Christmas In Montana (Treasures of The Rockies)

by Eason, Mary

  Suddenly, she was afraid of what might be. Not that she had any real choice in the matter. She had to find her grandmother. Because finding Rachel Bowers was the only thing that mattered anymore.

  ****

  This was Rachel Bowers’ granddaughter?

  Matt found it hard to believe the woman sitting before him now was in any way related to the woman he’d grown to love. Or that she had no idea her grandmother had passed away weeks earlier. How could he be the one responsible for telling her about Rachel's passing?

  Unexpectedly, his heart went out to her.

  Rachel was a rare breed of human. The type of woman who truly cared about those closest to her. And he'd grown close to Rachel. Even though his only connection to her was the tiny cabin sitting at the edge of his property she’d rented a few years earlier.

  “Miss Alexander—Kate, when was the last time you spoke to your grandmother?”

  She grew cautious. She knew. He could see it. See the tears gathering even as she struggled to hold them back.

  Kate clutched the arms of the chair, bracing for the worst. “Please, just tell me.”

  Please don’t let her cry. Matt steeled himself to say the words. “Kate, I’m sorry, there’s no easy way of telling you this, but your grandmother passed away three weeks ago.” He paused for a moment, needing to collect himself. Every time he thought about the woman who'd been like his own grandmother, it hurt to think he'd never seeing her again.

  “She’d been ill for a while. Her heart had gotten weak. Then she developed pneumonia and…” Matt swallowed the lump in his throat. He’d begged, pleaded with Rachel to let him take her to the hospital, at least contact Kate. Rachel had refused them both.

  Kate clasped her hand over her mouth. A muffled sob escaped. She appeared stunned, heartbroken. Devastated by the news. She hadn’t known how ill her grandmother was and now it was too late.

  Matt watched her struggle to keep from falling apart. He understood what she was going through. He remembered too well the gut wrenching pain he’d experienced at losing the woman who’d become his rock.

  He tried to recall what Rachel had told him about Kate. She certainly talked about her granddaughter enough.

  Kate would be at least twenty-four by now, yet the combination of her short blond curls and no makeup made her appear much younger. Maybe it was the freckles or those clear green eyes that held innocence in them that Matt had long ago stopped associating with women.

  She was dressed in faded jeans and a white short-sleeved T-shirt that was out of place in this cold gray Colorado afternoon.

  “You’re shivering. Come sit by the fire. The weather here takes some getting used to. Do you have a jacket?”

  Kate followed behind him like a robot while he stoked the dying fire back to life.

  “Thank you.” She cleared her throat, her voice stumbled over the words. “I had no idea she was so ill. I hadn’t spoken to her in a while. I tried…” She stopped, glanced at him as if trying to gauge his reaction to this obvious slip. “There were reasons. My grandmother understood why I couldn’t keep in touch.”

  Matt realized Kate was hiding something dark, yet he didn’t dare open that door. Couldn't go down that road again for anyone. Not even Rachel's granddaughter.

  “My grandmother spoke very highly of you, though. She considered you a friend,” she added. He wasn't really surprised by her revelation. Rachel considered everyone a friend.

  "Did she…suffer?”

  He shook his head. “No, she didn’t suffer. She simply drifted off to sleep one day. And, yes, she was…my friend. She came to visit, forced me to visit her as well,” he added lost in his memories. “Rachel used to bring over cookies and flowers and just talk about how she loved this mountain and her little cabin. How she missed you, wanted you to be happy.” Matt didn't tell her that because of his chats with Rachel he felt as if he knew Kate as well. Yet the reality before him now was nothing like the vibrant picture Rachel had painted.

  Kate got to her feet with difficulty and stood perfectly still for a moment, her eyes closed as if she’d moved too quickly and was close to losing her bearings. One hand clutched her stomach while the other covered her mouth.

  An uneasy feeling propelled him from his chair. “Are you all right?” he asked, quietly surveying her pale face. “You’re as white as a sheet. Do you need me to call a doctor for you?” Matt stopped when she turned and walked to the door. He couldn’t let her leave like this, surely. He owed it to Rachel to take care of her granddaughter.

