The Maverick's Christmas Kiss
Автор
JoAnna Sims
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He's just a rancher…standing under the mistletoe…asking for her heart! Dawson John is ranching royalty in Bronco and can usually get a date with any woman he wants. Music teacher Marisa Sanchez is a lot like the holidays — bright, full of cheer — so it's no wonder the well-heeled cowboy is attracted to her. Marisa, though, insists they are too different for anything deeper than flirtation. Once the lights fade on the Mistletoe Pageant, she'll be heading home to "real life" in blue-collar Tenacity. Dawson has just a few weeks to convince her their sweet winter interlude is only the beginning…
Prologue
It was two weeks until Christmas Eve, and eight-year-old Marisa Sanchez had just performed in the Tenacity Elementary holiday show. Like many of her peers, she had auditioned for the holiday show, but only she had won the coveted spot of the star on top of the singing Christmas tree. Her mother was a seamstress by trade and, with materials that she had been provided by the school, she had designed and sewn the costumes.
Dressed as a puffy, bright yellow five-point star with a small hole in the top point for her face, Marisa was now standing in line to greet the music teacher, Mrs. Jankowski, who had produced the holiday show. Her parents and her brothers, Julian, Diego and Luca, along with her sister, Nina, stood beside her. Marisa’s face was flushed and her dark brown eyes were shining from her triumphant performance. Yes, it was difficult for her to wait, but the wait was totally worth it to spend a moment with her favorite teacher.
Before taking her turn with her teacher, Marisa tugged on her mother’s hand to get her attention.
Her mother leaned down and asked, “Yes, mija?”
“Remember how scared I was?”
“I do,” her mother said.
“Guess what?”
“What?”
Marisa smiled up at her mother. “Once I got onstage, I wasn’t scared anymore. I was the very best Christmas star I could be.”
This made her mother laugh. “Yes, you were, mija. A perfect Christmas star!”
When it was finally their turn, Marisa threw herself into Mrs. Jankowski’s arms and hugged her tightly.
“My beautiful little star!” The music teacher returned her hug. “You were the perfect topper for our Christmas tree!”
“Thank you, Mrs. Jankowski,” Marisa said with a happy grin.
“You are welcome, precious one.” Mrs. Jankowski gave her one last big squeeze before she turned her attention to Marisa’s parents, shaking hands first with her father and then her mother.
“Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez, thank you so much for coming,” the music teacher exclaimed. “I hope you all enjoyed the show.”
“We loved the show,” Nicole said. “We didn’t know that Marisa could sing just like a pretty little songbird.”
That made Mrs. Jankowski’s smile broaden. “Your daughter is very talented. She has a beautiful voice and she is picking up the piano so quickly.”
“Thank you so much for everything you have done for our daughter,” Will said while Marisa basked happily in the praise of her teacher.
“Of course!” the teacher said with a nod before she added, “And thank you, Mrs. Sanchez, for making our costumes. The Kindergarten Christmas show never looked so good!”
“I was so pleased to be able to help,” Nicole said, putting her arm around Marisa the Five-pointed Star.
“Well,” Will said, glancing at the parents and students waiting to greet the teacher. “We’d better let you go.”
As her family moved on, Mrs. Jankowski had one final had one final word for her parents. “Please consider getting music lessons for Marisa. I would start with voice and piano, as she is really quite gifted.”
Marisa waved goodbye to her teacher as she walked with her family to the parking lot. As expected, the older siblings held the hands of their younger siblings, and because it was her special night, Marisa walked between her parents holding their hands and swinging every couple of feet. Marisa was feeling so happy, but there was something bothering her. When Mrs. Jankowski had mentioned lessons, a dark cloud of worry had passed over her parents’ faces. Their house was full of love and family and laughter, but money was always tight. Even at her tender age, Marisa was aware that, even though they were rich in the love department, they were considered poor when it came to money. Many times when she asked for something that she saw other kids in school had, her mother, with a deep sadness in her eyes, would tell her that they would have to wait. Her father worked on a ranch and rented land to farm, growing hay for the animals. Will also regularly took on odd jobs to make ends meet while her mother sewed nearly seven days a week.
Once their family of seven was seated in her father’s van, her mother met her husband’s eyes. “Lessons. Can we manage that?”
Will was silent for several seconds, then he broke the gaze with his wife and stared out of the windshield that had a small crack in the center, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles had blanched white.
“We will figure it out, my love,” her father said. “Somehow, someway, we will get our sweet angel those lessons. You heard her teacher—she is talented.”
“I can take on more sewing,” her mother said with a nod and a look of determination on her face.
“And I can take on more handyman jobs,” her father agreed, his jaw set.
“She can have our mowing money,” Julian said, and her brothers Diego and Luca nodded their agreement.
Will Sanchez looked back at his boys. “Thank you. You make us so proud.”
Little Nina piped up and said, “Marisa can have my birthday money.”
“My lovely Nina,” her mother said, “you are such a sweet thing.”
“Wait a minute! Am I going to take music lessons?” Marisa asked, her eyes, wide with hope, dancing between her parents’ faces.
Her mother smiled at her. “We will have to see what Santa left under the Christmas tree for you.”
