The Sleigh on Seventeenth Street (Three Rivers Ranch Romance Book 14) Read online

  The kids scattered, leaving Cami holding onto Dylan. “We will?” she asked.

  “I will,” he amended.

  “And you’ll leave me at the adult table, is that it?”

  He looked down at her, surprise in his eyes which softened into cute little crinkles as he chuckled. “I guess I won’t need to escape the adult table today.”

  “You normally do?”

  “Dylan!” his mother called. “Come on, baby. We’re ready to eat.”

  “Baby?” Cami stifled a laugh.

  “She calls everyone baby or honey,” he said, an anxious look crossing his face as he surveyed the backyard. “This is insane, right?”

  “I like them,” Cami said. Her heart warmed at the double-long picnic table his parents had obviously had special-made for this exact occasion. Moms and dads helped kids get quiet, and Dylan’s dad turned from the grill.

  “Are we ready?” he asked.

  “Sh,” Dylan’s mom said to Boyd, and then she said, “Let’s pray, guys. Get ready.”

  “Sally, will you say it?” their dad asked, and Sally nodded.

  Cami bowed her head and folded her arms like everyone else. Immediately, a sense of peace descended on the backyard, penetrating her heart and making tears heat the back of her eyelids.

  She hadn’t felt this accepted, this loved, in a long time. Her parents were fine; they were. But they didn’t have Sunday meals together, or family barbecues. Her older brother worked non-stop, and Cami did too.

  She’d thought that was all she needed.

  She’d been wrong.

  Once the prayer ended, the chaos started again. But Cami didn’t mind. This activity, this energy, was better than the staleness that had infected her life. She left Dylan’s side and joined the line behind one of the husbands.

  “You look familiar,” she said, hoping that was an appropriate way to start a conversation.

  “You came and fixed our garbage disposal last year.”

  “Oh, right.” Cami smiled and asked Dylan’s dad for one of the vegetable skewers. He gave her a skeptical look but found the shish-kabob without any meat on it and gave it to her.

  “There’s three for her.” Dylan’s mom came bustling over. “Dylan told us all about how you’re a vegetarian. There’s watermelon, and potato salad, and macaroni, and Emmy and I made three veggie-kabobs for you.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.” Cami nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Give her another one, Troy.” She swatted her husband’s forearm.

  “Ma,” Dylan said. “Leave her alone.”

  “I just want to make sure she gets enough to eat.”

  Oh, Cami would get enough to eat. That was a guarantee. If not here, then at home. Or a drive-through. “Thanks,” she said. “I’m okay, really.”

  Dylan’s mom wore a look that said she wasn’t sure, but she didn’t say anything. Dylan got two hamburgers and then loaded his plate with potato chips and watermelon before turning back to the picnic table.

  “Looks like they left us a spot right in the middle,” he grumbled. “I’m so sorry about this, Cami.” He had a panicked look in his eye. “I feel like I should’ve warned you better.”

  “You warned me fine.” Cami eyed the narrow gap between his oldest sister and his youngest. “I’m fine, Dylan. Really.”

  But if she had to tell one more person that, she might not be fine.

  A week later, Cami was still thinking about the barbecue. She’d enjoyed herself. Really enjoyed herself. They’d talked and she’d answered questions. No one said the word girlfriend, and they’d played horseshoes and then badminton.

  It had been a perfect afternoon in Texas.

  Which this afternoon definitely was not.

  She’d been waiting at the bank for a half an hour. A half an hour she didn’t have to be wasted doing nothing. She had invoices to file, and phone calls to return, and supplies to order for the next stage of the build at Rivers Merge.

  But she wanted the Rogers’s plumbing shop, and so she waited. She’d gotten very good at waiting over the past few weeks. Three days before seeing Dylan. Three days before he’d ask her to come over.

  She was tired of it, and she’d seen him every day last week after the barbecue. And it felt good, right.

  “Cami?”

