Christmas in Winter Valley

by Jodi Thomas

  When he shoved on his hat and stepped out the kitchen door, he glanced back. She was cleaning off the table. She didn’t even look in his direction.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  December 21

  WHEN ELLIOT WALKED into his office a little after dawn, he wasn’t surprised to see Jess already at work. For a moment he just stood watching her. The girl who’d laughed at the car wash last night was gone. She was back to all business.

  “I’m sorry,” he said simply.

  She looked up. “For what?”

  “For last night.”

  “Forget it. It never happened.”

  That wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear. “I’m not sorry I said the truth, Jess. I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable.”

  “I’ve moved on, Elliot. Whatever you say doesn’t affect me.”

  The phone call he’d heard last night drifted through his mind. “Have you?” She hadn’t said one enduring word to the man she planned to marry. In fact, they sounded more like partners in the firm than lovers. Partners rehashing unsolved problems. It seemed strange that she’d asked if Richard had been alone.

  “Of course. Last night was simply a walk down memory lane. Nothing more. I’m reaching my goals now. I’m on the path I’ve always wanted.” She put down her pen as if being bothered to explain. “I’m achieving every dream I set out to meet. A long time ago, I thought those goals were our goals, but you left me.” She didn’t meet his eyes. “So I had to do it on my own.”

  Elliot set down his coffee cup. “I left you? You were the one who wouldn’t come with me. Your goal was more important than what I wanted. More important than my family.”

  Finally, all the hurt and all the unsaid words were coming out. Not angry whispers to an empty room. Not cussing screams when he was alone. But calm, raw honesty between them in broad daylight.

  She stood, braced her fists on the mound of paper on her desk and glared at him. “I knew if you went back home, you’d never finish school. You’d never work to make our dreams come true. And I was right. How long has it been, Elliot? Eight years since you gave up, or nine since you walked out on me, promising you’d come back?”

  Elliot was yelling now. “You said you’d wait. You said you’d come see me, but you never took the time. You moved on. You must have been drawing up your new life plan while I was pulling out of the driveway. I didn’t leave you.”

  “Yes, you did. You broke my heart. I finished school knowing a little more every day that you weren’t coming back. Every time I called, you said you needed more time. There was always a crisis here. First three months, then six, then a year.” She lowered her voice. “Then never.”

  A bit of the anger left his tone. “I waited for you to come here. We could have straightened everything out together. But when I asked, you always had other things to do. Not one weekend, Jess. Not one day did you come to see what I was facing.”

  She opened her mouth to answer, but the door slammed open against the wall so hard it shook books off the wall. Cooper stood in the doorway on his crutches.

  “Will you two stop yelling?” Cooper roared. “I’m dying two doors down. I had to crawl to my crutches to hobble down here and stop this before you two start slugging it out.”

  “Stay out of this, Coop!” His words were for his brother, but his stare never left Jess.

  “Like hell I will. The whole ranch can hear you two.”

  Elliot, who never lost his temper, had never yelled at her like this. He gulped down his anger like poison. He took a step backward. He was the logical brother. The smart one. And he was losing his mind.

  He straightened and walked away, past Cooper, across the great room, trying to hang on to his sanity. At the front door, he froze. He looked back, but he couldn’t make himself let go of the doorknob.

  Cooper just stood in the office, staring at Jess as if this was all her fault. Cooper’s anger focused on her for a moment before he started wobbling, as if an invisible breeze might blow him down.

  She recovered first. In an almost-professional voice, she said, “Nice to see you dressed, even if it is a hospital gown. And, Cooper, you look terrible, I must say.”

  Cooper cussed, and then Elliot heard his reply. “I was afraid I’d have to strip to get you to recognize me. I hate to ask someone who obviously hates me for a favor, but do you think you could help me back to my room? I figure I’ve got about one minute before I pass out.”

  Elliot thought of turning back, but he couldn’t. Jess could handle this problem. She seemed to have solved all hers.

  He grabbed his coat and stepped out the front door. He was almost to his car when he realized he’d given Hayley the key.

  Without much thought, he went to the bunkhouse, where several of the ranch horses had already been saddled and were now waiting out front. He swung into the saddle of a fast three-year-old gelding called Lightning. For a moment, his boots felt strange in the stirrups, and then he took off for the open pasture.

  The wind was chilly, stinging his face as the horse galloped. Never in his life had he run from a problem. He’d always done the right thing. Only now, he realized that Jess thought he’d let her down. All these years he’d blamed her, and she’d been blaming him.

  He rode south, to where the land was flat. Muscles he hadn’t used in months strained, but he didn’t stop. He just gave Lightning his head and let him run. For once he didn’t even want to think. He wanted to be like his little brother: free. To be wild and not think. To live off the land. To live on his own terms.

  He couldn’t see the beauty around him. In his mind, all he saw was the hurt and disappointment in Jess’s face. Her pain must have mirrored his.

  His college days had ended with a bang. One argument that lasted ’til he packed and drove away. A shot right to the heart that had never healed.

