Christmas at Hope Ranch

by Loretta C. Rogers

  At the end of the block Wade pointed to a red brick building. A decorative holiday wreath adorned the door. A large white sign announced Dr. Ava Grey Montgomery, MD.

  Addison raised a brow. “Let me guess—your sister?”

  “Ava is my twin sister. She’s also a first-rate general surgeon.”

  Addison wasn’t quite sure why his air of casualness annoyed her. “The town is just as I remember—still stuck in the nineteenth century.”

  Wade tossed her a rascally glance. “Oh, I assure you, we’ve moved beyond the horse and buggy days. As a matter of fact, we even have indoor plumbing.”

  “Touché.” She glowered at the fine-looking man next to her. Deep clefts accentuated each jaw, and between them a strong chin, not like the weak ones that some men hide behind a beard. She thumbed her finger minus the emerald-and-diamond engagement ring that had weighed heavily on her finger. Sheriff Wade Grey was not at all like Rowen Sarkozy, her millionaire ex-fiancé.

  Exhaustion continued to settle in. Shifting in her seat, she flashed an annoyed glance at Wade. “How much farther?”

  White flakes feathered down from the sky to land on the windshield. Wade turned on the wipers. The sound of the rubber blades scraping away the snow echoed in Addison’s already throbbing head.

  “About ten more minutes.”

  “Peachy.”

  When the headlights swung off the main highway and onto a long drive, Wade braked to a stop. He turned to face Addison. His look was contemplative, and not altogether friendly. She cocked an eyebrow. “Something wrong?”

  She could see the anger in him no matter how tightly he reined it in. His voice was matter of fact. “Don’t make coming back to Hope Ranch all about you.”

  A surge of righteous anger filtered through Addison. She opened her mouth to argue. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  His eyes held hers. He didn’t smile. “Meadow Creek is far removed from the glitz and glamour of the big cities, including Boise, and most certainly New York City, Paris, and Istanbul. I’m sure you get my meaning.”

  Her mind raced forward. Was she so transparent that he could see right through her? Her chest rose with a heavy sigh. “I hope you’re not accusing me of something I haven’t done.”

  The smile that had earlier danced in his eyes had definitely disappeared. “I do have internet, cable TV, and the international news channels. You’ve made quite a reputation for yourself as the most beautiful woman in the world, and the world’s top model, and…” His voice drifted off. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to live under the microscope of the paparazzi’s constant snooping. One thing I can tell you is that Nell’s not as young as she used to be, and though she’d never admit it, she isn’t as spry as she was even a year ago. Don’t expect to be waited on hand and foot, Ms. James. Just remember that you were once one of Nell’s kids. I don’t care who you are now, how much money you’ve made, or that you own real Italian leather luggage, Nell is not your maid. Broken arm or not, you will pull your weight for as long as you plan to stay at the ranch.”

  “Or what…you’ll arrest me?”

  He was looking at her too closely. “If you find Meadow Creek so distasteful, then why did you return?”

  Addison squirmed under his scrutiny. She opened her mouth to say something, then changed her mind. Instead she managed a brittle smile as she thought, Disaster number four—meeting Sheriff Wade Grey.

  She gave a curt nod. “Just to set the record straight, I’m here for my own reasons—none of which include taking advantage of Nell.”

  Chapter Two

  Addison forced herself not to fidget under Wade’s lingering gaze, and was relieved when he finally shifted the truck into gear and proceeded down the long drive. There were a few slick spots on the icy road that threatened to send the truck into a ditch. Addison was thankful for the way Wade handled the old Ford. She was even more thankful when he rounded the bend and the headlights shone on a porch that spanned the length of the house.

  Small white flakes continued to sift from the sky as Wade switched off the engine. Her thoughts were interrupted when he opened the door. The moment she slid unassisted from the truck, the wind tugged at her cape and whipped her hair around her face. The cold increased the nagging ache in her arm. She expelled a mild curse when her high heels sank in the snow as she struggled to walk to the front of the truck.

  “My instincts tell me you’re here for more than rest and relaxation, Ms. James. Whatever your reason, make sure it brings no harm to Nell.”

