The Cowboy's Family Christmas

by Carolyne Aarsen

  Reuben couldn’t have been more shocked. But even as he processed this, another reality inserted itself.

  “And how do you feel about him?” Reuben asked, looking over at Austin, who was still playing with his toy, seemingly oblivious to the emotional storm swirling around him.

  George sighed, then looked over at Austin. “It was hard finding out that he wasn’t Dirk’s son.” Reuben heard the confusion in his voice, saw the frustration on his face. “I had always seen him as a little bit of Dirk still with us.”

  “Do you love him less now that you know the truth?”

  George’s features altered, as he seemed to process this question. “He’s such a sweet, dear boy.”

  Reuben watched the play of emotions on his father’s face and felt a surprising flow of sympathy for George’s confusion.

  “I don’t want you to take him away,” George said. Then he looked up at Reuben. “Even though I know what I did, I don’t want you to take him away.”

  “Why not? He’s not your biological grandson. At all.”

  “But I care about him. I always saw him as...as a second chance. To do what I should have done with Dirk and with you. To do the right thing.”

  Reuben felt a mix of surprise and compassion for the confusion his father was expressing. For the feelings he was baring.

  Then George caught his hand, his fingers tight. “You have some good memories don’t you?” he asked, an imploring tone in his voice.

  Reuben looked down at their entwined hands and as his shirt sleeve slid up he saw the scar on his own wrist. Painful memories intertwined with the ones that George was hoping he had.

  “I remember going fishing. You, me and Dirk. We rode the horses up to that little lake up in Jackknife Basin. We had a fish fry and rode home under the stars.”

  “Yeah. I remember that. And the time we had that roundup when that one kid we hired came along? He had a ukulele and insisted on taking it everywhere.”

  Reuben laughed. “I forgot about that one. He kept wanting to play while he was riding.”

  “He wanted to be Roy Rogers,” they both said at once.

  They fell quiet and then Austin, bored with his play, came back. “Gwampa still sick?” he asked, leaning against George’s leg again. “You come home now?”

  George smiled, curling his hand around the boy’s neck. “Tomorrow. I’m coming home tomorrow.”

  “Uncle Wooben come home tomorrow?” Austin asked. “Stay at the ranch with me and mommy?”

  Reuben looked down at his son, trying to imagine that scenario.

  He suddenly felt less and less certain of the path he had chosen for himself. A path he had hoped to share with Leanne and Austin. The three of them away from Cedar Ridge and all the memories and pain. Starting over.

  “You have to leave soon, don’t you?” George asked. “Go to California?”

  “I do.” He folded his arms over his chest, thinking.

  “Do you think Leanne will come with you?”

  “I hope so.”

  George looked down at Austin, and Reuben thought of his father’s earlier entreaty. Could he do it? Could he stay?

  “You know, I was so proud when my dad transferred part of the ranch over to me,” George was saying, rubbing Austin’s shoulder as he spoke. “I still remember sitting in that lawyer’s office signing the final papers. He got up and shook my hand and told me to take care of it. To someday pass it on to my son like his father had passed it on to him. I knew early on it wouldn’t be Dirk. He didn’t love it like you did. But I didn’t know if I could ever pass it on to you.”

  “Because I wasn’t your true son. I wasn’t a Walsh.”

  George nodded. “But I could see you loved the ranch,” George continued. “It was in your blood even if it wasn’t Walsh blood.”

  Reuben looked at the man he had always considered his father, and he thought of their past and wondered if they could write a new future.

  It was what Leanne wanted.

  He kept coming back to that. He thought of what Tabitha had told him about their life moving around with their father and how hard it was on their mother and on them.

  Lord, show me what to do, he prayed. But even as he formulated the petition, he knew what he needed to do. What was the best decision for Leanne. For Austin. For George. And, if he was honest, for himself.

  “Would there be room for me? On the ranch, if I stayed?” he asked.

  Are you sure this is what you want? he asked himself. You would be working with this man. Can you trust him?

  Reuben thought of the days he and Leanne had spent side by side, herding the cows, working with the horses. It had felt so right in a way that he knew that his job as an engineer, traveling around the world, leaving Leanne and Austin behind each time, never would.

  George didn’t look up at him right away, and for a heart-stopping moment Reuben thought he had made a drastic mistake by putting himself out there like he had with this complicated man.

  “Yes, there would be room. I’ve wanted to sell the store for some time now. I can use the profits from that to expand the ranch.”

  “Sell the store?” Reuben was surprised. Walsh’s Hardware had been almost as important to his father as the ranch.

  George nodded. “I need to slow down, and I think Carmen could be talked into taking it over.”

  Then his father looked up at him and Reuben saw the sheen of tears in his father’s eyes.

  “Would you stay? Be a partner on the ranch?” George asked.

  “We would have to trust each other,” Reuben said, safeguarding his answer. “I’m not your biological son after all.”

