Christmas Kisses with My Cowboy - Diana Palmer Page 0,111
and chirpy for him.
“It was awesome. Avery hasn’t changed a bit, and everyone was so kind and welcoming. They’re all really pleased you’ve found yourself a girlfriend, by the way.”
“Funny, I never realized how interested the whole town was in my love life until you turned up.”
He helped himself to coffee and opened the refrigerator to view the now-filled shelves. “Thanks again for getting all this stuff. I really appreciate it. Let me know how much I owe you.”
“It’s on me.” She waved her spoon in his general direction. “You’re saving me a packet on hotel costs, so it’s the least I could do.”
Ted grabbed a bowl, filled it with the granola stuff, which looked way too healthy, added milk, and took the seat opposite his guest. Her hair was coiled in two braids on either side of her head and her sweater was red and fluffy.
He pointed at her head. “Princess Leia, right?”
“Kind of.” She gave him an approving smile. “With a touch of manga realness.”
Ted nodded like he knew what that was, and dove into his cereal.
“Can I ask you something, Ted?”
“Sure.” He wiped milk from his chin and gave her his attention.
“Is there a reason why you haven’t put up any holiday decorations or got a tree?”
He looked blankly around the bare apartment and then back at her. “I guess I just haven’t gotten around to it. Dad usually does that kind of stuff.”
“Would you mind if I did it?” She must have seen something on his face that made her rush onward. “I’ve always loved the holidays, and this one feels kind of special to me. But I can totally understand if you don’t want to do anything. It’s your place.”
Ted set his spoon down. “The thing is—it doesn’t feel like my place. I built it for Dad, and I still feel like I’m a guest here. I bought land to build my own house just behind the shop and I’ve done nothing with it.” He tried to smile. “I bet you think that’s lame.”
“Not at all.” She shook her head. “Because that’s exactly how I felt living with Jason. He wouldn’t let me make any decisions about the furnishings, or décor, or anything. I always felt like he didn’t trust me, you know?” She looked away. “When I got my own place, I spent a year staring at the bare walls, too terrified to change anything in case I did it wrong. Then I realized that even if I got it wrong, it didn’t matter because there was no one to see it but me. I went out and bought all my holiday decorations, and finally made it feel like home—my home.”
Ted reached over and took her hand. “Maybe we both should decorate this place?”
Her face lit up. “I was thinking I’d ask to borrow your truck, but if you can come with me, that will make it even more special.”
“It’s my day off.” He grinned back at her. “We can go whenever you want.”
Ted helped himself to more coffee and sat back down again. “The tree is the easy part. We just head up to Morgan Ranch, check in with the family, and go and help ourselves.”
“They still do that?”
“Yeah, Billy and Chase have continued the tradition the first William Morgan started back in the eighteen hundreds. The Christmas decorations might take a bit more planning because we’ll need to go to a bigger town.”
“Don’t you have any in storage?” Veronica asked.
“I guess so,” Ted considered. “Dad definitely got some out last Christmas. I’ll check around the apartment.”
“Maybe we should do that before we go shopping so we’ll know what we’re missing.”
“Sure.” Ted resigned himself to a morning investigating the closets and finished his cereal, which hadn’t been too bad after all. “I’ll get on that right now before I have my shower.”
* * *
Veronica fed Bacon and took him out for his morning walk. There had been more snow the previous night, but someone had already been out and cleared a path from the body shop to the gas station. Having grown up with the snow and ice, Veronica wasn’t too worried, but she did put little pig boots on her pet to make sure he didn’t damage his hooves.
She hadn’t lied when she’d said how much she’d enjoyed her evening with Avery. Jason hadn’t encouraged her to have friends and had gradually cut her off from her family and hometown. She’d tried to apologize to Avery for her long silence, but her