Ho Ho Ho! Luke thought grumpily. Just when things were finally starting to come together for him, Brenna came crashing back into his life like a tornado.
Just recently he had begun dating Lucy Walters, a pretty nurse who lived in the next town over. She was sweet and uncomplicated. She was mild mannered, deferring to him on everything. Lucy was the very opposite of Brenna. Sometimes Luke wished she possessed a little more spunk. He’d convinced himself that they could have a future together. Up until the moment he had walked into the Santiago great room and locked gazes with those warm brown eyes flecked with amber. One look had served to remind him that his heart was still wrapped up in the only woman he had ever loved. If only he could be strong enough to stop caring about her. Wondering about her. Dreaming about what might have been between them.
As his mind worked furiously in an attempt to get Brenna out of his thoughts, he felt his truck swerve on a patch of ice. With the snow falling at a fast clip and mixing with the ice on the ground, it had created a slickened road. As he turned his wheel to avoid sliding across the road, he found himself unable to get out of the skid. He let out a shout as his truck skidded off the road and down a ravine.
By the time Brenna walked back inside the house she had figured out a way to explain Luke’s departure to her father. The oncoming storm would provide the perfect explanation for his departure.
When she walked back into the great room she noticed it was empty. Brenna let out a sigh. At some point she would have to find a way to tell her parents she was back home for good. But from what Luke had told her, it didn’t seem likely that the ranch would be a refuge for her. Not if Papa was selling it out from under them.
Stop being selfish. A little voice buzzed in her head. You haven’t been around in years. It was ridiculous for her to expect everything to have stayed the same. Her renewed faith had led her back to Half Moon Ranch and her family. When all else failed in life, home was a place to provide sheltering arms. Especially during the most sacred, beautiful time of the year.
She hadn’t even had time to notice the huge evergreen sitting prettily in the corner of the great room. It was a gorgeous tree with healthy-looking branches, perfect for hanging ornaments. Would her parents host their annual tree decorating party? Probably not, she thought glumly. They would be too busy packing up a lifetime of belongings.
“Brenna, where’s Luke?” The sound of her father’s voice rang out in the stillness of the room. She turned around, trying not to let her facial features betray how shocked she was by her father’s appearance. As she focused solely on his face she noticed the silver at his temples, the crow’s feet circling his eyes and the hollowed-out cheeks.
“Luke wanted to get a head start on the storm. It was coming down pretty hard out there,” Brenna answered, immediately regretting the lie. The truth was she was trying to be a better person. And part of doing that was sparing her father any upset. He would hate to know that she and Luke had gotten into an argument and that he had left because of it.
Hector stared her down, his dark eyes full of intensity. “Luke isn’t the type to be afraid of a little snow.”
She walked a few steps toward him, reaching out and running her palm down the side of his face. “Forget about Luke. How are you? Really? You don’t look like yourself.”
Hector closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “We need to talk.”
The words lodged in her heart like a bullet. She knew without even asking what he meant.
“You’re not going to get better, are you?” she asked, her voice sounding raspy to her own ears. He grabbed her hand, his eyes awash in tears. “Doc told me a few weeks ago that it’s spread too far to treat anymore.”
“Anymore? No one ever told me about treatment. What is it? Chemo? Radiation?”
“Chemo,” he said. “I did a few rounds to see if it made any difference. It hasn’t,” he said gruffly. All of a sudden Brenna let out a sob. The thought of her father being terminally ill was too much to bear. Despite the fact that she had run away from Merry all those years ago, she loved her father with all her heart. And they had always shared a special bond that no one could ever break.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked. “I would have been here. I would have gone to every single treatment with you.”
“I wanted to spare you. You were in California living out your dreams. I know how hard it always was for you to come back here.”
“Not because I didn’t love it,” she whispered. “Because I missed it so badly. And I knew that I had made the biggest mistake of my life,” she admitted.
Her father’s eyes bulged. “Brenna! You never said a word about being homesick. We thought you had the perfect life. The one you had always dreamed of living.”
