Wishing on a Christmas Cowboy by Sara Richardson

Author:Sara Richardson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2022-10-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Are these Yoda Christmas lights?” Kyra reached into one of the tubs they’d hauled from the barn into Tess’s house and pulled out yet another strand of uniquely shaped bulbs.

“Yep,” Aiden said through a laugh. “Jace was a huge Star Wars fan. I warned you about how big his collection of decorations was.”

“Yes, you did.” But she still couldn’t have imagined that they would have to make ten trips from the barn into the house carrying tubs and huge garbage bags protecting various lawn ornaments. They’d been at this for well over two hours and still had half the room to go through.

“If you think those lights are something, then you need to see…” The man looked around and then moved to a group of garbage bags by the fireplace. “These.” He uncovered Darth Vader, R2-D2, and Yoda lighted statues all wearing Santa hats.

“Huh.” Kyra had to laugh too. “And Tess was fine with storing all of this stuff?”

“No one could ever tell Jace no. Not even me. His enthusiasm was too infectious.” Aiden unraveled the cord from the Yoda and plugged it in. The statue lit up all the way from the Santa hat to the light saber in its hands. “Thank God Yoda still works. These are some of the girls’ favorites because their dad loved them so much.”

“Then we’ll make sure to put them front and center so they’ll see them right away.” When it came to Christmas, Kyra’s mother had been a stickler for color schemes and adhering to a theme, so the hodgepodge method wasn’t one Kyra had ever considered. But it was already proving to be more fun. “I’ll just be standing by, trying to let go of my need for symmetry and order.”

“Yeah, there was no order to Jace’s method.” Aiden plugged in the other statues and stood back as though admiring them. “It was like Christmas threw up in his yard. He made things work.” There was the sadness pulling at Aiden’s mouth again.

“I wish I could’ve known him.” Not only because Aiden made him sound like a saint but also because she loved his daughters. Morgan and Willow were special—kind and giving and more compassionate than other kids she’d met at their age. But then again, they’d had to go through some serious pain to become so extraordinary.

Kyra continued unraveling the tangles in the Yoda lights. She didn’t want to be pushy, but Aiden hadn’t talked much about Jace. She sensed regret whenever Aiden mentioned him, but she didn’t understand why. “How long did you know him?”

“Twenty years.” He busied himself with unpacking a tub of large colorful bulbs. “We played football together in middle school. Jace had just moved to San Diego from here, and he hated it there. All he ever wanted was to come back to his grandparents’ ranch and take over someday.” He had his back to her, but she could detect the emotion in his voice. “I introduced him and Tess. After graduation, Jace and I joined up together and managed to move up through the ranks.

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