Chapter 2
Chapter Two
JULIE
I climb into my Jeep Cherokee, trying not to second guess the deal I just made with Tucker Madison. I don’t even know why my ex and Tucker stopped being friends in the first place, but at this point I don’t even care. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and every Christmas I feel desperate to silence the scrutiny.
‘Why are you still single, Julie?’
‘Bless her heart, she’s still not over Nate.’
‘She’s thirty now. That clock is ticking!’
‘Ugh, poor girl. She’s never going to find the right one. You know, her parents don’t even invite Nate and Maddie—all because of what happened…’
Shuddering at the snippets I’ve heard at the annual Christmas Eve party in the past, I turn the key in the ignition, eyeing Tucker as he steps out into the cool air. He still looks the same. Well, only more grown up. His dark five o’clock cowboy shadow probably does a number on the women he comes across.
But it does nothing for me.
Cowboys are trouble, and I hope that Tucker reminds my parents of exactly that. Dad’s always throwing out a business partner’s son or a friend-of-a-friend’s cousin.
Yeah, no thanks, Dad. I don’t want one of your grown up FFA boys.
I learned my lesson the hard way, and that’s exactly why Tucker is perfect for this entire endeavor. I don’t have to worry about catching real feelings, and he probably can’t stand me anyway. He never could in high school. But then again it seemed as though he couldn’t stand anyone back then.
My phone vibrating against the console breaks my thoughts, and I glance down to see my mom’s face lighting up the screen. With a cringe I scoop it up, already knowing what’s coming next.
“Where are you, Julie? We’ve been waiting for you to show for the last two hours!” Mom’s tone contains a mixture of worry and frustration, but I just sigh.
“I told you, it’d be after dinner.”
“But you never miss the family dinner…”
“First time for everything,” I say, keeping my tone light and choosing not to mention the fact that I did not want to listen to Aunt Mary drone on and on about her newest boy toy. She’s a whole three decades older than me, and I’m fairly certain she has three times more game, too—but not this year. I smile to myself as I say, “I had to wait on my boyfriend to catch up.”
Silence.
“Mom?”
“Did you say, boyfriend? ”
My grin grows wider. It’s official. I’ve shocked her. “Yes, I said, boyfriend. ” Excitement builds in my chest at the idea of finally being able to put my past behind me. I could finally put Nate behind me. The town will have something new to talk about for once when they see me.
“That’s wonderful, honey,” my mother’s voice chimes with excitement. “I’ll get a plate set out for him and have your brother grab an extra chair from the garage.” I can hear the chatter of family in the background and my chest gets tight.
“Is that Jules?” Carson’s voice overtakes my mom’s and I can tell he’s snatched the phone. “Where are you at? You never miss dinner. We waited until I was about to die of starvation. I blame you for the misery.”
“She’s on her way now, leave her be.” Mom scolds him. “She had to wait up on her new boyfriend.” I can almost hear the smile on her face as my brother goes silent for a few beats…
But he comes right back.
“So, guess forever alone Julie is no more, huh? Look at you.” He bursts into laughter. Carson and I were always close growing up and he’s one of the few people who never brought up Nate during the holidays—something I’ve always been grateful for. Someone calls out to him from the party, and he groans. “I gotta let you go Julie. I’m needed to help open presents for the kiddos. Hurry up though. It’s about to drop below freezing and there’s moisture on the roads. I don’t want to have to pull you outta the ditch.”
“He’s right Julie,” my mom grabs the phone back. “It’s been a crazy year. Your cousin got stuck yesterday and we had to pull her out. Black ice is everywhere.”
“Yeah, okay,” I say quickly, already worn out from the conversation. “I’ll be careful.”
“I'm serious Julie, if you get stuck you’ll have to walk the rest of the way up the drive. It’s too dark to fight with the ice.” She pauses and I lean my head against the back of my seat. “Why isn’t your boyfriend driving with you?”