  Even though she knew there was no need to deliberate the answer, Addison replied in a firm voice, “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m here to find something I lost a long time ago.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Let me know if I can help.”

  Her voice rasped, “If only it were that easy.”

  Wade frowned. He looked at Addison with concern. “I can’t imagine your life being so complicated.”

  She deliberately looked away from him, and then she inclined her head. “Are you familiar with the children’s rhyme ‘Humpty-Dumpty,’ Sheriff?”

  Before he could respond, a dog barked and the porch light flicked on. The front door opened, and a large black Labrador bounded down the steps. A voice called, “Boomer, mind your manners. It’s only Wade, and—oh, my lands!” Nellie Hopewell put her hands to her cheeks, “Addy, my sweet Addy, you’re home.”

  Addison gritted her teeth. She really hated the childhood nickname. Her mind reeling, skeptical, wary, Addison walked up the steps into outstretched open arms. “It’s good to see you, Nell.”

  The elderly woman hugged Addison, patting her on the back before she pulled away. “Don’t just stand there gawping, Wade Grey. Grab Addy’s bags, and the two of you come inside. There’s a toasty fire in the fireplace, and I’ve got coffee and fresh baked gingerbread with homemade clotted cream.”

  A shiver that had nothing to do with the temperature traveled down Addison’s spine.

  “C’mon before you catch your death.” Nell held the door wide.

  Addison inhaled the gingery aroma, quickly brushing aside unwanted memories as she stepped into her childhood home’s hallway.

  His arms loaded, Wade trudged up the steps. He set the bags inside the foyer. “I’ll take a rain check, Nell. Gotta get back to the office.”

  Nell whistled the big black dog inside and closed the door. “There’s nothing so pressing that Freddie can’t handle. Besides, I’d like you to take a peek at my new arrivals.”

  Addison shot a skeptical glance toward Wade. She needed rest and relaxation—not visitors filled with questions about her life. “I didn’t realize you had guests. Perhaps I should have Sheriff Grey drive me back to town.”

  “I’ll hear no such nonsense.” Nell’s blue eyes lit with adamant affection. “They’re all tuckered out from the long drive from Seattle.” She placed a finger to her lips to signal silence as she opened a door down the hall.

  Two blonde heads peeked out from under the heavy quilt. Addison turned a questioning glance toward the older woman. “Children…I thought you were retired?”

  Nellie Hopewell stood tall, rawboned, and still feisty. As long as Addison had known her, Nell had never worn a dress. Plaid shirts, jeans, and cowboy boots, her hair worn in a single long braid. Addison remembered how Nell had always bustled through the house and around the ranch making sure every child did their assigned chores. She was the only family Addison had ever known. There were never any elaborate meals, and clothing was mostly hand-me-downs, but no child went hungry, and there were always gifts for each birthday and at Christmas. Though vibrancy still shone in her blue eyes, the long braid was laced with more silver than red, and Nell, nearing the downside of seventy-five, was barely the woman Addison remembered.

  “There’s retirement, and then there’s retirement.” Nell nodded emphatically. “Until permanent arrangements can be made for these two six-year-old tadpoles, I’m un-retired.” She eased the doo
r shut and motioned Addison and Wade to the kitchen, where she poured two cups of coffee, set out a plate of gingerbread, and hovered the coffeepot over a third cup. “Wade?”

  He acquiesced, then reached for a square of gingerbread. “Better wrap a couple of pieces for Millie and Freddie. Millie’ll skin me alive if she smells gingerbread on me but without any in my hand.”

  Addison inhaled the spicy aroma that still lingered in the kitchen. She remembered that Nell’s gingerbread was dark and gingery and made with what Nell referred to as her secret ingredient. She also recalled that Nell made two different types of this lusciousness—one for the children and a grown-up version for the adults. She never knew what the secret was because when any of the children would ask, her foster mother would only smile and say, “Nosey is as nosey does. Now go mind your business.”

