Colorado Christmas

by C. C. Coburn

  “Yeah! She loves barbecue…She likes red wine, too.”

  Will made a mental note to ensure that they’d serve red wine. It would be good to get the job as Nick’s caregiver. The judge would respect him if he had a paying job and might agree to go out with him. The flowers certainly hadn’t worked. Will hadn’t sent any more since her second request that he stop—and after Matt had sternly pointed out that Will’s unwanted deliveries might be construed as stalking.

  Will got to his feet. “I’d better head out, buddy. I’ve got some stuff to do before the barbecue. See you there, and don’t forget to bring your mom, okay?”

  Chapter Ten

  Saturday was sunny and clear, a perfect high-country winter’s day. Up before dawn, Will attended to final preparations and snowplowed the car parking area. Matt and Jack arrived to lend a hand. Will could barely wipe the smile off his face when both of them complimented him on his latent organizational skills.

  By eleven, the temperature had climbed into the mid-thirties and a steady stream of vehicles was entering the gates of Two Elk. So much for Matt’s doubting the success of a barbecue in the middle of winter.

  The response from the community was overwhelming. Frank had hired the winners of the summer barbecue festival cook-off. Mrs. C. had organized several community groups to serve food and drinks. A mobile coffee van was dispensing hot chocolate and coffee of all varieties, while the Boy Scouts sold sheets of tickets to be exchanged for food and drink at the stalls. A local band had donated their time. The strains of their tuning up emanated from the barn.

  With the beer wagon in place and the tempting aromas of barbecue, kettle corn and funnel cakes filling the air, it promised to be a very successful event.

  Will watched fondly as Sasha helped direct cars to park, then raced back to report who’d just pulled in.

  He ruffled her fair hair. “You’re doing a great job, honey,” he said and pointed back toward the parking area. “Better go catch those folks before they slip into the wrong spot.”

  “As if! Daisy’s herding them with her bullwhip, so they don’t stand a chance.”

  Will smiled at the sight of Daisy, bullwhip in hand. He could see her taking over the ranch from Luke one of these days.

  “My girls behaving themselves?” Luke asked from behind him.

  Will spun around. “Always do,” he said and was about to suggest Luke view his children more positively, when his brother threw him for a loop by saying, “I didn’t think you’d manage to pull this all together. You’ve impressed me.”

  He moved on, leaving Will openmouthed with shock at the biggest compliment Luke had paid anyone in a very long time. If ever.

  Will purchased a sheet of tickets and handed over a couple for a plate of brisket. He surveyed the barbecue area filled with friends, neighbors, townsfolk and tourists enjoying the sunshine, talking, munching on corn or ribs, greeting old friends. It seemed half the county was at Two Elk.

  He wandered toward the barn, where people boot scooted to the band’s popular tunes. He’d join in later. Maybe when the judge got there.

  “Uncle Will! Uncle Will!” He spun around to see Sash dragging another kid behind her. “This is my friend, Nicolas!”

  “Hey, buddy!” Will high-fived the kid. “Glad you could make it.”

  “You know each other?” three female voices chimed in unison.

  Daisy and Sash wore identical frowns of confusion. The judge, who’d now joined them, looked more bothered than confused.

  “Sure. We met at the rec center. Howdy, Judge. Welcome to Two Elk.”

  “How do you know this man?” Becky asked Nick.

  Wearing a smile from ear to ear, he clasped Will’s hand. “I told you about Will. He’s gonna teach me to swim.”

  The judge’s eyes narrowed as she surveyed Will, then looked pointedly at their joined hands. Will eased his hand from Nick’s and said to the boy, “We were going to talk about that with your mom first, buddy.” He turned to Becky. “How about you let me teach this little guy to swim?”

  Will enjoyed watching the judge’s features crease with consternation, figuring it wasn’t often she got her feathers so ruffled. He’d finally worked out who Nick’s mom was after he said he wished she’d put all the bullies in jail. Will knew every female cop in town and in the sheriff’s department. The only other woman who could jail anyone had to be the judge.

