Christmas in Winter Valley

by Jodi Thomas

  “We need to be careful. If this guy’s crazy, he might come out shooting.”

  They parked a hundred feet from the house and began to walk slowly toward it. Hayley carried her medical bag, and Tye held the notebook.

  When they were about twenty feet from the house, someone yelled, “You can stop right there.”

  “We mean no harm,” Hayley yelled back. “I’m Dr. Westland’s granddaughter.”

  The voice came again. “I figured that. Looks like you’re carrying his bag. But I don’t need no vet right now, so I figure you and that man you got with you don’t have any reason to be here, unless the world finally blew itself up and we’re the last people alive.”

  “The world is fine as far as I know. I just came out here to ask you a question.”

  “Ask, then leave. I ain’t buying or selling anything.”

  Tye held open the worn notebook. “My grandfather willed me this book. He drew pictures in it of this area, and one looks like your gate.”

  “I don’t want no picture.”

  Tye tried again. “My grandfather died in prison. He left me this for a reason, but I can’t figure out what it is.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Tyson Franklin.”

  The screen door hit the house as an old man stepped out. He lowered a rifle and moved into the sunshine. “Let me see that book.”

  Half an hour later, Tye and Hayley were still sitting on the porch as the old man flipped through the pages.

  Tye tried for the third time to ask a question. “Do you know what he meant by lone star or dusty roads or a gift waiting?”

  The old man nodded. “I know all about it. I’ve been waiting for you to drop by for over twenty years.” He explained, “I’m Dustin Roads, and your grandfather was my best friend. He always called me Dusty, even when we were in the army together. He never talked about his son, but he mentioned you a few times.” Dusty stood. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”

  They followed the old guy to the barn and then a corral that opened into a pasture. Several horses grazed.

  Tye whispered to Hayley, “He’s got some beautiful horses. From the markings, they’ve got Steel Dust bloodlines.”

  “They sure do.” Dusty puffed out his chest. “Finest horses in the West. Your grandfather brought me a pair just before he went to prison. He said he won them in a poker game. Even had papers. He told me to save a colt and a filly for you. I said yes before I knew you’d take years to come pick them up.”

  Dusty looked at Hayley. “Your grandfather made sure to file the papers for me. Every time they bred I made sure it was recorded. I sold one now and then to pay for their keep, but I kept the best. I’d like to keep two pairs, but you can have the rest. Last count, I’d say that gift your grandfather talked about has multiplied to twenty-seven horses. They’ve never been ridden, but they’re all gentle. Eat out my hand.”

  Tye moved slowly toward the animals. Within five minutes, they’d surrounded him, as if accepting him.

  Dusty leaned close to Hayley. “He loves horses, don’t he? I can tell. I don’t know if I could have given them to him if he didn’t. Adam told me once his only grandson loved them from the time he could walk.”

  Tye finally moved back to Dusty. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me. I did it for a friend. I’ve thought about it, and decided if you ever showed up, I’d tell you I want you to leave the four oldest. They’re past breeding years and they’ve lived here too long to be moved.” Dusty grinned. “I figure four will be plenty to talk to. If they outlive me, I want you to take care of them. I’ll draw up the paperwork so they’ll be yours.”

  “All right. But from now on I’ll pay any bills.” Tye offered his hand. “Okay if I come check on you and them now and then?”

  “I guess I won’t mind that. But don’t come too often. Don’t want you wearing out the road.”

  He thought about it for a minute, then added, “The day you come to take them away, I’ll walk them out to that mailbox a few miles back. You can pick them up there. They’ll follow me and they’ll take a rope if you’re easy.”

  “I’ll come back when I figure out where to move them to.” Tye couldn’t stop watching the beautiful animals. “If it’s all right, I’d like to work with them awhile before I go, get them used to me.”

  Dusty’s grin was toothless. “Shouldn’t be too hard. I’ve been telling them you were coming for years.”