  Finally, he slowed and let the horse walk. They stopped at a windmill for water. While the gelding grazed on green grass by the tank, Elliot lay down and stared up at the sky. The sun was just starting to warm, and it felt so good to just be. Not think, not plan, not take charge. Just be.

  A hawk circled above him a few times, then flew off. Elliot closed his eyes and tried not to hear the echo of their argument bouncing off the corners of his mind. She’d blamed him? She thought he’d hurt her? He’d let her down.

  When the horse nudged him, he opened his eyes. The sun was high and warm, though the breeze held winter’s breath. Elliot had fallen asleep. After days of barely relaxing enough to get three or four hours of sleep a night, he’d drifted off in the middle of nowhere on dry grass.

  He crossed his boots and put his hands behind his head as a pillow. “You ready to go back, boy?” he asked the horse.

  The bay didn’t answer.

  “I’m not. I think I’ll let ‘Little Brother’ handle things for a while.”

  Elliot closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  December 21

  AT TEN O’CLOCK Hayley was surprised to find Cooper still in bed. The accountant was sitting at the end of the hospital bed, laughing. They were playing poker on the sheets with peanuts as poker chips.

  “Is everything all right?” Hayley asked. “I finally got the new little momma and her baby all checked out. I thought I’d head over to the clinic.”

  “Sure, everything is fine.” Cooper smiled. “Jess was just keeping me company until you showed up to take me to the pound. We think Elliot ran off, so put an alert for the hands to round him up. He probably lost his mind and went to look for it.”

  Hayley took in everything he said, then started with corrections. “It’s an animal clinic, not a pound, Cooper, and if your brother wants to go for a ride, the last thing he probably wants is people hunting him down.”

  “You’re right, Doc.” He winked at Jessie. “Thanks for straightenin
g me out on a few points. Must be the brain damage I suffered.”

  Cooper started scooping up the peanuts, eating a few as he worked, and then put the rest back in the jar. “I figure we’re about even right now, Jess. When I get back we’ll finish the game. Winner takes the whole jar.”

  “Sounds like a great plan, but I’m going to try to finish my work today.” Jess slipped off the end of the bed and straightened her skirt. “One question, Coop—are you planning to go out with the doctor in that hospital gown?”

  He looked down. “Hell. What can I get over this brace?”

  “Got jogging pants and a sweatshirt?” Hayley asked.

  “Over there. I sleep in them on cold nights.” He grinned at Jess. “I sleep in nothing at all on hot nights.”

  “I’m aware of that.” Jess grinned.

  Hayley acted like she hadn’t heard his confession. “Great. We’ll cut one leg off the sweats. Then, once you’re in the chair, I’ll put a blanket over you. You’ll be presentable enough.”

  He looked at the two ladies in his room. “Which one of you plans on dressing me?”

  “I will,” Jess said matter-of-factly. “I’ve seen you naked. Won’t be anything new.”

  “One time in a dark hallway doesn’t count,” Coop countered.

  “I’ll dress you. I’m a doctor,” Hayley offered. “I might be a vet, but I’ve seen the human body alive and dead in a human anatomy class.”

  Cooper grinned. “I’m flattered you both want to get your hands on me, but not a chance, Doc. I’m building up my courage to ask you out. My success rate might go down if you see all my scars.”

  “Cooper, I’ve seen most of you already. I spent an entire morning with you at the hospital, and that gown was flopping around as they worked on you.”

  Jess pulled the sweats from the drawer. “We’ll both do it. You can keep the gown on until we get the pants on. Then I won’t be reshocked at the sight of you, and there will be a chance that the doc would say yes to a date someday.”

  Hayley reached for the scissors on the bedside table and cut one leg off the pants. After a few tries, they managed to hold him up enough for him to pull on the pants. Both of them worked on the sweatshirt, bumping and brushing against him, but Cooper didn’t complain.

  When they stood back to admire their work, he asked for the crutches. “Now, I’m going to the bathroom by myself.”

  Neither argued, but both were waiting at the door with the wheelchair when he came out.

  The Garrett twins ran up as soon as they saw them and offered to lift Cooper into the passenger seat. They managed to hit his broken leg twice while shoving him in. Cooper managed to thank them.

  He reached for Jess’s hand. “Come with us. I’m starting to like you, Jess.”

  “No. I really do need to finish up and get back to my life. But I promise I’ll still be here when you finish your field trip. I’ll roll you over to watch those fancy horses be unloaded if I have time.

  “Then Elliot and I need to talk. When I saw how he shattered, I realized our breakup hurt him as much as it hurt me. Maybe now I can move on and so can he.”

  “I’ve never heard him yell like that. He doesn’t even scream at me like that, so I guess you’re right.”

  Her laughter had no humor. “I’ve never yelled at anyone like that, either. I guess we finally let out all the pain at once.”

  “Is there a possibility that you might give him another chance? If you both said you were sorry...if you gave it a second chance—”

  “No. I’m on another path now. I’m where I want to be. Richard was probably right—it was smart for me to come here and end it for good.” She leaned over and kissed Cooper on the cheek. “Coming here wasn’t all bad. I got to know you. You’re a good man.” She leaned closer. “Ask the doc out.”

