A Cowboy for Christmas

by Sara Richardson

  Reed reached for a gingerbread cookie cooling on a wire rack, until Yancy stopped him with a hairy eyeball. “Too late for what?”

  “Too late for him to give me more grandchildren.” Grace Malloy breezed into the kitchen, wearing her usual ankle-skimming denim skirt and a sky-blue blouse that matched her eyes, her white hair a cap of breeze-tossed curls.

  She made a full circle in the room, staring around with satisfaction. “It all looks and smells wonderful, Yancy.”

  Reed put a hand on her arm. “Are you really setting up poor Colin on the pretext of a holiday dinner?”

  “Setting up poor Colin?” Grace gave her grandson a withering look. “I’m merely being a good mother and a good neighbor. After all, Anita came to Glacier Ridge from Boston to give her aging uncle a hand at the clinic, and she hasn’t had any time off since. She’s young and beautiful and certainly deserves at least a bit of a social life. It’s the same with Colin. He’s spent so many years helping us with the ranch, not to mention helping your father and me with you three—a handful, I might add—he’s forgotten there even is such a thing as a social life.”

  Reed merely shook his head. “Poor Colin. Being led to the slaughter like a lamb, without even a warning.”

  “Enough of that kind of talk. He’ll thank me one day. And,” Gracie added with a twinkle in her eye, “I’ll expect you to be here to witness his eternal gratitude. Maybe, if you’re lucky, I’ll even steer you toward finding that one special woman for yourself.”

  Reed put his hand up to his ears and gave a mock shudder. “Now you’re working overtime to ruin my Christmas, Gram Gracie. I’ve seen enough lovey-dovey stuff around here in the past year to give me a sugar buzz.”

  The others shared a laugh as Reed rushed from the kitchen and up the stairs to shower and dress for Christmas Eve supper.

  Dr. Leonard Cross poked his head into the examining room, where his niece was busy soothing the mother of a crying five-year-old girl.

  Anita Cross put her hand on the mother’s shoulder. “The rapid strep test confirmed that it’s strep throat, Millie. I’ll write a prescription. Agnes will have it at the reception area when you check out. Be sure to pick it up at Woodrow’s Pharmacy before it closes tonight, and start Brittany on the medication right away. She won’t be feeling 100 percent by tomorrow, but she’ll feel a lot better than she does right now.”

  “Oh, thank you, Dr. Anita. She’s been so worried that Santa wouldn’t find her here at the clinic if she had to be admitted.”

  Turning on her megawatt smile that always put her patients at ease, Anita closed her hand over the little girl’s tightly clenched fist. “You’ll be home in plenty of time for Santa to visit, Brittany. You should know that Santa has no problem finding children who have to be in the clinic. He visits children on Christmas Eve no matter where they are.”

  Big blue eyes went even wider. “He does?”

  “He does. Why, when I was working in the hospital in Boston, Santa visited every boy and girl there and left them exactly what they’d asked for.”

  “That’s nice.” The tears were replaced with a big smile. “But I’m glad I can go home.”

  “So am I. I can’t think of a better place to be on Christmas Eve than with the people you love. Merry Christmas,” Anita called as the mother and daughter walked out of the room and her uncle stepped inside.

  Seeing that he’d changed from his white lab coat to a suit jacket, she arched a brow. “Is Dr. Miller here from Rock Creek yet?”

  Her uncle shook his head. “Not yet. I expect he’ll be here any minute. He’s already half an hour late.”

  “Have you phoned him?”

  “Twice. No service. But he gave me his word he’d take care of things here while we’re at the Malloy Ranch. I’m sure he’ll be along any minute now.”

  Anita gave a sigh. “Is that the last of the patients?”

  “According to Agnes. I told her to duck out of here as soon as she finishes with Millie Davis so she doesn’t get stuck for another hour or two.”

  He glanced out the window at an approaching truck bearing the Malloy logo on the side. “There’s our limousine. I promise you, you’re going to love Christmas Eve dinner at the Malloy ranch. Nobody cooks like Yancy Martin. You’re in for a fine feast.”

