A Cowboy for Christmas

by Bobbi Smith

  Dan could feel her trembling, and took her by the shoulders and held her back away from him so he could look down at her. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes,” she said breathlessly.

  “He didn’t hurt you?” Dan glanced fiercely at the other man, who was backing away, before looking back down at her.

  “No, you showed up just in time.”

  A rush of unexpected emotions jarred him as he gazed at Penny. Her beauty and innocence touched him in a way he’d never experienced before, and a tremor of sensual awareness stirred within him at the feel of her so close to him. Dan called upon his strict self-control to force it away.

  “Go back inside with Dwylah,” he said. “And here, give this to her.” He handed Penny the small prayer book.

  “You found it.” She took the book from him.

  “Yes. Now go.”

  Still upset over all that had happened, Penny cast one last quick look in the other man’s direction. Then without saying another word, she hurried back into the station.

  Lee was still standing there, leering at Penny as he watched her go.

  “Wipe that look off of your face,” Dan snarled. “You don’t look at a lady that way.”

  “So, you’re wanting to keep her all for yourself, are you? I saw the way you was looking at her.” Lee sneered at him. “You just don’t want to share her.”

  His insult to Penny’s character infuriated Dan, and Dan covered the distance between them in an instant. Before Lee could even react, Dan hit him and knocked him to the ground. He stood over him, glaring down at him. His tone was as cold as the look in his eyes when he told him, “Miss Anderson is a lady. Remember that. Don’t ever go near her or talk about her again. Do you understand me?”

  Lee was quaking as he wiped the blood from his lip. Angry as the man seemed to be, Lee was afraid he might go for his gun, and he was real relieved when he didn’t. “Yeah.”

  “What?” Dan demanded.

  “I understand you.”

  Dan gave him one last threatening look and started to turn away to go check on Penny. It was then that he saw the driver and the man riding shotgun come out of the stable with the man’s two friends to see what was going on. After Dan had given an account of the situation, the driver pronounced: “You and your friends won’t be riding out with us in the morning.”

  “What?” Pete snarled, stepping up to the driver.

  “We’ve got ladies on this run,” the driver said, “and we don’t need men like your friend, here, causing trouble for them.”

  “We paid our fares!” Lee argued.

  “Yes, you did, and that’s why I’m letting you wait here at the station for the next stage that’s coming through. There will be one the day after tomorrow,” the driver dictated.

  The three men wanted to argue, but they knew there was no use.

  “All right.” Lee gave in. Both the driver and the man riding shotgun looked real mean, and though he and Pete and Carl were always ready for a good fight, he didn’t see any point in trying to take them. One more night at the way station wouldn’t matter.

  “And listen up!” the driver continued. “I don’t want you anywhere near the women. You and your friends will be sleeping out in the stable tonight.”

  “Yeah,” he replied again.

  Again, Pete and Carl glared at their friend but said nothing. It wasn’t unusual for Lee to get himself in trouble.

  Dan was satisfied with the way the driver had handled things. He left them to go check on Penny and found her in the main room with Dwylah, the stationmaster, and his wife.

  Knowing they needed a moment alone, the stationmaster and his wife went out to talk to the driver and find out all that had happened.

  “The driver’s taken care of things.” Dan explained to Penny and Dwylah what the driver had ordered the three men to do.

  “That’s good. That’s real good. Thank you, Dan,” Dwylah declared, very proud of him.

  Dan looked to Penny once more. Why, if anything had happened to her, he would never have forgiven himself. “From the way things are going, I’m not going to be able to let you out of my sight even for a few minutes. I told you to wait inside.”

  Penny was a little shocked by the fierceness of his tone. “I’m sorry.”

  He went on, “From now on, I may just have to tie you up and keep you with me all the time.”

  Dwylah stood silently back, watching the interaction between them with more than a little interest and fighting down a smile.

  The stationmaster came inside then. “I’m glad you weren’t injured, Miss Anderson. Sometimes the boys on these runs can get a little wild, but it’s all taken care of now.”

  Dwylah spoke up. “Yes, it is, and I think it’s time for us to call it a night.”

  “I think you’re right,” Penny agreed. She looked up at Dan once more, trying to judge his mood. His expression was closely guarded, though, so she couldn’t really tell what he was thinking. In that moment, she almost felt as if he were her guardian angel. He had been there to save her when she’d been in trouble. She didn’t even want to think about what might have happened if he hadn’t come to help her when he did. She reached out to gently touch his arm, and in that simple touch she could feel the strength of him. “Dan, thank you.”

  Dan nodded, all too aware of her hand on his arm.

  Dwylah wasn’t about to let him off that easily. When Penny moved away, she went after him.

  “Come here, you,” she declared, grabbing Dan by the arm.

  Her move surprised him, and he frowned slightly as he looked down at her, wondering what was troubling her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong.” She kept her hold on his arm and pulled him down to her so she could kiss his cheek. “You’re my hero, Danny.”

