Once Upon a Cowboy Christmas--A River Ranch Novel

by Soraya Lane

  Angelina gestured with her head, and Lexi knew the cue. She’d been nursing long enough to pick up signals from worried family members. She completed the blood pressure test and then rose, walking with her to the other side of the room.

  “Should we call his oncologist?” Angelina asked.

  “I’ve been thinking the same thing, and I’m happy to, but all his vitals are fine and I honestly think he did just fall and bang his head,” she murmured back. “If I was concerned at all, I’d be insisting we take him to hospital, but I believe his version of events.”

  Angelina nodded, her brows drawn tightly together. “I might get the helicopter on standby just in case. We can’t be too careful, right?”

  “I’ve got cancer, I’m not deaf,” Walter boomed, surprising Lexi with his outburst. “I’m sick and tired of being cooped up like a sick animal in this room, and it’s Christmas. Has everyone forgotten that with all the worrying and arguing going on in this house?”

  Lexi didn’t say a word, but she noticed Angelina bow her head. “How much did you hear, exactly?”

  Lexi felt like Walter’s eyes were on her, and when she glanced up, she saw she wasn’t wrong. He’d heard too much, and he was right, the house certainly didn’t seem to hold any of the joys of Christmas.

  “Enough to know that your mother would be furious to hear her children arguing like that. I want to see gifts piled under the tree and laughter and happiness,” he said, pausing as he fought to catch his breath. “I want to see my family enjoying Christmas instead of bickering with each other and worrying about me.”

  Angelina muttered how sorry she was and sat down beside him, but when Lexi looked up again she realized Walter was still staring at her. She shifted her gaze and was about to turn to give his daughter some privacy with him, when he spoke again. To her directly this time.

  “That includes you,” he said.

  Lexi cleared her throat, uncomfortable. “I’m not sure what you mean,” she managed.

  “You’re part of this family, Lexi, and I want this argument between you and my son to be over with.” He looked annoyed more than angry, and she waited for him to continue, not knowing how much he was aware of. “I saw the coverage on television today, I know what’s going on between the two of you.” Thank goodness that’s all he knew. She couldn’t stand the thought of him knowing anything else about their relationship. “And I damn well know that there’s a lot more going on between you two.”

  Well, goddamn. The old man did know more, a whole lot more, than she expected.

  “I’m sorry you had to see that, I usually try to keep a very clear line between my professional and personal life.” She swallowed. “Cody and I, well, let’s just say there have been some old feelings there that we’ve had to work through.”

  Walter waved a hand dismissively in the air. “I see you for hours every day, I like knowing about your life, I just don’t want to feel this division in my home at Christmas.”

  “Would you rather I left?” she asked, the words almost killing her just saying them. “Because if you no longer feel comfortable with me here, I completely understand.” Please don’t fire me, please don’t fire me. Her heart started to pound again.

  “No, I want to tell my son to pull his head out of his ass, that’s what I want.”

  Lexi stifled her surprise, chewing on the inside of her mouth as her heart almost instantly slowed, but Angelina’s burst right out of her.

  “Dad!”

  “With all due respect, Walter, I think I’ve told him that already in pretty much those exact words.”

  “Well, tell him again. Maybe he needs to hear it a few times before it sticks.”

  They all had a chuckle, Angelina included, before Lexi excused herself to go and make him something to eat. He was right, though, it was Christmas, and whatever was going on between her and Cody, or Mia and Cody for that matter, it might be Walter’s last, and he deserved to have a harmonious family.

  “Dad, if I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were enjoying all this,” Angelina teased, and Lexi watched as she dropped her head to her father’s shoulder.

  “Shouldn’t someone be getting on to Christmas dinner?” he asked, an eyebrow raised as he looked at his daughter. “Is anyone in charge of the turkey?”

  “I have no idea why you’re looking at me,” Angelina said with a laugh. “I don’t even cook my own dinner, let alone cater for everyone at Christmas!”

