“Sure,” he agreed too readily. “It’s loud and festive and always something happening. My stepmom makes a big deal about every tradition, and with so many kids and grandkids running around, there’s never a dull moment.”

He gave the appropriate answer, but there was no feeling behind it. She knew Sam was the youngest of five kids, two older brothers and two older sisters. He’d been born eight years after his nearest sibling, and his mom had died when he was in high school.

“You don’t sound excited by the prospect of all the Christmas chaos.”

“You have a couple of sisters, right?” He slowed as they took a hairpin turn on the mountain road.

“One younger and one older.”

“Do you have a certain role in the family?”

“Peacemaker,” she answered immediately.

His mouth curved. “That fits you. I’m the baby of the family, and my part is the goof-off party boy. My brothers and sisters think of me as a shallow good-time guy.”

She thought about how to respond. In truth, that’s how she’d regarded Sam when they first met. He was just too gorgeous, self-assured and easygoing to be regarded in any other way. The first few times they’d crossed paths in the front yard, he’d been all swagger and no substance. He could throw off lighthearted sexual innuendos like it was his job. It hadn’t been until they’d known each other for months that he’d shown her there was more to him than a pretty face and a set of chiseled abs.

Although she appreciated the abs.

“You’re not a kid anymore,” she felt obliged to say. “You’ve got an important job and plenty of responsibility. Heck, you save lives. Surely they realize you’ve grown up.”

“Not really.” He turned onto a gravel road with the painted sign for the Ridgeway Resort greeting visitors. “It doesn’t matter. I can be who they think I am for a few days. Good for a joke and a beer. The rest doesn’t matter.” His laugh sounded forced. “Hell, there’s no denying I like beer. Beer and women and football.”

“You’re also dedicated to your work and the community of Magnolia,” Bella felt compelled to point out. “I know you volunteer at the nursing home and with the local food pantry.”

“Let’s not mention any of that,” he said, his voice tight. “They’ll only find a way to make fun of me for it.”

Bella didn’t want to believe that, and her temper spiked in response. Sam wasn’t normally the overdramatic type. He could tell her about a call at the station like he’d done nothing more than cross the street. Despite his tendency to play down the serious things in life, there was a depth to him most people didn’t see or appreciate. She didn’t like that his family fell into that category.

Before she could ask him for more details about them, he whistled low under his breath. Her gaze tracked out the front window, where the log cabins that surrounded a circle of grass had been decked out to look like an old-fashioned Christmas village.