Cowboys Under The Mistletoe: Five Christmas Christian Romance Novellas

by Kristen Ethridge

  He kissed her, and all of their earlier discussion about needing time didn’t seem to matter. She was where she belonged, in the arms of the man she belonged with.

  “I love you,” she told him, breaking the kiss. “And you need to know that I am committed to doing whatever I need to do for us to have a healthy relationship.”

  Giving her a squeeze, he said, “I feel the same way. I know I told you that I thought we should take it slow to give you a chance to figure out what you need to figure out on your own, but I think we’re better together. I love you too. And when you love someone, you stick with them, through thick and thin. I want you to know that I’m committed to you, no matter what happens, no matter how dark things seem, or how hard it is for you to face your past. I love you, healed, or not.”

  His words reminded her of what Ernie had said to her earlier about the women pursuing Nolan. They all wanted him to be someone he wasn’t. And here, he was affirming once again, that he saw who she was, and loved her for it.

  He wasn’t asking her to change. However, with the knowledge she’d gained about her mother and her faith, Mallory wanted to. In some ways, she already had.

  Mallory hugged him again, but when she lifted her face for another kiss, Ernie cleared her throat.

  “That’s enough of that now. There will be no hanky-panky on my watch. Don’t make me go get the preacher.”

  The feel of the rumble of the laugh in Nolan’s chest warmed Mallory’s heart.

  “He won’t make it in all this snow,” he said. “But because there are impressionable eyes watching, I suppose I can behave myself.”

  He gestured over at the woman who’d come in with him. For a moment, Mallory felt bad for ignoring her until now. But the happiness on her face erased Mallory’s doubts.

  “This is Meredith Grant, who is like a sister to me. Rescuing her and listening to her yammer on made me realize what a special thing I feel for you, Mallory. I know I technically haven’t asked you, and you technically haven’t said yes, but at some point, I imagine we’ll be getting married, and I really hope you’ll consider including her in the services. If it wasn’t for her getting stuck in the snow, I don’t think I would have realized the depth of my feelings for you as quickly.”

  Mallory smiled at Meredith. “I’m told we have a lot in common, and both Nolan and your mother think we will be great friends. Even though we’re not getting married anytime soon, I hope that as Nolan’s adopted sister, you’ll become mine as well. I’ve never had a sister, but I’ve always wanted one.”

  Meredith laughed and shook her head. “I have two, and trust me, having a sister can be pretty annoying at times. Just do me a favor, and keep up all this mushy talk in front of my mother. Maybe it will take some of the pressure off the rest of us.”

  Ernie joined in the laughter as Nolan hugged Mallory tight. It felt good, being in such a loving environment. When she had first arrived, she couldn’t remember feeling this way before. But she had. The last time she’d been here with her mother.

  “Hey, you have a Sudoku book. I love Sudoku. It’s so relaxing.” Meredith turned toward the coffee table and picked it up.

  For so long, those books had been a lifeline to Mallory. Tonight had been one of the most stressful nights of her life, and not once had she had the desire to pick up that book. She didn’t need it anymore. Yes, she would still enjoy Sudoku. And she would still love math. But she didn’t need to hide in it anymore.

  The expression on Meredith’s face brought back another memory.

  “You’re Merry,” Mallory said. “We put on skits for everyone. Merry and Mally. We dressed like twins.”

  Meredith’s eyes widened as she, too, seemed to have the memory return. “I remember you. All this time, when Ernie talked about her Mallory, I never made the connection. We all called you Mally.”

  “Annie, Meredith’s youngest sister, could never say Mallory,” Ernie explained to Nolan. “So the girls all called her Mally. But I never did. It never occurred to me that you guys would forget her real name.”

  Meredith came over and gave Mallory a big hug. “You were my best friend. I never understood why you didn’t write me after you went home that summer. I kept waiting for you to come back. And now you’re finally here.”

  She should be used to all the tears by now, but something about the way Meredith so openly accepted her again made her break down. She used to dream about having a friend named Merry. When she’d talked about her friend at school, the other kids made fun of her having an imaginary friend. So she’d stopped, thinking she was crazy.

  And now she knew it had been real.

  With her arm still around Mallory, Meredith turned to look at Nolan. “Of course, this does present a dilemma, since I expressly prohibited you from dating any of my friends.”

  Meredith gave Mallory a look that made her feel like she belonged. “You have no idea how humiliating it can be when all your friends have the hots for the kid your family has taken under its wing. But, I suppose, since it’s clear he’s going to marry you, it’ll be all right. Just make sure you name your first daughter after me, and we’ll call it even.”

  “Daughters?” Nolan looked horrified. “I haven’t even asked her to marry me yet, and you’ve got us naming a kid after you?”

  “You owe me.” Meredith sounded a little smug with that proclamation. “I believe you did say that coming to my rescue was what made you come to your senses. And if you think for a minute that I will ever let you forget that, you have clearly learned nothing. Plus, it’ll get Mom off my back over getting stuck in a ditch.”

