A Port Ranch Christmas (A Christmas Novella)

Chapter 11

DUSTIN

Christmas was only a couple of days away and I wasn’t making nearly the progress with Ella’s family as I thought I would. Brit already adored me, so I wasn’t worried about her. I also think Jace and I had a bit of a breakthrough after the incident with the bulls and me almost dying. I knew the toughest cookie to crack was going to be Granger, I just didn’t know how to go about it.

I either pissed him off, he completely ignored me, or I never saw him because he was so busy. After learning more about my fall off Oak and how close I became to being bull bait, Ella made me promise I wouldn’t go back out to work with the guys. It wasn’t difficult to make that promise, but that also meant the best time to work on Granger was gone. By the time he was done working, we ate dinner and then he almost retired to the bedroom right after that.

Ella has been a bit tight-lipped about what she and her dad talked about after her outburst. Obviously, it was about me, but what about me I don’t know. She said I wouldn’t have to worry about her dad anymore, but I also didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t want Granger to ignore or avoid me completely, I just didn’t want him to try and kill me before I got the chance to have my future with Ella.

Rather than dwelling on Granger, I spent my day yesterday and today with Ella and her cousins. We drove into town and walked down Main Street today. Ella got excited telling me a bunch of stories about growing up in this small town. We stopped by her favorite diner for lunch and then the soda shop for a sweet treat after we had done some shopping. The shops were small and nothing like the places I was used to in Boston or the malls in St. Louis. They were mom and pop owned, a lot of them selling things you’d never be able to get anywhere else.

Lawrence was a breath of fresh air in some ways. I loved growing up in Boston, but it was large and always busy. St. Louis was a slower pace by my standards, but nothing like this small town. I could tell why Ella loved it so much. After wrapping presents and eating dinner, we curled up on the couch in the family room and put on a movie. Brit had joined her husband in their room and it was just the two of us. I still hated that we couldn’t share a bed in her parent’s house, so I wasn’t in a hurry to wake Ella up just to say goodnight again. I let her sleep soundly in my arms while I watched the end of the movie and let a new one begin.

The Christmas tree lit up one side of the room and I happened to glance in that direction and see the beginning of snowfall happening in the backyard. I gave Ella a little shake to gently wake her, knowing she wouldn’t want to miss this. “El, wake up, baby.”

“What is it?” she said in a groggy voice while trying to wake up.

“It’s snowing outside.”

That got her attention like I knew it would. She moved quickly to her feet and padded over to the large window and stood close enough to it that she could almost press her face against the glass. “Wow, look at how large those flakes are? It is going to be a white Christmas after all.”

“I told you that it was going to snow,” I teased her with a little tickle to her side. She giggled and leaned back into me. I took in her scent while resting my cheek against the side of her head.

“Maybe you should have considered becoming a weatherman since you love to be right all the time.”

“I think I’ll just keep my meteorology skills as a secret talent instead.”

“Weirdo,” she laughed.

“Do you want to go outside?”

“Right now?” She spun around in my arms, “It’s like…what time is it anyway? How long was I asleep?”