Cowboy Christmas Jubilee

by Dylann Crush

  “Okay, you can drive me. But only because I know how much Kenzie likes to take Hendrix for a ride in the truck.”

  “Hey, I’ll take it.” Instead of kissing her like he’d been dreaming about, he let go of her hand. “You need to run by the bunkhouse before we head out?”

  She slung her backpack over her shoulder. “Nope. I’ve got it all here. Kenzie, do you want to bring Hendrix? If your dad says it’s okay, you can take care of him tonight, and I’ll get him in the morning.”

  “Watch this, Daddy! Jinx taught me how to do a trick with him.” Kenzie told Hendrix to sit, then nodded to Jinx. The first bars of “Jingle Bells” started to play from Jinx’s phone. Hendrix sat up on his hind legs and began to howl along with the song. Kenzie collapsed into a fit of giggles on the couch while the little dog sang along. The tune finally came to a finish, and Hendrix wrapped up his show with a particularly long “Ow-ow-ooowah!”

  Kenzie tossed a treat to Hendrix, who caught it in the air.

  “Wow, I didn’t know Chihuahuas could howl. That was pretty cool.” Cash held his hand out for a high five. How could something that small make so much freaking noise? He hadn’t quite forgiven the dumb dog for eating his entire pie, but Kenzie sure seemed to love the little guy.

  “We’re gonna teach him more stuff too. Aren’t we, Jinx?”

  Jinx nodded. Kenzie took Hendrix into her bedroom to grab his leash.

  Taking advantage of the moment alone, Cash cleared his throat. “Oh, hey, I need to ask you something.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You up for taking part in the Turkey Trotter tomorrow morning?” He crossed his arms across his chest and cocked a hip against the back of the couch.

  Jinx raised an eyebrow. “I’m almost afraid to ask. What’s a Turkey Trotter?”

  “It’s a kind of a race. Teams of four. You run a little, do stupid stunts at each station. It’s a Thanksgiving tradition around here.”

  Her eyebrows furrowed. “Running? No thanks. I’m not much of a runner. I think I’ll just watch.”

  “You don’t want to miss out, do you?”

  “On running? Yeah, I don’t mind.”

  “It’s not just running. They have stations along the race where you have to do certain challenges. The team that ends the course with the most completed challenges wins five hundred bucks. Each.”

  “What?” Her head jerked up, obviously interested in the mention of the cash prize.

  “Yeah. A little bit of fun on Thanksgiving morning, then we all head over to Mom and Dad’s for dinner.”

  “And everyone in your family does this?”

  “Not everyone. But between my brothers and me, a Walker has been part of the winning team the past seven out of ten years. Waylon, Darby, and I are signed up. My cousin Brittany was supposed to round out our team, but she decided to stay in Dallas for the holiday instead.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep. I know you can use the money. You want to be part of the team?”

  She thrust her hand at his chest. “Deal.”

  “Great. It’ll be fun. Now, let’s get you to work. I know it’s apple-cinnamon pork chop night, and I’m starving.”

  He held the door open for Jinx and Kenzie as they walked through. Jinx had been avoiding him in close quarters. Running the course with her would put them in some interesting situations. Might be a chance to get close without her backing away. Would give him a chance to see if the sparks between them were anything more than remnants from their almost one-night stand.

  Chapter Eleven

  “On your mark, get set, go!”

  A shot rang out, making Jinx almost jump right out of her borrowed running shoes. Cash grabbed her hand and pulled her along behind him. What in the hell had she agreed to? Twenty teams, each one dressed more ridiculous than the next, jostled for the lead. Darby and Waylon jogged beside her. They’d come up with a name and costumes long before Jinx had joined the team—the Tasseled Turkeys.

  Cash swore it was his cousin’s idea. Who knew where Darby had found the hundreds of tassels she’d sewn onto the matching golden-yellow sweatshirts they had on? Obviously, Brittany had a few inches on her, since Jinx had to roll up the sweatpants so she wouldn’t keep tripping on them.

