Mistletoe Miracles

by Jodi Thomas

  Mallory looked at Jax, and he seemed to read her mind.

  “The guy is lying, Raelene. He just wants to find her.” Jax never took his gaze from Mallory.

  She nodded slightly, knowing he could see the fear in her eyes.

  “How’d he know she was here in Crossroads?” Jax asked.

  The aide turned to Jax. “Pearly said he tracked her cell. Found it in the wrecked car dropped off in the lot behind the sheriff’s office. So he knows she’s close, even though Pearly swore she didn’t answer a single one of his questions.”

  The nurse folded up Mallory’s blanket as she turned back to her patient. “A nurse is downstairs telling the one guard we got to watch out for anyone showing up with questions about you. When I called the head nurse and told her your kin was up visiting with a dog, she said to ask Jaxson O’Grady to stay with you.” Raelene huffed. “I swear, Toni Adams knows everything that goes on in this place, even when she’s not here.”

  Mallory reached for Jaxson’s hand and the fear in her gaze must have told this stranger all he needed to know. “I’ll stay.” He looked over at the dog. “We both will.”

  Raelene frowned but didn’t seem to have time to argue about the mutt. “I’ll go get your wheelchair. We need to get you out of sight. That ex-boyfriend of yours could drive by right now and look up. He might not be able to make you out all bandaged and blanketed up, but he’d spot that dog and be heading up here.”

  Mallory didn’t argue. She’d do whatever it took to make sure she never saw Curtis Dayson again.

  The shaggy dog of a man beside her, who seemed to have become her kin, stepped forward. “Forget the chair. I’ll carry her, if she’s willing to risk it.”

  Mallory raised her arms and he picked her up with ease. But even as he did, she thought, Don’t trust him. Don’t trust any man ever again.

  He must have felt her stiffen because he spoke in a low whisper against her ear. “It’s all right, Mallory. I got you. Charlie and I will stand guard. Between the two of us, no one is going to get close to you that you don’t want to see.”

  She relaxed. She might not trust this man, but she trusted her dog.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Maverick Ranch

  GRIFFIN STOOD AT the huge window framed by logs his grandfather had hauled all the way from East Texas. He barely noticed the sunset as he stared out at the road. He could see for miles, his land now winter-white with a dusting of snow, but he couldn’t see any movement. No huge truck with a crown on the side. No wife-to-be heading his way.

  It was past six. Sunlan Krown was late. Hell, she’d probably wised up and decided not to come. He wouldn’t blame her. She obviously thought he was violent, since he punched the pilgrim bear at the Franklins’ bed-and-breakfast. Or maybe she hated the way he ate his breakfast so fast, like the food might be pulled away. Double hell—he hadn’t even noticed the napkin beside his plate before he was almost finished.

  She seemed like the kind of woman who’d notice things like that. Damn, all women were like that. He just hadn’t been around them enough to notice. Maybe that was why the sisters tried so hard to teach him.

  If he hadn’t got the point until now, there was no hope for his brothers. And what had he done tonight?

  Invited a lady to dinner.

  What kind of sensible woman would want to marry a man without manners? Mamie was right. She’d said she might as well serve meals in the trough the way the Holloway men ate. At least they weren’t picky. The housekeeper had cooked the same five meals on the same five nights for so many years, no one in the house ever had to check a calendar to know what day it was. Saturdays one of them drove into town for pizza, and Sundays were fend-for-yourself meals. Cooper lived on cookies and chips. Elliot usually went to town to eat alone, and Griffin made a sandwich out of any leftovers he found.

  Griffin looked across the room at his brothers. They’d cleaned up, but as they both yelled at the football game on TV, he realized they wouldn’t even know how to talk to a lady like Sunlan. She was ranchland royalty.

