The Cowboy's Christmas Courtship

by Brenda Minton

  He waved and then headed back to the fence he’d been working on. She watched him go before she hurried across the yard to the house to finish getting ready. As she headed to her room she yelled at Brandon to get up. He wasn’t skipping church. She heard him mutter that he was awake.

  She’d give him ten minutes.

  Now she had to figure out what she would wear to church. She opened her closet and rummaged through the clothes. A stack of notebooks on the bottom of the closet caught her attention. She hadn’t looked at them in years. She didn’t plan on looking at them now. Who needed voices from the past to remind them how it felt to have a broken heart?

  That girl of sixteen was long gone. She had work-callused hands, a heart that didn’t have time for romance and bills to be paid at the first of the month.

  At a quarter to ten she walked through the house, carrying the boots she would wear with her denim skirt and searching for her Bible and her brother. She found her Bible on the table next to the chair she’d fallen asleep in two nights ago. She didn’t find Brandon.

  She slipped her feet into her boots and grabbed a jacket off the hook next to the door. She knew where she’d find her brother. And she was right. He was down at the fence with Gage.

  After tossing her purse and Bible in the truck, she walked down to where the two were working away, laughing and talking like old friends. She watched as Brandon pulled the wire tight and Gage clipped it to the metal post.

  “It’s time to go to church.” Layla shivered in the cool morning air.

  “I’m going to stay here and help Gage.” Brandon didn’t even look up. But Gage met her eyes and she glared, letting him know this was his fault.

  “You’re going to church.” Layla cleared her throat and stood a little taller. “Come on.”

  “Layla, Gage doesn’t go to church, so I’m not going.”

  She heard Gage groan. She shot him another disgusted look.

  He sighed.

  “Guess I’m going today,” Gage grumbled, clipping the last strand of wire. “Come on, kid, before you get us both in trouble.”

  Brandon looked from Gage, whom he had obviously counted on to be his ally, to Layla. “Seriously, you’re giving in to her. Just like that?”

  “Just like that.”

  “I’m not dressed for church.” Brandon tried the argument, and Layla knew it was because she always made him put on his best jeans and shirt for church.

  Gage wasn’t dressed for church, either. His jeans were faded and ripped at the knees. His boots were covered in mud. He obviously hadn’t shaved in a couple of days.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” Gage shot back at Layla, probably because of the once-over she’d given him. “We’re going to church, and this is how we’re going. Besides, I’m about ready to sit down.”

  “So church is a good place to get warm and put your leg up?”

  He laughed, a rich, velvety laugh. “You said it. And I’m driving.”

  “We’re not going to church together.” Layla found herself walking next to him, and even feeling a little bit sorry for him because he walked slower than normal. When she glanced up, she saw his mouth tighten in pain.

  “You’re riding with me. And after church, I’m pretty sure my mom will insist on you all coming over for lunch.”

  “That should be a good reason for me to take my truck, so that you don’t get stuck with us at lunch.”

  “Layla. Stop arguing for five minutes. Please?”

  She stopped, because he looked as if he needed a break. When they reached his truck, he limped around to the passenger side and opened the door for her. Brandon climbed in the back without an argument. She wanted to be mad, but instead she felt a little jealous. After fighting with her brother the past couple of years about everything, he was suddenly compliant, and it had to do with Gage Cooper.

  He had a way of bringing people to his side. She remembered back to high school, even in grade school. Gage had always had a crowd of friends. She’d seen him step between friends who were about to go at it, and somehow, with a few words and an easy smile, manage to settle things.

  “You know this is going to start rumors, right?” she said as she reached for the seat belt while he got in behind the wheel.

  “Oh, well.” He turned to the backseat and Brandon. “Is there a pair of boots back there?”

  Brandon handed him a pair of boots, beautiful deep brown leather with perfect stitching. Gage took them with a grumbled thank-you. While the truck warmed up, he jerked off his mud-covered boots, grimacing as he pulled the shoe off his left leg. Layla started to tell him he didn’t need to fix fences, babysit her brother or drive them to church. He needed to slow down and get better.

  But she let it go. If he worked off whatever he was going through, whatever he wanted to change in his life, he’d soon ride off into the sunset and leave her alone. Again. The sooner he was out of her life, the better she’d be.

  She grabbed the mud-covered boots he’d taken off and handed them back to Brandon as Gage pulled on the other pair. He now looked like a cowboy who’d been riding range in his best boots. The image made her smile.

  A few minutes later they were pulling into the parking lot of the Dawson Community Church. People turned to look at them. Layla resisted the urge to slump down in the seat.

  “Are you trying to hide?” Gage pulled into a parking space. Killing the engine, he looked at her.

  “I’m not.” She sat up straight.

  “Yeah, you are. Worried about how it will look, you showing up to church with someone like me?”

  She shook her head and reached for the door handle. Brandon was already out and headed across the parking lot. Layla watched him go, focusing on his retreating back and not the man sitting next to her, smelling of the outdoors, soap and ranch.

