I Saw Mommy Kissing A Cowboy (Cowboy Christmas Romance)

by Charlene Bright

  He knew from experience that in this neck of the woods, the cattle was where there was the most money to be made. But he had always had a dream of having a horse ranch. Ideally, he would like to board horses and train them and continue to purchase wild horses and train them to ride. He’d also thought about having a service where he rented out himself and the horses for pack rides. Buying the horses hadn’t been much of a risk so far. The government controlled the wild horse population and sold them off in an auction twice a year—cheap. He usually tried to get them broken right away, but this time once he’d gotten them back to the ranch, the weather had turned and he’d had them in the barn for several months now just waiting to be worked and broken.

  Scott finally had the bridle in his hand and Grant took the opportunity to drop the saddle onto the pony’s back. As soon as the horse felt it, he threw his head up and twisted his rear. Grant took a step back just as the pony kicked out his left foot. He missed him by less than an inch.

  “You boys are too jumpy. He can sense it.”

  “If I hadn’t jumped, Dad, his hoof print would be on the side of my face.”

  “That’s alright. You ain’t all that pretty anyways,” Kent Underwood told his son with a laugh. If Grant wasn’t pretty, it would have to be his father’s fault since he looked just like him. He had married their mother when she was twenty-five and he thirty-five. He was thirty-seven when Scott was born and thirty-nine when Grant came along. He’d built his entire ranch with his bare hands and now it was one of the most thriving in the county. The “boys,” as he called them, had the benefit of a lifetime of experience when they chose to listen to their father.

  He leaned against the top board of the fence and Scott went over and took the place next to him as Grant took the saddle. Grant braced himself, thinking that the horse was going to start bucking wildly. He was pleasantly surprised to realize that for all of Thunder’s protesting, he wasn’t that much of a bucker and even Kent had to admit that Grant was handling him well.

  He rode Thunder until the pony seemed to tire out completely. When he climbed off and Scott came over to help him take off the saddle and hackamore, the horse seemed like a different one than the one that tried to kick Grant only an hour ago. He was pretty proud of himself until he heard his father say, “That’s pretty good son, but what about old Samson? Have you ridden him yet?”

  “No, Dad, but you’re welcome to try him if you’d like.”

  “Yeah, little brother, Dad’s right. That was mild even for you.”

  “What do you mean, ‘even for you’?”

  “Well, I’m not judging you, but you had to call my wife to get a lady’s phone number. I think you’re losing your manhood all the way around.”

  “Screw you. You ride him, tough guy.”

  “I’ll give him a go,” Scott said.

  Samson was a Mustang Grant had bought on his first trip to Wyoming. The horse had been on the ranch for almost a year and was still yet to be ridden. He was mean and he’d like nothing better than to tear a man apart. Grant suddenly backtracked on his challenge.

  “No way,” he told Scott. “If you bust your head open or break a hip, I’d never hear the end of it from your wife.”

  “See, that’s what I’m talking about. No backbone lately. Since when are you so afraid of my wife?”

  Grant laughed and said, “I’d sooner face a criminal on the streets. She’s getting meaner. Are you sure she’s not pregnant again? Remember how mean she was with the boys?” Scott’s face suddenly went pale, and Grant added quickly, “Man, I was just kidding. Don’t pass out on me.”

  Scott shook his head. “She can’t be … can she?”

  Grant laughed. “Man, you’d have to make that call. Go on over there by Dad, though, just in case so you don’t get hurt.”

  “You’re going to ride Samson?”

  “I’m gonna try,” he said with a nervous laugh.

  “I’ll be poised to call the ambulance.”

