A Last Chance Christmas

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  A cowboy with a sandy-colored mustache walked down the wood-floored aisle toward them. “Hey, Jack.”

  “Hey, Gabe. I’d like you to meet Ben Radcliffe. He just brought Mom one hell of a saddle. You should go see it.”

  Gabe smiled. “Why do you suppose I’m here?” Then he shook Ben’s hand. “Good to meet you, Radcliffe. Thanks for making the trip.”

  “Glad I could.”

  Jack unbuttoned his coat. “You snuck over here to get a look at the saddle?”

  “I didn’t sneak. I drove.”

  “Yeah, well, you’d better have given your kids a good excuse for doing that, especially Sarah Bianca. If she gets wind that there’s a secret present for her grandma hidden somewhere on the ranch, we’ll hear about it all day long. Mom will get suspicious and the surprise will be ruined for sure.”

  “I told them I wanted to check on Persnickety. He’s been favoring his right front leg.”

  Jack frowned. “He has?”

  “Well, he was. Sort of. But guess what? Now he’s all better. Is the saddle in the tractor barn?”

  “I thought that was the best place. Go all the way to the back in the right-hand corner. There’s a blanket covering it. Take a flashlight.”

  Gabe pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket. “Get with the program, bro. Nobody carries a flashlight anymore. We have an app for that.”

  “I’m sure you do. I’ll keep using my Coleman lantern, which will still be functioning when your teeny battery is DOA.”

  Gabe laughed and picked up a battery-operated lantern sitting on a shelf. “I just say these things to get your goat, big brother. Works every time.”

  “Bite me.”

  “Nah, I’ve outgrown that. Say, have you done your homework for Molly yet?”

  Jack groaned. “Hell, no. Have you?”

  “Some of it. The form she gave us is longer than a dead snake. I got bored and quit.” Gabe looked over at Ben. “Our cousin from Arizona. She’s a history professor by day but a genealogist by night.” He turned to Jack. “Which reminds me. Have you told her about the saddle? Morgan wanted me to ask if Molly’s in on the secret.”

  “I haven’t told her. I had to get to know her first and find out if she could be trusted to keep quiet. Now I know she’s trustworthy, but there hasn’t been a good time to say anything when Mom wasn’t around.”

  “Yeah, and that’d be one more person who could slip up accidentally. Morgan seems to think we should tell her, but I say if it’s gone this long, might as well not take the risk.” He glanced at Ben. “That means as far as Molly’s concerned, you’re a prospective horse buyer.”

  “Got it.”

  “You might not see much of her, anyway,” Jack said. “She spends a lot of time on the computer with her genealogy program. Once she has the family tree all completed, she’s going to put it into some kind of book for all of us.”

  “Sounds nice.” It also sounded like something done out of love for family. Ben doubted his family would ever create something similar.

  Jack sighed. “I suppose it will be, but all the paperwork is a pain in the ass. I tried to get Josie to do it for me. She filled in her part, but she flatly refused to fill in mine.”

  “Yeah, Morgan wouldn’t do mine, either.” Gabe glanced over Jack’s shoulder as the barn door opened. “Well, if it isn’t Nicky. Whatcha doing here, Nick, old boy?”

  “Oh, just happened to have a little spare time.” Nick walked toward them.

  Jack shoved back his hat. “I don’t suppose you’re here to check out the saddle or anything like that.”

  “Maybe.” Nick smiled and shook hands with Ben. “You must be Radcliffe. I had a look at your website. Impressive work.”

  “Thanks.” Ben’s eye for detail took in the similarities among the brothers—same height and build, same mannerisms. But there were marked differences, too.

  Jack’s dark hair and eyes suggested he had some Native American blood, while Nick and Gabe showed no evidence of that. Gabe was the fairer of the two. He’d probably been a towhead once. Nick’s green eyes made him look as if he belonged in Ireland. Interesting.

  “Ben outdid himself on the saddle for Mom,” Jack said. “But I hope she doesn’t happen to glance out the window when you two yahoos head down to the tractor barn together.”