She shook her head fiercely. “The dream turned into a nightmare.” She shrugged. “So I came running back to the only place I knew where I could find refuge from the storms of life. As usual my timing is terrible.”
Her father reached out and took her face gently between his hands. He stared deeply into her eyes. “You will always have a home, Brenna. Wherever we are…the door will always be wide open for you and your sisters. We may not be living at Half Moon Ranch, but the Santiago family will always have a place to call home.”
“Papa!” Brenna cried out, bursting into tears and burrowing her face against her father’s chest. Up until this point her father’s body had always been like a fortress—strong and impenetrable. Now, she was all too aware of his frailty. He was a man. Just a man. He didn’t have super strength or special powers. And according to his doctors, his time was running out. Just then a loud banging sound resounded throughout the foyer. Startled by the noise, Brenna raised her head up and pulled away from her father.
Hector frowned. “It sounds like someone is at the front door. Can you go see who it is? Might be one of the ranch hands with a problem.”
Brenna frowned. “In this weather?” she asked. One look out the window showed that the snowstorm had ramped up quite a bit in the last half hour or so when she hadn’t been paying attention to what was going on outside. As Brenna made her way to the front door, she couldn’t help but wonder who had been foolish enough to venture outside in this storm?
When Brenna opened the front door to him, Luke uttered a Hallelujah under his breath. It had taken him more than half an hour to walk from his truck back to Half Moon Ranch. With increasing snowfall, low visibility and slippery walking conditions, he felt thankful about reaching refuge from the elements.
“Luke!” Brenna cried out. “What are you doing back here?” Her features were creased with worry.
“My truck slid off the road,” he explained. “The ice and snow made a slick mess out there.”
“Oh no! Are you all right?” It gave him a slight thrill to know she still cared about him, judging by her horrified expression.
“I’m okay. Just a little shaken up. It’s my first wreck. The truck got it worse than I did.”
She swung the door wide open. “Come on in before you catch your death of cold.”
Luke walked into the Santiago home, letting out a sigh as the warmth from the fire emanated from the great room. The house was warm and toasty, polar opposite to what was going on outside in the storm. The bad weather had rolled in quickly, catching him a little off guard in the process. If he hadn’t been so eager to tie up things with the sale of Half Moon Ranch, he probably would have been wiser about traveling in such conditions in the first place. His meeting with Hector could have waited a few days.
“Follow me,” she said in a crisp voice as she led him back into the great room. Hector was standing by the fireplace, his expression showing he was a million miles away.
“Luke’s truck went off the road,” Brenna explained. “I’m going to get him a warm blanket and a cup of hot tea.”
“Sit down, Luke. Take off those boots while I go get you a fresh pair of clothes,” Hector instructed as he pointed toward a love seat close to the roaring fire. L
uke sank down into the seat, then pulled off his boots. The snow and slush had seeped through, resulting in a soaking wet pair of socks and frozen feet. One glance told him that he didn’t have hypothermia. He knew it well enough by sight. His flesh didn’t look grey and he could still feel his toes and wiggle them around. And thankfully, he wasn’t in any pain. Hector returned quickly, bringing with him a zip up sweatshirt, socks, boxers and a pair of sweatpants. Luke excused himself to change up his clothes in the bathroom.
Just as he came back into the room, Brenna returned as well, followed by Isabelle and Lizette. Brenna was carrying a serving tray laden with a cup of steaming hot tea and biscuits. Isabelle had a blue wool blanket in her hands.
For the next few minutes they fussed over him, earning him a wink from Hector, who seemed amused by it all. When Brenna stood close beside him, brushing against him as she added sugar and lemon to his tea, he couldn’t help but savor her close proximity. She smelled of roses and sugar cookies. How had he forgotten that scent? It had been so long since he had been this close to her. So many years stood between them.
