Christmas on the Ranch--A Clean Romance

by Julianna Morris

  * * *

  THAT NIGHT GIDEON lay in his bedroll, arm under his head as he gazed at the sky, trying not to think about the taste and feel of Alaina’s lips against his own.

  Kissing her again had been the last thing he’d expected. The laughter had been almost as sweet.

  The Milky Way was as clear and brilliant as he’d ever seen it, with shooting stars streaking across the darkness every few seconds, some bright, some barely a flicker. He glanced over at Alaina, unsure if she was awake or asleep, and then returned his attention to the celestial display. Normally he didn’t have trouble sleeping, but what was normal these days?

  The summer was racing by. In some ways, Founders Day always felt like the beginning of the end, so it wasn’t unusual to feel that way—winter was their longest season—but Alaina’s presence on the Double Branch had complicated everything. She was too appealing for comfort. The image of cuddling with her in front of a winter fire kept intruding into his mind, but while she might appreciate the wild reaches of his world, she wasn’t staying. This was her year of adventure and when it was over, she’d find another adventure.

  Sensing his wakefulness, Danger rose and padded over to settle down and rest his muzzle on Gideon’s chest. It had been good to see him adapting well to the presence of two more dogs on the ranch, treating them as subordinate members of the pack. Clearly he expected to be in charge and the new border collies, Jax and Ollie, had accepted him as their alpha without question.

  Subordinates?

  Alpha?

  Gideon smiled to himself. Alaina’s language about wolves and other wildlife was laced with a mix of poetic and scientific terms, and both were creeping into his own thoughts.

  An odd contentment filled him as he rubbed behind Danger’s ears. He didn’t do this sort of thing often—sleeping under the stars felt too much like playing hooky from his duty to the ranch and the Westcott tradition. As a teen he’d roamed all over the mountains alone, staying out for days with little more than food and a blanket—something he had no intention of telling Alaina.

  She was an interesting woman, full of contradictions.

  Grandpa Colby had once said that life could make you hard, while women made you strong. At the time Gideon had been reeling from his divorce and he’d taken it to mean that women taught men the harshest lessons. But that couldn’t be what his great-grandfather had intended to say.

  A noise across the clearing caught Gideon’s attention and he looked over to see a raccoon. Danger was watching it, too, but he knew better than to give chase. Seeming aware of their attention, the animal rose on its hind legs and gave a hiss of warning before continuing.

  Gideon faced upward again, still thinking about Grandpa Colby. As Alaina had pointed out, his family had a history of long happy unions. There were a few exceptions, but his great-grandparents had been devoted to each other. Colby had grieved deeply for his wife and spoken of her often in the five years he’d lived on alone. At the end he’d believed she was there in the room, beckoning to him, and his face had lighted with eagerness.

  Somehow, it had made saying goodbye a tiny bit easier for the rest of them.

  What would it be like to have that kind of love and devotion...the kind Alaina had felt for her husband?

  For the first time in Gideon’s life, he truly envied another man. The thought of Alaina looking at him with that much love in her eyes took his breath away.

  Beneath his fingers, Danger tensed. An instant later Alaina shuddered in her sleeping bag. A soft moan sounded, followed by a jumble of whispered words.

  Danger whined in response.

  Gideon’s concern escalated as she began twisting back and forth. “Alaina,” he called, hoping not to startle her. “It’s okay, wake up.”

  She jerked. “W-what?”

  “Sorry, you were having a nightmare.”

  “No,” she muttered, but he didn’t think she was denying the nightmare, just the dark images still lingering in her mind.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Alaina let out a half laugh. “You may be sorry. That’s what Libby said when I encouraged her to tell me all she wanted about her dad, not that I ever regretted the invitation.”

  “She didn’t think she could confide in me?” Gideon tried to keep from sounding dismayed.