  And now he saw them together, their resemblance was unmistakable—red hair, freckles, cute smile, when the judge allowed herself one. Right now, she wasn’t smiling.

  Becky crooked her finger at him, indicating Will should follow her away from the children.

  “Mr. O’Malley, I have no idea how you discovered my son does sessions at the hydrotherapy pool. And I especially don’t appreciate you befriending him in order to get closer to me.”

  Will held up his hands. “Whoa there! You’re right off track, Judge—”

  “I want you to stay away from him!”

  Stung by her vehemence and what she was intimating, he said, “You think I’d harm the little guy?”

  “I would hope not, but an older man befriending a child is not appropriate!”

  That did it. He’d had a gutful. He’d tried to be nice to her, welcome her into the community. Date her. But to suggest that meeting Nick at the pool had some sort of nefarious intent was going way too far. “You know, Your Honor—” Will put the emphasis on the words, since she obviously thought she was far above the rest of the folk of Spruce Lake, especially him “—I’ve had it with your attitude toward me.”

  He counted off on his fingers a few points for her to consider. “One, I met Nick,” he said, shortening the child’s name, figuring it would probably annoy her, “last week at the pool. Two, he said he wanted to learn to swim like me. Three, I offered to teach him, provided he got his mom’s permission. Four, I didn’t know you were his mom until yesterday. Five, and even if I’d known, I would still have liked him.” He let that remark sink in before continuing. “He seemed lonely, desperate for friends. I’m sorry you think I’m an inappropriate friend. No one else in this town would think that, but you seem hell-bent on believing the worst of me—”

  “The mayor—”

  “Is a horse’s rear end, intent on lining his pockets and destroying our town in the process. If you want to believe him, go ahead.”

  Will saw the bus bringing the residents of the Twilight Years. “If you’ll excuse me, I have guests to greet.” He turned away from Becky, called out, “Catch you later, buddy,” to Nick and headed for the bus.

  Will worked on keeping his temper in check as he strode toward it. What had he ever seen in the woman? She was crabby, judgmental and just plain wrong about him. Forcing his confrontation with the judge from his mind, Will greeted the residents of the retirement home. “Mr. Whittaker! Glad you could make it,” he said, shaking the older gentleman’s hand. “Miss Patterson, I see you hitched a ride. Hey, Sol, love the new hair.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Will noticed Matt leaning against the barn, grinning at him. The jerk! Matt had known all along the judge was Nick’s mom.

  BECKY FUMED as she observed Will greeting the residents of the Twilight Years. How dare he speak to her like that?

  “What were you guys talking about?”

  She spun around. Nicolas had his arms crossed and was frowning.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you knew that man?” she countered.

  “I told you about meeting Will at the pool last week.”

  “You didn’t mention his name.” If he had, she would’ve made the connection earlier.

  “Yeah. I did. But you didn’t seem all that interested in what I do at the pool.”

  Ouch! Nicolas had a point. She’d been so busy at work and preoccupied with finding a caregiver, she hadn’t been paying attention. She had, however, let Nicolas and Deputy O’Malley talk her into coming to the fundraiser.

  She glanced toward the barn. Matt O’Malley loun
ged against it, observing her and looking much too pleased with himself. Becky was tempted to—

  “Grandma!”

  “Daisy, darling, try to keep your voice below a roar,” a tall, slender woman said as she approached them. Her fair hair was pulled back into a knot and her vivid blue eyes danced with love as she gently chided her granddaughter. “You’re not out in the paddocks now, dear.”

  “Grammy, this is Nick, our friend from school.”

  “Good to meet you at last, Nick,” the older woman said, extending her hand. “The girls talk about you all the time.” She smiled at Becky. “Hello. I’m Sarah O’Malley.”

  Becky wanted to groan. Of course this would be Will’s mother, since these girls, Sarah and Daisy, were his nieces. “I’m Judge McBride—ah, Becky,” she corrected herself. “Nicolas talks about the girls a lot, too.”

  “Are you enjoying yourselves?” Sarah asked.

