One Tough Christmas Cookie (The Reindeer Wrangler Ranch Christmas Romance Book 1)

by Lucy McConnell

  “We know. He developed them a couple months after being born.”

  “We can remove them.”

  Caleb glanced down at Rudy as if asking permission. “You can?”

  She nodded. “I’ve done the surgery on horses before. It’s not bad, but he’d need to come into the clinic. As clean as you guys keep this place, I don’t think it’s sterile enough for surgery.”

  “Umm,” Caleb hedged.

  “Look, if it’s too expensive, I understand. He will have a good life here, and there’s really no need to fix his sight.”

  “There kind of is …” Caleb ran a hand through his hair and blew out his cheeks. “I’ll have to talk it over with the crew. We don’t let the reindeer leave the ranch.”

  “But Stella took one,” she argued. Rudy was adorable and lipped at her clothing, tugging as if asking her to play. She suddenly wanted him to be able to see clearly and enjoy this world he’d only stumbled through before.

  Caleb cringed. “That’s … different.”

  “How?” she pressed.

  “It just is.” He pushed Rudy back and then took him to his stall.

  Faith followed, incensed. His girlfriend could take a reindeer for a super-vague reason, but she wasn’t allowed to help one see?! “This is a medical condition. Surely your permits would allow the reindeer off the ranch for elective surgeries.” Something fell past her peripheral vision, and she found a piece of straw on her shoulder. She brushed it off.

  Caleb unhooked Rudy’s harness and shut the stall door behind him. “Behave for once, will you? We have a guest.” He gestured to Faith while admonishing the reindeer.

  Something tickled Faith’s hair, and she brushed pieces of hay out of it. “Where is this coming from?” She looked around. There wasn’t a stick of straw to be seen. She went to tip her chin up and look above; maybe there was a hayloft she’d missed.

  Caleb clapped his hands together loudly, startling her. He glanced up and then moved quickly back to Dunder’s stall. “There must be a draft.”

  She held her hand up, testing for a breeze. Then she looked up at the ceiling to see if they stored hay in the rafters, but she didn’t see anything.

  “Come on, beautiful,” Caleb said a little louder than necessary.

  Her heart did a somersault at the nickname. If he continued to call her pretty and beautiful, she might start to expect it from him. He needed to get that under control. If she was going to work with him, they should have a professional relationship. One with all the right boundaries and such.

  She turned to him to thank him for the compliment and explain how she felt about not muddying the waters between them, only to see another reindeer. This one was a soft buck color with eyes like Liz Taylor’s—outlined heavily in black and lashes for days. The way she held herself gave off the impression that she was a queen. “Wow.”

  Caleb brushed her neck. “This is Sparkle. She’s too uppity for a harness, but as long as we tell her she’s beautiful, she’ll do just about anything we ask.”

  Faith’s neck warmed with embarrassment that she’d thought he was talking to her. And that he might have applied the same thought process to her. Well, it wasn’t going to work. She refused to soften because he’d called her pretty. At least she wouldn’t have to make things awkward between them by drawing a line in the snow.

  “Will you take your stunning little self into your stall?” Caleb asked in a tone that was so sweet it could cause cavities.

  Sparkle closed her eyes briefly—acknowledging his request. Then she turned her back to them and swished her tail like a woman wagged her hips as she made her way into the tall at the end of the row.

  Caleb shoved his hands on his hips. “Women.”

  Faith laughed.

  He grinned back. “They’re growing on you, aren’t they?”

  She sobered quickly. “No.” She ducked into the stall and gathered her samples, throwing the garbage into the bag hanging off the handle. “I need to get to Dad’s office. It’s been a long day.”

  “Can I have your phone number?”

  She fumbled with the tubes. “What?” Was he really asking for her number? Jeez, this guy didn’t know when to quit. Did she want him to have it? She was alone in town, and there was a lot on her plate. It would be nice to have a friend. But she couldn’t afford to encourage anything with this wrangler. They lived in two different towns and had vastly different priority lists.

  His eyebrows jumped. “I’ll call you for the test results.”

