“Is that what you want Santa to bring you?” Kaley asked, reading the description for the toy. She’d glanced at it earlier, but wasn’t sure if Jacob was old enough to play with it. A vision of Cort and her son spinning the tractor around the living room floor came to her, and she immediately decided Jacob would find that tractor beneath the tree.
Jacob grinned at her and nodded his head.
“Looks like you’re going shopping.” Tate glanced from his son to Jacob. “You boys won’t mind spending the day with me, will you?”
Jacob shook his head and poked a finger in Gideon’s tummy, making the toddler laugh.
“Daddy and Jake,” Gideon chanted, bouncing in Tate’s arms so hard, he almost took a head-dive to the floor. “Me play wif Daddy and Jake. Play now!”
Tate set down Gideon. The busy toddler ran back toward the family room and his toys. Jacob jumped off his mother’s lap and followed.
“Are you sure, Tate? You’re already doing so much with the feeding and chores.” Kaley tried to fight off her feelings of guilt for taking up so much of his time. He was a busy man with many responsibilities. The Morgan Ranch was about ten times the size of the Hanging P. While Tate had a capable ranch foreman and dedicated ranch hands, he did a lot of the work.
“No problem at all.” Tate silently agreed it would be good for their solemn neighbor to spend time with his outgoing and friendly wife. “Kenzie and I will come over in the morning and you two can head off shopping. I’ll bring Jacob back here. You can bring my wife home when you’re done shopping and pick up Jacob.”
“That’s a great plan.” Kenzie smiled at Tate as he glanced at her nearly empty teacup.
Mindful of his unspoken plea, she made him a cup, careful to hide the box of tea bags. She didn’t want to shatter his illusion that she could create magical Christmas tea. She handed him the steaming cup then sat next to Kaley while Tate took the barstool next to hers.
“Maybe Monte could watch Gid until I get back so we don’t have to roust him out of bed before he’s ready,” Tate said, knowing his ranch foreman was always willing to spend time with Gideon.
“That’s perfect.” Kenzie resumed making her list. When Tate tried to take it from her so he could read it, she slapped her hand on top of it and glared at him. “You better behave, Mr. Morgan. Santa’s watching.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Tate drawled, taking his tea and one of the turkey-shaped sugar cookies Kenzie made back to the living room where the giggles of two little boys could be heard.
“I can’t believe how well Gideon and Jacob play together,” Kaley said, listening to the happy sound of their laughter.
“They’re both little country boys who don’t have the opportunity to play with a lot of other kids.” Kenzie grinned as she broke a cookie in two and handed half to Kaley.
“And they both love to play farming or rodeo. Where in the world did you guys find that cute little rodeo set of toys?” Kaley bit into the cookie, wondering if Kenzie would share the recipe for it, too.
“Cort bought that for Gideon for Christmas last year. I think he found it in Las Vegas.” Kenzie studied Kaley a moment. “He’s one of the few men I’ve met who truly enjoy kids. He’s like Gid’s adoring uncle.”
At first glance, Cort looked like a good-time guy who would chase skirts, ignore kids, and be an arrogant jerk. Based on Cort’s masculinity and undeniable good looks, Kaley admitted the judgment wasn’t fair or true.
Cort treated her respectfully, made Jacob feel like he was the most special little boy on the planet, and repeatedly showed himself to be thoughtful and considerate.
It wasn’t his fault he penetrated both her thoughts and heart. Since she’d pushed him away after the most incredible kisses she’d ever experienced, he’d done his best to act like a polite gentleman.
She’d hurt him by shutting him out, but he hadn’t pressed the issue. Fear of her heart shattering into irreparable pieces when he left in the spring kept her from throwing her arms around him and begging him to love her.
Absently wondering if he spent as much time lying awake at night recalling the kisses they shared, she gave herself a mental shake. Kaley finished her tea and set the cup in the sink.
“This has been the nicest Thanksgiving I’ve ever had, Kenzie. Thank you so much for inviting us.” Kaley gathered her things and took Jacob’s coat down from the peg in the mudroom where the Morgan family kept their outerwear.
