The Nutcracker Reimagined: A Collection of Christmas Tales

by Le Veque, Kathryn

  Turned out, the town where he suspected Bruce hid was just outside Casper. It was homely as shit. Obviously, lovers of everything organic had built it. Judging by the signs advertising saving the earth every fifty yards, it was almost like a commune.

  There were new age looking shops with bistro type tables on the sidewalk, and it seemed every doorway had water bowls for dogs set just outside them.

  Bruce’s aunt owned a clothing shop, with the ugliest shit he’d ever seen. A sign over the door promised “fabric dyed apparel with natural materials”. It was all in shades of red dirt and puke green. What had the lady done? Had she dipped the stuff in a crapper?

  The aunt greeted him. Dressed in a long caftan-looking outfit in what he would describe as a pea soup green, she claimed weasel boy Bruce wasn’t about. Looking down her nose at him she claimed to not having seen him lately.

  Right and he was the fucking Easter bunny.

  Queue hours driving in circles on watch staring at buildings.

  As the sun dipped and evening shadows stretched, he spotted Bruce’s Prius parked outside what looked to be a salad eatery. Perfect place for the pansy-ass SOB.

  Rick walked in and immediately spotted the guy drinking tea or something with a plate with a sandwich of green stuff in front of him.

  Upon spotting him, Bruce slammed the cup down and narrowed his eyes. “I’m not going to allow you to threaten me again,” the guy snapped before Rick could say anything. “I’ll call Clara and explain.”

  “Explain what? That you were scared off? She’s heart-broken you asshole.”

  “Would you like to try this wheat and kale smoothie?” A blonde with beads hanging from limp braids walked up with a tiny cup of sludge. “It’s good for your bowels.”

  “I bet,” Rick muttered, peering down into the cup. “No thanks.”

  With a loud oomph, he doubled over as a fist sunk into his stomach. The blonde screeched and Bruce dashed past him.

  “Son of a bitch,” Rick coughed and cringed as he stumbled to the door. The Prius was already backing out of the lot.

  Only good thing that happened later that day was a nice hotel in Casper. Just what he needed after over ten hours on the road.

  Early in the morning he’d go home, pack some clothes and the dogs. The following day, he’d head back to the Brooks’ place.

  He called his sister.

  Clara answered on the first ring. “Well did you find him?”

  Shit. So Bruce had not returned home. “He punched me in the stomach and took off before I could talk to him. His aunt said he would go home. Not sure what else I can do. If he doesn’t want to be…”

  “Frederick, don’t you dare speak to me again until you talk to Bruce and bring him home. Do you hear me?” Her voice cracked and Rick let out a breath.

  “Yeah, I hear ya.”

  Rick fell back onto the bed. “Damn it.”

  Chapter Four

  Tired to the bone, Kennedy shuffled to the back of the house and collapsed onto a chair in the enclosed back porch. She’d not go to Harvey’s house for dinner after all. At the moment, all she wanted was a hot bath and a bed.

  After finishing the article that was just at deadline, Lucy had left promising to return in a couple days to go over ideas for a magazine feature and to shoot some blog pictures. “Ranch and Glam,” her online channel and blog was huge, with over a hundred thousand followers and it required hours of work. In her opinion, it was worth it. Living the dream and all that, Online anyway.

  Arnold, pawed at the screen door and then nudged it open with his head. He let himself in making all kinds of announcements in goat-speak. As exhausted as she was, she knew it was useless to ignore the little guy. She’d spoiled him and now it expected treats in the evening.

  “Come on,” Kennedy said with a sigh. “One treat and you’ll go nite-nite, cause I’m done.”

  Content with a fresh carrot, the little goat settled onto a huge dog bed. Who would have thought she’d end up with a goat instead of a dog? Or that she’d live alone on fifty acres in the house of her stupid-ass dreams, for that matter.

  When her stomach grumbled, she shuffled back into the white on white farm style kitchen. Kennedy opened a cabinet, grabbed a box of cereal, and proceeded to make dinner. Cheerios with sugar and milk was served.

