Jesse eased the camel into place alongside the rough wooden building that sheltered the baby Jesus and his earthly parents. He’d already positioned bales of hay around the site and spread straw on the ground. Later, he’d rig up the spotlights and the Star of Bethlehem to bring the scene to life.
In minutes, he had the camel bellowing and blinking.
With a grimace, he shut off the mechanism. “Jade will love that monstrosity.”
With laughter and a clap of her hands, Lindsey put aside her troubled thoughts. “I thought as much. We’ll let her turn it on as soon as she gets home from school.”
Jesse dusted his hands down the sides of his jeans, one corner of his mouth quirking ever-so-slightly. “What’s next? Singing Santas? Yodeling elves?”
“Nothing quite that fun. We’d better begin cutting and baling. I’d like to haul the first load tomorrow if we have enough ready.”
“So soon?”
“The rush begins on Thanksgiving. That’s only a week away. Stores and lots like to have their trees ready to sell.”
Switching off the last strains of “Silent Night,” he gestured in the direction of the trees. “Lead on, boss lady.”
Though disappointed to lose the beautiful music, Lindsey hummed Christmas carols as they began the process of cutting the marked and graded trees. Jesse manned the chain saw and as each tree toppled, Lindsey slid a rolling sled-like device beneath the pine and pulled it to the waiting baler.
Accustomed to lifting the heavy trees, Lindsey manhandled each one into the cone-shaped baler to be compressed into a tight bundle and secured with netting.
Saw in one gloved hand, Jesse poked his head around a tree. “Leave those for me to lift and bale.”
“We’d never get finished that way. I’m used to the work, Jesse. Stop fretting.”
But pleasure raced through her blood when he laid aside the saw long enough to lift the baled tree onto the flatbed truck. She might be accustomed to heavy work, but being treated like a girl was a novel and somewhat pleasant, if misguided, occurrence.
Following him back into the wide row, and lost in thought, Lindsey never saw the danger coming. One minute, she was examining a hole in her glove and the next she heard the crack and whine of falling timber.
“Lindsey, look out!”
She looked, but all she saw was green blocking the gray-blue sky and rapidly closing in on her.
Then all the air whooshed from her lungs as Jesse came flying and knocked her to the ground, taking the brunt of the felled pine across his back and head.
She tasted dust and pine sap. Prickly needles poked over Jesse’s shoulders and scratched the side of her face. Her pulse pounded and her knees trembled as if she’d done jumping jacks for the last hour.
One arm flung protectively over her head, his chest lying across her back, Jesse’s warm breath puffed against her ear. “Are you okay?”
He sounded scared.
“Fine.” She struggled to draw air into her lungs. “You?”
“Yeah.” Jesse’s heart raced wildly against her shoulder blades. The situation was anything but intimate, and yet Lindsey was aware of him in an entirely new way.
“You’re crushing me,” she managed.
“Sorry.” He shoved the tree to one side before rolling to a sitting position.
Offering a hand, he pulled Lindsey up to sit beside him. Breath coming in rapid puffs, his concerned gaze checked her over.
With a tenderness usually reserved for Jade, he stroked one calloused finger down her cheek. “You have a scratch.”
She studied his face, but resisted the urge to touch him. Already her skin tingled from his simple gesture, and her insides were too rattled from the accident to think straight. Her throat felt tight and thick. “So do you.”
He flicked one shoulder, tossing off her concern like an unwanted gum wrapper.
“I’ll heal.” He took a deep breath and blew out a gusty sigh. “Man, that scared me. I can’t believe I let that tree get away from me.”
“Not your fault. I heard the saw. I knew you were harvesting, but I was…distracted.” She wasn’t about to tell him that he’d been the distracting element. And now she was more discombobulated than ever. Jesse had put himself in harm’s way to protect her. And she liked the feeling of having a man—of having Jesse—look after her.
Oh, dear. She could be in real trouble here if she didn’t watch her step. There was no denying Jesse’s attractiveness, but the idea of letting another handsome face turn her head was worrisome. Jesse’s secretiveness and his resistance to the Lord bothered her, too. But as a Christian, she wanted to provide a shining example of Christ’s love; to share the incomprehensible peace of mind the Lord had given her.
Somewhere there had to be a midway point between being Jesse’s friend in Christ and falling for him.
She only wished she knew how to find it.
Chapter Seven
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Jesse asked the moment he and Jade arrived on Thanksgiving Day. “We can still head down to the Caboose and grab a bite to eat.”
A sharp wind, the likes of which rip and tear across Oklahoma with the energy of wild, vicious dogs, swept a draught of cold air into the farmhouse.
Though the oven had warmed the place considerably, Lindsey wasn’t one to fritter away expensive heating fuel. She plucked at the quilted sleeve of Jesse’s coat and pulled him inside.
“And waste this feast I’ve been cooking all morning? Not a chance, mister. You are stuck with my home cooking. No arguments.”
Ducking beneath her daddy’s arms, Jade slipped into the house and started shedding her outerwear. She wore a red wool coat Lindsey had never seen before over a plaid jumper, black tights and patent-leather shoes. Lindsey’s heart did a funny stutter-step. Jesse had dressed her up for Thanksgiving dinner.
“You guys toss your coats in the bedroom. I need to check on the dressing and sweet potatoes.”
Hands on the snaps of his jacket, Jesse stood in the kitchen doorway sniffing the air. “Candied sweet potatoes?”
She nodded. “With marshmallows and brown sugar.”
He let out a low groan. “Forget the Caboose. I wouldn’t leave now even if you chased me with that shotgun of yours.”
Lindsey couldn’t hold back the rush of pleasure. She knew she was blushing and quickly bent over the oven door to blame her increased color on the heat.
Asking Jesse and Jade to Thanksgiving dinner made perfect sense. They had no other place to go, and she had no family living close enough to cook for. In fact, she’d been as energetic as that silly bunny for the three days since Jesse had agreed to share the holiday with her.
“So,” Jesse said, coming back into the kitchen from putting away his wraps. “What can we do to help?”
The foil-covered turkey was nicely basted and already out of the oven. The dressing and sweet potatoes were almost ready as were the hot rolls. Though she didn’t want to admit as much to Jesse, she’d gotten up earlier than normal to bake everything the way her grandmother always had.
“We’ll be ready to eat soon.” She turned with a smile, wiping her hands on her bib apron. “You could set the table if you’d like.”
“Come