Chapter Ten #3
He gestured toward the door, and had to pry his eyes away from her to take one last look at the dance floor to see if he could catch his brother’s eye to let him know that he was leaving, but the two lovebirds were too muddled up in one another’s gaze to even notice. He’d call Daniel in the morning.
The holiday lights twinkled above Central Avenue, which was much quieter than earlier with most people inside at the dance, and parents with children at home getting ready for bed.
The flurries that were falling earlier had sometime during the evening turned into a steady snow, so when they returned to his car, Seth started up the engine to heat it up and took the snowbrush from the trunk to clean off the windows.
What he needed was a handful of that snow on his face, to cool down the heat of the attraction boiling deep inside him.
Seth was always a careful driver, but with Andrea sitting in the front seat, he found himself being even more meticulous, ensuring every inch of the windows was wiped clean for perfect visibility.
Something about her presence heightened his awareness, made him want to do everything just a little better, just for her.
He slid into the driver’s seat and glanced at Andrea as he buckled his seat belt. She gave him a slight smile, then looked through the side-view mirror at her car parked behind his.
“Sure it’ll be okay here overnight?” she asked. “In Denver, it would definitely get towed.”
“I’m pretty sure that every last resident of Tenacity is at that party tonight,” Seth said.
“And if they started towing the cars of people who were just being responsible, they’d have to tow Mayor Moore’s truck too.
” He nodded across the street, where Marty’s vehicle sat collecting snow under a streetlight.
“I’ll come back in the morning and take you to get your car. ”
“That’s a lot of driving for you,” Andrea said.
“It’s not a problem.” Seth said, starting the engine. Coming back to town to bring Andrea to her car was the smallest price he could pay for the promise of seeing her again tomorrow. It might even make saying goodbye at her doorstep later on a little less painful.
In the fifteen minutes it took to drive from downtown to Andrea’s ranch, the snow began to fall more heavily, and by the time Seth approached the ranch, it was almost impossible to see ten meters ahead. Blowing snow covered the road, moving across the pavement like a ghostly apparition.
“Yikes,” Andrea said. “I didn’t see this coming in the forecast.”
“Happens sometimes around here,” said Seth, guiding his vehicle around the bend leading to the ranch.
His SUV did well in the snow, but the visibility was basically nil, and even if other vehicles were staying off the road, the deer and caribou that often wandered onto the roads could be a deadly hazard. “Shouldn’t last too long.”
Even through the snow, the ranch glowed from the road, and the farther he drove up the driveway, he could see that it was all lit up with white Christmas lights. It was so inviting, it felt like…coming home.
Andrea had woven boughs of evergreen along the front porch, which were already dusted in a thick coating of white. A wreath with small red berries hung from the front door. They exited his car, dipping their faces into the collars of their jackets to guard against the blustery snow.
Seth trailed Andrea to the entrance, where she fished her keys from her purse. He stomped his boots off before escaping the blowing snow into the warmth of Andrea’s home.
The entrance to the ranch had undergone a complete transformation since the first time he’d visited, only weeks earlier.
“Wow,” he said, taking in the warm, welcoming foyer.
There were sconce lights on the wall that lit up the space in golden richness, and the sight of the thick knit rugs made it easy to kick off boots, even with cold feet.
The idea to open up the space had been a great one.
In the living room, a giant fir tree was standing waiting to be decorated, and when it was gone, the view of the artwork behind it would be an inviting sight.
“Still needs trimming,” Andrea said, following his gaze. She removed her boots, and he watched as she approached the tree and extracted the crystal star ornament he’d bought her from her pocket, and hung it from a branch at eye level. “Perfect,” she said.
It did look pretty perfect. And standing next to the tree, in the warm and beautifully decorated space that she’d so impressively put together, if there was a word beyond perfect, she would be it.
“Coffee? Tea?” she asked. “I can make decaf, although if you’re going to be driving…”
“Decaf coffee is great,” Seth said. There was no amount of late-night driving that was going to put him to sleep, not with how awake and alive he felt near this magnetic woman.
“Have a seat,” Andrea offered. “I’ll be right back.”
Seth settled into the couch facing the fireplace and the tree, then gazed out the window at what looked to be near-blizzard conditions. Hopefully someone down at the hoedown had alerted the townspeople about the snow and everyone was getting home safely.
Daniel wouldn’t have to drive far to get to Mike’s cabin at the Cooper Ranch, or if the almost whiteout conditions kept them in town, Mike’s godmother worked at the Tenacity Inn and could arrange a room for them.
But he wasn’t worried about his brother right now; Daniel was a big boy.
His only concern was the stunning woman who’d just reappeared in the doorway, holding two steaming-hot mugs.
She’d changed out of her dress into jeans and a soft gray knit sweater, her hair tied back in a ponytail.
“Here you go,” she said, placing the mug in front of him, close enough for him to catch a slight breath of her shampoo, or body lotion, or something that smelled so damn good he almost couldn’t say thanks.
The scent disappeared like the fleeting satisfaction of an oscillating fan when she moved to a chair near the fireplace, the farthest possible seat away from him. He tried not to take this personally as he took a sip of the hot coffee.
Andrea perched on the edge of the couch as though she was about to take flight. Was she regretting inviting him in? He glanced out the window again. Surely she wasn’t expecting him to drive in this weather. Did she think he was expecting anything?
Whatever it was, he had the feeling it would be up to him to diffuse the tension. “What’s the next project?” he asked. “Now that this space is finished?”
Andrea blew a little on her drink and took a small sip. “I’m going to paint the bedrooms. Install some new light fixtures. I’m saving the retiling of two of the bathrooms for last.” She scrunched her nose. “The YouTube videos don’t paint a pretty picture of that process.”
“So, this is really the first time you’ve done this?” Seth asked. “You really had no experience?”
“With the amount of home reno and decorating shows I’ve watched, I feel like I’ve been doing it my whole life,” Andrea said. She sat back in her seat a little. Good. She seemed to be relaxing a bit.
“Favorite show?” he asked. Not that he’d know anything about it. He didn’t watch much TV, but when he did, it was usually the news or Sunday night football.
“Barn to Boutique, with Ruby Turner, for sure,” Andrea said. “It’s the one where they take old barns and repurpose them into boutique hotels, wedding venues, event spaces. I’ve taken a lot of notes.”
“It shows,” he said, glancing around the room again.
After so many years of growing up in the sprawling estate on the Triple T Ranch, he could see the appeal of a smaller, cozier space.
His family had space to escape from one another, which probably had a part to play in the less-than-Brady Bunch family dynamics over the years.
Andrea placed her mug on the table, then went to the window and peered outside. “I hope you don’t mind wainscoting and peach wallpaper,” she said. “It doesn’t look like you’ll be going anywhere tonight.”