The Lawman's Christmas Proposal

Chapter Four

As she crossed the yard to the barn, Andi could almost feel Mitch’s gaze on her back. She could definitely still feel the warmth filling her from the touch of his hand against her cheek. In that one all-too-brief moment, she had changed into a teen again, and he had become the boy she loved. In his eyes in that moment, she saw the boy who loved her, too.

But their teenagers-in-lust days were long over.

Resolutely, she focused on the group standing in the barn doorway and kept moving toward them, away from Mitch and his warm hands and his crooked smile and his unfamiliar stiff-legged walk.

When she approached the group, her son gave her the wide grin that always reminded her so much of his daddy. “Mommy, I rided Bingo.”

“I saw you,” she said. “You did a great job.”

“He did,” Eddie, the stable hand, agreed. “I’ll be happy to give him another practice run anytime.”

“I’m sure Trey would love that.”

“Yeah, Mommy, wanna ride horse. Bi-i-ig horse.”

“Don’t you worry, mister,” Eddie said, “we’ll get you up on Bingo again tomorrow. How’s that?”

“Yay!” Trey clapped his hands. No sign of the terrible twos now, as Mitch had mentioned.

With a smile, she watched Eddie ruffle her son’s hair. She didn’t need a policeman’s skills to note that the tall, quiet teen grew much more talkative every time Mitch’s sister Laurie arrived at the ranch. Whenever she saw the two of them together, the pair made her think of Mitch and herself.

With luck, this couple’s summer romance would end more happily than her and Mitch’s had done.

When he came to stand beside her, she turned to Trey. “Come on, sweetie, we need to go back to the hotel.”

“I don’t wanna! Wanna see Daff now.”

“So do I,” Laurie said quietly over his head. “Is it okay if I take him with me for just a few minutes?”

“I’ll go and keep an eye on things,” Eddie said.

His tone made it evident he considered himself responsible for everything on the ranch. Just the way Mitch had when she’d met him.

The trio entered the barn.

She went to take a seat on one of the stools the cowhands had left a few yards from the doorway. She hoped Mitch would get the hint, would follow the rest of them in to the stalls or turn and go to the hotel.

But no, he was ambling her way, moving slowly. Maybe to control his limp?

She tried not to stare. Not to let her emotions show in her expression. As a teenager, he had been a star athlete, she knew. Football quarterback. Pitcher for Cowboy Creek’s baseball team. Whatever had happened to him on the job, it would devastate him if he couldn’t return to being just as active.

He took the stool beside hers, his leg stretched out before him. He sat so close, she could count the stitches running down the leg of his jeans. “Seems like Jed’s training up another hand to join the crew.”

“Grandpa’s good at that.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “And I should know.”

“You needed to be trained?”

“Sure did. I might have bummed a ride or two on a friend’s horse when I was a kid, which meant I could handle myself in the saddle, but that was about it.”

“Why did Grandpa take you on in the first place?”

He raised a brow. “This is a dude ranch. Considering all the charm and good looks I had back then, you really have to ask that question?”

Of course, she didn’t have to ask. She remembered. He’d had plenty of charm and tons of good looks, and the years hadn’t taken any of that away. Not that she would ever admit it to him. “You don’t need either of those to groom a horse.”

“Ha,” he said with a laugh. “You never saw me trying to charm Daffodil on one of her cranky days. But Jed probably thought I’d make a good candidate for working with the hotel guests. Growing up in a family of seven, I learned how to get along with people. Like that kid in there.” He jerked his thumb toward the barn doorway. “That one’s a real talker.”

“When your sister’s around.”

“Is that so? Well, I seem to remember girls having that effect on me. Especially you.” He’d lowered his voice to a husky murmur.

She wrapped her arms around her waist and fought an urge to run.

“Tina was always the quietest cousin,” he said, “but you were on the quiet side, too. At first, I couldn’t get you to say two words in a row to me. Maybe it’s because you were an only child.”

No, because she was a tongue-tied teenager who blushed every time he looked at her. A tendency she didn’t seem to have outgrown.

“If not for you wanting to ride,” he said, “I’d bet I never would have met you.”

If he only knew. On previous vacations here, she had always enjoyed riding. Her interest had skyrocketed the summer she had discovered the new stable hand with the tousled black hair, stripped to the waist of his low-riding jeans, pitching hay into a stall. Suddenly, along with riding, she had felt the urge for twice-daily visits to Daffodil. She had dragged poor Jane, who couldn’t have cared less about horses, along with her for company. And camouflage.

