Austin had never seen anything so beautiful as his ranch all lit up. The sleigh on the roof made a boyish giddiness rise through him. The eight tiny reindeer weren’t so tiny when he’d put them up, but they looked absolutely perfect poised in front of the sleigh.

Red, white, and green lights ran in stripes from the pinnacle of the roof to the rain gutters, the perfect accent to Santa and his sleigh.

“Let’s load up,” Austin said, and everyone started heading back to the trucks they’d come in. He looked around for Shay, finally finding her as she hurried down the front steps. He helped her into the back of Robin’s truck, where Dylan and Hazel had already cozied up together, their backs resting against the windows of the cab.

Austin sat next to his brother, leaving a sliver of space for Shay, which she slid into, settling comfortably against his chest so they could view the ranch. Shane drove slowly, and the music filtered back from the cab through the open windows.

The snowmen pulsed in time to the song, something Shay had labored over for hours in her cabin after work. The chicken coops dripped with icicle lights. The cabins had all been decked out in a different color of lights that blinked and winked in time to the beat.

“Everything’s perfect,” he whispered in Shay’s ear, glad when she seemed to melt further into him. He didn’t see a single thing they needed to tweak or fix, and as the truck turned to drive past the towers, he held his breath.

He’d seen pictures of them lit up for Christmas, but witnessing them in real life, with nothing between him and their glory, was spectacular. One of the silos had red and white lights spiraled around it to mimic a candy cane.

Beside that, the star shone for all the world to see. Austin couldn’t take his eyes from it. He wondered what it would have been like to be on the Earth on the night Christ was born. Would he have traveled to see the baby? Brought him a gift? He liked to think so.

A sense of peace so pure filled him. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, the imprints of all the lights flickering on the backs of his eyelids as he silently expressed his gratitude for the Lord, and for this reminder that he’d get to look at for the next few weeks until they celebrated the birth of the Savior.

“I love that star,” Shay said, and Austin opened his eyes again to see they’d moved past the towers, the third of which was white from top to bottom—and had caused his back a lot of pain—with half a dozen lit up wreaths in various colors.

“Me too.” He kneaded her closer. “Thanks for letting me be a part of this.”

“Of course.”

Back at the homestead, all the cowboys congratulated the brothers for the “awesome light show,” and “great way to celebrate the season,” before they took another doughnut for the road and headed back to Grape Seed Ranch.

Austin watched Dwayne and Felicity, his old bosses go, as well as Kurt and May who used to be his next-door neighbors. He missed them. Sure, Dean and Chadwell had come over from the ranch, and Shane had hired four new ranch hands. But Austin had spent most of his time with his brothers, and then Shay, and he realized he was still as lonely as ever.

Then Shay’s delicate hand slid into his, and he seized onto it, using it to ground himself. And he didn’t feel so alone anymore.

Austin slept late the following morning, surprised when he woke and the sun was already streaming through his upstairs window. The house felt eerily quiet, and he swung his legs over the side of the bed, listening.

Shane would’ve gotten him up if he hadn’t shown up for work, but Austin’s phone said it was almost seven-thirty—about an hour later than he normally would’ve gone downstairs. His brother always had coffee on, but today, the kitchen sat cold and empty.

“Shane?” he called, glancing down the hallway that led to his and Robin’s bedroom. “Robin?”

Nothing. A blip of anxiety pinged through him. He checked his phone again—no texts or missed calls. Starting toward the hall, his eyes caught on a piece of paper stuck to the fridge. It had his name on it, and he pulled it down.

Dwayne and Felicity called. Heading over to their ranch. Call you later. ~Shane

Confusion furrowed Austin’s brow. “Dwayne and Felicity?” What had happened? Were they hurt? He wasn’t going to wait around for Shane to call him. He tapped a few times on his device and got the line ringing on his brother’s phone.

“Hey,” he said when Shane picked up. “What’s goin’ on with Dwayne and Felicity?”

“They got a call late last night, after the lighting ceremony. A birth mother chose them.”

Austin stared out the window above the kitchen sink, shock and gratitude and relief mixing into a powerful cocktail inside him. He exhaled, a smile pulling against his mouth. “That’s great.”

