A Cowboy Under My Christmas Tree Read Online Free PDF Page A

“I’ve never been to Colorado. Everything looks like a postcard.”
    Sam nodded in agreement. “I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.”
    Nicole’s expression turned a little wistful. “Must be nice to feel that way.” She stopped on a photo of a white ranch house set behind a split-rail fence in the foreground. Flowers bloomed in front of the fence and lined the winding drive. The house nestled in the center of the surrounding land, which rolled in green waves to the mountains in the distance. She looked again and noticed other structures, half hidden by the dips in the terrain.
    “Is this your ranch? Must be summer.” She turned the phone so he could see the screen again. “How big is it?”
    “About a thousand acres.” Sam straightened in his seat and leaned forward to point out things. “That’s the main house, and over there is the corral and the horse barn. The pastures are in back.”
    “Is that a bunkhouse?”
    “That’s right. Used to be a bigger operation. We had a couple of hands living on the place and cowboys coming in for roundups. Then my folks had to sell off some land and a lot of the cattle when the price of beef dropped—we’re wintering over about a hundred head now.”
    Nicole blinked. Her beef came prepackaged and wrapped in plastic. She’d never really thought about where it came from.
    “Anyway, my brother Zach and I took over the bunkhouse and fixed it up last year. He has his side, and I have mine. Works out fine.”
    His lighthearted tone told Nicole a lot. “You’re lucky. I’m an only child. I always wanted a sister.”
    “I have one of those too,” he informed her.
    “Younger or older?”
    “Younger. She got away with everything, unlike me and Zach.” He chuckled.
    “I heard that can happen.” Nicole laughed.
    “Well, it all worked out. Family is everything.”
    She was touched. “I know what you mean.”
    “Us Bennetts stick together, and we do all right. Most years we don’t have to buy much.”
    He folded his hands on the table—rugged hands, with strong, calloused fingers. Intuitively, Nicole understood what he seemed disinclined to explain.
    “But a ranch is hard work, no matter what,” Sam went on. “My dad always said you have to be born to it.”
    “Sounds like you love it.” Nicole couldn’t help saying it. The conversation had taken an unexpectedly personal turn.
    “It’s what I know and who I am,” he said simply.
    She scrolled back to the first photo of Velde, noticing the background this time. Behind the single street rose a tree-clad slope, a dark, looming mass parted by a wide snow trail.
    Nicole squinted to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. “Is that a ski run? Right at the end of Main Street?”
    “Yup. Not the biggest or the best, but I learned to ski there. So did Annie and Zach.”
    He took the phone back and touched the screen to pull up a photo of a laughing girl in ski wear, goggles pushed up on her head, her dark hair whipped by the wind. “That’s her,” he said proudly.
    “What does she do?”
    “She’s a ski instructor in Vail.”
    “I’m impressed.” Nicole laughed. “My downhill racing experience is pretty limited. I did set a speed record once, in a cardboard box on a slope in Central Park. I think I was five.”
    “Good for you. Gotta start somewhere.” His smile warmed her.
    “I think Colorado is a better bet for winter sports,” she replied honestly.
    He nodded in agreement. “Haven’t seen any snow in New York yet. How much do you get here?”
    “Depends. Sometimes we only get a few inches total for the whole winter. But they’re predicting a lot of snow this year.”
    Sam raised his eyebrows. “Now that would be a sight to see.”
    Nicole sighed. “I wouldn’t mind, so long as I can complete all my jobs and get paid. A really good snowstorm can shut down the city for a whole day.”
    He chuckled. “Only a day? The roads can close for a week or two out where we are. Sometimes more. But