“Thanks,” Luke said, meeting Brenna’s eyes as she handed him a spoon. Their gazes held and locked until Brenna looked away. He didn’t know if it was his imagination or not, but something had been brewing in the air between them. A heavy tension lingered in the atmosphere. Hector, Lizette and Isabelle must have felt it too, since each of them excused themselves one after the other to check on something in the kitchen.
Once they were alone, silence ensued. Brenna sat down in the love seat that was positioned next to his.
Suddenly, Brenna let out a startled cry. “Oh no! I just realized that you didn’t have your coat out there in the storm. The one you let me wear outside.”
Luke let out a chuckle. “Yeah. Once I started walking from the truck I realized why I was so cold. I’m mighty grateful for all my layers.”
“You must have been freezing!” Brenna said. “All because of me.”
“It’s not your fault. What’s given freely should never be questioned. I wanted you to have my coat. I never could stand the sight of you in any kind of pain or suffering,” Luke said, quirking his mouth.
“You were always too good to me,” Brenna said in a pained voice. “I imagine I didn’t truly deserve you. I’m well aware that a lot of people here in town think that.”
“Now don’t tell me you suddenly care about what people think,” Luke said with a hearty laugh. “The fact that you always walked to your own drumbeat without caring what the gossips said was the main reason I asked you out in the first place.” Brenna smiled at him, which instantly sent him orbiting to another planet. Being the object of Brenna’s pearly white smile did funny things to his insides.
“I care more than I did before,” she admitted. “But now it’s more about being aware that other people matter. I’ve grown up a lot in the last eight years. I used to see myself as the center of the universe,” she said with a harsh laugh. “Papa spoiled me. And I was allowed to get away with murder around here.”
“The princess of Half Moon Ranch,” Luke teased.
Brenna let out a tortured groan. “How I hated being called that,” she said. “Mostly it was said behind my back, but I heard the whispers. You were the only one who was bold enough to say it to my face.”
“Well, you were my princess,” Luke said in a soft voice. And she had been. His beautiful, one- of-a-kind princess. She had been equal parts tomboy and prom queen. Brenna had been the type of woman who could clean out a stable then change clothes to attend a fancy ball. Intelligence. Sass. And a dedication to her faith. He had loved all the facets that made her into the unique woman she was.
“I was, wasn’t I?” she said. He thought he saw a few tell-tale tears shimmering in her eyes. What did it mean? Was she being nostalgic about their relationship? Did her regrets about leaving Merry include him as well? Or was she simply emotional about being back in town and facing the grim reality of her father’s health crisis and the fact that Half Moon Ranch would soon belong to him?
On impulse, Luke reached across and pushed her hair out of her eyes. She drew back, appearing to be startled by his touch. He ran his hand down the side of her face, reveling in the softness of her skin and the high cheekbones that added so greatly to her beauty.
“Funny thing is, I never felt worthy of being with you. You were always the golden girl. Every guy in school wanted to date you. When I asked you out and you said yes, I was bowled over. Truly stunned. And grateful.” He let out a ragged sigh. “I was always thankful to be loved by you, Brenna. Until I wasn’t.”
“That’s not true!” Brenna cried out. “You were always worthy, Luke. And I never told you this, but I’d been wanting you to ask me out for months and months.” Her voice softened and became almost tender. “You were the only one I ever wanted, Luke. Being loved by you was a gift. It was only until later that I realized it though. When it was too late.”
Their faces were so close together. Brenna’s expression was earnest and heartfelt. Emotion shimmered in the depths of her eyes. Her dark lashes were wet with tears. How he ached to kiss her. All he had to do was lean in a bit and place his lips over her ruby-colored, heart-shaped lips. He made a move—an almost imperceptible one—that drew him slightly closer to Brenna. They were so close he could hear the soft hum of her breathing. He could see the gold flecks in her brown eyes.
Just as he was about to dip his head down and capture her lips in a tender kiss, the sound of loud footsteps clattered on the hardwood floor.
