Christmas at Fireside Cabins - Jenny Hale Page 0,49

some kind of prank?” he asked.

Lila and Rex both doubled over in hysterics.

“Seriously, are you all giving me some kind of weird horseshoes?” He examined it again, making Lila and Rex hoot with laughter. He stuck his arm into the hole in the wall and pulled a horseshoe out. “I’m using Lila’s next time.”

“Suit yourself,” she said.

Rex got another one in his hole and high-fived Lila.

Lila went up to the line. “Think I can get three out of three?” she asked Rex.

“Yes, ma’am!” Rex said with his hands on his little knees, poised to watch her throw.

Sending hers into the air, Lila got it right in the hole. “Theo’s turn!” she said, offering him her flirtiest grin. This was the most fun she’d had in ages.

Theo stepped up to his spot, his game face on. He released his final horseshoe, and they all watched as it made a perfect line for the bull’s-eye. But when it reached its target, one side of it was just short and it bounced out, hitting the floor.

“Come on…” Theo said.

In a fit of laughter, Rex climbed up on his chair at the table.

Theo joined him, shaking his head. “I cannot believe that just happened,” he said with a chuckle of his own. “Unbelievable.” When Lila took a seat beside him, he said, “I’m challenging you to a rematch later.”

Just then the waitress brought out their Mountain Burgers, setting the plates in front of each of them. Lila’s eyes widened at the sight in front of her. A towering display of three beef patties that bulged over the bottom bun, each of them separated by cheese, avocado, lettuce, tomato, a row of both onion rings and fries—the whole thing topped with fried mozzarella, all the condiments, and the other half of the bun, held together by a pickle skewer.

“How do I bite into this?” she asked, picking it up. Half the ingredients fell onto her plate, making both Theo and Rex laugh.

“Very carefully,” Theo replied. “I’ve heard there’s an entire avocado’s worth of slices between every layer.”

Lila lifted the massive burger to her lips and nibbled part of it. “It’s really good,” she said. Then she looked over at Theo. “Hey, you’re cheating,” she said with a chuckle.

Theo had taken his apart and was cutting little slices of it with his knife and fork. “Not if I eat it all,” he said. “It’s strategy.”

“I don’t think you’ll need strategy. I might just let you win this one,” she said with another bite of her burger.

“Like I let you all win at horseshoes?” he asked.

“You did not let us win! Did he, Rex?”

“No way,” Rex said, his fingers a mess of mayo and ketchup. “We won fair and square.”

Lila shook her head, amused, but she didn’t let this little moment go by without thinking about how wonderful it was. She’d miss things like this when she went back to her lonely apartment in Nashville.

Fourteen

“Do it, Theo!” Rex said. The little boy eyed the gate full of rodeo hopefuls, who were all vying to ride victoriously on a mechanical bull dressed with Christmas bells on its horns and a wreath around its base. Or at the very least, they’d all decided to escape the cold of the fair outside for the heated tents full of fresh, hot caramel corn, s’mores-making stations, photos with Santa, and—of course—Christmas bull riding. Although with her big coat and scarf, and the area heaters positioned throughout the fair, Lila felt surprisingly cozy.

Theo and Lila had taken Rex to the fair while Trudy and Judd ran the special booths they’d set up at the farm. She’d asked Eleanor if she’d like to come with them, but Eleanor had declined politely, telling them she was far too old to spend the whole evening out in those freezing temperatures.

“My bull-riding days are over,” Eleanor had said with a laugh.

“You’re not really gonna ride that thing, are you?” Lila asked Theo, the bull bucking and writhing as a man in a cowboy hat and denim jacket held on for dear life.

“I have to redeem myself after the horseshoes,” he said, with a little smirk that made her insides do a twirl.

When the cowboy finally lost his grip, he sailed through the air, yelling “Yee-haw!” and landing with a thud on the giant foam pit below. Then he struggled to climb back to the side through the dense blocks of foam. Next a couple mounted the bull—a heavy-set woman and an older man. Lila covered her eyes