The Cowboy's Christmas Family

by Donna Alward

  Cole was over by the table, a cup of cocoa in hand, smiling and chatting with Pauline, who was jotting something down on a pad of paper as they spoke. Her heart gave a little stutter just seeing him there. Clearly he’d seen her reaction when he’d said he wanted to spend time with her and was giving her some space. Maybe she should have been cool about it, but this wasn’t the same as before. Before, they’d run into each other by accident. Or she’d been at his house because he’d hired her...

  She heard his laugh, singling it out from the other noise in the room. Who was she kidding? The job offer had been thinly veiled at best. It had just been easier to excuse away. Now, though, it seemed he was seeking her out.

  She should probably just back away. He had no idea what he was getting himself into. She was an emotional wreck at best, exhausted all the time, and a good day was one where she didn’t have evidence of motherhood smushed into her shirt. She came as a total package...and one that wasn’t gift wrapped with a big bow, either.

  She was messy. And altogether unsure if she was really, truly interested.

  Luke had stopped squirming and when she looked down, she saw his eyelashes lying against his cheeks. A wave of tenderness washed over her. Her precocious one played hard and slept hard, and right now he looked like an angel.

  Eloise Parker, Maddy’s boss, picked her way through the crowd collecting on the carpet. “Looks like you’re going to have a full house,” she remarked, smiling down at Maddy.

  “This should be easier with the boys settled down,” Maddy agreed. “Believe me, I’m getting used to reading with a kid on each knee.”

  “You know I have spare arms. And it’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to cuddle my favorite boys.” Eloise looked down at the twins, her expression soft. “With mine in college now, it seems forever since I had small ones. And it’ll be a few more years before we have grandkids.”

  Maddy smiled back. El was such a wonderful boss. Since Gavin’s death, she’d been more than accommodating with the scheduling and Maddy’s child-care quandaries. It was another reason why Maddy couldn’t imagine leaving Gibson behind.

  “Maybe just Luke?” Maddy shifted in her seat a little. “He’s down for the count, I think. Liam’s not quite there yet.”

  “He won’t wake up?”

  Maddy shook her head. “Reach into the bag. There’s a little blanket there. If you put it over him, he should stay asleep for a good half hour or more. But only if you have time, El. I know it’s a busy day.”

  “Aw, I just came in to supervise. I’m doing more enjoying than working. It’s fine.” She grabbed the blanket from the pack, then carefully extricated Luke from Maddy’s arms. With barely a snuffle, he nuzzled into her shoulder. She covered him with the soft fleece and he didn’t stir.

  That left Liam, and he was still taking the odd drink from his sippy cup. Eloise moved away with Luke, and with only one child on her lap Maddy was free to pick up the storybooks she’d requested.

  “Good afternoon, everyone,” she said in a clear voice.

  “Good afternoon, Miz Wallace,” the kids chorused, and Maddy grinned. Oh, goodness, this felt just like years in the past when she’d sat on the story mat in her elementary school library. Only then she’d been the child and she’d looked up at the librarian as if she were some sort of superhero.

  Even then she’d loved the library. It wasn’t much wonder she’d chosen this as her profession.

  “Did everyone enjoy the sleigh ride?”

  There was a chorus of chatter and Maddy grinned at the excitement. She looked for Cole but couldn’t see him anywhere. Disappointment weighed surprisingly heavy, but she pushed it aside. The next half hour was all about the kids, anyway.

  She picked up a book and opened it to the first page. “We’re going to start with a few special stories today. This first one is a real favorite of mine.” She looked down at the beautiful illustrations. “The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg.”

  The room quieted and she began to read. By the time she turned the first page, the audience was rapt.

  She read about the adventures to the North Pole, the train, the special gift from Santa. And when that one was done, she picked up the second book: How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

  As she made her way through it and the tongue-twisting words, Liam was also sound asleep, his tiny head drooped on her shoulder. She smiled down at the children. “Should I read one more?” she asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

  Once more there was a chorus of tiny voices urging her to continue. She looked up and saw Eloise sitting in a comfy chair, Luke still conked out. She picked up the book she’d been saving for last, trying not to notice Cole’s absence but noting it anyway.

