A Thunder Canyon Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

Hitching Post together tonight but she bailed on me at the last minute.”
    She sat up and stretched a little and he tried not to notice how her sweater beneath her unbuttoned coat hugged those soft curves. “Since I was already there and…well, didn’t really want to go home yet, I decided to stay and listen to the band.”
    Ah. That explained why she’d been sitting by herself at the bar. He had spied her the moment he walked in and had been keeping an eye on the cowboy she’d been sitting beside. At first, he thought maybe they’d been on a date. The little spark of inappropriate jealousy had come out of nowhere, taking him completely by surprise.
    When she walked down the hall toward the ladies’ room, he had watched the cowboy follow her. When neither of them emerged after a moment, he’d gone looking for her. And just in time.
    â€œPoor Haley,” he said now. “Being sick bites anytime, but especially at Christmas. Still, I’m sure Marlon loves the chance to baby her. He’s crazy about her.”
    â€œHe’d better be,” she said darkly. He hid a smile at the belligerent tone he’d noticed her adopting earlier. He didn’t know how much she’d had to drink. With her small frame, it probably wasn’t much, but he definitely recognized the signs of somebody on the tipsy side.
    â€œLet’s get you inside and find you something to eat.”
    â€œI’m really not hungry.”
    â€œHumor me, okay?”
    After a moment, she shrugged and reached for the passenger-side door handle. He climbed out of the truck and hurried around the front of the pickup. His work truck was high off the ground so he reached inside and grabbed her hand to help her to the ground.
    Her fingers felt small and cool inside his and when her high-heeled boots hit the ground, she wobbled alittle. He reached out to steady her and found he was strangely reluctant to release her.
    He held her, gazing into those blue eyes far longer than he should have while the fat snowflakes drifted down to settle in her hair and cling to her cheeks.
    He hadn’t seen her much over the years since she and her mother moved away from Thunder Canyon. Last time was probably over the summer when she’d come for a visit and he had ended up pulling over to help her change a flat tire.
    Every time he saw her, he was struck again how lovely she was.
    He had missed her, he suddenly realized. More than he ever could have imagined.
    She shivered suddenly and the delicate motion jolted him back to his senses. “Let’s get you inside.”
    â€œThanks,” she murmured.
    He gripped her arm so she didn’t slip on the skiff of snow covering his sidewalk as he led the way up the porch. He twisted the key in the lock and was greeted by one well-mannered bark that made him smile.
    As soon as he opened the door, a brown shape snuffled excitedly and headed toward them. Elise took a quick, instinctive step backward on the porch, wobbling a little again on her dressy boots.
    He reached for her arm again, feeling the heat of her beneath the red wool coat she wore. “Sorry about that. I should have warned you. Tootsie, sit.”
    His chocolate Labrador immediately planted her haunches on the polished wood floor of the entry, her tail wagging like crazy.
    Elise reached down to pet her head. “Tootsie?”
    He winced. “When she was a puppy, she looked like a big, fat Tootsie Roll. My mom named her.”
    Tootsie waited patiently until he gave her the signal to come ahead, then she hurried to his side and nudged his leg for a little love.
    â€œShe’s beautiful, Matt.”
    â€œThe sweetest dog I’ve ever had, aren’t you, baby?”
    She snuffled in response and he obediently scratched her favorite spot, right behind her left ear.
    He loved having a dog to keep him company. When the weather wasn’t so cold, she rode with him to construction sites.