  “Get out of here!” Grant was still shaking his head as he pulled the ornery horse out of his stall. Samson was glaring at him and snorting snot out of his big nostrils. He knew the horse was going to give him hell, but because of his brother’s taunting, he suddenly felt like he had something to prove. He settled a loop over the horse’s head and Samson went to bucking right away. He had to lean back into the lasso to control the horse. He worked his way back slowly to the snubbing post and, with much effort that he knew he was going to pay for in the morning, he drew the horse in. Samson snorted and kicked some, but not as much as usual. It had been a long time since he had tried to ride the spirited horse and he suspected that Samson wanted to be saddled today. The cowboy was looking to prove something to himself.

  Scott came back over while Grant held on to Samson and put the hackamore over the horse’s head and down across his nose. Then he grabbed the saddle and threw it on. That was when Samson started getting crazy. Once Scott had the cinch tightened, Grant handed his brother the ends of the hackamore, made the sign of the cross over himself with a wink in his dad’s direction, and then, without further hesitation, climbed onto the horse’s back. Samson reared up on his hind legs right away. Scott handed the reins to his brother and got the heck out of the way.

  Samson shook his head like a crazy beast and stomped one of his rear feet. Then he set his front feet and kicked his rear legs skyward. Grant was jerked forward, but he held on, trying to synchronize his movements with the powerful animal’s. The next buck was straight up with Samson off all four feet. Horse and rider landed with a thud. The cowboy felt his inner thighs stretch and groan. Before he could react, the horse twisted sideways. He almost slid off then, but he clamped his thighs down tighter and pulled back on the hackamore, putting pressure on Samson’s nose and pulling him back upright.

  That seemed to tick the horse off and he began grunting loudly and bucking without any pause in between. He was kicking up so much dust that Grant’s father and brother were practically invisible along the line of the fence but he could see his father recording the ride with his phone. The horse was coming up off the ground four or five feet now and Grant had found his rhythm, moving his body with each buck. There was no noise other than the snorting and grunting of the horse; it was as if time were standing still. He hung on and, as he knew it to be the case with horses other than Samson, the bucking became weaker, until it progressively stopped. Samson wasn’t quite finished yet, however. He took off in a run around the inside of the pen giving a kick here and there with his hind legs. Grant rode it out and eventually Samson slowed to a walk. He trotted him around the pen a few times with a proud smile pasted on his lips. His father and brother had a mixture of pride and disbelief on their faces as they watched him.

  Scott stepped back into the pen and took the reins so Grant could dismount. When his sore, shaky legs were on the ground, Scott started slapping him on the back. “I can’t believe you just did that. Son of a gun! That was awesome!”

  Grant took off his hat and ran his fingers through the wet, dusty mess. He couldn’t stop smiling. He looked over at his dad who gave him a “thumbs up” sign. He was walking on air.

  Scott and his dad stayed for another hour or so. The men drank coffee and watched the video and talked about how incredible it was. He felt invincible by the time they left. It was time to call Jyl.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Jyl spent all morning going through the boxes of Christmas ornaments. It was exhausting work, and when she’d finally got them all sorted on the living room next to the giant, fragrant tree, Gabriel refused to help her decorate.

  “Grant’s supposed to help us.”

  “Baby, it’s almost noon and I haven’t heard from him. Maybe something came up.”

  “No, he’ll be here,” he said.

  “Maybe we could start and when he gets here, he can jump in and help.”

  “That’s not nice to start without him.”

  “I’d really like to finish and have lunc
h and a nap if we’re going to the tree lighting tonight.”

  “I don’t want to decorate it without Grant. Santa is watching.”

  She drew her brows together. “What does Santa have to do with Grant?” she asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “Gabriel? What’s going on?”

  “I asked Santa for something and if he sees me being rude to Grant, he probably won’t give it to me.”

  “Gabriel, baby, what did you ask Santa for?”

  “If I tell you it won’t come true … right?”

  She smiled at him gently. “No, sweetie, that’s only the case with birthday wishes. You can tell anyone what you asked Santa Claus for.”

  He grinned. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “I told him that I want a daddy.”

  “Oh baby—”

  “I want Grant to be my daddy.”