  “Oh.” Right. Of course. She needed to get her head in the game. Sure, they’d had an interesting visit on the ranch, but that didn’t mean Caleb wanted to spend more time with her—as a friend or otherwise. She rattled off her number, and he put it into his phone. A moment later, her phone beeped.

  “Now you have mine. You know, in case you want someone to talk to—or yell at.” One side of his mouth hitched up in a crooked grin. “Just give me a call.”

  She smiled almost involuntarily. “Thanks. I’m sure I can go a few days without having anyone to yell at.”

  He lifted a shoulder as if that was debatable.

  She held up the tubes. “If I remember right, Dad has a full lab at his office. I can run these myself instead of sending them out and should have an answer soon.”

  “We’d appreciate that.”

  “In the meantime, make sure he’s drinking, but don’t offer him anything to eat.”

  “Okay. Let’s get you back to the hospital.” He followed behind her, almost as if he was making sure she left.

  A few more pieces of hay fell on her head, and she paused to brush them off. “What on earth?” She went to look up, but Caleb shoved her out the door and into the blinding sunlight. She covered her eyes. “Yikes!”

  “Sorry. I—uh—tripped.” Caleb shut the door behind him with a definite thud.

  She stared. Something weird was going on at the Reindeer Wrangler Ranch. She wasn’t quite sure what, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to find out. She had the feeling that this place could suck her in—like it had Dad. And she couldn’t allow that to happen.

  She’d treat Dunder, and then she’d wash her hands of the reindeer and the cute wrangler that came with them.

  Chapter 6

  Caleb

  Caleb enjoyed recounting his near-flying-reindeer sightings in the barn with Faith over Sunday breakfast. The reindeer had been in rare form, sneaking out of their stalls and attempting to meet the newcomer. Snowflake had dropped straw on her head. And then there was Rudy. He’d thought Rudy was going to follow her around like a lovesick puppy.

  Mom giggled. “I can’t blame Rudy. He’s always been curious. It’s Sparkle who I think was up to mischief.”

  Dad guffawed, putting his hand over Mom’s. “She’s as jealous as they come and probably didn’t like the competition. There aren’t many ladies walking around the ranch. You’re the only one she respects enough not to mess with.” He winked at Mom.

  “And Doc’s daughter isn’t bad on the eyes, either.” Forest shoved Caleb’s elbow off the table right as he was dropping a dollop of whipped cream on his waffles.

  “I can’t believe we missed her,” Drake bemoaned.

  “I can’t believe Doc’s daughter is that cute,” quipped Caleb’s twin, Jack.

  Mom gave him a dirty look.

  “What? You’ve seen the grizzly guy, right?” Jack swiped a napkin across his face to hide his smirk.

  “His lack of shaving skills aside …” Mom lifted her nose and reached for the basket of from-scratch cranberry muffins. “Doc is a good friend who is going through a rough time right now, and he doesn’t deserve you knocking him down behind his back.”

  Caleb exchanged a look with Jack that told him he agreed with his twin’s shock but wasn’t going to take on Mom.

  Mom shoved the basket at Caleb. “Hurry up, or we’ll be late for church.”

  Caleb accepted the basket and took two. Cranberry was his favorite. “I was
thinkin’ of visiting Doc after services and filling him in on what’s going on with Dunder, maybe get a second opinion if he’s up to talking much.”

  “I’ll ride over with ya,” said Drake. “We can stop for lunch at the diner if you want.”

  That was a good idea. If Faith was at the hospital, she might relax having another person to carry some of the awkward load of conversation they’d been carrying between them. She was so uptight with him, only relaxing for a few minutes when she’d talked about Rudy’s possible surgery. And since Drake was only nineteen, Faith wouldn’t give him a second look. Diving into why that mattered to him wasn’t going to happen over breakfast. That was the kind of contemplation better undertaken when sitting on a tractor with nothing but miles of field to plow or snow to move.

  “I’d be happy for the company,” he replied.

  “We’re going over to Doc’s place and fill the fridge.” Dad took a quick sip from his glass of eggnog. “Doc will need some easy meals, and his daughter could use some meat on her bones.”

