Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Dallas
W arrick and Zara made it home the very night before Thanksgiving, damn near midnight, tired and drawn out as hell. They went to bed, and I didn’t expect to see them before Thanksgiving dinner.
I woke up to the smell of ham and turkey with cornbread dressing filling the room. I knew that was half of the dinner we’d get that evening, but before I left to go down and see what I could help with, I stayed in bed, trying to figure out what the fuck I was doing with Blair.
Whenever I considered what we were doing, this dangerous path we were heading down, my heart felt like it was punching my ribcage, trying to break free.
I’d prided myself on self-discipline, on my ability to keep my emotions and urges in check, but beneath my controlled facade, I was roiling with emotion. Blair was like me, holding in her feelings, but they had slipped out a time or two .
She was whip-smart, loyal, and fierce. Thinking of how she had gone toe-to-toe with me, held her own in our business sparring, how sweet and understanding she was in those nights alone, and God, how sexy and feisty she was in bed, made me know, if I wasn’t already falling in love with her, I was damn sure on the way.
Sighing, I got off the bed, showered and dressed, took the stairs, and headed down, craving something hot. To my surprise, Eva was there with Marie, and the two were like whirlwinds in the room.
“Erm,” I asked. “Coffee?”
Someone—I couldn’t tell who, as they were all moving like whirling dervishes by this point—pointed to the pot. I got a cup and gazed at the mounds of food around. There were beef ribs seasoned on a tray, chicken seasoned in bowls, and bowls of more cornbread batter. I saw the green bean, beet and potato salad fixings, and pie shells with crusts were out. On the long table, jars of fruit were laid out; I counted apples and strawberries, and there were pumpkins. They had a long way ahead of them.
“Is there anything I can help with?” I asked.
“You can start setting up the porch table,” Marie said. “The main table and the fold-out tables for the food.”
“Ten-four,” I said, hustling out of the room to the storeroom outside and heaving two three-foot fold-out tables, one over my shoulder and the other under my arm. I was heading to the porch when Isaac and Santos headed my way.
“Need a hand?” Isaac asked.
“Yep,” I replied, handing one over. “Isaac, get the third one. From the looks of it in the kitchen, I think we’re going to need it. ”
“Marie taking out all the stops, eh,” Santos grinned. “I cannot wait.”
Half an hour later, we had the tables set up, and the main table shifted a little to give space for whoever would take the trays out. When we went inside to get some drinks and coffee, Connie was also inside, dicing and cutting with a frenzy that alarmed me. She wielded that knife with deadly precision.
Marie had us running errands all day, grabbing extra supplies from Hank’s store, changing the table setup on the porch three times, setting those tables, and running to the Silver Spur for a keg of cider Jake O’Hara had for us. By the time it was done, and I went to shower and change for dinner, Blair was down there, doing the finishing touches with the other girls.
The table groaned with the twelve-pound turkey, brisket, baked ham, and grilled salmon filet. Salads, mashed potatoes, grilled corn on the cob, baked macaroni, and cheese were on the other tables. The last table held separate trays of steaming pies and cobbler.
“Whoo, baby,” Frankie whistled. “Marie, you outdid yourself this time.”
“I know,” she smiled when he reached over to kiss her cheek. “And this is only half. The rest is cooling for storage as I am off next week, and you cannot cook to save your life.”
“I can make scrambled eggs,” Isaac offered sheepishly.
The warm ripple of laughter from his comment heralded Warrick’s arrival. He didn’t look the worse for wear, so I hoped he was okay. “Hello everyone,” he said. “My mouth was watering from the living room. Marie, have I doubled your bonus this year?”
“You have. ”
“I should triple it.”
“You should.” She smiled sweetly.
I laughed and took a seat; bittersweet memories of the Thanksgiving dinners I’d shared with my family before I’d left came back to me.
“Let's start,” Warrick took his place at the head of the table while the rest of us sat, and I felt a little relief when Blair was down the table, sitting with Connie.
“You know, before we eat, we say what we are thankful for. I’ll start. I am so thankful that my dear Zara came into my life and reignited a part of me that I thought was dead and gone—” he slid a look to Frankie, whose lips were twitching. “And no, Frankie, it's not that part. Get your head out of the gutter.”
He laughed, “The gutter is my summer home, bossman.”
We went down the table, and when it got to me, I said, “I am thankful that I am back home, that I reconnected with the people I thought I’d never gain forgiveness from, but thank god that I was wrong, that I was dead wrong. I am thankful that I found my family again.”
A soft silence followed my words, but Warrick broke it. “You never lost us, Dallas.”
Looking at him, I smiled. “I know that now.”
There was another pause before Frankie said, “I need that cherry pie.”
“No dessert before dinner,” Warrick chided him.
“Yes, Dad,” Frankie laughed, then cut the pie anyway.
It was past eight when we’d eaten our fill, and I helped clean up, gather a few things, and drop them in the truck when I got Blair’s attention and pulled her to the side. “Take a ride with me?”
She cocked her head. “Um, sure. Where?”
“You’ll see,” I told her and plucked my hat off a hook near the door.
I felt her confusion on the back of my neck as we stepped into the night and headed to the truck. The moon had not come out yet, but the stars gave us enough light to get into the truck and drive away. I took a different road, one I knew Blair had never been on yet, and headed up to Eagles Point, the best lookout point in the town.
She peered out the window at the stark darkness. “Where are we going? This looks like the middle of nowhere.”
“It is the middle of nowhere.”
“Should I be afraid?”
“No.”