  They reached the first station and stopped next to a five-gallon bucket filled with stuffing mix.

  “What do we need to do?” Cash asked.

  The race volunteer held out a wooden spoon. “Stuff the turkey. Take a spoon full of stuffing mix, and carry it in your teeth down to the other end. You dump it in the turkey, then race back for the next person to take their turn.”

  “How big is that turkey down there?” Darby pointed across the field to where a row of turkeys were lined up, ready to be stuffed.

  “Aw, I’d say they’re about twenty pounders. Don’t want to make it too easy on us, right?” Waylon grabbed the spoon. “I’ll go first. Get ready!”

  He took off toward the turkey, the spoon clenched between his teeth. Darby went next, then Cash, and finally, it was Jinx’s turn. She scooped up a spoonful of stuffing and ran as fast as she could. By the time she got to the turkey at the other side, only a couple of cubes of bread remained on her spoon. At the rate she was going, this could take all night.

  The crowd of spectators cheered as the teams finished the first station. Finally, after it seemed like she’d run a marathon back and forth between the bucket and the turkey, their turkey was stuffed enough to move on.

  “Let’s go. Half the teams are ahead of us, so we’ve got to pick up the pace.” Cash grabbed Jinx’s hand and urged her on to the next challenge. They stopped in front of a huge inflatable pool filled with some sort of grain.

  The station leader gestured to the pool. “Welcome to the corn bin. Two team members have to jump in and find a wishbone. Once you grab it, make a wish, and break it, you can move on.”

  “Y’all want to take this one?” Darby asked. “We’ll do the next.”

  Cash lifted an eyebrow. “Whaddaya say?”

  Jinx nodded. “Sure, let’s go.” How bad could it be? She lifted a foot and stepped over the edge. She sank into three feet of dried corn kernels.

  Cash belly flopped into the bin next to her and began digging through the kernels. A whitish dust covered his face and shirt. “Come on in, Jinx. Feels great!”

  Another team jumped in with Cash. Jinx climbed in and ran her hands through the corn. Kernels went everywhere. They flowed into her shoes, infiltrated her sweatpants, and crept up her sleeves. Her fingers combed through, finding nothing but corn. A guy from the other team held a wishbone up in the air.

  “Crap, they got theirs already. Keep digging.” Cash dove under the corn, fully submerged. He came up a few seconds later, the dust coating his hair, his face, even his eyelashes. “Got it!”

  They staggered to the edge of the tub and over the side. Jinx grabbed one side of the bone, and Cash held the other.

  “You got a wish in mind?” he asked.

  She nodded, even though no wish had fully formed in her head. Her bike still needed to be fixed. Wishing for a windfall of cash would help. Wishing to win the race would put her closer to her goal. But something else hovered at the edge of her mind. Could she wish for more of the feeling she got when she was around Cash and Kenzie? Not that she wanted to stay in Holiday. But being around the two of them made her feel needed, like a part of something. She’d never experienced that before and wasn’t sure she wanted to let it go.

  Before she settled on a wish, Cash pulled and the bone snapped. He held the bigger half. She didn’t need to even make a wish, since his was the one that would come true. Assuming he even believed in the mysterious wish-granting powers of half a turkey wishbone. The station helper stamped their card, and the four of them jogged to the next challenge.

  The volunteer manning the ne
xt station handed Darby something that looked like a pointy potato and explained the goal. “Y’all line up and pass the yam from one to the next without using your hands. Get it to the line over there, and you can move on. Drop it, and you have to start over.”

  Should be easy enough. Jinx had done relays like this back in school. Darby stuck the yam under her chin and turned to Waylon. “Get over here so I can pass it on to you.”

  Waylon leaned in but couldn’t get close enough because of his beard. The yam dropped to the ground.

  “Dammit, Waylon. Try again.” Cash picked up the yam and thrust it at his brother.

  There was no way that vegetable was going to fit under Waylon’s chin.

  “Here, let me try.” Jinx held out her hand. Waylon passed her the yam, and she tucked it under her chin. “Who’s next?”

