A Cowboy for Christmas: A Contemporary Christian Romance NOVELLA

by Debra Ullrick

  She shook her head, sending stray blonde pieces of hair dancing. “I can’t afford to pay you.”

  “Then I’ll work for free. I don’t need the money.”

  Her eyes came up to his. “What do you mean you don’t need the money?”

  “I’ve saved a pretty nice nest egg. I can live a good eight years or more on what I have saved. So, what do you say? Is the job mine?”

  “You’re serious, aren’t you?” Her eyes searched his.

  “Dead serious.”

  In the next second, Callie pressed her lips against his cheek, then sat back in the booth and acted as if that kiss wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. But it was. It was a huge step in the right direction. Things were looking up. And he couldn’t be happier about that.

  Chapter Four

  Later, with the evening chores finished, inside the kitchen, Callie, Dustin and her mom sat down at the dinner table.

  When Dustin finished praying over their food, Callie raised the lid on the electric stainless steel chafing dish and breathed in the smell of Kentucky Chili. It was a delicious chili recipe with elbow macaroni in it that her mom had found on the Internet. They had both quickly grown to love it so much especially on cold, dark winter nights like this one.

  Each one filled their bowl and sat back to chow down.

  “Did you two have a nice time in town today?” her mom asked, looking back and forth between them. The concealer makeup under her mother’s eyes didn’t do a very good job of hiding the dark circles under them. Today, her mother looked much older than her forty-four years.

  Concern wove through Callie. Once again, her mother had had a rough day. Would her mother’s pain ever end? Would hers?

  “We had a great time,” Dustin answered for which Callie was glad for. “But, Callie’s sure a booth hog.”

  Her mom frowned and looked over at Callie.

  “Me?” She pointed to herself. “You’re the one who had me pressed me up against the wall so tight I could barely breathe.”

  “Me?” he snorted softly. “My ribs still hurt from when you elbowed me.” He rubbed the spot she’d elbowed. “I’m not made for such rough-handling.”

  Yeah right. Who was mister buff, rough, and tough, macho cowboy trying to kid anyway? For as long as she’d known him, Dustin Lockwood was one tough cookie.

  “You elbowed him in the ribs?” Her mom took a bite of her soup but never took her eyes off of Callie. “I thought I raised you better than that.”

  “You did. I only elbowed him because he wouldn’t move over. Not my fault the guy won’t take a hint.” Callie sprinkled her soup with oyster soup crackers and took a bite.

  “And do you know what else she did to me, Barb?”

  Callie yanked her attention over to Dustin, her own eyes growing wide. He wasn’t going to tell her mom that she had kissed him on the cheek, was he? She stared at him with pleading eyes, chewing the food in her mouth fast, waiting, hoping and praying that that wasn’t what he was about to say.

  “No. Do I want to know?” her mother asked, picking up his glass and filling it with milk.

  Callie swallowed her food.

  “She ate the last deep fried dill pickle spear. And I know you raised her better than that.” He grinned over at Callie, smirking about the barb as if he was immensely proud of himself.

  Whew. Nothing about the kiss. She could breathe now.

  “Can you believe it? The last one.” He clutched his chest and acted as if it was the worst possible thing that could ever happen. “All I got was two and she ate four.”

  Her mom shook her head and laughed. “My goodness. What awful mountain manners.”

  “Yeah, well, who snitched the last of the sour cream that was for my burrito, huh?” Callie bantered back, dipping into her soup.

  “Me.” He said it so matter-of-factly and so innocently and so cute that her mom laughed again.

  “Pickle stealing? Sour cream stealing? You two had quite an eventful afternoon,” her mother said with a smile of pure contentment and with a twinkle in her eye as she scooped up a spoonful of soup and ate it.

