One Tough Christmas Cookie - Lucy McConnell Page 0,58
like to be too far away from Christmas Magic—it made them grumpy.
The turnoff to the ranch appeared, and Caleb signaled even though there wasn’t a soul on the road.
Faith stared out the window. He knew the moment she spotted the herd, because she let out a gasp of wonder. Did she even know she’d done it? The sound was pure and sweet, and it did funny things to his lower belly, making it burn like a Yule log. He pulled in and backed up to the barn.
The rolling door went up, and he continued to back right into the breezeway. Dad hit the button, and the door went down. Caleb and Faith climbed out to find the entire family gathered around the tailgate.
“Give the guy some room to breathe.” Caleb made shooing motions.
Mom clasped her hands in front of her chest. “We’re all just so happy.”
“Did it all work out?” Dad asked Faith.
She nodded, her lips pressed together. “The surgery was a success. I was able to remove the cataracts in both eyes, and from what we can tell, Rudy can see without obstruction now.”
“Whoop!” Forest threw his hat in the air and hugged Faith.
She let out an oomph. Caleb was busy untying the tarp, or he’d thump his brother.
Jack caught his eye from across the kennel and laughed. “Relax—he’s not stealing your girl.”
Their quiet conversation was covered up by his family’s happy chatter with Faith about the surgery and recovery. “She’s not mine,” Caleb muttered.
Jack flipped up the first edge of the tarp. “You had two days alone with her and you didn’t get so much as a kiss? I’m disappointed in you.” He shook his head sadly.
“Not all of us kiss for the fun of it—a kiss means something to me,” Caleb fired back.
Jack laughed easily, unperturbed by Caleb’s barb at his active social life. “You’re missing out.”
“Besides,” Caleb continued as if Jack wasn’t trying to talk him into doing something he wanted more than anything else in the world, “she’s leaving after Christmas.” He’d realized that believing in Christmas wasn’t the only obstacle in their way. Though Faith’s gray eyes dancing was one of the prettiest things he’d ever seen.
Caleb shrugged in return. They finished uncovering the kennel, and Caleb threw a look at Jack telling him to distract Faith.
Jack jumped down and took Faith’s arm. “I’ve always wondered about the reindeer’s hooves …” Their voices trailed off as they reached the passenger side door.
Caleb motioned for Pax to open the door, and Forest lunged for the lead rope. “Easy,” Caleb told him as Rudy backed into the crate, frightened by the sudden movement.
At the sound of Caleb’s voice, Rudy cautiously stepped forward. He seemed to meet each set of expectant eyes, matching up the people before him with the fuzzy shapes he’d known before, before stepping off the tailgate into midair.
Mom squeezed her eyes shut in relief, and a single tear escaped. Dad side-hugged her and laughed, pleased as punch to see the reindeer so boldly moving through the air. Pax and Forest exchanged fist bumps.
Caleb hopped down and took the lead rope. “Alright, big guy, enough showing off.”
Rudy trotted in a circle around him, using as much rope as Caleb would give, while he spiraled to the floor. Everyone surged in to rub his neck or his back, cascading compliments over his head. Rudy lapped them up. Then, he took a moment to inspect each of them, running his eyes over the details that had escaped him for over a year. When he got to Dad, he buried his face in Dad’s chest and tears fell from both their eyes.
Faith appeared beside Caleb and linked her arm through his as she had at the sing-along. Did she feel the spirit that was here? The specialness of this moment?
He glanced down to see her eyes glisten. She tipped her chin up and stole his breath with a look. She did feel it. He could see the lightness and the joy reflected in her eyes. Without thinking, he pressed a kiss to her hair. She leaned into him and he soaked in the feeling of her, of sharing this moment with her, of sharing the magic.
“Ahem.”
Blinking, Caleb turned to find Mom staring at the two of them, her eyebrows raised and her arms folded over her chest. Whoa boy. Mom was a lot of things, but silent wasn’t one of them. He braced for her questions and/or comments about that