  Anita knew it wasn’t the feast she was looking forward to as much as the chance to spend some time with a certain cowboy. From the first moment she’d met Colin Malloy, quietly taking charge of the chaos that always seemed to accompany his family during a crisis, he had become, in her mind, the personification of a real Montana cowboy. Tall and ruggedly handsome. A body sculpted with muscle from years of ranch chores. Dark hair always in need of a trim. A quiet man who didn’t say much, but when he spoke in that low, easy drawl, she felt a hitch in her heart. And when he aimed those blue eyes her way and smiled, her whole world seemed to tilt.

  She didn’t need food. Colin Malloy was a feast for her eyes and heart and soul.

  Until coming to Montana, she’d despaired of ever meeting a man who could check off every item on her wish list.

  Of course, she thought, there had been men in the past, and one in particular, who had tempted her to believe they were special. Not one had ever lived up to the promise.

  She thought about the bitter tears she’d shed over Dr. Jason Trask. At the time, she’d thought her heart would never mend. Now she realized she’d been too young and foolish to recognize that while she’d been spinning dreams of love and marriage, he’d been concerned only with himself and his career. It was only later, hearing the whispers and rumors, that she learned she’d been one of many naïve med students who had fallen for his tired line. As she followed her uncle along the hallway, she paused to greet Burke Cowley, the Malloy ranch foreman, who was heading toward them. “Hello, Burke.”

  “Miss Anita.” The courtly old cowboy removed his wide-brimmed hat and gave her a smile.

  “I’ll just be a minute while I get my coat.”

  “I’ll let you lock up.” Her uncle picked up several handled bags, which contained the cookies she’d lovingly baked, along with gifts she’d insisted on wrapping for the entire Malloy family.

  With his hands filled, he indicated several more bags, and Burke picked them up.

  Over his shoulder, her uncle called, “We’ll load these and wait for you in the truck. I’m sure Dr. Miller will be here any minute now.”

  Anita stepped into her office and was hanging up her lab coat when she heard voices calling from the reception area. She hurried out to find a rancher with his arm around a teen boy’s shoulders.

  The boy’s arm was wrapped in a bloody towel.

  “Ma’am.” The rancher looked relieved. “I saw old Doc Cross getting into a truck outside. I called to him, but he couldn’t hear me over the wind blowing, and I was afraid we were too late to get any help. My name’s Huck Whitfield. This is my son Ben. He put his hand through a glass windowpane.”

  “Mr. Whitfield. Ben. I’m Dr. Anita Cross.”

  “I heard old Doc talked a niece into coming out from the big city to give him a hand with this place.”

  “That’s me. And I assure you, I didn’t need to be talked into coming. I’m loving this experience in your pretty town. Please come this way.” She led them to an examining room and carefully removed the blood-soaked towel.

  She looked up at the boy. “That’s a nasty cut, Ben.” She tried to put him at ease. “You must have been really mad at that window to hit it so hard.”

  Instead of the expected laugh, two bright spots of color bloomed on the boy’s cheeks. “Oh no, ma’am. I was just giving my pa a hand trying to clear the snow.”

  His father nodded. “That’s a fact.”

  “I was only teasing.”

  At that, the father and son realized her joke and shared a grin.

  She indicated the table. “You can lie down here. I’ll need to look at this closely under the lights to remove any glass fragments. From the look
s of all that blood, you’ll need a few stitches.” She started toward the door. “I’ll be right back.”

  Once in the hallway, she punched in the number of Dr. Rob Miller, praying he would tell her he’d be here any minute now. In reply, she got a notice of no service.

  She retrieved her lab coat before going in search of her uncle and Burke. When she stepped outside, she was surprised to see that a heavy snow had begun falling, and even though it was early evening, the sky had grown as dark as night.

  Burke lowered the window as she approached the truck.

  “Sorry, Uncle Leonard. I tried Dr. Miller’s number, with no response. I won’t be able to go with you. This is an emergency. Huck Whitfield and his son, Ben, came in while you were loading the truck. Ben put his hand through a window, and the cut looks deep. I’d hoped to pass them along to Rob Miller, but since he’s still not here, I have to stay. From the looks of that boy’s arm, I’ll be another hour or more.”

