A Mistletoe Christmas: Santa's Mistletoe Mistake / A Merry Little Wedding / Mistletoe Magic

His pasture came very close to her yard, and she had spent far too much time over the past several months standing at her kitchen sink and watching him ride his fence line.

Long-legged, broad-shouldered and with a slender waist... The man could have been a pinup model in a Cowboy of the Month calendar.

Town gossip had let her know that he was a loner who came in the café often to eat but didn’t do much socializing. Not that it mattered to her; the very last thing she’d ever want in her life again was a cowboy.

Been there, done that and had the heartache that would last a lifetime. Her marriage had been a happy one, and at least she had Libby to fill some of the space that had been emptied in her heart when Seth died.

Moving to this little town with its community closeness and aura of joy had been a good decision. Libby was thriving, as was the dance studio, and it was only occasionally after Libby went to bed that the ache of loneliness unexpectedly gripped Melody.

Tonight there would be no time for loneliness. Once Libby was asleep, Melody would creep out to the car to retrieve the gifts she’d bought, and then wrap them and hide them back in the trunk of the car.

There would be no time for loneliness in the next week. There was so much going on in the town, events and fun that she and Libby intended to immerse themselves in. There were sing-alongs and tours of the local mistletoe ranches, a night of caroling and of course a visit with Santa.

She glanced at her watch and realized it was time for her to load her packages into the car and head out to pick up Libby. She took a last drink of the yummy hot toddy and then pulled on her coat, grabbed her shopping bags and hurried toward her car, which was parked in front of Carrie’s Christmas Shop.

Within minutes she was on her way to Laura and Jack McKinny’s house on Mistletoe Lane. Their daughter, Megan, not only took dance lessons at the studio, but she and Libby had become best friends.

Mistletoe Lane was decked out for the season with bunches of mistletoe hanging from every streetlamp, along with trailing red ribbons. White sparkling lights created a lovely shimmer on the whole street.

Laura greeted her at her front door with a warm hug. “Did you get finished with what you needed?” she asked.

“Santa shopping all done,” Melody replied. “I can’t thank you enough for keeping Libby busy so I could get out alone.”

“No problem. Want to stick around for a cup of coffee?” Laura asked.

“Rain check?” Melody replied. “To be honest, I’m exhausted and ready to get home and settled in.”

“Then, next time,” Laura replied with a friendly smile. She was one of the first women Melody had made friends with when they’d moved here. Laura was a teacher at the grade school and her husband worked at the bank.

She took a couple of steps down the hallway. “Libby, your mom is here.” Girlie groans filled the air.

“That sounds like her ‘not so happy to see me’ noise,” Melody said.

Laura laughed. “They’re at that age.” She rolled her eyes.

Libby came running up the hall, her long dark pigtails bouncing with each step. “Mom, my princess doll was just about to meet her prince.” Blond-haired Megan ran just behind Libby.

“I guess she’ll have to wait until another time to meet her prince. It’s time for us to head home. Now, what do you say to Ms. Laura and Megan?”

“Thank you for having me over. I had a super time,” Libby said. “And maybe Megan can come over real soon and we can play at my house.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Laura said as she handed Libby her coat.

“Thanks again,” Melody said, and then she and Libby headed to their car.

“I had such fun,” Libby said as she buckled her seat belt. “We played games and then got out all of Megan’s fashion doll stuff. She has a ton of it.”

“I’m glad you had a good time. Did you eat dinner?”

“We had mac and cheese and hot dogs. Megan is my best friend ever. We’ve decided we’re going to get married on the same day and we’ll buy houses next to each other and our husbands will be best friends, too.”

As Libby continued to chatter, Melody found her thoughts drifting back to the unexpected dinner with Jake. Why had he decided to join her?

She hadn’t been averse to his company, and he certainly hadn’t been hard to look at from across the table, but it seemed out of character from what she’d heard about him.

She had to confess that she’d entertained a silly crush on him since the moment she’d first seen him. But she’d decided when Seth died that there would be no more cowboys in her life. If she ever decided to marry again it would be to a lawyer or a banker who didn’t work with horses that could kick them in the head and kill them.

Libby was still talking about her time with Megan when they arrived home. Home was a nice little ranch house with three bedrooms, an airy kitchen and a living room.

She’d used most of Seth’s life-insurance money to build the dance studio on the back of the house, knowing that teaching dancing was what she knew and was what would put food on the table and keep the lights on.

There was also a small barn complete with running water and several hay bales that Melody had bought a month ago when Libby had decided she’d like to have rabbits. By the time Melody had bought a cage and the hay, Libby had changed her mind.

It was after seven, and she pointed her daughter toward the bathroom. “Bath time,” she said. “And then I’ll read you a story before you go to bed.”

It had been a long day for both of them, and Melody was hoping to get her daughter to sleep early so she could take a little time to unwind and dance a bit in the studio and wrap the presents she’d bought that day.

With the Santa shopping done, she had nothing to worry about for the rest of the week except enjoying the town activities and immersing herself in the Christmas spirit.

It was close to eight-thirty by the time she finally got Libby into bed. She sat down next to her daughter and pulled the blanket up around her neck, then kissed her strawberry-scented cheek.

Libby slammed her hand against her cheek to keep the kiss there for the remainder of the night. It was a routine that had begun when she was little more than a baby.

It was also a routine that Melody read to Libby each night before the lights went out. She wanted her daughter to love reading, to know that by reading you could explore all kinds of new worlds.

Although she knew eventually Libby would be asking for electronic readers and computers that played games and whatever, for now Melody was glad that the toys on Libby’s Christmas list had been of the nonelectronic type. Time enough for all that later.

When she had finished reading for the night, Libby reached up and placed her palm against Melody’s face. “I can’t wait for Santa Claus to come,” she said drowsily. “He’s gonna have a big surprise for you.”

“For me?” Melody smiled at her sleepy daughter. “I already have the best present in the world, and that’s you.”

Libby’s hand fell to the bed and she smiled with sleepy secretiveness. “You just wait. I wrote a note to Santa to tell him what we want, but I didn’t give it to you to mail. I mailed it all by myself so you wouldn’t know the secret.”

“Enough talk of Santa and secrets,” Melody said. “Now it’s time to sleep.”

Libby nodded and closed her eyes, and before Melody left the side of her bed, Libby fell asleep.

Whatever Libby had asked Santa for Christmas, she hoped she had it in the trunk of her car, because there was nothing worse than a disappointed six-year-old at Christmas time.

It was just after eleven when she’d wrapped the final present and tucked it back into the trunk of her car. Still wide-awake, she sat down on the sofa and stared at the Christmas tree that had yet to be decorated.

Christmas Eve she and Libby would pull out the ornaments and tinsel, the twinkling lights and the angel to dress the tree. The past two Christmases had been bittersweet, as they’d pulled out ornaments that Seth had bought to make the perfect cowboy Christmas tree.

There were hats and boots, saddles and horses, and each and every one of them reminded both Libby and Melody of what it had been like to be a real, complete family.

Maybe this year she wouldn’t use those particular ornaments. Instead they’d string popcorn and use ribbon and mistletoe and make aluminum-foil stars and do an old-fashioned tree.

Why continue reminding themselves of what they’d lost? New beginnings and new decorations, she thought drowsily. The impromptu meal with Jake had been nice, but she would never seriously entertain a relationship with a cowboy again.