by Kim Redford
“I’ll take really good care of him.” Storm sent Slade a beseeching look with her big blue eyes.
“Okay.” Slade smiled at his niece. “Merry Christmas, Storm. Fernando is all yours.”
“Yay!” She threw herself into Slade’s arms, hugged him hard, then hugged Ivy, too, before she raced back to Eden and Jack.
“Thanks,” Lula Mae said, grinning.
“And that, cowgirls and cowboys everywhere, is how you make a little girl happy for Christmas.” Wildcat Jack looked at the camera with a twinkle in his brown eyes.
“Fernando made his way home against great odds,” Eden said. “And he gets his reward…not just oats but his friend, too.”
“Once more, this is Wildcat Jack and Eden Rafferty coming to you live from Steele Trap Ranch II on Christmas morning. If you’re just now tuning in, we know what’s uppermost in your minds. Will Fernando get home for Christmas?” Jack gestured, fringe on his jacket swinging as he pointed to the pond and the black bull standing there. “Well, I’m here to tell you that Fernando made it home for Christmas.”
“That’s right, Fernando is home for Christmas,” Eden chimed in. “And we have more good news for you. Storm, who you’ve all come to know and love, just had her Christmas wish come true. Fernando is going home with her.
“Storm, would you like to say something else to our viewers?” Eden asked.
“Fernando and I want to thank all of you out there for believing in him. He’s home now for good.” Storm gestured toward the big bull, who raised his head and looked at her. “Everybody wanted him to return home safely,” Storm said. “And me most of all.”
Ivy put her hand over her heart, almost overcome with the emotional impact of it all as she heard a pickup head up the lane. Behind it came more vehicles of all shapes and sizes. Obviously, Wildcat Bluff was descending on the ranch to share Christmas with Fernando.
Hedy exited her special van in her wheelchair accompanied by Bert and Bert II. She zoomed up to Wildcat Jack and Eden while they hung back with all the well-wishers who were slamming doors and descending on the pond.
Eden smiled at her friend and gestured her closer. “Hedy Murray has joined us with what I’d guess is a very special announcement.”
“Indeed.” Hedy smiled at the camera. “Wildcat Bluff Fire-Rescue is ready to reveal the name of the person who guessed to the closest second the time Fernando arrived home on Christmas Day.”
“Please don’t keep us in suspense.” Wildcat Jack leaned forward as if in great anticipation.
Hedy gave him a quick nod. “Oscar and Tater clocked Fernando’s entrance to Steele Trap II at 9:23 and eighteen seconds this morning.”
“And who is our lucky winner?”
Hedy looked out over the big group that had gathered around her. They wore ranch clothes with colorful bits and pieces of Christmas finery, like red Santa hats, green sweaters, jingle bell pins, and even mistletoe tucked into cowboy hats.
“Please, Hedy, don’t keep us in suspense any longer,” Wildcat Jack said with a chuckle.
She smiled before she gestured toward the two men standing near her. “Bert Holloway Two.”
Bert Two appeared completely surprised but took off his rancher hat to reveal his thick, dark hair as he gave her a smile. “Thank you so much, but I can’t accept such a generous gift. I only intended to support Wildcat Bluff Fire-Rescue…and, of course, Fernando.”
“In that case,” Hedy said, continuing to smile, “what would you like us to do with your winnings?”
“I believe the creative arts department at Wildcat Bluff High could put those gift certificates to good use. I’m a strong supporter. Please give them to the department with my best wishes for Christmas.”
Hedy gave him a big grin, then turned back to Jack and Eden. “There you have it, folks. The spirit of Christmas is alive and well in Wildcat Bluff.”
“Thank you. I’m sure Wildcat Bluff High will be most appreciative.” Wildcat Jack looked out over his audience. “And now, let’s not keep Storm from her Christmas gift any longer.”
Sydney walked over to her pickup, opened the back door, and pulled out a shiny silver bucket of oats. She handed the bucket to her daughter.
Storm held up the bucket to the camera and then she turned to Fernando with a big grin on her face. She shook the bucket so the oats rattled inside it.
Fernando’s head snapped up.
“Come on, Fernando. Let’s go home. It’s time for you to celebrate Christmas with me.”
Fernando sniffed the air, looked at Storm, and walked out of the pond, dripping water all the way with the lily pad still balanced on his head.
Storm shook the bucket again, then headed down the lane with Fernando following in her wake.
“Now that is truly a Christmas miracle,” Wildcat Jack said in his deep voice. “The littlest cowgirl tames the biggest bull with nothing more than a heart of gold.”
“That’s right. Love conquers all…particularly at Christmas.” Eden focused on the camera again. “From all of us here at KWCB, we wish you a very Merry Christmas. And please return to us for future updates about Fernando. For now, we return you to our regular programming.”
Ivy sniffed, feeling tears of happiness gather in her eyes while she watched Storm lead Fernando to his new home.
“Is she going to take him all the way?” Slade asked, looking in concern at his niece.
“Let’s give them a little time together,” Lula Mae said. “Sydney will walk behind them. Oscar can help me get a trailer and pick them up in a bit.”
“I’d better go, too.”
