Christmastime Cowboy Read online

  Knowing what she did about her parents’ marriage made it all the more confusing in some ways, though not in others. Because what her dad believed in above all else was doing the right thing to avoid making waves. And that was where Lindy had sinned.

  She had made a tsunami when she’d discovered her husband’s affair. And after the ground had dried from the storm, she’d left it scorched in her wake. She hadn’t just gotten mad, she’d gotten it all.

  That unchecked emotion was what Sabrina imagined really irked her dad.

  Sabrina hadn’t been able to imagine a scenario where she cut off a relationship with Lindy to preserve the fractured one she had with her mom and dad. So the choice—and she’d had to make a choice—had been pretty clear. What had surprised her was that Bea had ultimately sided with Lindy. It was possible that Bea’s attachment to Dane had played a role in all of it, but she doubted that her parents paid close enough attention to understand that.

  “That’s nice,” Olivia said. “I mean it. It’s nice to feel part of something.”

  Sabrina often wondered if Olivia didn’t feel much a part of her life in Gold Valley. Even though she had a boyfriend that she loved, she always seemed somewhat lonely. Distant. She was a funny, repressed little bird.

  “I think that we can make this something,” Lindy said, turning a circle in the large, vacant room and holding her hands out. “It’s like girl power.”

  “No one has said girl power since 1996,” Sabrina said, but she couldn’t help but smile.

  “I’m saying it,” Lindy said, slapping her hands down at her sides. “Because I feel it. Because I’m optimistic.”

  It was nice to see Lindy smile like that. Nice to see her excited. Nice to not see her heartbroken by Sabrina’s douchebag brother.

  “I’m glad,” Sabrina said.

  “I notice you didn’t say you’re optimistic too,” Lindy said.

  “It’s not my job to be optimistic, Lindy,” Sabrina said. “It’s my job to make it happen. You don’t want optimism from me anyway. You want realism. Active realism.”

  “Okay, my little active realist.” Lindy reached out and patted her shoulder. “Can you get everything accomplished in time for us to take advantage of the holidays?”

  “I think we can,” Sabrina responded. “I think we can and we will. Because I’m determined.”

  And because it regrettably seemed like Liam Donnelly knew what he was doing. Though, Sabrina supposed that since she did have to have her wagon hitched to him, it was best that he be a competent wagon partner. Because if she had to work with him and he sucked, it would be untenable.

  Realizing he had grown into an adult man who was responsible, smart and resourceful was goading in other ways.

  She was going to focus on the business aspect though. And from a business standpoint, Liam was exactly who she should want to work with. And really, what better way to strike back at Liam? To show him how competent and amazing she was.

  She had just thought earlier that she and Lindy had different goals. That Lindy wanted to do this to stick it to Damien, and that Sabrina just wanted it done to get away from Liam.

  But they were more similar than she had initially imagined.

  Why not use this as an opportunity to show him that she was a kick-ass woman and not a girl he could just walk away from while she wept on the floor of the cabin he’d been staying in on the winery property.

  “We can even get a Christmas tree. Christmas lights. It will be festive. The most festive grand opening Copper Ridge has ever seen!” Lindy said.

  “Wait,” Olivia said, looking suddenly envious. “I kind of want to work here if there’s going to be a Christmas tree.”

  “I’m sure we can schedule you for a shift. I bet Bennett won’t mind coming down to pick you up and see the new location.”

  Olivia smiled. “You’re right about that. And I’m thinking he might even propose before Christmas. So that means he could do it here. It would be so picturesque. The photo you would, of course, take of the moment would be so perfect.”

  Sabrina exchanged a glance with Lindy, and in that wordless exchange, Sabrina could tell that her sister-in-law thought much the same thing about Olivia’s boyfriend. That the proposal was likely not as forthcoming as the other woman hoped.

  Still, neither of them said anything.

  Lindy walked across the space, rubbing her hands together. “This is what I’ve always dreamed of doing. And Damien wouldn’t consider it. Not at all. He wouldn’t entertain any of my ideas.” She shot Sabrina a glance. “I’m sorry. I know he’s your brother.”

  “Yeah, he’s my brother. But you know that I’m mad at him for what he did. You know that I don’t support him. I love him, I always will. But I can’t be comfortable around him and that woman. Whatever her name is.” Sabrina knew Brandy’s name. But she didn’t like to acknowledge it. Especially not in front of Lindy.

  She could tell Lindy appreciated that. Even if she knew it was a put-on.

  “Thank you. But you know it’s not like you have to choose between the two of us. I’m actually just happy that you still want to be in my life at all.”

  “Family is about more than blood,” Sabrina said.

  It was a difficult thing for families like hers, families like Olivia Logan’s, to acknowledge anything other than blood. But everything she’d been through in the last thirteen years had taught her that blood really wasn’t the be-all and end-all. It wasn’t even half of it.

  “You know,” Olivia said, her expression turning mischievous—a side of her Sabrina thought she didn’t express enough. “Instead of putting up the first dollar we earn here at the tasting room, we could always put up a picture of your divorce papers. Since the loss of Damien is what made this possible in the end.”

