Christmas at Colts Creek

by Delores Fossen

  As usual, he felt the pull from the heat. Probably always would. He’d accepted that. Accepted, too, that like his unanswered questions about Abe, he’d just have to learn to live with it.

  “Sorry,” she said. She had a purse hanging from her shoulder and her coat draped over her arm. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

  Welcome to the club. Brody tipped his head to her phone. “Let me guess. You came here to get a picture of Abe’s tombstone for the Last Ride Society?”

  She nodded, lowered her phone and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. A simple gesture he’d seen her do a dozen or more times, and he wasn’t sure why it was punch-in-the-gut sexy.

  “I decided to get it done while I still had a chance. I suppose you heard about what happened earlier at the ranch?” she asked.

  Oh, yeah. He’d heard all right. No way to keep something like that under wraps, but it was always hard to tell what was pure truth and what was embellished.

  “You still like hot chocolate, and Sophia doesn’t mind sitting on the ground if she’s pissed enough. She also seems to like Irish coffee, and while sipping one of those, a pregnant teenager showed up. Now Sophia knows you’re not adopting a baby, and she went back to the inn to pack and leave.”

  “Nailed it in one,” Janessa muttered with a sigh. “There’s obviously a bunch of gossips on the ranch.”

  “Plenty,” he confirmed. “I’d already gotten three texts before your mother even drove off.” Brody paused. “What about the pregnant teenager? Is she okay?”

  Janessa nodded. “Teagan Cutler. Riggs’s ex. She’s in one of the guest rooms at the ranch.”

  Brody could see the worry on Janessa’s face and figured that worry was tenfold for the teen if it’d caused her to come all the way from Dallas.

  “I can text a few of the hands, the non-gossiping ones, and ask them to patrol the grounds,” Brody offered.

  “Thanks. I’ll take you up on that. Velma Sue is staying. Hank Meekins, too, so I thought it’d be safe enough for me to pop out and get this picture. I also turned on the security system before I left.”

  Hank Meekins was the gardener at the ranch but, yeah, he was a good choice for some extra security. The man was built like an All-Pro linebacker. Turning on the security was the right way to go, too. Abe had spent a ton of money getting a top-notch system despite there never having been a break-in at the ranch.

  Brody took out his phone and fired off a couple of texts to hands he knew he could trust. It might be overkill, but he preferred the better-safe-than-sorry mode.

  “The person who drove Teagan—a friend of hers—has already gone back to Dallas,” Janessa explained. “But Teagan was too upset to go with her. I decided it was best if she stayed the night so I could get her settled down. The stress isn’t good for her or the baby.”

  No, it wasn’t. Then again, having an asshole ex who scared his pregnant girlfriend didn’t qualify as stress-free, either.

  “What about your mother?” he asked. “How is she?”

  “To be determined. She said she needed some time to think, but she’s doing the thinking here in Last Ride. If she’d checked out of the inn, I’m sure news of it would have already gotten back to me.”

  No doubt. There were plenty of gossips in town, too, and they’d be on the lookout for Sophia’s exit. Especially since that exit would some way or another end up affecting everyone in Last Ride. A new owner of the ranch would mean someone new moving in. Most likely a stranger since no one locally would probably be interested in buying the place.

  “Are there any legal problems with Teagan being here?” he asked.

  Janessa shrugged. “She’s eighteen, barely, so the short answer is no. But her doctor’s in Dallas. So is her life. Mine, too.” She sighed again. “I’m leaving Kyle with curling-iron grilled cheeses and cat scratches.”

  Brody was sure he frowned. “Is that some kind of metaphor?”

  She laughed, a quick burst of sound that had him smiling, but the lightness was short-lived. Her face turned as serious as, well, a trip to the cemetery. “I wish, but no, it’s reality at Bright Hope. We deal with a lot of unwise choices that some of the teens make. Choices sometimes a whole lot worse than grilled cheeses, and with me here, Kyle’s taking on the bulk of those dealings.”