  “Layla, I get that I’m the last person you want to be seen with.” He laughed a little. “Sometimes I’m the last person I want to be seen with. But you need a little help with your brother and with the farm. I know people have tried to help you over the years and you’ve said you could do it all yourself. Well, I’m not as willing to believe that as everyone else. Or maybe I’m just not as willing to be run off.”

  “I’ve noticed.” She smiled and opened her door. “They’re ringing the bell.”

  He wasn’t willing to be run off. Yeah, she got it. But she was counting on the fact that eventually he’d get bored. Or the lure of the road would pull him away.

  As she walked across the parking lot to the pretty country church that she’d attended most of her life, she thought that maybe he wasn’t the worst thing that had happened to her. Brandon was in church this morning. He’d stayed home last night. And he’d talked about his plans for the week, about going to Cooper Creek Ranch after school and what he’d learned from Jackson Cooper about cattle.

  It could be worse.

  As she walked, Gage limped fast to catch up with her. He reached her side, shooting her a look that she didn’t dwell on. They were going up the steps and Slade McKennon was at the door, the way he always was, handing out church bulletins. He handed her a bulletin, and then gave one to Gage. He looked from one to the other of them, his eyes narrowing.

  “I was helping her fix some fences,” Gage explained as they walked through the door.

  “I don’t need an explanation,” Slade whispered as they walked into the church.

  Gage took hold of her arm and pulled her to the Cooper family pew, sliding her in right next to Granny Myrna Cooper, the biggest matchmaker in the county.

  Everyone knew that Myrna Cooper had taken it upon herself to give each of her grandchildren one of her heirloom rings. Mia Cooper and her fiancé, Slade McKennon, had been the latest recipients of one of Myrna’s rings. Before that, Jesse Cooper and his new wife, Laura.

&n
bsp; A person with a lick of sense wouldn’t want to give Myrna any ideas about where her next ring might find a home.

  But obviously Gage didn’t have much sense.

  Chapter Five

  He should have seen it coming. Nearly his entire family was standing on the sidewalk after church. Of course they invited Layla and Brandon to lunch, as he’d known they would. He’d counted on it, actually. But the curious looks from his family, and from people leaving the church, those he hadn’t counted on.

  Couldn’t a guy just be nice and help someone out?

  And then he heard his mom invite Layla and Brandon to join them on the wagon ride in the fields. Today?

  “That isn’t until next week.” Gage jumped into the conversation, trying to stop this runaway train before it sped away from him.

  His mom shot him a warning look. “The weather is supposed to get bad so we decided to go today.”

  His grandmother sidled up next to him, her smile making him more than a little nervous. That grin on Granny Myrna’s face meant one thing. She’d taken to matchmaking again. Couldn’t her own engagement be enough for her? And where was Winston, anyway?

  “You’re making this a lot easier than I thought you would,” his grandmother whispered loudly. Like she thought no one would hear, but everyone did, and those standing closest to him laughed.

  He opened his mouth to object, but he couldn’t think how to stop his grandmother. And if he said too much, he’d hurt Layla. He didn’t want to hurt her, but people needed to realize that Layla was the kind of woman a man married.

  He normally stayed as far away from the marrying kind of women as he could. A waitress at a café in Texas, a secretary in Arizona—women who weren’t interested in settling down.

  He wasn’t a terrible person; he just didn’t want to lead anyone on. He’d done that in high school, to Layla. He’d been filled with regret ever since.

  And as soon as his leg healed up, he planned on heading out of Dawson. He’d been thinking he might like to hang out in New Mexico for a while. A friend had some bucking bulls down there and he’d asked Gage to help him out, maybe stay at his ranch for a while.

  “Your eyes are glazing over,” Granny Myrna whispered close to his ear. “They’re discussing having you drive one of the wagons.”

  “Good.” He shifted the weight off his leg. When he glanced around he realized they’d lost Brandon. “Where’d the kid go?”

  Layla answered him from where she stood, next to his sister Mia. “He went home with Lewis Marler’s family.”

  “Lewis? Is that a good idea?” He looked from Layla to various members of his family, because no one seemed concerned by the news that Brandon had taken off with some kid named Lewis Marler.

  “He’s fine.” Layla stiffened slim shoulders and turned away from him.

  Next to him, his grandmother laughed a little and she might have whispered a warning, telling him to tread slowly. He ignored the laughter and the warning.

  “You think?” he said. Layla shot him a warning look, the kind that if she’d been a cat would have been accompanied by a warning twitch of her tail.

  “Yes, Gage, I think.”

  “So, I guess we should all head on out to the ranch.” Jackson pushed his cowboy hat on his head, slipped an arm around his wife, Madeline, laughed and walked away.

  Gage watched as the rest of his family dispersed, including his granny Myrna. They left him standing there with Layla Silver.

  He pulled the keys out of his pocket and Layla didn’t move. She had pulled a white knit cap down over her hair but strands still blew around cheeks that were now pink from the breeze. Her gray eyes sparkled with moisture and her lips were glossy from the balm she’d just pocketed in her red coat.

  She was about the prettiest thing he’d ever seen.

  “We should go.” He inclined his head in the direction of his truck.

  She nodded, and he took that as agreement that they’d be riding together. He guessed he’d hoped she would insist on either going home or riding with someone else. Instead she walked next to him back to his truck, both of them silent.