Uh oh. I always forget my mother has the nose of a bloodhound when it comes to schemes. I sigh. “He had to work late, so he was just going to meet me here, but I ended up leaving a little later—and him earlier—and…” Oh my gosh, I make no sense.
“I get it. It’s like phone tag,” Mom laughs. “I hate it when that happens.”
“For sure,” I blow out a sigh of relief. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“Okay honey, your father…” My mother’s attention is suddenly pulled away by someone and she hangs up the phone without even saying goodbye.
I toss my phone to the passenger seat, take a deep breath, and ready myself for all the questions I didn’t bother to formulate answers for. I should’ve figured out the details before just jetting right out of the bar.
And it’s in that moment that I realize I didn’t even get Tucker’s number.
“Ugh,” I mutter to myself. I’ll just have to hope he shows up. My mind conjures up an alternate scenario—one where he backs out, and then I look like I’ve been stood up for the holidays.
Yikes. This could go so bad.
I pull out of the parking lot and head toward the ranch, flipping on the radio. Though December has just started, festive music plays relentlessly through the speakers. And as much as I say I hate the holidays, Christmas music has always had a special place in my heart.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been waiting on a white Christmas my entire life, or maybe it’s just because I wish I could see the magic and love in the holidays that everyone seems to sing about. Regardless of what it is, I sing along to “Jingle Bell Rock” and make my way toward the family ranch.
This year will be different, I think to myself as I finally pull through the gates ten minutes later. I stare at the C Bar Ranch sign overhead for a few seconds, just long enough to hope I can come through on my end of the deal for Tucker. I mean, I’m my father’s only daughter, and he tends to bend over backward for me…
I grit my teeth as I navigate the gravel drive, feeling my tires slipping a little. “Maybe the roads are as bad as Mom said,” I mumble under my breath. It crosses my mind to send a warning to Tucker for whatever reason, but then I laugh to myself.
I don’t even have his phone number.
Which I should probably change.
Blowing out a sharp breath, I finally make it to the main house, a two-story ranch-style brick home, built by my parents when I was in elementary school. I take in the ornate exterior, and immediately notice something is off.
Where are the Christmas lights? Where’s the nativity scene? I furrow my brow as I take in one lone wreath hanging on the front door. This is not normal for my family. Usually, it’s decked out, rivaling Clark Griswold, himself.
The worry hangs heavy on my mind as I cut the engine and climb out, the bitter cold causing me to shiver. I hit the button for the back hatch to open, and right as I do, I catch a pair of headlights coming down the winding gravel drive.
Is he actually coming? My heart jumps to my throat as a nearly-new ranch truck pulls in, parking behind my Jeep. I shield my eyes and wait. Sure enough, when the lights fade and the driver’s side door opens it’s Tucker Madison, making good on his word.
“I can’t believe I’m actually doing this,” he grumbles as he slams the door and heads toward me, shaking his head beneath his hat.
“Yeah, well, good to see you again, too,” I greet him as he starts grabbing my bags without me even asking.
“We literally just saw each other.” He handles all my luggage like it’s nothing, and I follow behind him, feeling awkward and empty handed.
“You have to at least act like you’re happy to be here,” I say to him, my Vans thudding behind him on the sidewalk. As we pass one of the front bay windows, I catch sight of my family, standing around the kitchen island, laughing and talking away under the warm glow of the chandelier above them.
My heart jumps to my throat, and I tap Tucker on the shoulder, my worry intensifying. “I mean it, you have to seem happy to be here.”
Tucker stops, huffing and turning to look at me. He plasters on the most forced grin I have ever seen in my life. “This better, Julie?”
I frown. “You look like you’re in pain.”
“Because I am, ” he grits out, nodding to the black duffle bag slung over his shoulder. “It’s like you’ve got a body in here.”
I shrug, slipping past him as I hear the front door opening. “Maybe I do. So be nice. Otherwise, you might end up like him.”
His eyes widen, but for the first time since I laid eyes on him tonight, he actually smiles…
And it’s kind of cute.
Kind of.