One Tough Christmas Cookie - Lucy McConnell Page 0,76
course it is.” They worked out the details, and she hung up.
A worry snagged at her thoughts and wouldn’t let go. What if Caleb didn’t want her to come for dinner? The invitation hadn’t come from him. She quickly dialed his number. He didn’t answer, so she sent a text.
Dad got us invited to dinner at your house tonight. I hope you don’t mind.
She stared at the phone, wondering if she should just cancel and offer to take Dad to a restaurant in town. They could reenact the Christmas lunches they’d shared over the years. Memories of the silence between them haunted her. Okay, maybe not reliving the past, but trying again on new ground. Just when she was about to make the call, her phone beeped.
Caleb: That’s great. Can’t wait to see you. ;)
She hugged the phone to her chest. Okay, then. It was settled. She was going to dinner at Reindeer Wrangler Ranch. She only hoped Caleb’s parents were as accepting as he was, because there was so much riding on this dinner.
Officially meeting the parents was another couples’ holiday experience she and Caleb were going to have, only this was one that hadn’t been on either of their lists. She hoped the butterflies in her stomach calmed down before then, or she wouldn’t be able to eat a thing.
Chapter 28
Faith
“Watch out!” Dad yelled.
Faith pulled the steering wheel back and had them in the middle of the long stretch of road out to the ranch. She’d been obsessing over tonight and how dinner was going to go with Caleb’s family. Was she supposed to act like his girlfriend or pretend that they weren’t kissing up a storm every time they got together? “Sorry,” she said to her dad.
“What’s with you tonight?” Though Dad looked festive in his red sweater with tan trim and a pair of neatly pressed jeans, he was jittery. Which didn’t help Faith’s nerves one bit.
“I’m nervous.” She put her hand in front of the heater vent to dry off her sweaty palm.
Dad’s shoulders softened. “What for?”
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He had a knowing smile on his face, and yet he was pale. “I’m worried about you—if you must know.” She reached over and patted his knee. “You had a major heart attack not long ago, and I’m scared.”
Dad put his hand over hers. She was always surprised at how large they were, how big his knuckles seemed. He said he’d built up some muscles working on a dairy farm in high school. If it was genetics, she’d missed that gene. Her hands were dainty in size, though capable with animals, and they disappeared inside her dad’s.
“I’m not going anywhere for a while—quite a while if I can help it.” Dad squeezed her hand. “I’ve been given a second chance with you, and I want to take it.”
Tears stung, blurring the already hard-to-see road in the headlights. “Me too, Dad.” Their open conversation about the past had done them well. It served as a foundation for their future relationship, which she hoped would be close. He hadn’t asked her to stick around any longer than Christmas, and she was waiting on an invitation. Even though they were talking more and doing real communication, she was still timid and not ready for rejection. So she hadn’t put herself out there and offered to stay. If Dad sent her packing, she might just break. But if she left like planned, then she was emotionally safe and could come back when he asked without feeling like she was overstepping.
The other reason she was nervous enough to space out and almost drive them off the road was that she was worried about her reception at the ranch. Hazel’s words, a sleigh ride means something to those men, had run on repeat through her mind all afternoon. Surely Caleb’s family knew he’d taken her on a sleigh ride. Not knowing their expectations was like walking on rocks over hot lava—one slip and she was a goner. Her hands shook, and she gripped the steering wheel to keep from giving away how scared she was that the tentative relationship she and Caleb had going was about to be shredded.
The giant gate to the ranch appeared in the high beams, and she gently tapped the brakes to slow down.
Dad leaned forward as they went under the metal-and-wood structure. “I always loved that entrance. Makes you feel important just driving through.”