  “‘’Twas the night before Christmas,’” she began softly, “‘and all through the house, not a creature was stirring. Not even a mouse.’”

  A little girl in the front, who’d been a little antsy through the other stories, bounced up and down on her bum, her hand in the air. “I know, I know!” she said loudly. “The sthockingth were hung by the chimbley!”

  Maddy tried not to laugh. “That’s right. But we need to try really hard not to interrupt, right?”

  “Thorry, Mith Wallath.”

  The lisp was too adorable for words. The girl couldn’t be more than four, with strawberry blond pigtails and big blue eyes.

  “Thank you, Darcy. Now, where were we? ‘The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.’”

  Another hand shot up and Maddy figured the attention span that had carried them through the first two stories was starting to waver. “Yes, Nathan?”

  “Why is it St. Nicholas and not Santa Claus?”

  Rather than get into the whole folklore, Maddy opened her mouth to explain when Bobby Rathbone called out, “Haven’t you seen The Santa Clause? He has a whole lot of names besides Santa.”

  Maddy leaned forward a bit. “Boys and girls, how about we save our questions for the very end, okay?”

  All faces turned to her again and she continued, grateful that the story wasn’t too long, and putting lots of expression into the words.

  When it was over, she closed the book and put it down by her side. “Thank you, everyone, for being such a wonderful audience. I hope you all have a merry Christmas, and make sure you write your letters to Santa so he knows what to bring you under your tree.”

  “Why write a letter when I’m right here?” came a booming voice, and Maddy looked up, startled, to see Cole’s twinkling eyes staring at her from within a white bearded face and a hugely padded belly.

  Oh, my sweet Lord. How on earth was she supposed to keep her distance from Santa Claus?

  Chapter Six

  “Santa!” The library echoed with excited screams, mingled with Cole’s robust “Ho, ho, ho!” Liam’s eyelids fluttered open at the chaos, but he didn’t wake all the way. Maddy got up from her chair, more flustered than she cared to admit. “Santa, would you like my chair?” she asked.

  “Why, thank you, Ms. Maddy. I’m mighty tired from my trip and could use a sit-down.” He winked at her and she willed herself not to blush—and failed. Even in the ridiculous suit with all the padding, he was remarkably handsome.

  He plopped himself down in the rocking chair and put his big red sack on the floor beside him. “Well, what have we here? I heard there was a special group of children here today. Did everyone like Ms. Maddy’s stories?” Cole made his voice deep and jolly.

  “Yeah!”

  Maddy couldn’t stop the smile that curved her lips. He was such a natural. So willing to step in and help out with whatever needed doing. Now she knew where he’d disappeared to. He’d gone to get into the Santa suit. Wasn’t he just full of surprises?

  “Now,” he cautioned, l
eaning forward in the rocking chair and adopting a serious expression, “since today isn’t actually Christmas Day, whatever is in my sack is just a little something fun. The elves are still working to have all the presents ready to deliver on Christmas Eve. Santa’s pretty good with names, so when I call yours, come on up and tell me what you want for Christmas and get your gift.”

  Every eye in the place was glued to Santa’s face as he reached into his sack. He held up a little package. “Ho, ho, ho! Says here this one is for Dillon Graves,” he called out, and a little boy of about five or six came forward.

  “That’s me.”

  “Come on up here and tell Santa what you’d like for Christmas.”

  Dillon was a bit shy, but he came forward anyway, sat on Cole’s knee and confessed he wanted a new Lego kit and a belt buckle like his uncle Gary’s. Cole gave him his present and picked out the next package. “Let me see. This one is for Darcy McTavish.”

  The strawberry blonde with the lisp. Maddy hid her smile behind her hand as the girl rushed forward, her pigtails bouncing. “That’th me, Thanta!”

