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

by Lucy McConnell

  The problem was the way he highlighted what she should have had. This wasn’t the first time she’d struggled with this particular realization. In high school, she’d had friends whose parents were still in love and created stability for their children. She’d watched them, soaking in their examples at the same time it made her resent her own parents. Measuring her mother against stay-at-home moms who sewed Halloween costumes and baked cupcakes for their birthdays only made her angry.

  She’d thought she’d accepted her lot in life. But today she’d questioned it all once again—including how much she and her attitude played a part in it. Following right on the back of that question was another one: What would her future be like if she continued with this same attitude?

  She wasn’t sure she was ready for the answer to that question.

  Chapter 18

  Faith

  Faith crashed her eyes closed against the blaring of the alarm. Five in the morning came awfully early in North Dakota—heavy on the awful.

  She slammed the snooze button, groaned, and threw the blankets off. Knowing Caleb was in the house had thrown of her sleep cycle. It wasn’t like she wanted to sneak into his room and watch him sleep or anything creepy like that. And she wasn’t scared that he’d do something like that to her. It was more of this awareness of him. Of the way he smelled: like cookies and aftershave, which was a surprisingly delightful scent. Of the way his eyes sparkled: like a kid’s at Christmas. Of his muscles that rippled and moved under his shirt: like those of an animal ready to pounce. She couldn’t stop thinking about sharing cookies with him and the way he looked at life—her life in particular. He didn’t seem to think she had a horrible childhood, but maybe one that left some questions.

  Which made her ask herself if it was as bad as she’d always thought.

  Or if she’d just been a pessimist.

  She finally determined to ask her Dad about that first Christmas away and find out what had happened. It might not be any of her business why her parents’ marriage had fallen apart; then again, maybe it was, because she was the one who lived with the unasked-for consequences.

  Ugh! Her head hurt.

  She wrapped up in a robe and slipped her feet into the fur-lined slippers sitting by her bed—another purchase at the feed store—before heading to the kitchen. She turned on the lights and groaned. Being awake wasn’t getting easier. The pounding in her head intensified. That was what she got for crying yesterday. Crying always gave her a headache. She figured it was God’s way of telling her to find other ways to deal with things. But maybe it was His way of telling her she was meant to be a happy person in this life.

  She glanced around at the decorations Caleb had put up yesterday. Maybe, if she could give Christmas a try, really open her heart to it, she’d find some of that joy she’d been missing. Yawning, she turned on the television to listen to the morning news while she clicked on the hot chocolate maker.

  “… witnesses are saying the reindeer races cars like a dog, but flies next to their vehicle,” said the reporter standing in front of a sign that said “Old Faithful.” “I’ve got Ranger Charles here with me to shed some light on the mysterious happenings in Yellowstone National Park…”

  “The whole world’s gone reindeer crazy,” Faith mumbled. Dad didn’t drink coffee, but he had the world’s largest selection of cocoa packets to pick from. She grabbed one at random, having never met a cup of cocoa she didn’t like. Dumping the powder into the machine, she plodded out to the clinic to check on Rudy.

  He should be awake any time now. Though she didn’t want to startle him—his eyes were still bandaged—having him alert would be a good thing. Also, the bandages were an issue. It wasn’t like she could put a cone on a reindeer to keep him from scraping against the edge of the cage in an effort to get them off. So, she needed to make sure he kept them on for a while longer.

  Just in case he had rubbed them off in the night, she turned the lights on in the lobby but didn’t turn them on in the recovery room. She crept in and glanced down to find the cage empty.

  Panic shot through her like ice down her bathrobe. “Rudy,” she whispered as she dropped to her knees and grabbed the cage wire.

  A clang brought her eyes up, and she screamed. Rudy hung upside down like a bat. His bandaged eyes turned to her as if he could see through the gauze and right into her heart, and his red nose let off a glow.

  The sight was terrifying—a Christmas nightmare.

  Rudy snorted loud, the sound echoing off the walls

  Scrambling back from the kennel, she used the wall to climb to her feet and run for the house. “Caleb!” She threw open the door and charged down the hallway. “Caleb?!”

  Banging on his door, she looked over her shoulder, afraid Rudy had figured out how to escape and was coming after her. The door flew open, and she lost all the air in her lungs. Caleb shirtless and in flannel pajama bottoms was startling in a whole other way than finding a reindeer hanging from the ceiling of his kennel.

  She gulped, doing her best to work up moisture in her suddenly dry and uncoordinated mouth. “Rudy.” She pointed toward the clinic.

  Caleb put his hands on her shoulders and moved her out of the way even as he kicked into a whole other gear, leaving her by herself in the hall. She leaned against the wall opposite his open door. It was a good thing she hadn’t had all that bare chest to think about last night—she wouldn’t have gotten any sleep.