  Both Sabrina and Lindy let out a shocked laugh. “I suppose we could do that,” Lindy said. “Oh, your parents would have a fit.”

  “Don’t worry.” Sabrina waved a hand. “You know that Jamison and Suzanne Leighton are never going to darken the door of this establishment. They have washed their hands of the winery and all it entails.”

  “Unless they can get ownership back somehow. You know your parents’ lawyer called me again the other day. Asking if I was interested in selling.”

  Sabrina’s mouth dropped open. “I’m completely shocked that my parents would broach the subject of buying something they believe is rightfully theirs.”

  “They probably shouldn’t have given full ownership to Damien in the first place. And he shouldn’t have signed that prenup.” The corner of Lindy’s mouth lifted. “Not that I’m sorry about any of it. But why on earth he decided that in the event of infidelity the wronged party would get most of the assets is beyond me.”

  “Well,” Sabrina said, lifting her shoulder. “You are the undesirable one. I mean, the one from the wrong side of the tracks. I’m sure that he assumed you would be the one to stray. Or that you wouldn’t be smart enough to know that he had.”

  Lindy snorted. “Right. Of course. How could I forget that pedigreed Damien Leighton would never be so foolish as to get caught with his penis in the wrong honey jar.”

  The color heightened in Olivia’s cheeks. “That’s descriptive.”

  Lindy smiled. “I can be much more descriptive if the occasion calls for it. Believe me.”

  “I trust you,” Olivia said, holding up a hand.

  Then they all stood there for a moment, taking in their surroundings, and Sabrina suddenly felt wholly optimistic. Perhaps it was the vision of this place bedecked in Christmas decorations. Perhaps it was just being here with these women, determined to accomplish something. Whatever the reason, it didn’t feel as hard as it had earlier today. Right now, it felt possible. More than possible.

  Liam Donnelly thought that he knew her. But he kne
w an insecure girl who had been easily wounded by his rejection. She wasn’t that girl anymore, and she wasn’t going to allow being around him to make her backslide. No. It was time for her to take a step forward. Time to shake it off, and all that.

  She was going to make sure this was the best damn opening any business had ever had in the town of Copper Ridge. She was going to knock Liam Donnelly on his ass—metaphorically—with her awesomeness.

  And if he was the one who left with a sense of unfulfilled longing after all this? All the better.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “DON’T YOU LOOK FANCY!”

  Liam looked over at his sister-in-law, Alison, and lifted a brow as he simultaneously raised his coffee cup to his lips. “Unlike your husband, I know how to dress for the venue.”

  Alison smiled and looked over at Cain, who was currently scowling into his coffee. “If I had occasion to put on a monkey suit I would. In fact, I believe I even wore a tie when I married you, woman,” he said.

  “Under such extreme sufferance you would have thought that I was asking you to put on a tie and then place your testicles in a jar for me to keep under my bed.”

  Cain snorted. “Well. We both know that’s not true.”

  “I keep them in my purse,” Alison said, grinning widely at Liam.

  “Great. I feel much better now that I know the location of my older brother’s testicles. Why aren’t you two at your own house?”

  “There’s an extremely teenage music situation happening,” Alison said. “Apparently, someone has late classes today.”

  Liam grimaced. It was difficult for him to believe sometimes that his older brother had a daughter who was closer to being an adult than being a child. Considering the fact that Liam was not in a headspace to ever consider having children at all.

  “A paperwork situation is about to be happening with me, so I’m not entirely sure that it’s better than being exposed to pop music.” It was only eight forty-five, but as far as Liam was concerned it was getting late. He and his brothers got up so early to take care of the ranch every day that it was a routine now.

  At first, it had fully kicked his ass. He was used to a fairly early routine, but not getting up and outside by five. Now... After all this time, it was just part of life.

  A life that felt tangible in a way his previous life had not. And yeah, he pretty much did think of them as two separate lives. When all was said and done, Liam Donnelly felt like he had lived quite a few lives. One of them, once upon a time, had been in Copper Ridge. Had been working at Grassroots Winery. Had involved Sabrina Leighton. And somehow, Sabrina Leighton was involved again.

  Just thinking about her made his gut tight. Unfinished business. That’s what it was. Because he hadn’t slept with her back then, and it made him wonder what he had been missing. Especially considering the degree to which she had wormed her way under his skin without him ever getting inside of her.

  A subtle thing. A closeness that had occurred in inches. With each bit of confidence and trust she had put in him. He had never told her much about his life, about his past. But he’d let her talk about her own.

  About how hard she found it to have friends. How it was tough for her to relate to other girls her age because they were allowed to go to parties and stay out and she wasn’t. There was something about that. About her isolation, her vulnerability that he’d related to.

  He sure as hell had never expected to relate to a sweet little rich girl from the right side of the tracks. And yet he had.

  “I have to go.” He stood up and nodded once at Alison and Cain before heading out of the kitchen and toward the front door.