  Then Meredith stepped forward and messed with Nolan’s pocket. “You are such a mess. I didn’t notice any bushes near where we were stuck, but you still managed to get—”

  She turned and held up a piece of mistletoe. “Seriously? That’s how you got her to kiss you? Ugh. I don’t know if you’re good enough for her now. So cheesy. It’s bad enough that my mother has enough around the house to kill Cupid, but this is ridiculous.”

  Nolan glared at Meredith and turned to Mallory. “I have no idea how that got there.”

  It was kind of cute, how horrified he sounded. Ernie laughed. “That Donna is a sneaky one. I thought she looked a little too happy when she hugged you goodbye.”

  They all joined in on the laughter. “It seems Donna was more determined to have a wedding than we all gave her credit for.”

  Even the kitten seemed to agree. It let out a plaintive mew as if it wanted them to know she felt the same way. And that’s when the perfect name for the little creature came to Mallory.

  “I think I’ll name her Mistletoe.”

  Nolan groaned, but the look on his face told Mallory she’d made the right choice. Just as she made the right choice in coming here for Christmas.

  Everything that Mallory had hoped for in her life was coming true. And here she was, surrounded by family and people who loved her. It seemed almost too incredible to believe, except that Nolan had come and put his arms around her.

  For Christmas, Mallory’s only hope had been to simply get through the holiday unscathed. But now, she’d found an even deeper blessing than she could have dreamed. The hot cowboy who’d intimidated her so much was now her hot cowboy. And even though a lot of girls dreamed about being rescued by one, Mallory had found something even better. One who had given her the courage to rescue herself.

  Epilogue

  One year later

  This Christmas was one that Donna Grant had promised no one would forget. In Mallory’s case, it was because Christmas Eve, she and Nolan would be getting married in front of the Christmas tree in the main house, surrounded by the ones they loved.

  Though they had been ready to commit to each other the previous year, they’d both decided it wouldn’t hurt spending some time making sure everything was in order.

  Susan, the counselor who had helped Nolan when he was younger, and now Mallory, entered the room, carrying a vase of flowers surrounded by
mistletoe.

  Mallory stared at her. “More?”

  Susan set the vase on the table, next to two others just like it. “You know Donna. She never can do anything small. You might have told her that you wanted a small wedding, but what she heard was, ‘buy out every florist in Colorado.’ I know you didn’t want a big fuss, but I’m glad that you’re letting Donna have fun with it.”

  Mallory shrugged. “We don’t care, as long as we can be married. I mean, sure, we did say we didn’t want a big wedding. For the most part, Donna has respected that. We’ve found a good balance.”

  Grinning, Susan came over and gave her a hug. “I think you’re doing great. With everything you’ve been through, I’m so happy to see how you’ve rebuilt your life.”

  Mallory hugged her back. “Having Nolan by my side has made all the difference. Even though everyone wants to praise me for how I’ve handled everything, the truth is, Nolan’s love has given me the strength to face the hard things. “

  As if he knew she was talking about him, he entered the room, carrying a box. “When I was moving stuff around in the guest room to make space for more wedding gifts, I found another box of your mother’s, and I thought you would like to take a look at it.”

  Over the summer, as part of Mallory’s therapy, she’d finally gone through the storage unit where she put her parents’ things after they died. At the time, she’d hired a moving company to take care of it for her, and hadn’t gone through any of it herself. For years, she’d considered hiring an estate sale company to take it all off her hands. But now, she was grateful she hadn’t. She’d found a lot of treasures in that storage unit. Family pictures that brought back a lot of good memories, items that reminded her of all the happy times she’d had with her mother.

  How amazing to realize that all of these things had been waiting for her, for the right time for her to be in a safe enough place to appreciate them.

  “I can’t imagine what it would be,” she said, looking into the box. She thought she’d been through every box, so what was so special about this one that it couldn’t wait for her to look into again?

  However, something about the box brought back a memory. The old liquor box might have been unremarkable. Except she remembered her mother telling her it was very special. When her mother told her it was a big secret, they’d giggled, and her mother had made her promise never to tell anyone about it.

  Inside was a wooden box that looked exactly like a treasure box. She closed her eyes, and she could see herself sitting with her mother like it was yesterday. After they’d returned from their summer at the ranch, her mother had encouraged her to create a memory box of that time.

  As she lifted the lid, tears sprang to her eyes. The book on top was a little journal she and Meredith had found when they’d gone into town one day for a treat. They’d seen it sitting in the window of the bookstore. A best friend’s diary. On each page, best friends had to fill out pieces of information about each other.

  Thumbing through the pages, she smiled at all their childish dreams. Their favorite food had been pizza, they both loved chocolate ice cream, and they had both listed their favorite subject in school as math. Funny how some things didn’t change. When she turned to the next page of the journal, she couldn’t help grinning. Mallory had written in big letters, “When I grew up, I want to marry a cowboy.”

  Meredith had crossed it out and written in bigger letters, “Gross. Cowboys stink.” How cool that Mallory’s childhood dream was coming true. And fortunately, as adults, Meredith approved of that choice. Of course, she didn’t hold out much hope for Meredith. After all, Meredith had written that she was going to marry a ninja.