“No.” Lula Mae glanced at Ivy. “You’re needed here.”
Jack walked up to them. “Great stuff. Oats were a good touch. She’d never have gotten him to follow her otherwise.”
“Maybe,” Lula Mae said. “Maybe not. You know as well as I do that animals have their own minds…and they know their own.”
“So true,” Sydney replied. “Come on. Let’s don’t let them get too far ahead.”
As Lula Mae and Sydney left to follow Storm, the crowd slowly started to disperse, laughing and talking happily among themselves.
Ivy slipped her hand into Slade’s as she watched everyone load up and head out, finally leaving the lane empty. The pond was empty, too, almost as if Fernando had never been there.
“I guess I lost the bull after all,” Slade said thoughtfully.
“But you made a little girl happy.”
“Yeah. I couldn’t ask for more.” He snuggled Ivy close. “Let’s get up to the house. It’s time to make us happy.”
She smiled at him. “It’s truly been a Christmas of miracles.”
Wildcat Hall Recipes
Texas Tea Cakes (sugar cookies)
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 ¼ cups flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients using a handheld mixer. Chill dough thoroughly. Mold into walnut-size balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press with bottom of glass dipped in sugar. Bake about ten minutes at 350 degrees.
Cowboy Cookies
See Texas Tea Cakes recipe above.
Add whiskey to taste.
Book Chili from Carolyn Brown’s The Red-Hot Chili Cook-Off
1 gallon commercial chili
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons liquid smoke
2 cans chili beans
8 ounces chopped jalapeño peppers
6 teaspoons chili powder
6 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 gallon bag of cooked hamburger meat
1 large milk chocolate candy bar
Mix all ingre
dients in large pot and bring to a boil.
Corn Fritters from Sabine Starr’s Belle Gone Bad
1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 tablespoon honey (or sugar/sugar substitute)
2 eggs, beaten
1 one-pound can creamed corn
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
Mix the first four (dry) ingredients in one bowl. Mix the last five (wet) ingredients in another bowl. Add wet to dry and stir until moistened. Pour ¼ cup at a time onto oiled, sizzling hot griddle or skillet, and brown on both sides, turning once. Makes about fifteen fritters.
Texas Pecan Pie
1 cup Karo syrup (light or dark)
3 large eggs
1 cup pecans
¾ cup white sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of salt
8-inch unbaked piecrust
In a large bowl, beat eggs slightly. Add sugar, syrup, and salt. Stir in butter and vanilla. Add pecans. Pour in pie crust. Bake approximately 45 minutes in 350 degree oven.
Acknowledgments
Once upon a time, Carolyn Brown and I were eating ice cream and discussing books when I mentioned my upcoming novel about a bull-riding cowboy cook. We got excited talking about recipes that I might include in the book—and that got her thinking about a funny scene with a chili recipe in her The Red-Hot Chili Cook-Off. She offered that recipe for this book, so I took her up on it and had fun weaving her recipe into the storyline. Here’s a big shout-out to Carolyn for her generosity.
Sabine Starr thought her old-timey, yummy corn fritters from Belle Gone Bad would fit right into this book, so lots of thanks to her for sharing her delicious recipe.
On a cool afternoon in East Texas, Shirley Praetor Whiteside and Wanda Barton Barber happily discussed recipes that might fit into this book. They came up with cowboy cookies and Texas tea cakes. Many thanks go to both of them.
For my Tater, I borrowed the name of Darmond Gee’s blue heeler cow dog that always rides shotgun in his pickup. Christina Gee’s Aussie cow dog named Sweetheart inspired me—he might be the runt of the litter, but he’s big in spirit, just like my Tater.
Bull rider Milton Snow trained with champion Freckles Brown in Soper, Oklahoma, and gave me excellent advice. When I asked him about his bull-riding days, he said in his easygoing, modest way, “Well, I tried to ride bulls…and there are some tough ones you never forget.”
Special thanks go to Sylvia McDaniel, bestselling and beloved author, for the suggestion of a contemporary trail drive during a fun lunch.
As always, I’m grateful to the cowboys and cowgirls of Gee Cattle Ranch—Brandon, Christina, Luke, Lank, Logan, and Laren. Not only did they feed me, but they were also instrumental in making Fernando a larger-than-life bull.
Oodles of thanks go to R. A. Jones, terrific comic and novel author, for the outstanding titles in my Wildcat Hall Dance Contest. At one time, R. A. and I judged dance contests together at conventions in Dallas, and he always came up with the absolute best titles…and still does.
About the Author
Kim Redford is the bestselling author of Western romance novels. She grew up in Texas with cowboys, cowgirls, horses, cattle, and rodeos. She divides her time between homes in Texas and Oklahoma, where she’s a rescue cat wrangler and horseback rider—when she takes a break from her keyboard. Visit her at kimredford.com.
Also by Kim Redford
Smokin’ Hot Cowboys
A Cowboy Firefighter for Christmas
Blazing Hot Cowboy
A Very Cowboy Christmas
Hot for a Cowboy
Thank you for reading this Sourcebooks eBook!
Join our mailing list to stay in the know and receive special offers and bonus content on your favorite books and authors!
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
Books. Change. Lives.