll go fetch you a beer’, as he crouched down so that Poppy could scramble onto his back.
And right before she went inside, Sierra turned and watched them for a few moments. Poppy was laughing maniacally as Benji did his best bronco, jokingly trying to throw her off his back even as his hands held her safely in place.
Her heart swelled.
Her womb gave one long pull of need.
‘Shit.’ The single word left her lips quietly, but Nina and Markus both heard it.
Nina snort-laughed.
Markus smiled sadly. ‘It’s about damn time, babe.’
Chapter 21
The days leading up to Christmas and Mav and Nina’s wedding passed in a blur. Sierra lost herself in everything that needed to be done. She worked from sunup to sundown, often skipping lunch – if Benji didn’t bring her a sandwich or force her to take a ten-minute break to pick up something at the restaurant.
At night, she went home with him. They loved each other long into the night, making up for stolen time, and then slept in each other’s arms, holding on like lovers who understood that their time together was measured.
While Nina, Markus, and Poppy set up the Christmas tree and decorated the ranch house for the holidays, Sierra oversaw Lucas and Deb while they did the same at the resort and surrounding buildings. The resort’s customary trio of Christmas trees, one in the lobby, one in the restaurant, and one twenty-foot one outside at the Wagon Train, were set up, garlands were threaded through staircase bannisters, and decorations were liberally placed throughout all the buildings.
Even the barn, with its dark wooden stalls, concrete floors and black, iron accents had been decorated. A small Christmas tree had been set up outside. Tinsel had been interwoven and strategically placed out of reach of curious horses – in the wrought-iron frames of the light fixtures and above the barn door.
While Christmas day was their quietest day of the year, the weeks leading up to Christmas were their busiest. Guests came from all over the world to enjoy what Hunt Ranch had to offer: chilly trail rides, blanket-covered sleigh rides, and a healthy mix of holiday activities and parties. Locals joined in too, often stopping by for a particularly festive event or to spoil themselves at the restaurant before their own families started piling into town for the occasion. Although she knew that it would still take them well into the first quarter to recover financially from the previous year, it eased Sierra’s heart to see the holidays burst through her accounting spreadsheets.
Before, Christmas had always been Sierra’s favourite time of year. It didn’t matter how stressed everyone was, it was as if, over the holidays, people just decided to get along, to have fun despite their differences. Strangers smiled at you on the sidewalk. Everyone was festive and excited. Except for last Christmas, when she’d been too encased in grief to enjoy anything let alone remember it, Sierra lived for the holidays.
This Christmas season, she had started to feel some of that old joy sneaking in again, and even though she couldn’t focus much on it, it felt good to have some respite from that hollow space she’d forced her mind and heart to occupy for so long.
On Christmas morning, the morning of the wedding, she woke up at five a.m. spooned in front of Benji – and the first thing she did was smile sleepily and snuggle back into his warmth. There was no grief or anger just then, only peace and the sense that she was exactly where she was meant to be.
His arms tightened around her. He nuzzled her neck, whispered, ‘Good morning, Sierra,’ in that deep, sleep-filled voice.
‘Morning.’
‘Merry Christmas.’
‘Merry Christmas.’
‘You ready for this wedding?’ he asked. ‘You’ve been working so hard.’
‘I am. Nina’s been weirdly easy-going. Markus and I have basically made all the decisions for her.’
‘I think after what they’ve been through, the wedding probably feels like a formality for them.’
‘Yeah.’ Sierra thought about that. She imagined that after the terror of the past six months, from Nina’s assault to Mav being shot, wedding planning felt a little silly to stress over. ‘That’s a really good way to put it. It’s not because she doesn’t know what she likes when she sees it. It’s because she’s put so little thought into it that when she’s faced with more than one option, she panics.’
‘I saw the flowers in the resort’s walk-in fridge yesterday; it’ll be beautiful.’