  Kate rejected his offer immediately. “No. I don’t need a doctor, Mr. Stevens, I’m fine. It’s just the baby. I should be going. I’ve taken up enough of your time already. I’ll be staying in town for a bit. If I may, I’d like to pick up my grandmother’s things whenever it’s convenient for you.” She drew in a deep breath. “Thank you. For being there for my grandmother. For everything.”

  “Of course.” The words tumbled from his lips without thinking. The baby? Kate was pregnant.

  “Kate, wait.” He followed her to the door. Something winged the edges of his conscience. He shoved it back with difficulty. He’d point her in the right direction of a good hotel and that would be the end of it. He'd do his good deed, for Rachel's sake.

  She turned back to him expectantly. “Yes?”

  “There’s only the Landmark Hotel in town, but it’s decent.”

  She smiled for the first time. “Thank you. For everything.” She walked out the door closing it quietly, and it was almost as if Rachel were there, leaning into his ear whispering, Help her. Don’t let her go away alone. She needs you.

  Outside, Kate fired the battered Jeep’s engine and it sputtered into drive. Matt stepped out the door, staring at the plume of dust left from the SUV and wondering about the peculiar, rusty feeling in his heart…the one that whispered that this woman mattered. She seemed to be opening a door he’d slammed shut so long ago.

  A Family For Christmas – Book Two – Treasures Of The Rockies

  Prologue

  Jack’s gaze jerked to the caller ID and locked as the phone continued to ring. He recognized the number, yet he still didn’t answer it immediately. It was Ann Peters. The woman who’d once been his mother-in-law had become far more in recent years. She’d been the one to bring him to God when he’d been close to losing everything. Ann taught him the meaning of faith and forgiveness.

  He’d been expecting her call since he arrived. Dreading it. She was the only one who would be calling at a quarter of midnight. The only one who knew he’d returned to Austin. Jack hadn’t even told his best friend. He’d come back home for personal reasons.

  For Rachel.

  Five years wasn’t so long. Yet it felt like a lifetime since he’d lost her. Would forcing her to face him again be yet another sin added to his growing list of them?

  Please God, no.

  He wanted things to turn out differently between them this time. He was different. He wasn’t the selfish man he’d once been when he’d married her in secret and then left her crying and begging him not to go a few weeks later.

  Even now, with his bags still sitting next to the door, jet lag weighing heavily on his body, he continued to struggle with his conscience.

  Don’t answer it. Let it go. Let the past stay there.

  He wanted to do the right thing. He couldn’t. He still loved Rachel. He’d probably spend the rest of his life loving her, but he’d made so many mistakes.

  When their childhood friendship turned to love, it seemed only natural that they should marry. He’d rushed her into marriage, but he loved her and she loved him. Yet now he wondered if some part of him hadn’t known -- even back then -- what his father’s reaction would be.

  His old man had insisted they have their weeklong marriage annulled and Jack had felt powerless to stand up to him.

  Jack grabbed the receiver before it could ring again. “Hello.”

  “Jack?”

  “Yes, Ann, I’m
here.”

  “I’m sorry to call so late, but I’ve just heard from Rachel. She’s back in Texas. She’ll be home soon.”

  He closed his eyes for a second. Dear God, don’t let me screw things up again. “She doesn’t know?”

  “No, of course not.” Ann’s answer didn’t surprise him, even though he’d wished for a different one.

  “Do you think I’m doing the right thing?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking. “Because I’m not so sure anymore. I know you’re convinced this is the only way I’ll get her to talk to me again, but Mike’s always been adamant about giving Rachel the time she needs to....” To what? Hate him more?

  The frustration in Ann’s sigh assured him she possessed her own doubts. “I know my son feels he’s helping Rachel, but the truth is, my daughter can be very stubborn at times. So can Michael. Rachel has been hurt. She will never come to you on her own. You’ll need to be the one to reach out to her.”