“You’re still quiet,” he said.

She shrugged. “I guess we don’t have much to say to each other, do we? We never did much together, except...”

“Except hang out at the barn and sneak away to make out every chance we got?”

Her cheeks burned. “We were kids, Mitch—”

“We’re grown-ups now.”

“—and that’s all in the past. We don’t need this trip down memory lane.”

“Why not? They’re fond memories, aren’t they?”

She heard bitterness in his tone but read something else in his face. Something she couldn’t afford to see. Instead, she gazed past the corral in the direction of the creek. Another thing she couldn’t afford to envision. “Fond memories? Even the final ones?”

From the corner of her eye, she saw his hand clench on his thigh. Why was she reminding him about the way things had ended?

Because she knew they couldn’t start anything between them again.

“I’d better go check on Trey.”

He laid his hand on her arm. “Maybe I’ll give you a second chance for walking away without a word.”

“Thanks. But maybe I don’t want one.” She pulled her arm free.

“I don’t need to ask if you still feel something for me, Andi. Your reaction when I touched you a few minutes ago already gave me the answer.”

She shook her head. “That was just another quick trip down memory lane.”

“Yeah? And don’t your memories match mine?” He leaned toward her.

It took more effort than she wanted to look away from him. “Nothing matches anymore, Mitch.”

“That sounds like a woman at the end of her rope. What’s wrong?”

The question made her jump, but she forced herself to turn to him again. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“You know, one of the first things they teach rookies is to notice a perp’s expression. Always watch the ones who won’t look you in the eye—but pay equal attention to the ones who stare you down.”

“I told you, nothing’s wrong. When I said nothing matches, I just meant we don’t have anything in common anymore.” She rose from the stool. If he caught her eye again, he would trap her in that lie.

A few hurried steps past him took her into the barn, where she hoped the cool shade would ease the flush in her cheeks. What she would need to cool the rest of her, she didn’t know.

Yes, she had lied. She and Mitch had plenty in common. A mutual interest in each other. Leftover lust from their summer together. And somehow, a spark that survived despite the fact she had left him without a word.

* * *

STUNNED BY HIS close encounter with Andi, Mitch stayed in place on the stool.

He’d been so wrapped up in the idea of seeing her again today, he had spent most of the morning exercising his leg on a slow walk through town, made only a brief trip to the sheriff’s office after lunch and found himself sitting outside the school waiting to pick up his sister the minute the final bell rang.

Now he had arrived at the ranch, things hadn’t gone nearly the way he’d planned.

A black stallion trotted into the stable yard. Mitch recognized the cowboy astride the horse—Pete Brannigan, his former wrangling buddy and now the manager of Garland Ranch. By the time Pete dismounted, Mitch had risen to his feet.

The other man approached him, leading his mount. “Jed told me you were back in town. Been a heck of a long time, Mitch.”

“Yeah, it has.”

As they shook hands, Eddie came to lead the horse away. Mitch noted Laurie walking beside the boy. He tried not to notice Andi and her son emerging from the barn. She nodded at Pete before turning away.

The foreman eyed him. “I’m glad you stopped by. If you’ve got time, how about you give me a chance to shower, then come on over for a brew?” Pete lived in the manager’s house on the property, barely the length of a couple of baseball fields from the corral.

“Sure. Jed wanted us to get together. We might as well kick back while you tell me what that’s about.”

“Not a clue,” Pete said. “I saw him around noontime, but he didn’t say a word. You’ll have to find out from him for us both. Hey, Andi,” he called.

She turned back to face them. Mitch saw how carefully she kept from looking his way. No matter what she said, there was something not right. He’d have to prove that to himself...to make up for the last time he hadn’t followed his instincts.

“The boss was looking for this former cowboy earlier. Take Mitch along to the Hitching Post and help him track down Jed, will you?”

When she nodded, Pete strode into the barn.

At a much slower pace, Mitch walked to catch up with Andi and her boy. One look at her brittle smile and suddenly rigid shoulders told him how she felt about having him join them. She couldn’t have cared that much about escorting him to the hotel. Maybe she was afraid of giving herself away.

No matter how quickly she’d backed off from him and run into the barn, it had been too late. He’d already seen the truth in her widened eyes and reddening cheeks, just as he had in her reaction to his touch over at the corral. She wanted him just as much as she had years ago. But something was bothering her. Holding her back. Something she didn’t want to share with him, and maybe with anyone.