After that, the only sound echoing in the night was the rustle of the snow under the truck’s wheels as we headed into the mountains. We broke through the forest thicket and took the soft downslope to the point. There were gazebos and picnic spots up here, but there were also spaces for trucks to rest.
As I found a spot, I backed into it and turned to her. “Come with me.”
As she stepped out, I yanked the bag from the back seat and headed to the back to drop the tailgate and spread the blanket and pillows. Blair looked around at the snow that had already fallen. The mass glittered like diamonds in the moonlight. There were clouds to the eastern horizon, but we were now under a beautiful midnight moon. Stars filled the expansive black sky, making the whole world seem endless. It was stunning .
I got into the bed and helped Blair step in. With my back to the cab, I wrapped a second blanket around us as she got her first glimpse of the mountain range. The full moon lit up the peaks, but the valley was still in heavy shadow.
“That’s pretty,” she marveled.
“It’s prettier at sunrise, too,” I said. “You’ve been distracted all through dinner. What is going through your mind?”
She turned to look at me, then back to the mountains again. “I told my Dad I’d come back for Christmas, but something in my gut tells me to return before Christmas. I’ll come back, of course, but I— I don’t know, my instinct is telling me to go and find out what Wentworth is so hell-bent on getting back home for.”
“Ah,” I said. “If your gut is telling you something is wrong, maybe something is,” I said near her ear. “Trust yourself.”
“This place is beautiful,” Blair replied. “But I must ask, why did you bring me up here?”
“Because I wanted a moment alone with you,” I replied. “I never expected to find forgiveness here. I did. I didn’t expect to find a home here, and I did. The last thing I expected to find was someone like you, and I did. I don’t know where I am in my head, Blair, but I don’t want to lose you.”
She twisted her head, a smile flirting at her lips. “Even while I irritate you to madness?”
“Even then.”
I tilted my head to the sky, “A lot of shit in my life is up in the air right now. I don’t know if I can go back to Cali, but I don’t know if I will have a life back in Cali. I feel more happiness here than I ever did in San Fran, but it’s a lot that I can’t figure out.”
“Like me,” she said.
“Your life is in Texas,” I said. “And I think a new life might be starting for me here.”
Blair nuzzled into me, “You know, Texas has ranches. Case in point, I work on one.”
What was she saying? Was there any hope here? Should I ask? Should I press? Did I dare dream?
“When are you going to Georgia?” I asked, letting this issue slide a little.
She let out a long breath. “I was thinking tomorrow evening after the drawing. Would you drive me to the airport?”
“Sure,” I told her, and then tightly wrapped my arms around her. “Now, let us have some time to ourselves.”
Blair laughed, “So, are we going to the backseat or doing it right here?”
I slapped her thigh. “My bits would shrivel up and die in this cold. Let’s just sit here and gaze at the sky.”
“Alright, everyone,” Betty announced, her voice filled with warmth as we stepped into the diner with a second to spare, “I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, but it's time for the Secret Santa drawing!”
She reached into the hat, one of those old-timey top hats with a large brim, and pulled out the first name, holding it up for all to see. “Gregory Treeve, our esteemed mayor, will be our first participant.”
The mayor stepped forward; his salt-and- pepper hair brushed back, and made his way to the front, his eyes twinkling with holiday cheer.
“Remember, when you get your name, keep it to yourself,” Betty reminded us. “It’s called Secret Santa for a reason.”
Betty handed him the hat, and dipping his hand in, he made a show of swirling his hand around the bottom, and drew a name, a wide grin breaking on his face as he read the name, and tucked it into the front pocket of his shirt.
I looked at Blair, wondering who he had picked to make him grin so wide.
Names after names were called, and I saw many people I didn’t know, like Marty Wilson, the proprietor of The Silver Screen Theater, or Laura Bennett, the Innkeeper at Whispering Pines Inn. There were even Ranger Lisa Morales and Mr. Richard Stevens, the elementary and high school principal.
Most people were happy with who they picked, but a few looked perplexed, as if they didn’t know what to get for that person. They called Blair before me, and her brows lifted high when she took out her slip of paper.
“That’s…surprising,” she mentioned, and tucked the paper into her jeans pocket.
They called up a few of the guys from the ranch and then got to me. I dipped my hand in and pulled out— Nurse Alice Daniels. What could I get a nurse?
Returning to my seat, I nudged Blair, “Who did you get?”
She slid me an eye. “Not telling.”
I groaned, “Spoilsport.”
She checked her watch. “We must leave for the airport in the next ten minutes.”
Still wondering what to give a nurse, I nodded, “Sure.”
Forty-five minutes later, I was seeing her back as she slipped through the door of the departure gate, the feeling of her kiss still lingering on my lips. I didn’t know what would happen to her in Georgia, but I hoped it wouldn’t stop her from returning home quickly.
“Home…” I grunted. “When the hell had this place become home for her?”
I got to the freeway and headed north to the mountains and the ranch. While half of my mind was on Blair, I still didn’t know what to do about my Christmas present for the nurse.
I stopped at the Riverbend Café to get a pick-me-up before I headed to the ranch, only to find Isaac waiting for me in the stable.
“Hey, Dallas,” he said. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Yep, whatcha got?” I asked.
He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket, “I picked Miss Blair, and I think it is only best to give it to you. I have no idea what she likes, much less what to buy her.”
I was stunned. “Fucking A, Isaac, thank you. I have Nurse Alice, and I don’t know what to get her either.”
His face brightened. “But I do. Can we switch?”
“Hell yes,” I took his note and gave him mine. “Thanks for doing me a solid, man.”
“No problem,” he replied. “I hope she loves what you get her.”
Me too— the problem was, what did I get her?