  “What if she refuses to hear me out? What if she doesn’t believe I’ve changed? It has been five years. Perhaps Rachel has moved on, found someone else.”

  Ann’s silence was more frightening than anything he could imagine.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” The uneasy feeling inside his gut threatened to crush what was left of his courage. Ann was never good at keeping things from him. Something was up. He could feel it.

  He’d always suspected there were things Ann hadn’t told him about the night Rachel left. It had stood between them for years, and yet no matter how many times he’d asked, Ann kept her secrets.

  “Rachel will tell you what she wants you to know in time. You have to be patient, Jack. Trust God. Ask for His strength. He won’t let you down. He never does. I’m praying for you.”

  Jack closed his eyes. “I’m trying to be patient. I am praying, but it’s not easy. I was such a fool for listening to my father. I should never have let her leave. Never annulled our marriage. At least then, I would have some tie to her. I should have gone after her, Ann. Should have told her what a mistake I’d made by letting her go.”

  “She wouldn’t have listened to you back then. Rachel has so much hurt inside of her. She’s lost her faith in a lot of things, including God. She’ll need your help in getting it back.”

  His help? How could he possibly hope to help anyone? He felt inadequate.

  “She loved you so much, Jack. I believe she still loves you, although she would never admit it to me. That’s why it wouldn’t have done you any good to go after her back then.”

  “What makes you think she’ll listen to me now? If she’s as hurt and angry toward me as you say, what’s to keep her from refusing outright?”

  He waited through the silence as Ann chose her next words carefully.

  “It’s different this time. Rachel needs you, even though she doesn’t know it yet. My daughter needs your love now more than ever. Don’t let her push you away. Rachel needs your strength.”

  “Strength? That’s a funny way of putting it. I haven’t been strong where Rachel is concerned. Just the opposite, I’d say. She’s my greatest weakness.”

  “And I’d say you don’t know your own strength, Jack Bryant.” Ann reassured him as she had some many times in the past.

  A handful of seconds ticked by as he swallowed back the resurfacing emotions he’d tried to bury deep inside. He remembered every single moment of that final night. Every look. Every tear. Every word. Right down to the last one. Goodbye.

  “Just promise me you’ll listen to what she has to say and be patient.” All the obvious questions ran through his head at Ann’s loaded request. He’d give anything to ask her what she was keeping from him. But if Rachel was stubborn, Ann was even more so.

  “Come to dinner tomorrow night,” Ann urged when he couldn’t voice his doubts. Not that he needed to. She knew. He and Ann had grown close through the years. Maybe even closer than he and Mike were anymore, simply because Mike was fiercely protective of his baby sister and Jack had hurt her deeply. Leaving Rachel had almost cost him Mike’s friendship. Even today, they still weren’t quite back, to where they’d been before that fateful night in June.

  “I don’t know....”

  “I do. It won’t be easy any way you do this. She’ll fight you in the beginning. Come to dinner,” she implored. “You’ll need your family around you when you two talk.”

  Ann always insisted he was still part of her family. He could have argued. Mike certainly didn’t consider him family. Still every single time he heard her refer to him in such a way, some of his hurt lifted.

  “I’ll think about it, okay? You’ll let me know how she’s doing tomorrow.”

  “Yes.” Ann released the word on another weighted sigh. She hadn’t liked his answer, but it was the best that he could give her. In his heart, he truly believed he knew what the outcome would be if he suddenly barged in on the Peters’ household and confronted Rachel . No doubt, that would be the final straw for his eighteen-year friendship with Mike Peters.

  “Ann, I promise I’ll think about it.”

  Her silence made her opinion clear. “I guess that’s all that I can ask of you, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. Thank you, Ann. I love you.”

  For a long time after he ended the call Jack continued to stare out his bedroom window at the lights of the city he’d grown up in. He was exhausted beyond belief. The six-hour flight from New York to Austin had been plagued with delays and bad weather. Even though physically drained, the thought of seeing Rachel again after so long made sleep impossible.

