Mistletoe Miracles

by Jodi Thomas

  Neither brother moved.

  “Well?”

  Cooper faced his older brother. “I’ll load everything we got, but I’m going with you. She’ll need men who can handle horses.”

  “I’m going, too,” Elliot stated. “Cooper’s right, she’ll need help. She told me her place is so isolated some months a plane is the only way in.”

  “Hell,” Griffin mumbled as he reached for his jeans and boots. “Layer for the cold if you’re coming. We may be dealing with heavy snow tonight.”

  A few minutes later, Griffin wasn’t surprised Kirkland answered the phone on the first ring. It was almost sunup, and his neighbor was usually in the saddle by dawn. He told Staten Kirkland what had happened.

  “I’ll have the plane ready by the time you boys get here. My wife’s niece and her husband are staying with us through the holiday. No one better to fly you out than Madison. I’ll also send boxes of supplies. From what Sunlan said, the last time she used my strip to land, she had no trouble flying in and out of her place, but one mountain pass near her place sometimes stops traffic. With the snow, she may not be able to get in medicine fast enough to be of help.”

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem. We’ll be waiting for you.”

  As the sun cleared the horizon, all three men were in Griffin’s truck headed toward Kirkland’s place. Griffin’s mind raced. They’d deal with the horses but it was Sunlan he was worried about. He’d seen how she loved her animals. They were her family.

  He’d also been reading online about pregnancy since she came into his life already expecting. It was early yet, but all this excitement couldn’t be good for his wife-to-be or the baby.

  His baby, he reminded himself. He’d sworn from the day they agreed to marry that the baby was his.

  Elliot checked the weather on his cell. “Storm’s raging over her area. They’re expecting another inch or two this afternoon and more tonight. It’s moving south. Should hit our place in another two days, but they’re forecasting no more than a few inches once the storm reaches Texas.”

  Griffin’s logical mind put facts together. “She told me she always has the strip cleared the night before she takes off. It’s dusted an hour before she leaves if there is any chance of ice. We should be able to land, but I’m not sure how long it will take before we can get out to come home.”

  Elliot was already ahead of Griffin. “I texted Hank and his sons. This time of year, there’s not a lot of work for cowboys who hire out by the day. I’ll tell them to move into the bunkhouse as soon as possible and be ready to work. They should be able to keep everything running.”

  Griffin agreed. “Tell Hank we’ll pay them double. All they have to do is keep the place running till we get back. He’s worked for me long enough to know what has to be done.”

  “Will do.”

  Cooper broke in. “Did Sunlan tell you about her place? We only talked about the horse operation she’s got going.”

  “Only that it’s small. Her grandfather loved raising horses and made good money doing it. As he grew older, she went to school in Colorado just so she could be near to help. Besides the two boys who drove some of her stock to our barn last week, she said she has a married couple who live a few miles north. They watch over the place when she’s not there. They hire help as they need it.”

  “How many horses are we dealing with?” Cooper’s tone was tight with worry.

  “Thirty, I’m guessing, maybe more. I don’t know how many were hurt.” Griffin swore if he could get out and push the pickup to go faster, he would. Kirkland was his closest neighbor and it still took ten minutes to get from one headquarters to the other.

  Staten Kirkland and the pilot, Madison O’Grady-Weathers, were waiting by the plane when Elliot raced onto the runway. Also standing ready were a half dozen cowhands to help load. Supplies in the cargo bay, medicine in the copilot’s seat, blanketed and belted in.

  “Sorry we’re pulling you away, Madison,” Griffin managed to say as they climbed into the back of the small plane.

  “No problem. I’ll miss the big shopping trip to Lubbock and if I’m lucky I’ll miss a few hours of cooking, too. I’d much rather fly than cook. Between the Kirklands and the O’Gradys, almost every day in December will be a mob scene. Aunt Quinn was in the kitchen starting the pies for the party after the school’s Christmas play when Uncle Staten and I passed through.”

  She handed each of the Holloway men a small bag. “Breakfast bread and juice. Use the bag if you think you have to throw up. Do not throw up in my uncle’s new plane. It took me two years to convince him that he needed the bird and one bad smell would probably be all it would take to change his mind.”

  All three brothers nodded. At over six feet, Madison was not a woman many men would argue with.

  By full light, they were loaded and taxiing down the runway. Kirkland’s niece was a military pilot who was married to the sheriff a few counties over. As they took off, she said that she’d get them there fast and safe, but she couldn’t stay.

  Griffin understood. If she stayed even a few hours, the chances of her getting snowed in went up. Madison wanted to be with her family.

  “My wife will fly us home when the snow clears,” Griffin yelled back over the engine. The idea of flying in a little plane once bothered him. Twice downright scared him.

  When he leaned back between his brothers, Cooper slugged him on the shoulder. “She’s not your wife yet, Griff. In fact, even if she is older than me, I’m thinking I might ask her to marry me. I’m better-looking than you and we’ve got horses in common. If she’s picking from the Holloway basket, I’m naturally the best choice. I’ll live longer. Better investment all around.” Cooper nodded once as if to end with enough said.

  “Not a chance, I saw her first.”

