at the Cracker Barrel, and then to Hobby Lobby,” Essie said.
“You got all that in Shade Gap? I always thought it was just a little place.”
“It is,” Grand’s voice came through again. “We’re going over to Chambersburg to shop.”
“What for?”
“Just stuff at Walmart, but a flier came with the newspaper today and Hobby Lobby has Christmas trees already on sale so I’m going to buy one. That ugly white thing that Essie had the last ten years is in the attic and I bet the rats have built nests in it so long that you’d never get the smell out.”
“I don’t have rats in my attic, I’ll have you know,” Essie fussed.
“Well, I’m not putting up a damned old white tree. I’m buying one that will last until we’re both dead and gone and it’s going to be green. Our reception is about to go, Sage. These mountains are hell on phone reception. Tell everyone at the party tomorrow night hello for me and I’ll send you a picture of our tree when we get it all decorated. When are you and Creed putting up one?”
“We already did,” Sage said around the lump in her throat.
“It’s getting crackly. I’m hanging up now,” Grand said.
The last two words faded out and the phone went dead. She held it until the tinny recorded sound of an operator said if she wanted to make a call to hang up and try again.
She crammed her feet down into her work boots, didn’t bother with a coat, and ran to the barn, the cold wind almost freezing the dripping tears into icicles as they fell off her jaw.
Creed was busy splitting a log when she burst into the barn. He laid down the ax just in time to catch her when she threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably against his chest.
“It’s okay. Your daughter can wear whatever she wants,” he whispered.
“She’s not going to wear a dress like that, not if she’s forty, and that’s not why I’m crying. I just talked to Grand.”
“Is she dying? Is that why she’s selling the ranch?”
“Nooo,” she wailed. “She’s putting up a Christmas tree.”
* * *
Creed patted her on the back and let her weep.
Why would a Christmas tree bring on tears? She hadn’t cried when they’d put up their tree. She’d actually been quite giddy about it.
She swallowed a couple of times and said, “And she said that she was buying a green one that would last them until they were both dead.”
“Is that the problem? Are you worrying about your Grand dying? Honey, she’s as full of spit and vinegar as a twenty-year-old. She’ll still be putting up that tree when she’s a hundred.”
That brought on another batch of tears and weeping so hard that it came nigh unto breaking Creed’s heart.
“That’s just it. If she’s buying a Christmas tree out there, then she’s serious and I won’t ever be able to talk her into staying on the Rockin’ C when you buy it. Creed, it’s going to happen. She’s not coming home to stay.”
He picked her up and carried her back to the house. He took her all the way to her bedroom where he laid her on her bed. He stripped out of his coat, reached up to remove his hat, and realized he’d left it beside the ax, kicked off his boots, and stretched out beside her.
She instantly rolled toward him, cuddled against his side, and used his arm for a pillow. Creed held her close and let her cry it out. Finally, the weeping stopped and after a long sigh, she slept.
Half an hour later her eyes slowly slid open. “You still here?”
“Yes, I’m still here.”
“Most men run from crying women.”
“I told you in the beginning, I’m not going anywhere.”
Chapter 15
Creed had shaved for the second time that day, combed his hair straight back, and dressed in his best Sunday outfit. Black starched and creased jeans, white shirt, black leather bolo tie with a silver and turquoise slide, and eel boots so shiny he could see his reflection in them. He hadn’t brought his best Western-cut jacket so he’d have to wear a leather bomber, but with the party held in a house, jackets wouldn’t stay on the cowboys long anyway.
He could hear Sage in her bedroom. Closet doors opened and closed. Mumblings went on. The whole time he had a visual of April in that skimpy dress and hoped that Sage didn’t come out in something that revealing.
Finally, the door