  Would Rick Edwards really come back? She wasn’t sure he would, but hoped so. There was too much for Harvey to do alone.

  She needed to address the issue of his living arrangements. He could come and go from the studio. She could lock the connecting door to the main house, but a guy his size would have no problem kicking in the flimsy excuse for a door. Why had she offered him a place?

  Just because he was hunky didn’t mean he wasn’t a pervert or something. Stirring her cereal, she called Tobias.

  “Hey,” Tobias answered, sounding distracted. “What’s up?”

  “Your friend, Rick, stopped by today. Said he’ll work, but asked for a place to crash. Tell me I didn’t make a mistake by offering him the studio? He’s not a pervert or a serial rapist is he?”

  A loud chuckle sounded. “You’ll be fine. If anything he’s pretty standoffish, kind of a loner type. Not sure if he’s a pervert.”

  “How do you know him? I forgot to ask him when he stopped by.”

  “Known the guy and his family since I was a kid. He used to own a cattle ranch not too far from me. Good guy.”

  She pictured the handsome man. Definitely did not seem strapped for cash. “Why would he work for me? Does he need the money?”

  Once again Tobias laughed. “Hell no. He’s well off. But he’s the sort to get bored and for the last year has been living in a small place. Sold his ranch and misses it. Just won’t admit it.”

  “So, I don’t understand. Why not buy a ranch outright? He can save himself the trouble of working here.”

  “He’s the kind that wants to get to know the land. Anyway, I think this will be good for him.”

  “Right. Okay. Thank you.”

  “Yeah. Talk at ya later.”

  For some reason, she narrowed her eyes at the phone. Either Tobias was leaving something out, or she’d grown overly cynical since her break-up.

  Of course, desperation meant she’d put up with a housemate for a month. Heck, at least he was hunky. Maybe she’d get lucky and catch glimpses of him without a shirt on.

  She trudged to the bedroom and fell back onto the unmade bed. Was it pathetic to consider going to bed at eight thirty? Although in her defense, it was already dark outside.

  Her life was reduced to working dawn to dark, eating something that took little effort, followed by an attempt to watch a show or read but falling asleep before too long.

  Other than Lucy, she did meet a few friends in town once a week for lunch and visiting. Leaving the house and hanging out was always a lot of fun.

  At first, she’d been so excited about living on such beautiful acreage. The vision of living on a ranch, in her imagination, had been so much better than reality. Only a year after moving there, she’d grown tired of spending day after day alone in the evenings, while her ex played at cattle ranching.

  When he wasn’t working on the ranch, he’d leave for weeks for cattle auctions and such. It was the “and such” that caused their break up.

  It turned out instead of cows he was into a different kind of heifer.

  Kennedy sat straight up. “Oh no.”

  The studio over the garage stored all her ex-boyfriend’s crap. There was barely any room to move around in there. She’d either have to move everything and clean it or let Rick Edwards stay in the spare bedroom down the hall from hers. Yeah, that wasn’t happening. She didn’t know the guy from Adam.

  “Shit.” She fell back onto the bed. “Great.”

  Instantly wide-awake, she pictured him. She’d never seen anyone that attractive except for maybe in a movie or magazine. The man was exquisite.

  Blowing out a breath, she wondered if perhaps he could
bunk at Harvey’s. No, they only had a two-bedroom place, the extra bedroom was Meg’s sewing room.

  “Ugh!” Kennedy rolled to her stomach and pushed her face into the pillow. Tomorrow she’d deal with it. Right now a hot shower was shouting out her name.

  “Baaaaah!”

  Kennedy shrieked and rolled almost falling out of the bed. Arnold studied her with unblinking eyes.

  “Oh no you don’t. Outside you go.” She stood and tugged the reluctant goat toward the kitchen. “Arnold, I don’t have the time or energy to play with you. Let’s go.”

  Finally, after bribing the darn thing with two more carrots, she was able to settle him back onto the patio. This time ensuring the kitchen door was fully closed, she headed to shower and crash for the night.