  He heard the frustration but also something else. “You miss being there.”

  “Definitely,” she readily admitted. “I believe in Bright Hope. Believe it makes a difference in those kids’ lives.”

  Brody was certain she did, and if the gossip he’d heard was true, Janessa put plenty of her money and time into the place. A lot of that time included fundraisers to keep the house afloat.

  “The home can operate with me working remotely,” she added, “but it means Kyle has to deal with the stuff that has to be done face-to-face.”

  She shivered a little and then adjusted her purse so she could put on her coat. “It’s chillier out here than I thought it’d be.”

  He nearly put his arms around her, but Brody decided that was best left to the coat. Body-to-body contact even for the purpose of keeping her warm would no doubt be just the beginning of even more contact.

  “Did you start Bright Hope because of the way Abe treated you?” he came out and asked.

  “Oh, I’m sure that’s at the core,” she readily admitted. “So many of the girls who come to Bright Hope have mommy-and-daddy issues. Of course, their mommies and daddies didn’t just ignore or call them a nuisance. It was much worse for some of them. Some endured every kind of abuse and neglect you can think of.”

  She stopped. Just stopped. And Brody could see her mentally regrouping.

  “Anyway,” Janessa said several moments later, and then she took a deep breath, “I should go ahead and get that picture of Abe’s tombstone. Because it’s past the stage of merely being massive, I probably should use a wide angle lens, but the camera on my phone will have to do.”

  Janessa limped past him and through the archway and toward the graves. Brody had a quick debate with himself as to whether to follow her or do the sensible thing and head home.

  He didn’t go with sensible.

  Even though he knew this was the worst idea in the history of worst ideas, he walked to the grave and stood by her. Janessa snapped a couple of pictures, the flash knifing out like lightning bolts. It reminded him of Abe’s funeral. Then it reminded him of Janessa.

  It’d been a shock to see her as she’d walked toward the grave. The people who’d already gathered for the graveside service eased aside, clearing a path for her to the tombstone. All murmurs and chatter had stopped. But then so had his breath for a few seconds.

  “It’s like one of those penis cars,” he heard Janessa say.

  That shut down his thoughts about breathing. “Excuse me?”

  “You know, one of those overpriced cars that some guys buy to prove they’ve still got it. Abe seems to be trying to prove something with this over-the-top tombstone. Of course, this is a place where over-the-top reigns.”

  Yes, it was, and Brody glanced out at the ornate headstones and mausoleums. “It’s not called Snooty Hill for nothing.”

  She made a sound of agreement, took a few more pictures and then stopped again, her attention sliding from Abe’s tombstone back to Brody. “You have a right to hate him,” she muttered.

  “No,” Brody quickly disagreed. “The ranch was his to do with as he saw fit. Obviously, he saw fit to handle things the way he did.”

  She gave him a skeptical look. “So, you didn’t come here to curse his grave or kick his tombstone?”

  “No,” he repeated. Though he still couldn’t say exactly why he’d come. Maybe it was going to fall under one of those mysteries-of-the-ages deals.

  “You’re being more generous about this than I am.” Sighing, she stepped back from the grave, and that put
her closer to Brody.

  He intended to move back. To keep a safe distance between them so it’d lessen the chance of the sparks flying. Sparks flew anyway.

  She smiled a little. “If I were going to stay through the holidays, I’d French kiss you and see what happens.”

  It was almost identical to what she’d said to him on the porch. It’d led to the imaginary kiss that’d felt damn real. This felt real, too, even though he hadn’t touched her.

  And he wouldn’t.

  Because the bottom line was she wasn’t staying and she had to get back to those curling-iron-grilled-cheese problems. She had to go, and he had to stay so he could try to figure out the new normal in his life.

  With all that logic lined in his head, Brody was surprised when he leaned in and kissed her anyway.

  His mouth met hers. Not for a light little touch and nip. No. This was a full-pressure kiss, one where he felt the softness of her incredible mouth. Tasted her, too. Also incredible. And it was a taste that raced through him.