CHAPTER 3
“Brenna!” The sound of her younger sister Daphne’s voice left no doubt in her mind that her tender moment with Luke was over. She heard him let out a sigh as they both pulled away from each other. Was Luke regretting that they hadn’t kissed? Brenna swung her gaze toward the entryway where her sister was standing wearing her usual attire of worn blue jeans, a plaid shirt, boots and a cowgirl hat. She was covered with a heavy dusting of snow. Before she knew it, Daphne flew at her with outstretched arms, resembling a wild bird in flight.
Brenna let out a cry as her sister’s wet clothes rubbed against her. “Hey! You’re covered in snow. Where were you?” Brenna asked.
Daphne pulled away and grinned at her. “Sorry about that. I was over at the stables. I lost track of time and didn’t even realize that the storm had started. Goldie is getting ready to have her foal any day now.”
Brenna shook her head. “I see some things haven’t changed. There’s no place you’d rather be than the stables.” Brenna had often wondered how she and her sisters were all so different from one another. Although all three of them loved horses, Daphne took it to another level. She lived and breathed her beloved horses.
“I came in through the kitchen back door. I didn’t even bother to stop and take off my boots once I heard you were home.”
Brenna chuckled. “That’s what I love most about you, sis. Your unbridled enthusiasm.”
“Is it true what Papa said? That you’re not with Hank anymore? Does that mean you’re back for good?” Daphne asked, her pretty face lit up with expectation. With her crop of short, black hair and almond-shaped, russet colored eyes, her baby sister was a stunner. Athletic and spirited, Daphne was a huge lover of horses. It had always been her dream to take over the running of the ranch when her father eventually retired and passed down the reins to her. That particular dream would not come to pass now. Brenna couldn’t imagine how hard her sister must be taking the news of the sale of the family ranch. More than anyone, Daphne loved Half Moon Ranch.
“Yes, I’m back. I don’t know how it will all play out, since I’m going to need a job and a place to live as soon as this place is sold, but I’m now a resident of Merry.”
“You live here now? I thought maybe you had just come back to spend Christmas with your folks,” Luke said, his voice sounding sharp.
“My life in California is over,” Brenna announced. “I’m home to stay,” she said, darting a
quick glance in Luke’s direction. “I hope that won’t be a problem.”
Instead of answering, Luke met her question with stony silence. She could tell by the expression on his face that he was mulling it over.
“Yahoo,” Daphne yelled, filling up the silence with her exuberance. She began throwing her hands up in the air and dancing around the room. “I can’t wait to start doing all our family Christmas traditions with you. Tomorrow we can bake some sugar cookies for the church cookie stroll. It’s the day after tomorrow.”
“Oh, the cookie stroll,” Brenna gushed. It had been ages since she had participated in it with her family and the local church community. “That has to be one of my all-time favorite memories of growing up here in Merry.” The cookie stroll, held inside the church community center, allowed parishioners to bake their favorite Christmas cookies for swapping. All the cookies were laid out on tables and people were allowed to stroll around the room with a container and gather up the cookies they wanted to bring home. Although the cookies were delectable, being in the presence of her church community had always been the most precious gift of all.
“I’m so happy you’re back,” Daphne said as she grabbed her arm and burrowed herself against Brenna’s shoulder.
This was home, Brenna realized. A soft place to fall. Knowing that you were loved without question. It felt nice to be welcomed so wholeheartedly by Daphne. She had made so many mistakes with her family over the years. The knowledge that she could still come back home to Half Moon Ranch and be shown love and acceptance caused a warm, fuzzy feeling to nestle inside her chest.
I’ll do better this time, she vowed. The Christmas season was the perfect time to make amends for all her selfish actions of the past. She had hurt every single member of her family in one way or another over the course of the last eight years. It was a terrible thing to know that you had caused such pain for the ones you loved. And Luke—she had hurt him most of all. When she looked at him, Brenna still saw pain glimmering in his eyes. And mistrust. What did she expect from him? How could Luke welcome her back with open arms when the past still stood between them like a rushing river? It was difficult to know even where to start in order to try and make amends.
Mistletoe In Montana: A Christmas Novella Page 3