  Lexi left them to banter, imagining what it would be like to have siblings, and a father to laugh with and confide in. It had been just her and her mom for so long, until Harry came along, and it wasn’t until she’d had a son of her own that she’d started to imagine how life could have been.

  “Lexi?” Walter called out.

  He wasn’t wearing his oxygen mask now, and his cheeks were pink again, his eyes bright as he spoke to her.

  “Yes?”

  “Take the night off. You’re only a short walk away if I need you, and I want you to enjoy that gorgeous boy of yours. Do you hear me?”

  She nodded. “Thank you, Walter, but—”

  “No buts,” he said, and suddenly she didn’t see a sick old man but glimpsed the strong, commanding Ford patriarch. “You soak up as much time with your boy as you can, and then you make sure you join us for Christmas dinner. Angelina can stay with me.”

  Lexi smiled; she couldn’t help it. “Thank you,” she said. “I’d love that, but I promised Mia that I’d stay with you.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t want you here, Lexi, and I’m the one giving orders. It’s enough that you’re close by, and Cody can check in on me.”

  She watched his face, saw that it was his final decision, and smiled again. “Thanks, Walter.” Lexi didn’t want to let Mia down, but Walter was her boss, and she needed to accept whatever his decision might be on any given day.

  Lexi did her final check and tucked Walter in with a blanket, resisting the urge to kiss the top of his head. He was almost a father figure to her now. She might hate what Cody was doing to her, to their community, but it wasn’t going to stop her from enjoying Christmas in the company of a family who’d embraced her over the past few months as if she were one of their own.

  * * *

  “What are you still doing down here?” Cody shook off the snow from his jacket when he found his brother in the barn. “And where’s Harry?”

  “Here!” The little boy’s excited call came from a pile of horse rugs on the ground, and he chuckled as a sandy brown head emerged.

  “At least you’ve kept him warm,” he said to his brother, grinning to Harry on the way past as he moved toward Tanner and the horse he was standing with.

  “Good of you to come help me,” Tanner replied.

  “Hey, there’s a worried mama up there at the house who hasn’t seen her boy all day,” Cody said. “Please tell me you’ve fed him.”

  “Do chips and soda count?”

  Cody turned to find Harry standing beside him. His hair was sticking up, there was horsehair all over him, and he was filthy. The kid looked as happy as could be.

  “Your mom’s gonna kill us,” Cody said, reaching out and unsuccessfully trying to smooth his hair down. “You look like you’ve been pulled through a haystack.”

  The boy giggled. “I kinda have.”

  “So what’s going on here? Lauren said colic?” Cody asked.

  “Maybe. I don’t know,” Tanner answered. “Could easily be a stomach ulcer, but colic seems most likely.”

  “You called a vet?”

  He nodded. “Hope King’s on her way over. Horses aren’t her specialty, but she’ll be able to give a diagnosis and she has meds to help if we need it.”

  The horse looked strained around the eyes, veins bulging where usually they wouldn’t be noticeable, his coat streaked with sweat despite the cold.

  “I don’t think it’s anything to worry about, but Dad took a fall before. Lexi had to give him oxygen but he seems alright
.”

  Tanner stared back at him, his mouth falling open. “He’s okay? I mean, I could leave…” His brother stared at the horse and then toward the direction of the house.

  “Tanner, he’s fine. If he wasn’t I’d be sending you straight up there.” Cody touched his shoulder. “Trust me.”

  “Okay, but tell Lauren that if anything changes, if he’s not well, hell, anything, she’s to come and get me.”

  Cody nodded. “I will. I’m going to take Harry back up to the house, then I’ll come and stay with you.”

  “You don’t need to come back, I’m used to going it alone.”

  His words packed a punch but one glance at Tanner’s face, tense as he studied the horse, proved that he’d said it without thinking instead of trying to insult him.

  “You know, I’d actually like to come back.”

  That got Tanner’s attention. He looked up. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” Cody replied, surprised with how he was feeling. It was the first time he’d actually wanted to roll his sleeves up and get dirty. Usually he was battling hourly feelings of wanting to leave, but despite everything, this time he almost wanted to stay.