  It was the first time anyone had called him Danny in years, and it touched something deep within him, hearing it from her. He couldn’t help himself; even as serious as he was right then, he found himself smiling down at her. “I was just doing my job, ma’am.”

  Dwylah’s heart swooned at the change in him when he smiled. She’d always thought he was handsome, but he had always been so serious. Now, when he smiled at her—why, she thought he was downright breathtaking. “Oh, you! Good night.”

  “Good night,” he told them, and he kept watch until they were safely in the back room with the door locked.

  It was a short time later as Penny and Dwylah were getting ready for bed that Dwylah brought up the topic she’d been pondering for some time now.

  “I’ve been thinking . . .” Dwylah began.

  She sounded so serious, Penny grew curious. “What about?”

  “About how lucky you are.”

  “I am?”

  “Oh yes. Didn’t you hear Danny? He said he wasn’t going to take his eyes off of you. He said he might even tie you up and keep you with him all the time from now on,” she finished with an impish grin. “You would definitely be one lucky lady if he decided to do that.”

  “Oh, Dwylah!” Penny couldn’t help it. She started laughing with her outrageous friend.

  “You know, he is so sweet—and so handsome. I was just wondering if I could convince the stage driver to take us to the nearest justice of the peace, so I could get him to marry me before somebody else snatches him up.”

  “A woman could do a lot worse,” Penny told her, remembering what it had felt like to be in his arms.

  Both women were smiling as they went to bed.

  As Penny lay curled on her side on the hard cot, the memory of the whole scene with the man named Lee returned. A shiver of disgust went through her at the thought of his hands upon her, and in the same moment, she remembered how she’d felt when Dan had drawn her to him. A distant memory of dancing with Richard at the ball returned, and Penny realized being in Dan’s arms had been far more exciting than being in Richard’s. She was wondering what it would be like to dance with Dan—or even to kiss him—as she drifted off to sle
ep.

  And she was in Dan’s thoughts as he lay awake on his cot in the back room. He was still angry with himself over what had almost happened to her that evening. He hadn’t really let his guard down, but he knew he would have to be even more vigilant on the rest of the journey. He couldn’t let any harm come to her.

  For a moment, Dan remembered how it had felt to hold Penny close and he fought back a groan as he rolled over, seeking sleep. He knew he wouldn’t get any rest at all if he kept thinking about Penny.

  At dawn, everyone was up and moving.

  “The weather’s clear and cold today,” the driver remarked when he pulled the stage up in front of the way station and jumped down to help load up the luggage. “We should make some real good time.”

  “That’s good news. The sooner we get to Sagebrush, the better,” Dan said as he came out of the station with the women. He caught sight of Lee standing near the stable and gave him a look that sent him scurrying back into the stable. After helping the women into the stage, Dan climbed in, too, and sat down opposite them.

  “All right,” Dwylah began. “Now is the perfect time.”

  “The perfect time for what?” Dan asked, sensing she was up to something.

  “It’s the perfect time for you to tell us some of your stories about the Wild West! I need to learn all I can about ranching before we get to the Lazy Ace.”

  “So you’re planning on staying on at the ranch?”

  “For as long as Penny needs me,” she affirmed. “Now—what’s the most exciting thing that’s happened to you?”

  “Well, there was the time when I was working for another spread and there was an Indian raid—”

  “Indians?” Dwylah’s eyes widened with interest. “Tell me everything!”

  And he did—within reason.

  Chapter Twelve

  Six days later

  Lacey McCormick was desperate. In her life, when things got bad, they usually always got worse, and now it had happened again.

  Here she was, walking along the dusty road, wearing a thin coat over her red satin working dress from the Midnight Saloon, and her riding boots. Lacey was thankful that she’d been able to escape the saloon last night and get this good head start. Otherwise Phil, the saloon owner, might have caught up with her already.

  At the thought that Phil might be coming after her, Lacey glanced quickly back the way she’d come. She was relieved there was no sign of anyone behind her as far as she could see. She didn’t really know if he would try to track her down or not, but she wasn’t going to take any chances or let her guard down—not yet.

  Lacey had told Phil when she’d started working for him that she wouldn’t do anything more than wait tables. He had been satisfied with her work for quite a while, but when some of the ranch hands started to offer him a lot of money for the chance to get her upstairs, Phil had changed. He had tried to convince her to start really “working” at the saloon, but she’d refused and had threatened to quit. Then last night, one of the other saloon girls had warned her that she’d heard some of the wilder boys planning to get her upstairs that very evening, and in that moment, she’d realized she had no choice.

  She had to get out of there—

  She had to run.

  So Lacey had gotten her horse and had ridden out of town before any of them had noticed she was missing. She’d ridden all night and had been making good time until midmorning, when her horse had gone lame. She’d turned the horse loose, and now was alone and on foot, carrying her canteen with her. She kept hoping she might run into someone who could help her, but with the way her life had gone so far, she was reasonably certain that wasn’t going to happen.

  It was up to her to save herself.

  She just had to keep moving.

  Lacey thought about praying for help, but wondered if it would do any good. She’d been praying for a miracle in her life for a long time, and look where it had gotten her—she was alone in the middle of nowhere with only a few dollars to her name. Even so, she offered up a silent prayer for help and guidance.