  She glanced up to see Levi. “Come on back.” He wore a happy smile on his face, and Cami hoped he had the news she wanted.

  Cami stood, taking an extra moment to balance in her heels. “Thank you.” She followed him down a short hallway and away from the normal business of the bank. He entered a room, which held an impressive office with a towering desk filling almost all of it.

  They shook hands, and Cami set her folder on the desk as she perched in the available chair.

  “Thanks for coming in,” he said. “I know it can be a bit of a hassle.” He kept the smile in place. “Carole Anne’s been on me to get you in here for a week.

  Cami nodded and tried to keep her smile normal, not wanting to give away that she’d rescheduled two jobs to be here this afternoon.

  “So I asked to see the profit and loss statements for the plumbing business.”

  “Yes.” Cami straightened and opened her folder. “I have them for the past five years, and you can see….” She slid a paper across the table. “The shop is doing well enough. Some months are leaner than others, but there’s a nice profit at the end of each year.”

  She wasn’t sure what the profit and loss statements would affect. He’d already assured her that yes, she’d get the special local rate, and he’d said her financials were all in order. He peered at the papers Dana had provided for an agonizingly long time.

  “And you’ll run the shop alone?” He glanced up.

  “Yes, sir,” she said, her annoyance already climbing.

  He glanced up. “And you and Dylan…you’re not engaged or anything.”

  “My boyfriend works for the city, but no. He’s an electrician, not a plumber.” She tacked a laugh onto the end of the statement as she realized what she’d just said.

  My boyfriend.

  “He’s a good man. Grew up with his sisters.”

  Cami nodded, unsure of how to contribute. Dylan was a good man. She’d never seen him miss church. He adored his nieces and nephews, and they adored him. He helped out his family, visited them, was involved in their lives.

  And she’d called him her boyfriend. She wished she’d told him first that she’d thought of him like that, and she hoped Levi wouldn’t say anything to him.

  “Thanks for bringing these in,” he said. “We just want to make sure you’ll be able to make the payments on the loan, and all of this looks fantastic.” He reached for the folder and pulled it toward him. “I’ll put them in your file.”

  “Thank you.” Cami stood, her mind racing. She let herself out and practically ran to Penny. “I called him my boyfriend,” she told the van. “What should I do?”

  Penny didn’t answer, but she did seem to be pulling to the north, toward Dylan’s building. So Cami made the required turns, hoping it was God and not some defunct van that was leading her to Dylan.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dylan didn’t see Cami’s calls until he left Rivers Merge. They were putting up houses like lightning, and he’d just met with Gerald to schedule the first rough electrical work on the first six houses, all of which were framed and getting their roofs this week.

  He’d forgotten how quickly homes went up once the financing came through and all the tradesmen were hired. It had been a while since Three Rivers had seen a build the size of Rivers Merge.

  He hit call to dial Cami back, and said, “Hey, sweetheart,” when she picked up.

  “Where are you?” she asked.

  “Just left Rivers Merge. Where you at?”

  “Your place.”

  Surprise mingled with pleasure. “Oh yeah?” he asked, though they’d been getting together every night after work for the past week. He liked that a wh
ole lot better than the three-day dance they’d been doing previously. Liked having her beside him. Liked kissing her goodnight.

  “Yeah, I have to tell you something.”

  “I’ll be there in five.” He threw his notes on the passenger side of the seat. “Unless you just want to tell me now.”

  “I—you didn’t say you grew up with Levi.”

  “I grew up with everyone who still lives here.”

  “Are you friends with any of them still?”

  “I mean, I’d say hello if I saw them, but I can’t say we hang out or anything, especially Levi. He’s more Alecia’s age than mine.”

  She exhaled. “I called you my boyfriend when I was at the bank today.”

  Dylan’s muscles froze for three terrifying heartbeats as he drove without really directing the truck. Then he started laughing.

  “What?” she asked. “Stop it.” But she started giggling too.