  Nell settled in a chair at the long kitchen table. Addison glanced around the room. The house was still as shabby as she remembered except for the kitchen, which had always been Nell’s pride, a place that was both welcoming and efficient. The old Formica countertops had been replaced with white quartz. That plus a new five-burner gas stovetop, wall oven, and double-door refrigerator with a bottom freezer seemed to be where Nell had spent money for upgrades.

  Addison had dined in the most expensive restaurants in the world, and yet no one made coffee like Nell. Preferring it without cream and sugar, she savored the beverage. “If the children are orphans, then why didn’t they go to the orphanage?”

  Nell plopped a generous dollop of the rum-flavored clotted cream on a slice of gingerbread and forked it into her mouth. She munched for a moment. “The children were willed to me.”

  “Willed… How does that happen?” Addison sputtered.

  The gray-haired woman offered Wade a wink as she explained, “Easy as putting pen to paper, I reckon. Even though she lived in Washington State, Claire Reed was my best friend for near seventy years. Joey and Julie are…were…her great-grandchildren. I won’t go into circumstances, but Jenny, that’s Claire’s granddaughter, found herself in a financial predicament, with no husband, and with no education to get a good-paying job, and no other family to help out. She left the children with Claire and joined the Army. Jenny’s parents died when she was a little girl. Well, Claire took sick. When she knew she wouldn’t be around much longer, she gave me a call, asking if I’d take the children until their mother could make a life for them.” Nell drank deep from her own cup. “Naturally, I wasn’t about to say no to a dying friend. I have temporary custody until their mother returns.”

  “What about the children’s father?” Addison glanced toward the closed bedroom door.

  Nell harrumphed. “From my understanding he—whoever he is—has never been in the picture. According to Claire, his name isn’t even on the children’s birth certificates. In fact, the twins bear their mother’s maiden name—Wallace.”

  Addison was startled by the depth of emotion in Wade’s voice. “The twins are lucky to have you, Nell.” He cut a glance toward Addison. “None of us would be where we are today if you hadn’t taken us in.”

  So he was one of Nell’s kids, too. Addison’s curiosity was piqued. She didn’t remember Wade Grey, and she had lived at the ranch for eleven years. “Is there any chance of contacting the mother?”

  Wade furrowed his forehead into a frown. “Her unit is deployed to a remote region in Afghanistan. We’ve contacted the Red Cross to help bring her home, hopefully by Christmas.” He gulped the last of his coffee before he slid from the stool and bent to kiss Nell on the cheek. “Hate to leave good company, but duty calls.” He grabbed the paper sack Nell had prepared for his dispatcher and deputy.

  An awkward interval of silence fell. Addison also slid off her stool. “Thank you for picking me up at the airport and for driving me out here.”

  The two women followed him to the foyer. “I’m putting Addy in her old room. The one she shared with Ruby Raye. Would you mind, Wade?” The older woman shifted her gaze to the luggage, and then toward Addison. “My old knees aren’t what they used to be. A downstairs bedroom is much easier for me these days.”

  “Sure thing.” He didn’t crack a smile as he tucked one piece of luggage under his arm and grabbed the others, one in each hand, and labored up the steep stairs.

  Addison didn’t know why, but she was mesmerized by him. He was different from the men she’d met in the fashion industry, different from the jetsetters with enough money to buy small countries. He was introspective, with intensity in his dark eyes that revealed a soul weary with pain.

  Once Wade returned to the foyer, he kissed Nell on the cheek and thanked her for the goodies, and with the assurance that he was only a phone call away if she needed him. He situated the hat on his head. “Let’s keep bringing the twins’ mother home for Christmas to ourselves. I’d rather give them a happy surprise instead of disappointing them.”

  Addison quirked a smile as he tipped the brim of his hat to signal his departure. Western boots, a tan felt cowboy hat, denims, starched white shirt beneath a tan jacket. So different from Rowan, she thought. No expensive designer slacks, silk shirt and tie, and hand-stitched leather loafers. Yes, very different. She was still smarting from the painful disillusionment that her fiancé was a frog and no amount of kissing would turn him into a prince charming.

  Nell escorted Wade to the door and locked it behind him. She wandered back to where Addison still stood.