“He called this morning and asked for help.” Something clanged in the background on Shane’s end of the line. “I guess they normally have a lot longer to get ready—a whole pregnancy. But this mom just decided overnight to put her baby up for adoption, and she’s already in the hospital.”

“Oh, wow.”

“Dwayne and Felicity left to go be at the hospital with her in Austin, and we’re settin’ up the nursery.”

“Do you need more help?”

“Nah. Dylan’s barking orders like it’s his kid.” Shane spoke with fondness in his voice, the edge of a tease. Dylan loved kids and had often babysat Greta, Kurt and May’s little girl, before the brothers had bought the ranch and moved. Austin knew he sometimes still went over there, especially now that they had a new baby.

“I need you to get the essential chores done on the ranch,” Shane said, and pride swelled Austin’s chest. Maybe his brother did trust him with important things.

“Of course, yeah. I’ll get it done.” Austin hung up and took a few more moments to enjoy the moment. Dwayne and Felicity were getting a baby—something they’d both wanted for a while and couldn’t have alone.

Austin appreciated the miracles God performed for people, and he felt like the all-seeing being was aware of him in that tiny moment of time.

“Help Shay,” he whispered, glad his first thought was of someone else and not himself. His mom would be so proud, as she’d spent years lecturing her boys to put others first. “Go to work and forget yourself,” she’d said more times than Austin could count.

And so today, that morning, he followed her advice. He got to work, taking care of the horses, the chickens, the two goats they had—some work that Dylan usually did. He got Oaker and Carlos, Dean and Chadwell, Shay and the other ranch hands, all up to speed on what was going on, and then he sent them out to their jobs for the day.

He’d promised them lunch, so he called in a big order to Submarine Sam’s, and went into town to pick it up. He made the familiar turn onto Grape Seed Ranch, going under that peach-carved sign and on down the road toward his old cabin.

May met him on the front porch and took one of the six-foot sandwiches. “Thank you, Austin. Busy day around here.”

“I bet it is.” He glanced next door, where he’d lived for four years. Everything was peaceful here, though a hint of excitement hung in the air. After everything was set for lunch on this ranch, May handed him a large plastic container.

“Shane said you’ve got yourself a girl.” She smiled, and another ache moved through Austin. How he loved this ranch, with these people on it.

“Said she likes soup.” She nodded to the container. “That’s some of Kurt’s famous chicken and wild rice soup. We hope she likes it.”

“Thanks, May.” Austin gave her a hug. “Tell Kurt thanks too.” He went on back to his own ranch, repeating the process of setting up lunch for his own ranch hands.

Robin worked a lot, all over Hill Country. She didn’t even come home some nights, but stayed out at different ranches and farms where she worked. Shane was great at making people feel like they mattered and they belonged, but he couldn’t cook all that well. Better than Dylan or Austin, but nothing like what May or Felicity could do for the cowboys at Grape Seed.

Austin thought of Shay and her homemade spaghetti sauce, wondering if she might be the woman on the ranch that could bring everyone together with food.

But that day, he was the man with the sandwiches. Instead of clanging a big, metal triangle to call everyone to the table, he sent a group text, telling everyone the food was here. One by one and two by two, they came to the homestead. Just like at Thanksgiving, the house filled with chatter and laughter and chaos and love.

Austin adored the energy, and he caught Shay’s eye before ducking out the back door with his plate of food. She followed him, both of her dogs hot on her heels.

“How are things goin’ over at Grape Seed?” She settled beside him on the bench on the patio.

“Seemed fine,” he said. The air barely moved today, and the sky was cloudless and deep.

Shay took a bite of her sandwich, and Austin enjoyed the comfortable silence between them. He’d experienced lots of silence with her. Terse, angry silences. Huffy, annoyed silences. Out of all of them, he liked this quiet between them that didn’t have any charge to it.

“I think I’m ready to have that talk you wanted to have.”

Austin cut her a look out of the corner of his eye, not willing to fully commit quite yet. “Which one?”

“The girlfriend one.”