  Running her hand through her hair, she gathered her courage and made her way to the clinic. The doors were open, and she could hear Caleb talking to Rudy. “You scared her. What are you doing in here?”

  “He—” She paused just inside the door. He what? Levitated? Was there even an explanation for what she’d seen? “He was upside down.” She moved into the room, finding Rudy settled into the corner of his kennel. His nose was the same red it had been the day before, and he hung his head like a scolded child.

  Caleb measured the kennel with his arms. “I guess he could roll over in here. Forest welded the cage to be large enough for him to stay in it comfortably for a couple days.”

  “No. I mean …” She slapped her hand to her forehead. “He was hanging upside down.”

  Caleb stared at her. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes?” That sounded convincing. “No?” Even better. She tossed her hands up and headed back to the house. Obviously, Rudy was fine and could wait ten minutes for her to put on clothes and drink her cocoa.

  Caleb followed behind her. She had to work hard not to watch his every step through the room and on his way to his bedroom. A commercial for fried chicken came on the television, and she stared at it as she ran through what had just happened. Her heart was tired, like it had run a thousand miles in ten minutes.

  The cocoa was minty and helped clear her thoughts. She had seen Rudy upside down, his ears facing the floor. She felt sure of it. As sure as she was that the television was on. However, it was dark in the room, and shadows did funny things …

  Caleb came back a moment later, wearing a shirt and having tamed his bedhead a bit. Too bad. She liked the rumpled look on him—not to mention the muscles he sported. Grabbing another packet, she started the cocoa machine for him. “I swear to you, that reindeer was hanging from the ceiling.”

  He smirked. “You expect me to believe a reindeer could fly?”

  She groaned. “It sounds crazy, right? But that’s what happened.”

  “Are you sure you were awake?”

  She blew out a breath. “Not really.”

  “We’re back in Yellowstone National Park …” The reporter came back on, and both Faith and Caleb turned to watch. “… with an eyewitness of the flying reindeer people have dubbed Dancer.”

  Caleb snorted. Then he looked at her like he’d been caught sneaking out to spy on Santa. “Did you see that story before you went out to see Rudy?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, there’s your answer. You heard the story and saw a reindeer, and you
r brain mixed the two together.”

  “I was sleepy.” She glanced at the dark window and rubbed her arms for warmth. “Do you think they’ll call your family for comment on all this?”

  “Why would they?” His confusion was almost comical.

  “Because you’re reindeer experts.”

  “Oh, yeah. Well, there’s that.” He laughed. “I don’t know. Sometimes we get news people poking around. Especially this time of year. I have an idea.” He spoke quickly, as if his mind were running a 10k. “I’ll start some breakfast, and you go take a shower to wake up. Then we’ll both go check on Rudy.” He moved across the room, snagging his cocoa mug right as the machine beeped to let him know it was done. “Omelets or pancakes?”

  Faith hugged herself. Rudy had been upside down … hadn’t he? She stared at the television, where a guy who looked like he belonged in a biker gang gestured wildly as he talked about “Dancer” flying outside his driver’s side window on his way home from the bar. She flipped the television off. The world was crazy, but she wasn’t. Reindeer didn’t fly. Caleb was right: she must have conjured the whole thing up in her half-asleep state.

  “If you’re cooking, I’ll take pancakes.” She smiled to reassure him that she was sane.

  He held up the frying pan and spun it around like a gunslinger. “You got it.”

  She grinned and made her way back to her room. A hot guy making her breakfast and a flying reindeer. If she wasn’t careful, she’d start talking to leprechauns too.

  A shower and a clean pair of clothes would do wonders to make her feel like herself again. Bless Caleb for not laughing at her. He was a really great guy. She closed her eyes and saw Rudy’s white bandages staring back at her. Shaking her head, she got rid of the image and replaced it with Caleb without his shirt on. That was better—but full of its own troubles. She sighed. There was no safe place to rest her thoughts. If she didn’t get a hold of them, they’d run away with her and Caleb and a whole lot of kissing.

  Chapter 19

  Caleb

  “I don’t know, Jack.” Caleb paced Faith’s front room. Funny how in the short time they’d spent together here, he’d come to think of it as her house instead of Doc’s. “I can’t see a way around Mom and Dad when they join forces.” He’d spent a lot of time thinking about how they watched each other’s back and wanted a marriage with as much dedication—it was wonderful but infuriating at times like these.

  “Yeah, but one of us has got to go after Snowflake.” His twin’s voice sounded tinny, which meant he was in the workout arena.

  Caleb paused in his pacing to look out the front window toward the driveway. Faith had gone out on a ranch call, and he didn’t want to be caught talking about disappearing reindeer after the way he’d made her think she’d dreamt Rudy upside down in his stall. Reindeer! He thought they knew better by now when it came to flying in front of people, but discretion didn’t seem to be one other their traits. If anything, they were a bunch of show-offs.