  He figured Janessa would push him away and ask if he’d lost his mind. He obviously had. So had she because there was no pushing. No asking about mind loss. She made a hungry little sound that was pure sex. Sex right here, right now. Worse, she opened her mouth, deepened the kiss and turned it into the French that she’d been taunting him with.

  Hell’s bells.

  This wasn’t right. He shouldn’t be kissing her, period, but he especially shouldn’t be doing it in the cemetery. A cemetery where someone could drive by and see him having Janessa’s mouth for supper. He didn’t need gossip. He didn’t need heat. But it sure as hell felt as if he needed this kiss.

  Janessa finally pulled back and looked up at him. Her breath was gusting, her eyes wild with lust and need. Brody figured he was doing pretty much the same thing because there was plenty of both lust and need firing on all cylinders inside him.

  “Well, that’s what happens when I French kiss you,” she muttered, then laughed. “I might need a cold shower.”

  He’d need ten of them, and that still wouldn’t be enough. Brody resisted the overwhelming urge to go back in for another round. Best to stay put. Then again, he probably couldn’t walk with this hard-on anyway.

  “Okay,” Janessa said after she swallowed hard. “I’m guessing we’ll consider that a mistake we shouldn’t repeat?”

  He didn’t hesitate. “Oh, yeah.”

  She nodded. “Good.” But she didn’t sound as if that were good at all. She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, causing many of his parts to clench. And beg. “I’m not sure my body is listening to that logic.”

  Neither was his. In fact, nothing he was feeling for Janessa was logical. It’d taken him a long time to get over her after she’d left without so much as a wave goodbye. And, yes, he understood why she had done that, what with Abe’s marriage threat. Still, that long recovery time had been, well, long and common sense told him not to start something that would have pretty much the same ending.

  “I should get back to the ranch and check on Teagan,” she muttered, finally turning to go.

  However, she’d only made it a couple of limping steps before her phone rang. Since it was in her hand, Brody had no trouble seeing the screen in the darkness. And her mother’s name on it.

  She groaned and hit the answer button. She didn’t put it on Speaker, but he still heard Sophia’s voice cut through the silence.

  “Janessa, I’ll stay in Last Ride,” was all her mother said before ending the call.

  CHAPTER TEN

  JANESSA WANTED TO curse when she tried to call her mother again. Because again, Sophia didn’t answer. Something she’d been doing since her short call from the night before to say she’d stay in Last Ride.

  It was somewhat of a miracle, one that her mother apparently didn’t want to discuss since she had let all Janessa’s calls go to voice mail. The only response that Janessa had gotten from her was a short text saying, We’ll talk tomorrow.

  Well, it was tomorrow, and Sophia still wasn’t talking. That’s why Janessa was getting dressed to go to the inn. Then she could see her mother’s face and find out what had brought on this miracle decision.

  Janessa downed the rest of her third cup of coffee while she dressed and scrolled through her emails. She skimmed most that were related to fundraising events, supply orders and resident applications, but she took the time to read the one from Kyle.

  Didn’t want to text you in case you were sleeping in, Kyle had emailed. After the night you’ve no doubt had, you deserve a little rest.

  She thought of the sizzler kissing she’d done with Brody at the cemetery. Definitely not on her top ten list of places to make out, but that hadn’t cooled any of the sizzling. Unfortunately, that heat hadn’t given her a peaceful night. And she’d needed one of those cold showers after all.

  All is well here, she continued reading from Kyle’s email. No sign of Riggs. Let me know what you decide about Teagan.

  That was good about Riggs, and Kyle knew that Teagan was getting settled in at the ranch because Janessa had called him shortly after the girl arrived. Then she’d called him again after getting word from Sophia that she’d be staying in Last Ride. That didn’t mean Teagan would be staying as well, though. It was something Janessa would need to work out. After she did the working out with Sophia, that is.