  “In a strange way, I feel like I’ve been getting ready for them. Thanks, Dusty. My grandfather had the best of friends.”

  “You just take care of them ’til the world ends. If death gets me before the bombs come, I want your word in writing that you’ll come get the four left here. I’d hate to think of them out here hungry.”

  Hayley felt a tear falling as she watched them shake hands.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  December 22

  Maverick Ranch

  ELLIOT WAS PACKING up all the files when Jess stepped into the office. They were almost finished with the last of the accounting. All the documents were stacked on his desk. She was right. Two hours’ work was all it would take to wrap up the year’s books if they worked together.

  Elliot would enjoy the time now they’d stopped fighting. There was a peace between them.

  To his surprise, she had on jeans and a Western shirt. She couldn’t have looked more out of her element if she’d been wearing a Halloween costume. He’d gotten used to the very proper suits and the silk blouses.

  She twirled. “I figured if I was going to spend the day on a ranch, I might as well look the part.”

  “We’re not finished working on the books.” He had to be the voice of reason, even if he could still feel her sleeping in his arms.

  “We can finish up tonight or early in the morning. If I leave by eleven tomorrow, I should drive into Houston long before it’s dark. It’ll just give me time to pack before we head for Paris. Now, it’s just simple paperwork, Elliot. I’d rather start the day with you.” She moved closer and brushed her hand down his shirtsleeve.

  “Where’d you find the clothes?” He couldn’t take his eyes off her face. Somehow she looked younger.

  “I ordered them a few days ago. Dani said FedEx knows the route here well. When I got here, I felt so out of place. I thought if I changed clothes maybe people would stop calling me ‘the accountant.’”

  “You look great.” He had to fight not to touch her.

  One day, he thought. One day with his Jess and then she’d be gone forever. He had to do everything right. One day to show her why he’d stayed all those years ago.

  “Thanks. I feel short in the boots. I’m too used to heels. Do boots come with four-inch heels?”

  Elliot had no idea if she was making a joke or being serious so he asked a question. “Where do you want to start?”

  “Show me your ranch. I was a self-absorbed kid when I came before. Now I want to see it through your eyes.”

  He offered his hand and suddenly they were running. He wanted her to remember this place for the rest of her life. They might only have a day, but he planned to plant a memory in her mind forever.

  First, they spent an hour at the barn. Slowly she lost her fear of the horses, and it turned out she loved petting the tiny colt. Elliot explained far more than she needed to know. In the future, the only horses she’d see would be in parades.

  Tatum joined them on a drive around the ranch, and when they got back, he stole her away to see the chicks.

  Elliot joined Cooper on the porch to wait for her to come back. His brother seemed to think his new job was to worry about the doc.

  “Strange thing happened a few minutes ago.” Coop filled his brother in. “One of the Franklin sisters called Dani and mentioned that a long-lost relative had dropped by
the inn. Turns out it’s our Tye.”

  Elliot shrugged. Like Cooper, who’d missed all the drama from the kitchen, he was confused as to why Dani would care one way or the other where Tye was.

  “Dani talking to the Franklins was nothing new,” Coop explained. “They exchange recipes from time to time. But the sisters invited her to supper tonight.”

  Elliot frowned. “You know what that means?”

  “What?”

  “We’re having pizza tonight. It’s Jess’s last night.”

  Coop grinned. “How about we have it in the bunkhouse? That’ll add lots of atmosphere.”

  Elliot didn’t want to take her off the ranch, but he wasn’t sure about a bunkhouse supper. “Sure, but we won’t stay long, and Doc has to come along. I don’t want Jess to be the only woman at the table.”

  Coop nodded. “I’ll plan the whole thing. Don’t worry.”

  They rocked for a while watching the weather. Clouds were building.

  “Elliot, we’re turning into two old men visiting on the porch.”

