One Tough Christmas Cookie - Lucy McConnell Page 0,84

Dunder wasn’t in there. “I could have sworn …”

She heard the grunt again, only this time it sounded like it was coming from above her.

Glancing up, she fell back against the stall wall at the sight of Dunder and Sparkle standing on the barn beams. “How did you …?” She glanced at the door she’d left partially open and darted for it, pulling it tight to make sure no one got out. That was one of the first lessons she’d learned—shut the gate, shut the door, shut the cage. “Okay, Forest? Jack?” she yelled. “I don’t know what kind of prank you’re pulling, but it isn’t funny. They could get hurt.” She pointed to the two reindeer.

Sparkle shook her head as if she took offense to the idea that she couldn’t be in the rafters. Prancing in the air, she hopped off the beam and swooped around the barn.

“Gah!” Faith threw her hands over her eyes, expecting to hear a splat or a clatter. Neither came. When she peeked through her fingers, she found Dunder gliding to the floor. “Umm. That was …” Her head spun, and she couldn’t find words to continue. It was the moment with Rudy upside down in his kennel all over again. She rubbed her eyes, certain they were playing tricks on her. It was a long drive out to the ranch, and she hadn’t been paying attention. She was tired—worn out, really—from working all day and then dealing with her parents.

“I’m going to find Caleb,” she told Dunder. She backed up, groping behind her for the knob. When she fell backwards out the door, she slammed it shut.

“No way. No way. No way,” she chanted as she sprinted to the indoor arena. “I am not crazy.” She pushed through the door and stopped in her tracks. Rudy flew from one side of the arena to the other, making sharp turns.

Caleb was on a stand like a circus master, calling out instructions. “Good. Now land on the roof.”

Rudy approached the steeply pitched mock roof and landed on the ridge, taking two steps forward.

“That was good. But you’ve got to get it down to one step; you’re not supposed to wake the kids up,” Caleb called.

Rudy flew to him and hovered while Caleb scratched behind his ears.

Faith stared—and things began to click into place. Like how she and Caleb spent most of their spare time at her place. How she was only allowed at the ranch when invited or called ahead. How she’d never been shown the workout arena. How someone always went into the barn before she did.

Holy smokes—reindeer could fly.

Her knees buckled and she grabbed the wall for support.

Reindeer. Fly.

Click, click, click went the puzzle pieces.

Her father knew it.

Caleb knew it.

And neither of them had told her.

“What the heck!” she yelled across the open building.

Caleb whipped around, and Rudy backed up—still in midair.

Fueled by the sense of betrayal from the two men in her life she should have been able to trust, Faith rushed forward. “He flies.” She shoved her finger in Rudy’s direction. “Dunder flies—and Sparkle. And you didn’t tell me.” Her arms went rigid by her side.

Caleb climbed off the platform. He watched her carefully. “Yes—they fly.”

“You’re only tell me that because the proof is doing circles around you.”

Caleb grabbed Rudy’s lead rope and tugged him to the ground. “You’re not making this easier,” he told the reindeer.

“He was upside down that morning. Wasn’t he?”

Caleb swallowed and nodded.

Faith threw her arms up. “You’ve been lying to me since the day we met.”

“Now hold on—” Caleb held up a palm. “It’s not something we tell the whole world.”

Faith’s anger surged like a tidal wave. “Neither is all the stuff I told you about my past, Caleb. I thought we shared things.”

“Would you have believed me?” he asked low, his navy-blue eyes full of questions and begging her to understand.

She opened her mouth, but the answer stuck. The truth was, she might not have. Even if he’d told her last night, she would have thought he was joking. She might have played along, but she wouldn’t have actually believed him. “That’s beside the point.”

“No. It’s the whole point.” His tone was even, not like her parents who yelled at the first sign of a disagreement. Like she was doing.

She swallowed and worked to tame her anger. “I let you into my life and into my heart. You should have shared this with me.”

“You’re leaving. Faith, the reindeer have to be protected from the outside