One Tough Christmas Cookie - Lucy McConnell Page 0,51

floor. She felt sure of it. As sure as she was that the television was on. However, it was dark in the room, and shadows did funny things …

Caleb came back a moment later, wearing a shirt and having tamed his bedhead a bit. Too bad. She liked the rumpled look on him—not to mention the muscles he sported. Grabbing another packet, she started the cocoa machine for him. “I swear to you, that reindeer was hanging from the ceiling.”

He smirked. “You expect me to believe a reindeer could fly?”

She groaned. “It sounds crazy, right? But that’s what happened.”

“Are you sure you were awake?”

She blew out a breath. “Not really.”

“We’re back in Yellowstone National Park …” The reporter came back on, and both Faith and Caleb turned to watch. “… with an eyewitness of the flying reindeer people have dubbed Dancer.”

Caleb snorted. Then he looked at her like he’d been caught sneaking out to spy on Santa. “Did you see that story before you went out to see Rudy?”

She nodded.

“Well, there’s your answer. You heard the story and saw a reindeer, and your brain mixed the two together.”

“I was sleepy.” She glanced at the dark window and rubbed her arms for warmth. “Do you think they’ll call your family for comment on all this?”

“Why would they?” His confusion was almost comical.

“Because you’re reindeer experts.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, there’s that.” He laughed. “I don’t know. Sometimes we get news people poking around. Especially this time of year. I have an idea.” He spoke quickly, as if his mind were running a 10k. “I’ll start some breakfast, and you go take a shower to wake up. Then we’ll both go check on Rudy.” He moved across the room, snagging his cocoa mug right as the machine beeped to let him know it was done. “Omelets or pancakes?”

Faith hugged herself. Rudy had been upside down … hadn’t he? She stared at the television, where a guy who looked like he belonged in a biker gang gestured wildly as he talked about “Dancer” flying outside his driver’s side window on his way home from the bar. She flipped the television off. The world was crazy, but she wasn’t. Reindeer didn’t fly. Caleb was right: she must have conjured the whole thing up in her half-asleep state.

“If you’re cooking, I’ll take pancakes.” She smiled to reassure him that she was sane.

He held up the frying pan and spun it around like a gunslinger. “You got it.”

She grinned and made her way back to her room. A hot guy making her breakfast and a flying reindeer. If she wasn’t careful, she’d start talking to leprechauns too.

A shower and a clean pair of clothes would do wonders to make her feel like herself again. Bless Caleb for not laughing at her. He was a really great guy. She closed her eyes and saw Rudy’s white bandages staring back at her. Shaking her head, she got rid of the image and replaced it with Caleb without his shirt on. That was better—but full of its own troubles. She sighed. There was no safe place to rest her thoughts. If she didn’t get a hold of them, they’d run away with her and Caleb and a whole lot of kissing.

Chapter 19

Caleb

“I don’t know, Jack.” Caleb paced Faith’s front room. Funny how in the short time they’d spent together here, he’d come to think of it as her house instead of Doc’s. “I can’t see a way around Mom and Dad when they join forces.” He’d spent a lot of time thinking about how they watched each other’s back and wanted a marriage with as much dedication—it was wonderful but infuriating at times like these.

“Yeah, but one of us has got to go after Snowflake.” His twin’s voice sounded tinny, which meant he was in the workout arena.

Caleb paused in his pacing to look out the front window toward the driveway. Faith had gone out on a ranch call, and he didn’t want to be caught talking about disappearing reindeer after the way he’d made her think she’d dreamt Rudy upside down in his stall. Reindeer! He thought they knew better by now when it came to flying in front of people, but discretion didn’t seem to be one other their traits. If anything, they were a bunch of show-offs.

“Agreed.” The driveway was empty, so he took up wearing a path in the carpet. “But Dad’s the owner of the ranch and technically our boss. If he says we don’t go,