He freed Sally from her car seat and carried her over to the stall where the miniature donkey was already flipping his tail from one side to the other in excitement.
Sally wriggled and said, “Down, Lan-Lan.”
He lowered her to the ground, and she plopped down right beside the bottom rail of the stall and reached up for the apple. When Landon put it in her hand, she held it out toward Little Bit, and as if he understood how small her hand was, he peeled back his lips and very gently took it from her.
Beau, the ranch dog, slipped under the railing from another stall and came over to lay beside Sally, and then Gussie, the cat that lived among all the houses on the ranch, curled up on the baby’s other side.
“That’s a modern-day nativity scene,” he whispered.
“Where are the shepherds and the three wise men?” Dixie asked.
“They’ll be in the church play. This one tonight is just for us.” Landon draped an arm around her shoulders, and a sense of peace surrounded him like a warm blanket on a cold winter night. He didn’t want to remove his arm and end the moment, or leave the scene, but if they didn’t go soon, they’d be cutting down a tree with nothing but the light of the moon to guide them. With a sigh, he took a step back and said, “I’ll get the feed unloaded in a few minutes, and then we’ll go find a tree. I know just the place to start.”
While he hefted the feed from the truck onto his shoulders, he stole looks over his shoulder at Dixie. She’d sat down beside Sally in the hay that had been strewn on the barn floor. He had never had a feeling like what he’d experienced moments before, and now that it was gone, he wanted it back. He loaded the last two bags of feed onto his shoulders and stacked them with all the others on the far side of the barn, then made a quick call to Cade, the ranch owner, and returned to Little Bit’s stall.
“We really should be going,” Dixie said. “Daylight is fading.”
Sally stopped petting the donkey and stood up. “Lan-Lan, go,” she said as she held out her arms for him to take her.
“Little corn has big ears,” Dixie said.
“Evidently,” Landon agreed as he stood and picked up Sally. “I’ll have to remember that when I want to sneak something past her.”
“Now where do we go?” Dixie asked.
“Cade said we could grab a tree stand from the barn and that we might have luck finding just the right-sized tree up by the cabin.”
He settled Sally back into her car seat, held the passenger door for Dixie, then jogged around the back of his truck and slid in behind the wheel. He drove from the barn to the old cabin at the back side of the ranch, whistling “Jingle Bells” the whole way. “You ever been back here?” he asked as he parked.
“Nope, but I’ve heard the stories about it. Just about every couple on this ranch and on the one next door have used this cabin to live in at one time or another,” she answered. “Claire says it’s magical. That when one of the cowboys moves in here, his true love finds him.”
I wouldn’t mind getting stuck back here with you, Landon thought.
“Oh, really?” Landon raised an eyebrow. “So that’s why the boys in the bunkhouse won’t even drive back here. They’re afraid they’ll meet someone, fall in love, and have to give up their weekends at the Rusty Spur.”
“I wouldn’t know about that, but I think this is a beautiful spot. Not that it matters. We’re here to get a tree and take it home, so we don’t have anything to worry about,” Dixie said.
He unfastened his seat belt and turned around to say something to Dixie, but he couldn’t utter a word. With a beautiful sunset behind her, all he could think about was taking her in his arms and kissing her until they were both breathless. “What?” she asked. “Is something wrong?”
“Do you think that us being even this close to the cabin might have an effect on us?” he whispered.
“Not when you’re going back out to the Panhandle in a couple of weeks,” she said.
He tried to hide the disappointment on his face and remind himself that he was excited to see his brothers again. “So, what’s your type?” he asked, gesturing to a stand of trees nearby. “Tall and skinny, or short and fat?”
“I always imagined I’d have a tall, handsome one,” she answered, her eyes sparking.
Lord love a duck! That cabin might be working its magic yet.
* * *
That man is going to make a wonderful father someday, Dixie thought as Landon unbuckled Sally from her seat. He’d been so kind to them. Shortly after they’d met, he had stopped by the shop to bring in some flour and sugar he’d picked up for Claire. He’d sat down on the floor and played with Sally while Dixie put the groceries away, and then he’d stuck around for a while longer talking to Dixie. She’d never had a man—not one of her stepfathers or Sally’s father either, for that matter—treat her like what she had to say mattered, but Landon did. That started the friendship, but these days it seemed like when she was around him, her heart beat a little faster and her pulse raced—that was attraction, not friendship.
She’d vowed not to put her life, her heart, and her trust in another man after what she’d gone through in the past. Sally’s father had been sweet and kind at times in the beginning but he’d changed when the going got tough. Landon might do the exact same thing.
She shook her head to clear the thoughts and made herself think about making him a quilt for Christmas. She should applique a snowflake on one square so he would remember this night. Claire had bought a whole bolt of bright red fabric that was printed with white snowflakes for her Christmas Quilt Club, and there was at least half a yard of it left. That, along with a Christmas tree, should commemorate this evening.
Oh, and I’ll trace Sally’s little hand on a piece of fabric for a square, also. She made plans for more pieces of the quilt as they walked from the truck to the stand of cedar trees.
“What do you think of this one?” Landon pointed at a tall, thin tree. It was only a few inches shorter than he was, and he had on his cowboy hat.
“It’s a little too tall, and it’s got all those gangly branches.” She waved her hands as she talked.
A squirrel climbed down the tree next to the one Landon had picked out, and Sally pointed at the ground. “Down,” she said.
Landon put her on the ground, and though bundled up in the snowsuit, she chased after the squirrel as fast as she could. When the animal ran up a nearby tree, Sally went right to it and pointed.
“I guess she’s chosen her tree,” Landon said.
“It’s the ugliest one in the whole area.” Dixie pointed toward another tree. “What about this one over here, baby girl?”
Sally stared at the cedar tree and said, “No! No! No!”
“She can sure say that word plain enough,” Landon chuckled. “If she likes the ugly one with the squirrel, then that’s the one she should have.” He went back to where the truck was parked and brought out a saw.
“I’ve got some fabric that has animals on it,” Dixie told him. “I could make ornaments that look like squirrels, and maybe elephants and giraffes. You sure you don’t want me to try to talk her out of that poor ugly tree? It looks like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.”