“You cowboy?” her son asked.

The kid must have remembered Pete calling him a former cowboy. He shook his head. “No, I’m a cop.”

“What’s a cop?”

“A policeman. You know, like a sheriff. With a uniform and a badge.”

“A badge? Mine.”

Andi took his hand. “You borrowed Robbie’s badge, Trey, remember?”

“Mine,” the kid repeated.

Mine, Mitch had once thought when it came to the kid’s mother.

Wishing something so didn’t make it happen. He’d first learned that years earlier with Andi’s abrupt departure. He’d had his latest lesson only a few weeks ago during an undercover op shot to hell.

Feeling he had failed in both instances didn’t sit well with him at all. He couldn’t save his partner, but he sure could try to find out what troubled Andi.

* * *

“JED IS OUT by the honeymoon cabins, I think,” Paz told them. “Tina wanted to show him something the workmen had done.”

Sagging in relief, Andi rested one hip against the kitchen table. With her son’s short legs, the walk back to the hotel had seemed to last forever. She and Mitch had discovered both the sitting room and Tina’s office empty. Now, thanks to Paz, she could send Mitch off on his own.

“Looks like you’re busy in here,” he said.

Paz nodded. Cooling racks filled with cakes and cookies had taken over almost every flat surface. The kitchen smelled of cinnamon and cloves. “It’s never too early to start my Christmas baking.”

“Cookie, Paz,” Trey demanded.

“What do you say?” Andi prompted him.

“Please.”

Smiling, Paz took a cookie from one of the racks.

“Let’s go track down Jed,” Mitch said.

Andi frowned. “You can do that on your own. I’ll stay here with Trey.”

“I think I’ve forgotten how to get to the cabins.”

She glanced at him, then away again. After what he had said about cops, she didn’t know which was worse from his perspective, locking gazes with him or refusing to look his way at all. She knew what was better for her. Looking. Staring. Getting her fill.

Better for her, but much too risky.

“That’s fine, Andi,” Paz said. “You leave Trey with me and go right along with Mitch.”

“Great,” he said, halfway across the room without waiting for her answer.

Grimly, she followed him out to the porch and down the steps. He took his time, favoring his bad leg. Despite her irritation with him, she had to bite her lip to keep from asking how much he hurt.

She was so wrapped up in concern for him, she hadn’t realized he’d reached the bottom step. He turned back, catching her off guard. Instinctively, she bit down harder, then winced from her own pain.

“It is that bad?” he asked. “Seeing how I hobble down steps like a two-year-old who’s just learned to walk?”

“You handled those steps quite a bit better than my two-year-old does,” she said matter-of-factly. Still, knowing how Mitch must feel made her eyes mist.

“Those tears for me?”

“Of course they’re not.” While she had stopped a couple of steps up, he stood on the ground, putting them at eye level. This time, she was determined not to look away, no matter how his cop’s training would interpret her stare. No matter how shaky her reaction to his blue eyes left her feeling. “I accidentally bit my lip and it hurts. Not as much as your knee must, though, I’m sure.”

“I don’t need your pity, Andi.”

“That wasn’t pity. It was a not-very-smooth attempt to find out what happened.”

“Why? So you can fix it?”

“I never said—”

“You didn’t have to. There’s nothing wrong with me a few weeks of rest won’t cure. And maybe this.”

Before she could blink, he had cupped the back of her head as gently as he had cupped her cheek, urging her toward him. Once his mouth met hers, she had nothing but the memories of another time and another place and all the feelings that came with them.

For this one long, heart-stopping, teenager-in-lust-again moment, she loved Mitch Weston as desperately as she had the last day they had been together. She kissed him as desperately, too, without a thought for her tender lip or her obligations or anything but how she’d always felt when Mitch held her. He was broader now, sturdier, more muscled...and an even better kisser.

Reluctantly, she pulled herself together, resting her hands on his wide shoulders to anchor herself. No, to prepare herself. Finally, she pushed away.

Her legs trembling, she went down the rest of the steps, fighting the urge to raise her hand to her mouth. To touch the warmth he had left against her lips. To hold back the words she would not and couldn’t afford to say.

With unsteady hands, she smoothed her hair as she attempted to catch her breath. “Are you crazy? It’s broad daylight and we’re out here in the open and anyone could have seen us. I told you I don’t want to fix you.” Liar. “So just what was that supposed to prove?”

