Free True-Blue Cowboy Christmas by Nicole Helm Page B

mother gone? Had she left, like Summer’s own mother had left this place? Or had something terrible happened that was the cause of Thack’s overprotectiveness?
    But then wouldn’t Kate’s grandfather be overprotective too?
    Torn between pressing further and leaving it be, Summer hiked her long skirt up to her knees to prepare for climbing the fence. “Gone… How—”
    â€œKatherine.”
    They both came up short as the low, male voice seemed to boom out of nowhere, but while Summer had to swallow down a screech, Kate just sighed.
    â€œUh-oh,” she muttered under her breath before mustering a smile for her father. “Hi, Daddy.”
    Thack stood on the other side of the fence and held out a hand, but it wasn’t much like the invitation Summer had offered Kate. No, this was more of a demand. You will take my hand now. For a second Summer thought Kate wouldn’t release her. Summer was completely frozen both by the initial shock, and the area between a rock and a hard place Kate kept thrusting her into. But after a few seconds of Summer’s inner panicking, Kate released Summer’s hand and took her father’s.
    She stepped with him to the fence, and he helped her over it. Summer watched them, openmouthed, trying to force some words out, but she didn’t know what to say. Not even a little.
    How much had he seen or heard? What was he thinking?
    He glanced back at her, and something about his dark green gaze made her heart hammer against her chest. It felt like fear and not like fear, both wrapped up in one weird, heart-pounding moment.
    â€œFollow us,” he ordered, and whether because of the look on her face or common sense, he offered a halfhearted “please” afterward.
    â€œFollow…you.”
    He gave a curt nod, and this time when he held out a hand, it was for her. Like he was going to help her over the fence.
    Oh.
    Well.
    She wanted to refuse. After all, she could get over the fence without any help, and she wasn’t all that sure she wanted to obey his order. But Kate was watching her expectantly. So.
    With a completely fake smile, Summer took his offered hand. It was big and callused, roughened by work. Hers felt small and soft compared to his, despite all of the damage they’d taken over the years. Playing the guitar tended to do a number on her fingers, and learning how to ride had beaten up her once soft, delicate hands.
    But compared to Thack’s? No contest.
    She had to use her free hand to pull the edge of her long skirt more firmly around herself. She stepped onto the bottom rung and swung her leg over, Thack’s free hand resting on her waist for balance. But the shirt under her cardigan didn’t go all the way down to the waistband of her skirt, and with her arms elevated, the bottom of her coat had hitched up to belly-button level.
    His hand was touching the skin of her waist, which was the kind of intimate touch that strangers helping each other over fences shouldn’t dwell on. Or lean into.
    So, she hopped over quickly with a short, sharp inhale and let go of his hand, moving out of his reach. Something about him touching her, no matter how innocently, had a lot of not-so-innocent thoughts trying to run through her brain.
    Summer had learned a lot more than she’d wanted to know and much too early about men—about, well, lust, she supposed—from way too much exposure, but she’d never experienced much of anything. She’d seen things, heard things, but her mother had kept her “pure” for what turned out to be a rather nefarious reason.
    And so, Summer had never been overly interested in exploring those things. She’d kissed a few guys of her choosing before she’d left Mom, but since she’d come here, men had been something of a nonissue.
    Now? It seemed like maybe something of an issue. Kate’s father’s big, rough hand on her waist was something she seriously