  “Oh. Gabriel, come here.” He came over to where she sat on the sofa and she said, “I thought we settled this. Santa cannot bring living, breathing things.”

  “That’s what you said, but when I was at the Underwoods’ house, I watched a movie called Miracle … on some kind of street.”

  With a small smile she said, “Thirty-Fourth Street?”

  “Yeah, that one. The little girl asked for a daddy and a house … she got it all in the end. I like our new house, so I just asked for a daddy.”

  She pulled the little boy up in her lap and said, “Sweetness, it doesn’t work that way. Mommies and daddies have to be in love.”

  “Like how you love me?”

  “Kind of, but it’s a different kind of love. You can’t just fill a hole with a guy, you know? Grant’s never been part of a family like ours. I don’t really think he wants to be.”

  The little boy’s face was so sad that she was suddenly compelled to take it all back. She couldn’t lie to him, though, and she was just about to tell him that some people liked being single and free to do as they wished, when the text message alert went off on her phone. She was going to ignore it, but Gabe jumped up and said, “It might be Grant.” He ran to get his mother’s phone. He handed it to her and said, “Is it Grant?”

  “Yes, baby, but don’t get your hopes up, okay? Let’s see what he has to say.” She opened the message and read it.

  Am I still invited to trim the tree?

  She looked at her son’s expectant face and reluctantly typed, Yes. She was reluctant because she knew now that Gabe harbored ideas about her and Grant that she doubted would ever see fruition. She didn’t want to perpetuate that and make his hurt deeper in the future. But, she wasn’t sure how to tell him no.

  She got another text. This one was a smiley emoji and it said, What time should I be there, and what should I bring?

  Whenever is fine. We’re ready. You don’t have to bring anything.

  Do you have popcorn?

  No.

  Candy canes?

  No.

  Trailing pine for the front door and entryway?

  No.

  Egg nog?

  No.

  How the heck were you going to manage this without me?

  She smiled and replied, I don’t know what I was thinking.

  I’ll see you soon.

  Her smile continued after she read the last text. Something about talking to him always put it there, even if it was via text. She looked at her son and said, “Grant will be here soon.”

  “Yippee!”

  * * *

  Grant arrived about an hour later, his arms laden with bags. Jyl had to take a couple out of his arms to even see his face. When it was revealed, she had to suck in a breath. The first thing her mind did when her eyes found his perfect lips was call up a memory of that kiss.

  “What is all of this?” she asked, trying to change tracks in her mind as she led him into the house.

  “Supplies,” he said. “There are traditions to be followed.”

  “We don’t really have any of those yet.”

  “That’s why I brought mine,” he said.

  “Grant!” Gabriel ran in and threw himself into Grant’s arms. He swung him up high, gave him a hug, and set him back down on his feet. Jyl looked at her little man; he was beaming. She was smiling too until he said, “Oh! Guess what? Mommy said that I could tell what I asked Santa for and it will still come true.”

  “Gabriel, maybe we should just keep that between you and me.”

  “Why, Mom? It includes him too.”

  “Because I said,” she told him, using one of her mother’s old stand-by disciplinary tools. She usually preferred to explain things to him, but in this case she just really didn’t want him to say what she knew was on the tip of his tongue. She looked up from her child’s disappointed face and saw Grant looking at her. “Let’s get started going through all of these cool things that Grant brought,” she told her son. That re-focused him and in no time, he was bouncing up and down begging Grant to show him.

  “Okay, so first we have popcorn. …”

  “To eat?” Gabe asked.

  With a smile Grant told him, “You’ll have to tangle up with your mother over that one. I brought it so we could put it on a string after it’s cooked and hang it on the tree.”

  “Cool,” the little boy said.