“Do you have to go already?” Kenzie asked, realizing the afternoon would soon be gone.
“We do, but thank you so much for the hospitality and the delicious meal. You didn’t need to make all of Jacob’s favorite things.” Kaley’s heart filled with friendship and gratefulness for Kenzie and Tate Morgan. They’d welcomed her and Jacob into their home like family.
“It wasn’t any trouble and everything worked right into my menu.” Kenzie filled a disposable foil pan with leftovers and snapped on a lid. “This will give you something for dinner.”
“You are something else,” Kaley said, hugging the generous woman. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you for agreeing to go shopping with me tomorrow. I just hope the roads are clear.”
“They should be. With all the Thanksgiving traffic, and hordes of shoppers, I’m sure the plows will keep the main roads clear.” Kaley motioned for Jacob to put on his coat.
He hugged Gideon before running across the room and jamming his arms in the sleeves. Quickly turning to Kenzie, he gave her a hug then ran back to the family room where Tate sat in his recliner watching football. He climbed on Tate’s lap and gave him a hug before hurrying back to Kaley, taking her hand in his little one.
“Thank you for coming to our house today, Jacob. Gideon always has fun playing with you.” Kenzie lightly tapped the little boy on his nose.
He grinned and nodded at her, then waved one last time at Gideon. The baby stood with one arm wrapped around his mother’s leg.
“Bye, Jake!” Gideon waved a hand at his friend.
Kaley picked up her purse, shopping list, box of tea, and pan of leftovers, following Jacob out to Dean’s pickup. She didn’t want to try to drive her car through the snow and the truck had four-wheel drive, giving her a boost of confidence driving on the bad roads.
A voice from the door made her look back at the house.
“I’ll be over soon to do the chores.” Tate called to her.
She nodded and waved then set her things on the seat beside her son and helped him fasten his seatbelt. The drive home was slick, so she took her time, releasing a sigh of relief when their porch light glowed through the dusk. “I’m so glad to be home.”
Jacob nodded in agreement.
Kaley parked the truck in the carport next to her car and Jacob followed her as she made a trail through the snow to the sidewalk. They both smiled as she unlocked the door and went inside.
A short while later, Jacob stood on the couch and waved from the front window when Tate drove by on his way to do the chores. Intently staring into the fading daylight, he watched their neighbor feed and complete the chores then waved again as the man tooted the horn of his pickup on his way home.
Kaley tried to help with the chores the previous evening but Tate stubbornly refused her assistance. With a declaration they both didn’t need to freeze, he sent her back inside the house.
Early that morning, he’d shaken his head at her out shoveling the walk, but didn’t say anything. Unwilling to give him a reason to tell her to go back in, she wisely stayed in the kitchen while he did her chores.
Interested in doing something nice for Kenzie and Tate, not only for their help, but also for their friendship, she thought of something she could make them for Christmas.
As she added the supplies she’d need to her shopping list, excitement for the upcoming holiday gave her a warm, happy feeling.
Christmas would be special. It just had to be.
In the past, Dean and Ed refused to let her get a tree o
r decorate the house, other than hang up a stocking for Jacob on Christmas Eve. After they died, she hadn’t felt like celebrating.
This year, she planned to go all out and added decorations to her growing list. Thanks to Cort, she could afford to buy what she wanted without worrying about money.
A few weeks ago, with the help of Tate and some of his hired hands, Cort cut a truckload of cattle from her herd and hauled them to the sale.
When he handed her the check, she couldn’t stop the tears that slipped down her cheeks at the mind-boggling total.
Dean had never let her see the bank statements, giving her a monthly allowance in cash. He kept the checkbook and paid the bills. When he’d died, she’d been surprised to learn there wasn’t more money in his or Ed’s accounts.
At least they’d both listed her as a beneficiary or she wouldn’t even have had what remained after their funeral expenses. A loan Ed had taken out to put in a new pivot irrigation system took a large chunk of the money as well as paying off what Dean still owed on his pickup. Debts of any kind bothered her and she refused to have them hanging over her head.
