They spent a few more moments showering love on Argus until one of the horses made a raspberry sort of sound that made Maddie giggle.
“That’s Cinnamon,” Aidan said. “The gentlest horse in here. I got her specifically with Carter and Faith in mind.”
He had bought a horse strictly for the rare visit from his nephew and niece. She knew that shouldn’t touch her heart but she couldn’t seem to help it.
Which was the real Aidan? The tough businessman who ground up his competitors and sprinkled them on his espresso or the softie who bought a horse for his niece and nephew who might only visit him here a couple times a year?
“Oh,” Maddie breathed, her eyes wide as she approached the stall containing the red horse. Roan, Eliza thought it was called, though what did she know? She had absolutely no knowledge of horses, other than what she had seen watching Gunsmoke and The Rifleman reruns with her dad.
“She’s beautiful. The most beautiful horse in the whole wide world.”
Her daughter was obviously in love. She had her hands clasped together at her collarbone like the heroine of a melodrama and was gazing at Cinnamon with a rapt expression.
The horse was pretty, Eliza had to admit, with kind, gentle eyes. Even she could tell, though, that she was by no means the most elegant horse in the barn. Most of the half-dozen other horses she could see were muscled and strong, especially a big black with a flowing gray mane.
“Bob says they’re all nice horses but he likes Cinnamon the best,” Maddie declared.
“Would you like to make friends?” Aidan asked. “I brought a couple of carrots from the kitchen. You can feed her some.”
Her daughter looked torn. “Bob doesn’t like carrots. How do I feed her?”
He took her hand and led her closer to the horse, then handed her the carrot. “Nothing to it. You just hold it out for her and Cinnamon will do all the work.”
“She might bite me, though.”
“Not this old girl, I promise.”
Eliza held her breath as Maddie hesitated for only a moment then offered up the carrot. Cinnamon lapped it out of her hand in one bite, with a grateful whinny.
Maddie giggled. “It tickles, Mama!”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Eliza said.
“I’ve got another carrot if you want a turn.”
Despite Aidan’s confidence that the horse wouldn’t bite, those teeth were big and she wasn’t at all eager to put her fingers within reach.
“I’m good. Thanks.”
“Okay, Maddie. Looks like you get to be the designated carrot-delivery girl. Here you go.”
He gave her another one and this time she held it out with more confidence. She even found the courage to pat the horse’s neck and was rewarded with a gentle head butt that made her giggle again.
“See? She likes you.”
“I like her, too,” Maddie announced, which wasn’t really news to anyone.
He chuckled. “I need to check on a couple of the other horses. We have one who’s going to foal in the next month. Are you two good staying here with Argus and Cinnamon?”
Eliza nodded. As he walked down to the far end of the barn, she tried not to watch him go, focusing instead on her daughter introducing Imaginary Bob to her new friend while the other horses whickered for attention and the somehow comforting scents of hay and horses swirled around them and dust motes floated in the air like gold flakes.
AIDAN TOOK HIS TIME checking on Jemma, their foaling mare, talking to her, making sure she had the special feed mix the vet had recommended.
He knew his efforts were completely unnecessary as Jim did an excellent job managing the horses, but it gave him a good excuse to keep a little distance between him and Eliza and to work on trying to rein in this crazy attraction he hadn’t been able to shake all day.
This stupid season—this time for family, for connection—was seriously messing with him, especially this year, when he had almost lost everything.
He didn’t want to be so drawn to her and her cute little girl.
Yes, Eliza Hayward was a lovely woman—soft, curvy, with an air of delicate vulnerability he found intensely appealing.
She made him want to take care of her, to tuck her close and protect her from the hardships of life—an impulse he knew was completely ridiculous, not to mention chauvinistic and also unnecessary. He had only known her a day but he already knew Eliza Hayward had a fierce independent streak and seemed to be doing a fine job of managing life on her own, including raising a child with health challenges.
He admired many things about her, including her willingness to jump right in where she saw a need—specifically decorating his Christmas tree.
He had never been so immediately and forcefully drawn to a woman. Even BethAnn the Betrayer had taken a few months to pierce through his natural defenses and gain his trust—and that had happened when he was a naive college student living far from the security of home and still raw and grieving from his mother’s death.
He wasn’t that dumb, hungry kid anymore. BethAnn had taught him to be cautious and vigilant, especially when it came to women who appeared sweet and needy on the outside but could be cold, calculating, soulless bitches beneath the fluttering eyelashes and shy smiles.
Eliza had secrets. He hadn’t missed the shadows in her eyes or the way she carefully evaded certain topics, like her husband. In all likelihood, she was exactly as she appeared—a widow who had sustained some tough breaks lately.
Or she could be a con artist who had manipulated him and the events of the past twenty-four hours to her best advantage.
He couldn’t quite believe that one, but he would be a fool to let the magic and wonder of Christmas overshadow his own hard-won common sense.
He hadn’t been a fool in a long, long time.
Okay, he might have made a few irrational decisions during the summer—like purchasing three hundred acres on an Idaho lake, along with six commercial buildings and a factory he didn’t know what the hell to do with. But that had been a fluke, a medically induced anomaly. He was all better now, back on track, clearheaded and completely rational.
Maybe this attraction to Eliza—this yearning he also didn’t know what the hell to do with—was simply an unexpected side effect of that brush with mortality. Maybe she represented the world he had consciously given up when he set out to create the dynasty that would become Caine Tech.
Whatever the reason, he needed to keep his distance from her until his family arrived. After that, he would be so busy keeping all the Caines happy and entertained, not to mention avoiding Pop’s entirely too perceptive gaze, to have time to do something crazy like fall for a woman he barely knew.
He fed Jemma one of the apples he had also filched from the kitchen. “Here you go. There’s a good girl,” he murmured to her and received a nuzzle in return.
With a wish that all females could be so uncomplicated, he headed back to Eliza and Maddie. Eliza was on the bench in the middle of the barn petting Argus, who was clearly infatuated, while Maddie carried on an in-depth conversation with Cinnamon about Santa Claus and whether the horse might be able to talk on Christmas Eve, along with the rest of the animals.
He remembered his mother telling him and his brothers that old folk belief, that the magic of Christmas