A Thunder Canyon Christmas by RaeAnne Thayne

Author:RaeAnne Thayne [Thayne, RaeAnne]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2010-11-01T23:00:00+00:00

While she removed her coat and scarf and slid off her boots, Elise kept her gaze fixed out the window, watching Matt turn his truck around in the driveway then head back in the direction of Thunder Canyon.

She watched until his taillights faded pink in the lightly falling snow and then disappeared.

She wanted suddenly to be the sort of woman he was probably used to, someone who could flirt and laugh and kiss without thinking anything of it. But kisses meant something to her. Especially his kisses. She couldn’t pretend otherwise.

A month or two ago, she might have been happy just for the chance to indulge her foolish daydreams about him, even at the risk of a little inevitable heartbreak. He was Matt Cates, for heaven’s sake.

But she didn’t have room in her life for that sort of mess and chaos right now.

She made the right choice, she told herself as she walked into the kitchen for a glass of water before heading to her room. Friendship with him was a much more safe option than these tantalizing kisses and terrifying emotions.

She saw a light glowing from the kitchen and just assumed her mother or Stephanie had left it on for her. She walked in to turn it off and discovered her sister-in-law sitting at the kitchen table with a mug bearing a silly blue snowman in front of her.

“Hey, you!” Elise exclaimed softly. “What are you still doing up?”

Stephanie gave her a quick smile and Elise thought how happy she was that her brother and one of her dearest friends had found love together. They had been married for three years now and seemed happier than ever.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Steph said.

“Everything okay?”

Stephanie made a face. “The baby’s restless tonight. He’s rolling around like he’s calf roping in there.”

Elise forced a laugh. “Maybe the kiddo is practicing the pre-Christmas hijinks to get the parents psyched and ready for all the sleepless nights a few years from now when he’s a little kid waiting for Santa.”

“Oh, don’t remind me of that.” Steph gestured to her mug. “I’m already having nightmares about putting together toys on Christmas Eve. I had a craving for cinnamon hot cocoa and thought it might help me and the baby relax a little. Want to join me?”

“Think I’ll pass on the cocoa but I’ll keep you company for a minute.”

She sank into a chair across from Stephanie, thinking again how very much she had always loved the kitchen at Clifton’s Pride. After she and her mother moved to Billings, Elise had missed many things about the ranch. Moonlit rides into the mountains, the excitement of roundup, the thrill of watching a newborn foal come into the world.

One of the things she had missed most of all was this kitchen, warm and comfortable and homey.

Steph and Helen had decorated the kitchen for Christmas, with greenery and lights and pinecones covering every unused space. As she sat with her sister-in-law in the hush of a December evening, she could fully understand why Steph and Grant loved it here so much.

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