  “Yeah, I know. Got any ideas of what I can show Jess? I thought I’d show her the west pasture at sunset, but that’s hours away. I don’t want to bore her or do anything to make her mad today.”

  “Why don’t you marry her? Then you two could argue in your bedroom and not wake the whole house up. That accountant is growing on me.”

  Elliot was silent for a moment and then he said simply, “She’s leaving in the morning. She has to be in Houston by dark to catch a plane to Paris.”

  “You sure?”

  “Positive.”

  Coop shrugged. “Well, then, show her a good time today. The best. Then she’ll always remember what she walked away from.”

  “I thought I’d take her riding, but I’m not sure she’d get on even our gentlest mount.”

  “Then pull out that old buggy in the barn. She might like that.”

  Thirty minutes later, Elliot had Jess and Tatum in the buggy. Tatum was driving, which had Jess laughing.

  “We’ll be back for lunch. I wish it was warm enough to have a picnic.” Elliot waved goodbye over Tatum’s laughing.

  After a few minutes of wind, Jess opened Elliot’s coat and cuddled against him as she settled in for the ride. He thought of having Tatum circle back to get her a jacket, but then he decided he kind of liked it the way it was.

  When Jess spread her fingers over his heart, he could feel her warm touch through the cotton of his shirt, and he knew he was the one storing memories for a lifetime.

  “This would be perfect if I had a cup of Starbucks coffee.”

  “I’ll build you one if you stay.”

  Jess laughed. “I heard about Cooper’s plan to build a clinic. Tell him just to ask her what she wants. I’m betting she’ll say him. Nothing more. Just him.”

  Tatum followed directions as they moved along a path that headed toward the ribbon of hills that ran along the north border of the ranch.

  “What’s out here?” Jess asked.

  “Nothing much. The Winter Valley, where Coop was, is over there, circled by those hills, but I’m taking you two to a very special place. When my dad was a little boy, he loved trees and wanted all kinds. He planted maybe a hundred in a small canyon over here so they’d be sheltered from the wind.”

  Elliot laughed. “I guess you could say all the men in my family have a thing for trees. My great-grandfather planted fruit trees, though in truth I think his love was more for fruit pies than trees.”

  As they rode into the canyon, the colors of late fall surrounded them. Some of the trees were still green, but others looked naked in the wind. The cottonwoods near a stream were the oldest. The evergreens were the tallest.

  “It’s beautiful.” Jess stood up and Elliot had to hold her in the buggy until Tatum could stop. “I’ve never seen anything so lovely.”

  Elliot laughed. “Dad used to call this place his church. He buried Mom up above the tree line, and we put him beside her when he died. I kind of thought they’d like looking down on these sheltered trees, watching the colors change. The hills block most of the wind.

  “The first Christmas after my folks died, we decided to cut one evergreen down for the house each year. It’s kind of like having them near. Then, behind where they’re buried, we plant ten new trees every spring. As the years go by, they’ll become a part of the forest, surrounded by evergreens.”

  He climbed out of the buggy, secured the reins, then helped Jess down. “I thought you two could help me pick a tree out for the great room at headquarters. I’ll tag it and have it moved. We’ll need one about twenty feet high with wide branches.”

  Tatum took his assignment seriously, wandering around and examining every tree.

  Jess simply walked around, smiling. Finally, she extended her arms and closed her eyes. “I know how your dad must have felt. There is a peace here.”

  As they walked, Elliot took her hand. “When Griffin and Sunlan married, they made garlands from some of these branches for their wedding. They even cut mistletoe.”

  “It must have been grand, but I’d have moved the wedding here.”

  He wanted to kiss her, right here, right now, but that wasn’t what the day was about. This was time for them to become friends, to mend a bit of the pain they’d caused each other.

  But hell, he wanted to kiss her all the time. He wished he could get down on one knee and ask her to marry him. Only she’d already told him several times that she’d be marrying Richard. Then she’d have all she’d ever wanted. She’d be happy. She’d reach her goal.