  “There was nothing to confide, she just missed talking about him. You know, telling stories about Stewart and the things he would say. All the little memories you don’t want to lose. Mostly she was worried it would upset Helene, so I suggested asking your mom if hearing about him would bother her. Helene must have said it was okay, because I’ve heard the two of them swapping anecdotes ever since.”

  Gideon blinked, suddenly realizing that things were better, with grief no longer seeming to hang so heavily over his mother and sister. Or him. The loss was still hard, but light finally seemed to be shining through the darkness.

  He turned on his side to face Alaina, realizing something else—she’d changed the subject away from herself.

  “You learned this stuff the hard way,” he murmured. “Was the nightmare about your husband?”

  “It’s the one I used to have after the accident. Reliving it, over and over in vivid detail. They finally stopped after a few months.”

  “But now they’re back.”

  “Yeah.” Alaina sat up and accepted Danger’s anxious attention. “Today was such a nice day I’d hoped it wouldn’t be a problem. But something happened in Bannister that stirred things up, and night gremlins are persistent.”

  “What happened?”

  She petted Danger for another minute before answering. “Nothing too dramatic. A truck has come up behind my SUV a couple of times, honking and tailgating. Then it passes at a high speed, swerving around as if the driver is intoxicated. My husband died because of a drunk driver, so it’s raised some ghosts.”

  “Have you reported the incidents to the sheriff’s office?” Gideon asked. The stillness of the land around them made the threat of a reckless motorist seem far away, but that was an illusion. He lived on the edge of a wilderness with a mechanized world on the other side.

  “There isn’t any point. I haven’t been able to get the license plate number, it was covered with dirt both times, and I’m not even sure it was the same truck. There must be more than one really old red pickup in the area. I’ve only gone into Bannister once since Founders Day, which is when it happened the second time. That’s when I decided to do all my shopping in Bozeman.”

  “What about having your snow tires installed?”

  She shrugged. “Anders Garage called and said they couldn’t get them, after all. Mr. Anders recommended a place in Bozeman. They had what I needed in stock, so I’ve already bought a set. I’ll go down in October to have them put on and get the SUV prepped for winter weather.”

  A peculiar sensation crept across Gideon’s shoulders. Bill Anders prided himself on being able to provide for all of Bannister County’s vehicular needs, even repairing big rigs. But he couldn’t get studded snow tires for a popular SUV model?

  “That isn’t right. Any of it.”

  She shrugged. “Mr. Anders has a small business, so he needs to prioritize service for the people who live here permanently. And it’s possible the road incidents weren’t that bad. I’m just overreacting. The nightmares have settled down before and they will again. I’m sorry I woke you up. I should have suggested doing day trips for a while.”

  “It’s fine. Anyhow, I was still awake,” he said, “looking at the sky and thinking I don’t take enough time for stargazing. Few people in the world have a finer view.”

  Alaina settled down again, looking upward. “They’re incredible. Countless points of brightness in the distance.” From her tone, he could tell she was relieved to talk about something else. “How amazing to think that some of that light traveled years
to reach us. A few of those stars burned out eons ago, and yet here we are, still seeing them.”

  “You don’t think that’s depressing?”

  “How could it be depressing to know that light can continue to shine in the dark, even when the source is gone?” She put a hand over her mouth as she yawned. “It’s like memories of the people we’ve lost. Everyone talks about needing balance, but when it comes to love and grief, I don’t care about balance. How Mason lived is more important than how he died. That’s why the nightmares frustrate me.”

  Another shooting star, the largest Gideon had seen that evening, streaked across the sky.

  “I’m not making any sense, am I?” Alaina asked after another yawn.

  “I’m no philosopher, but I get what you’re saying.” Curiously Gideon did understand. He’d spent months being angry that his stepfather had died at such a relatively young age. But he needed to let it go. There were much better things to remember about Stewart.

  Danger was tucked close to Alaina and even in the faint illumination from the stars, Gideon could see that he’d relaxed into sleep, probably because she had drifted off again, too.