  Chapter Five

  Ever so often, Rick glanced at his cell phone and considered calling Kennedy and canceling. He’d woken with a big case of “not feeling it”. Then he remembered, no phone number.

  “Shit.”

  He’d decided to spend another day in Organicville to hopefully find Bruce. He’d been too tired to drive by the guy’s aunt’s house the night before. Although Rick planned to get up and go idiot hunting during the night, he’d passed out and not woken until sunlight filtered through the crack in the curtains woke him.

  Showered and shirtless, he pulled the curtain back to check on his car. It looked fine, which relieved him. He sniffed the air at the aroma of coffee coming from the other room. Coffee sounded like a great idea.

  First things first, call his parents and check on his dogs.

  The sound of his dad’s happy voice made him smile. “They’re great. We just went out for a short walk. Now they’re watching me drink my coffee.”

  Thankfully his parents loved the pair of energetic balls of fur.

  He’d do a drive by Bruce’s aunt’s house and her shop again. Then he’d call his sister to ensure Bruce hadn’t hightailed it back. It would be like Clara not to tell him if that had happened.

  An hour later, Rick spotted the silver Prius just as he headed toward town. It was an easy find since Bruce slowed down beside him and held up a middle finger. A block later, Bruce pulled over and sauntered into his aunt’s shop. Okay, so the guy really didn’t give a shit.

  Something was up. Bruce didn’t particularly seem heartbroken over not seeing Clara. Instead of following the guy into the shop, Rick decided he’d do some investigating. If Bruce had been pulling a stunt and had planned to ditch his sister from the get go, then this time he wouldn’t just threaten the ass.

  The interior of the diner just down the street from Bruce’s aunt’s shop was clean and it smelled good. Actually, Rick was relieved at the sound of frying and smell of bacon.

  A woman with cropped gray hair immediately slid a cup of steaming coffee in front of him as soon as he bellied up to a tall counter. “Hey sugar.” She pointed to a hand drawn menu on the wall. “Bacon, eggs, potatoes and toast. That’s the special today.”

  His lips curved and stomach jumped in anticipation. “Sounds perfect.”

  Other than a man who no doubt was the driver of the big rig that took up the entire side parking lot, the diner was empty.

  “Quiet morning?” Rick asked.

  The woman, whose nametag read “Sally”, laughed. “Only people with sense eat here. The local grass munchers go across the street.” She motioned out the window to another eating establishment. Sure enough, Green Earth Eats, seemed to be buzzing with customers. And by “buzzing” being the place was tiny, but busy with about ten people.

  Sally made a gagging sound. “Who eats that shit?”

  Just then two men walked in and sat at the counter. Both were grumbling about the fact their wives were pissed they refused to eat across the street.

  Just like with him, Sally instantly popped cups in front of them. “Glad to see you escaped.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “Do you know Bruce Martin?” Rick asked when he was on his second cup of coffee and finishing up the toast. “I’m looking for him.”

  Sally leaned both elbows on the counter. “Yeah, his aunt owns the shop just up the street. Sells all kinds of ugly shit.”

  He really liked the lady. Rick laughed. “Why do you live here? You don’t seem the kind. Not that I’m not thankful.”

  “My husband grew up near here.” She hooked a thumb toward the kitchen. “He hides in there and cooks.” Not exactly an answer, but Rick let it go. He waited for her to give him more info on pansy-ass.

  “Bruce is always here on and off. I think he’s sweet on a girl that owns the stationary store lately.” Sally shook her head. “Paper made out of elephant poop. Tell you, these people are crazy.”

  When she walked away to greet people settling at a table, Rick put money on the counter, ensuring a big tip and he walked back out to the cold gloom.

  Two weeks before Christmas. This was not exactly how he wanted to spend the time.

  The next day, he arrived at Kennedy Brooks’ ranch bright and early. Dingo and Chuck, his Labs wasted no time dashing toward the goats. Thankfully the animals were penned. Rick ignored the barking knowing the dogs would soon follow him as he headed to the stables.

  Sure enough the hounds on his heels, he greeted Harvey, who instantly began getting to know the dogs.