  On an impulse he couldn’t begin to explain, he grabbed his keys and headed downstairs.

  The rented SUV sat in the circular drive where he’d left it. It was only two weeks away from Christmas and yet the Texas night felt mild in comparison to the cold he’d left behind.

  He told himself he just needed to clear his head. Get some air. Yet, he knew exactly where he was heading even before the Range Rover turned onto Ann Peters’ quiet suburban street.

  Jack parked the SUV a few houses down. Ann’s lights were on. Of course, she’d be waiting up for her daughter to arrive, no doubt pacing the kitchen floor with coffee cup in hand. How many times had he watched her do that exact same thing while he pleaded with her to tell him where Rachel had gone.

  Against his will, Jack’s thoughts went back to that night long ago. It had been here, in front of Ann’s home that he’d tried again to make Rachel understand why he was ending their marriage. She hadn’t listened then any more than she had when he’d first told her over dinner. She’d simply run away. Into Ann’s house and out of his life. When he learned she left town, he thought he’d lost her for good. Thanks to Ann, he had a second chance. It was up to him to make it work.

  Capturing The Prodigal’s Heart – Book Three of Treasures Of The Rockies

  Chapter One

  Brady Samuels squinted through the windshield as heavy snow continued to fall. A fitting end to his miserable day.

  He wasn’t sure why he even tried anymore. Every single time he and his father spent more than a few minutes in each other’s company the outcome was the same. They ended up arguing about Brady’s irresponsibility.

  At twenty-nine you would think the old man would have given up a long time ago on Brady ever living up to his expectations.

  As much as Brady wanted to have something resembling a normal father-son relationship, every single visit only proved how impossible that would ever be. They might be father and son, but there wasn’t much love between them.

  He could almost understand why his mother had left all those years ago. Katie Samuel never quite lived up to the name either. She’d been a screw up just like her son, just as his father was happy to remind him of each time they got into this same old tired argument. Now after another wasted Saturday, the finishing touch to this miserable day had come when, on an impulse, he’d chosen to take this deserted stretch of road. Normally, it would be a shortcut, but not today.

&nb
sp; The conditions at this altitude grew worse with every mile the Jeep climbed the steep side of Redemption Mountain, forcing Brady to slow the vehicle’s speed down to a crawl to keep from sliding off the edge. So much for the shortcut.

  A fitting end to a miserable day.

  The headlights of the Jeep caught something strange up ahead. It looked like smoke coming from just up the road, but it was still too early in the season for forest fires.

  The low beam found a break in the snow- covered road made by a set of tire tracks that started twenty feet ahead and went straight over the edge of the mountain. They appeared to be fresh.

  Brady slammed on the breaks, felt the Jeep shudder, but manage to grip the road, all the while he breathed a silent prayer for four-wheel drive. He hit the SUV’s flashers and got out of the vehicle, reaching for his cell phone in the process.

  It was almost impossible to see over the side of the road through the driving snow. He made out what appeared to be a small car wedged in a group of aspen trees, its front end crushed beyond recognition. Smoke billowed up from its wasted engine. As far as Brady could see, there wasn’t any fire... yet.

  After several attempts, Brady was able to get a signal to call 9-1-1.

  “9-1-1 operator. What is your emergency.”

  “There’s been an accident halfway up County Road Twelve on Redemption Mountain. I need air-flight services dispatched immediately. ” Brady did his best to relay what sketchy details he had to the operator. “I’m going down to see if I can help. I’ll probably lose you on my way down. Call Marshal Stewart and let him know what’s happened.” The marshal, a close friend would probably want to send out the local EMS team to do what they could until the air-flight crew arrived out of Denver.

  Brady’s stumbled over the frozen terrain as he made his way slowly down the mountain, managing with difficulty to keep his footing through the deep ice and snow that was still there keeping the ground frozen from the winter storms. At fourteen thousand feet it took months of warm days for this much accumulation to melt.