  Gideon looked over at Brushfire and Nikko where they were tethered on a hitch line. He considered getting up to check them, but they were quiet and he didn’t want to disturb Alaina.

  His feelings about her were getting more and more confused. Libby had accused him of comparing her to Celeste, but that wasn’t true, even when Alaina had first moved into the foreman’s cabin. She was genuine and passionate and cared deeply about both people and animals.

  And she had a gift for challenging him. He’d gotten into the habit of just doing his work until he was tired enough to sleep, but she was right, as much as he cared about the ranch, there ought to be room for more. Having responsibility didn’t require him to give up everything else he enjoyed.

  Did he really expect to spend the rest of his life alone because of a failed marriage? It was a bleak picture. No wife to love and laugh with together. No companionship. No chance of children to cherish and pass the ranch to one day. There would be nothing except long days and longer nights.

  He shook his head. No matter what, there was one thing he needed to pay attention to or be sorry... Alaina’s feelings about her husband. What had she said, I can’t imagine finding anyone else I’d love as much as Mason?

  He’d be wise to remember those words.

  * * *

  THE NEXT MORNING Alaina took her cue from Gideon, who behaved as if nothing had happened in the middle of the night. In reality, nothing had happened except for a drowsy discussion. Still, she’d appreciated being able to talk to someone instead of banishing the nightmare on her own.

  Of course, Danger did his best to help when she was camping alone with him. He would lick and snuggle, sharing his warmth. Wolves did the same thing to comfort other members of the pack.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask if the Double Branch has any hot springs or other geothermal features,” Alaina said as they ate breakfast. “I’ve been transcribing Jonah’s journals and found the section I thought could be a clue. He mentions a warm water source and seeing an unusually long arrowhead.”

  Gideon cocked his head. “Unusually long? I wonder if that could be a Clovis point. My stepdad was fascinated by them. He said they were early Paleo-Indian.”

  “I’ve heard of both Folsom and Clovis points. Anyhow, I thought the connection was promising since hot springs are an easily identifiable landmark.”

  Gideon nodded. “As a matter of fact, the Double Branch has two—we just don’t let people visit them. Jonah named them Pixie Jump and Dragon’s Tooth, of all things. It makes sense that an early human settlement would find a geothermal feature useful. We can ride up there next week. Libby and her friends won’t be here before then. They’re moving her into a new apartment.”

  “It sounds as if she’s planning to be at the ranch a lot.”

  “Yeah, well, I suspect Deke has something to do with that,” Gideon muttered.

  Alaina tried not to smile. She didn’t think he would be thrilled to see his sister dating anybody, but plainly it was an even bigger challenge to see her dating one of his friends.

  “She and her pals will keep coming until the weather gets too bad, then start again next spring,” he explained. “Searching if they haven’t found anything by then, or digging if they have.”

  “You must be pleased Libby is finally letting you do something for her. On top of everything else, her friends are going to spend their weekends at the ranch, dig on your land and ride your horses.”

  Initially Alaina had worried the college students would want to use ATVs for their search, but instead they were going out on horseback. It was why Libby had wanted her own horse, Ladybug, brought down from the Carmichael ranch in Shelton.

  Gideon laughed. “Yeah, it’s a first since she turned twelve. You complain about your brothers. Can you explain how I went from being someone she counted on to becoming the enemy who’s trying to take her independence away?”

  “Because you are.”

  “I don’t see that.”

  Alaina just smiled and shook her head. While Gideon behaved like an overprotective big brother, Libby had learned at a young age to push back and defend herself. Now it mostly seemed to be a game they played.

  Maybe that was also true of Alaina’s own brothers and she just hadn’t recognized it.

  “By the way,” Gideon said more seriously, “you’ll be happy to know I’ve limited the search area for Libby and her friends. They’re required to stay within certain GPS coordinates, which excludes the Wind Singer territory. Wolves and archeology students aren’t a mix I’m eager to see.”