  “Today we’re checking all the feed shelters. There are six of them scattered about. Need to ensure they are weather safe. No leaks so the feed stays dry…”

  The man continued to tell him what the plan was for the day. He stopped listening when spotting Kennedy heading towards them. She’d come from behind the stables, obviously working on something since she was taking gloves off.

  When she looked up, their gazes met. She looked away first. No smile, she came to stand beside Harvey. “Good morning.”

  Harvey tugged at a horses lead. “Why don’t you go get your stuff settled while I let these guys out?”

  The rooms over the garage turned out to be much nicer than Rick expected. It was a nice studio apartment built to house one or two people comfortably.

  Kennedy kept her distance, but at the same time seemed friendly enough. “I stocked it with fresh linens and towels. There’s a washer and dryer in the garage below, you’re welcome to use.”

  He couldn’t help but notice how well her form fitting jeans cupped her butt as she went to the small kitchenette. “…coffee maker, microwave…” she rattled off what all was there. He’d have to grab a few groceries. Had only thought to get dog food and dog bowls.

  “Can we sit down and talk business tonight? I’ll have to go to town and grab a bite, but afterwards…”

  “I’ll cook something,” Kennedy interjected. “I’ll have some figures ready and we can talk about what we each expect.” Her gaze lingered on his face and at the slight coloring of her cheeks, Rick almost smiled.

  So she did find him a bit attractive.

  Busy days always went fast, this one was no exception. Before he knew it, it was dark. After feeding the dogs and settling them in the studio, Rick showered, threw on a clean t-shirt, jeans and a thick jacket, he went from his side door to the front of Kennedy’s house. She called out for him to enter.

  The house looked like something out of one of those shows on television. Although the décor was mostly in subtle tones of whites and grays, it was not sterile in the least. The furniture looked comfortable. The table in the eating area was an old refinished farm table with mix-matched chairs, that were also all painted white.

  The room smelled of Italian herbs.

  Kennedy stood behind the kitchen island mixing a salad. Next to her was the baby goat. The critter was munching out of a huge bowl of what looked to be cabbage and carrots.

  She followed his line of vision. “I am not sure what I’m going to do when he grows up. He gets upset when I put him out.”

  Rick eyed the goat that looked up seeming to challenge him to say anything negative. “Looks to be quite at home.”

&nb
sp; “Can you pour the wine please?” Kennedy motioned to a bottle on the counter with her head. “The glasses are right above in the cabinet.”

  After she put Arnold out, they sat down to plates of lasagna, salad, garlic bread and wine. The meal looked and smelled delicious, and Rick wondered why she’d gone to so much trouble.

  It almost felt like a dinner date.

  Chapter Six

  The guy was too hot for words. It was hard for Kennedy to concentrate on eating.

  “Mind if I grab seconds?” he asked and upon her nod, he stood. All six foot something of good-looking went to the kitchen and she watched as much as possible when his back was turned.

  “How old are you?” Hopefully the question came across as friendly curiosity.

  His dark eyes met hers for a beat as he settled back into the chair across from her. “Forty-one, about to turn forty-two next month, actually. Why do you ask?”

  Interesting. “Just curious. Being that you’re thinking of buying, wondered how much experience you’ve got in ranching.” Hopefully it was a good reply.

  Rick shrugged. “Had a ranch for about fifteen years. Kinda miss it.” His brows lowered. “What do you plan to do when you sell?”

  The question was one she’d spent a lot of time considering the night before. “I don’t want to leave this area, my best friend lives here. Plus my parents are not too far either. I’ll probably buy a house with much less land, but enough for Arnold to have some outdoor space.”

  “Taking the goat, huh? What about the two cows out there?”

  It was hard to think of someone mistreating Sandra and Julia. “I am torn. I don’t want to take them, but I doubt anyone will want to keep two cows as pets, three actually, if you count the baby.”

  “The calf,” he corrected with a crooked grin.

  “Right. The calf.”

  They discussed the business aspects and decided Rick would work there for a month or until everything was done. She offered to go with him on horseback to tour the perimeter of the land and explain its aspects but he declined.