  “What about Ben’s truck?” Gabe smoothed his mustache. “It’s parked right in front of the tractor barn, but he’s supposed to be here to see horses, not tractors.”

  “You can’t see the front of that barn from the house.” Jack crossed his arms. “But she could see you leave here and walk in that direction.”

  Nick looked over at Gabe. “Did you say the tractor hitched to the snowplow has a bad starter?”

  “No, I didn’t—oh, wait.” Gabe smiled. “Come to think of it, you’re right. You and I need to go check on that. They’re predicting a blizzard in a couple of days and we don’t want to be caught without a snowplow.”

  “Just what I was thinking.” Nick turned up the collar of his sheepskin jacket.

  Gabe did the same and pulled on leather gloves. “Hey, did you do your homework for Molly?”

  “I did. Scanned it and emailed it to her this morning.”

  “Loser.”

  Nick laughed. “I take it you haven’t?”

  “Jack hasn’t, either.” Gabe looked to Jack for backup.

  “Haven’t found the time,” Jack said.

  “Yeah, right.” Nick sent them both a knowing grin. “Just do it, okay? She’s very into this, even if you two aren’t.”

  Gabe blew out a breath. “Yeah, I know she is. Morgan thinks it’s endearing. She also thinks Molly should be told about the saddle. You haven’t said anything, have you?”

  “Nope. If she knows, she didn’t get it from me.”

  “She doesn’t know,” Jack said. “And she might want to contribute if we told her about it, but we’ve dealt with the money situation already. Gabe and I think we should just keep it a secret since we’re this close and she wasn’t part of it from the beginning.”

  “Fine with me.” Nick glanced at his two brothers. “But you really should fill out those forms for her. It’s not so much to ask.”

  “You’re right.” Jack grimaced. “Otherwise, she’ll bug me until I do.”

  “Yep, guaranteed she will,” Gabe said. “I like her okay, but she sure can be a bossy little thing.”

  Ben listened to the conversation with amusement. Jack had said he’d be sharing the second floor with Molly, who sounded like a determined woman. This trip was becoming more interesting by the minute.

  2

  SOMEONE WAS PLAYING “Silent Night” on the harmonica. Nostalgia washed over Molly Gallagher and she paused, fingers resting on the computer keyboard. Her Grandpa Seth had played the harmonica, and the gentle sound, especially at Christmastime, always made her think of him.

  Harmonicas and cowboys seemed to go together, and her grandpa had been an old-fashioned cowpoke who’d grown up right here in Jackson Hole. He’d even lived in this house for a little while with his sister, Nelsie, and his brother-in-law, Archie. If Molly believed in ghosts, she might think Grandpa Seth had taken up residence down the hall from her bedroom.

  “Silent Night” was followed by “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Talk about atmosphere. Snow drifted down outside her window and the scent of pine filled her room. Yesterday she’d helped Aunt Sarah arrange fresh boughs all over the house. With her bedroom door open, she could hear the logs crackling in the giant fireplace downstairs.

  Feeling all warm and cozy, Molly went back to entering data in her Excel file. The harmonica player was likely the guy Jack had mentioned was staying down the hall. His name was Ben something-or-other. He’d come to look at the ranch’s registered Paints and would be around for a couple of nights. Molly had offered to help out by making his bed and putting clean towels in his bathroom.

  Being alone upstairs with four empty bedrooms had been a little spoo
ky. She was glad to share the space with someone, especially if he chose to serenade her every so often with Christmas carols on the harmonica. Hard to believe she’d be leaving in four days. The time had flown by.

  Although she’d love to stay and meet everyone who’d be coming in to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, that would mean she’d miss the big Gallagher family celebration in Prescott. So far, she had a perfect record—twenty-eight consecutive holidays spent at the Double Down Ranch. Her parents ran it now that her grandparents were gone, and it was her favorite place in the world.

  “O Little Town of Bethlehem” came to a close with a long, drawn-out note embellished by some vibrato. Ben was pretty good on that thing. Then he switched away from carols to play the theme from Beauty and the Beast. She’d loved that movie from the first time she’d seen it as a little girl. Belle was the perfect heroine—pretty, brave and well-read.

