The Nanny's Texas Christmas

by Lee Tobin McClain

  Lana fell to her knees and hugged Cowboy, who permitted a minute of attention and affection before bounding in circles around the three of them, barking, tail waving high.

  “Come on,” Flint said, his voice rough with emotion. “Let’s get you home.”

  “Is he all right?” Lana hurried beside them, reaching out to touch Logan’s blue-jeaned leg.

  “I think he’s going to be just fine.”

  Flint eased Logan into the small backseat. Lana popped open her trunk and found the fleece blanket she always carried there. She hurried forward and tucked it around Logan, just wanting to touch him herself, to feel that he was okay. Her eyes were damp with tears. “There you go. Nice and warm.”

  “Thanks, Miss Alvarez,” he whispered, his voice sounding sleepy. “Daddy, can you sit back here with me?”

  “Sure thing, buddy.”

  Lana climbed into the driver’s seat and patted the passenger side for Cowboy, who jumped in, sitting tall. Lana texted Marnie, Rhetta and the rest, letting them know that Logan was safe, and they were on the way home.

  * * *

  After everyone had exclaimed over Logan, petted Cowboy, and hugged each other, the rest of the ranch staff and friends went home or into the main house. Flint had Logan in one arm, the blanket wrapped around him.

  Lana was still on an adrenaline high, but she recognized that her role in this drama might be over. She didn’t want it to be, but as Flint had said, she wasn’t a part of the family. They’d go home, and she’d head for her lonely apartment. She stood, looking at the pair of them, and suddenly realized that Flint was reaching out a hand to her.

  “Please,” he said. “Come home with us for a little bit.”

  Her lips curved up into a smile. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”

  Soon they were settled in the cabin’s living room, with a sleepy Logan wrapped in a blanket in Flint’s lap and Cowboy occupying the place of honor in front of the fire Flint had built.

  “We’ll talk more about this tomorrow, buddy,” Flint said, “but can you tell me what made you run away?”

  Logan squeezed Buster tighter. “I wanted to tell God I was sorry.”

  “About what?”

  “About making Miss Alvarez go away and making you sad.” He glanced from one to the other, his expression serious. “I know God answers our prayers. Only He wasn’t answering when I prayed at home, so I thought maybe He would if I went to our special prayer place at church. But it was too far, and I was too scared, so I just prayed under the stars. Like you do, Daddy.”

  “And what did you pray for?” Flint asked.

  “I want Miss Alvarez not to go away. I want her to stay and be my mom. But it’s okay if it can’t happen. God told me that when I was out in the night.”

  Lana blinked. “He told you?”

  Logan nodded confidently. “He told me he would take care of me no matter what. But I still got a little bit scared.” He reached up and touched Lana’s cheek. “And I still wish you could be my mom.”

  His simple assurance and clear expression of feelings made Lana’s eyes well up. Oh, for the faith of a child.

  Flint reached over and thumbed away the single tear that trickled down Lana’s face. “I’m with Logan,” he said softly. “I wish you’d stay.”

  “Stay in town?” Lana looked at him, her heart thumping a wild, erratic beat.

  “Stay with us,” he said. “I want you to stay with us.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  An hour before the Christmas Eve service, Flint pulled into the church parking lot with Lana and Logan.

  He felt indescribably blessed.

  “Thanks for bringing us early,” Lana said, smiling up at him as he opened the truck door for her. “I promised I’d help get the kids ready to sing. But Logan and I will come sit with you as soon as the kids’ part is over.”

  “Sounds great.” He squeezed her to his side as they hurried into the church. They’d spent most of the past few days together, hanging out at the cabin, doing chores on the ranch, baking cookies and watching Christmas movies.

  Bonding like a family.

  The church foyer was bright with evergreen boughs, red ribbons and two Christmas trees, all surrounding a large Nativity scene. From the sanctuary came the sounds of the adult choir practicing, their voices rising in beautiful Christmas music, cutting off and then repeating the same passage again, with laughter aplenty.

  Lana immediately started shepherding kids to the classroom where they’d do a final rehearsal for their part of the musical service. Flint watched her bustling around and felt a satisfied smile curve his mouth. She was always going to be busy, helping out, organizing things, and he loved it. He just wanted to support her, so she didn’t get burned out with all her caregiving.

  He noticed that her purse was on the ground in front of the coatrack, standing open, so he picked it up and took it to the classroom. “I didn’t want to dig into this,” he said, “but it was open on the floor. You’d better make sure nobody’s taken anything.”

  “Thanks.” She gave him a quick, private smile and then took the purse and looked through it. “My wallet’s here, and it doesn’t look like anything’s missing. Oh.” She pulled out a white envelope. “Maybe this is what caused it to be moved.”

  “The mystery matchmakers.” Flint chuckled. “Who’s your beau supposed to be this time?”

  “Open it!”

  “Shh!”

  Flint looked quickly at the kids in the room, but he couldn’t tell which ones had spoken.

