Christmas With The Cowboy

Emma nodded. “Any success finding mistletoe?”

“Got that, too. I bought extra to take home to Jack.”

“Isn’t Jack coming?” Emma asked.

“I wish. He’s in charge of the papier mâché volcano the kids are making for the science fair.”

“Hmm.” Emma shook her head. “Difficult to say who got the better assignment.”

Lucy sniffed appreciatively and glanced around. “Oh, this place smells wonderful. Is that steak? You know, I haven’t had anything to eat in over an hour.”

A hand to her mouth, Emma stifled a chuckle while grabbing a menu from a nearby empty table. “Here you go. We won’t let you starve. I promise.”

“They have sweet potato fries.” She shot Emma a conspiratorial glance. “Do not tell Jack, but it’s apparent that I got the better deal tonight.”

“May I help you?” the smiling hostess asked.

“Big Heart Ranch Christmas party,” Emma said. “I was here this morning. The manager said you could unlock the room for us.”

“Christmas? And here I thought that was a typo,” the woman murmured.

“We like to get a jump on the holidays at Big Heart.”

“I guess so. Do you want to schedule Groundhog Day now, as well?”

Emma choked on a laugh. “I’ll get back to you on that.”

They followed the woman through the restaurant, weaving past tables toward a banquet room. As they passed the small dance area where a band was setting up, Emma nudged her sister.

“Look. Live music tonight,” she said.

“Those are the Dixie Hens,” the hostess said, excitement lacing her voice. “They’re almost famous around these parts. Last year they went on tour with L.C. Kestner.”

“Who?” Lucy mouthed to Emma.

Emma shrugged and rolled her eyes.

“I’m happy to ask the band to play Christmas dance tunes for your group,” the woman continued.

“Thank you. That would be great,” Emma said.

“Planning to dance?” Lucy asked.

“Perhaps. I am, after all, highly skilled at the hokey-pokey. Ask my daughters.”

Lucy grinned as the hostess unlocked the door to a private room. Taking a step in, she paused to look up at the ceiling where glittering snowflakes suspended on clear fishing line gently swayed.

“Emma, this is beautiful.”

Emma peeked over her sister’s shoulder at the long tables covered with red tablecloths. Burlap runners decorated the center of the tables and were dotted with mason jars tied with red and green ribbons and filled with berried greenery. In the corner of the room, an artificial Christmas tree complete with ornaments and twinkling colored lights stood proudly. Red and green envelopes with the staff’s holiday stipends tucked inside also hung from the branches.

“I love Christmas.” Emma sighed with pleasure and inspected the room once again. “It did turn out nice, didn’t it?”

“Come on, Em. Nice? This is perfect. Rustic and Christmassy. This is the perfect way to launch the Holiday Roundup.”

“That’s what I thought, too.”

“What’s in those shiny silver favor boxes next to each place setting?”

“My secret recipe truffles to take home.”

Lucy did a double take. “You’re amazing. When did you have time to decorate if you were baking?”

“I snuck over here this afternoon after the cutout cookies were done.”

“Of course you did. I forget that you inherited the family gene for OCS.”

“What?”

“Overcommitted syndrome. Emma, do you ever relax?”

“Sometimes.” Relaxing only gave her time to think. She didn’t need more time to think than she already had.

“Try to remember the D word that Jack taught me when he hired Iris as my admin.”

“D word?”

“Delegate, Em. Delegate.”

“Delegate, huh? That certainly sounds odd coming from the queen of micromanaging.”

“Be nice. I’m still a work in progress.” She glanced at Emma. “What happened to your admin?”

“It turned out she was allergic to the ranch. I’ll get around to hiring a new one, soon enough,” Emma said. “So did you bring your gift to trade?”

Lucy gasped. “The gift exchange!”

Emma reached into her tote bag and handed Lucy a wrapped box. “No worries. I brought several in case someone forgot theirs.”

“Okay, this time your OCS saved the day. What’s inside?”

“I can’t tell you. That spoils the fun of the exchange.”

“Ow,” Lucy moaned. “Junior just kicked me.” She placed one hand on her belly and one on her lower back.

“How are you feeling, Luce?”

“Large.” She sighed. “And don’t you dare laugh.”