One Tough Christmas Cookie (The Reindeer Wrangler Ranch Christmas Romance Book 1) by Lucy McConnell

Author:Lucy McConnell [McConnell, Lucy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orchard View Publishing LLC
Published: 2020-12-16T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Faith

Faith crashed her eyes closed against the blaring of the alarm. Five in the morning came awfully early in North Dakota—heavy on the awful.

She slammed the snooze button, groaned, and threw the blankets off. Knowing Caleb was in the house had thrown of her sleep cycle. It wasn’t like she wanted to sneak into his room and watch him sleep or anything creepy like that. And she wasn’t scared that he’d do something like that to her. It was more of this awareness of him. Of the way he smelled: like cookies and aftershave, which was a surprisingly delightful scent. Of the way his eyes sparkled: like a kid’s at Christmas. Of his muscles that rippled and moved under his shirt: like those of an animal ready to pounce. She couldn’t stop thinking about sharing cookies with him and the way he looked at life—her life in particular. He didn’t seem to think she had a horrible childhood, but maybe one that left some questions.

Which made her ask herself if it was as bad as she’d always thought.

Or if she’d just been a pessimist.

She finally determined to ask her Dad about that first Christmas away and find out what had happened. It might not be any of her business why her parents’ marriage had fallen apart; then again, maybe it was, because she was the one who lived with the unasked-for consequences.

Ugh! Her head hurt.

She wrapped up in a robe and slipped her feet into the fur-lined slippers sitting by her bed—another purchase at the feed store—before heading to the kitchen. She turned on the lights and groaned. Being awake wasn’t getting easier. The pounding in her head intensified. That was what she got for crying yesterday. Crying always gave her a headache. She figured it was God’s way of telling her to find other ways to deal with things. But maybe it was His way of telling her she was meant to be a happy person in this life.

She glanced around at the decorations Caleb had put up yesterday. Maybe, if she could give Christmas a try, really open her heart to it, she’d find some of that joy she’d been missing. Yawning, she turned on the television to listen to the morning news while she clicked on the hot chocolate maker.

“… witnesses are saying the reindeer races cars like a dog, but flies next to their vehicle,” said the reporter standing in front of a sign that said “Old Faithful.” “I’ve got Ranger Charles here with me to shed some light on the mysterious happenings in Yellowstone National Park…”

“The whole world’s gone reindeer crazy,” Faith mumbled. Dad didn’t drink coffee, but he had the world’s largest selection of cocoa packets to pick from. She grabbed one at random, having never met a cup of cocoa she didn’t like. Dumping the powder into the machine, she plodded out to the clinic to check on Rudy.

He should be awake any time now. Though she didn’t want to startle him—his eyes were still bandaged—having him alert would be a good thing.

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