Cowboys Under The Mistletoe: Five Christmas Christian Romance Novellas

by Kristen Ethridge

  “Emery drops me off every day,” she said, glancing at Emery. “But I’m hoping I can move out in the spring. Gold Valley doesn’t have as many services as Spokane, but if I can get an apartment downtown, I can just walk to work.”

  The warmth in Emery’s chest expanded at the increased confidence and happiness she saw in Glenna. After all, all Emery had ever wanted for Glenna was for her to be happy.

  “Let’s do gifts.” Archer practically leapt from the table and collected the presents from under the tree. He cleared dishes and replaced them with wrapped boxes, his entire person shining with radiance.

  “You go first Glenna,” he said.

  She ripped the green paper from his box, revealing her favorite books and movies. “Archer.” She squealed. “This is the best! Thank you so much.”

  He leaned over and kissed her forehead, and Emery’s opinion of him skyrocketed. “Your turn,” he said to her.

  She carefully took off the silver bow and removed the sparkly red paper. A boot box sat inside, and her chest cinched. “Boots?”

  “Just open the box.” He folded his arms, an edge of anxiety in his eyes.

  She lifted the lid and a beautiful pair of dark leather cowgirl boots sat inside, with red stitching in beautiful flower and horseshoe patterns. She inhaled sharply. “Oh, Archer, these are beautiful.” And they’d probably cost a fortune, which made her want to refuse them. She worked to shove that impulse down. She wanted to accept things from him. His help. His gifts. His love.

  “They have horseshoes on them,” he said. “To represent the ranch where we fell in love.”

  She met his eye. “I didn’t fall in love with you at the ranch.”

  “No?” His eyes held only amusement now.

  She shook her head, wishing she could have her private moment with him right now. “No, I fell in love with you right here. Maybe in the backyard one day. Or maybe listening to your blender every morning. Or maybe in Jenny, on our way up the ranch.”

  He stood and came around the table to kiss her. “Well, I fell in love with you on the ranch, so I hope you like the boots.”

  “I love them.” She pressed her forehead to his and cleared her throat. “Okay, my turn.” She handed out her gifts, glad when Glenna liked the new blouses Emery had bought for her to wear to her new job.

  Archer pulled the paper off his favorite candies—a giant bag of only red Starburst. He chuckled and ripped into the treats straightaway.

  “There’s more,” she said, nodding to the package wrapped in blue snowmen. He opened the smaller package and pulled out a pocketknife she’d had engraved with his initials. “I thought maybe you could use it on the ranch,” she said.

  He beamed at her. “Thanks, sweetheart.”

  Their attention turned to Glenna, and her gifts, and finally Archer pushed her back into the living room where she picked up her book and started reading.

  “We’re gonna go for a walk,” Emery said, wondering for the millionth time if that phrase bothered Glenna.

  She barely glanced up from her romance novel and said, “All right.”

  Emery exchanged a glance with Archer before running upstairs to get the gift she’d reserved for when they could be alone. Her heart pounded in her chest so hard she could barely breathe past it.

  The ring box seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, and she had no way to conceal it. She cursed herself for not grabbing her winter coat first. She cracked the lid, wondering if she could just tuck the ring in her pocket.

  The overhead lights glinted off the white gold of her grandfather’s ring. It wasn’t a wedding band, but Emery had been practicing what she was going to say to accompany the gift. Inlaid rows of yellow gold glimmered, and her hope and confidence increased.

  Archer had professed his love for her several times. He’d accept the ring. Still, a niggle of doubt tugged at her.

  “Emery?” he called up the stairs.

  She snapped the lid closed and palmed the ring box. After she’d hurried downstairs, he helped her into her coat, and she managed to pocket the box without him seeing. Outside, the frigid Montana air bit at her exposed skin. She wiggled her fingers into gloves and joined her hand with Archer’s.

  He sighed and said, “This has been a great year.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, maybe not the first half. When I lost that job at Silver Creek to you….” He inhaled and exhaled, his breath hanging in front of them as they strolled. “But it got better. We didn’t quit.”