  “Give it here.” Cash crowded into her space. His chin hit her at eye level. He’d have to crouch down a bit if he wanted to line up for the yam.

  “Bend down a little,” Jinx said. She raised up to her toes while he leaned over a bit. His whiskers scraped against her cheek as he tried to transfer the yam between them. He was close enough that she could see the flecks of gold in his eyes. Close enough that she could smell the lingering scent of soap on his skin. Close enough that she could feel her heart leap into an erratic rhythm of its own.

  The yam was transferred, and Cash turned to pass it to Darby.

  “You’re next, Jinx.” Darby pointed to her husband. “You sit this one out, honey. I love you, but you don’t have the neck for it.”

  They got into a groove, passing the yam from Darby to Jinx to Cash. Every time Cash leaned in to tuck his chin against her neck, her breath hitched. By the time they got to the other side, she was surprised she hadn’t hyperventilated. What had gotten into her?

  At the next station, Waylon and Darby had to take on another team in a chicken fight in a tub of gelatin. Teams had to win two out of three to move on. Darby won her first two meets, taking down Angelo’s girlfriend twice in a row. Jinx was glad to not have to do that one. Sandwiching Cash’s head between her thighs would have been unbearable. Especially when her nerve endings still sizzled from the pass-the-sweet-potato challenge.

  After four of the five challenges, Team Tasseled Turkeys was neck and neck with Team Gyrating Giblets. Waylon and Cash had a special interest in beating their brother Presley, who was competing with his girl of the month along with Shep from the bar and his girlfriend. With only one more stop before they made a dash to the finish, Jinx was afraid of what the final challenge might be. The four of them approached the last station. A herd of horses stomped around inside a makeshift enclosure.

  She’d seen horses before. The Walkers even had some that grazed close to the bunkhouse. But she’d never been this close to one of the giant beasts.

  She half listened while the station helper explained the challenge. Something about riding into the patch of trees and bringing back some sort of rings. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the large, stomping, snorting, tail-swooshing animals.

  “Why don’t you pick one?” Cash pointed to the corral. “A fast one, okay?”

  Jinx squinted at the group. “How can I tell which one is fast?”

  “It’s just a feeling. Hurry though. Presley’s right on our tail.”

  Jinx pointed to a shiny black horse with a jet-black mane. “That one.”

  The station helper opened the gate for them. “That one’s Hell’s Fury. Good luck to y’all.”

  Hell’s Fury didn’t appear to be furious at all. Jinx couldn’t even tell if it was male or female, and she didn’t want to ask Cash and seem even more stupid than she already felt. The horse stretched its neck to reach a particularly tall patch of grass just outside the fence line. Its lips twitched, revealing a row of huge teeth, making her wonder if horses bit their riders very often.

  “Come on. Get on.” Cash made a basket out of his hands. “Put your foot in my hands and I’ll hoist you up.”

  She did, somehow managing to settle herself in the saddle. Cash slung himself into position behind her, aligning his front against her back. Before she had a chance to take in the feeling of being that close, he kicked his feet into the horse’s side, and they took off. Her thighs squeezed against the horse’s back as she grabbed on to the knob sticking up from the saddle for dear life. Cash wrapped an arm around her middle, securing her, holding her even tighter against him.

  Hell’s Fury raced across the field toward the stand of trees like someone had lit a fire under his ass. Or her ass. Did it even matter? Trapped against Cash’s chest, her butt bumping up and down on the hard saddle, Jinx stopped caring if her vehicle of death was male or female.

  “There’s the first ring.” Cash’s arm left her waist so he could point at a bright-blue object in a tree up ahead.

  Feeling like she was about to slide off, Jinx scrambled, reaching behind her to grab on to Cash to steady herself.

  “Easy there, Annie Oakley.” He pulled up on the reins, and the horse slowed, giving him the chance to snag the ring out of the tree. “Don’t tell me you’ve never ridden before.”