  Caleb grinned. Faith looked good to him just the way she was—he wasn’t looking to change her. But that was another tractor ponder session. He jumped to his feet before he filled up his calendar with thoughts of Faith. “What do you want me to tell her about Rudy?”

  Dad leaned back and rubbed his stomach. He glanced at Mom, who nodded for him to go ahead. “We talked it over last night. If she can help him see, I think we should go for it. He might be the only animal we can send to the North Pole for the next little bit.”

  A cloud of worried thoughtfulness descended over the table. Each year, fewer and fewer flying reindeer were born. The ones in the barn weren’t up to the task of helping Santa deliver toys for one reason or another. If they didn’t get some new fliers soon, Christmas would be in real trouble.

  “But—you have to stay with him the whole time,” Dad added. “We can’t have Faith finding out about Rudy’s special abilities.”

  Caleb nodded and knocked on the table for good luck. “I’ll put on a tie—meet you at the truck in five minutes, Drake.” He’d stayed over at Doc’s with a reindeer before, but that was different—Doc wasn’t a beautiful woman who’d caught his attention.

  It didn’t matter. He’d have to keep his distance from Faith and keep his head down. It had worked at the hospital. He grinned to himself as he tied his tie, thinking of how she’d kicked his boots. She was a tough cookie; that was for sure.

  He passed by the back door, where he hit the button on his key fob to start the truck engine. It took a full minute for the glow plugs to warm up before it rumbled to life. When it did, he ran up the stairs to grab his hat.

  Doc didn’t know why the reindeer weren’t producing fliers. He’d tried crossing bloodlines and matching flying reindeer with flying reindeer, even though in the past they’d let the reindeer figure all that out. But nothing seemed to work.

  Maybe Faith could help them out. He paused, wondering why he’d thought that, and an old, hazy memory lifted from the back of his mind. About ten years back, Doc had been all excited that Faith was specializing in breeding and gene development in animals. He’d thought she’d be the answer to all their problems. But she hadn’t shown up after graduation like Doc had predicted. Caleb frowned. He’d forgotten all about that until just now.

  He double-checked his shirt to make sure he hadn’t spilled on it at breakfast and then ran down the stairs. Maybe he could ask Faith to look at their breeding records. If she could find a solution …

  No. He wouldn’t dare. Not without telling her about the magic coursing through their veins. And doing that wasn’t up to him. If Doc had kept it a secret from her, then he had his reasons.

  Caleb was really interested in finding out what they were.

  After Sunday services, Caleb and Drake found Doc’s recovery room in a different part of the hospital than where Caleb had met Faith. This area was calmer. The walls were clean, off-white, and there were pictures of local farms and landmarks blown up and framed on the walls. The smell of cleaner tinted just about every space they entered. That was probably a good thing, though it put an exclamation point on the fact that this wasn’t a home. Home smelled like earth and cinnamon and fabric softener.

  Doc sat up in bed and glared at the television, where It’s a Wonderful Life played. He glanced at them hovering in the doorway and then jerked his head toward the TV. “It’s not like that, you know.”

  “What’s not?” asked Drake as he moseyed in and took a seat on the other side of the bed. He was pretty much comfortable anywhere. Church, hospitals, the barn. If Caleb had had half his confidence at nineteen, he could have built an empire or climbed forbidden mountains. Drake didn’t realize the gift he had, being the youngest and feeling like he belonged. As the oldest, Caleb had grown up paving trails.

  “Dyin’,” Doc barked. “No one tells you what good you’ve done; all you count is the opportunities missed and see all the ways you screwed up.”

  Caleb reeled back. “You died?” The doctor hadn’t said anything about Doc dying the night of surgery.

  “Not according to the doctors, but I know what happened.” Doc stared out the window as if recounting the experience in his mind. “It ain’t all angels and bells, boys.”

  Wow! Caleb caught Drake’s eye. His younger brother was as weirded out by that statement as he was. Were they supposed to ask him about what he saw? ’Cuz from the way Doc talked, Caleb wasn’t sure he wanted to know what awaited them on the other side. It wasn’t like Doc was a sinner of large proportions. He didn’t come to church, and he had a complicated relationship with his daughter, but that didn’t mean he was meant for hellfire and damnation.