  Soft light from the lamps along the sidewalk illuminated the snow. The bulbs closest to the clubhouse had been replaced with red and green bulbs, and the picturesque Christmas scene before her prompted Emery to pause.

  “So I have another gift for you,” she said, her recited lines coming easily to her mind. “It might be kind of strange, but it’s not what you think, I swear.” She pulled out the ring box and held it up. Archer simply stared at it.

  “I love you,” she said. “And this is my grandfather’s ring. I never met him, but my mom says he was one of the hardest workers she ever knew. And he was kind, and faithful, and you sound so much like him that I wanted you to have it.”

  He took the box but didn’t open it. “Are you proposing to me?”

  “No.” She giggled. “That’s why I said this wasn’t what you might think it was.” She touched his fingers. “Open it.”

  He did, peering at the ring for a few seconds before he pulled it out. “It’s really nice,” he said. “How do I wear it?”

  “It goes on the middle finger of your right hand.” She removed the ring from the box while he slipped his right hand out of his glove. “It’s not like a promise ring for men or anything. It’s just a….”

  “Family heirloom,” he said. He stared at his hand as she pushed the ring onto his finger. “A reminder of who to be, even when no one’s watching.”

  When he looked at her again, his eyes shone like wet glass. “It’s wonderful. Thank you.” He gathered her into his arms and it felt like he was drawing her right into his heart. He touched his lips to hers and said, “I love you,” before claiming her mouth and kissing her so completely it didn’t matter if she never got another Christmas gift. She had Archer, and he was all she ever needed.

  A Note from Liz

  Want to read Archer’s proposal and find out where Emery landed job-wise? Subscribe to Liz’s newsletter and receive the bonus wedding chapters for free! Already a subscriber? Watch for your email with a link to the bonus chapters! Liz’s subscribers get free books, tons of bonus content, and notices of sales and releases before anyone else!

  About Liz

  Liz Isaacson is the author of the #1 bestselling Three Rivers Ranch Romance series, the #1 bestselling Gold Valley Romance series, the Brush Creek Brides series, the Steeple Ridge Romance series (Buttars Brothers novels), and several other collaborations. She writes contemporary Christian romance, usually set in Texas and Montana, or anywhere else horses and cowboys exist. She lives in Utah, where she teaches elementary school, taxis her daughter to dance several times a week, and eats a lot of Ferrero Rocher while writing.

  Learn more about all her books here. Find her on Facebook, twitter, and her website.

  Read more by Liz Isaacson:

  Want to read more about Jace and Belle and the start of Horseshoe Home Ranch? Of course you do! Read Before the Leap for free.

  Love small Texas towns with fantastic charm? Who doesn’t? Read all the books in Liz’s Amazon #1 bestselling Three Rivers Ranch Romance series, including one about Tom, one of the veteran cowhands at Horseshoe Home!

  Want to find out more about Landon and his cabin on Bear Mountain? Read Through the Mist, Book 3 in the Gold Valley Romance series, and then travel to Brush Creek, Utah and read all the Brush Creek Brides romances!

  WILDE ABOUT YOU

  Book One: Weddings by Wilde

  By Deb Kastner

  To my precious Lord for sustaining me,

  and to my soulmate,
Joe, who believed in me before I believed in myself.

  Prologue

  December 15th, 25 years ago

  Yuck.

  Blech.

  Stupid.

  Six-year-old Matthew Wilde slipped a finger underneath his bow tie where it pinched the most, just under his chin, and gave it a good yank. The dumb thing was choking him, but no one seemed to notice or care. All eyes were on the soon-to-be bride, Heather, whose high-pitched tweeting and chattering sounded like an annoying little bird. Her voice hurt his ears.

  Matthew’s Uncle Travis was marrying that lady, and Matthew was s’posed to be the ring bearer at their wedding.

  No one had asked him what he thought about being in a stupid wedding. It wasn’t fair.