  “Do I look like I’ve ever been on the back of a horse?” she ground out between clenched teeth.

  “Well, now that you mention it, you do seem a bit uptight.”

  “Uptight?” Her heart pounded like it wanted to take off into flight, rising up from her chest, sticking in her throat. It made it hard to choke out a response. “I think you’re trying to kill me.”

  “Now why would I want to do that?” He clucked his tongue, and they took off again.

  In that moment, she could think of a few hundred good reasons for Cash to meet his demise. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of besting her, she chanted to herself, trying to calm the fear flooding her bloodstream.

  Cash pulled up on the reins next to another tree. “Grab that one, will you?”

  She stretched for the ring, just out of her reach. “Can you get closer?”

  Hell’s Fury pranced around, circling the tree. Finally, Cash got the horse positioned directly under the ring, and Jinx was able to grab it.

  “One more to go.” They dashed off toward the last ring as Presley and his partner reached them. “Hang on. We’ve got this.”

  Jinx’s teeth knocked against each other as he urged the horse to go faster and faster. The last ring hung on a low branch just up ahead. Tassels twirling, butt bouncing up and down in the saddle, Jinx would have prayed if she’d been the praying type. Instead, she closed her eyes, trying to keep the protein bar she’d scarfed down for breakfast from ending up all over the front of her shirt.

  “Duck!” Cash yelled, jerking Jinx to the side.

  “What?” She struggled against him, trying to stay in the saddle. Her eyes opened just in time to see the rough bark of the tree. Her brain tried to make sense of why the tree branch would be so close as her head jerked backward. Her body followed, flying through the air and landing with a jarring thud on the dry, hard ground. A part of her was aware of Cash wheeling the horse around, of him jumping to the ground while it was still moving, of him cradling her head in his hands.

  “Wiggle your toes. Move your fingers. Is anything broken?” Cash’s face hovered over hers. She wanted to tell him not to worry, that she was just fine—no thanks to him—but her tongue wouldn’t get out of the way, so her lips couldn’t form the words.

  Presley stopped next to them and hopped off the horse. “Hell, what happened?”

  “She fell off. She needs an ambulance. Go get the EMT or something.” The concern in Cash’s eyes would have been funny if she could remember how to laugh.

  “You okay, Jinx?” Presley leaned over her, his head opposite Cash’s.

  She stared up at the two Walker brothers, her gaze darting back and forth between them. “I’m…”

  “What?
You’re what? Are you okay?” Cash’s eyebrows wrinkled, making her think of that kid’s book about the furry caterpillar or something.

  “Let her talk.” Presley pushed his brother away. “You’re what?”

  “I’m okay. I think I’m okay.” She struggled to sit up.

  “Maybe you should wait for the doctor.” Cash put a restraining hand on her shoulder.

  She pushed it away. “I’m fine. I just have a hell of a headache.”

  Waylon, Darby, and a guy wearing a medical vest crowded around them.

  “You okay, hon?” Darby huffed in and out, breathless from running out to meet them.

  “Yeah. I think so.”

  The medic knelt down next to her, probing her head, asking her to move her fingers, her toes. After a quick check, he told them nothing appeared to be broken, but she might have a concussion and should go to the hospital to see if she needed treatment.

  “I’ll take her.” Cash’s statement didn’t allow for questions. He insisted on scooping her up like a child and carrying her back to the parking lot.

  Darby led the horse, Waylon at her side.

  Jinx rested her head against Cash’s chest. “I guess this is one way to get out of celebrating Thanksgiving with your family.”

  “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

  “Me too. I’ll be fine, really.”

  “By the way, takes more than a visit to the hospital to shake my mom’s good intentions.” He squeezed her tighter against him, leaving her to wonder what exactly he meant.

  * * *

  Cash had been fielding phone calls from his family for over an hour. All he wanted to do was sit in the hard plastic chair by Jinx’s bedside, hold her hand, and see if he could make her smile. It was his damn fault she fell off the horse. If he hadn’t been so worried about beating Presley this year, none of this would have happened.