  “We haven’t been here very long,” Becky admitted. “Can I buy you a coffee?” she asked, determined to make a friend of this woman who’d opened her home to so many people for a good cause.

  Sarah rewarded her with a warm smile. “That would be lovely.”

  “Can I go and help the girls with parking?”

  Becky looked at Nicolas. Would it be safe to let him wander around a parking lot? He could slip in the snow.

  As if reading her mind, Sasha said, “He’ll be fine with us, Judge McBride.”

  “You’re welcome to call me Becky, if you like. You, too, Daisy. It was a pleasure to meet you both. I’m delighted to see Nicolas has such delightful friends.”

  The girls rewarded her with identical deep-dimpled smiles reminiscent of their uncle’s.

  “Thank you for saying that to them,” Sarah said as they walked toward the coffee van. “I’m afraid they don’t get enough compliments from their father. I’m always having to remind Luke about that.”

  Luke O’Malley had been pointed out to Becky as he drove through town one day. He seemed a rather grim man.

  Becky ordered two lattes, then turned to Sarah. “How many sons do you have?” she asked, spotting the one who’d caused her the most distress, peeling an ear of barbecued corn for one of the ladies from the Twilight Years.

  “Five.” Sarah’s gaze followed Becky’s. “Will would make the most wonderful father. I wish he’d settle down,” she sighed.

  Becky didn’t have anything to say to that, apart from perhaps mentioning that Sarah’s son had barely left childhood himself. He was now engaged in a snowball fight with a group of teenagers. To change the subject, she said, “Five sons? Where does Matt fit in?”

  Sarah grinned at the mention of the deputy sheriff. “Of course you’d know Matt! He’s the second oldest and has always been the protective one. His wife was killed by a drunk driver several years ago and he’s never gotten over it. I doubt he ever will.”

  “If the right woman comes along, perhaps he’ll open his heart.”

  “You sound as though you speak from experience.”

  “Of a broken heart? Yes.” Realizing she’d revealed more than she wanted, Becky said, “I’ve been divorced since Nicolas was a baby. I understand the need to protect one’s heart.” Again Becky realized she’d said more than she should. What was it about Sarah that had her spilling her guts? “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get that personal.”

  With kindness in her eyes, Sarah said, “I hope you’ll get to know me and trust me enough to tell more of your story some day, Becky. I sense you’re a woman of immense depth and intelligence.”

  Becky smiled, touched by the compliment.

  Sarah waved to someone in the crowd, but there were so many people now, Becky couldn’t see who it was. “That’s Luke,” Sarah told her. “He’s the oldest and runs the ranch and is Sash and Daisy’s father. His other daughter, Celeste, is over there, taking a walk with her grandpa.” She indicated a tall, graying man holding the hand of a toddler. Her smile showed her adoration for both man and child. “She’s devoted to her grandpa and is the only child I know who prefers someone else to Will.”

  Becky needed to steer the conversation away from Will. “I’ve heard the name Jack O’Malley mentioned, too.”

  “Jack is number four. That’s him talking to Miss Patterson. He was training to be a priest, but left the seminary.”

  Becky followed her gaze to the strikingly handsome man who was listening intently to the older woman. Becky tried to picture him in a cassock and wondered if he’d left because he was unable to keep his vow of celibacy.

  “Jack’s a patient listener and wonderful counselor. If you ever have a problem, he’s the one to go to. He’s very good at keeping secrets.”

  “As a priest should be,” Becky said.

  Sarah’s smile softened. “He would’ve made a wonderful priest, but I’m very happy to have him back in the family fold. It didn’t feel right not being able to pick up the phone and talk to him anytime I wanted. Or see him around the dinner table laughing with his brothers. I don’t know if he’ll ever marry. He was in love with a girl during high school, but she broke his heart.”

  “Broken hearts run in the O’Malley family?”

  “I hope not. But when an O’Malley man falls for a woman, he falls hard. And if it doesn’t work out, it takes a lot of courage to risk your heart again.”

  Becky liked this woman. Sarah loved her sons dearly and wanted to see them all happy. And married.