  He didn’t like to dress up. At all. And he especially hated the bow tie. One of the groomsmen had thought it would be funny for all the guys to wear their bow ties with t-shirts during the wedding rehearsal, and they made Matthew wear his, as well.

  Matthew didn’t think it was funny. He thought it was torture.

  He didn’t like having to walk down the aisle, either. He knew how it would be. Everyone at the rehearsal would stare at him as he carried an embarrassingly frilly pillow with two wedding rings tied to it.

  “Oh, he’s so cute,” they would say.

  “What a little darlin’.”

  Gross.

  This wasn’t even the real wedding. Only a rehearsal. Tomorrow was going to be worse, with tons more people watching and whispering. Plus, he’d have to wear a suit and shiny shoes that pinched his toes.

  And the worst thing of all was that he had to follow the three-year-old flower girl, Riley Weaver down the aisle. Unlike Matthew, Riley was thrilled by all the attention and couldn’t wait to toss rose petals all over the floor. She had to pretend for the rehearsal because the adults didn’t want to have to pick up the mess all those rose petals would leave, but it would still be a mess tomorrow.

  Matthew didn’t know why it hadn’t occurred to any of the adults that it might be better not to throw the petals at all. He didn’t want rose petals stuck to his suit because Riley’s enthusiasm got out of hand.

  The musical fanfare started and Matthew watched as one by one, the beaming bridesmaids slowly walked down the aisle, pretending to hold their bouquets of invisible flowers in front of them. Riley strolled behind them right on cue, dancing down the aisle with her little white basket and flinging her arm wide as if she was hurling petals everywhere.

  Matthew felt a few wiggles building up in him, as well. They’d had to stand and wait for a long time. But he knew he wouldn’t get away with moving around like Riley. Mama would grab him by the scruff of the collar and tell him to mind his manners.

  “It’s your turn, cowboy,” Heather whispered in his ear, giving him an encouraging squeeze on his shoulder before nudging him forward.

  Matthew stood up half an inch taller. At least Heather could see he was s’posed to be a cowboy and not some stupid ring bearer.

  He started down the aisle, taking one step and then bringing his feet together before taking the next step, just as he’d been coached to do. As he expected, everyone’s eyes were on him, and heat rose to his face. The bow tie was choking him even worse now that people were staring at him and all he wanted to do was be done with this and take it off.

  But first, he had to make it to the top of the aisle and back down again.

  *

  Being a flower girl was the best thing ever.

  Three-year-old Riley Weaver loved getting to wear a frilly bright purple dress and carry a basket with matching ribbons down the aisle at her Auntie Heather’s wedding. Auntie Heather had let her choose her own dress, one that floated when she spun around.

  Which she liked to do.

  A lot.

  At the rehearsal, she didn’t get to toss any actual rose petals in the air, but now that the actual wedding was underway, her basket was full to the brim with pink, purple and white petals. Today, when she danced up the aisle, she would get to make the path pretty with all of the petals.

  The only bad thing about Auntie Heather’s wedding to handsome Travis Wilde was the annoying ring bearer, Matthew. All he did was scowl and complain, and yesterday, when no one was watching him, he’d stuck his tongue out at her.

  She’d stomped his foot in response, but she’d been caught and had been reprimanded for it.

  Stupid boy.

  It was all his fault she’d had to sit perfectly still on a chair in a corner for a whole five minutes, and not talk even once.

  Worse, Riley didn’t think Matthew really felt the heel of her foot at all when she’d stomped on him, since he was wearing cowboy boots.

  He wasn’t even a real cowboy. He was too young for that. She doubted he could even ride a horse.

  Anyway, cowboys were yucky and smelly and lived all together in a messy barracks.

  She should know. She lived on a big ranch. Her Daddy was the boss of a whole bunch of cowboys, but he made sure Riley stayed as far away from them as possible. Daddy said his little girl was too good for ranch living, and as soon as she was old enough to go to school, she would be attending a private, church-sponsored boarding school where she would have a proper upbringing.

  Riley’s Mama said Daddy spoiled her too much.