  “I’ll get Harry back and see you soon. Come on, kid,” he said.

  “Good work today, Harry. See you tomorrow,” Tanner called out.

  “Thanks, Tanner!” Harry called back.

  Harry was grinning from ear to ear, and Cody slung an arm over his shoulders as they headed for the barn door.

  “You had a good day today?” he asked.

  “Yeah, it’s been the best.”

  “Good.” He peeled off his heavy coat and scarf, and wrapped the scarf tight around Harry’s neck and then slid the coat on him, laughing at how enormous it looked.

  “What are you going to wear?” Harry asked, giggling as he held his arms out and his hands were invisible beneath all the fabric.

  “All I care about is keeping you warm and dry,” he said. “I’ve upset your mom a lot lately, but not looking after her kid is not going to be one of the things she hates me for.”

  “My mom doesn’t hate you,” Harry said, his eyes so big and brown that he felt like he was looking straight into Lexi’s.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “My mom told me that you were the best part of high school,” he said, chatting away with no idea what secrets he was giving away. “She said she was only angry when she told me you were a jerk the other day.”

  “Well, that’s good to hear,” Cody said softly, watching Harry’s face, wondering when Lexi had told him that. “I was pretty sure I was on the bad list.”

  “I’d know if she hated you, Cody. My mom doesn’t hate anyone.”

  Cody scooped him up so he didn’t slip, carrying him to the quad bike and putting him on the front. Yeah, buddy, she does hate someone, and that someone is me. And he damn well deserved to be that someone.

  He got on behind Harry, the cold stinging his skin and making his back feel like it was going to ice over, wrapped his arms around the boy, and carefully made their way back through the snow to the house.

  When they got back, he saw a silhouette in the window, the light from the house seeping out into the dark, and he raised one hand in a wave to Lexi. Cody leaned forward and spoke into Harry’s ear so he could hear him.

  “Give your mom a wave,” he said, and the kid looked up and waved like crazy at his mom.

  When they got to the house, Cody parked the quad under shelter and lifted Harry down, carrying him so he didn’t trip over the enormous jacket and only stripping him out of it once the door was open so he could bundle him inside.

  “Cody, you’re soaked through!” Lexi exclaimed, going from hugging her son to fluttering her hands over his back.

  “He’s fine and so am I,” Cody said, giving Harry a squeeze on the shoulder before he stripped off his shirt and kicked off his boots. “Nothing that a hot shower won’t fix, isn’t that right, little man?”

  She was right, every part of him was sopping wet, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was the little kid smiling up at him, unfazed by the weather and happy about the day he’d had.

  Cody watched Lexi as he walked past, seeing the questions in her gaze, feeling the pain he’d caused her, that he was still causing her. He was just happy he’d brought Harry back to her so she didn’t have to worry. He found his phone in the kitchen where he’d left it and headed upstairs, seeing that he had one bar of coverage now that he was higher. The hot shower was going to have to wait. He needed to use the phone while he could, in case he lost the signal again.

  He closed his door and dialed, sitting down at the desk in his room and staring out at the falling snow, the outdoor lights illuminating the flakes.

  “Cody Ford?” the voice on the other end boomed. “Aren’t you supposed to be on vacation?”

  He stifled a growl at the laughter that came with that question. Everyone in his life seemed to find it a joke that he was taking time off work.

  “Look,” Cody said, not about to make small talk. “I know it’s Christmas, but we need to talk.”

  “Sure. What’s the problem?”

  “The Bright Lights deal.”

  A sense of calm came over him as he leaned back in his chair.

  My mom doesn’t hate anyone. He kept hearing the little boy say those words; they’d echoed in his head the entire ride back.

  Well, he might be a lot of things, but being the only person that Lexi hated wasn’t going to be one of them.

  Chapter 14

  LEXI wrapped a blanket around Harry and snuggled up beside him on the sofa. They’d had dinner together and he’d barely paused to draw a breath, and now as they watched television and sipped hot chocolate, she wondered if he’d ever stop.