  “What about me?” Elliot interrupted. “I’m obviously the smartest. If she gets to choose, I’d win out over both of you. When this crisis is over, I’m asking her. You didn’t even buy her a ring, Griff. I’ll get down on one knee and do it right. Women like that.”

  “How do you know, Elliot? The only women you talk to are online.” Cooper leaned across Griffin and took a swing at Elliot.

  Griffin considered tossing them both out. The plane wasn’t all that high yet. They’d bounce.

  “I’m marrying Sunlan,” he yelled. “And you two are staying out of it.”

  To his shock, they both burst out laughing, and Griffin realized they were simply cracking the tension. Distracting him until they were in the clouds.

  Madison laughed. “Relax, gentlemen. It’ll be smooth sailing from here. You might want to get some sleep. You can fight over the lady after you save her horses.”

  “There will be no fight. The lady is mine.” Griffin surprised himself by wishing it were true.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Midnight Crossing

  JAX TURNED OFF his computer and stared at the woman sleeping in the hospital bed a few feet away. She looked so small, so fragile, so alone. But she was a fighter. He’d watched her slowly climb out of the pain. Mallory Mayweather was pushing herself.

  Each time she got up to go to the bathroom, she walked a few extra steps. Her body might be stiff and hurting, but she stood up straight.

  He grinned. In those too-big pajamas, she looked almost like a clown. Her hands and feet seemed to disappear.

  But tonight, curled up holding one of her pillows against her chest, she reminded him of a sleeping angel. Her dark hair covered most of the bruises on her face, and the shadows let him see the line of her jaw without seeing the marks.

  How could a man, any man, for any reason, do that to a woman?

  An anger built in him unlike any he’d ever known. All he’d ever wanted to do was help people. That’s why he became a fireman. It fit him. He’d loved his job and had been so wrapped up in it that he’
d put off getting married and starting a family. There would always be time, he’d told himself. When the time was right, the right woman would come along. But the time had never appeared and now it was too late. He’d morphed into a hermit no woman would want.

  Just the thought of leaving his cabin to step back in with the living bothered him. When he’d first moved in at Midnight Crossing, he’d thought he’d stay a few months, maybe a year. Now when Tim mentioned going back, only one word crossed Jax’s mind. Never.

  He’d stay here a few more years, maybe even until he was forty. By then he’d be too set in his ways, he’d be lost to the world. In the end, he’d grow old here, never going back among people.

  It seemed a quiet life. A world he could handle.

  He was so used to staying alone to heal that he was rotting. Even the constant studying and taking classes online and writing articles and blogs hadn’t made him want to step back among people.

  Since Mallory had arrived, something dark was boiling in Jax’s mind. For the first time ever, he wanted to hurt someone. The man who’d done this to her deserved it. He should have to live with the same pain he’d caused her.

  Jax knew he’d have to learn to deal with his anger before it ate him up inside. But the feeling kept growing like a cancer, eating away at his peace.

  Slowly, he stood, stretched and walked over to Mallory. Gently he pulled the cover over her shoulder. Tonight would be colder than usual. He’d get up every few hours and make sure the fire kept going. Silently, he made her one promise: she’d never see the anger inside him. It would only cause her more pain.

  Tim’s news this afternoon still bothered Jax. His cousin had told him that Curtis Dayson had put an ad in the Crossroads paper offering a reward to anyone who had any knowledge to the whereabouts of one Mallory Mayweather. He’d said that her family was in a near panic looking for her and he was simply helping them out.

  Only Mallory had listed no family when she’d checked in at the hospital and she’d never mentioned wanting to call someone to let them know she was all right.

  Tim said that even with a restraining order, the sheriff couldn’t stop Curtis from seeking information, as long as he didn’t come near Mallory. The guy was slick. He had all the right answers when the sheriff questioned him. Cline said he swore he saw tears in the guy’s eyes when he told of how worry was eating Mallory’s parents alive.

  Sheriff said Curtis kept saying over and over. “I just want to know she’s safe, that’s all. Her parents have a right to know that, at least.”

  Then he went on to recite his story as if the sheriff didn’t know the facts. The bruises must have been caused during the wreck, he claimed. She was just mad at him and blaming him for everything. She always overreacted when she didn’t get her way, ask anyone at the office. Curtis even admitted he’d been about to fire her as well as break up with her when she’d stolen his car. This whole show was just a way to get back at him.

  Then, like a chameleon, Curtis shifted. He told the sheriff he really did love Mallory, and if she’d just grow up a little, he could put up with the mood swings.

  Jax asked Tim if the sheriff bought any of Curtis’s story.

  Tim said, “Not a drop.”

  But if the ad went out, even for one day, someone who saw something might want to earn a little of the reward. A thousand dollars was enough to have anyone at least think about talking. They might think they were doing the family a favor, helping them locate their relative.

  Only Jax knew if the boyfriend learned anything, it would only mean trouble.

  Trouble coming right toward Mallory...right toward Midnight Crossing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Misty Bend

  THEY SAW THE fire from the air as they neared Sunlan’s ranch.

  “Holy cow, it’s still burning!” Cooper’s announcement bounced off the cabin’s walls. “I thought we’d be dealing with the aftermath.”