  It was such a treat to hear her mother laugh again and to see genuine joy on her face. At that moment, Callie was so glad Tripp had sent Dustin to them. He was great therapy. For both of them. Thinking of Tripp... “Mom.” Callie set her spoon down. “Dustin was wondering… if he can’t find a job if he could stay on and help us. He said he won’t charge us. What do you think?” She looked at her mother, hoping she’d say yes. Of course, they would find some way to pay him, not doing so was simply out of the question.

  “Oh, Dustin, we couldn’t let you do that.” Her mom shook her head back and forth adamantly. “We don’t take advantage of our friends like that.”

  “Sure you could. Besides, it’s not taking advantage at all. Matter of fact, you’d be doing me a huge favor if you did.” He glanced over at Callie, sending her a silent message. One that said he was here to stay.

  Her mom eyed him skeptically. “How would we be doing you a favor?”

  “Well.” He shoved his bowl away from him. Leaning forward, he settled his arms on the table and clasped his hands. “The truth is, I miss living up here. I miss the mountains. And I really miss you guys.” He glanced at Callie first then at her mom. “I could stay out in the bunkhouse. Well, as soon as I got rid of the skunks, that is.”

  Callie and her mom laughed.

  “You wouldn’t have to feed me or anything. And I would even pay the utilities and any other expenses my being here would cause.”

  Her mom looked at Callie then back at Dustin. A smile so tiny it shown only in her eyes at first finally curled onto her lips, but Callie saw it coming just the same. “You work for us, we feed you. No arguing. It’s settled. But they’ll be no moving into the bunkhouse until summer. With all the ice around the place, you can’t even get to the skunks. Besides, it’ll take a miracle to get rid of those little stinkers and the odor in that place.”

  Callie shook her head, wondering what had just happened. One minute her mother was against his working here, and the next he was hired. What was next? How did that happen? The craziest thing was she couldn’t even be sure how she felt about it. One part of her wanted her mother to okay the plan; the other had hoped she would say no. Now, like it or not, Dustin was here to stay at least for the foreseeable future.

  After dinner, she and Dustin stood at the kitchen sink. He rinsed off the dishes while she loaded them in the dishwasher.

  “Told you I was staying.” Dustin shoulder-bumped Callie.

  Being here with Dustin, doing something as menial as dishes even, brought a wave of contentment sweeping across Callie’s heart.

  “Oh, yeah? Well, you’d better behave, or I’ll douse you with the sprayer.” She held it up and aimed it at him.

  With one quick motion, he clutched her wrist and turned the sprayer away from him. Reaching under her arm, he shut the water off. “Oh, no you don’t, Cal-girl. Don’t even think about it.”

  In the next second, his face was mere inches from hers. The scent of pine and ruggedness whirled through her senses, and the world flipped and spun like a funhouse around her. Neither one moved, except for the blink Callie did to settle her tilting world.

  His focus dropped to her lips, and her heart dropped to his.

  Her mouth closed, and she swallowed. He was going to kiss her, and she couldn’t get herself talked into that being a bad thing.

  Dustin moved his head closer to hers.

  “Oh, I forgot to ask you, Dustin,” her mother said, breezing back into the room with a handful of dessert dishes they’d forgotten to gather.

  Instantly, Dustin yanked his head up, whipped around, and stepped back, leaving Callie blinking and wondering what had just happened.

  She turned back to the dishes and started scrubbing the already clean pan with a vengeance. Was she imagining things, or was Dustin Lockwood about to do what she’d spent the past five years dreaming about him doing? O
h, Cali-girl, get it together. Please don’t freak out and let Mom figure out what was happening.

  Barb looked at him, then Callie, and her lips tilted upward. She cleared her throat. “I was just wondering. Did you talk to your brother today about your mom and Christmas?”

  “Oh. Uh. No. I haven’t had a chance.” Dustin reached up and scratched the back of his head. “I’ll go do that now.” He glanced at Callie who obviously had no intention of looking anywhere other than the pan she was scouring the non-stick coating off of. “Sorry, but you’re on your own with the dishes. But, we’ll continue what we started later.”

