Read Home For Christmas (A Copper Mountain Christmas) for Free Online Page B

never know what a day will hold."
    That was for certain. He'd better stop slacking off and make the middle section.
    "So you wanted to talk about gingerbread?" she prompted.
    "Any orders come in last night?"
    "One, but getting the word out about a new business can be challenging. It takes time."
    Nate didn't know if she was trying to convince him or herself. "Christmas is less than three weeks away. This is the prime time for gingerbread. What do you think about selling your houses and cookies at a tree farm this weekend?"
    Rachel froze. She looked up. "Christmas tree farm?"
    Nate nodded.
    Emotions flashed across her face. Surprise, excitement, caution, wariness. She pressed her lips together. "I don't need your help."
    Replacing the need with want would be closer to the truth. Too bad. He would help her whether she liked it or not. "Just passing along an opportunity."
    "Opportunity?"
    The disbelief in her voice made Nate feel like a scam artist trying to con senior citizens out of their social security checks. He didn't like the feeling one bit. He was helping Rachel, not hurting her. "An opportunity to sell your gingerbread during one of the tree farm's busiest weekends."
    She sat on her heels, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why are you going to so much trouble to help me?"
    Nate felt like he was talking Ty into the dude ranch proposition all over again. Nate knew Rachel was wary of his business interest. He assumed she had good reasons to be so suspicious. He would have to be careful.
    "Couple of reasons." Nate rolled his ball of snow. "You bake great gingerbread. Your houses are creative and well done. You could make a killing this Christmas with the right marketing approach."
    "The second reason?"
    "Ty."
    The lines above her nose returned. "What does my brother have to do with this?"
    "If not for your brother, the Bar V5, what my father always called our Vaughn family legacy, might belong to someone else. I've tried to repay Ty with both money and land, but…"
    "He won't accept anything."
    Nate nodded.
    "So you want to do something nice for Ty by helping me."
    "Yes." Not only beautiful, but also sharp and quick. Nate liked the idea of her sticking around town, too. "Except you keep saying no."
    She went back to working on her snowman. "I'm not saying no to be difficult."
    "Then say yes."
    "It's not that easy."
    "Three letters aren't difficult so say."
    "It's just…" Her shoulders sagged then she straightened. "Something happened recently in Arizona. Something that makes it hard for me to, um…"
    He was tempted to back off—she was private, he respected that—but secrets wouldn't regain a business or keep Ty here. "Hard for you to…"
    "Believe what people tell me."
    This must be what Ty had mentioned. "What happened?"
    She focused on the snowman, but her eyes looked miles, if not states, away. Most likely back in Arizona.
    He wanted her to share everything, but at her pace. "If you'd rather not…"
    "I want you to know this isn't personal."
    He worked on the snowman, ignored the urge to move closer, to lend her a comforting hand.
    She moistened her lips, took one deep breath, then another. "Two people I considered good friends, people I admired and worked hard for, offered to help me start my own shop a few months ago. We became business partners. Set our Grand Opening for Black Friday."
    "That was a week and a half ago."
    She nodded. "They fooled me. They didn't want to be partners. They wanted the business for themselves, including the space I'd found, and ended up stealing everything I'd been planning for years."
    Nate had a feeling there was more to the story. One day she might feel comfortable enough to share that with him. "Did you speak with an attorney?"
    "Yes, but we'd never signed a contract. Everything was verbal. Their word against mine. Even if I had a way of proving what they'd done, they are so wealthy. I couldn't afford the legal fees to take them to court."
    "I'm sorry."
    Nate was. He understood