The money she received from the accident barely covered Jacob’s medical expenses. Despite what many people thought she should do, she couldn’t bring herself to sue the drunk who’d caused the accident. The look of anguish on his face when she saw him was more than enough punishment for the man to bear.
Kaley did the best she could with what she had. Todd didn’t want any part of the farm, although he did help her the two times he had leave. When he died, he’d also listed her as a beneficiary. She and Jacob received some money from him, but running a ranch was expensive, especially when she didn’t know what she was doing.
Kaley was a fast learner, but Dean had never discussed any details about farming or ranching with her, content to have her stay in the house and be “the little wife.”
Now, she wished she’d been more forceful, demanding Dean teach her the basics, but it was too late to regret the lost opportunity.
In the past few months Cort had been there, she’d learned more about the ranch than she had in the eight years she’d been married to Dean.
Comparisons of the two men always made her feel disloyal to her husband, so Kaley focused her attention on Christmas.
As they headed into the holidays, she had a tidy sum in her bank account and plans to make it a celebration Jacob would always remember.
Chapter Ten
“I can’t believe how much stuff we bought.” Kenzie mused as she helped Kaley carry another load of bags to her kitchen.
“Me either.” Kaley set down the multiple bags she carried with a relieved sigh.
In the predawn hours, Kenzie and Tate arrived at the Hanging P. While Tate did the chores, Kaley got Jacob up, dressed, and fed him some toast. Tate knocked on the kitchen door and stepped inside as Jacob finished pulling on his boots.
Kaley handed the hard-working man a hot cup of coffee, to warm up with, before they all left.
After agreeing Kaley’s small car might not hold all their plunder, Kenzie insisted on driving her SUV. Tate took Dean’s truck back to his place with Jacob happily waving from the front seat.
Kaley and Kenzie hit all the stores on their lists and found most everything they sought. More carefree than she’d ever been, Kaley asked if Kenzie would mind swinging by another store then suggested they go out to lunch.
Over a delicious meal at a popular Italian restaurant, they compared shopping notes then visited a few more stores before returning home.
Giddy with excitement, Kaley couldn’t stop smiling as Kenzie helped her bring in the last of her bags.
“Do you mind waiting while I hide Jacob’s gifts? I don’t want him to come home and see something he shouldn’t,” Kaley asked, picking up several bags.
“Can I help carry something?” Kenzie asked, looking over the piles of purchases that covered the counter, filled the barstools, and overflowed onto the floor.
“If you could grab his tractor and the toboggan, it would be a big help.” Kaley led the way to her bedroom. She deposited Jacob’s gifts in the back of her closet. Since she kept her closet door closed and Jacob rarely looked inside, the presents were safe for the time being.
The rest of the bags remained in a pile in the kitchen while Kaley rode with Kenzie back to the Morgan Ranch.
As they pulled up, Tate greeted them from the front yard where he and the two little boys built a snowman.
“Look at you guys,” Kenzie said with a smile, kissing Tate then bending down to kiss Gideon’s rosy cheek. “That is an awesome snowman.”
Jacob ran over and grabbed Kaley’s hand, pulling her over to see the fruits of his labor. The snowman was big and round, with an old cowboy hat on his head and a silk wild rag that had seen better days knotted around his neck. Charcoal briquettes provided eyes, gummy worms made a lopsided smile, and he sported a carrot nose.
“You guys did a great job.” Kaley hugged Jacob then picked up Gideon when he held his arms out to her.
“Jake and Daddy made a man,” Gideon explained, pointing excitedly to the snowman.
“They certainly did.” Kaley set the little boy on his feet and laughed when he took a few steps then threw himself back in the snow, trying to make a snow angel. Turning to smile at Kenzie and Tate, standing with their arms linked watching their son, she put a hand on Jacob’s shoulder. “Thanks so much for today, both of you. I appreciate it more than you know.”