  Old Dr. Cross gave a sigh. “That’s what I was afraid of. Even on Christmas Eve, we always seem to get slammed with one emergency or another. That’s why I arranged for a doctor here, just in case.”

  Anita gave him a gentle smile. “Please don’t worry, Uncle Leonard. You go ahead and have a lovely dinner with the Malloy family. I’ll stay here and take care of business.”

  The two men exchanged a look before Burke said, “We’ll wait for you.”

  “There could be complications. I don’t want to hold up the entire Malloy family on Christmas Eve.”

  Burke considered before nodding. “All right. But don’t you worry, ma’am. I’ll take Dr. Cross out to the ranch now, and I’ll head right back for you.”

  “That’s awfully generous of you, Burke, but you could end up missing dinner.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time, ma’am.”

  She gave him a grateful smile. “All right. You’d better phone first, though. Like Uncle Leonard said, I could get slammed with more emergencies, and I can’t leave until my replacement arrives.”

  Burke nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll call and, no matter how late it is, someone will be here to drive you to the ranch. When Miss Gracie issues an invitation, it’s like a royal command.”

  “Please give Miss Grace my apologies for this hitch in her plans.” With a grin, Anita sprinted back to the door of the clinic.

  As she stepped inside, she had to shake snow from her dark hair.

  Squaring her shoulders, she headed toward the examining room. Even Christmas, she thought, couldn’t stem the flow of emergencies. When she completed her medical studies, hadn’t she known this would be her life? Not that she regretted it. Not a bit of it. Nor did she regret her move from a bustling city hospital to this sleepy little small-town clinic. Here, finally, she was doing what she’d always dreamed of. Seeing to every sort of medical emergency possible, from setting broken bones to removing tonsils. From dealing with preschool illnesses to arranging end-of-life care. As her uncle had promised, this place offered her the chance to follow her patients from childhood into old age. These strangers were no longer patients but were slowly becoming her neighbors and friends. Her family. She couldn’t think of a more rewarding gift than the chance to live out her life in this sleepy little town of Glacier Ridge, with its fascinating assortment of characters, and this homey little clinic that had taken over her life.

  If she felt a twinge of regret at missing her chance to spend more time with a handsome cowboy, she reluctantly pushed it aside. For now, she would give all her attention to Ben Whitfield and get him home in time for Christmas with his family.

  Chapter Two

  Colin led Buddy through the drifts that had begun piling up against the north side of the barn. Once inside, he unsaddled his horse and toweled him dry before turning him into the warm shelter of his stall and filling the troughs with feed and water.

  As he crossed the snow-covered yard, the warm glow of lights spilled from every window of the big house. It brought a smile to his lips. There was no denying how much he loved this ranch and his family. From the time he was just a boy, he’d known this was the only place he ever wanted to be. Riding the range with his father and older brother, herding cattle, doing the million and one tedious chores that went with ranching. Like his father before him, Colin was a rancher to his core. He wouldn’t trade places with the richest man in the world. In fact, he knew, without a doubt, that that particular title was already his. He was rich in family. Rich in contentment. Rich in all the ways that really mattered.

  He stepped into the mudroom, shaking snow from his hat and parka before hanging them on pegs by the door. He sat on a bench, gratefully kicking off his frozen boots before crossing to the big sink to roll his sleeves and wash to his elbows. The hot water felt heavenly after the frigid cold of the trail.

  Hearing a chorus of voices in the great room, he headed up the stairs to shower before joining his family. Of course, he admitted, his family took a backseat at the moment to the one he most wanted to see. But not until he did his best to make a good impression.

  After stripping, he shaved away the growth of beard from the trail before stepping under the warm spray to soak up more heat. With a sigh, he toweled himself, grateful to be home. Though he loved the solitude of the hills, he had to admit there was comfort in being here. The tantalizing fragrance of Yancy’s prime rib along with roast goose and the faint perfume of cinnamon from Yancy’s snickerdoodles, the holiday cookies Yancy baked every Christmas, had his mouth watering. Judging by the laughter coming from the great room, the family and their guests were in full festive mode.