  She started to cry, but finally with an effort, she forced her weaker emotions away. She had to be strong right now. She couldn’t give up. She still remembered her grandma telling her when she’d been a little girl that life was all about surviving, and she knew that’s what she had to do now.

  Lacey kept moving down the rocky road. If nothing else, she hoped she might find a way station where she could stay until the next stagecoach came through. That one thought kept her going.

  Nick sat next to Steve on the stagecoach, watching the boy as he all but hung out the window staring at the passing landscape. Even after all these days of traveling, Steve was still excited to get up every morning and get on the road again. Nick knew he’d done the right thing bringing him along. This trip was an adventure for him and one he would remember his whole life.

  Nick also knew Steve wouldn’t be the only one remembering this trip. Just the thought of possibly being reunited with Danny again lifted his spirits and excited him, too. He realized there was a good chance Danny wouldn’t be in Sagebrush when they finally got there, but he tried not to think about that right now. One way or another, he was going to track his brother down. He’d come this far and he wasn’t going to give up. He couldn’t wait to see Danny’s expression when they faced each other for the first time. The thought alone made him smile.

  “You thinkin’ about your brother?” Steve asked as he glanced back at Reverend Miller.

  “Yes, how did you know?”

  “You’re smilin’,” he answered simply.

  “It could be I’m just having fun,” Nick teased him.

  “Are you?”

  “Yes. This is one exciting trip for me.”

  “Me, too,” Steve said. He knew he would always be grateful to Reverend Miller for bringing him along.

  There was a middle-aged married couple sitting across from them, and the woman remarked with more than a little disbelief, “You both think this trip is exciting?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Steve answered. “Reverend Miller’s going to see his brother again.”

  “Oh, you’re not his son?” she asked in surprise, looking between them.

  Her question surprised and touched Steve. He looked up at the reverend as he answered, “No, ma’am. I’m an orphan and Reverend Miller takes care of me at the Children’s Home in St. Louis.”

  She looked at the young preacher with even more respect. “That’s quite a calling you have, Reverend Miller.”

  “Yes, ma’am, it is,” he agreed, smiling at Steve. “I’ve been very blessed to work with the children, especially Steve.”

  “And it seems the children have been blessed to have you,” she replied. “We’re the Wilsons, by the way.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You, too.”

  They fell into an easy silence for a while, and Steve eventually nodded off, nestled against Nick’s side. Nick looked down at the sleeping boy and knew how special he truly was. He certainly could sympathize with what Steve was going through. He understood all his troubled emotions, having suffered the same fate all those years ago when he and Danny had been left at the orphanage. It was that memory that had made him determined to be there for Steve and the other children, in good times and in bad. The thought that the lady traveling with them believed Steve was his son had touched him deeply. Nick would have been proud to claim him as his own.

  It was over an hour later when they were all startled by the stagecoach coming to a sudden, abrupt halt.

  “What is it, dear?” Mrs. Wilson asked. “We’re not getting robbed, are we?”

  Her husband took a quick look out the stage window. “I don’t see anything . . .” He leaned farther out and yelled, “Driver! What’s wrong?”

  “Take it easy, folks. It’s nothing to worry about,” the driver called back. They heard him jump down from his bench.

  “Wait here, Steve,” Nick said. “There might b
e something blocking the road. I’ll go see if I can help him.”

  “I could help, too,” Steve was quick to offer.

  “Let me make sure it’s safe, first.”

  “Yes, sir.” The boy nodded obediently and sat back.

  Nick got out of the stage and went up to see what was going on. He’d expected it to be something simple from the way the driver had talked, and he was shocked by what he discovered. The driver was standing in the road, talking with a beautiful, young, blonde-haired woman. Nick frowned, wondering how in the world she’d come to be in the middle of nowhere on foot, and then his expression darkened even more as he realized the girl was wearing a light coat over a rather short red dress that showed a length of her legs and a pair of riding boots. His instincts told him she was in trouble, and he knew they couldn’t just leave her there on her own.

  “I appreciate you stopping. My horse went lame some miles back and I’ve been on foot ever since. I’ve got some money. I can pay you fifty cents if you’ll take me with you. I’ll even ride up on top if there’s no room in the stage.”

  “You need any help, Jim?” Nick asked as he moved forward.

  Lacey had been so desperately trying to convince the driver to take her along that she hadn’t heard the other man get out of the stage, and she was startled by his presence. She was used to dealing with men like the driver and the hard-drinking cowhands, and her eyes widened a bit at the sight of the handsome stranger coming their way. He looked to be quite a gentleman.

  “Our little missy here does,” the driver replied. He looked to the girl again and said, “Climb on up with me.”

  Nick understood what the driver was doing, but he quickly interceded. “There’s room in the stage. She can ride with us. It’ll be warmer in there.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes,” Nick answered without hesitation.

  “All right, come on,” the driver told her. “Let’s get you in the stage. I’m already behind schedule.”