"If you'll hold on to these," Austin said, "I'll see if Annalisa has the other two saddled."

"Is she going with us?"

"She wouldn't miss it, but Cassie will. She's working." Cassie was his single sister. She lived on the ranch, too. "Saturday is a big day at the shop."

"I thought Annalisa was expecting a baby?" Lana said.

This was news to Davis, but Austin's chest expanded at the mention. A grin spread across Davis's face. He remembered that feeling, the pride and joy.

"Doc says the exercise is good for her. For both of them." Still grinning like a new daddy, Austin pivoted toward the barn.

Davis followed, willing to help with the animals.

"We still on to get that bathroom retiled?" the cowboy asked.

"Next week maybe." Davis narrowed his eyes to think through his schedule. He knew Austin wanted the work done before Christmas, as a gift to his wife. "Is that soon enough?"

"Yup."

The large barn smelled of hay and leather and horse flesh. Annalisa, a saddle blanket in her hands, smiled at her husband. The big rancher visibly melted, a teddy bear where his wife was concerned. It was a beautiful thing, Davis thought, the love between a man and a woman. A very beautiful thing.

Soon the horses were saddled, and the party mounted. Austin's big bay, a horse he called Cisco, was loaded with gear. He and Annalisa led the way. Davis and Lana brought up the rear. With the children sandwiched between the adults, they headed up a well-traveled trail into the mountainous forest spreading around and beyond the Blackwell Ranch.

Lana rode at Davis's flank. He thought she handled a horse pretty well, if a little stiffly. Sydney bounced up and down on Tinker, the old gelding with the gentle spirit.

To reassure both Lana and the little girl, Davis said, "He'll take care of her. Don't worry."

The horses trudged with practiced ease, heads down and bobbing up the incline through hickory and oak. As the trail steepened, conical evergreens began to dot the landscape. They'd journeyed only a short distance, less than a mile, when Austin raised a leather-clad hand to stop.

Lana sucked in a breath as a doe and fawn bolted from the brush, crossed the trail in front of them and then leaped into the trees on the opposite side. Not one of the horses reacted other than an ear flicker.

"Beautiful," Lana breathed.

Davis stared at the side of her face. "Sure is."

"Dad, Dad, did you see that?" In wide-eyed wonder, Paige drew his attention. "A mama and a baby deer."

He understood the thrill. Even as an adult, he found the grace and beauty of white-tailed deer a sight to behold. His kids would talk about it for days.

Austin dropped his hand and the journey continued, ending in a thick stand of evergreen.

"Here we are," Austin announced as he dismounted and walked back to lift his wife tenderly from the horse. When Annalisa's feet touched the ground, the big cowboy lowered his head and kissed her.

Davis couldn't help looking at Lana. What would she think if he did the same? But before he could act on the impulse, she was off the buckskin, helping the children dismount.

Once the horses were secured, Annalisa swept her arms in a wide arc around the glade. "Pick your Christmas tree. There are plenty."

"Too many," Austin said with a frown. "Can't graze cattle on juniper."

Annalisa laughed, her blond beauty enhanced by her early pregnancy. Not that Davis could even tell she was expecting other than the happy glow.

Nathan, Paige and Sydney made a beeline through the trees, exclaiming over first one evergreen and then another. The adults trudged along, grinning at the childish excitement.

"I want a giant one. Tall as the ceiling," Nathan exclaimed, stretching his arms as high as possible. "Big as the sky."

"How about you, Lana?" Davis asked. "Want one big as the sky?"

"Bigger." Her blue eyes sparkled in the winter sunlight. She slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow.

Blood humming with pleasure, Davis put a hand over her fingers and squeezed gently. His heart was doing funny things, happy things, inside his chest. "Whatever the lady wants."

She turned her head to look at him and he leaned in to kiss the corner of her mouth. Her smile widened and she returned the favor, her lips warm against his cold cheek.

This was good. Really good.

He could imagine himself with Lana, searching for the perfect tree, year after year. Could she imagine it, too?

"How about this one?" Nathan shouted, drawing their focus, though Davis's heart continued to dance to music no one could hear but him.

Up ahead, Paige and Sydney were slowly circling a tall, stately cedar while Nathan, nose red, ran back to Austin for the ax.

"This is it. This is it!" he called.

"Remember, we need two."

"Make that three," Annalisa said. "I think you've picked a good one, though." She circled the tree with the children, hands on hips. "No gaps. Nice and cone shaped. Very green."

"It's beautiful." Sydney had removed a glove and was testing the branches as she talked to Paige. "And it smells really good. I think it's kind of perfect. You and Nathan can have this one."

Her generosity touched a tender spot in Davis. Truth was Sydney got to him as much as her mother did. He'd seen her let Nathan have the first turn or the last cookie. Generous, caring. Like Lana.

Why had he ever wondered about Lana's mothering skills? She'd done an amazing job with Sydney.

"It is kind of perfect," he said, taking the ax from Nathan as Austin and Annalisa moved deeper into the woods in search of their own perfect Christmas tree. "Who gets the first whack?"

"You chop it, Daddy." Paige grabbed Sydney's coat sleeve and dragged her backward from the tree.

"I want to help." Nathan stuck close to his dad. "I'll hold the tree so it won't fall down. Huh, Dad?"

Before Davis could give the warning, Nathan stuck his bare hand into the prickly limbs of the cedar. He let out a yowling cry and jerked back.

