AN EARLY CHRISTMAS GIFT

by Susan Crosby

  Jenny’s newest sister-in-law, Karyn, plopped down in a chair next to Jenny and fanned herself with her hand.

  “So this is what picnics at Ryder Ranch are like,” she said.

  “Enjoying yourself?”

  “You bet! Here’s a hint, though. Never attempt a three-legged race with a husband who is seven inches taller. He was dragging me along.”

  “It probably didn’t help that you were wearing those boots.”

  Karyn held out a foot and examined her three-inch heels, or what she considered her work boots because the heels were so low—for her. “The height should’ve helped in the race, but it didn’t. I’m telling you, the movies don’t capture small-town America right. This has been amazing.”

  Jenny had come to adore Karyn, who’d been a personal shopper to the stars before finding Vaughn. She’d changed her whole life for him.

  “Where’s your sister?” Karyn asked.

  “She got forced into working, apparently.” Physical therapist Haley lived in a small house in town, near the rehab hospital. “Maybe she’ll join us for the fireworks. So, how’s the new venture going?” Jenny asked.

  “It’s right on schedule. The bunkhouse addition will be done in a couple of weeks, and the bunkhouse renovation itself soon after. We can open for business mid-August. A maximum of six guests to start, then ten ultimately. Guess who our first guest will be.”

  “I can’t imagine.”

  “My number one former client, Gloriana MacBeth.”

  “Seriously? A big movie star like that? Do you think she’ll enjoy vacationing on a working cattle ranch? Will she really ride herd with the guys?”

  “I’m looking forward to finding out myself. I tried to get her to hold off until fall, because you know what summer’s like here, but she seemed intent on being our first guest. If she likes it, she’ll spread the word. Couldn’t ask for better advertising.”

  “Mom’s looking forward to it, too. She’ll be cooking up a storm.”

  “Adam and Brody also seem excited. They’ll be in charge of showing the guests the ropes. And since it won’t be full-time, they shouldn’t get burned out dealing with picky company.”

  “Hey, Hollywood,” Vaughn called out to his wife. “Pie-eating contest.”

  Karyn hopped up, full of renewed energy. She grinned at Jenny. “I do love this place. And that man.”

  Jenny figured Karyn would be pregnant soon, if she wasn’t already. Dori Ryder would be in her glory, having more grandchildren to love.

  Jenny moseyed over to watch the pie-eating contest. Karyn was loudly rooting Vaughn on. Annie and Mitch stood arm in arm, laughing. Adam and Brody were participating, their dates cheering. Everyone had someone special except Jenny.

  The thought put her in a mood for the rest of the day, even as she climbed into her car to go into town, deciding not to ride with anyone in case she and Haley wanted to hang out for a while after. She hadn’t been able to spend much time with her sister, and she missed her.

  She parked in front of Haley’s house, grabbed her chair and walked a few blocks to where everyone agreed to meet. If fireworks couldn’t put her in a better mood, she didn’t know what could.

  She found a place for her chair as she greeted everyone. Before she sat, Annie came up to her.

  “I need a big favor,” Annie said.

  “Sure. What?”

  “I just found out tonight—and I don’t know why I didn’t know this earlier—but Adam and Brody will be moving into the bunkhouse addition when it’s ready. Would you feel comfortable— I mean, how would you like to move into the farmhouse when they leave? I know it might be a little scary, all alone out there, just you and the chickens. You could get a dog—”

  Jenny threw her arms around Annie. “I’ve got a dead aim,” she said, laughing. “I can protect myself. Yes, yes, yes!”

  “You won’t need furniture or dishes or anything. I don’t want rent. You’d be doing me a big favor.”

  “I can’t promise you forever,” Jenny said.

  “I’ll take what I can get.”

  There were fireworks going off in Jenny’s head as well as the night sky. She would have a place of her own for the first time. She wouldn’t have to check in with anyone. Her mom and dad could have their empty nest back, which should make them happy, too. And if she didn’t have to pay rent, she could save—

  Oh, who was she kidding? She made only enough money to pay for her basic needs, with nothing left over to put in savings. She needed to find a second job. Maybe she could wait tables in the evening. After all, she had nothing else going on. Maybe it would take her ten years to qualify for a loan. The way land was selling these days, the old farm might still be available to buy ten years from now.

  Jenny walked back to her car after the show, but Haley’s house was still dark. She probably had a hot date. Everyone did, after all, except Jenny.

  She climbed into the car. Before she could start the engine, the passenger door opened and Win slid in.

  “Hey,” he said.

  She didn’t want to give him any indication of how happy she was to see him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Sayin’ hey.”

  “You’ve said it.”

  “Why’ve you been avoiding me at Annie’s farm?”

  Because I want to drag you into the house and make hot, sexy love with you. “Your business is with Annie.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean she says you’re taking over this week, both at the farm and the market. She’s retiring to her rocking chair. Guess she’s been ordered not to spend so much time on her feet. Who’s gonna help you out?”