“I thought it might help speed the healing.”

“Of my lip?”

“No, my knee.” His chest rose, as if he were struggling with his breathing, too. He gave her a crooked smile. “All right, that was also to prove you haven’t forgotten me any more than I’ve forgotten you.”

“Maybe I haven’t. They say you never forget your—” first love “—first kiss. But I’ve had other kisses since then.”

He whistled. “That’s cold, Andi.”

“That’s the truth.”

“All of it?”

She stiffened. “What do you mean?”

“C’mon, don’t play dumb with me.” His laugh sounded strained. “You kissed me back just now.”

“Like I had a choice?”

“We always have choices.” For a moment, his face hardened and his eyes looked bleak.

“I don’t think so. Not always.” He was remembering their past. Good. She wouldn’t have to lay things out for him. And hopefully, once she had finished here, she would never again have to face a sneak attack on her pitifully weak defenses. “When I left you that summer, it wasn’t my decision. But I am making the choice to walk away now.”

Chapter Five

So much for the shy little Andi he had once known. The girl he’d had to coax out of her shell had grown into a strong woman whose still-quiet manner hid one heck of a sucker punch. He could use her as the bad cop to his good cop during an interrogation. He could even admire her skill—if not for the fact that she’d used it against him...and then walked away.

He had changed from the day he first met her, too, in more ways than he wanted to deal with at the moment. But despite everything, he still had a few skills of his own, including his bulldog tenacity when it came to getting to the truth of a matter.

He glanced after Andi, whose hip-swaying departure just about wiped her words from his memory bank. It definitely overrode any annoyance he’d felt at getting sucker punched.

Besides, he’d faced a hell of a lot worse and was still standing. He wasn’t about to let her knock him down. Or to let her get away.

He followed her across the Hitching Post’s backyard toward the cabins a few hundred yards ahead. “Looks like Jed’s had the honeymoon havens fixed up, along with the rest of the place.”

“Yes,” she said shortly, not looking at him. “I’m surprised you noticed the improvements, considering you didn’t seem to recall much about the cabins.”

He laughed. She had seen through his ruse. No big deal. He’d never hoped to get away with claiming he didn’t know the location of the site—not when they’d once spent a rainy afternoon making out in one of those honeymoon havens.

In two strides, he caught up to her. “I recall plenty. But you want to help jog the rest of my memories?” When her cheeks turned pink, making her eyes look even more blue, he couldn’t hold back a smug smile. Yeah, she remembered that day, too.

Up ahead, Jed and his granddaughter Tina came around the side of one of the cabins. Jed hailed them with a wave.

They met halfway, in the shade of a few pines that would protect the cabins from the sun of a long New Mexico summer.

“How’s everything?” Andi asked Jed.

“Looking just fine.”

“The contractors only finished up the remaining cabins this past week,” Tina explained.

Mitch nodded. “My mom said you’ve all done a lot of renovations inside the hotel, too.”

“We sure have,” Jed said. “You’ll have to get Andi to take you on the grand tour.”

He sensed more than saw her stiffen beside him.

“Of course,” she said too politely. “But right now I’ve got to get back and take care of business.”

“Right,” Tina said. “We need to get our order ready for the wedding favors. I’ll go back with you.”

Again, he felt rather than saw Andi’s reaction—relief as she instantly turned away. He went to follow her, then paused, recalling why they had come out this way to begin with. “I got word you wanted me to stop by again,” he said to Jed.

The older man nodded. “Yeah. Let’s sit. You girls go on ahead. Your old grandpa can’t keep up.”

“Oh, you—” Andi cut herself off, but Mitch had picked up on her tone. She’d held back a teasing response—because of him?

“Okay, Abuelo,” Tina said. “See you both later.”

As the women left, Jed gestured to a wooden bench on the porch of the nearest cabin.

He nodded. Though he hadn’t been on his feet for that long, he felt grateful for the chance to sit again.

No matter what Andi had begun to say about Jed’s ability to get around, he had to admit, at the moment, the older man’s healthy stride would put his to shame. It wasn’t pain that drove him to the bench but the stiffness that locked up his knee from time to time. Sitting was the worst danged thing he could do for it, but he’d rather have the opportunity to get limbered up again before he had to cross the yard with Jed. With luck, he would manage a few stretches stealthily enough to keep his former boss from noticing.

