A Rancher for Christmas

by Brenda Minton

He peered at Oregon, who didn’t really seem to notice. “I’m good, thank you. And you, Breezy? How is motherhood?”

  “Exhausting.”

  “I’m sure it is. Although I’ve never been a mother.” He smiled at that. “And I wasn’t able to be a father to the one child I had.”

  “I’m sorry, Joe.” Breezy shifted Rosie, who was squirming in her arms to get down.

  “No one’s fault but my own. I let too many years go by. Years I’m sorry for. I hope to someday make it up to her.”

  Breezy studied the older man in the dim light of the street lamp. “I think we all live with some regrets.”

  “Yes, I suppose we do. But this is Christmas. It’s a time of hope. It’s a time of celebrating our faith. Because without this one event, what would we have hope in? We have a lot to be thankful for. And you, Miss Oregon.” Joe shifted to look at the other woman, his eyes gentle. “How are things at your shop?”

  Oregon’s smile came with hesitancy. “It’s better. The Christmas traffic has helped.”

  “Keep your chin up, my dear. Don’t give up hope.”

  “Yes,” she responded, but Breezy didn’t think that Oregon looked all that hopeful.

  The light display in the park next to the church lit up the entire block, lending a glow of twinkling lights to the darkening sky. The nativity graced the center of the display and music played from a speaker inside the manger.

  “Where will you spend Christmas, Joe?” Breezy asked as they walked up to the church. Lilly had run off to talk to friends, dragging the dog that was soon to be Breezy’s with her.

  “I’m sure I’ll find somewhere to spend the holidays. Of course I’ll be here for the town celebration the night before Christmas Eve. And then maybe I’ll go somewhere warm.”

  “You should be with friends or family.” She put Rosie down and held the child’s hand. “I’m sure you could spend the day with us.”

  He touched her arm. “I appreciate that, Breezy. It’s good to know I have friends. And you, Oregon, what will you do for the holidays?”

  Oregon held Violet’s hand now and she looked up, surprised and unsure. “Lilly and I will be together.”

  Breezy reached for her hand. “Spend the day with us.”

  “You don’t have to do that.” Oregon held tight to Violet, who was pulling to get away.

  “But I have a home.” Breezy reached for Violet and held both twins so they couldn’t escape. “I’ve never had a home to invite friends to.”

  “But what about the Martins?” Oregon reminded.

  “What about the Martins?” Jake walked up behind her. She spun to face him, the twins giggling at the movement.

  “Oh, I... We were discussing Christmas.”

  “And?” Jake reached for Rosie and Breezy allowed him to take the child.

  “Oregon and Joe don’t have family in the area.”

  Jake looked from Joe to Oregon. “I see. Of course they’re welcome to join us at the ranch for Christmas.”

  “I wouldn’t want to impose,” Oregon assured him with Joe echoing the sentiment.

  “No imposition. We’ll all be together. There’s always room for a few more.”

  A few more. Including her.

  She felt unsettled at the thought. The twins were her family. She didn’t know how to fit into Jake’s family. He had an aunt and uncle, cousins, brothers and a sister.

  But for the sake of the girls, she was willing to try.

  * * *

  Jake watched as Oregon and Joe both bid Breezy farewell. He hadn’t meant to make them feel uncomfortable. He hadn’t meant to sound like the ruler of clan Martin. Old habits died hard.

  “I’m sorry.” He moved Rosie to one hip and took Violet from Breezy. He didn’t miss the dark shadows under her eyes, a good indication chasing after two little girls had left her exhausted. With Marty home she’d have a break tonight.

  “No need to apologize. I should have thought before making additional plans. I just...” She shrugged and looked at the floor. “I’ve been Joe and Oregon, the person with nowhere to go, no one to spend the holidays with. I’ve had too many years of spending Christmas with strangers.”

  “And in a sense, you’ll be doing it again this year.” His understanding even surprised him.

  “In a sense, yes.”

  “What would you have done for Christmas in Oklahoma?”

  She had a faraway look in her eyes. Homesickness? Regret? He wanted to ask, but he also didn’t want to take that step, to know too much about what she felt.

  “I would have spent it with my sister and her extended family. But this is my family now. The twins are my family.”

  “We’re your family,” he offered.

  “Right, of course.”

  He’d had his family around him always. Almost to the point of needing a break from them. She’d had the exact opposite. Curiosity got the better of him.

  “Breezy, why did Maria keep running? Why didn’t she rent an apartment for the two of you?”

  “I didn’t realize it when I was younger, but she was afraid the police would find us and take me from her. She wasn’t all bad. She was a lonely lady and she’d cared for my mom, cared for us kids. She also didn’t know what would happen to me since I was the child without any known family, so she took me and ran. She wasn’t emotionally healthy.” She looked away from him, not letting him in. “There was so much I didn’t understand.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She brought her gaze up. “She loved me. She did her best.”

  What could he say to that?

  “You’re defending the woman who took you from your family and kept you from having a home?”

  “I know you don’t understand.”

  “Probably not.”