  But just now, Mama was the one spoiling her and fussing over her. Mama applied a hot iron to Riley’s hair, turning it into soft ringlets, and then pinned the long strands up on top of her head into cascades of curls.

  Riley asked if she could wear makeup like the bridesmaids were doing. She was so excited when Mama said yes that she squealed and whirled around three times, admiring the way her dress spun high around her. Mama laughed and told her she had to remain perfectly still as she dabbed Riley’s eyelashes with black mascara. Then Mama brushed her cheeks with a rosy pink powder and finished with shiny lip gloss that matched the roses in her basket.

  Riley stared at herself in the mirror, hardly believing what she saw. Mama had made her extra pretty for Auntie Heather’s special day. Riley almost felt like it was her special day, too.

  There was a photographer in the room snapping pictures with a long-lensed camera. Riley beamed and posed when the photographer crouched to her level to take several pictures of her.

  She held up her arms and twirled, enjoying the swish of the soft fabric as it floated around her. The bridesmaids laughed and clapped, telling her she was the most perfect flower girl ever.

  Riley knew she wasn’t perfect. She got into trouble too often for that, and then she had to tell Jesus she was sorry.

  But this day was going to be perfect, she just knew it.

  A man Riley didn’t know knocked loudly on the door to the room the ladies were dressing in and stuck his head in to say it was time for them to line up for the wedding.

  Riley’s heart was beating super-fast as Mama took her hand and led her out with the bridesmaids, while Auntie Heather lingered behind to make final touches on her veil.

  Riley could already hear music playing inside the church by the time they stood in a nervous group just outside the door to the sanctuary, whispering excitedly and making finishing touches on each other’s gowns and hair.

  Mama leaned down and kissed Riley’s cheek. “Don’t be nervous, honey. You’re going to be great out there.”

  Riley wasn’t nervous. She was just antsy, ready to do her part and be the center of attention for a little while. She wanted everyone to see her beautiful dress.

  Another man Riley didn’t recognize arrived with the naughty ring bearer, who was now dressed in a black tuxedo and shiny shoes.

  Unlike Riley, Matthew looked miserable. He frowned so hard his dark eyebrows touched each other over his nose when the man pressed a frilly pillow with the wedding rings tied on them into his hands.

  Somebody ought to say something to the boy. He was going to ruin everything if he kept frowning. No one would want to watch him act that way while he walked up the aisle.
He was supposed to smile and make everybody happy.

  He’d better not mess it up for Auntie Heather or Riley might just have to stomp on his foot again. She bet her shiny shoes with their square heels would cause more damage than the sneakers she’d been wearing yesterday.

  Also, Matthew’s bow tie was crooked. Probably because he kept yanking at it and sending it all askew. But again, everyone seemed to be too busy to notice him.

  Mama was still holding Riley’s basket of roses, so she decided to take matters into her own hands.

  She marched up to Matthew and rolled her eyes when she met his gaze. He was taller than she was, but that was fine, because she could still reach high enough to do what needed doing.

  Before Matthew could protest, she reached up and straightened his tie.

  She didn’t even notice the wedding photographer was there until she heard the snap-click of the camera.

  Riley didn’t understand why the photographer would want to take a picture of her straightening the stupid boy’s tie, but she didn’t have time to think about it, because just then the doors opened and Mama handed Riley her basketful of rose petals.

  The wedding was starting.

  This was her moment to shine.

  Chapter One

  Present Day

  Matthew Wilde shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and rocked back on the heels of his cowboy boots, wishing he could be anywhere except where he was—in the fellowship hall of a church with a group of people he hardly knew, or what he was--the best man in a wedding party, waiting for the event coordinator to arrive so the rehearsal could get off the ground.

  He had never much cared for weddings. Maybe that was why, over the years, he had kept all of his relationships with women at arm’s-length and had never dated any woman in particular for more than a few months at a time. The very first word of commitment out of any girlfriend’s mouth—or even worse, the L word--and he was out of there faster than a jackrabbit being chased by a coyote.