  Plus she was a brunette, and Molly had been thrilled about that, too. The scholarly Belle had been her role model for years. She’d never heard the theme played on a harmonica before, but it worked. It worked so well that she left her chair and moved into the hall so she could hear it better.

  What a lovely sound. He really was talented. She moved a few steps closer and then a few steps more. He played with heart, and she could almost imagine him as the Beast longing for his Beauty to show up. That was plain silly, of course. The way her luck went, he’d be old as the hills, or middle-aged and balding.

  His bedroom door was open. As the music continued, she edged closer. Now that her curiosity was aroused, she wanted to find out what the man who created such a heavenly sound looked like. But she decided to wait until he’d finished the song. She liked it way too much to interrupt him, and if she suddenly appeared, he’d probably stop playing.

  The last note trailed away, and she walked up to the doorway, prepared with a little speech. “That was...” She forgot what she’d intended to say. Ben something-or-other was drop-dead gorgeous.

  Why hadn’t she brushed her hair before walking down here? Why hadn’t she checked to see if she had anything in her teeth? Why hadn’t she taken two measly seconds to glance in a mirror and find out if her glasses were smudged?

  Thinking of that, she whipped them off and cleared her throat. “I’m Molly Gallagher. I live down the hall.” What? “I mean, I’m sleeping down the hall. That is, my room’s...that way.” She actually pointed. Good God, now she was giving the beautiful man directions.

  His eyes were the color of dark chocolate, and they crinkled at the corners when he smiled. “Good to know.”

  Heat flooded her face. “I didn’t mean that as a...well, never mind. I don’t know why I said it. Mostly I wanted to tell you how much I like your harmonica. Your harmonica playing, that is.”

  “Thanks. I didn’t know anybody was up here. You were quiet as a mouse.”

  “Just nibbling away on my computer.” Her laugh sounded much too breathless, but he had such broad shoulders, and his dark hair curled gently around his ears in a very sexy way. She liked his chin, too, with its little cleft, and she adored his mouth. A harmonica player would be good with his mouth and his tongue. She’d never thought of that before.

  “I promise not to play in the middle of the night.”

  “I wouldn’t care.” And didn’t that sound like she’d become his adoring fangirl? She licked her dry lips. “Actually, I grew up hearing harmonica music. My grandpa would sometimes play me a lullaby before I went to sleep.”

  “That’s very sweet.”

  “It was more of a bribe. I always put up a fight about going to bed.” She had no idea where these idiotic remarks were coming from, but she couldn’t seem to make them stop.

  She’d prepared herself for some old geezer, probably because she associated harmonicas with her grandfather. Instead she’d found this amazing man, who couldn’t be much older than she was. He sat on the edge of a king-sized bed she’d personally made up earlier today. Her filter must be working a little bit, because at least she hadn’t blurted out that piece of information.

  “I’ll bet you did put up a fight about bedtime.” Amusement flashed in his brown eyes. “I’ll bet you were one feisty little girl.”

  “Jack would probably tell you I still am. I think he and Gabe are a little irritated with me.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Oh, there’s something I asked them to do and they’re both procrastinating. I’m leaving in four days so I gave them each a little nudge. I don’t think they appreciated it.”

  He seemed to be working hard not to laugh.

  “Did Jack mention that to you?”

  “Just in passing.”

  “It’s only two pages of information for my genealogy research. You’d think I’d asked him to write a book.”

  “Some people hate filling out forms.”

  She sighed. “I know. Everybody’s not detail oriented like I am. I should probably just sit down with each of them and do it interview style. I’ll text them and suggest that. I mean, if Jack’s complaining to you, a virtual stranger, I guess he really doesn’t want to do it.”

  “He didn’t complain all that much. Don’t quote me on this, but I think he plans to finish it soon.”

  “Then I’ll wait and see. He might be insulted if I offered to write it down for him, as if he’s not capable.”