  When they got to the truck he opened the passenger side door for her. She glanced down the road. He figured she was still thinking about Brandon. She brushed hair back from her face, giving Gage a close look at the worry in her eyes.

  “He’ll be fine,” he offered, hoping to take away what looked like the weight of the world on her shoulders.

  “That isn’t what you thought a few minutes ago. Maybe I shouldn’t have let him go.”

  “No, it isn’t. I guess you can’t hold a kid hostage.”

  She nodded and climbed into the truck. Gage stood in the door for a minute, wishing he knew what to say. He wasn’t the Cooper who knew the right words to say. He’d never been the Cooper out rescuing damsels in distress, rushing to the aid of neighbors. His brothers had always been better at the white knight thing. He closed the truck door and a moment later got in behind the wheel.

  “We can go find him, if you want,” he said as he backed out of the parking spot.

  “Maybe I should go home?” She bit down on her bottom lip, her gray eyes focused on the road ahead of them.

  “Why would you do that? Do you have something you need to do?”

  “I always have something that needs to be taken care of. I do need to put plastic over my windows. I need to work with my mare. I should be there to wait for Brandon.”

  “You can keep coming up with excuses, but I also think you need a break. When I take you home, if Brandon isn’t there, we’ll go look for him.”

  A Christmas song played on the radio. Layla listened and she didn’t answer Gage for a long time. Finally she shrugged. “I don’t feel right, showing up at your house for a family event. It’s your family. It’s a Christmas tradition that you all do together.”

  “I think my mom is more excited about you joining us than she is about me being there,” he offered, smiling at her before turning his attention back to the road.

  “Thank you, that’s nice of you to say.”

  “I’m not just saying it. Another Cooper family tradition is that we love to include people. It wouldn’t be Christmas if we didn’t have a big crowd.”

  He turned onto the drive that led up to the Cooper house. Layla looked about ready to jump out of her skin. Yeah, he got it; this place probably did look a little overwhelming to someone who wasn’t used to it. He remembered the look on Mia’s face when she first joined their family. He’d only been a little kid but he had watched from the crowd as they gathered to greet their new sister.

  Layla wasn’t like Mia. His sister had never been quiet, not really. Once she’d gotten used to their family, she’d pushed her way through life. Layla did what she had to do with a quietness that he wasn’t used to.

  But, like Mia, she didn’t seem to want people in her business. She wanted to do it all on her own.

  “It has to get exhausting,” he murmured, not really planning to say it out loud.

  “What?”

  He pulled in next to Jackson’s truck. “Being you. It has to be exhausting. You’ve been a grown-up your whole life, haven’t you?”

  Her lips parted and she blinked. Oh, great, she was going to cry. He hadn’t meant to make her cry. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to come up with something to lighten the mood.

  “You’ve been carrying the load alone, not really letting people help.” He groaned, because that wasn’t any better.

  “People help.” She reached for the door handle, fumbling to find it. He leaned across, moved her hand and opened the door. She leaned back into her seat to avoid his arm.

  He couldn’t avoid her scent. Couldn’t avoid meeting those serious eyes of hers. It took him back to that day in the cafeteria when h
e’d asked her to be his tutor in chemistry. She’d given him that serious look. He’d flirted, smiled, maybe winked, and finally she’d agreed.

  Then he remembered the look in her eyes the day she’d walked around the corner of the hallway and saw him with her best friend. He’d just kissed Cheryl and looked up to see Layla, eyes wide with pain.

  In that moment he’d realized what he’d done to her. It had been eating at him for years. Back then he’d tried to tell her she was too good for him. It had only been words at the time, but as time went on, he’d realized how right he’d been.

  She was still too good for him. But that didn’t stop him from wanting to kiss her. Once upon a time she’d tutored him in chemistry. He was thinking seriously about returning the favor.

  * * *

  Layla saw the look in his eyes change. He’d leaned over to help her with the door because she’d suddenly lost the ability to find a door handle. But something happened. The air got sucked out of the truck, everything stopped, and as he moved to sit back up, his gaze locked with hers.

  Layla pushed the door open and fled the confines of the truck, nearly bumping into Travis Cooper and his wife, Elizabeth. Travis grabbed her arms to steady her.

  “Whoa there.” He grinned and let her go. “Trying to run will only make him chase faster. He’s a lot like a dog after a rabbit that way. Better to freeze and hope he doesn’t see you.”

  Elizabeth’s mouth dropped and she gasped. “Travis, enough.”

  Layla couldn’t agree more. She looked around, rethinking the desire to run, considering the advice Travis had given her, and then wishing she’d brought her own truck. Elizabeth put an arm around her waist. Layla moved from the touch but she smiled at the other woman, hoping she’d understand.

  “They’re like Labrador pups—they can be overwhelming, but they mean well.” Elizabeth should know, she’d once been an only child growing up in St. Louis. Now she had a baby, a husband who could charm stars from the sky and an extended family that filled two pews at the Dawson Community Church.

  “I know they mean well.” Layla watched as Gage walked away with Travis, leaving her to walk with Elizabeth and the baby in her arms.