  Because he was looking at a beautiful, talented woman who hadn’t lived the life she should have lived. Senator Brooks might have found her, might have taken care of her. But it was all water under the bridge.

  “They’re starting to practice.” She headed toward the front of the fellowship hall. “And there’s Brody.”

  Jake’s younger brother headed their way, wearing a giant-size grin. Violet ran over to him and he picked her up.

  “Did the two of you hear that someone bought Cora a van, had it delivered to her little house yesterday along with a trunkload of groceries?” Brody asked when he reached them. The news about the young mom who had eaten Sunday lunch with them came as a surprise.

  “I hadn’t heard.” Jake watched as Breezy drifted away from the two of them. He watched her go and wondered about a woman who had spent her life with nothing but had recently inherited enough for several lifetimes. Was she playing Santa to the poor in Martin’s Crossing?

  “Yeah, that and the check the church got, and Anna Cranston got a surprise yesterday. That roof of hers has been leaking. Someone must have noticed because a crew showed up to fix it.” Brody held both twins now. They were patting his cheeks and pulling at his hat.

  Jake glanced from his younger brother to the woman now taking her place at the front of the church. She looked comfortable there in her long skirt, boots and a sweater. She fit in. She glanced his way. He tipped his hat to her and started to walk away. He was at the church for a business meeting, and to help plan the order of events for the Christmas celebration. He wasn’t there to watch Breezy.

  When he started to turn away, Brody stood in his way.

  “You think it’s our new sister?” Brody asked, grinning as he rocked back on his boot heels and peered up at Jake.

  “She isn’t our sister,” Jake warned.

  Brody laughed at that. “No, she isn’t, is she? Glad you noticed.”

  “What are you getting at, Brody?”

  “Nothing, don’t be so tou
chy. I wondered if you thought she might be the one playing Santa.”

  “No, I don’t think so.” He managed another quick look at the woman in question. “I don’t know, maybe.”

  Brody stood next to Jake, still holding the twins. Violet had his hat on her head. “I’m going to take them to the nursery. But, Jake...”

  The tone, serious, a little sad, caught Jake’s attention. And he knew. It happened every Christmas. Every year the questions started for Brody. He was the one who had never given up hope that Sylvia Martin would come back. Jake guessed he didn’t blame his little brother. Jake had been twelve, but Brody had only been in preschool when she left.

  The kid had needed a mom.

  “Go ahead, Brody. Ask.”

  Brody shifted the twins, hugging Violet tightly enough that she protested by wiggling and he set her down. She moved to Jake, holding his legs. He picked her up, wondering if it had been confusing for them, being back in their home with Breezy.

  “Don’t you ever wonder where she is?” Brody finally asked.

  “Yeah, sometimes I do, Brody. She used to write. A few times from Florida, once from New York. The letters stopped a long time ago.”

  “Do you think she’s alive?”

  Jake didn’t have an answer to that, but he didn’t want his kid brother to have false hope. “I’d say she probably is.”

  “I’ve thought about hiring someone to find her.”

  Jake tamped down his temper. Violet had her head on his shoulder but she looked up at him, big blue eyes questioning and a little worried. He managed to keep his tone soft for her sake. “Brody, why? She didn’t want to be a mother twenty-two years ago. I doubt she feels any differently today or she would have come back.”

  Brody looked like a kid who’d lost his favorite toy. Jake hated that. He didn’t want to feel like the guy who kicked the dog. It made him angry all over again. He’d been picking up the pieces for years, and each year at Christmas he picked them up all over again. For Brody. Maybe for Samantha, too.

  This year there would be four missing spaces in their lives and at their table. Parents, a sister, a brother-in-law.

  He looked over to Breezy and watched as she spoke to Dotty Williams, a sweet old thing with too many cats. Everyone avoided Dotty’s pies at church potluck dinners. Those cats were notorious for climbing on counters and inside mixing bowls.

  Breezy laughed at something the woman said and then hugged her. Breezy filled up the empty spaces. He was waiting, unwilling to completely trust that she would stay.

  He realized that was the difference between himself and Brody. His kid brother kept waiting for a mother who wasn’t coming home.

  Jake refused to believe that anyone would stay.

  Chapter Eleven

  Breezy pulled into the drive long past ten that night. Choir practice had been wonderful. The people of Martin’s Crossing had welcomed her into their group, made her feel like a part of things. After parking she sat in her car for a minute. It felt good, to have this town and these people. It felt good to have the twins, as exhausting as they were.

  Violet and Rosie had gone home with Brody and Jake. Marty was home and the girls seemed ready to go back to what had become their normal routine at Jake’s house.

  That meant Breezy was alone again in this house, with the memories she was trying to piece together, and the missing spaces that would never be filled. She reached into the backseat for her purse and, exhausted but happy, climbed out of the car. As she walked up to the front door something stirred in the grass.

  She stopped, listening to the softest sound. Maybe it was just a rabbit or a stray cat. She reached into her purse for her keys and raised her hand to unlock the door. She heard it again. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. A chill swept through her, setting her nerves on edge.