  “I trust you” was all George said. “And to me, you are my son. The only son I have left.”

  “Then I think this can work. I want to stay and I want us to be a family.”

  George smiled gently, looking back down at Austin. “I want this too.”

  Even as they made this agreement, Reuben thought of Leanne, wondering where she was and what she was going through right now.

  His heart twisted at the thought of her. But looking at Austin and his father, he knew that he had made the right decision.

  * * *

  Leanne parked her car in the parking lot of the hospital. Weariness clawed at her, but as she got out of her car, she saw Reuben’s large truck and relief sluiced through her. Reuben wasn’t gone yet.

  She hurried over the snow-covered sidewalks, then into the blessed warmth of the hospital. She nodded at the attendant behind the counter and strode down the corridor to George’s room, Christmas music following her. She almost faltered as she thought of Christmas and where she, Reuben and Austin might be sharing it.

  Doesn’t matter, she told herself. The important thing is that we are all together.

  As she came near George’s room, she heard Reuben’s deep voice, Austin’s sweet one and then George replying.

  Then, to her utter surprise, the sound of laughter.

  She paused outside the room, wondering what could possibly have gone on since George had sent her out of here with such anger in his voice.

  Had he and Reuben made up? Had they found a way to bury their differences?

  Would she even be a part of all of this?

  She shook off her questions, reminding herself of what she and Reuben had shared and the feelings they’d always had for each other.

  She loved him.

  And with that resonating through her, she stepped into the room, shoulders squared, head held high. But she stayed in the doorway, still unsure of her reception.

  George saw her first and she braced herself for his anger.

  Instead, to her surprise, she saw contrition, not anger, in his expression.

  “Leanne, I’m so sorry,”
he said, his voice breaking. “So very sorry.”

  Reuben spun around as Austin came running toward her. “Mommy, you here,” he called out, arms held wide in welcome. She swept him up, holding him close as she tried to understand what George had just said, a complete contrast to the fury he had shown her a less than twenty four hours ago.

  Then Reuben was beside her, his arms around her, holding her close.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so worried.” He stroked her hair back from her face, his eyes holding hers as if to make sure.

  She leaned into his arms, relief and love washing over him. “I’m sorry I left. I didn’t know what to do. Where to go,” she whispered.

  “George told me what he said to you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. So where did you go? Why didn’t you contact me?”

  “I was upset. George was furious when I told him the truth about...” She looked at her son who was running his toy car up and down her shoulder. Then she held him close, so thankful the three of them were back together. “He told me to leave and I did. Then I started driving. I felt like I was no different than your mother. I had done the same thing.”

  “You are nothing like my mother,” he said, giving her a gentle shake. “Don’t ever think that.”

  She gave him a watery smile, her emotions definitely shaky.

  “You still didn’t tell me where you went,” he said.

  “Nowhere. I just drove, thinking and praying, then a deer jumped in front of me, I hit a ditch and I didn’t have cell service. Then my phone died.”

  “How did you get out?”

  “Tow truck,” she said, holding his puzzled gaze. “Thankfully I managed to get through to the driver before my phone died.” She almost laughed. This wasn’t how she envisioned their reunion. Talking about tow trucks and cell phones.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t get hold of you,” she said, slipping her free arm around his waist. “After what George said, I needed time to think. To process what he told me and what I needed to do.”

  Then to her surprise and joy, Reuben bent over and kissed her.

  “I love you,” he said.

  And in that moment every concern she had about her decision, every second thought was blown away.

  “I love you too,” she returned, laying her head on his chest. “And I want you to know that I’ll go with you wherever you go. I’ll live wherever you want to live. As long as we can be together.”

  “So you would move to Los Angeles with me?”

  She nodded without hesitation. “Any place you want. I know that I love you enough. I know you’ll take care of Austin and me. And I want us to be a family, wherever that may happen.”

  Reuben kissed her again, his arms surrounding her and Austin. “You are amazing,” he whispered in her ear.

  “We need to be a family,” she repeated. “No matter where. No matter what.”

  Reuben drew back and turned to George, who was leaning forward as if trying to hear what they were talking about.

  “What are you saying? What’s going on?” he demanded. “Come over here and tell me.”

  Reuben, his arm still around her shoulders, escorted her to George’s side.

  “Leanne was telling me that she’ll go with me wherever I go. Even if it’s California.”

  Leanne could see the puzzlement on George’s face and she thought of what it would do to him to have Austin move away. In spite of his anger with her only yesterday, she felt sorry for him. He would be losing so much.

  “She’s saying that we need to be a family.” Reuben gave her a loving look, his arm firmly around her. “And I agree.”

  George still looked confused. “But I thought you were staying here. In Cedar Ridge. At the ranch.”

  Reuben brushed another kiss over Leanne’s head. “We are.”

  “What are you saying?” Now it was Leanne’s turn to be confused. “I thought we were moving. And don’t you have to leave soon? For your interview in Los Angeles?”

