A Cowboy for Christmas

by Susan Fisher-Davis

  A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS

  A Callahan Novella

  Susan Fisher-Davis

  Erotic Romance

  A Cowboy for Christmas

  Copyright © 2016 Susan Fisher-Davis

  First E-book Publication: January 2016

  Cover design by Amy Valentini

  Edited by Amy Valentini

  All cover art copyright © 2016 by Susan Fisher-Davis

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER:

  Blue Whiskey Publishing

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Dedication

  To Amy Valentini, the best editor and cover designer I could ever ask for.

  To Toby Schuler, Dedee Hayes, and Kelli McCleeary for being the best beta readers out there.

  To all of you reading this book.

  Thank you for your support. I appreciate it more than you know.

  Prologue

  REID CALLAHAN STARED at the casket and still found it hard to believe that his best friend was inside it. Pain ripped through his heart at the thought of losing Zeke. They’d grown up together and had become the best bull riders on the circuit, both winning buckles and taking first place from each other. A small, sad smile lifted his lips as he remembered how they’d competed against each other, but always supporting one another. They were happy for each other’s success. For years, they rode the circuit together...until Zeke met Lucy and fell in love. Hard.

  Reid lifted his gaze to see Lucy standing on the other side of the casket, tears streaming down her cheeks. She raised her eyes to his and all he saw there was pure hatred. She blamed him for this and he knew she’d never forgive him. He just wanted Zeke to go one more time and look where that had gotten him. His best friend was dead now and Lucy hated him for it.

  He shifted his eyes away from her. It hurt too much to look at her. She was a stunning woman with long, dark brown hair and beautiful light blue eyes. She had a pert nose that sat over the most sensual pair of lips he’d ever seen. He’d fallen in love with her the day Zeke introduced him to her soon after they started dating. Reid blew out a breath and watched it form into a puff of cold air. Rain beat down on his Stetson and poured off the brim to land on his boots. The rain seemed perfect for the day, and the way he was feeling.

  When the service was over, Reid couldn’t get his feet to move to walk away. Damn it. This should never have happened. Zeke was too good. Reid closed his eyes as the image replayed in his head yet again.

  Zeke had given him the thumbs up as he straddled the bull, ready to ride. He’d drawn Firecracker...the meanest bull on the circuit. No cowboy had ever ridden him the full eight seconds but if anyone could, it was Zeke. Reid had watched as Zeke lowered himself onto the bull’s back, gave the nod, and then the chute door opened. Firecracker shot out into the open immediately bucking and roaring, trying his best to dislodge the rider from his back. The bull rocked him first to the left and then back to the right. The clock was nearly at six seconds. Reid was positive Zeke was going to do it...until Firecracker jumped high, and kicked out. Zeke flew off hitting the sawdust-covered ground. The crowd groaned along with Reid. He stood on the rails and yelled for Zeke to run. Zeke got to his feet to run, but Firecracker was on him with his head down aiming for him.

  Zeke ran toward the rails but Firecracker caught him, and tossed him with his horns. Zeke hit the ground again, but got to his feet as quickly as he could. The rodeo clowns had done their best to distract the bull, but he was having none of it. He was only interested in getting to the rider who’d had the balls to get on his back. He caught Zeke right before he reached the rails. Reid put his hand out to his friend. He saw the pure terror on Zeke’s face as he reached his hand out to Reid, but Firecracker rammed him into the fence. Reid remembered the loud groan that emerged from his friend as he fell to the ground. Trapped with nowhere to go, Firecracker gored Zeke tossing him over his head.

  Everything seemed to happen in slow motion to Reid as he jumped the rail to get to his friend. At that moment, he hadn’t given a shit about the bull or the danger. He needed to get to Zeke. Firecracker stood over Zeke as if he’d just won a trophy. He looked up as Reid ran toward him and back to Zeke, and then stomped on his chest with a hoofed foot. The rodeo clowns had finally gotten Firecracker away from him as Reid reached Zeke. He lifted his friend’s limp body and ran to the fence. The rodeo doctor had him lay Zeke on a stretcher, which someone quickly rolled to an ambulance in the back of the arena. Reid had stayed beside the stretcher holding Zeke’s hand.

  Reid had climbed into the ambulance just as Lucy arrived. He helped her inside and they rode to the hospital together. Zeke was alive, but barely. Reid and Lucy both had tears rolling down their faces, neither wanting to believe any of this was actually happening.

  Thirty minutes later, Zeke was gone. Reid had stood stoically beside Lucy as the doctor told them there was nothing he could do to save him. There had been internal bleeding that they couldn’t stop. Lucy nearly fell to her knees but Reid caught her, and held her while she sobbed. After a few minutes, she gazed up at him with tears glistening on her long lashes. Her face went from sorrow to hatred in seconds. She pushed away from him.

  “Don’t touch me. This is your fault, Reid Callahan. You’re the one who will have to live with this. You killed your best friend, and my husband. I hope you rot in hell,” she’d told him, and then walked back to the room where Zeke lay on a gurney.

  Reid had felt sucker punched. She blamed him, hated him, and swore she’d never forgive him. Thing was, she was probably right. He never should have talked Zeke into one more ride. Fuck!

