No More Pain by Sandy Appleyard

Author:Sandy Appleyard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Appleyard Enterprises

***

“Hey, you promised.” She points her index finger at me and gives me a pointed look. “Hand them over, mister.”

As I toss her the keys, we start loading our overnight bags into the back of my pickup. “I hope you packed warm. It gets cold at night at the ranch.”

“There’s heat, right?”

I give her a look. “Of course. We have the furnace and three fireplaces.”

“Three? My goodness…you must go through a lot of marshmallows.”

I laugh out loud. “Could you be any cuter?”

“I could try.” She winks, sliding the key into the ignition.

Her brown hair is out, except for a topknot, which looks adorable. Holding her hair is a clip with a Santa hat on it. “I like your hat.”

“You do?” she asks, and then she takes her purse from the center console and begins digging in it for a moment. When she finds a clip just like that one, she leans in and clips it into my hair. “I figured you might be a little bit jealous, so I got you one, too.”

I smirk and blink, trying to act nonplussed, but it’s too hard. She’s so goddamn cute I don’t know what to do with her. Well, I do, but I have to keep things at least somewhat professional between us.

“Red’s your color.” She says, putting the truck into reverse, acting like I’m supposed to keep wearing this thing in my hair. Playing along, I leave it in there.

“Thanks. I’ll make sure I get you back for this later.”

“It’s Christmas.” She shrugs, as if it requires no further explanation.

“Fine. You get a free pass on this one.” I say, feigning warning.

Christmas music is playing on the radio, and we sing together to the tunes. It’s hilarious when the Chipmunk’s Christmas song comes on; we both can do chipmunk voices, and we’re fighting with each other over who can do the best one. Even more hilarious, is that when the song is over, we still talk in the voices.

“How did you learn to do that?” she asks me.

“Clint taught me when we were kids. I have no idea what brought it on. You?”

“My dad.” She says, beaming.

“I take it you were close.”

“Yeah. My dad was the best. Mom, too. I miss them a lot.”

I can’t help but take her hand in mine. “Mine, too. My parents taught me everything I know. They taught us how to tend to the ranch and to the horses, and they taught us how to be the best we can be, and to never give up on our dreams. That’s why I started Kelsey Parts.”

“Did you have the business before they died?”

“No, no. I was still in college when they died. Dad first, then mom.”

“My dad had an inquisitive and motivated mind.” She volunteers. “If there was an unsolved mystery, from how do toasters work, to why are the clouds that color, he would find out. I suppose that’s where I got my nose for IT.”

“Among other things.” I add. “I don’t know if you realize how sharp you really are.

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