she’d sent everyone home and offered to wait for Fluffy’s family on her own. Puttering around the office was better than letting the walls close in on her at her apartment. The place was bare of any Christmas decorations and pretty much the most depressing place on the planet. “It’s the reindeer who have to pull the heavy sleigh. They deserve a treat.”
One second she was standing there, feeling like an eggshell, she was so fragile. The next, Caleb’s arms wrapped around her from behind, his warmth encircled her, and she could breathe for the first time since she’d left the ranch.
“You’re one big-hearted woman,” he said into her hair.
So help her, she didn’t want to lean into him or on him or need him in any way ever again. But his chest was solid behind her, and his arms were real and comforting, and he smelled like outside and body spray and Christmas, and she couldn’t help herself.
Turning so her face was in his chest and her arms around his middle, she said, “I’m so mad at you.” The effect of her words was somewhat muted by the fabric of his button-up shirt, but he got the point.
“I know. I’m mad at me too. And Jack. I really mad at Jack.”
She tipped her head up so she could look at him. “Why Jack?”
“He told me to give you time to cool off, and like an idiot, I listened. I had no idea you’d drive three hours to get away from me.” He brushed her hair off her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “I’m so sorry, Faith. You were right. I shouldn’t have withheld anything from you, and I never will again.”
One side of her mouth ticked up as she fought a smile. “Nothing?”
“Nothing.”
“Ever?—Wait, ever? What do you mean by that? And please, take your time explaining, because my brain went in thirteen different directions—twelve of them really good and one I didn’t like so much.” The twelve all had to do with them together—half of those involved mistletoe. But the one was him walking out of her life to save her from himself.
He rubbed her nose with his. “First off, let me say that I like fighting like this much better than the way we fought last night. Can we agree that this is how we’ll solve our difference from this point forward?”
Faith giggled. “You have a lot of explaining to do before I agree to anything.”
He pulled back. “Fair enough.” Glancing around, he found the waiting bench and led her over to it, holding her hands and keeping them as they sat down. “I’ve been watching my parents. They are fiercely loyal to one another—at the expense of other things and even other people sometimes.”
“Like when?” She’d noticed something special between Abner and Anna too, and was eager to hear what Caleb saw in their relationship.
“Well, you know that reindeer in Yellowstone?”
She gasped. “That’s one of yours? Oh my gosh, I didn’t even think about that until you just said that. Is his name really Dancer? How did he get out? How are you going to get him back?”
Caleb chuckled. “Her name is Snowflake, and she is wicked fast. We loaned her to one of Santa’s daughters named Stella, and she lost her in Yellowstone.”
Aha! Wait—Stella was one of Santa’s daughters? Wow! Faith grabbed the front of his shirt. “Caleb! That’s awful. We have to go get her.”
Caleb placed his hand over hers. “We have a rescue plan already in place, and it starts the day after Christmas.”
“Why wait?” She couldn’t picture Rudy or one of the other reindeer out there on their own. They were domesticated animals; who knew if they could fend for themselves in the wild?
“Because family comes first—even before reindeer.” He caught her gaze and held it. “Faith, I want you to be first in my life.”
Her throat went dry.
His hand tightened around hers, and he cupped her cheek with the other one. “I want you to be my family.”
“Caleb,” she whispered, the air rushing from her lungs.
“Part of the reason I messed up so bad was that I wasn’t clear on what I wanted. We kept saying you were going to leave, and I kept hoping you wouldn’t. But I didn’t feel like I could tell you everything if we were just a holiday fling.”
She laughed and then sniffed as the dam of emotions broke. “It never felt like a fling to me.”
“Me either.” His thumb stroked her lower lip, making