  Mallory wasn’t sure where Meredith was going to find one, but that was her journey to take. Mallory handed the book over to Nolan.

  “Obviously I was smart as a kid,” she said. “Who knew I could pick my husband out at age seven?”

  He grinned, then he turned and shouted into the kitchen, “A ninja? Meredith, who knew you were so crazy as a kid, thinking you were going to marry a ninja.”

  She came into the room, wiping her hands on a towel. “What are you talking about? A ninja? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Almost as ridiculous as having fruitcake for your wedding cake.”

  “He did say he would rather eat fruitcake than fall in love with me. I think it’s only fair we have it for our wedding cake.” Mallory winked at him, knowing he was only going along with it to please her. But she had a surprise for him. His groom’s cake would be a little more palatable, since she’d had Ernie bake his favorite. Until then, she had no problem tormenting him a little.

  “And you did say you wanted to marry a ninja,” Mallory informed her. “I have proof.”

  Nolan held up the book. Meredith’s eyes widened.

  “Where did you get that?”

  “Nolan found it among some of my mother’s things I hadn’t gone through yet. I’m not sure why he thought I needed it now, but what a sweet memory for us to go through.”

  She smiled at her old friend, happy that they’d been able to keep the childish promise they’d scrawled across the cover to be friends forever.

  “Clearly you missed the box with the rings in it,” Nolan said, sounding annoyed.

  “What box with the rings?” She peered back in the treasure box.

  Ernie came into the room, carrying a tray of mugs full of hot chocolate. “Yes. What rings? Mallory sold all her mother’s jewelry months ago.”

  She had donated the proceeds to a women’s shelter. She’d done enough work on forgiving her father that she didn’t hate him, but she also didn’t want to keep anything that reminded her of what he’d done. She did, however, keep her mother’s cross. Nolan had put it on a new chain for her as a gift when she’d been baptized at Easter. Touching the cross at her neck, she thanked her mother again for giving her such a beautiful legacy.

  “Well, I guess you missed this one,” Nolan said, pulling a small box out of the treasure box.

  As he held it up, Ernie gasped. “That held our parents’ rings. Your grandparents’ rings, Mallory.”

  He opened the box and handed it to Ernie, but Ernie shook her head. “No. Those are for you and Mallory.”

  She looked at the simple gold rings that lay within. Over the past year, Ernie had told her about her grandparents, and how much they loved each other. While Ernie had been happy that she’d had a love like theirs, it had always been a disappointment to her that her sister hadn’t fared so well. Which was why Ernie had been so pleased at Nolan’s and Mallory’s joy.

  Mallory looked over at Nolan. “You know how we’ve both had a hard time deciding on wedding rings? You told me that the right ones would appear at the right time. I know we were supposed to go shopping this afternoon to look at rings again, but I think we’ve already found them. How would you feel about wearing my grandparents’ rings?”

  He smiled at her. “I think these are the perfect rings. Not only do they symbolize a lasting love, but the fact that they survived so long and appeared just when we needed them the most, is proof to me that they are meant to be.”

  He bent and kissed her. “Just like us.”

  A Note from Danica

  Dear Reader,

  I have to apologize to my co-authors, because I promised them a light and funny story. But as I spent time with Mallory, there was just no way I could make it light and funny. For me, the important piece was the power of love to heal even the darkest wound. Love transcends all things, and God’s grace is bigger than the worst moments of all lives. Like the characters in this story, I don’t know how it works, just that it does. This has been a hard year for me, and there are a lot of circumstances that I’m struggling with. But I’m holding strong to the faith in the belief that even though I don’t know how it will work out, somehow, it will. That doesn’t mean there will be roses and rainbows all the time, but I have hope. And for me, it is enough.

  My hope, and my prayer, for y
ou is that whatever your circumstances, God will be your hope.

  Danica Favorite

  Additional thanks: Danica would also like to acknowledge Laurie Kuna for her editorial work.

  About Danica

  A self-professed crazy chicken lady, Danica Favorite loves the adventure of living a creative life. She and her family recently moved in to their dream home in the mountains above Denver, Colorado. Danica loves to explore the depths of human nature and follow people on the journey to happily ever after. Though the journey is often bumpy, those bumps are what refine imperfect characters as they live the life God created them for. Oops, that just spoiled the ending of all of Danica’s stories. Then again, getting there is all the fun.

  You can connect with Danica at the following places:

  Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/7HCXj

  Website: http://www.danicafavorite.com/

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/danicafavorite

  Instagram: https://instagram.com/danicafavorite/

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanicaFavoriteAuthor

  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Danica-Favorite/e/B00KRP0IFU

  BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/danica-favorite

  Other books by Danica:

  Contemporary:

  The Thought of Romance: http://amzn.to/2wwa7l5

  The Scent of Romance (In Romance Grows in Arcadia Valley): http://amzn.to/2wvQh9Q

  Historical:

  Mistletoe Mommy: http://amzn.to/2fIYRvc

  An Unlikely Mother: http://amzn.to/2xQVb2B

  For the Sake of the Children: http://amzn.to/2yGC6PZ

  UP ON THE HOUSETOP

  A Gold Valley Romance, Book 7