  “You know we’re not going to live here forever, right?” she asked, hating to be a downer but wanting to make sure he didn’t think this was their permanent abode.

  “I know. Just while you look after Mr. Ford.” Harry sounded so dejected all of a sudden that she wished she’d just kept her mouth shut.

  “We’ve got months more here though, so there’s plenty more fun to be had,” she said, trying to sound upbeat. “So tell me all about the pony again. Did you really get to brush her and then ride her?”

  “Yes!” Harry’s excited little squeak of a voice made her laugh, and she sat with him, stroking his hair and kissing his forehead, his body tucked up beside hers, until his words started to slow and his breath became louder. She stared down at him, wishing he’d stay like that forever—little and warm and snuggly. And that they could stay tucked away from the world drinking hot chocolate while snow fell outside forever too. Except that hot chocolate made her think about Cody, and the way he’d been talking and laughing with her son that first night he’d returned home. She forced the thoughts away, refusing to let her mind wander.

  When she was certain Harry wouldn’t wake up, Lexi stretched her legs out and bent to pick him up, wondering just how long she’d still be able to lift him. She carried him up the stairs and placed him in his bed, tucking the covers up to his chin and bending to drop one final kiss to his head.

  “Goodnight, little man,” she murmured. “Sweet dreams.”

  She went downstairs and flicked through channels until she found The Bachelor, tidying up the living room and then the kitchen as she listened to it. She was just wiping down the bench when her phone rang. She looked at the number on her screen, sensing it was familiar but not sure who it was. She thought about not answering then changed her mind.

  “Hello?”

  “Lex! It’s Jessica, Jessica Chapman from school.”

  Lexi laughed and smiled into the phone. “Jessie Chapman. It’s been so long you thought you had to say your last name?”

  They both laughed then and Lexi opened the fridge and took out a bottle of wine, pouring herself a half glass and curling up into the sofa, knees tucked up as she balanced the phone between her shoulder and ear. She muted the TV
.

  “It’s been a long time. When did we last talk?” she asked.

  “Two years at least,” Jessica said. “I’m so sorry, I haven’t been home in forever but when I saw you on television today, well, my mom did actually, I knew I needed to get in touch. I’m so sorry to hear about your mom.”

  “Thanks, Jess. It’s really nice to hear your voice again,” Lexi admitted. “It’s lonely here now that everyone has moved away.”

  “Well, I might be back sooner than I thought,” Jessica said. “I’m now a divorcée with two kids, and after splitting everything down the middle, well, let’s just say I’m not left with a lot.”

  Lexi sighed. “I’m so sorry. When we all got married, I couldn’t have imagined any of us not having our happy ever after.”

  Jessica’s laugh was gravelly, filled with emotion. “Yeah, me too. Maybe we all jumped into marriage too soon.”

  “Or maybe the men we married were just assholes.”

  “God, I wish it wasn’t snowing. I’d jump straight in the car and come see you. I think this conversation would be better over wine.”

  “I’m actually having wine!” Lexi laughed. “It’s so good to hear from you.”

  “So I heard through the grapevine, which is actually my mother’s gossip group, that you’re working for the Fords? How’s that going?”

  She groaned. “You know what, it was going great before Cody showed up for Christmas.”

  “Yeah, well, that showdown outside the retirement home didn’t exactly look pleasant.”

  “It wasn’t. And the worst thing is there’s nothing I can do about it other than try to fight him,” she paused. “Ugh, I don’t know. It’s not even worth talking about.”

  “You still love him, don’t you?” Jessica asked. “I mean, it’s none of my business, but what you guys had back then, there’s no way you just stop loving someone, even after all these years.”

  There was a knock at her door and she frowned. Who would be knocking? Shit. Had something happened to Walter? Why hadn’t someone tried calling her?

  “Hold on a sec,” she said, interrupting Jess and leaping up. She swung the door open and found Cody standing there.