A Little Country Christmas - Carolyn Brown Page 0,18
kept cut close, and green eyes. He was a big guy, outweighing Landon by at least twenty pounds, and his chest was as broad as a Dallas Cowboy football player’s. “You the only cowboy up and around?”
“Yep.” Landon nodded. “Thought I’d go ahead and get breakfast started. What are you doing out so early? I don’t usually see you around for another hour.”
“Claire has breakfast with all the ladies this morning,” he answered. “She told me to eat a bowl of cereal or else come to the bunkhouse. So here I am. Want me to make the biscuits?”
“I’d appreciate that a lot. I can do them thwock biscuits, but when it comes to scratch, mine make hardtack look like feather pillows.”
“Thwock?” Levi removed his hat and set it on top of the refrigerator.
Landon grinned. “That’s when you take a can from the refrigerator and thwock it on the side of the cabinet to open it.”
Levi chuckled. “I can do a damn sight better than that. Got something on your mind that’s keepin’ you from a good night’s sleep?”
“How’d you know I didn’t sleep?”
“Just a guess since you look like hell and you’re up before dawn.” Levi got the flour and other ingredients from the pantry and set about making a huge pan of biscuits.
“That old cabin still up for grabs?” Landon asked.
“Anytime you want it,” Levi answered. “Has Dixie gotten under your skin?”
“Maybe.” Landon took the crisp bacon out of the skillet and put it on a paper towel to drain and started frying a second pound.
Levi chuckled. “We’ll be glad to have you long as you want to stick around, but I’ve got a feeling that your brothers will want you to come home at some point if you stay in Texas. You might want to talk that over with Dixie before you make any final decision.”
“I can’t ask her to leave the only stable home she’s ever known,” he said.
“That would be her decision,” Levi told him. “Yours is to decide where you want to live. You’ve got a job here, and I’m sure you’ve got one with either of your brothers,” Levi told him as he slid the pan of biscuits into the oven and then clamped a hand onto Landon’s shoulder. “Every one of us on this ranch has been where you are right now. We questioned ourselves, our motives, and even our hearts when we knew they were steering us right. You ain’t alone, and if you need someone to talk to, just holler at me.”
“Are you happy being the foreman of this ranch? Don’t you want a place of your own?” Landon asked.
“I couldn’t be happier than I am right now. I’ve got a wonderful wife, a son, and we’re plannin’ on havin’ a couple more kids. I’m treated like a son here on the ranch, and I never wanted the responsibility of havin’ a big place of my own. This right here is enough job for me.”
“You think I could be happy being the foreman on one of my brothers’ ranches?” Landon expertly cracked two dozen eggs into a bowl and whipped them with a fork.
“That’s a question only you can answer. I can’t do it for you. Ask yourself if you want to work for one of your brothers or if you want to go it on your own right here,” Levi said. “I’m going to kick those sleepin’ cowboys out of their bunks. Is the coffee ready?”
Landon pointed to the other end of the cabinet. “Two full pots.”
“Then maybe they won’t cuss me too bad,” Levi said.
* * *
Dixie had customers in and out of the shop all day. She wasn’t so busy that she needed to call Claire, but she certainly didn’t have time to get bored. Several of the quilts that customers wanted to give as Christmas presents had been picked up throughout the morning. That afternoon a few ladies came in with gift cards they’d gotten at the various holiday parties around the area and wanted to buy fabric so they could start their projects right after the New Year.
The second that she flipped the sign on the door from OPEN to CLOSED her cell phone rang, and her heart dropped. Between customers she had told Sally all about Santa Claus and how they were going to go see him that evening, and she had a horrible feeling that Landon was calling to tell her that he couldn’t make it. She stared at the phone without even seeing