  “I’m not going.”

  “What? I don’t understand.”

  Reuben looked from her to Austin then to George. “George and I have decided that I’m going to become a partner on the ranch. I’m staying here.” He gave her a careful smile. “If that’s okay with you. But if you have your heart set on Los Angeles—and given the snow we’ve been dealing with I wouldn’t blame you if you do—we can still go.”

  All she could do was stare at him as the implications of what he was saying seeped into her sleep-deprived brain. “Stay here? On the ranch?”

  “Together.”

  She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or shout out her thanks so she did all three.

  “Happy, Mommy?” Austin asked, concern edging his voice as he grabbed her by the face, still holding his car. The wheel mashed into her cheek, which made her laugh even more.

  “I’m happy, buddy,” she said, giving him a tight hug.

  She set him down and then slipped her arm around Reuben. She couldn’t stay close enough to him.

  “I can hardly believe this,” she said. Then she turned to Reuben. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

  He nodded, smiling down at her. “I’m sure. George and I have a few things to iron out but I’m confident we can make it work.”

  “So long as you learn to listen to me,” George grumbled. Austin had come to stand beside him again and was now running his toy car up and down George’s arm. Leanne was about to reprimand her son when George took his hand and moved it to the arm of the chair.

  “Why don’t you play with your car here?” was all he said.

  “What happened while I was gone?” Leanne looked from George to Reuben, still puzzled at the obvious equanimity prevailing in the room. A far cry from the anger George had hurled at her yesterday.

  “We can catch up later,” Reuben told her. “For now, I think we have something more important to discuss. I think our son needs to be brought up to speed before we talk about another thing.”

  Leanne shot a glance at George, who was teasing Austin by putting his hand in the way of the car.

  “You want to do this now?” George asked, his attention still on Austin.

  “I don’t want to wait any longer.” Reuben looked to Leanne as if seeking her approval.

  “I don’t either,” she said.

  Reuben walked to the other chair in the room and brought it over, setting it down beside George. “Sit down here,” he said to Leanne and, as she did, he picked up Austin, set him down on Leanne’s lap and knelt down beside them both.

  Leanne sent up a quick prayer for strength, wisdom and the right words and then brushed Austin’s hair back from his face, her hand lingering on the lighter patch of hair so like his father’s.

  “Austin, honey, you know I love you,” she said.

  He nodded, his attention on his car, looking delightfully unconcerned.

  “You know that I’m your mommy, right?”

  Another casual nod.

  “But you need to know something else. Uncle Reuben isn’t your uncle. He’s your daddy.”

  This caught his attention. He laughed. “No. Uncle Wooben.”

  Reuben took one chubby hand in his and curled his own hand around it. “No, sweetheart. I’m your daddy.”

  Austin looked puzzled but then nodded. “Okay” was all he said. Then Austin pushed Leanne away and slid off his lap, obviously done with the conversation.

  Leanne looked from Reuben to George, puzzled. “Well, that was rather anticlimactic.”

  “I don’t know if he fully realizes what just happened,” Reuben said with a light laugh.

  “He will. And when he does, it will seem normal to him,” George said.

  Leanne grabbed Reuben’
s hand for moral support then turned to George. “Yesterday you were angry with me when I told you the truth about Austin. If you truly want us to live on the ranch with you, I need to know that you are okay with all of this. His being Reuben’s son.”

  George didn’t say anything right away and Leanne wondered if she had pushed things too far.

  “I am,” he said finally, his voice quiet. “I was wrong to yell at you. But it was a shock.”

  Leanne acknowledged that with a nod. “I believe that.”

  “But I want us to be a family. You are all I have, and even though Reuben might not be my son through blood, he is my son in every other way. I want you all to stay with me. I can’t imagine...” His voice broke. Then he regained his composure. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re staying. All of you. Leanne, you’ve been a real blessing to me, Austin, as well, and I don’t want you gone.”

  Leanne reached over and took George’s hand, squeezing it gently. “I’m glad about that.” Then she looked over at Reuben who was watching her, love in his eyes, and she felt a peace and joy that she hadn’t felt in years.

  “I love you,” she said to Reuben, still holding her father-in-law’s hand.

  “I love you too,” he returned, bending in for a gentle kiss.

  “Okay. That’s enough of that, you two,” George said, his voice gruff. “We have plans to make.”

  Epilogue

  “I think you must have cleaned out the entire stock of farm animals from your store,” Reuben said to his father as Austin ripped open yet another box. The little guy squealed his delight at the sow with four little piglets nestling in the tissue paper. He set them up beside the barn that he and Leanne had painstakingly assembled, joining the herd of cows and the horses, chickens, dogs and cats already lined up.

  George just laughed, leaning back in his chair, the lights of the Christmas tree playing over his lined face. “It’s my duty as a grandparent,” he said. “And it was the last chance to get the discount. Once I sell the store, I won’t have that anymore.”