  “That’s great,” he said. “So can I call you my girlfriend? My mom’s been askin’ about you.”

  “I think you could call me that, yes.”

  He turned onto his street, glad he could navigate himself again. “Will you say it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I want to hear you say you’re my girlfriend.”

  “Dylan.”

  “Camila.” He pulled into his assigned parking spot and left his notes right where they were.

  “I’m your girlfriend. Happy now?”

  “Not when you say it like that.” He laughed as he got out of his truck. “I think you should have to shout it from my window. Then everyone will know.”

  She scoffed. “Like they don’t already.”

  “You think they do?”

  “We go to church together every week. You’re always holding my hand when we leave.”

  “You like that,” he said, almost a question. He couldn’t tell if she was upset or her tone had just turned a little frosty for some other reason.

  “Sure, yeah, of course I do.”

  “You don’t?”

  “Dylan.” Her voice hit his ears in two different ways. Over the phone and very nearby. She came around the corner wearing a skirt and heels and completely taking him by surprise. She lowered her phone and smiled the sexiest smile Dylan had ever seen. “I like holding your hand.”

  He ended the call and chuckled. “You know I have nothing to eat, right?”

  “We can order something.”

  “Chinese?” He approached and took her in his arms. He sighed, everything relaxed and happy to have Cami so close.

  “Chinese it is.”

  “Why you all dressed up?” he asked as they headed toward the elevator.

  “I had a meeting at the bank.”

  “Oh, right. Where you told Levi Thomlinson I was your boyfriend.” He danced away as she tried to slap his bicep.

  “You’re impossible.” The elevator arrived and she stalked onto it. Well, in her heels she couldn’t really stalk, so she sort of sashayed.

  He followed her. “And you’re stunning in that skirt, those heels.” He whistled as he drank her in, heels to eyes. The elevator doors closed behind him. “I’m going to kiss you now.” He leaned down, glad when she fisted her fingers in the collar of his Electric Company shirt and brought him toward her.

  Every kiss felt like the first one, and Dylan would’ve kept going if not for the alarming chime that they’d arrived on the sixth floor.

  Thanksgiving approached, and Dylan couldn’t remember when he’d been so busy. If he wasn’t at the build site, he was prepping to go. Ordering supplies, reading up on installing hot water heaters, or packing trucks with wires and outlet boxes. If he wasn’t doing that, he was thinking about the homes at Rivers Merge. Twin homes took up the back and would be built in stage four. The condos would take up stage three. Single family homes dominated stages one and two, and last he’d heard, they were selling fast.

  Should he get one?

  He couldn’t stop thinking about it, and that usually meant he needed to do something. He’d tried praying, but no answer had come. It was almost as if God didn’t care where he lived.

  He and Cami still managed to see each other, sometimes out at Rivers Merge if they were lucky. He spent his evenings with her, and he learned everything about her, from how she took her coffee to why she couldn’t go back to Amarillo.

  One night, with only a couple of weeks until the first night of the Christmas parade, Cami entered the warehouse where he’d finally decided to tackle the Elf Tree House, carrying a couple of bags of fast food.

  “Burgers,” she said. “And I stopped by the bakery. Grace was just closing up, so she gave me everything at half price.” Cami wore a satisfied smile, like she’d been given something special. Dylan wasn’t sure how often she went to the bakery, but they always sold everything for fifty percent off in the last thirty minutes before they closed.

  “Thanks,” he said, taking a bag of food and sweeping a kiss across her mouth. “How was work?”

  “Oh, you know. Only one toilet to service today.” She sighed as she climbed onto the sleigh and pulled out an apple fritter. She grinned just before taking a bite of it.

  Dylan smiled and shook his head before focusing on the elves again. There were just so many of them. Did Santa really need that much help to get everything ready for Christmas?

  He reminded himself that his mother put together an entire binder for a barbecue, so yes, Santa probably needed the dozens of elves in order to pull off Christmas.