  Janessa fired off a quick response to one of the fundraiser emails, saying that she wouldn’t be able to attend. She suspected she’d have to bow out of plenty of those, and it wasn’t something she could ask Kyle to do. Kyle worked wonders with the residents and keeping the house running, but he was a miserable failure at schmoozing.

  She opened the door, ready to head to Teagan’s room, and Janessa nearly ran right into Margo.

  “I was going to leave them outside your door in case you were sleeping, but since you’re awake, you can tell me. What do you think of these?” Margo immediately asked, and she held up a very glittery pair of star-spangled, rhinestone-studded shoes. Not heels like Margo’s usual footwear but wedges which were also covered with sparkles.

  “Uh, they’re shiny.” And that was the most complimentary thing Janessa could think to say.

  “Aren’t they?” Margo thrust them at her. “I figured you’d want to wear something festive for the festival, and these are a size bigger than your usual so they shouldn’t press against your broken toe.”

  “What festival?” Janessa took the shoes but only because Margo actually put them in her hands.

  “The one held at the town’s fairgrounds. It’s the night after next,” Margo said as if the answer were obvious.

  It wasn’t obvious at all. In fact, Janessa had to glance at her phone to realize that it was November 2. So, in two days Margo seemingly expected her to wear the seizure-triggering shoes to some event that Janessa had no intention of attending.

  “It’s to kick off the holiday season. There’ll be carnival rides, rodeo stuff and lots of food,” Margo went on. “Oh, and the fireworks, of course. About ten years or so ago, Abe donated a whole bunch of money to the town so they’d name the festival after him. So, it’s officially the Abe Parkman Holiday Gala, but nobody actually calls it that despite there being a whopping big-assed sign with Abe’s name on it over the arena.”

  “I wasn’t planning on going,” Janessa interrupted before the woman could continue.

  Margo laughed and laughed and laughed, and even gave a quit-joking flap of her hand. “Of course, you will. Everybody in Last Ride goes. It’ll be fun.”

  It could fall into the fun wheelhouse, but Janessa didn’t want to commit to anything until she’d made sure all was well with Sophia. It was possible her mother would play the martyr card and treat this three-month stay as incarceration in a maximum-security prison. Janessa would definitely have to find a way to make that up to her, and that could include spending lots
of time with her.

  Not at the festival, though.

  Janessa seriously doubted that Sophia would want some of that time spent at a local festival in a town she loathed. Especially a gala named after a man she loathed even more than Last Ride.

  “Thanks,” Janessa told Margo, and she put the shoes on the dresser. “I’ll get back to you about it.”

  “Oh, but you have to go,” Margo insisted. “You wouldn’t want to miss Brody’s bull riding.”

  That caught Janessa’s attention. “Bull riding?”

  Margo gave an eager nod and fanned herself. “It’s a sight to behold, that’s for sure. He’s been doing it every year since he turned eighteen. It raises money for the local charities.”

  Janessa was sure it was indeed a sight to behold. Brody in full rodeo mode, looking very Brody-ish and studly on the back of a massive bull. Normally, things like that didn’t trigger any heat, but this was Brody. Heat-triggering was a given.

  “You should definitely come,” Margo pressed. “It’ll be a way to celebrate us not losing the ranch.”

  Janessa started to remind her that she should hold off on the celebrating. Three months, minus a couple of days, was a long time to keep her mother here. But she didn’t want to dash that happiness she saw on Margo’s face. The woman definitely wasn’t in a tombstone-kicking mood this morning.

  “I’ll get back to you about it,” Janessa repeated. She picked up the jacket she’d laid out to go with her outfit. “For now, I need to talk to Teagan.” And then she could go to the inn to see her mother.

  “Oh, she’s not in her room,” Margo said when Janessa started up the hall. “She’s been up for a while and is in the kitchen with Velma Sue.”

  The a while surprised her. It was a little past eight in the morning, not what some would call early, but like most of the other teenagers at Bright Hope, Teagan tended to sleep in.