  He took time to look around the huge old house his grandfather had built. It was starting to look like a vacant lot. In the years since his mother died, things seemed to disappear, and he’d barely noticed. What happened to the curtains that used to hang in every window? Furniture had broken or worn out, and no one ever replaced it. The plants his mother kept wherever sunlight fell inside had vanished so long ago he couldn’t even remember what they’d been.

  The only thing he could remember ever buying for the house were towels and sheets, because Mamie told him to, and a big-screen TV, because Cooper said they needed it. Somehow, over the years, the Holloway home had started looking like a lobby in the cheapest dorm on a college campus. Cooper used one corner of the wide entryway for his old boot collection, and Elliot had wires crisscrossing the floor.

  Inviting Sunlan here was going to be a disaster. The only bright note was that she’d stood him up tonight.

  But just then, her big silver pickup pulled into view. He frowned. She was coming down the winding road from the turnoff.

  Moving to the porch, he stood watching her. She was driving fast, but it looked like she could handle the truck. She pulled up twenty feet away and climbed out, a basket in each hand.

  For a moment, Griffin just stared, hardly believing he was going to marry such a beautiful woman. Tonight she was dressed in dark blue, from her fancy knee-high boots all the way to the wool scarf that covered most of her sunshine hair.

  He managed to make it down the steps by the time she reached the porch. He didn’t greet her. All he could do was stare.

  She handed him one of the baskets. “The Franklin sisters insisted on sending desserts. They spent several minutes informing me that your cook doesn’t make desserts fit to sell at a bake sale.”

  “You’re late.”

  Sunlan met his stare. “I am.” No apology apparently.

  “I was worried about you.”

  Her face seemed to harden to stone. “Don’t bother. Comments like that seem caring, but they’re controlling. I’m not fond of them. Understand?”

  “Noted.”

  He followed her up the steps, thinking they were not off to much of a start, but they’d agreed to be honest and maybe she was just doing that. He introduced her to Elliot and Cooper.

  His brothers welcomed her more politely than he’d thought them capable of doing, though Cooper seemed Taser-shot jittery and Elliot kept turning his head from Griffin to Sunlan, as if silently saying, One of these things doesn’t go with the other.

  She had the grace to compliment the home. Lovely view. Beautiful fireplace. So Cooper showed her around while Griffin checked to make sure all the silverware was clean.

  As Cooper led her into the wide dining room, his arm crooked so her hand could perch there, Griffin noticed the table was set without a cloth, and Mamie had left bandannas for napkins.

  When had that centerpiece of candles disappeared? Years ago, probably. Mamie always set the table at five and left for her home. Since Sunlan was late, the meal would be cold, but that happened most nights around here. Each man filled his plate and ate when they came in. All three of them sitting down at the table was rare.

  Over cold pot roast and half-baked potatoes, Cooper told her about his horses and she asked intelligent questions. Elliot asked politely about her father. It was obvious he’d read articles on the great Winston R. Krown.

  Sunlan barely touched her food. Griffin thought of telling her she needed to eat, but he had the feeling she’d tell him to mind his own business.

  Hell, he decided, he was a bossy man. How had he managed to find a woman who wouldn’t take to the idea of being bossed? Griffin mentally thumped himself. No woman liked to be bossed. That right there was probably why he was still single.

  He decided to pay attention and stop thinking,
period.

  Conversation moved from one ranch topic to another. The weather. The price of cattle. The rodeo in Las Vegas. Sunlan seemed comfortable here in this place she’d never been, talking to strangers. She was polished, practiced, perfectly schooled in moving conversation along.

  When Cooper stood, explaining that he had horses still saddled that needed tending to, Sunlan rose, as well. “I’ll help you,” she announced, without asking if he needed any help. “I’d like to see your operation. The old vet in town told me you’ve modified stalls to accommodate injured horses. I’d like to see just how that’s done here in Texas.”

  Then unexpectedly she leaned over and kissed Griff right on the mouth. “I’ll be right back.”

  He nodded and watched her go. Her long legs keeping up with Cooper. Her hair moving gracefully past her shoulders and halfway down her back. She was firing questions, and to his surprise, Cooper was answering.