  He shook the memories away and looked around to see that everyone was gone from the gravesite, except Lucy. She stood there, staring at him. He watched as she took a deep breath and walked to stand in front of him. He gazed into her gorgeous face and swore he felt his heart stop. Just as it always seemed to do when she looked at him, or smiled at him. Something she wasn’t doing now.

  “Reid, you have to leave now. I don’t want you here anymore.”

  “I want to stay while they—”

  “No! You will not see my husband lowered into the ground. You don’t deserve to be here. Not anymore.”

  “Lucy, please. He was my best friend.”

  “Get out of here before I have someone remove you,” she said through clenched teeth.

  Reid took a deep breath and gave her a terse nod. “I understand.”

  “Do you? I hope so, because you put him in there.” She pointed to the flower-covered casket.

  He felt the blood drain from his face as he stared at her. He turned on his boot heel and stalked across the wet grass toward his truck. When he reached it, he wanted to look back but didn’t. He climbed into his truck, and with wheels spinning on gravel, he tore out of the cemetery as if the hounds of hell were chasing him, and perhaps they were.

  Chapter One

  THREE YEARS LATER

  Reid stared down at the headstone with Ezekiel “Zeke” Albright carved into the marble. Only the dates of his birth and death accompanied his name—n
othing else. No statement of how great of a bull rider he’d been, how much he’d loved his wife, and friends—nothing. Reid wasn’t sure what was appropriate to put on a headstone, but he thought something more should be on there for Zeke, to tell the world who he was.

  He took his hat off, squatted down, and spun the brim of the hat in his hands. It was still hard to believe Zeke was gone. A tear rolled down his cheek.

  “I miss you, buddy,” he whispered.

  He hadn’t realized he wasn’t alone until he looked over and saw jean-clad legs. His eyes traveled up them and he found himself staring at the one person he was hoping to avoid while he was home for the holidays. Lucy Albright. He came to his feet quickly and placed his hat on his head.

  “Reid?” She frowned up at him.

  He nodded. “I’m sorry. I’ll leave, Lucy.”

  “No. Please stay.”

  Reid didn’t move. They both stood there in silence for a few minutes, staring at the headstone.

  “You were right,” he whispered.

  “About what?”

  “It was my fault.”

  He heard her gasp and felt her hand on his arm, but he couldn’t look at her. “No, Reid. It wasn’t your fault. I know I blamed you at first, but Zeke made the decision to ride. You didn’t make him do it.”

  “I tried to help him but I couldn’t reach him when he put his hand out to me.” He took a deep breath. “I couldn’t reach him,” he repeated.

  “I was there too, Reid. I saw what happened. I know you tried. I saw Zeke reach out for you.”

  “I see him doing that in my dreams almost every night.”

  “I did for a long time. I blamed you for talking him into riding, and for not helping him.”

  Reid winced. “Not as much as I blamed myself.”

  “Reid, Zeke was his own man. He made the decision to ride. I begged him not to. He told me he wanted one more ride.” She shook her head. “He got it.”

  “I should have done more to help him. When I first saw him in trouble, I wanted to jump in there but the other cowboys held me back. Because I didn’t, you lost a husband and I lost my best friend. I’ll miss him every day for the rest of my life. I see his terrified face every night when I close my eyes. I’ll never forget the look on his face as he reached his hand out to me and I couldn’t reach him.” He felt another tear roll down his face. “I’m so sorry, Lucy.”

  She squeezed his arm. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for, Reid. It wasn’t your fault. I know that. I came to realize it a long time ago. I had to blame someone other than myself, and Zeke.”

  Reid looked at her. “You have no blame in this at all.”

  “I do,” she whispered.

  Reid watched a tear roll down her face and it about brought him to his knees. He reached out to her and pulled her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his shoulder, and cried. He was man enough to let his tears go too. She was tall for a woman, almost five ten, but he still towered over her at six five. After a few minutes, she raised her head and looked up at him. He gazed down into her beautiful face. She smiled at him.

  “Thank you for that. I haven’t cried over Zeke in years.” She pulled away from him. “Sometimes tears help you feel better.” She reached up and wiped a tear from his cheek. She cleared her throat and started to walk away from him, when she suddenly turned back to face him. “Are you home for Christmas?”

  “Yes. I was on my way to Mom and Dad’s when I decided to stop here. I’m glad I did now. It’s good to see you, Lucy. You look great.” He smiled when a blush stained her cheeks. She was entirely too young to be a widow. Zeke had only been twenty-nine when he died. Too young.

  “You look good too, Reid. I just wanted to stop by and put some flowers out for the holidays. I’m on my way home now. I hope you have a Merry Christmas, Reid.”

  “You too, Lucy.” He gave her a nod and turned away from her. It about killed him to look at her. His best friend’s wife was the one woman he’d always love, but could never have.

  THE NEXT DAY, LUCY stood at the kitchen window staring out at the snow. Christmas was in four days. It seemed to come quicker every year. She lifted her cup to her lips to take a sip of her coffee.

  “Mama?”