  “At the moment, everything is manageable for one person.”

  “How about setup and takedown at the farmers’ market?”

  “One of my brothers will help.” She turned her ignition far enough to power down the windows. “If you’re going to propose that you help, let me stop you before you offer. Your dad was angry enough that first night.”

  “My father’s opinion doesn’t matter to me. He gave up that right years ago when he forbade me to go to college.”

  Jenny frowned. “But you went to college.”

  “Yeah. No thanks to him—or my brothers. They left for college and never came back, so he figured I’d do the same.”

  “You came back, have been back for years. Why is he holding that against you now?”

  “I don’t think he’ll ever feel secure. My brothers didn’t want to be on the ranch anymore. I do—enough to put up with a man who tries to dictate my life.”

  Jenny considered his words. Her father could be strict, but he loved her. She’d never had a moment’s doubt of that. “How about Rose?”

  “He’s nicer to my sister. He knows I’ll show up and work. But with Rose, she’ll have options sometime. Marriage. Her own family. He wouldn’t do well without her.”

  “Do you think he’ll ever get married again?”

  “I can’t think of a woman who’d have him.”

  “The right woman could soften him.” Because he was as tense as guitar strings, she touched his face. “I’m sorry you have to live like this.”

  He laid his hand over hers. “I don’t know why I spill my guts around you.”

  “Because I’m safe.”

  A beat passed. “I guess.”

  “Will you inherit the ranch someday, Win?”

  “I have no idea. He’s probably cut out my brothers, but maybe he’d give the whole thing to Rose. She hasn’t disappointed him.”

  Jenny smiled. “There’s time yet.”

  He turned his head and pressed a kiss into her palm, then kissed her lips, softly, briefly. “I can’t get to the market early en
ough to help you set up, but I’ll help you take it down. Count on it.”

  He opened the car door and climbed out, not saying another word but walking up the street with that cowboy swagger he had that made her want to chase after him and pull him into the nearest bushes.

  She laughed at the idea, then she drove off, giving him a little beep as she passed by.

  The homestead was quiet when she got home, but she was still wound up from seeing Win and from learning she could live at the farm. She sat on the front porch in one of the many rockers there. The night was crystal clear and full of stars that seemed to be winking at her, as if to say, “See? I told you life would get better.”

  She let that happiness blanket her for a while. In a couple of weeks she would start another phase of her life.

  Life was sweet, and she was determined to enjoy it.

  Chapter Five

  Life stunk.

  Jenny put away the last of her clothes and dropped into a chair in her new bedroom, exhausted. It was ridiculous. She’d spent two days cleaning the farmhouse after her brothers moved out, then she’d moved in her few personal items today, and now she could barely move. She, the one usually with all the energy. Crazy.

  She admitted being a little nervous about living by herself way out in the country, with no neighbor—or brother—within shouting distance. Maybe she would get a dog, after all. A rescue dog who was already trained. Maybe a guard dog with big teeth and a ferocious bark who knew the sic ’em command already.

  She laughed at herself.

  “Jenny?”

  “In the bedroom, Annie.”

  Annie came into the room belly first. She only had two weeks to go now and was showing signs of impatience with her discomfort.

  “Mitch and I are taking off, unless you need something else?”

  “I’m good, thanks.” She made herself get out of the chair. “He’s going to drop off more chicken feed later? You said the bins are empty.”

  “I don’t know how it happened, except I have pregnancy brain, I guess. I normally don’t slip up like that.”

  They walked to the front door together then out onto the porch.

  “I don’t want you to worry about a thing,” Jenny said. “You’ve trained me well.”

  “We’re only a phone call away, anytime, Jen, night or day. Since I’m not being allowed to drive anymore, I’ll get someone to bring me now and then. I’m going to miss smelling my plants!”

  They hugged goodbye. Mitch helped his wife into the truck then came over to Jenny.

  “Be honest,” he said. “Are you scared?”

  “A tiny bit. Annie told me it took her quite a while to figure out what each sound was. I’ll get there. Go on, Mitch. I’ll be fine. Thanks for all your help.”

  “You’re the one doing us the favor. We couldn’t have done this without you.” He hugged her, then jogged to the truck.

  Work was done for the day. Jenny fixed a glass of iced tea and sat on the porch, watching the chickens peck the ground. They’d had to be trained to be shooed into their pen each night by a person instead of Annie’s herding dog, Bo. Sometimes it took a half hour to get them all gathered and shut in. She wasn’t in the mood yet for that task, so she went into the kitchen and looked in the refrigerator, knowing her mother had left some meals for her.

  Jenny’s mouth dropped open. “Some” meals? Her freezer was completely full with individual portions of soups, stews and casseroles, all sure to be vegetarian. There were a couple of packages of steaks, with a note saying, “In case you have carnivore company.”

  Leave it to Mom to think of everything.

  Jenny pulled out a portion of something called vegetarian chili and stuck the container in the microwave. She would add fresh tomatoes, cheese and cilantro when it was done, plus sourdough bread. And of course, there were cookies, several dozen, several kinds.