  Her eyes darted up to his, and he sent her a wink for her eyes only.

  Her mouth fell open as shock rippled through her.

  With one more wink, he smiled at her. That smile and wink went clear through her, melting her like butter in a hot skillet. If those two things had this kind of effect on her, she wondered what kind of effect his kisses would have on her.

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  If only Barb hadn’t come into the room when she had. Dustin was about to kiss Callie. Something he’d dreamt of for as long as he could remember. Well, with any luck and a lot of prayer, he’d still get his chance.

  He glanced over at Barb, standing only feet away. She was smiling and her eyes ping-ponged back and forth between him and Callie.

  She knew. And approved. That meant a lot to Dustin.

  He sent her a smile before he dried his hands, laid the dishtowel across the drying rack, and strode toward the basement stairs.

  Once he hit the basement, he pulled out his cell phone and called his brother. It took next to nothing to get not only his brother Calvin but Dave and his mother to agree to his plan.

  Twenty minutes later, everything was settled, including his surprise. With that taken care of, he headed back upstairs. The second step from the top, he froze when he heard Barb’s voice in the kitchen. He knew he shouldn’t eavesdrop, but they were talking about him and her dad, and he had to hear Callie’s response without her knowing he was listening.

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  “Callie, you can’t let what your father did stop you from pursuing a future with Dustin.”

  “Wh—what?” she sputtered, shocked that her mom had noticed. Then again, she must have seen that Dustin was about to kiss her before. How could one miss something like that? He hadn’t exactly tried to hide his intentions. Callie dried her soapy hands off and leaned her hip against the kitchen counter, the rest of the dishes all but forgotten.

  “Look,” her mother said gently. “I’m not blind. I see the way you two look at each other. The way you two have always looked at each other.”

  Callie’s mouth fell open. “But… but…”

  “No buts.” Her mother took over, pushing her from the sink. “Now the question is, what are you going to do about it?”

  While she wanted to protest or explain or rationalize or something, Callie simply dropped her head. “I don’t know. I’m scared, Mom.”

  “I’m sure you are, and I understand your fear, Cal. Your dad didn’t just leave me, he left you too. I have no explanation for that, nor am I even going to try to figure out what I myself can’t understand. But what I do know is, Dustin’s a good man. A Godly man. Your father, he was a good man too. But he always had a wondering eye. I knew that when I married him. Dustin’s not like that.”

  “How do you know he’s not like Dad?”

  “Not all men are like your father, Callie.” How could her mom say that after what her dad had done to her? “They’re not. Some of them are the kind who will keep a promise, stand up for what’s right, and break their neck to not let you down. Dustin’s one of those kind.”

  The tears started bubbling up inside her once again, and Callie wasn’t sure she could hold them down. “Why do you think he left us, Mom? What did we do wrong?”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong. So get that out of your head right now. Every night after your father left, I went to bed and tried desperately to figure out what I did. If I should have done something differently. Some things I should have. The signs were all there. I saw him flirting with Dee. Touching her. Hugging her more than what was appropriate. I guess I thought if I ignored it, it would go away. But it didn’t. I should have never let Dee move in with us. But, if it wouldn’t have been her, it would have been someone else.”

  “But how do you know that?”

  “Because, Dee wasn’t the first woman he cheated on me with.”

  “What?” Callie gasped. “What do you mean?”

  Her mother continued washing the dessert dishes. “You remember Brianna?”

  Callie shook her head.

  “Bree Amiose?”

  Oh, yeah, her. She nodded.

  “Then there was Leann Smith. Martha Zenna. Only to name a few.”

  Callie couldn’t believe her ears. Her father had cheated on her mom with several different women. “Why did you stay with him when he cheated on you so much?”

  “Because I loved him.” Her mother shrugged and set the plates and cups to drain. “Still do.” She smiled wistfully. “Weird, I know. Right?”

  “But how…? How could you still love him after what he’s done?” Anger at her father for the way he had treated her mother spewed inside Callie like a volcano ready to erupt.