  As they continued walking, they didn’t talk.

  They picked a tree and Jess helped Tatum collect an armful of leaves. They walked back to the buggy with Tatum talking.

  The boy was feeding the horse an apple when Elliot lifted Jess up. But he didn’t put her in the buggy. He raised her above his head, then slowly lowered her close until her lips met his.

  The kiss was so tender he felt a tremor, as if an earthquake was happening. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. They were silently saying goodbye again.

  Tatum broke the mood when he jumped in the other side of the buggy. Elliot slowly lowered her inside. Neither said a word, but once Tatum had turned the buggy around and they were headed back, she opened the side of Elliot’s coat and cuddled against him as if that was her place.

  On the way home, he held her a bit tighter than he had before, and wondered how he’d ever let her go again.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  December 22

  Maverick Ranch

  COOPER DECIDED TO sit on the porch another hour and worry. Maybe the doc would come back by then. It was either that or start drinking. If he did that, he’d never be able to handle the crutches.

  The Garrett brothers came out to keep him company. They claimed their mother had told them to stay out of her personal life.

  “I didn’t even know she had one,” Pete complained. “Isn’t she too old to have a personal life? Seems to me she gave that up when she had us.”

  Patrick looked like he was thinking and it seemed a painful process to him. “I think maybe we should go away for a while. Give her some space. In a few months she’ll be begging us to come home.”

  “I don’t want to go home. It’s no good without Mom to keep the place up and cook.” Pete looked as miserable as his brother. “I like living in the bunkhouse. Maybe that’s where we belong while Mom’s having her personal life.”

  Cooper thought it wiser not to comment. He switched the conversation to the two cousins they’d driven all over Texas. Apparently, the girls had been perfect ladies. Which surprised Cooper.

  “How about you men take a trailer that will haul two horses and drive up to the pass at Winter Valley? You can leave it for Creed, if he ever decides to come down, and you
can drive the doc’s Jeep back. That will give you both time to think, maybe plan.”

  “It’ll take half the day.” Pete sounded like he was taking on a huge load.

  “You men can handle it. Ask your mother to pack two coolers. One for you two to snack from, and the other to leave in the truck. I’m guessing Creed and Dallas will be hungry for something besides soup and power bars when they come down.”

  “Will do,” Pete said, but he made no effort to get started on his journey.

  Cooper realized the boys had changed lately. Maybe they were growing up. He wondered if he had the cousins to thank for that. Driving them all over, first Lubbock and then Dallas, would make any man want to seek the quiet life.

  When a sports car turned off the county road, the brothers stayed around to see who was coming.

  Cooper didn’t try to stand as he watched the company coming. In his grandfather’s day, uninvited people were welcomed with a shotgun in hand. Today, all he had was the Garrett brothers. They’d have to do.

  When a stranger, dressed in a suit and tie, stepped out and started up the steps, Coop asked, “What d’you need, mister?”

  The man looked bothered to have to talk to the help. “I’m here to see Mr. Holloway. I was told Dr. Westland is staying here. If you could direct me, I’d like to talk to her.”

  Cooper decided it was time to stand. “I’m Mr. Holloway, and she’s not here. In fact, I’m not sure where she is. Who are you?” The guy didn’t look like a salesman or a relative. If he’d been family he’d have called her Hayley.

  “I’m Johnson Sanders. I’m Hayley’s fiancé, or I would be, if she ever comes to her senses.”

  The Garrett brothers growled. They didn’t like the guy any better than Cooper did.

  Cooper managed to keep his voice calm. “Is she expecting you?”

  “No, but I told her I’d come around before the end of the year, and this time I’m not leaving until we set a date. It’s been three years. She doesn’t know her own mind. I’m the best offer of marriage that she’ll ever have. Without me, she’ll be stuck here in nowhere-land, living alone in that dump of a house her grandfather left her.”