Roping Her Christmas Cowboy

That sounded like the Nikki who’d taken up space in his heart.

“When we left the dealership, I’d hoped the three of us would all head back to the ranch together. But you were still being swarmed by your fans and Mills decided not to wait for you.”

“I was surprised how many people came by to meet us.” She got to her feet. “I’m thirsty. Would you like a cola? I think it’s all we’ve got.”

Toly wouldn’t have cared what it was. She was speaking to him again. “I’d love one.”

Nikki went into the kitchen and brought back two cans from the fridge. “I’m sorry I was so rude during dinner, Toly. It’s my loss that I turned down your homemade biscuits.”

“They’re my one claim to fame.”

“I happen to know that’s not true. You’re the one who cooked dinner, not Mills. He would never have thought to add pieces of tangerines and walnuts to the salad, or add cheese to the potatoes.”

So she’d noticed. “Will you let me take you to dinner tomorrow after the vet checks our horses? Spending time on your ranch, I know how much you like pasta. I thought we’d enjoy some Mediterranean food at Todd English’s Olives in the Bellagio Hotel. It’ll be my way of apologizing to you in style.”

Her eyes smiled at him. “I’d be a fool to turn down an offer like that. You’re on.”

“Good. You’ve made my night.”

On his way to the hotel earlier, he’d felt like the bottom had dropped out of his life. He could hardly credit the change in the situation since clearing up a misunderstanding that could have done a great deal of harm to all of them.

“As soon as we finish our drinks, I’ll drive you back to the parking lot to get your car.”

He wished she didn’t have to go. “Can’t you just stay here and we’ll drive to your hotel in the morning?”

“No. I’ve got an early breakfast with some of the marketers I can’t miss. I would rather get back to the hotel tonight. Mills should be coming inside any minute so he can go to bed. It’ll be easy to drop you off on my way.”

“Then I’m ready to leave when you are.” He stood up and put his empty can in the wastebasket.

She left hers on the counter and went back to the bedroom for her things. Before long they were on their way.

“We haven’t had a chance to talk privately about Denise. Do you have any idea why she broke it off with Mills? I don’t mean to pry. If you don’t feel comfortable telling me, I understand.”

“I wish I knew.” That sounded honest. “She hasn’t called me since they stopped seeing each other.”

“Would you like to hear Mills’s theory?”

“Yes!” she cried. “We usually share everything, but not about this. I’ve been worried sick about him.”

“He thinks she’s so jealous of you, she can’t be around you anymore. Since you and your brother are so close, it forced her to call things off.”

“What?”

“I was shocked too.”

“That couldn’t be the reason, Toly!”

“I don’t want to think it, either. He has accepted it’s over, but it’s sad that she did it so close to the competition.”

“I thought so too, but decided there had to be another reason she’s not telling anyone. You can tell my brother it’s not because of me. I don’t think it’s about him, either. I know she cared for him a lot and is the sweetest, kindest girl in the world.”

“That’s what he thought.”

“He can still think it! Something’s not right. We became close friends. One of these days we’ll learn the truth. For her to call him and tell him she couldn’t see him anymore means something traumatic had to have happened. But I know it’s killing Mills. He’s never cared for another girl like this.”

“He’ll feel better knowing you believe in her.”

“I do.” They’d reached the MGM Grand. “Where are you parked?”

Toly gave her directions. She stopped in front of his car. He turned to her. “Thank you for giving me the chance to talk to you.”

“I’m glad you insisted. I have to admit I was hurt. It’s a lesson I’ve needed to learn so I’ll never let anything like this happen again.”

“You were pretty scary at dinner. Mills looked green.”

“Don’t remind me. I’m ashamed of acting like a woman scorned.”

Toly burst into laughter. “To be honest, you not only fascinated me, you were dead-on about my lack of talents.”

She shook her head, causing her flouncy black hair to swish across her shoulders. “I didn’t mean it.”

“I believe you, but it’s true. I’ve been so obsessed with the rodeo, when it’s all over I’m going to have to work at becoming a participating member of the human race again.”

“That makes two of us. We have to be terribly boring to people who’ve never been around horses and never want to be.”

Now was the perfect time to ask her a question Mills hadn’t been able to answer. “Your brother told me you were in a relationship a while back that didn’t work out. He’s been worried about you. I guess that’s the nature of being twins.”

He heard her soft chuckle. “We do far too much thinking about each other and try to solve each other’s problems. It’s worse since our parents died. A psychiatrist would tell us it’s not healthy, but we don’t know any other way.”

“My brothers and I aren’t so different, even if we aren’t twins. Our father’s death changed our lives too.”

“Tell me what happened.”

He’d never shared this with anyone outside of his family, but it felt good talking to her about it. “I’ll never forget. My dad had taken me hunting up in the Sapphire Mountains. We’d camped out for a couple of nights and I’d never felt closer to him.

“He’d been a rodeo champion and knew how much I loved the sport. During our talks he encouraged me to go for it if that’s what was important to me. I could earn money to pay for my college and enjoy the sport at the same time. I loved him for being so understanding. On our way down the mountain, he suddenly fell over. Blood poured out of his head. I knew immediately he’d been shot.”

“Oh no, Toly! How horrible.”

“It was the worst thing I ever lived through.”

“I know how you felt. We got the call from the police that our parents had been killed in a head-on crash. The pain of knowing they’re gone and you’re absolutely helpless to do anything about it is unreal.”

Toly nodded. “Exactly. I called my brothers and they came with the sheriff. There was nothing to do for Dad. He’d died immediately. One bullet had wiped out his life. The authorities investigated and discovered it had been a freak accident by another hunter. It changed our lives.”

“Oh, how I know that. I’m so sorry for your loss, Toly.”

“I feel the same about yours.”