A Mistletoe Vow. Kate Hardy
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the main road, Celeste moved away from the window and sank into her favorite chair. Lucy—all sleek, sinuous grace—immediately pounced into her lap. She took a moment to pet the cat, her thoughts twirling.
For a moment there she had been almost positive Flynn Delaney had been about to really kiss her. That was impossible. Completely irrational. She must have been imagining things, right?
Why on earth would he want to kiss her? She was gawky and awkward and shy, more comfortable with books and her fictional characters than she was with men.
They were from completely different worlds, which was probably one of the reasons she’d had such a crush on him when she was a girl. He represented the unattainable. His mother was a famous movie star, and he was certainly gorgeous enough that he could have been one, too, if he’d been inclined in that direction.
He had been married to Elise Chandler, for Pete’s sake, one of the most beautiful women on earth. How could he possibly be interested in a frumpy, introverted children’s librarian?
The absurdity of it completely defied reason.
She must be mistaken. That moment when he’d kissed her cheek and their gazes had met—when she’d thought she’d seen that spark of something kindling in his gaze—must have been a trick of the low lighting in her entryway.
What would it have been like to kiss him? Really kiss him?
The question buzzed around inside her brain like a particularly determined mosquito. She had no doubt it would have been amazing.
She was destined never to know.
She sighed, gazing at the lights of her little Christmas tree sparkling cheerily in the small space. If she weren’t careful, she could end up with a heart as shattered as one of the ornaments Lucy liked to bat off the branches.
It would be so frighteningly easy for her to fall for him. She was already fiercely attracted to him and had been since she was barely a teenager. More than that, she liked and admired him. His devotion to Olivia and his concern for her were even more attractive to Celeste than those vivid blue eyes, the broad shoulders, the rugged slant of his jaw.
If he were to kiss her—truly kiss her—her poor, untested heart wouldn’t stand a chance.
After a moment she pushed away the unease. This entire mental side trip was ridiculous and unnecessary. He wasn’t interested in her and he wouldn’t kiss her, so why spend another moment fretting about it?
Still, she couldn’t help wishing she never had encouraged him to allow Olivia to participate in the Christmas program at the ranch. He was only here for a few weeks. The likelihood that she would even see the man again would have been very slim if not for Olivia and the program, and then she could have let this hopeless attraction die a natural death.
No worries, she told herself. She would simply do her best to return things to a casual, friendly level for his remaining time in Cold Creek.
How hard could it be?
Dealing with thirty jacked-up children a week before Christmas was not exactly the best way to unwind after a busy day at work.
Celeste drew in a deep breath, let it out slowly and ordered herself to chill. The noise level inside the two-story St. Nicholas Lodge was at epic levels. In one corner, a group of third-grade boys tossed around a paper airplane one of them had folded. In another, two girls were singing “Let it Go” at the top of their lungs. Three of the younger boys were chasing each other around, coming dangerously close to the huge Christmas tree that was the focal point of the lodge.
All the children were so excited for Christmas they were putting off enough energy to power the entire holiday light displays of three counties.
How she was supposed to whip this frenzy into organized chaos she had no idea.
“Whose crazy idea was this again?” her sister said, taking in the scene.
She sent Hope an arch look. “Go ahead. Raise your hand.”
Hope offered up a rueful smile. “Sorry. It seemed like a fun idea at the time, a way to keep the local kids engaged and involved and give their parents a little break for shopping and baking, with the payoff of a cute show for the senior citizens at the end. I suppose I didn’t really think it through.”
“How very unlike you,” Faith said drily from Celeste’s other side.
Faith’s presence was far more of a shock to Celeste than the wild energy of the children. Their eldest sister was usually so busy working on the cattle-raising side of the business that she didn’t participate in many activities at The Christmas Ranch.
Perhaps she had decided to stop by because Louisa and Barrett were participating. Whatever the reason, Celeste was glad to see her there. The past eighteen months had been so difficult for Faith, losing her childhood sweetheart unexpectedly. It was good to see her sister reaching outside her comfort zone a little.
“I guess I didn’t expect them all to be so...jacked up.” Hope couldn’t seem to take her gaze away from the younger children, who were now hopping around the room like bunny rabbits.
“You obviously don’t have children,” Faith said.
“Or work in a children’s library,” Celeste added.
“All kids act as if they’re on crack cocaine the whole week before Christmas,” Faith continued. “How could you not know that?”
“Okay, okay. Lesson learned. Now we just have to do our best to whip them into shape. We can do this, right?”
At the note of desperation in Hope’s voice, Celeste forced a confident smile. “Sure we can.”
Though she had her own doubts, she wouldn’t voice them to Hope. She was too grateful for her sister for bringing light and joy back to the ranch.
After Travis’s death in a ranching accident, Celeste, Mary and Faith had decided to close The Christmas Ranch, which had been losing money steadily for years. It had seemed the logical course of action. The Star N had been all but bankrupt and the Christmas side of things had been steadily losing money for years.
The plan had been to focus on the cattle side of the Star N, until Hope came back from years of traveling. She put her considerable energy and enthusiasm to work and single-handedly brought back the holiday attraction.
Part of that success had come because of the Sparkle books, which still managed to astonish Celeste.
She would always be deeply grateful to Hope for reminding them all of the joy and wonder of the season. Helping her with this Christmas program was a small way to repay her for all her hard work on behalf of the family.
“We’ve got this,” she said to her sisters with a firm smile that contained far more assurance than she really felt.
She stepped forward and started to clap her hands to gather the children around when the door opened and a couple of newcomers came in. She turned with a smile to welcome them and felt an actual physical jolt when she saw Flynn and Olivia.
Despite his agreement the night before, she had been certain Flynn would end up not bringing Olivia. She had seen the clear reluctance in his eyes and knew he worried the girl wasn’t ready for this sort of public appearance.
She was thrilled for Olivia’s sake that he had changed his mind, even if it meant she would have to do her best to ignore her own reaction to him—and even though she wouldn’t have been nearly as exhausted today if not for him.
Her night had been restless. She couldn’t seem to shake the memory of that moment when he had kissed her cheek—the warmth of his mouth, the brush of his evening shadow against her skin, the delicious, outdoorsy scent of him.
She