He gave thanks Andi had left. Her denial hadn’t carried much weight, not when her eyes had filled with pity, something he refused to accept from anyone and especially not from her.

After they took their seats on the bench, he watched the women cross the yard, Tina’s dark, waist-length braid contrasting sharply with Andi’s flowing blond waves. No doubt in his mind which sight he preferred. The thought of running his hands through Andi’s hair made more than just his bad knee suddenly ache from stiffness. Made him realize how hot he’d gotten over the girl who’d left him behind.

More than anything, his reactions made him see staying close to her might be more of a challenge than he had anticipated.

“Nice view, isn’t it?”

Startled, he turned to stare at Jed. He’d forgotten he had company on this bench.

Jed waved his hand. “A pleasant view of the ranch for any honeymooners who stay out here instead of in the hotel.”

“Yeah...it’s nice scenery.” Especially over near the hotel, where the women were climbing the porch steps. “So, you wanted to see me again.”

“I do.” Jed ran his hand over his pure white hair.

An unmistakable tell. Mom had been right. Something was up with Jed. And the familiar gesture told Mitch his former boss was about to clue him in. “What’s up?”

“Your mama says your time is pretty much your own, and I could use your help.”

“Anything I can do, you know I will.”

Jed smiled. “I figured that. Well, you know we tend to get busy here around the holidays.”

“I remember.” The dude ranch had always been popular with folks wanting a break from colder climates.

“Now we’ve got Christmas and a wedding to prepare for, both coming up in less than a month. My girls are doing most of the work on their own, and they could use an extra pair of hands.”

Mitch nodded slowly.

“Normally, I’d get a couple of the boys in here to give them some assistance. But we’re shorthanded, and Pete’s up to his eyeballs in work as it is. If you could manage to spend some time around here, you’d be doing us all a favor.”

Mitch nodded again. Compared to some of Jed’s plans, this one sounded harmless. And he had meant it when he said he would do anything to help Jed.

To tell the truth, he would be doing himself a few favors, too.

He could avoid his family’s hushed voices and averted gazes.

He could bypass some trips to the sheriff’s department in town. No matter how often his dad encouraged him to drop in, he knew how all those visits would make him look. He’d seem no better than an old retired cop who took his vacations anywhere from Maine to Alaska but spent those days hanging out with the local law.

Most of all...best of all...he would have a reason to hang around the ranch. A chance to be near Andi and to find out what was up with her.

If she wouldn’t tell her family what was worrying her, she’d have to tell someone. She needed an outlet, as his department-assigned shrink would say. Considering her decision to walk away from him, getting her alone had presented a problem. Jed had just handed him the solution.

With all those perks attached to the request, how could he turn the man down?

He couldn’t appear too eager, though. “Sure,” he said casually. “I’ll be happy to lend a hand. For whatever time I’m in town.”

* * *

“WHAT DO YOU think of this design?” Andi turned the pattern book on Tina’s desk to show her cousins the photo she was indicating.

With the waitress on duty ready to set the tables for dinner, they’d had to move all their samples from the dining room into Tina’s small office off the lobby. It didn’t matter to her where they worked, as long as she kept busy enough to keep her mind off Mitch...and that kiss that had made her lose control.

Her face burning, she glanced quickly at her cousins. Luckily, Jane and Tina had both switched their attention to the pattern book.

Jane looked at the fabric swatch in the photo. “I like the other one better.”

“I like this one. Then Tina gets to choose.”

“Oh, no, I don’t,” their cousin said. “You two are the experts.”

“We need a tiebreaker.”

“And if Tina doesn’t want to be on the spot,” Jane said, “she shouldn’t be. Shay’s in the kitchen. Don’t you think we should get her in on this? She’s got a good eye, too.”

“Great idea,” Tina said.

Shay, who was a frequent visitor to the Hitching Post, was dropping off an order of ice cream. Though Paz made the desserts for the hotel dining room, they had contracted SugarPie’s to provide the wedding cakes and pastries for the receptions. But when it came to ice cream, they relied on the Big Dipper, the shop not far from SugarPie’s in the heart of Cowboy Creek’s small business district.

As Tina left the office to track down the other woman, Andi caught Jane looking at her with a thoughtful expression.

“I see Mitch is back again,” Jane said. “And he appeared just when you happened to be at the corral.”

She snapped her head up. “That was a coincidence.”

“On your part or his?”

“What does that mean?”