  “Earth to Addy.” Nell’s voice jolted Addison back to the present. “You look all done in. Why don’t you go on up? We can talk tomorrow.” She made a shooing motion with her hands.

  Addison opened her mouth to object when her subconscious reminded her of Wade’s warning that Nell was not her personal maid. She forced herself to soften her voice. “I am tired.”

  Nell gave a quick nod. “How long has your arm been in the cast?”

  “Fifteen days.” She sighed. “Although it seems like forever.”

  “Uh-huh. I remember when Ruby Raye thought she was superwoman and jumped off the barn roof and broke her arm. She was in a cast for six weeks.”

  Addison walked to the photo-laden mantel over the fireplace. Nostalgia filled her voice. “I’m very proud of Ruby. She’s become quite successful with her real estate business.”

  Both women were quiet for a moment. Nell looked at Addison with a concerned expression. “How did you break your arm?”

  “Nothing very glamorous.” Addison blinked away the vision of herself falling eight feet and landing in a crumpled heap on a cement floor. “We were doing a show in Budapest. Inferior workmanship caused the runway pedestals to collapse. I wasn’t the only model to suffer a nasty fall. Actually, I’m lucky only my arm was broken.”

  “Did you suffer a concussion?” Nell indicated the bandage over Addison’s eye.

  “Yes, but the doctors said there was no brain damage.” She tried to stifle the yawn. “I’m more tired than I thought. Do you mind if I retire early?”

  “Off to bed with you. We have plenty of time to visit tomorrow or for as long as you plan to stay.” Nell patted Addison’s shoulder.

  Chapter Three

  Mindful of the sleeping children downstairs, Addison eased her bedroom door shut. She stood in front of the three-door wardrobe, with its two bottom drawers and a tall mirror. The dark cherry wood was scarred with age…and memories from how many more children after she had left Hope Ranch? She faced her image, which seemed to hold all the forgotten years, including the Addy who used to be reflected back at her. A deep, long-forgotten gladness stirred in her heart. It almost felt as if the room was putting its arms around her…welcoming her home.

  The reflection of her old bed showed a new pink chenille spread had replaced the tattered patchwork quilt she and Ruby had slept under. She peered again at her image. The mirror revealed the face of a six-year-old orphan who had silently cried herself to sleep there that first night so many years ago. Ah, but this mirror couldn’t be tricked. Addison t
ouched the large white bandage above her left eye. “I’m not as young as I used to be,” she spoke only to the image staring back at her.

  Doubts and fears nagged at her. Beauty in the world of modeling was truly only skin deep. There was no room for wrinkles, facial flaws, and certainly not a large scar that would take a skillful plastic surgeon hours to mend the disfigurement. At thirty-two, she was nearing retirement age as a runway model. The mirror was no longer her friend. She looked pale and tired…and unwanted.

  She wandered to the window. It had been fifteen years since she’d left Hope Ranch, and what did she have to show for all those years? Fame, fortune…the creeps who came crawling out of the woodwork with their long-range camera lenses to sneak candid shots of her…and a broken heart. Her warm breath fogged the window as she peered out at the yard. The moon hung like a giant silver ball casting a sort of moonlight rapture over the trees and the snow-laden ground. The tree limbs barren of leaves reminded her of children holding their skinny arms up to the visitors who used to visit the orphanage, children desperate for a loving home.

  A light tap at the door drew her away from the window. She swallowed hard and brushed away unwanted tears.

  “Addy, may I come in?”

  Addison opened the door to find Nell standing there wearing an apologetic smile. “I never thought to ask if you needed help undressing.” She nodded toward the blue sling that cradled Addison’s arm. “I suppose it’s the mother hen in me. Of course, I don’t want to intrude.”

  Addison held the door wide as an invitation. “It is a bit awkward with one arm.”

  Unbuttoning the silken blouse and slipping it from Addison’s shoulders, Nell sucked in a deep gasp at the sight of the purplish-yellow bruises that lingered from the fall. The younger woman’s spine resembled a railroad track, and her ribs were almost visible through the bruised flesh.