  Even Cole struggled to keep a straight face. “Of course it is!” He patted his knee. “What would you like for Christmas, Darcy?”

  And so it went, through twenty or more kids, each one taking a turn and accepting their token gift. The sound of ripping paper filled the air, and Maddy could see that each child got something fun and holiday themed—a make-an-ornament kit, or a Christmas activity book and markers—as well as a treat like a candy-cane reindeer or a gingerbread cookie. It had taken plenty of planning to add this to the afternoon’s agenda, and a rush job, she suspected, to add names to each package so that there was one for each child.

  Maddy had had no idea this was even part of the plan, but it was the perfect ending to the afternoon activity. When every child had received something, Santa bade the group farewell and disappeared out the library’s main doors. Maddy wondered where his clothing was stashed, but she didn’t have time to think about it much since Liam woke up and, being refreshed, squirmed to be put down.

  It gave Maddy a few quick moments to pack up her stuff and help tidy the story corner, as well as grab a couple of cookies from the table. During all the commotion she’d forgotten about the hollow feeling in her belly, but now it was nearly four o’clock and she was starving.

  By the time she had the boys straightened away and ready to go, the crowd had thinned out considerably. Dog tired now, Maddy herded them toward the car, wondering if she dared splurge on some takeout just this once. If she got fried chicken from the diner, she could share the fries with the boys and have a piece of chicken or two left for her dinner tomorrow.

  “Maddy! Hey, Maddy, wait up!”

  She turned around and saw Cole jogging toward them. Maybe I want to spend more time with you, he’d said. Her pulse did a little leap.

  She looked up into his face as he drew near. His chin was red, presumably from where he’d removed the white beard, but his eyes were as twinkly as when he’d sat in the chair and pretended he’d just arrived from the North Pole.

  How did a person manage to be so...happy?

  “Looks like we both had a busy afternoon,” she commented lightly. “You’re a man of many talents.”

  “I’ve never been so scared in all my life,” he admitted, stopping in front of her. He must have washed his face and gotten some water on his hair, because his hairline was turning frosty white in the cold air. “I kept thinking one of those kids would recognize my voice or something or say that I was too young to be Santa. Or that my beard was fake and know that I had a pillow stuck in the suit.”

  Maddy laughed again. She seemed to do that with alarming regularity when Cole was around. “Most people believe what they want to believe. Kids included.”

  Once the words were out, she considered them. She’d said them off-the-cuff, but now they rang with truth. She was as guilty of it as anyone, wasn’t she? Believing what she wanted to?

  “So what are you doing now?” Cole asked, interrupting her thoughts.

  “Oh, just getting the boys home, I guess. I thought about stopping at the diner for some supper. I’m not sure I feel like cooking tonight.”

  “Me, either,” he said, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. “It’s Saturday night, so Tanner’s probably taken off to the city for the evening.” Cole’s eyebrow took on an arch that Maddy figured was the equivalent of rolling his eyes. “Guess I’ll just be sitting home flipping through channels, with a sandwich for company.”

  This was leading somewhere, Maddy could feel it. And she welcomed it, though she wasn’t about to take the reins.

  Luke twisted around in her arms, restless with being held so long. “Sorry,” she said, turning to open the car door. Cole reached around her for the door handle and opened it, and she put Luke into one seat and with one hand snapped the buckle into place. Then she went around to the other side and put Liam in his seat.

  “Everything takes twice as long, huh?” Cole asked as she straightened and shut the door.

  “You get used to it.” She shrugged. “One of the girls at day care has three under five. That’s two car seats and a booster seat. Besides, it won’t be long and they’ll be older and able to hop in themselves and all I’ll have to do is buckle them in.” And boy, was she looking forward to that.

  “So, getting back to boring Saturday nights...why don’t I pick up dinner and you take the boys home and I’ll meet you there? It’s got to be better than both of us eating alone, right?”