  She carried the bowl to the front porch, missing the company of her parents at dinnertime. She welcomed the independence but not the isolation, she realized. She wanted everything—but on her terms.

  Jenny toasted the air with her empty spoon, then went into the yard to shoo the chickens into the coop, one of them giving her a merry chase, but Jenny ultimately the victor. She went inside as it was getting dark and turned on the television. Nothing grabbed her attention. She took two chocolate chip cookies out of a bag and poured herself a glass of milk.

  Then she heard a vehicle coming up the driveway. Mitch bringing the chicken feed.

  But it wasn’t. It was Win. She stood at the screen door, not going outside to greet him, which would be the polite thing to do. She wasn’t going to ask him inside, either. Not that she was afraid of him, but she was afraid to be alone with him. It wouldn’t take more than a few minutes before they were in bed, there was little doubt of that. While one part of her hungered for that, especially since they’d never made love in the privacy of a bedroom, her logical side won out.

  Plus she was exhausted. She really didn’t want to deal with him.

  “Heard you moved in,” Win said.

  “Word travels fast,” she said.

  Win leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb, contemplating her, enjoying the self-protective wall she’d already put up. “I have one particular bird who works only for me. She reported it.”

  “How nice for you. I’m not letting you inside, Win.”

  He had to get it over with. Had to tell her, even seeing how she crossed her arms and glared. He loved when she was belligerent. Always had.

  But he’d delayed long enough. “We’ll just talk.”

  “We have never just talked.”

  True. “How about coming out on the porch?”

  She sighed. Loudly. “I suppose you’d like some cookies, too?”

  “Wouldn’t turn ’em down.”

  “Milk?”

  “Just cookies, thanks.”

  She grabbed a baggie off the kitchen table and almost slammed it against his stomach as she went out the screen door.

  “You sure Dori Ryder is your mother? The one who’s famous for being a gracious hostess?”

  “I didn’t invite you. And I’m really tired.” She headed straight to the rocking chair, which left the two-person glider or the steps for him. He tried not to laugh, but couldn’t help himself.

  She finally laughed, too. “I’m sorry, Win. I really, truly am exhausted. Then you caught me off guard.”

  “What’s dragging you down?”

  She was silent for a few long seconds, then she rubbed her face. “I’m tired of trying to get my future started and only hitting roadblocks.”

  “This doesn’t seem like a roadblock. It’s work in your field. It’s a house you don’t have to share.”

  “Oh, never mind. I’m not thinking clearly. Of course I’m happy with how my life is going.”

  Except she wasn’t. He could see that. “What more do you want, Jen?”

  She closed her eyes, as if picturing something. “A lavender farm.”

  She said it so quietly, he wasn’t sure he heard her right. “Did you say lavender farm?”

  She nodded. “I want to grow the plants, but I also want to have a place for weddings, and a distillery to make my own lavender oil so I can manufacture my own products. Someday I’d like to add a B and B.”

  “Where would you do this?”

  “Do you know the old Carson place, way up the ridge?”

  “Sure.”

  “It used to be a lavender farm, so the irrigation lines are already installed, as well as a drainage system. A lot of the plants have survived, even without tending. Do you remember the view from there?”

  “Can’t say I do.”

  “It is spectacular. Gold Ridge Mountain is straight ahead, the entire valle
y below it, surrounding it. I can picture rows and rows of different variety plants with a labyrinth in the middle. A gift shop to sell our own products.”

  “But why lavender?”

  “Because it’s drought resistant and deer resistant. It’s easy care—you cut it back once a year. It smells like heaven. And the blooms come in lots of different colors, from white to deep purple. Plus the heavy-duty labor, the time when I’d be working 24/7, is only for four to five months a year. It gives me the freedom for new projects, especially money-making ones.”

  “Why did the Carsons fail?”

  “Lack of interest. Ms. Carson never married, then she passed away without a will, so the property’s been tied up in court for a couple of years. Plus no one in her extended family was really interested. They just want to sell.”

  “What’s stopping you from buying it?”

  “Can’t qualify for a loan. No experience and no collateral.”

  “I seem to recall you telling me once that you’d have land of your own when you turned twenty-one.”

  “I do. All of us kids do. But we can’t do anything with it but build our own homes on it. It can’t be sold, therefore it can’t be collateral. It’s Ryder land. Period.”

  Win thought that over. His father would let him have some Morgan land, but Win would have to buy it. “Wouldn’t your father cosign, Jen? Or your brothers? Maybe as a group?”

  “I want to do it on my own.”

  Which came as no surprise. “You know it’s the stubborn streak in you that holds you back.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Since you don’t qualify for a loan, why be a martyr about it? If you’re so sure you can succeed, why not let people invest in you? Because that’s what it would be—an investment in you, not just the property. It sounds like it could work—eventually—but it’s going to take a lot of money to get there, and a long time to recoup until you make enough profit to live on. It requires patience, which you don’t always have.”