  Colin buttoned his shirt and tucked it into the waistband of clean denims. Pulling on his best Sunday boots, he ran a brush through his shaggy hair and hurried down the stairs.

  He stopped by the kitchen to snatch up a cold longneck before heading toward the great room.

  In the doorway, he paused when he recognized old Dr. Cross telling a story to the family.

  “…and I said to her, Martha, when I asked for a specimen, I didn’t mean a sample of your Bundt cake.”

  The roar of laughter that followed had Colin grinning from ear to ear. Only Doc Cross, who was everyone’s friend, could spill secrets about a neighbor and never be offensive.

  “Oh, Colin.” Grace was out of her chair and hurrying across the room to wrap him in a quick embrace. “I was afraid with this blizzard you wouldn’t make it.”

  “Buddy and I have been through enough storms that you don’t ever have to worry, Ma.” He turned to the others, his gaze moving quickly over all of them, seeking one special face. When he didn’t see Anita, he schooled his features, hoping his disappointment didn’t show. “Though I have to admit, this one was a challenge. I thought for a few minutes I might have to dismount and lead poor Buddy, who was up to his haunches in snowdrifts.”

  “We have a problem.” Grace drew him aside to say in a soft voice, “I don’t want to send Burke out in this weather.”

  “I agree. What do you need? I’m happy to fetch it.”

  “It’s Doc’s niece.”

  At the very mention, Colin struggled to keep his emotions banked. Not an easy task when the very mention of her had his heart doing crazy somersaults.

  Grace blushed like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “I may have forgotten to mention that I invited both Leonard and his niece for Christmas Eve supper.”

  He fought to hold back his smile but lost the battle. It even showed in his quiet tone of voice. “I believe you mentioned it.”

  She looked away, avoiding his eyes. “The young doctor they’d hired to fill in for Christmas Eve never arrived. An emergency walked into the clinic just as they were preparing to leave, so Doc came alone. Burke said he’d be happy to drive back to town to pick up Anita, but he’s been working with your father since dawn. It doesn’t seem fair to send him out again.”

  Colin hoped his disappointment didn’t show. “Anita Cross is a grown woman. I’m sure she’ll be fine
in town.”

  “Yes. Of course. I guess I just needed to hear it from you.”

  He waited a beat, searching his mind for any excuse to see her. “But then, this is her first Christmas in Glacier Ridge, far away from Boston and everything familiar. And now her only relative is here with us.”

  “That’s what worries me. Still, you’ve been out in this snowstorm. What do you think? Would the roads still be passable?”

  Colin chose his words carefully, knowing how his mother reacted all these years later about any family member traveling icy roads. The loss of his brother and his brother’s wife had left its mark on her soul. “It does seem a shame for Doc’s niece to be alone on her first Christmas in town. Why don’t I give it a try?”

  “Oh, Colin, would you mind?”

  “You know I don’t.”

  At the warmth in his tone, she looked up sharply. “Are you saying you don’t mind that I really want Anita here?”

  “Ma, we both want her here.”

  She sighed, trying to keep her delight from being too obvious. “You’ll turn back if the roads are too icy? Promise me you won’t take any foolish chances, Colin.”

  He brushed a kiss over her cheek. “Promise. But don’t hold supper for us. Even if I manage to get through, with a storm like this you know we’ll be late.”

  “We’ll wait as long as we can. If we do eat without you, no matter how late you two get here, I guarantee you’ll find a feast.”

  Colin said his good-byes to the others before heading toward the mudroom. He chose his warmest winter parka before stepping outside. In the equipment barn he climbed into one of the ranch trucks and checked the gas gauge before driving along the curving ribbon of driveway that led to the highway.

  A snowy road trip wasn’t exactly how he’d planned on spending Christmas Eve, but the thought of Anita Cross waiting for him at the end of the drive had him smiling as he turned on the radio and hummed along with Willie, crooning an old holiday standard. With any luck, they could be back here in a few hours.