The Mechanics of Mistletoe - Liz Isaacson Page 0,10

he wore that sexy, black cowboy hat.

They’d only been gone for an hour and twenty minutes, and that included the drive to Three Rivers and back. Sammy felt so foolish. She hadn’t been able to think of anything to say to Bear, though she had managed to tease him a time or two. Other times, he’d ask her a question and she’d give a one-word answer.

She wasn’t sure what her problem was. She’d been dancing around Bear for years, and she should’ve been thrilled to spend the evening with him. The whole evening.

As it was, the sun hadn’t even set yet, and no wonder Lincoln wasn’t waiting for her to get back.

“Listen,” Bear said. “I’m really sorry about tonight.”

“Why?” Sammy asked. He had nothing to apologize for. She was the awkward one. Now, if he had a specific question about a carburetor, she could talk for hours.

“Tonight—did you have fun tonight?” He peered at her, and Sammy liked that he could finally look her in the face. She’d struggled at first too, but she sure did like looking at Bear’s handsome face and bright eyes.

“It was okay,” she said.

“That means no,” he said darkly. “I’m just not that talkative.”

“Neither am I,” she said. There was so much she didn’t want to talk about. Since Heather’s death, she’d shut down in so many ways, and just one of them was how much she spoke.

“Sammy!”

She turned toward her nephew’s voice, catching him up into her arms. He was a skinny little kid for an eight-year-old, but the doctor assured her he was normal and still growing. He started jabbering about horses, cows, and honeybees, then moved onto riding the ATV and polishing a saddle for Liam.

Sammy smiled through the tidal wave of words, finally looking at Bear and nodding to the truck. He nodded and waved, but he stayed beside Jeremiah Walker and the twins as Jeremiah kept talking to him.

She got Lincoln buckled in the back seat and she got back in her spot too. “And they have this huge barn with a big American flag, Sammy. I mean, it’s huge.”

“That’s great,” she said, watching Bear as he spoke with Jeremiah. He clearly could talk; he just hadn’t been able to talk to her.

You make me kinda nervous.

She couldn’t believe she made the big, bad cowboy nervous. He was the one who made her stomach flutter and her thoughts scatter. He finally returned to the truck and asked, “Did you have fun, Lincoln?”

“Yeah!” Lincoln said, and Sammy’s guilt doubled. She was no fun, she knew that. She had stopped working weekends when she’d gotten full guardianship of Lincoln. She tried to take him out into the wilderness of Texas on Saturday and Sunday, showing him hiking trails and historical monuments. Anything to get the two of them out of the house for a little bit.

Lincoln managed to keep the cab full of conversation on the way back to their house, and he ran ahead of Sammy to the front steps. Bear met her at the front bumper, his hands tucked in those jeans. He wore a mustard yellow button-up shirt with a brown leather jacket over that, and he seriously looked good enough to eat.

“Thanks for dinner,” she said.

“Yep.”

“I’ll see you Monday?” She walked backward a few steps as Lincoln called to her that the door was locked and he needed a key.

Bear nodded, his expression stormy, and Sammy turned away from him and walked forward. She got the door unlocked and her nephew inside before she turned back to Bear. He lifted his hand in a wave, and she did too.

Only then did he get behind the wheel of his truck and back out of her driveway. Relief streamed through her, and she stepped inside and closed the door, effectively sealing the rest of the world out of her house.

She leaned back against the door, tears gathering in her eyes. I wish you were here, she thought, sending her statements to Heather. You’d know what to tell me to do. You’d know how to make things less awkward with Bear Glover.

Sammy sniffled and wiped her eyes quickly. She didn’t want Lincoln to see her crying. She didn’t want to cry anymore, but after they’d had a quick bowl of ice cream and she’d tucked him in, she escaped to her room and lay down on the bed.

Her tears ran out of the corners of her eyes, wetting her pillow on either side of her face. “I did it again, Heather.