  “You weren’t eager to see a mix of wolves and a photographer, either.”

  “I’m still not that thrilled about it.”

  Alaina pushed her hat down more firmly on her head. “You do understand how shy wolves are, right? They’ll protect their young and their kills, but for the most part, they avoid humans. Bear spray is primarily intended to deter bears.”

  He laughed again. “You don’t worry about bears, either.”

  “I respect and love them, just as much as wolves. Several years ago I even had a Native American artisan walk up to me and announce that the bear was my animal spirit guide. It came out of the blue, for seemingly no reason except that he wanted to be certain I understood.”

  “You believe in animal spirit guides?” Gideon’s tone was predictably dry.

  “I believe more than I doubt,” she said. “There’s so much we don’t understand in the world around us, it would be arrogant to think it wasn’t possible. I’ve had an affinity for bears since before I can remember. Besides, a lot of people believe in guardian angels, why couldn’t some of them be animals?”

  “Maybe.”

  “And look, he gave me a gift.” Alaina took off the pendant she always wore and handed it to Gideon. It was a silver bear, with an intricate pattern of inlaid turquoise and coral. “See the symbol on the back?”

  Gideon turned the pendent over and his eyebrows rose. “The artist’s mark is a wolf?” He held it out to her. “Interesting coincidence.”

  “That depends on how you look at it.” She dropped the necklace over her head again. “Maybe it was chance, or maybe the artist perceived something beyond our normal senses. I’m willing to take some things on faith.”

  Gideon didn’t appear convinced, but he didn’t argue the point. He got up and finished packing his sleeping bag.

  Alaina saddled Nikko, feeling calm and content despite the broken night of sleep. How could she feel otherwise, she mused, filling her lungs with the cool morning air. She was high in the mountains in one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

  “Ready to go?” Gideon asked as he finished.

  Alaina nodded and got into the saddl
e, marveling at how relaxed she was on Nikko. It wasn’t just that her muscles no longer screamed in protest after a long day’s ride, it was feeling at ease while riding him. She even trusted Nikko enough now to take photographs while mounted on his back, though she was careful. A horse could always bolt if startled.

  They headed west toward the Wind Singer territory in comfortable silence.

  Gideon drove her to distraction with some of his attitudes, but she kept seeing depths in him that she hadn’t expected. He was intelligent and devoted to his family. Though he’d fundamentally disagreed with Colby Westcott on various issues, he’d loved and valued his great-grandfather. And those endearing hints of whimsy kept appearing at the oddest times.

  Suddenly a low warning sound came from Danger and Alaina reined in Nikko. In the distance she saw a grizzly tearing apart a rotten log in search of grubs.

  She turned on her camera and began taking shots. It would have been great to use one of her super-telephoto lenses, but they were best for work at an established observation point, where she could set up her equipment and be focused for hours.

  Finally she let the camera rest around her neck. She wrinkled her nose at Gideon, who was waiting. “Sorry.”

  “I’m used to it by now, but I’m glad you have Danger on your hikes. You get totally absorbed. At least he keeps watch and will alert you if an animal approaches.”

  Alaina shrugged and let the comment rest. She was more watchful when she was alone; it was Gideon’s presence that made her feel secure enough to simply focus on getting pictures.

  There were pluses and minuses to their tours. They were leaving supplies in various caches around the ranch, which included enough cold weather gear to get by in an emergency. She had also seen a good deal of the ranch and high backcountry. Amazingly Gideon didn’t need to graze cattle on every inch of his acreage, some of which was over eight thousand feet high. Instead he was able to move his herds around the lower elevations to ensure they had the best forage.

  But the downside of their tours was the way she kept dropping her guard, both physically and emotionally. Gideon was at one with the land, understanding its rhythms and creatures. She felt safe with him at a time she needed to be taking care of herself.