  Wanting her hands free, she put her purse on the chair next to the door and kept her arm bent, ready to take aim at a face if someone sneaked up behind her. As she put the key in the lock she tried to tell herself it had been her imagination. She was used to living in cities and the silence of the country must be getting to her.

  Who lived in places this quiet? This dark? She laughed a little at her own apprehension. Of course that’s all it was. The wind had rustled the shrubs and she’d panicked. She pushed the door open and reached for the alarm system, then thought better of it. She had a minute to punch in the code. A minute to make sure she was alone, that there wasn’t really someone out there.

  As she reached back to get her purse, the body came at her from the dark end of the porch. He shoved before she could prepare herself. She fell back against the door and tried to steady herself.

  “I’m not going down without a fight!” she yelled. As she went at the man, pushing her palm into his nose and then kicking him in the gut, he fought back, knocking her sideways. Her head hit the wall and her legs crumpled.

  The alarm went off, screeching into the night air, breaking that country stillness with a vengeance. Her attacker ran for the back office. Breezy grabbed her purse and found the pepper spray. But as she ran through the house, she heard the back door slam. He was gone.

  The house phone rang. She picked it up, answering the call from the alarm company. They asked her if she was okay. She told them she needed the police. No, she didn’t need an ambulance. And then she sank back to the floor.

  Headlights flashed before blue lights. She pushed herself to her feet and walked to the door with her head pounding, feeling less than steady on her feet. Jake jumped out of his truck. Behind him another truck pulled up. Duke got out, racing his brother to the house.

  Martins to the rescue, she thought. She giggled, but that hurt, too. She pushed her fingers against her temple and winced.

  “What happened?” Jake shouted as he headed up the sidewalk.

  She shook her head only slightly. “Could you not yell?”

  “Is he still here?” Jake continued.

  Duke had joined them. “Maybe give her a minute?”

  Jake took a deep breath and Breezy shot Duke a grateful look. “Thank you. No, he ran out the back door. He was waiting for me to open the door and deactivate the alarm, I think. Good thing I heard something and decided to not deactivate the alarm.”

  Duke grinned at that. “Good thinking, sis.”

  Jake came closer than was necessary. Or at least that’s what Breezy thought. She closed her eyes and his fingers brushed her temple, pushing her hair back and then settling on the knot that had come up on the side of her head.

  “That should probably be checked out.”

  “I’m fine, just a little loopy from getting pushed into a wall.”

  “Right, of course you’re fine. But we’ll still get that checked.”

  “At the Martin’s Crossing E.R.?” she teased.

  “No, we’ll have to take a drive to Austin.”

  “I’m not interested,” she argued. But her vision wavered a little. “But I would like to sit down.”

  Jake picked her up. It happened in one swoop. His arm was around her shoulder one minute and the next his other arm swept beneath her knees. “I can walk. I...”

  “You want to keep arguing until you pass out?” He grinned in the dim light of the porch. “Relax.”

  They walked inside. Or Jake and Duke walked. Breezy allowed herself to be carried, to be the damsel in distress, just once. She told herself she wouldn’t do it again. She’d been taking care of herself a long time. And it wasn’t the first time she’d been on the receiving end of a man’s fist. But it felt good to be in his arms. It felt safe there. Why wouldn’t she rest her head on his shoulder, breathe in his scent? Any woman in her position would.

  She might have suffered a concussion but she hadn’t been knocked senseless. She sighed as she relaxed in his arms.
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  Outside the window, blue lights flashed and a siren wailed. Duke took a careful look around the house as Jake settled her on the sofa. He reached for the afghan on the back of the rocking chair and covered her with it.

  “I really don’t need a blanket.”

  “Of course you do.” He tucked it up to her chin.

  “I’m really okay.”

  “Yeah, I know you are. But humor me.”

  Duke reappeared with a bag of frozen corn. He handed it to Jake, who settled it on the side of her head. She flinched as the cold touched her skin.

  “You should see the other guy.” She teased, even though her head did ache.

  He laughed a little. “I bet. Did you manage to get a good shot when you hit him? And did you see his face?”

  “I think I probably broke his nose.” She grinned up at the cowboy leaning over her, his blue eyes searching her as if looking for other signs of injury. “And no, I didn’t see his face.”

  She told herself not to be too overcome by his hero act. He took care of everyone. He would have done this for a stranger.

  Commotion at the front door ended the conversation and her rush of emotions. Duke spoke to the officers and led them inside. One took off through the house, the other approached her.

  “Do you need an ambulance?” he asked as he stood over her. Why did the cops always look imposing, even when they were on her side? She shivered a little and shook her head.

  “I’m good.”

  He asked questions then, about the suspect, about his build, any identifying traits, if she’d seen a vehicle. The only thing she knew was that he had been about her height and he probably had a broken nose. The officer smiled at that and wrote information on the tablet he’d carried in with him.

  The other officer returned. “There’s some blood in the kitchen.”

  “From the broken nose.” Jake laughed as he said it.

  They discussed evidence. The door to the office had been opened but because the alarm had gone off the guy had left, running out the back door.

  “He could have had a gun.” Jake pulled a chair close to the sofa.