That got his full attention and he put the last few inches of his sandwich back on his plate. “Yeah?”

Her smile broadcasted only a hint of hesitation. It was more of a smirk, a flirty grin, than anything else. “I don’t reckon it would be a problem if you introduced me as your girlfriend—but.” She enunciated the T sound harshly, another coy smile on the heels of it. “Only if I actually am.”

He searched her eyes for an explanation and didn’t find one. “I don’t get it.” He’d pretty much laid everything on the line between them. What else did she need?

“Well, I don’t know what kind of women you’ve dated….” And she looked at him, those beautiful dark hazel eyes full of questions.

“Oh, you want the run-down right now?” he asked, surprised.

She tipped her head back and laughed. It was one of the most glorious sights and sounds Austin had ever seen and heard. He reached out and ran his fingers through the ponytail spilling down her back, rendering her mute and still.

Their eyes locked, and the now-familiar electricity between them pulsed and leapt, almost desperate to be let out.

“Not so fun to be put on the spot, is it?”

“I can tell you.”

“Maybe later,” she said, setting aside her own plate and cuddling into his side. He lifted his arm to put around her, creating another moment he wanted to memorize, never let go of. “I was just saying, I don’t know what kind of women you’ve dated, but I don’t really consider myself someone’s girlfriend until certain…events have transpired.”

“Oh?” Austin liked this game they were playing, but he hoped it wouldn’t turn south on him in the blink of an eye, the way a few other things had. “What are these events?”

“You know, going out. Talking. Holding hands.”

“We’ve done those things.”

“Okay, let me clarify. Going out more than once. I mean, tons of people go on first dates and end things there.”

“Are you askin’ me on a date, sweetheart?” He pulled her closer, glad when she didn’t resist.

“Yep,” she said, no fear or shame in her voice.

“All right. I think we can do that.”

“Tonight?”

Austin had no idea what the evening would bring, or when his brothers would be home. “We’ll see if we can make tonight work.” He desperately wanted to go out with her again, maybe get that kiss he hadn’t gotten last time because she’d started out the date as his fun, flirty Shay and ended it a completely different woman.

“And, you know…girlfriends kiss their boyfriends.” Her words landed in his ears and sank in deep, deep, deep.

“Oh,” he said, his voice strangled and tight. “So you want to kiss me too, is that it?”

She straightened, removing herself from his embrace and leaving him cold and wanting. When she looked at him this time, there was no teasing sparkle, no depth of fear, no hint of sadness. She was perfectly serious when she said, “If you want me to be your girlfriend, I think kissing is required first.”

Austin’s mouth went dry, and his gaze dropped to her lips. He’d wanted to kiss her since the moment he met her, but he didn’t want to do it in the backyard of the homestead, with eight cowboys just on the other side of the glass.

“That’s comin’,” he promised, his voice more husky than choked now.

Her eyebrows went up. “Yeah? When?”

“I don’t know.” He ran his fingertips down the side of her face, leaned in closer, thrilled and satisfied when she stilled and closed her eyes. “But it’s comin’ soon.” It took every ounce of willpower he had not to kiss her right then, to straighten, to stand. “Come on. We’ve gotta get back to work.”

She glared as she stood and collected her plate. “You’re a tease.”

He chuckled, swept one arm around her, and pressed his lips to her temple. “There. There’s your kiss. Satisfied?”

“Not even close to it,” she said.

He paused and turned his back to the house, positioning her right in front of him, protected from all the prying eyes inside. “I want it to be…better than this,” he whispered. “Kissing you in the backyard wasn’t what I had in mind.” He curled the ends of her ponytail through his fingers, watched her until she softened under his gaze. “All right?”

“It had better be spectacular then,” she said, a spark entering her expression.

“Oh, it will be, sweetheart. It will be.” He turned and went into the house, hoping he could be a better kisser than the two military boys she’d dated. It had been a long time since he’d kissed a woman, and he’d never felt as strongly about any of them as he did about Shay.

He went to work in the fields, and it was a good thing the machines could practically steer themselves, because Austin lost himself and the whole afternoon to thoughts of kissing Shay later that night.