Chapter Seven
The following day, the drive from Plano to the Davis Mountains of West Texas took nearly eight hours.
An hour of that had been clearing the traffic of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Both Teagan and Dylan were thankful when they left that behind.
As they waited for the black iron gate of Mountainville to roll away, Teagan looked out the windshield and said, “I love these mountains!”
“Me, too,” Dylan said.
There was a rugged beauty about the area that called to him.
Once they got inside the town, however, they saw that it was not just rocky desert.
Mountainville was an oasis.
The road was perfectly paved. The lawn he saw around City Hall was still lush and green, with fescue grass retaining its health even in the deep fall months. Trees had been planted, giving the area plenty of shade.
The building itself was red sandstone and stood three stories tall, looking rather stately and majestic.
Just beyond it was an adobe building that abutted a natural rock wall formed by a towering cliff. A sign out front identified it as the marshal’s office. A few yards from it sat a firehouse.
A tall, muscular man wearing boots, Wranglers, and a black t-shirt that stretched tightly over his taut muscles stood as if waiting. His cream-colored Stetson protected his eyes from the high Texas sun.
Despite the brightness, there was still a chill to the air and Teagan wondered if the cowboy was cold without a coat as she and Dylan stepped out of their car.
“Marshal Trevor?” she said.
He smiled. “Please, ma’am. Just call me Dax. Y’all must be Teagan and Dylan. Good to know you.”
Teagan snuck a glance at her husband. Would he feel the need to act tough and “manly” in front of another law enforcement officer? She prayed this wasn’t too overwhelming for him.
He was quiet but seemed to be okay.
For now.
She prayed he stayed that way and grew even more at ease. Surely he’d be able to let loose there.
“We’re happy to meet you and be here,” Teagan replied to the marshal, looking back his way. “This is so exciting! Sounds like you all have a lot planned.”
“We do holidays up big around here,” Dax said. “We—”
“Look out!” a frantic voice interrupted.
“Uh, what is that?” Teagan said. Before either her husband or the marshal could answer, she said, “Is that…Santa?”
“Oh, Lord have mercy,” Dax said. “Not again.”
Dylan had instinctively reached for his gun upon hearing the warning shout. When his fingers clawed at nothing but air, he suddenly felt naked. He quickly realized he didn’t need a weapon, though.
But he couldn’t believe his eyes.
A bright red sleigh was flying straight toward them, soaring through the air in a way that didn’t seem possible. It was even being pulled by two reindeer!
At the helm was the big, jolly man in red himself.
It was only November, and Thanksgiving was still a few days away, but it seemed as if Santa Claus was visiting Mountainville early.
And he was on a collision course with Dylan and Teagan’s car.