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Snowbound with the Single Dad
by Cara Colter
CHAPTER ONE
“THERE’S MY LITTLE Christmas star!”
Noelle felt a swell of joy as she watched her grandfather, Rufus, shut down the tractor and climb down off it He paused to lift the old black Lab, Sh the snoard her, Srin in place, despite the dog’s pained gait
She was relieved to see that, unlike S for a ht years He was dressed for cold, in a thick woolen toque, mittens and a lined plaid lumber jacket
His eht, lifting her right off her feet
He put her down and regarded her “You haven’t been losing weight, have you?”
“No,” she said quickly, although she wasn’t at all certain She had always been a slight girl, but she hadn’t been near a weigh scale since the abrupt end of her engageht eating chocolate ice cream for supper And also, sometimes, for breakfast
Their worry was mutual It was to be their first Christor In thosein her grandpa’s voice on the phone, which Noelle had not heard before—a weariness, a disconnect, as if he was not quite there Sometimes he had made mistakes about what day it was, and seemed confused about other small details of daily life Other times he had reminisced so obsessively about the past that Noelle had been convinced he was declining, too, dying of a broken heart
Then, a feeeks ago, she had noticed an ireat surprise and relief, he’d actually seeical time of year in her family, partly because it was her birthday, too Would it be too in to heal their losses this year?
But when Noelle had driven into the yard and seen her grandpa had not put up a single decoration, she had felt her heart fall Then, when she had noticed the tractor tracks, heading off into nowhere, she’d been frightened He didn’t have cattle any the tracks with great trepidation
“Grandpa” She sighed, feeling that sense of co hug and an ear scratching before she got up and surveyed her grandfather’s project
He seee square in the middle of what used to be a cow pasture “What on earth are you doing?”
His arm looped over her shoulder, he turned and looked with pleasure at his handiwork
“I’ pad,” he said, and her sense of well-being plummeted
“A what?” she stammered
“You heardo to the house and have coffee You brought everything you need for a nice Christmas at the ranch?”
She thought he ht want to take the tractor back to the house, but instead he turned with her and walked the pounded-down snow of the tractor track, S their heels
“Yes” Noelle hesitated, and then asked, “I wondered why you didn’t have any decorations up yet?”
“I thought it would be good to do it together”
Even though she had never helped with things like putting the outside lights up, she loved the idea of theether to re-create Christmases like the ones they had always enjoyed
“That sounds fun I’ forward to the break I’ll be here now until just after New Year’s”
“Ah, good Good Everybody else will leave Boxing Day, so we’ll have a bit of time for just you and me”