  As soon as they heard the back door close, Elliot leaned over. “She’s more than just an old friend you bumped into, isn’t she, Griff?”

  Griffin smiled for the first time. “Yeah, I guess she is. We’ve gotten together a few times.”

  Elliot’s eyebrows shot up. “It must have been dark. She’s not the kind of girl you’d ever be able to pick up, so that means she picked you up. What I can’t figure out is why she didn’t put you right back down.”

  Griffin straightened. “I can’t figure it out either, but she’s crazy about me. She even said I’m the perfect man for her.”

  “Maybe we should suggest she needs her eyes tested?”

  Twenty minutes later, when she walked back inside, her fancy boots were snow-covered and she was shivering. He stood and held out his arm.

  She walked right into his embrace and touched her cold nose against his throat. “Warm me up, Griff,” she whispered just loud enough for both brothers to hear.

  Griffin moved his hands over her back as he kissed her forehead. Elliot and Cooper were staring so hard he played the moment up a little, hoping she didn’t slug him for being too friendly.

  Without turning loose of her, he said softly against her ear, “Should we tell them, Sunshine?”

  “Tell us what?” Cooper shot back. “What’s wrong? Oh, Griff, don’t tell me she’s a doc or a nurse and you’ve got some incurable disease.”

  She turned in Griffin’s embrace so that her back pressed against his chest. “I think they should be the first to know.”

  Both brothers looked like they were about to hear horrible news. Griff was dying. They’d lost the ranch.

  Griffin cleared his throat. “Sunlan and I have known each other for a while now and today I asked her to marry me.”

  “What did she say?” Cooper asked.

  Sunlan laughed. “I said yes, of course.”

  “You’re kidding!” both brothers said at once.

  “We’ll be married before Christmas. She has a place in Colorado, so for a while she’ll be traveling between her spread and ours.” Griffin took over, fearing his two siblings would try to talk her out of joining the family. “Sunlan loves me, but she also loves horses. If I marry her, I’ll have to make room for some of them here.”

  Elliot frowned, as if fearing what Griff said was a joke. Cooper, for once, was speechless.

  Griffin pushed on. “Any objections to giving her dad’s old white barn for a wedding present? The lady comes with livestock, so she’ll need more than an extra closet.”

  “Are you kidding? We’ll give her the headquarters and sleep in tents outside if she’s all right with joining the family.” Cooper was almost dancing with excitement. “You found a wife who knows more about horses than I do. You wouldn’t believe the ideas about improving our breeding stock she was explaining to me. I say marry her tonight before she wakes up and changes her mind.”

  “She wants a wedding, Coop, a real wedding.”

  Sunlan nodded, going along with whatever he said.

  Griffin might as well get it all out. “You guys remember that horse show in Fort Worth I went to a few months ago? Well, I met up with Sunlan there and it appears we did a little breeding of our own.”

  His brothers both looked clueless and Griffin feared he might have to go back over the facts of life for them. That was a dumb way to say it anyway. He should at least try to sound romantic.

  “What Griff is putting so awkwardly is that I’m carrying the next generation of Holloways.” When the brothers continued to stare, she tried again. “I’m having a baby.”

  Griffin corrected, “She’s having my baby.”

  “No! You two?” Cooper looked so confused Griffin almost felt sorry for him. “You two are pregnant?”

  Sunlan circled her hand around Griff’s arm. “Well, technically, I’m pregnant. Griff just helped out. I’ve loved him for a long time, but I never thought he was interested in getting married, so we’d meet now and then and talk about ranching, among other things.”

  Griff winked at her as he began their story. “To tell the truth, I never thought I’d have a chance with Sunlan. I thought we would always be friends, that’s all. We’d see each other at horse auctions a few times a year. Maybe have dinner together, if she wasn’t busy.”

  Elliot frowned. “Sounds like you had a great deal more than dinner.”