  “In here, baby.” She set her cup down and turned just in time to catch Zeke as he launched himself at her. She rubbed her cheek against his blond hair. He reminded her so much of his father. She missed that man so much. She missed his smile, and his kisses. The way he’d loved her, although she guessed he hadn’t loved her enough to quit the rodeo circuit. Nothing could keep him from that one last ride. Sighing, she kissed Zeke’s little fat cheek and set him down.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Yep. I want mac cheese,” Zeke told her. He always wanted mac and cheese.

  “Sounds good. Go wash your hands and I’ll get it ready for you.” She laughed as he ran off.

  Her smile faded as she thought of her son never knowing his father. She had no doubt that Zeke would’ve loved his little boy. She only wished he’d had the chance to meet him. She’d been devastated when Zeke died, and then she’d lashed out at Reid. When she thought back to the day of the funeral, she cringed. The things she’d said to him were unforgivable. Later, she’d read that he had retired from the rodeo at the height of his career. He went out a champion, and he deserved an apology for the appalling way she’d treated him.

  The ding of the microwave brought her back to the present. Zeke ran into the kitchen and pushed his chair out from the table.

  “Lift me, Mama.” He giggled raising his arms in the air.

  Lucy smiled and lifted him into his booster seat. She placed the bowl of mac and cheese in front of him.

  “Be careful, it’s hot. Blow on it.”

  Zeke grinned, lifted his spoon, and blew on the mac and cheese too hard and some of it fell onto the table. He giggled as he picked it up and shoved it into his mouth. Lucy shook her head.

  “Zeke, you are a silly boy,” she said, but laughed when he turned a big smile her way. “Eat up. We need to go shopping for Nana and Pap.”

  “Yep. I know what to get Nana. A big ring. Just like the ones she wears.”

  Lucy bit back a laugh. The rings her mother wore were big diamonds and the thought of Zeke buying her one was laughable, but it would be fun watching him find one for her. She pulled out a chair and took a seat to eat her salad.

  “Santa will be here soon, Mama. I’ve been a good boy, haven’t I?”

  “Of course you have, baby. Santa will be good to you.”

  “Do you think he’ll bring me a pony like I want?”

  “You’ll just have to wait and see.” Lucy smiled.

  “I really want a pony.” Zeke frowned.

  “I know you do, and Santa does his best to get all little boys and girls what they ask for but sometimes, he just can’t do it. So don’t be disappointed if you don’t get a pony, okay?”

  Zeke shook his head. “Mama, I want a pony bad.”

  “I know you do but you’ll get other nice presents too. Maybe Santa will bring you that bike you want so much.”

  Zeke nodded as he shoveled food into his mouth. “Yeah, that would be good too...not as good as a pony, but good. I told him I wanted a pony more than anything.” After he finished eating, he pushed away from the table. “I’m done.”

  “Okay, go wash your face and then we’ll leave.” She smiled at his excitement when he ran off. Of course, it was hardly a minute later before he came rushing back into the kitchen.

  “You missed a spot. Come here,” she said. He ran to stand in front of her. He never seemed to walk anywhere. She wiped his face with a wet paper towel. “Get your coat, hat, and gloves. I’ll go warm up the car.”

  “Okie dokie.”

  Lucy picked up the keys to her SUV and ran out to the vehicle. The cold snatched away her breath. Flurries swirled around her. No accumulation yet, but the weather station was calling fo
r up to a foot of snow. She opened the door and climbed inside. She started the vehicle, turned the defroster and heat on, and then headed back inside. Zeke stood waiting for her in the kitchen with his coat, hat, and mittens on. His boots were on the wrong feet which wasn’t unusual, but he tried. Lucy kneeled down in front of him.

  “Sit down, baby. You have your boots on wrong.”

  Zeke frowned up at her. “Okay,” he said plopping down on the floor.

  Lucy pulled his little cowboy boots off and put them on the correct feet. She helped him up, and he immediately started jumping up and down. She wished she had half his energy.

  Lucy put her coat, hat, and gloves on then took his little hand in hers. They walked outside to the SUV. She buckled him into his car seat and climbed behind the wheel. She looked into the rearview mirror and smiled. He was the sweetest boy and she loved him so much. He had his daddy’s blond hair and her light blue eyes. He was going to be a heartbreaker when he grew up.

  She put the vehicle in drive and headed to town.

  REID ENTERED THE STORE and saw nothing but frenzied chaos in front of him. Damn, he hated Christmas shopping. Of course, it was no one’s fault but his own for waiting so long to pick out gifts. He didn’t come home for the holidays often, but this year he’d wanted to be there. The town of Spring City, Montana was small. Under a thousand people lived here, and by the looks of it, all of them were in Walton’s Department store. He swore under his breath as he maneuvered his way through the crowd.

  Why did everyone wait until the last minute? You waited until the last minute.

  “Yeah, but I’m an idiot,” Reid muttered aloud.

  “What was that, hon?” An elderly woman looked up at him.

  He smiled. “Just talking to myself.”

  She chuckled. “Well, we all do that, and at this time of the year, I find myself doing it more than ever.”

  Reid grinned. “I do, too.” He put his fingers to the brim of his Stetson and moved past her.