  “I will when I can dance with her. She’s short and bossy, but dang if she isn’t cute.”

  Hayley acted like she hadn’t heard every word he’d said as she climbed into the driver’s side of the Land Rover.

  “Buckle up.” Her seat was as far up as it would go, and his was as far back. She felt like he was in the back seat.

  She wasn’t surprised when he went to sleep as she drove the thirty miles to the clinic. Part of her hated to wake him up, but she couldn’t just leave him in the car.

  Her assistant, Mary May Canton, came out to help her get Cooper inside. She and her husband had worked at the clinic part-time since they’d retired. She helped with the calls and the billing. He checked the place every night and fed the animals that were staying over. They made sure everything was in order and took care of the boarded animals when Pops was out of the office, and now, when she was called out on emergencies.

  “Hello, Cooper Holloway,” Mary said in a teacher-like voice. “Did you finally get kicked out of a real hospital and have to come here?”

  “No, Mrs. Canton, I’m just visiting.”

  “Well, you behave yourself.”

  Hayley decided Cooper would always be a kid to Mary May. After all, if her students all grew up, she’d have to admit to growing older.

  For the first hour Hayley kept a close eye on Cooper each time she welcomed her next patient. He talked to everyone who came in. He probably knew all of them, except an old lady who brought in her cat. By the time Hayley said it was Fluffy’s turn, Cooper could list all fourteen of the old lady’s grandchildren in order.

  Hayley realized folks really liked Cooper. Not for what he’d accomplished, but just for the way he was.

  After an hour, he wheeled himself into her examining room and watched the show. No one seemed to mind. When someone finally asked why he was there, he said he was the doc’s next patient.

  She didn’t mind having him near. Except for the snake, Cooper loved every animal that came in. But gradually, he started looking tired, and Hayley knew it was time to go.

  Mary May gave her a stack of phone messages and mentioned that Pops had called in to check on her. “I told him you were a grown woman and could take care of yourself. He wants to retire, but he still wants to know what’s going on.”

  “Right,” Hayley said as she rolled Cooper’s chair down the ramp. “And would you mind telling Cooper that I’ve been driving as long as he has, and I do not need advice?”

  The assistant looked at Cooper. “You hear that?”

  “Yep. I’m too tired to argue. Take me home or shoot me. I don’t much care which.”

  Hayley drove and he slept. By the time they got back, it would be almost time to start with the new fillies.

  “Coop, you awake?” she whispered as she slowed the car.

  He didn’t answer.

  “If you ever do get around to asking me out, I might just say yes.” Hayley smiled. It had been a long time since she’d gone out with a man, but this one might just be worth breaking her rule of never dating.

  She’d had time for one boyfriend in vet school and he’d become overly possessive. He’d wanted to know where she was every minute. He’d even tried to convince her it was her fault that he worried about her.

  But Cooper wouldn’t be like that. He loved his freedom, so he wouldn’t mind hers. If they ever had a date, of course.

  When she drove up next to the headquarters, both Garrett brothers were sitting in the rockers on the front porch. The two of them looked like the largest yard gnomes she’d ever seen.

  “You two waiting for me?” she asked.

  “No,” one said. “We’re waiting for Mom to kill Tye Franklin, then we’re going to bury the body.”

  “Is Tye in there?” Hayley pointed to the kitchen door.

  “No, he’s in the barn, but sometime today he’s going to have to come try to talk to her, and when he does, he’ll be breathing his last breath.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  December 21

&nb
sp; DANI HAD BURNED two batches of cookies. Then she’d forgotten to add the eggs to the chocolate pie. By the time she’d dropped them in the filling, it was already hot and now she had scrambled eggs floating on top of her pie.

  Picking up the empty piecrust, she fought the urge to throw it across the room. She was so mad at Tye Franklin. First, he’d messed with her sons, and now, he was messing with her cooking.

  Her boys had come in early and told her how he’d hog-tied them in the barn. It had embarrassed them. Here they were, finally trying to grow up and hold jobs, and now every cowhand on the place was making pig sounds when they passed him. Kidding them about how one man, twice their age, could capture them.

  They were just trying to be protective of their mother, and he’d made fools out of them. They might have gone a bit far when they saw him standing in the hallway with her, but Tye was older; he should have been more understanding.

  When she heard the kitchen door open, she didn’t look up right away. She couldn’t. She’d been fool enough to think she’d finally found a man to love, even for a short time, and he’d ruined it. He’d tumbled down her hope of a memory. She’d have to throw away those two loving nights because he’d spoiled them. Now, when she thought of him, she’d remember what he did to her boys.

  “I smell cookies,” Tatum yelled as he ran to the bar. He plopped down like it was happy hour in sugar town.

  Dani looked down at the boy, remembering how dear her sons were at that age. Patrick had told her he loved her every night until he was about ten, and then he’d just say “Ditto, Mom” when he went to bed. He’d thought he was too cool to tell her he loved her, but he wanted her to know that he still did.

  The memory calmed her. She winked at Tatum. “I have a few that are okay, but I burned most. How about you have some milk and eat the ones I saved? It wouldn’t be fair to set them out. There’s not enough to go around.”