  Jyl wanted to ask what else was in the bags. Instead, she waited patiently and watched as he pulled out ribbon and eggnog, ornament hooks, and something in a package that said it keeps the tree healthy. After he emptied all of that out, he pulled out a long white box with red ribbons on it. He handed it to her and, curious, she untied the ribbons and pulled the top of the box open. There were two shiny red and glittery ornaments inside. She lifted one out and saw that it had her full initials on the front of it in glitter and the year. She pulled out the next one—powder blue with the letters GABE in glitter across the front and the date.

  “Grant, they’re beautiful but you didn’t have to do that—”

  “I know. I wanted to. It’s my present to you both.”

  Before she could say anything, Gabe blurted out, “You should have one too. I asked Santa—”

  “Gabe!”

  “—if he could bring me a—”

  “Gabriel!”

  “—daddy. I told him I wanted it to be you.”

  She felt her face go hot. Grant was looking at her but she couldn’t read his expression. She was terrified that he was going to think she’d somehow orchestrated all of this because she was the one looking for a daddy for her son.

  She was about to scold her son for not listening to her when Grant got down in front of the boy on one knee and said, “Hey, little man, can I tell you something about that?”

  “Sure.”

  “Santa Claus is a really cool guy. He’s one of the best guys out there, but I’m afraid that daddies don’t work that way. Your daddy—the one that lives in heaven now—he loved your mama very much, and she loved him. That’s what it takes to make a daddy—a lot of love. Santa can’t make people fall in love no matter how hard he tries. Love happens on its own time in its own way. Does that make sense?”

  Gabe looked like he was holding back tears, but he nodded his head. She was impressed. Grant had told him almost exactly what she had. Somehow his words seemed to have a bigger impact on the boy.

  “Hey, buddy, how about you and I go pop the corn,” she told her crestfallen son.

  “Okay,” he said, with less enthusiasm than he’d had a few minutes earlier, but like she had said before, the beauty of being four years old was that he would forget about it soon—at least for a while.

  She took Gabe’s hand and looked down at Grant, thinking it odd he was still on his knees. With a smile she said, “Praying?”

  He laughed and said, “As much as I probably should be—no. I just want to wait until you leave the room to get up.”

  “Why?”

  “I was breaking horses this morning. One of them was a tough nut to crack. My body is sore.”

  �
�Why would you break a horse?” Gabe asked him.

  Grant and Jyl laughed. “Not literally, buddy. ‘Breaking’ him in this case means teaching him how to take a saddle and a rider and not throw him off.”

  “Did he throw you off?”

  “No, but not for lack of trying,” he said. “My muscles are just a little sore. They’ll be okay. Let’s get this tree done and I’ll show you the video my father took while I was riding.”

  “You have a dad?”

  She saw Grant curl his lip. He was undoubtedly sorry that he’d brought that up at this moment, but he said, “Yeah, Gabe. I have a dad.”

  “Can I meet him sometime?”

  He smiled. “Absolutely.” Gabe ran toward the kitchen then, and Jyl held out her hand to Grant. He grinned and took it and she helped him struggle back up to his feet.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “For what?”

  “Being honest with my son.”

  “I’ll never be anything but honest with him. He’s my friend.”

  She smiled. “I still appreciate it. I’m sorry, too. That must have been a little bit uncomfortable for you.”

  He arched his back and ran his hands over the small of it. “Not as uncomfortable as being on my knees,” he said with a laugh.

  She laughed too.

  “Oh hey, before I forget, would you and Gabriel like to go to the tree lighting in town tonight?”

  “We were already planning to—”

  “Go with me.”

  “I told Kat that we’d meet up with them.”

  He grinned. “Even better. Kat said that she’d save us a spot.”

  “She did? You told her you were going to ask us?”

  “I had to ask for your number. My nosy sister-in-law wouldn’t give it to me if I didn’t tell her what I wanted it for.”

  She laughed. “That sounds about right. Okay, I guess we can all go together.” She saw his eyes flit toward the kitchen and come back to her face. They rested on her lips and she felt a hot rush race through her veins as her blood began to heat up. “I’m going to go help Gabe.”