Christmas at Blue Moon Ranch by Lynnette Kent Page B

into the hospital and waited for a doctor’s verdict. On the
way back, which seemed even longer, she’d wrestled with thoughts about Daniel
Trent.
    She couldn’t
believe it, but in the midst of her anxiety this morning, she had again noticed
the man’s sheer physical appeal. His black T-shirt had revealed the contoured
muscles of his arms and chest, while slim-fitting, well-worn jeans had
showcased his long legs. Even knowing how the skin under his clothes had been
ravaged, she’d found herself stirred all over again by the shape and
proportions of his body.
    And then there
was his smile, his concerned blue gaze, the reassurance in his rich voice. So
tempting, that ice-cream sundae voice. She remembered how he’d said her name as
he’d touched her skin, as he’d moved inside of her…
    “Willa?” Rosa
spoke from the open door to the kitchen. “What in the world are you doing out
here in the dark? Dinner is ready.”
    “Coming.” She
could only hope the night air would cool the heat in her face generated by
memories of Daniel Trent.
    After dinner,
she went to her office to work on the ranch accounts. All too often, however,
her concentration faltered, until she threw her pencil across the room in
disgust.
    Somehow, she had
to keep Daniel out of her thoughts. He represented her biggest
mistakes—breaking up the Blue Moon and allowing herself to be swept off her
feet by a stranger’s sexy grin.
    The first
mistake would be corrected in three months. Maybe less, when Daniel realized
that he simply couldn’t cope with the physical demands of ranching. She’d get
that land parcel back, and she’d be sure to keep tight hold of it for the rest
of her life. Of course she could use the money from the sale—who couldn’t use
almost a million dollars? But the earnest money he’d already paid would help
satisfy the most pressing of her current debts.
    As a means of
encouraging herself, Willa took out a red marker and crossed off the past five
days on her big desk pad calendar. Then she turned to the page for December and
put a circle around the box for the twenty-first, adding two dots for eyes and
an arc for the mouth. A smiling face now looked up at her, marking the day
Daniel Trent would be gone.
    Her second
mistake couldn’t be so easily edited. If it were simply a case of forgetting
the night she’d spent with a stranger, she’d have dealt with the guilt and
moved on. But the ease with which she’d succumbed to her desire for Daniel
reminded Willa of her backseat tryst sixteen years ago with a boy who’d treated
her like dirt afterward.
    I’ll keep my
distance, she
promised herself as she turned back to her bookkeeping. And I’ll make sure
he keeps his.
    Eighty-three
days. I can last that long. Eighty-three days to December 21…and counting.

Chapter Five
    Daniel had just
started on his first cup of Monday morning coffee when the doorbell rang. He
was wearing the sweatpants and T-shirt he’d slept in, but this surely couldn’t
be Lili and Rosa Mercado. Not so early.
    Still, he looked
through the window before opening the door. The man standing on his front stoop
was on the short side, bowlegged and deeply tanned, with lines in his face from
age and the sun. His dusty boots, frayed, faded jeans, and red, long-sleeved
shirt with a blue bandana at the throat epitomized the word cowboy.
    “You gonna open
the door?” he called. “I can smell the coffee out here.”
    Grinning, Daniel
did as requested. “Good morning.”
    The man tipped
his standard-issue white cowboy hat. “’Morning. I’m Nate Hernandez. Heard you
need a ranch foreman.”
    “Where did you
hear that?” Daniel hadn’t yet figured out the best way to go about advertising
for help.
    “Rosa Mercado
mentioned it at church yesterday. Sure could use a cup of coffee.”
    Of course. With a fatalistic shrug, Daniel
stepped back. “Come on in. Help yourself.”
    “Thanks.” Nate
went straight to the kitchen, found the correct cupboard and