She ignored her aunt’s advice about playing hard to get and said, “Yes, I would.”

“Then on Sunday afternoon, we’ll go out for Sunday dinner, and if you want an artificial tree we can go to the mall and find one. Or if you want a real one then when we get home we can go to the woods and cut one down. On Monday we can put it up and spend however many nights we need to decorate it,” he said.

She leaned back and looked at him. “You are organized.”

“That’s what they say, but I want you to have a perfect Christmas, even if it is the week before Thanksgiving.”

He kissed her one more time, and she swore she heard bells and whistles off in the distance.

“Now I really have to go. Mama said seven and it’s five minutes ’til. See you tomorrow after work.”

Liz wished that Raylen wasn’t so punctual or organized.

Chapter 11

Jasmine had to make a grocery store run to Bowie for the café after work on Thursday, so she couldn’t go play Christmas with Liz. Gemma had three late appointments that would keep her tied up until dark. Dewar had promised Rye that he’d go with him to Breckenridge to look at a new longhorn bull he wanted to buy for rodeo stock, and they wouldn’t be back until bedtime. Ace was up to his elbows in tractor repairs and didn’t even have time to come to the Chicken Fried for a hamburger.

That left Raylen and Liz to finish stringing lights down the top of the fence around the front of the property. He crawled out of his truck in her front yard and shook the legs of his dusty jeans down over his scuffed-up cowboy boots. His chambray shirt was open down the front with a sweat-stained gauze muscle shirt underneath. He removed his straw cowboy hat and wiped sweat from his forehead with his shirtsleeve.

Liz had just parked her vehicle when Raylen got out of his truck. Her work T-shirt was stained where grease had splattered on her, and her makeup had long since gone.

“Where’s the rest of the crew? I knew Dewar was going with Rye, but we were supposed to have some help,” she asked.

If he’d known he was working alone with Liz, he damn sure would’ve taken time for a quick shower and a change of clothes.

“Jasmine had to go buy groceries. Gemma had late appointments. Ace called in and said he didn’t even have time to run by the café for a burger,” she explained.

“Well, I guess it’s a two-man crew, then. You ready to get this job done? We’ve got a helluva lot of work to do, Mrs. Claus.”

Liz looked down at her stained shirt. “I’m sure Mrs. Claus never looked like this.”

“I’m pretty sure Santa probably had a shower before he crawled up in the seat of his sleigh.” Raylen chuckled.

“Then I guess we’d better get busy. I’ve got so many plans to show my family, both natural and carnival, how much I love it here. There will be presents under the tree for everyone on the night of my party, so that means some shopping after we get this job done.”