Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 43870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
“It’s taken,” I said. “I invited the new vet to live on the ranch.”
I was treated to an insta five-way stare.
Jax brushed cookie crumbs from his shirt as he straightened. “Just like that?”
“He’ll be here less than two months, but we need him. We had an emergency two nights ago, and Lou didn’t respond until well after Axel had arrived. The old guy is so focused on retirement, it’s almost humorous. That is, until I need his advice on a pregnant cow suffering from toxemia.”
Hudson pulled a face. “We’re gonna a need a new vet soon. Would Axel consider staying?”
“I don’t think so. He’s got a job lined up in Texas.”
“Huh. Too bad,” Jax commented. “Axel’s a good guy, a reliable vet, and if he just moved into number eleven, we have one less house to worry about decorating in December. Hell, yeah!”
Mills groaned. “Who thought the Annual Christmas Light Show was a good idea?”
“You did.” I bit into one of Gem’s raspberry biscuits and licked my fingers.
“Your exact words were, ‘Not everyone wants to travel to Christmas Town for holiday cheer. Our guests at the lodge will love it.’ Sound familiar?” Santiago asked.
Mills balled up a napkin and beaned Santiago in the forehead.
Hudson snickered at their antics. “It’s been super popular. We have to embrace it. It’s one night of local tourism, and it’s great for the community.”
Waylen tapped his fingers on the table. “What are we doing? Arts and crafts, light snacks, and…what else?”
“That’s it,” I replied. “We can open Nellie’s area. Kids love her.”
“Don’t you think we need a Santa?” Jax piped in.
No one answered.
“There are no good Santa options in Santa Ynez,” I reported. “And we don’t want Christmas Town’s Santa.”
We all emphatically agreed, threw out a few names, jokingly suggested we should rotate duties amongst the six of us, and ultimately decided it was okay to go Santa-less.
“See if you can talk Axel into doing it.” Hudson stood and adjusted his Stetson. “Tell him it’s in the terms of his lease.”
He was kidding, but a Santa cowboy hybrid was kind of…sexy.
“You know, that’s not a bad idea.”
Axel’s blank stare was the stuff of legends. No words required. But he waited till Phoebe was out of earshot and gave one anyway. Well, two words.
“Hell, no.”
I stacked a box on top of another on the living room floor and snickered. “So that’s a maybe?”
“No. I said I’d do the lights and the Christmas tree, but—”
“Yay, Daddy!” A whirling, twirling dervish blur danced into the room.
“Whoa, pardner. Slow down,” he cautioned.
“I’m trying, but I can’t! Can we get a tree tomorrow? We can put it in my room. Did you see my room, Mr. Tanner?” Phoebe bounced and spun, unable to contain her excitement. “It’s so cute. I have horses on my bedspread. They’re not dancing, but they’re cute. Everything is so cute!”
“Cute is the theme of the day,” her dad drawled with a lazy grin.
I let Phoebe pull me into her bedroom, hmmed and ahhed as she showed me the books she’d organized on the built-in shelves, her favorite teddy bear her Aunt Kitty had sent from Vegas, and her brand-new ballet slippers.
“I love them!” she enthused, skipping back into the living room. Phee plopped onto the floor in front of the coffee table, and wiggled into the pink slippers. “I’ve been practicing, but I can’t do it outside or they’ll get too dirty. Abby likes to dance too. She’s my neighbor now, and my other best friend. I have two best friends. Daddy says I’m so lucky.”
“You certainly are.”
Phee grinned as she shoved a strand of hair from her eyes, jumped up again, and raced away.
Axel opened a box, shaking his head indulgently. “She’s a ball of nonstop energy, and she’s been like this since the moment I mentioned moving here.”
“She’s excited.”
“Over the moon.”
Axel set his hands on his hips and surveyed the mess. It wasn’t too bad. They didn’t have a lot of “things.” Just some clothes, books, toys, a computer, and a few photos. No big furniture. I guessed it was easier to move often if you didn’t have to drag beds and sofas from place to place. Supposedly, that was going to change in Texas.
“The ranch offered me a good salary and the housing is affordable,” he’d told me recently. “I’ll find us a three-bedroom house with a nice yard. Maybe build a swing set for Phee and buy real furniture. She can pick out her own bedding. My girl has big opinions about that sort of thing.”
I pushed aside the thought of him moving and studied the enigmatic cowboy-slash-vet. Axel didn’t give much away, but sharing what he had about Phoebe’s mother was significant. I bet less than a handful of people knew their story. It was unconventional for sure, and yet it revealed him as a truly good person. He’d changed the course of his life to become a parent, a role he’d never wanted.