  He grabbed a black cowboy hat from the peg by the door and pressed it onto his head. There was a strange sense of rightness that settled down to his bones as he did that. As he walked out onto the deck wearing a pair of black jeans, boots, button-up shirt and a black tie. Of course, to his older brother, that was a monkey suit. It made Liam laugh.

  It was a far cry from the custom suits he had once worn, but he figured that this was dressing up for a cowboy. Farmer. Rancher. Whatever the hell he was these days.

  The hat itself was not custom-made. He had bought it at the Farm and Garden when he had come to town. But in a great many ways it felt a lot more made for him than one of those suits ever had.

  He got into his truck and fired up the engine, heading down the long gravel driveway toward the main road that would take him into town. And the whole way he wondered what mood he would find Sabrina in. Whether or not she would have her pretty pink lips pursed together in irritation already. In anticipation of his arrival. Anticipation of having to deal with him.

  And he wondered if her blond hair would be pulled back in a prim little bun. If she would be wearing one of those pencil skirts that he imagined was supposed to be demure, but instead put him in the mind of pushing it up her hips, or grabbing hold of the zipper and working it down, leaving it in a heap of demolished modesty on the floor of his bedroom.

  He had not let himself have fantasies like this about her thirteen years ago. No way in hell. At least he hadn’t indulged them.

  But she was a woman now, not a seventeen-year-old girl. So all bets were off.

  He wasn’t going to do anything about it, of course. Same as back then. Because while she might be a grown woman, she was still off-limits. They needed to get through this business venture with minimal drama.

  It felt right. Being here. Wearing the cowboy hat, and heading to the bank to sign a stack of mortgage documents that was probably about as tall as he was. Like he had finally found some way to reconcile the pieces of himself. To repair the parts of him that had been deeply uncomfortable and always displaced living in major cities. And to deal with that restless, unsatisfied part of him that had felt trapped in small towns.

  He had gotten an opportunity to better himself, and he had taken it. To become something more. To add layers of importance to himself. To get all the money and status that his mother had sure as hell been convinced would have made her happy. Rather than her children.

  And then, he had happily written her a check so she would finally shut the hell up.

  He had taken immense satisfaction from the fact that he had been the one to provide her that money. He, the one who had been responsible for her sad, stale life, as far as she was concerned. Her most hated son. The one who had been beneath her notice at the best of times, going without food and water for extended periods. And the one who had been subject to her expressions of rage at other times.

  But it didn’t matter. Not now. He had made good. He had gotten his own back.

  Life was pretty damn good, all things considered.

  On that note, he pulled into the parking lot of Copper Ridge Credit Union and killed the engine on his truck. He recognized Sabrina’s little silver car in the lot already. It was very her. Sleek, contained. Then he wondered what had happened to that pretty, reckless girl he had once known who ran barefoot and let her blond hair fly free.

  You happened to her, you asshole, or have you not listened to anything she’s said to you?

  He snorted. Listening had never been his strong suit.

  Sabrina chose that exact moment to pop out the front door of the bank, her expression tight and her hand wrapped around a Styrofoam cup that was steaming, and full of coffee he assumed.

  Bank coffee was not his favorite.

  “There you are,” she said. “You’re late.”

  He lifted his arm and looked at his watch. “Like two minutes late. Are they waiting?”

  “No,” she said. “But I was.”

  She turned sharply and went back into the building, and he shook his head as he followed her in.

  The credit union building was new, at least new to him. With high ceilings and glossy floors. It was much larger and a b
it fancier than anything he typically ascribed to the aesthetic of Copper Ridge. Though, there was also a touch of that rustic Oregon flair in the wooden crossbeams on the ceiling, and the supports throughout the lobby area. There were large windows that made the most of the view of the rocks, scrubby pines and the ocean out back.

  The mist was clinging to the top of the gray waves today, the sky blending into the water.

  And Sabrina stood out in bright contrast to that.

  She surprised him today, wearing a pair of black pants that conformed to her slender legs, bright pink shoes and a neutral-colored sweater. Her blond hair was up. He hadn’t seen it down once since he had come back.

  It made his fingers itch.

  He found the coffee station and decided to make himself a cup, even though it involved powdered creamer. It was something to do. Something other than reaching up and taking Sabrina’s hair out of its bun.

  He imagined that he probably shouldn’t harass her right before they went in to sign paperwork. He should wait until after. When it was too late for her to pull out.

  He had already faxed over all the legal agreements for the business partnership, and they had been signed by Lindy. For this, Sabrina would be signing on behalf of the winery.

  “Have you ever done this before?” he asked.

  She jerked, like he had shocked her with a cattle prod. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Have you ever signed mortgage documents?”

  “Yes. I bought a house four years ago.”

  “Good.” That kind of surprised him. He wasn’t sure what he had expected. That she lived on the winery property, or that she perhaps still lived with her parents. Which was ridiculous, considering she was thirty years old.

  But rich girls like her, they often did continue living with their parents. At least, in his head they did. Otherwise, they were sent to some fancy school by their parents. And then subsequently had their housing paid for.

  “Where did you go to school?”