  “Adam’s the youngest,” she said, bringing Becky back to the present. “He’s a firefighter in Colorado Springs and unfortunately couldn’t make it today. I hope you’ll get to meet him sometime. I’m sure you’d like him. Adam’s a lot like Matt.”

  “If he’s anything like Matt, then I’d enjoy meeting him.”

  “You must come to dinner soon and meet the rest of my boys. I know Nick would hit it off with them.”

  Becky was astounded at the woman’s generosity and, although accepting the invitation would mean she’d be spending time in Will O’Malley’s company, she said, “That would be nice. Thank you.”

  She glanced over at the parking area, where Nicolas was helping direct vehicles. The girls were watching him carefully and she appreciated their attention. When he slipped on the snowy ground, Daisy matter-of-factly gave him her hand and hauled him to his feet. For a little girl, she was awfully strong and awfully loud, but Becky had warmed to the sisters instantly. They’d accepted Nicolas without staring at him rudely like so many children—and adults—did.

  “May I ask what Nick’s problem is?” Sarah inquired quietly. “I notice he has a little trouble walking.”

  “He was born with cerebral palsy. But he’s very intelligent,” she added quickly.

  Sarah’s brows went up at that. “You seem a little defensive.”

  Before she could respond, Sarah said, “Sash told me about a boy at school who was being bullied. She and Daisy went to his rescue. I’m assuming they meant Nick.”

  Becky tensed at her revelation. Nicolas had assured her he wasn’t being bullied anymore! Why would he have lied to her?

  “You didn’t know?”

  “He…he told me he’d made some friends. I thought everything was fine and the bullying had stopped.”

  “He’ll be all right if Sash is close by. Or Daisy—that little girl never backs away from a fight. But Sash is in the grade below Nicolas, so she can’t be around to watch over him all the time.”

  “You make her sound like his protector.”

  “Sash has always stood up for the underdog. She’s so like Matt was as a child.” Sarah looked at her granddaughter with a loving smile, then turned to Becky again. “Would you consider putting Nicolas back a grade so he can cope better socially and get away from bullies like Johnny Cooper?”

  “Of course not. He wouldn’t be intellectually challenged if I did that,” Becky answered a little harshly.

  Sarah placed a calming hand on her arm. “The only way your little boy is being challenged at the moment is
by trying to stay clear of Johnny’s fists. That kid is nothing but trouble. There’s not much the school can do about him.”

  “They could expel him.”

  “And where would he go? There aren’t any other elementary schools in this town. He’ll be going to middle school next year but, in the meantime, do you want Nick to have to deal with him on his own? And then have to face it all over again next year?”

  Becky fought to keep her temper under control. “He won’t be attending middle school here. When my term’s up, we’ll be returning to Denver.”

  “You’re not staying in Spruce Lake?”

  “Heavens, no! I’m only filling in for six months while Judge Stevens is on maternity leave. Nicolas has been accepted into a gifted school there starting in the fall semester. His education has been put on hold for too long.”

  “You think Spruce Lake is a backwater that’s not worthy of you?” The woman’s hurt and disappointment were palpable.

  Becky sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. But at a gifted school, Nicolas will be challenged intellectually to achieve his full potential. He’s not doing that here. Not even two grades ahead of his age group.”

  “You believe graduating from high school so young is important? That the educational opportunities of living in a city outweigh unlimited fresh air and the freedom to move?”

  How could someone like Sarah possibly understand? “Nicolas is not a physical person. Unlimited fresh air and room to move are wasted on him. His mind needs to be challenged and nurtured, and that’s not happening here.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way. I don’t think any of my children suffered because they weren’t exposed to constant intellectual stimulation. None of them graduated summa cum laude, but they were happy, contented teenagers with a wide circle of friends. They all attended college and have worthwhile careers.”

  Becky didn’t see any point in continuing the discussion. Sarah O’Malley had a simplistic attitude to life and could never understand that a child like Nicolas was destined for great things, far beyond the limits of Spruce Lake, Colorado.