Darn Good Cowboy Christmas Read Online Free

she’d finished putting her crystal ball on the vanity, a snapshot of her mother and Tressa in full costume on the dresser, and her deck of worn Tarot cards on the bedside table, she felt more at home in the big room. She popped open the suitcases and hung jeans, flowing skirts, a few shirts, and a denim jacket in the closet; arranged underwear, pajamas, and three bright colored costumes in dresser drawers; and set several pair of high-heeled shoes, a pair of Nikes, and a pair of scuffed up cowboy boots on the closet floor.
    â€œWork is done. Now I can play,” she said.
    She headed up the hallway. Blister opened one eye but didn’t budge from the recliner. Hooter raised his head and looked toward the door.
    â€œAlready wanting to go back outside, are you?” The words were barely out of her mouth when someone knocked hard on the door.
    She hadn’t heard a vehicle and the dog hadn’t stirred. Some watchdog Hooter was! She opened the door to find Raylen leaning on the jamb.
    â€œEvenin’,” he said in a deep Texas drawl.
    â€œGood evenin’,” she said.
    â€œYou goin’ to invite me in?” he asked.
    In carnival life few people came inside the trailer. When they knocked on the door, it usually came with an invitation to come outside, to eat supper at the community potluck, to take a walk around the grounds, or to pet the horses. It had to be pretty serious between two people for them to spend time inside a trailer together. Her mother had never brought a man, carnival worker or any other, inside the trailer. Tressa was the only person Liz could remember ever sitting at the small kitchen table with them.
    â€œWell?” Raylen asked.
    She stepped aside. If she was going to embrace a normal life she’d have to get used to the rules. “Come in. I’m sorry. I just got unpacked and my mind was off in la-la land.”
    Raylen grinned. “Been there.”
    He went straight for the recliner where Blister had taken up residence on the back and sunk into it. Hooter raised his head and wagged his tail. Raylen scratched his ears and then turned his attention to Blister.
    â€œThey miss Haskell. I’m glad you let them in the house.”
    â€œHe was howling like he was dyin’. I opened the door to see what was going on, and they both came in,” she said. Should she sit in the other recliner or the sofa? She finally crossed in front of him and claimed the other chair.
    â€œThey’re good animals. Blister has a litter box in the utility room off the kitchen. The litter is in the cabinet beside the washer and dryer. Hooter would explode before he’d make a mess, so there’s nothing to worry about them bein’ inside. Haskell said they were good company and that Hooter knew all his secrets. He told me that he was glad the dog couldn’t talk.”
    Liz smiled. “Too bad. He could tell me stories about my uncle, I’m sure.”
    â€œYep, he could.” Raylen grinned. When she smiled, he remembered that crazy feeling in his chest when they were teenagers. She’d smiled at him over the fence and his heart had done a couple of flip-flops. He wanted to do something fancy on the horse, like jump a hurdle, but his momma would have had his hide if he’d hurt her prize horse.
    Liz inhaled deeply to ease the antsy feeling in her gut, but it didn’t help. All she got was a lung full of Raylen’s shaving lotion. Damn! The man had cleaned up in the last couple of hours. His boots were spit shined, his hair still glistened from a shower, and his Wranglers were starched and creased. He looked like sin on a stick all sweaty and dirty, but cleaned up—he just plumb made her mouth go dry.
    Raylen rubbed Blister’s fur and stole sideways glances at Liz. She’d taken the clip from her hair, and it fell below her shoulders. It was even blacker than Austin’s, his brother’s new wife of a little more than a