  Heck, if Doc was in trouble with God, where’d that leave the rest of them?

  Caleb shuffled closer to the bed. “How ya feeling?”

  Doc’s whole frame lifted and fell with his sigh. “Like someone punched me in the chest and then ran over me with a sleigh. I’ll be all right, though—still got some work left in me.”

  “We aren’t worried about getting you back to work,” Drake protested. “We’re here as neighbors for a Sunday visit.”

  Doc looked like he was going to snort at that, and then he paused and softened. “Thanks. I’m worried about the herd, though, always am. They’re my saving grace.”

  “How so?” Caleb leaned one hip against the bed.

  “Any good I’ve done in this life was for them.” Doc’s face fell. “I could have done a lot more for people who shoulda meant more to me, but there it is. I can’t give up on the reindeer now, though, so I gotta lot to get done before I’m—well …”

  Caleb patted his shin. “You worry about getting better right now, and when you’re healthy, we’ll be glad to have you.” He paused, wondering much Doc remembered from before he’d gone into surgery and if Faith had visited since then. “I don’t want to put stress on your newly repaired valve. Do you think you could talk some things through with us?”

  Doc nodded, his brown eyes showing interest. “I’d appreciate the distraction.” He tossed the remote on the bed and folded his hands in his lap.

  Caleb and Drake explained about Stella bringing Dunder in and his symptoms.

  “Doesn’t sound like a stomach issues—which is a good thing. Remember when Buddy colicked a couple years back?” Doc asked.

  Drake dropped his head, and Caleb closed his eyes, picturing the dark-coated animal with a two-point rack. The young reindeer—a non-flier—had gotten into the garden and eaten a bunch of corn. No one could have stopped him, and as his stomach had swelled and he’d passed away, Doc had kept him comfortable and eased his suffering. It’d been a hard day all around. Caleb had learned early on that reindeer didn’t live forever, but an unforeseen passing was always a blow.

  “So Dunder has a chance?” Drake asked.

  “I wish I could get a blood sample.” Doc’s hand twitched against the sheet.

  “Faith already did,” Caleb offered, hoping to
ease his worries.

  “Faith? You let Faith treat Dunder?” Doc came up off the bed, his face going red. “She doesn’t know. She can’t know about the fliers.”

  Caleb leaned in and put his hands on Doc’s shoulders, gently pushing him back to rest on the bed. “She doesn’t.”

  Doc sagged as if all his strength had run through holes in the bottom of a bucket. “She can’t find out,” he mumbled.

  “Why not?” asked Caleb, trying his best to keep an even, quiet voice.

  “Because she doesn’t believe. She has all these new-age ideas about things, and she’ll mess everything up.”

  A need to defend Faith rose up inside of him. “I think she could be an asset to us. Maybe help us figure out how to get more fliers out of the next breeding season.”

  “She doesn’t have the Christmas spirit to do any such thing.”

  “I think you’re underestimating her,” Caleb spat back. He’d seen the way Faith worked with the animals, the way they took to her. Well, except for Sparkle, but she’d have an issue with any new female in the barn—human or reindeer.

  “I’m afraid he has me pegged.”

  All three males whipped around to find Faith standing in the doorway, carrying a lunch sack and a pile of fresh clothes for Doc. Her ash-brown straight hair framed her angular face. His eyes traced her pert nose and the line of her cheekbone before he realized he was staring and averted his gaze.

  Wait, Faith was here. Shoot. They’d been too open, and apparently too loud, in their conversations. He silently swore. “How long have you been standing there?” What exactly had they said about the reindeer? The argument was a blur. Doc had said fliers … hadn’t he? Or maybe that was Caleb.

  Drake glared at Caleb and cut his hand across his throat, telling him to shut up.

  Faith strode right into the tense atmosphere as if it didn’t concern her at all. “For what it’s worth, I agree with Dad. I don’t buy into Christmas and all the trappings.” She set the clothing on the bottom of the bed and handed Doc the sack. “Don’t get too excited—it’s all approved heart-healthy food. But I thought you might like something that wasn’t cooked here.”