“It seems way too coincidental he showed up at the same time you were standing there waiting.”

“I wasn’t waiting. I was checking on Trey.” She caught Jane’s grin and realized her cousin was teasing. She also knew she had overreacted. Forcing a smile, she added, “So...you suspect Eddie and Laurie of synchronizing the clocks on their cell phones?”

“No, actually, that hadn’t occurred to me.” Jane’s tone turned serious again. “Maybe fate stepped in, leading Mitch here at just the right time.”

“No. It was Grandpa wanting to see him. And Laurie asking him to bring her to the ranch for a ride.” Hoping to close the subject, she glanced at the pattern book again. “There’s no need to wait for Shay. I don’t know why you’re digging your heels in over this. Now, look. This morning, you agreed with me this pattern’s a better match for the tableware.”

“Yeah, and I’ve always agreed that you and Mitch made a good match.”

“Jane. Please.”

“Now, you look,” Jane said quietly. “You can’t hide anything from me. I know how you felt that summer you were seeing him. And I heard you crying the night before you left the ranch. You cared a lot. So did he. You two really had a chance together.”

A chance she had blown back then, and that circumstances now put out of her reach. “That was a long time ago.” Her children’s births and husband’s death ago.

“And here you are, in town at the same time.”

“Just another coincidence.”

“I won’t argue that. But my point is, how likely is it this will happen again soon?”

Focusing on the pattern book kept her from meeting Jane’s eyes. It couldn’t help close her ears to Jane’s softly spoken words.

“Maybe you both need to take this second chance.”

Shay walked into the office, saving Andi from a response.

“Shay,” Jane said, “you’re still planning to waitress for us the night of the wedding?”

“Oh, yes, I’ll be here. I’m looking forward to it.”

Still shaken by Jane’s statement, Andi fought to focus on the other woman. “How’s your gran?” They all knew Shay’s elderly grandmother had been having some health issues.

“Not too bad. I’m on my way to pick her up now. But Tina said you wanted to show me something?”

“Yes, if you have a few minutes.” She indicated the two samples. “Which one?”

“This one’s a better match,” Shay said immediately, pointing.

“Perfect,” Jane said. “You’ve got a good eye, too.”

Shay had chosen the same pattern Jane had so suddenly been unable to make up her mind about.

“I always did like interior decorating,” Shay said. “Well, if that’s all you need, I’d better get going.”

After she had left the room, Andi frowned and turned to Jane. “‘Perfect’?” she repeated. “That was another rapid turnaround on your part, wasn’t it?” When her cousin shrugged, she added, “You set me up. You gave Tina a reason to leave the room just to give yourself a chance to question me about Mitch.”

Jane shrugged. “Possibly. But that’s one thing I haven’t changed my mind about. You and Mitch. Remember what I said?”

Maybe you both need to take this second chance.

“Oh, I didn’t forget. But it’s not going to happen.”

* * *

AS PETE HANDED him an uncapped bottle of beer, Mitch nodded his thanks and set it down on the coffee table in the other man’s living room.

Outside, the sun was hanging low, filtering through the curtains. On the other side of the room, a handful of kids played a game with blocks, toy cars and a plastic runway that seemed to involve a lot of rules.

He nodded toward a blonde five-year-old. Pete’s daughter. “Rachel seems to have taken charge over Tina’s and Andi’s boys.”

“She does that often,” Pete admitted ruefully. “But I’m getting her to learn the value of sharing. I think.”

He looked at Pete’s son, playing happily by himself in a playpen nearby. Pete said the boy was just two, while Andi’s son would soon turn three.

He’d been gone long before any of the kids had been born. Long before Andi had become a wife and mom.

He took a swig of beer, then, forcing a laugh, shook his head. “Have you got enough kids around here to keep Jed happy?”

“Ha. Not even close. At least, not close and permanent, which is the way he would like. I know he wants Andi to settle down here with her two.”

“And she doesn’t go along with that?”

“Doesn’t seem to. According to her, she’s here for the holidays and to help get the bridal business off the ground, then she’s headed back home.”

“Home being...”

“Arizona. Fountain Hills, Scottsdale, somewhere around there.”

“Nice area, so I’ve heard. And steep, if you’re talking Fountain Hills.”

“I gather you mean money more than the elevation. That’s what I hear, too. But her husband comes from money. It’ll be hard for her without him, of course, but I reckon she’ll be all right financially.”