  “I’ve only spent a little time with the guy, but I think you’re right.”

  Discussing this matter with Ben had been a good ice-breaker. He felt like a potential friend now. She was still ogling him a little, but she’d recovered from her first stunned reaction. “Sarah told me you were here to look at horses.”

  “That’s right.” Something flickered in his gaze the way it did when someone wasn’t telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

  She caught it because she’d thought all along that driving around looking at horses in this weather was strange. She couldn’t shake the suspicion that he was here for some other reason, but she couldn’t imagine what that would be. “Did you see any you might be interested in?”

  “I did, as a matter of fact. I really like the looks of Calamity Sam.”

  “Oh, yeah. Me, too. He’s one beautiful stallion. Pricey, though, since he gets pretty good stud fees.”

  “I know. Jack said maybe we could work something out.”

  So maybe he really was interested in buying one of the Last Chance horses. He might hope to get a better price by coming when business was slow. But asking any more questions would make her seem nosy—which she was, of course. She’d been nosy all her life.

  But sometimes she caught herself doing it and backed off. This was one of those times. “Well, I’ve bothered you long enough. I should get back to my work. If you need anything like more towels or extra pillows, the linen closet is right down there.” She gestured to a door on the far side of the hallway. “The housekeeper’s on vacation so we’re on our own up here.”

  “Jack told me. I’m pretty good at looking out for myself.”

  “Great. That’s great. Anyway, thanks for the harmonica concert. Please play any time you feel like it. Brings back fond memories for me.”

  “I’ll remember that. Actually, I was about to head downstairs. Sarah and Pete invited me to have a drink with them before dinner.”

  “Oh! Is it happy hour already?” Whenever she became involved in a genealogy project, she lost track of time.

  “Almost six.”

  “Then I’ll turn off my computer. Last night Sarah had to come upstairs to get me or I would have worked through the whole evening. I’d have hated that because I love hanging out with her and Pete. I’ll see you down there, then.” She turned to leave.

  “I can wait until you shut off your computer.”

  Thank God she wasn’t facing him, because she wouldn’t have wanted him to see her reaction to that comment. For sure, her eyes and mouth had popped wide open exactly the way a cartoon character would look when startled. �
�Um, sure, that would be great. I’ll just be a sec. Meet you at the top of the stairs.” And she skedaddled out of there.

  As she hurried down the hall, she calculated how much repair work she could get away with. Changing clothes was out, so she was stuck with the blah jeans and her old green turtleneck. If she had time to pop in her contacts, Ben might notice that the sweater nearly matched her eyes, but she didn’t so he wouldn’t.

  The best she could hope for was a quick brush through her hair, a fast polish of her lenses and a glance in the bathroom mirror to make sure she didn’t have food in her teeth. Refreshing her makeup would take too long, and besides, he’d already seen her like this. If she showed up with lipstick and blusher, that might telegraph her interest in him.

  But, truly, she might as well forget about having any interest in him. It didn’t matter how yummy he looked, or how much she loved his harmonica music, or how talented his mouth might be as a result of playing said harmonica. She was leaving in four days and didn’t expect to be back in Wyoming any time soon.

  She should forget about Ben, whose last name she still didn’t know. It wasn’t like she was thirsting for male companionship. For example, there was Dennis, the new guy in the history department. He was cute in a nerdy kind of way, and he’d seemed quite fascinated by her when they’d talked during the faculty Christmas party. He’d promised to call after the holidays.

  So, there. She had a potential boyfriend and a potential relationship waiting to be cultivated back home. No need to get starry-eyed over some horse-buying, harmonica-playing cowboy who had his feet firmly planted in Wyoming.

  Then she walked out of her room and saw those booted feet braced slightly apart as Ben waited for her at the top of the stairs. Oh, Lordy. She’d never looked at a man and instantly fallen into lust. Well, except for unattainable movie stars.

  But it was happening this very minute. He’d been impressive sitting on the bed. Standing upright in all his six-foot-plus glory, he made her forget her own name, let alone the name of that guy in the history department.