Trigger Massey puffed air out of his cheeks in frustration as he squatted down next to the hole he’d dug under a couple of loose planks in the barn floor. He was running low on his cash stashes thanks to setting up the new Two Claws Trail Rides business. He was one week out from Christmas, and Ava deserved a special present, but until the business started bringing in income, he was strapped for cash.

“What are you doing?” Ava’s brother, Colton, asked from behind him.

Trigger didn’t turn around. As quick as he could, he shoved the old rusted coffee can filled with dollar bills back in the hole, scooped the cold dirt over the top, and replaced the wooden floor planks.

“I’m gonna fuck this up,” he muttered to his best friend.

The creaking sound behind him told Trigger that Colton had settled on the old bench he and Dad had built when he was ten. It was a match to one they’d made for a cluster of shade trees out by the river. This bench was scooted up against the stall next to Harley’s. Dangerous territory. God, this place still felt empty without the old man bustling around.

“You’re gonna fuck what up? Your relationship with Ava? Nah, she’s got stars in her eyes when she looks at you. They say love is blind, and I believe it now. She settled for your hideous ass and moved all her shit into your cabin. You’re in. She don’t pick her people easily, but when she does, she sticks to them like superglue.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and blew out a long, frozen breath in front of him. Then he scrunched up his face. “It’s actually annoying. Ever since she came back, she’s been trying to fix my life, like it needs fixin’.”

“Listen to you bellyachin’,” Trigger teased. “For the last ten years, you complained she never came home, and now that she’s here, you want her gone.”

“Grass is always greener,” Colton said. The scars on his face were a stark reminder of what Trigger had done to him five years ago. He was a life-ruiner, and he didn’t want to be that to Ava. He wanted to be better. “The grass is greener under your own boots if you water it enough,” he said softly.

“Who are you and what have you done with my pissy friend?”

Trigger chuckled and shook his head as he stood to his full height. “Your sister is a force of nature. It’s hard for a stone in a river to stay still if the water’s pushing it constantly.”

Colton narrowed his eyes and leaned back against the stall door. Trigger’s pitch-black stallion, Harley, stuck his head out and snapped his teeth about a foot away from Colton’s face, but he ignored it. Colton knew exactly how far that asshole could reach with his bite. “Sometimes lately, you remind me of your dad,” Colt said. “In a good way.”

“Yeah well, he couldn’t make my mom happy, and now look what I’ll do with Ava. I can’t even afford a damn Christmas present like she deserves.”

A single bellowing laugh came from Colton. “Ava don’t even like Christmas, so you’re in the clear.”

Harley was repeatedly kicking the stall now, and it was messing with Trigger’s senses. Maybe he heard Colton wrong. No one hated Christmas. “What?” Trigger asked, meandering to the bench.

“Oh, she used to be a total elf before Dad left. This holiday was the one time of year that the old bastard tried. He was nice all December, but wore himself out for the rest of the year. We went and chopped down a tree together every year like some lumberjack family, matching in our flannel shirts, and decorated the tree with ornaments from the dollar store. That I purchased by the way because Dad was only good at spending money, not earning it. Ava would make hot chocolate every night in December. And she would make this lame countdown calendar and make us go to every stupid parade and celebration and school party.”

Boom! Boom! Harley was giving a go at escaping again.

Trigger shook his head hard, trying to get rid of the building headache behind his eyes. “And then your dad left, and it changed?”

Boom! Boom! God, he was glad they’d reinforced Harley’s stall.

“Oh, yeah. She became the biggest Grinch. Look around your cabin, man. It’s a week to the holiday, and she hasn’t put up a single decoration in there. No tinsel, no wreath, no peppermint-scented hand soap. I’m pretty sure you’re screwed if you ever want to do Christmas up right. She’ll eat you up and spit you out if you even mention getting a tree.” Colt wrenched his voice up an octave to mimic his sister. “Trees belong outside!”

Trigger snorted because Colt actually could do a good impersonation of his mate’s voice.

Boom! Boom!

“Harley!” They both yelled at the same time.

Silence. Thank God.

Boom! Boom!

“I think I hate him,” Colton muttered, glaring at the window of Harley’s stall.

Harley stuck his big black nose out and stretched as far as he could to try to bite Colton again.

“I think the feeling is mutual, my friend. I’m going to take him out and check the creek. The cows are bawlin’ awful loud. It’s probably frozen again.”

“See? This is why I’m totally happy to remain a bachelor for the rest of my life. Girls need stuff all the time. All. The. Time. I can barely take care of myself and my job here.” Colton was staring out the open barn door with a faraway look in his eyes. “Totally happy,” he murmured again, as if trying to convince himself.

Trigger wasn’t doing call-outs on Colton’s lie today, though. He had too much on his mind.

Like how the hell was he going to make December special so that Ava could like Christmas again?