A Cowboy's Christmas Wedding. Pamela Britton

startled him. “An actual opinion. Thank you!”

      Smart-ass.

      The words were on the edge of his lips, ready to tumble into the abyss of rude comments. Instead, he gripped the wheel and headed for the rental company.

      They didn’t rent tents.

      The owner—a baldheaded man who seemed only too happy to ogle Saedra indefinitely—suggested a party rental place Cabe had never heard of. Alas, that meant another trip across town, only to be told they didn’t rent tents, either. They suggested a local men’s club that had their own tents, which they sometimes rented. So that prompted yet another trip across town, but that turned out to be a dead end, too.

      “I give up,” Saedra said, flopping into the passenger seat of his truck a half hour later.

      “Thank God.”

      She glared. He glared back. She smiled. He looked away.

      “I guess it’s plastic flowers and rain ponchos for everyone.” She was joking, of course, he could see that, and it was damn hard to keep his lips from smiling in return. “Maybe we could hand out umbrellas for wedding favors.”

      “Please, no.”

      The smile grew, and from nowhere came the thought that she reminded him of the young fillies he used to break for a local rancher. Obstinate and pigheaded at times, but a heart of gold deep inside. She really was taking her duties seriously, and she was clearly crushed that it wasn’t all coming together.

      “Seriously, I need to go to a craft store to look for wedding favors.”

      “We could always get jelly beans and bubblegum balls.” He didn’t know where the words came from, but he was glad to hear her chuckle.

      “You’re okay with gum balls but not plastic flowers. Who knew?”

      His lips smiled, but they did so without his permission. He forced them back into a pinched line.

      “Next you’ll suggest frozen pizza and hot dogs for dinner,” she added.

      He didn’t want to like her.

      He’d spent the past hour trying to ignore how appealing she was only to realize it was more than her physical good looks. It was the sparkle in her eyes, too.

      Kimberly had had the same sparkle.

      “Speaking of dinner.” He saw her take a deep breath, watched as she turned in her seat and faced him, giving him a smile. “How about we grab a bite to eat?”

      Chapter Four

      “No.”

      Saedra tried not to let his single-word retort get her down. So what if he didn’t want to go to dinner? No reason to cry over it. Not that she was crying, mind you; it just surprised her that right when she thought she’d made some progress, he’d gone back to his old self.

      Face it. You’re not used to rejection.

      It sounded completely egotistical, but it was, in truth, a fact of life that she attracted male attention...lots of male attention. This had cost her many female friendships over the years, so much so that she’d taken to having male friends, like Trent and Mac, rather than deal with all the drama. And now here was a man who clearly didn’t like her.

      “No problem. Let’s head to the craft store,” she said.

      He didn’t go into the store with her. Didn’t so much as look at her when she climbed back into the car empty-handed.

      “No gum balls,” she said.

      He started the truck’s engine. She gave up. Clearly, she fought a losing battle.

      They arrived back at the ranch shortly thereafter, Saedra armed with a list of things to ask Alana, but she was sidetracked by Rana the moment she entered through the door.

      “Ohmygosh.” The teenager tugged her toward a room toward the back of the house, Cabe all but sprinting past her and disappearing to goodness knew where. “I found the perfect tent for Alana’s wedding.”

      She opened the door to a room that was clearly Cabe’s study, a room filled with books, something that brought Saedra up short. Gorgeous brown oak shelves matched a desk in front of a giant picture window, and Saedra caught a glimpse of their reflections in the glass thanks to the darkness outside.

      “I’ve been looking online and it turns out there’s a place that rents tents in Reno, which is only a couple of hours away, but the website says they deliver, and so I called, but they were closed already, but if you look right here...”

      Rana still had ahold of her arms, twin braids nearly slapping Saedra in the face as the girl spun to face the computer, her fingers tapping the keyboard of a sleek laptop.

      “See?”

      After the dismal few hours she’d just spent, it was a balm to Saedra’s soul to witness the girl’s enthusiasm. Maybe her stay at the Jensen household wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

      “Don’t you love it?”

      She would have to admit, the tent looked perfect for their purposes, though it didn’t look a thing like a traditional tent, more like the Swiss Alps with its multiple peaks and steep edges.

      “It says the tent’s designed to repel snow off the edges and that they have portable heaters you can rent, too.”

      Saedra hadn’t known how tense she was until she expelled a deep sigh of relief. “It’s perfect.”

      A squeal leaked out of the girl just before she turned and gave her a hug.

      “Do we know how much?” Saedra asked, leaning toward the screen.

      “No price.”

      That didn’t bode well.

      “But Trent said cost wasn’t an issue, remember?”

      Yeah, but there was cost and then there was cost.

      “Let’s see what else they have.”

      They cruised around the website, Saedra spying several tents that might work. They also rented tables and chairs and chafing dishes, silverware and plates— everything they needed.

      “One-stop shopping.” Saedra turned to Rana. “Good job, kiddo. This place looks perfect. I’ll call them tomorrow.”

      “My mom used them once.” The little girl lost her smile for a moment. “We had a fundraiser out here for my school before...”

      Her world had been turned upside down. Alana had told her about it. Cabe’s wife and brother had been killed and Rana critically injured. Rana had lost the use of her legs. They’d thought she’d never walk again, but Alana had taken on the role of therapist. They’d used horses to strengthen Rana’s legs. It was how New Horizons Ranch had gotten its start. Alana had found her calling and Cabe had found something to keep his mind off his loss, or so Saedra surmised.

      “It must have been hard,” Saedra found herself saying, “what you went through.”

      It broke her heart to see the pain on Rana’s face. “Harder for my dad.” Saedra saw the girl take a deep breath before meeting her gaze. “I was out of it for the first few months. They had me on a lot of medication. But my dad...” She shook her head. “He had to take care of...everything.”

      She’d missed her mom’s funeral. Alana had told her that, too. Poor Rana had been bed bound for months. Cabe had made all the arrangements. He’d had Alana for support, the two of them grieving together, but it’d been a horrible time, Alana had admitted. No wonder Cabe was such a curmudgeon.

      “And now here we are.” She touched the girl’s arm lightly. “Planning a wedding.”

      The smile returned, although not as brightly. “It’s going to be fun.”

      Fun.