  She hesitated, wondering if she should just ask the question on her mind. Was there any point in dancing around it? She’d always been a straightforward kind of person. “Cole, are you asking me on a date?”

  His blue gaze held hers. “Well, technically, going out on a date would mean we actually, you know, went out somewhere.”

  He was skirting the topic. “Untechnically, then?”

  “Is untechnically a word?”

  “Cole.” She said it meaningfully and his lips quirked.

  “Okay. So if I said yes, that this was a date, would it change your answer?”

  The idea of sharing a meal with him, with a grown-up...sounded lovely. And she needed to keep this in perspective. It was just a date. It wasn’t as if he was proposing marriage or anything. Now that would be foolish.

  “No.”

  “No is your answer? Or no, it wouldn’t change it?”

  She couldn’t help it—she chuckled. “Are you being this way deliberately?”

  He took a step closer to her. Her pulse leaped again. “It depends. Do you find it annoying or endearing?”

  He looked so cute and hopeful she lost all her willpower. “Fried chicken. And I like extra coleslaw.”

  His answering grin lit his face, making him look boyish. How could a woman stay immune to that? Besides, he didn’t know what he was getting into. The boys were terribly messy eaters. Cole was bound to get food on him somewhere.

  “Great. I’ll see you in half an hour or so?”

  Half an hour. It might give her enough time to get home, do a quick five-minute tidy and freshen up. Because this was a date. No matter how they twisted the circumstances, no matter how casual...this was Maddy’s first date since she’d become single again.

  Holy crap.

  “I’d better get going, then,” she said, feeling a little breathless. “The boys hate sitting in their seats if we’re not going anywhere.” As if on cue, Luke started fussing, loud enough they could hear him through the closed windows. “Wait. Do you know how to get to my place?”

  “It’s on Oakleaf, right?”

  She nodded, wondering how he knew that.

  “See you soon,” Cole called before she could ask, and with a parting smile, he turned around and headed across the lot for his truck.

>   Maddy got behind the wheel and took a deep, fortifying breath. Once she started the car, got the heater going and put it in drive, Luke quieted. And it was a good thing, because in her head she kept hearing the words I have a date. I have a date. I have a date...

  The drive took ten minutes, and by the time she got home she wasn’t sure if she was excited or nervous or both. So her frayed nerves really weren’t prepared for what she found on her front doorstep.

  A Christmas tree. A beautiful, full spruce that stood about seven feet tall, just tall enough to fit in her living room and put the angel on top without hitting the ceiling. A white tag fluttered in the wind.

  She took both boys inside and deposited them in the living room on their play blanket surrounded by toys. Happy to be free to do as they pleased, both started pulling toys from the big yellow tub in the corner. Maddy stepped back outside and looked at the tag. To the Wallace family. From your secret Santa.

  First the tires, and now a tree. Had her dad delivered it this afternoon? God bless him. Her parents had to know that Christmas was particularly difficult this year, and she loved how they were trying to make it better. She’d have to call them later and thank them. But right now Maddy worried more about the state of the kitchen and bathroom. Tomorrow would be time enough to dig out the decorations and the stand and have a go at the tree.

  The surprise tree put her in an extrafestive mood, though, and she hummed as she put the dishes from the sink into the dishwasher and hurriedly wiped off the countertops. The pile of clean sippy cups in the drying rack got put away in the cupboard, and she hung the dish towel over the handle of the oven door instead of leaving it in a crumple. Then it was off to the bathroom to pick up dirty pajamas, give the sink a wipe and tidy the vanity.

  A quick check on the boys and then she was zooming off to the bedroom. She hesitated, then pushed away the idea that Cole would ever see the inside of this room. She peeled off her sweater and put on a new one, a light blue one with a soft cowl neck. Her hair was a staticky mess from being under her hat. She dragged a brush through it and frowned. It needed...something. She tried a ponytail—too casual. Leaving it down—too limp. Up in a bun—too uptight. In the end she grabbed a thin white headband and slid it behind her ears. Hair down was good, and off her face made her feel less straggly.