  Thankfully, this float only had sixteen elves—and at the moment, ten of them were working. He started working on the bearded one, deciding to reward himself with his food if he got the elf to turn its head the way it was supposed to.

  Fifteen minutes later, Cami had finished all of her sweets, and he finally got the elf to move.

  “A-ha!” he said triumphantly. And the blue light on the elf’s hat lit up too. He grabbed the food bag and climbed into the sleigh with Cami.

  She grinned at him and he reached into the bag and handed her a box of French fries. “We’re going to the parade together, right?” he asked.

  “It runs for weeks,” she said. “Which one do you want to go to?”

  “The first one.” He glanced at her as he unwrapped his cheeseburger. “First weekend in December. Friday night.”

  “Yeah, sure.” She leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. She was positively angelic, and Dylan wondered if she was too tired for serious conversation.

  She did work more than anyone should have to, but he knew he would do the same for a better future.

  “Hey,” he said gently when he’d eaten through his burger. “I was wondering…how you felt about children.”

  Her eyes jerked open, a familiar edge of fear there. “Children?”

  “Yeah, do you, uh, you know, want kids?”

  She sat up, her eyes never leaving his. “Um—”

  “In general,” he said. “Do you see yourself having a family someday?”

  “Someday,” she repeated slowly. “Yeah, sure.” She looked out of the sleigh at something that wasn’t there in warehouse.

  “How many?” He popped a few fries in his mouth.

  She glanced at him, a knowing light in her eyes. “One or two.”

  He scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.” He grinned at her so she’d know he was kidding. “I want a whole houseful of them.”

  “Well, how big is the house you’re getting?”

  He fell silent. “Well, I was thinking about getting one up in the new development. But I don’t know.” He didn’t want to put in a yard or deal with no shade. He liked the older parts of Three Rivers better, but he’d done nothing to look at the real estate market.

  “So for my house, one or two is a houseful.” She ate a few more fries. “I don’t know. I just don’t see myself as very nurturing. Or something.”

  “You’re nurturing,” he said. “You were great with my nieces and nephews.”


  “I guess.”

  He lifted his arm and she cuddled into his side, and while they were sitting in a fake sleigh in a warehouse in a state where it rarely snowed, Dylan felt like he was about to have the best Christmas of his life.

  A week later, on Black Friday, Dylan started looking for diamonds. He got up early and drove to the only jeweler in town, hoping he wouldn’t have to go all the way to Amarillo. He had no plans to work or see Camila for the rest of the day. He hoped one of those would change, but for now, he didn’t want her to know where he was or what he was doing.

  The sky threatened rain as Dylan found himself in the jewelry store in Amarillo. It hadn’t been hard to go inside. Or to tell the salesman why he was there.

  But the selection of diamonds—from cut to color to quality—was daunting, to say the least. Boone had offered to come with him, but Dylan had turned him down. For some reason, he wanted this experience to be his, and his alone.

  “What about this one?” Roman, the salesman, held up a ring nestled in a box, the baseball-diamond shaped gem, and Dylan’s heart went pitter-pat. “This is our popular princess cut but set sideways.”

  “I like that,” Dylan said. The band was silver and thin and didn’t seem strong enough to support such a huge diamond.

  “It has a second piece,” Roman said, plucking another ring from the counter in front of him. Dylan knew him from around town, as Roman had grown up in Three Rivers and followed his father into the diamond business. He was several years older than Dylan though, closer to Alecia’s age.

  “You keep this piece until the wedding day, and your bride-to-be wears the diamond. Then, once you’re married, you unite the two pieces. She could have it soldered then, to keep the ring together.”

  Roman slipped the diamond out of the box and put the two rings together. The thicker silver second piece definitely gave the ring a whole new look—one Dylan really liked.

  Swallowing, he glanced down the case of rings, no idea what he was looking for. Oh, yes, he did. A price tag. Some indication of how much this was going to cost.

  “This one is affordable,” Roman said, as if sensing Dylan’s hesitation.