  Lana ripped the note open and read it, holding it so he could see, as well.

  Dear Miss Alvarez,

  Please don’t get married because last year a grate teacher, Miss Pringle, got married to Mr. Hartwell and she moved away. The kids need you.

  Lana grinned, grabbed a piece of wide-ruled paper and a marker, and penned a neat response. “Will you put this up on the bulletin board in the hall?” she asked Flint.

  “Sure will.” As he walked, he read it:

  Dear Mystery Matchmakers: Please rest assured that no matter my marital status, I am committed to my job as a teacher at Haven Elementary School and at Haven Community Church.

  Yours, Miss Alvarez.

  Flint couldn’t stop smiling as he pinned the note to the bulletin board.

  The sound of angry boys’ voices made him pause. Hearing the words “mystery matchmakers,” he stepped back behind the coatrack, listening as the boys rushed into the sanctuary, arguing.

  “You kids aren’t the real mystery matchmakers! We’re the mystery matchmakers, and we know what we’re doing.”

  “We can do it, too! We wanted to keep Miss Alvarez here!’

  “That’s not what it’s all about!”

  Flint shook his head. Kids. It didn’t seem like the matchmakers were doing any harm...and none of the voices he’d heard belonged to his son. So he’d let them have their squabbles.

  He was turning toward the sanctuary, thinking to relax and listen to the various choirs practicing, when Gabe Everett gestured him over. He was standing with Heath and Tanner Barstow, the League’s vice president.

  “We have a problem,” Gabe said quietly when Flint approached them. “You know how Pastor Andrew took up a special collection for the Boys Ranch last week?”

  Flint nodded.

  “It’s missing.” Quickly, Gabe filled him in: the collection had been in a drawer in the church office. Now it was missing, and the lock had been tampered with. “There’s been dozens of people in and out of here in the past week, but we’re suspecting it’s the saboteur who’s been targeting the Boys Ranch.”

  “Could be anyone.”

  “There was other money around the office that wasn’t taken. Just the envelope marked ‘Boys Ran
ch.’”

  Flint crossed his arms. “Fletcher’s against the ranch, but I can’t figure him for stealing money from a bunch of kids.”

  “Avery’s a different story,” Tanner said.

  Flint shook his head. “Shame that someone would do that, at Christmas, in our little town.”

  “Just keep your eyes and ears open,” Heath said to Flint. “We all are.” He raised a hand to someone across the room, then headed over to stand by Josie.

  “Any word on your grandfather?” Flint asked Gabe.

  Gabe shook his head. “Still working on it.”

  So it was Christmas, and things were good. Not perfect; there were a few problems that still needed fixing here in Haven. But for now, he was going into church to meditate on all that was going right. And to give thanks to the Creator who’d made it so.

  * * *

  After the children had performed, Lana walked out into the sanctuary to sit by Flint and Logan. She felt a little self-conscious, doing that in front of everyone in town, but she also felt secure in their relationship. Especially when Flint put an arm around her. She spent the rest of the service in a daze of love and happiness, celebrating and thanking God for the many gifts he’d given her.

  Even in this early service, they lit the candles, one person to another. Inhaling the scent of bayberry and pine, helping Logan light his candle, Lana caught Flint’s eyes on her and blushed.

  After the service, as they headed through the crowds toward the peppermint cocoa that was a Christmas Eve tradition in Haven, Marnie Binder came bustling up. “Look what someone handed me,” she said, beaming. “It’s for you.”

  Lana took the small jewelry-sized box, clumsily wrapped, and read the tag on it. “From Flint,” it said.

  She looked over at where Flint was talking to a couple of his League friends. She held up the box, pointed at it.

  He shrugged and raised his hands.

  Of course, it wasn’t really from him. She pocketed it to open later.

  Across the foyer, she noticed Avery Culpepper. So the woman had come to church again. And Lana was pleased to notice that she didn’t feel any more anger toward the woman. With God’s help, she’d been able to forgive. That was good.

  Then she realized that Avery was hanging on to the arm of Eduardo Gomez. She frowned, disconcerted, as Katie came up beside her. “Do you think they’re an item?” she asked.

  “Doesn’t look like it.” Katie nodded at them, and Lana saw Eduardo gently disengage himself from Avery’s clutches and head over to talk to a pretty, dark-haired woman whose daughter was playing with Eduardo’s daughter, Valentina. “Looks like Eduardo has other ideas.”

  Lana smiled but turned away, not wanting to seem like a gossip. “You look pretty,” she said, noticing Katie’s black-and-red dress and heels.

  “It’s not like anyone will notice,” Katie said glumly.

  “Don’t give up!” Lana wanted everyone in the world to feel the same peaceful sense of love that she was feeling.

  As they walked toward the refreshment table, Pastor Andrew came out of his office. When he saw Katie, he dropped the stack of programs he’d been carrying.