Davis dropped the ax and reached for his son. To his surprise, Nathan threw himself into Lana's waiting arms, tears falling.

"Shh. Let me see. Let me see, sugar." Lana knelt on the cold ground to look at Nathan's hand. "There now. It's only a sticker."

Nathan stopped crying and blinked dark, wet lashes. His lip quivered but he was trying to be brave. "Can you get it out? It hurts me."

"I think I can," Lana said, "Will you hold real still while I try? I promise to be careful."

Trusting, Nathan nodded. He sniffed one long sniff and said, "Okay."

By now, Davis was on his knees next to the pair and Sydney and Paige hovered as though Nathan had lost a limb.

Using her fingernails, Lana carefully extracted a half-inch splinter from Nathan's palm. Then, while Davis watched with his heart in his throat, she placed a kiss on the dirty spot.

"How's that feel? Better?"

Nathan, his face inches from hers, nodded. With a long sniffing shudder, he said, "I love you, Lana."

Lana's eyelids dropped shut. She pulled his baby into her arms and murmured, "I love you, too, sugar."

Davis put his arms around the pair of them, heart bursting, the scent of cedar in his nose and wild hope in his chest.

Chapter Thirteen.

Who knew decorating a Christmas tree could be both romantic and hilarious?

Lana smiled up at Davis as she dug through a plastic shopping bag of brand-new decorations. There had been a box of old ones in the attic but she was starting fresh. No need to drag out bad memories. Especially of the Christmas Mama had slapped Tess for sneaking a present and her parents had fought far into the night. That was the year Daddy went to work one day and never came home again.

She shook her head, abolishing dark thoughts from the perfect evening. The fireplace crackled. They'd made popcorn and put on a Christmas CD of kids' songs. Most importantly, people she cared about were present.

"Thank you for this," she said. "Decorating this tree means a lot to Sydney."

They'd left Davis's tree propped against the side of the side of his garage in a bucket of water, agreeing to decorate Sydney's lopsided wonder first.

"What about her mom?"

Her conscience tweaked. She should tell him Sydney was not her child, but now didn't seem the right time. Soon, though, she promised. Soon.

She simply said, "It means a lot to her, too." Wherever she is. "Decorating yours tomorrow gives us another good excuse to get together and have fun."

Davis, a strand of glittery tinsel in his calloused hands, moved closer. He jacked a sandy eyebrow. "Do we need an excuse?"

Lana's pulse jumped. She studied his eyes, saw the affection in their depths and marveled. "No," she answered. "I don't think we do."

At moments like this, Lana wanted to pinch herself. Davis Turner, the nicest guy on the planet, wanted to be with her. Plenty of men had been attracted to her, but not like this. When Davis touched or kissed her, she felt clean, unused. She felt new again.

He draped a length of tinsel around her neck and slowly drew her to him. When she laughed, he rubbed her nose with his and laughed, too.

From her peripheral vision, she saw the children approach and tried to pull away. But Davis held her fast.

"Too late," he said. "You can't escape the inevitable."

She glanced around, not understanding. The three matchmakers grinned from ear to ear as Paige stretched tall to hold a branch of plastic mistletoe over their heads.

"You're right," she answered, moving back into his space. "Far too late."

Davis was standing at his kitchen sink scrubbing paint from beneath his fingernails when his front door burst open. Expecting Jenny with his kids, he didn't bother to turn around until Paige rushed to his side and burst into great heaving sobs.

"Oh, Daddy!"

Davis jerked his hands from beneath the flow of warm water, splashing the cabinets and floor. "Hey! What's going on here?"

Paige was not one to wail and cry, but before she could pull herself together, an agitated Jenny plowed through the doorway with Nathan and Kent in tow, their eyes wide and worried. Charlie was nowhere to be seen.

The noise in the room was worse than a jackhammer on concrete. Paige crying. Jenny talking. Davis asking what was going on. Nathan grabbed onto his daddy's leg and clung like a spider monkey.

Fear snaked up Davis's spine.

"What's wrong? Where's Charlie? Has something happened?"

The noise grew louder as everyone started talking at once. Finally, he stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled like a referee. The noise ceased.

"Will someone tell me what's going on before I call 9-1-1?"

"That woman is a kidnapper."

This statement from Jenny started the sobs in Paige again.

"I didn't mean to tell, Daddy. Sydney made me promise. It was an accident."

"Who's a kidnapper? You didn't mean to tell what?" The hysteria was starting to scare him.

Jenny put a hand on Paige's shoulder. "Honey, you did the right thing. Now, go wash your face and calm down while I speak to your daddy. None of this is your fault."

Paige looked from Jenny to Davis. When Davis nodded reassuringly, she trudged out of the kitchen, shoulders drooping.

"You boys go in the living room and watch TV while Aunt Jenny and I talk," Davis said. Hands still dripping on the floor, he grabbed a dish towel. Whatever was going on, he didn't need crying, clinging children involved.

Once the boys were dispatched, he wiped his hands and said, "All right. What's going on? Is Charlie all right?"

"He's in the car. No worse than usual. That's not why I'm here."

"Is anyone hurt?"

"Not physically." When he hitched a hip in a get-on-with-it stance, his sister said, "Paige told me something about Sydney and Lana today that I think you should know before you get any more involved with them."

He straightened, suddenly wary. Any more involved and they'd be standing before a preacher.

A bad feeling snaked up the back of his neck. "I won't listen to gossip about her, Jenny. She's changed."