  Griffin knew Elliot would be the hardest to convince. “When I saw her the other day, I realized she mattered to me. I told her I wanted something more than just a friendship before she even mentioned the baby.”

  “You did? You’ve never said a word about her.” Elliot looked frustrated. “You could have mentioned it to me when you were talking about our problem on the ranch. You go off and asked some woman to marry you without even talking to me.”

  Sunlan pulled away from Griffin and touched Elliot’s arm. “It happened so fast, Elliot, but we’re telling you now. Be happy for us. Come spring, you’ll be an uncle.”

  Elliot’s pout broke. “I am happy for you. Just surprised. Change isn’t something I take to easily, but I have a feeling this is going to be all good.”

  Griffin watched Sunlan draw them back to the table to taste the sisters’ desserts. She knew how to handle people. She could fit into their lives, and for the first time he thought maybe, just maybe, this crazy bargain they’d made between them might work.

  He pulled her chair out for her and instead she slipped into the place he’d planned to sit. Griffin almost laughed out loud. Sunlan wasn’t a filly who would ever take to a lead rope. In fact, he had a pretty good idea she’d slug him if she knew he’d even made the comparison.

  The woman was about to marry him and he had no idea if she even liked him.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Crossroads Hospital and Clinic

  JAX LEANED AGAINST the hospital window, staring out into the night sky. Now and then a lonely snowflake would fall, sparkling in and out of the parking lot light’s glow. It had to be after ten. Mallory had been sleeping for a few hours. The dog, not named Buddy, stood guard at her bedside.

  Jax’s arms still felt the light weight of her body when he’d carried her inside. He couldn’t help but wonder if she’d always been thin or if her loss of weight wasn’t another wound she suffered from her boyfriend.

  Glancing over at her, Jax could tell little about Mallory Mayweather. She didn’t look very tall, maybe five-two at the most. Small build. Her throat was completely wrapped and a bandage covered one side of her face, but he could see her mouth. It was swollen and bruised, so whoever this boyfriend was, he must have hit her pretty much everywhere.

  Mallory moved. Her right hand brushed Charlie’s head, and Jax added one more point to his assessment. The woman had pretty hands. Long fingers. Clear skin. Artist’s hands, he thought, as his gaze moved to her left hand. Bandaged. Also damaged.

  “You awake?” he whispered.

  S
he nodded.

  “I know this sounds crazy, but when you’re feeling up to it, I wouldn’t mind if you came home with me and Charlie. Just until you’re better. Until you are not afraid to go home.

  “I got a little place that only folks who’ve lived years in the county know about. There’s a hill behind my land that shadows the cabin after dark. It’s so black out there no one would find the road much less my place.”

  She was stone still. He couldn’t tell if she’d heard him. One swollen eye opened slightly.

  “I know a little first aid. I could change your bandages and make sure you get your meds on time. You’d be safe. A few days’ rest, or even a few weeks would make it easier for you to travel. You could go far enough that the guy who did this would never find you.”

  She still didn’t move. Maybe she didn’t even hear him. It was probably a dumb idea anyway. This woman didn’t look like she trusted anyone, except maybe the dog.

  Jax jerked as the door tapped closed. He hadn’t even heard it open. He braced himself for a fight, then realized if a stranger, or the ex-boyfriend, showed up, Charlie would have reacted.

  “I think you may have solved our problem,” Nurse Toni Adams said from behind Jax. “She could have been released today if she’d had someone to pick her up but she listed no relative, no friends. If you hadn’t shown up, we wouldn’t have known she was related to the O’Grady clan.”

  Toni moved closer, checking her patient. “There’s probably a dozen of your aunts or cousins who’d take her in, but whoever takes her home might have to deal with the man who hurt her. He might try to do it again. We don’t have enough law to guard her around the clock, and if you found her, Jax, so could the maniac who used her as a punching bag and choked her so badly she hasn’t said a word since she came in.”