  Katie hurried to help him, and as they smiled at each other, Lana hoped that meant they’d at least develop a friendship.

  Just then, Logan and two of his boys ranch friends ran out of the classroom area...directly toward Fletcher Snowden Phillips and several of his friends, all well up in years.

  Lana gasped and started forward. The last thing they needed was another disaster here at the church, someone else knocked down.

  But Logan glanced up, noticed Fletcher and his friends, and slowed down, yelling “careful!” to the two other boys. They stopped, too, and the trio walked sedately past the elders.

  Fletcher reached down and ruffled Logan’s hair.

  “It’s a Christmas wish come true,” Flint said behind her, a smile in his voice.

  She leaned back against him, savoring his warmth. “It sure is.”

  Then, not wanting to make a spectacle of their budding relationship, she pulled away, took a step to create a respectable distance between them, and turned toward Flint. As various conversations buzzed around them, she pulled out the little jewelry box. “I got a gift from you,” she teased, showing him the handwritten note attached to the box.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Better open it.”

  When she did, there was a bubblegum-machine ring inside, along with another note. “Will you marry me and stay in Haven forever?”

  She giggled, feeling her face heat. She and Flint had talked a lot about the future in the past few days, but there’d been no formal engagement.

  “That reminds me,” Flint said. “I got you a real Christmas present.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, wrapped in silver paper.

  She took it, eyes wide, heart pounding.

  He got you jewelry. That’s nice and romantic. You can’t expect anything more.

  But as Flint sank to one knee, smiling up at her, she felt the reality of God’s promise rushing in. Exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.

  Around them, the church had gotten quiet. People were watching, not even pretending to mind their own business.

  Flint gestured to Logan, who raced over, grinning. Apparently, this move had been planned between the two of them. “Lana, I love you,” Flint said, loud and clear. “Will you marry me, be my wife?” He was a man of few words, but the tenderness on his face and in his eyes said it all.

  Logan knelt beside his father. “And will you be my mom?”

  A collective “awwwwww” swept around the room.

  Through tears, Lana saw so many happy, expectant faces around her: Katie, Rhetta, Bea, Marnie, the boys from the ranch and all the staff.

  And before her, the man—and the boy—whom she loved with all her heart. She bent down and pulled them up, and Flint’s arms came around both her and Logan. “I would love to be your wife and mother,” she whispered just for them to hear.

  “She said yes!” Logan shouted.

  And amid the laughter and hugs, the congratulations and happy tears, Lana spared a glance upward to the author of it all, the Creator who had turned three people’s sadness into joy.

  Abundant blessings. For her, for Flint and Logan, for all of them.

  She closed her eyes in praise.

  * * * * *

  If you liked this

  LONE STAR COWBOY LEAGUE:

  BOYS RANCH novel,

  watch for the next book,

  THE COWBOY’S TEXAS FAMILY by

  Margaret Daley, available January 2017.

  And don’t miss a single story in the

  LONE STAR COWBOY LEAGUE:

  BOYS RANCH miniseries:

  Book #1: THE RANCHER’S TEXAS MATCH

  by Brenda Minton

  Book #2: THE RANGER’S TEXAS PROPOSAL

  by Jessica Keller

  Book #3: THE NANNY’S TEXAS CHRISTMAS

  by Lee Tobin McClain

  Book #4: THE COWBOY’S TEXAS FAMILY

  by Margaret Daley

  Book #5: THE DOCTOR’S TEXAS BABY

  by Deb Kastner

  Book #6: THE RANCHER’S TEXAS TWINS

  by Allie Pleiter

  Can’t get enough

  LONE STAR COWBOY LEAGUE?

  Check out the original

  LONE STAR COWBOY LEAGUE miniseries

  from Love Inspired, starting with

  A REUNION FOR THE RANCHER

  by Brenda Minton.

  And travel back in time with

  LONE STAR COWBOY LEAGUE:

  THE FOUNDING YEARS,

  a Love Inspired Historical miniseries, starting with STAND-IN RANCHER DADDY by Renee Ryan.

  Both titles and full m
iniseries available now!

  Find more great reads at www.LoveInspired.com.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from MISTLETOE DADDY by Deb Kastner.

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  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed your latest visit to Haven, Texas, as much as I did! Flint and Lana are close to my heart because they’ve both suffered in the past, and both are tempted to close themselves off to love, so they won’t be hurt again. But God—with an assist from Marnie Binder and Logan—has other plans. As so often happens, though, it’s up to Flint and Lana to take a leap of faith and trust that God has good plans for them. In fact, God’s plans are exceedingly abundant, beyond anything we could dream up ourselves. That’s a truth we should all embrace and celebrate during this Christmas season!

  If you’d like to learn about my new releases and get a free romance story, please hop over to my website at leetobinmcclain.com and sign up for my newsletter. Or send me an email via the website. I love to hear from readers!

  Wishing you abundant blessings,

  Lee

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