  Her mother shrugged. “I don’t know. I just know I do.”

  How could she shrug it off as if it were nothing? “If he came back home tomorrow, would you take him back?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Not because I don’t love him, but because I won’t ever let him disrespect me like that again.”

  Callie took a step back at that one. She was shocked to hear her mother talking like that. Especially since she thought her mother’s self-esteem was lying in the gutter.

  “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not quite there yet, but I’m learning to respect myself.” Her mom pushed off of the counter, and cupped Callie’s chin, forcing her to look at her. “Listen, I didn’t tell you all of that to make you feel bad toward your father, Cal. He was a good man. His one fault was he had a weakness for women.”

  The volcano inside her erupted. “Yeah? That might be true, Mom, but he was a married man. Married. That’s supposed to mean something,” she spewed. “If he had a weakness for women, he should have never gotten married in the first place.”

  “If he hadn’t, you wouldn’t be here. And the truth is, I’d go through it all again just to have you, Callie. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  Her mother’s words softened her anger. She put her arms around her mom and hugged her. “I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you too, Callie.” Her mother was the first to pull away. “Now, let’s get these dishes finished before Dustin comes back up and finds out we’ve been slacking.”

  Callie smirked at her mother. “Maybe we should wait until he does and make him help us. That would teach him not to be so smug.”

  “I heard that.” Dustin strode back into and then through the kitchen, making a B-line into the living room.

  Leaving the few remaining dishes, Callie trotted toward him and stopped him right before he sat down. “Oh. No. You. Don’t. Mister. There’s no resting until the dishes are done. Remember, I’m the boss.” She grinned at him and lifted her eyebrows.

  With that, she turned to leave, but he grabbed her, “Oh, yeah? Well, what if I do this?” In one motion, he tugged her down, laid her over his lap, and started tickling her sides. Something he’d done a million times before. And every time, the only reason she let him was because she loved being close to him.

  “Are you kidding me? Dustin! Dustin! Stop!” Callie giggled and squirmed until she could barely breathe. “Uncle, uncle,” she finally wheezed through another bout of giggles.

  He lifted both hands an inch from her. “If I stop, are you going to behave?”

  She bobbed her head.

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.” Panting, she f
ought to catch her breath.

  “Okay, but if you don’t, I’ll take you down and tickle you again.”

  “Will you two behave?” her mom said, stepping past them and sitting down in her recliner closest to the woodstove.

  “Behaving is highly overrated,” Dustin teased, letting Callie go.

  Contentment wrapped around Callie’s heart as she sat down next to him and let him put his arm around her. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe Dustin was different. One thing was for sure in her mind and heart, having him here, and knowing he wasn’t going anywhere, warmed her more than any hot woodstove ever could. She let her eyes go up to his and when his came to hers, she knew this was right. Dustin Lockwood was a man she could give her heart to and never question if it would be safe. Just then, he leaned down toward her and brushed her lips with his. It wasn’t long or lingering, but it sealed their new relationship far deeper than she had ever believed possible.

  Snuggling in to his embrace, Callie couldn’t wait to share every moment of the coming Christmas season with him, and if she was really lucky, every Christmas season after that as well.

  Sitting there, curled up in his arms, she finally let herself dream, and what amazing dreams they were. Who knew, maybe she would end up getting a cowboy for Christmas after all.

  Epilogue

  The next five days flew by in a blur. There were gifts to buy, presents to wrap, and cookies to bake. Since the day her father left, Callie had never seen her mom so happy.

  In no time, Christmas Eve was upon them, and Sherry, Dustin’s mom was coming up later on in the afternoon. Callie could hardly wait to see her again. She loved her almost as much as her own mother. Always had. There was just something so right about being with Dustin’s family.

  “You got the table set, Cal?” Her mother flitted about the kitchen, moving and adjusting things until she had them placed perfectly. The whole ranch never looked better. “Did you set the presents out?”