“Anytime you girls need a day away for some fun, just bring Jacob over. He’s a great helper.” Tate lifted Jacob’s chin with a gloved finger and smiled at him.
Jacob beamed and nodded his head before running off in the direction of their pickup.
“I hope he wasn’t any trouble,” Kaley said quietly as Tate and Kenzie walked her toward the truck.
“Not a bit. If you ever need a break, we’d be happy to keep him. He and Gid get along great.” Tate held Kaley’s door as she slid behind the wheel. Jacob fastened his seatbelt and waved at Gideon and Kenzie again.
“I might just take you up on that.” Kaley basked in the new level of friendship she shared with Tate and Kenzie. Just knowing she had people she could count on, besides herself, gave her a wonderful feeling of security and belonging she’d never experienced.
“Bring it on,” Tate said with a laugh, closing her door.
“Shall we go home, buddy?” Kaley started the truck and headed down the driveway to the road.
Jacob nodded his head, staring out the window.
“Did you have a good time?”
Another nod.
“You have fun playing with Gideon, don’t you?”
Jacob turned to her and grinned. He dug in his pocket for his notepad and wrote a message.
Kaley took it when he handed it to her, trying to keep one eye on the road as she read the words. When she realized the message Jacob tried to convey, she almost drove into the ditch. Cautiously maneuvering the pickup back on the road, she handed him the notebook and stared at him in shocked surprise.
“You want a baby brother?” She hoped she’d misunderstood what he’d written. Between imperfect spelling and his childish scrawl she sometimes had a hard time deciphering the message.
Jacob enthusiastically bobbed his head up and down.
He scribbled something else on his notepad and held it up for her to see.
“For Christmas?” Kaley asked in disbelief. “You want Santa to bring you a baby brother?”
Jacob wrote the word “yes” on his paper and held it up for her to see.
“Oh, honey, it doesn’t work like that,” Kaley said, as they pulled up at the house. Hurrying out of the pickup, she took Jacob’s hand as he slid down and led him inside the front door. She didn’t want him distracted by the piles of bags in the kitchen.
After removing his coat then hers, she sat on the couch and pulled him onto her lap.
His unwavering gaze, full of questions, loosened her tongue.
“Buddy, as much as I would love for you to have a baby brother to play with, you can’t just ask Santa for one. Jolly old Saint Nick doesn’t deliver babies.” Kaley smiled to herself as she thought about how that sounded. Santa would have more than he could handle if he brought babies into the world along with climbing down chimneys Christmas Eve.
Jacob gave her a bewildered glance.
Averse to having a birds and bees conversation with her five-year-old son, Kaley sought an appropriate response to the question she knew he wanted answered.
“When a mommy and a daddy love each other very, very much, that love creates special magic, blessed by God, and that’s where a baby comes from. I’m sorry, Jacob, but that is one thing Santa most definitely can’t bring you.”
Jacob shrugged, gave her a hug then got to his feet, running into the kitchen. Entirely excited, he rushed back to the living room and grabbed her hand, tugging her into kitchen. His grin stretched from ear to ear as he pointed to the bags.
“Yep, that’s all our stuff. This is gonna be the best Christmas ever.” Kaley swung Jacob into her arms and hugged him tight before setting him on his feet. “How about you help me put everything away?”
Hours later, Jacob helped her finish setting out the new decorations she purchased, since she hadn’t ever found any at the ranch.
Since they started with nothing, she decided they’d add to the collection of decorations every year and make it part of their holiday traditions.
She pulled on her coat, ran out to the shop and got a hammer and two nails. After pounding nails into both the front and kitchen doors, she held up Jacob so he could hang a wreath on each door. The two of them stood outside admiring how festive the green wreath looked against their dark red front door.
“You like that, don’t you?” Kaley asked as they hurried back inside the house. Jacob nodded his head then went to the kitchen. After discarding his coat, he hung it on a peg by the door then climbed to the counter and pointed to a canister where she kept hot chocolate mix.
Wrestlin' Christmas: (Sweet Western Holiday Romance) (Rodeo Romance Book 2) Page 13