  “Nope, looks like you’re going right into the fury.” Madison circled around the wide valley nestled between the lower hills of the Rockies. The breathtaking beauty of aspen and evergreen trees across a blanket of snow was shadowed by a dark cloud that seemed to climb its way to heaven. “I’ll come in from the south, with the wind but out of the smoke. Buckle in tight, boys. This isn’t going to be a smooth landing.”

  Elliot slipped his laptop into his padded jacket, zipped up and crossed his arms.

  Cooper yelled like he was riding a bronc.

  Griffin closed his eyes. If they were going to crash, he didn’t want to see an action video of it for the rest of eternity.

  He could feel the winds rocking the plane and swore he could hear his heart pounding over the roar of the engine. He mentally tossed his planned to-do list and began a new one. If Sunlan was dealing with both injured horses and a fire, one would be neglected, as there were probably only five or six people to help. It was evident which one. She’d let her barn burn while she fought to save the horses.

  The horses would have to be his first priority, as well. She’d said she had an old hay barn on the place and a hangar to protect her plane. She’d mentioned she stored horse trailers in the hangar, so there would be extra room. Both places could be used as temporary barns.

  He’d start setting up. They’d move the horses. If any were still alive.

  The plane bumped against the runway with a few quick jolts. Griffin forced his muscles to relax. They’d made it to her. By the time the plane stopped, all three brothers were piling out. Griffin thanked Madison and said he owed her one.

  She saluted. “Anytime.”

  Cooper ran for a tractor with a front-end loader already attached.

  Griffin knew Cooper guessed the keys would be in the ignition, and he was right. By the time Cooper drove back to the plane, snow was falling. Huge flakes whirling in the wind almost big enough to bat away.

  Turning the tractor’s bucket toward the cloudy sky, they began working as a team. Elliot and Griffin loaded the supplies while Cooper hopped out and carefully moved the medicine. Between their stash and the Kirklands’, they’d be able to run a clinic for a few days.

  Elliot climbed on one side of the tractor. Griffin turned to watch Madison taxi around and take off toward home, the wind now at her back. Cooper was already moving toward the fire as Griffin jumped on the tractor.

  He had expected chaos, and that’s exactly what he found. A dozen horses that didn’t look burned or hurt were running wild in the corral near the burning barn. No one had time to move them. No one would dare let them out.

  So far the gates were holding, but if the herd knocked one down, there was a good chance the horses would run right back to their stalls in the burning barn. Horses born on the land might run away, but he guessed all of Sunlan’s horses were born in stalls, and that was where they were fed and housed. Their safe place. They’d run to that home, even if the barn was burning.

  Dave and Andy, the two young hands who’d delivered Sunlan’s horses to Maverich Ranch then stayed around long enough to train cowhands to take over, welcomed Griffin with a wave.

  Sunlan’s college boy hands had bandannas around their noses and mouths as they pulled a horse slowly from the barn. Fear and insanity flickered in the mare’s eyes as she fought the handlers. Burns slashed her beautiful back like claw marks.

  The roof must be burning.

  “She’s broken free twice and made it back inside,” Andy yelled. “The barn is about to tumble. If she goes in again, we may not be able to get her out. We got one more still locked in the stall. She’s hurt and afraid. Won’t let us near.”

  Shouting above the noise, Cooper broke into a run. “I’ll get her.”

  Both boys yelled, “Wait!” but Cooper was already running full out. There was no time for discussion.

  Griffin saw worry reflected in Elliot’s gaze. “He can take care of
himself,” Griffin shouted.

  Nodding, Elliot took over driving the tractor. Cooper was a man, old enough to make his own way, and both his big brothers had to respect that.

  “Dave! Where is Sunlan?” Griffin had to know she was safe first.

  The taller of the two hands glanced back. “She’s in the hay barn, but it’s bedlam in there. We’ve got horses down and others crazy scared. The local vet and Lloyd, her foreman, are with her.”

  Griffin jumped on the tractor so he could give Elliot directions. Between the bucket loaded with supplies and the snow making visibility almost impossible, his brother would be driving blind. They headed toward an old barn a quarter mile from the fire, praying there was nothing beneath the half foot of snow that would slow them down.

  “Are we even on a road?” Elliot yelled.

  “I don’t think so.” Griffin’s entire focus was on the closed doors of the hay barn. As they neared, he could hear the sound of screaming horses and prayed Sunlan was all right. For her, madness must be hearing her animals cry out.

  Thirty feet from the door, Griffin yelled, “Stop!” and jumped from the tractor while it was still moving.

  Elliot slid a few feet before stopping. “What is it?”

  Griffin moved toward something dark lying on the snow, almost covered in newly fallen flakes. Leaning down, Griffin picked up the black foal, stiff with cold. “It’s a newborn. Barely alive. I’ll carry him in. You get as close as you can to the barn and start unloading.”

  Elliot hit the gas as he drove the last few feet. Then, he jumped out and opened the door only wide enough to let Griffin inside. If there were untied horses in the barn, there would be a danger of them getting out. The snow was coming down so thick now that no one would be able to follow a runaway.