  “Agreed.” The driveway was empty, so he took up wearing a path in the carpet. “But Dad’s the owner of the ranch and technically our boss. If he says we don’t go, then we don’t go.” Working with family was as much about managing your relationship as it was about getting the work done. If Jack took off without permission … there’d be a reckoning when he got home. “None of us are really guaranteed a place on the ranch forever. Dad could up and sell it for his retirement.”

  Jack snorted in derision. “We both know that would never happen.”

  “Okay, probably not, but you understand we can still be fired even if we’re his sons, right? They love us something fierce, but they also believe in tough love.” Did they ever. As much as people thought their family was perfect, they were far from it. The one thing they had going for them that everyone else seemed to envy was loyalty. If a brother was in trouble, he had four men for backup—not to mention Dad, Doc, and Mom. And truly, Mom was the one who kept the kids in line who would have picked on the Nichollas brothers for still believing in Santa. She was a mother bear that would scare off the abominable snowman.

  “Yeah.” Sounded like Jack remembered the days he was grounded for not making grades. And grounded at their house meant no flying sleighs. For teenage boys, it was like sucking all the joy out of the world.

  “Try playing the video for Dad, see if it changes his mind, but don’t expect much.” The news was playing a video of Snowflake racing a snowmobile. It was grainy and you only saw her fly past in a blur, but it was certainly their missing reindeer. The video was viral on YouTube even as “experts” did their best to discredit it. Seemed like there was a world full of grouches this year bent on destroying Christmas cheer.

  “I’ll give it a try. Would you be able to go with me?” The only reason they hadn’t gone yet was Rudy’s surgery.

  Caleb glanced at the door that led to the clinic. Rudy was sleeping—again. Faith said it was normal, but he didn’t dare leave her alone with the reindeer in case Rudy felt like snoozing upside down again and scaring their vet half out of her wits. “I don’t think so. I’ve got a lot going on with Rudy and Faith. I’m itching to get him in the workout arena, but I’m also worried that he won’t be everything we’re hoping.”

  “I feel ya.”

  “Thanks, bro. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “If not sooner. The sing-along is tonight. You gonna bring that girl you’re chasing after?”

  Caleb didn’t even bother to check his grin. “Maybe.” He hadn’t thought of the sing-along, but now it sounded like the best idea ever. The town did their Christmas sing-along up right—with a giant tree lighting at the beginning and the high school band accompanying the singers. It was one of his favorite traditions. “I’ll need to arrange some things. Maybe you could drop Pax off here and he can drive my truck home. That way, I can ride back with Rudy and not have to leave it here.”

  “Sure.”

  Gravel crunched outside, and he leapt to the window. Faith set the old truck’s parking brake before climbing out.

  “I gotta go. Faith just got home.” He clicked off before his brother could tease him about how he’d phrased that. Yes, she’d gotten home, but not to their home. Although he did feel like he was playing house when he made them dinner. Lemon-pepper chicken was easy enough, and the can of green beans wasn’t fancy, but it would feed them. Nourishment was what Faith needed after being out in the cold. Good food and a cup of hot cocoa.

  He dashed into the kitchen to hit the start button on the cocoa machine. It gurgled before Faith pushed through the front door. Caleb scrambled for the barstool, where his book lay open on the counter. He’d been meaning to read the mystery novel he’d gotten for his birthday and had thrown it into his duffel on a whim. It was a good thing too, because he was used to being in motion and he’d done a lot of sitting around today.

  “Something smells great,” Faith called from the front door.

  Caleb dithered, wondering if he should go out to greet her like he wanted to or if he should not appear so eager.

  She came into the kitchen, the cold clinging to her clothing like icicles hanging from her sleeves. North Dakota weather was like that—it wouldn’t let you forget it, even when you got out of it. She shed her coat and hung it over the barstool next to him. “Is this for me?” She pointed at the cocoa machine.

  Caleb had yet to unglue his tongue from the top of his mouth. Faith’s cheeks were rosy and her eyes bright. Her hair, up in a high ponytail, was disheveled. Man, he’d like to make her look that good. Burying his hands in her hair as he kissed that blush to her cheeks would be a treat. He shook himself. “Yep. All yours.” He lifted his own mug and took a sip of the slightly cooled cocoa. “You look happy.”

  She threw a smile over her shoulder, and he about fell off his chair. Seriously—this woman had no idea how beautiful she was, and it was undoing him. “I forgot how much I like going out on ranch calls. The work is challenging, but there’s something about being with
a herd of animals or working beside someone who respects their cattle.” She pulled the mug out and took a sip, her eyes closing in pleasure.

  Caleb bit his cheek and thought of Dunder to keep himself from leaping over the counter and taking Faith in his arms. It appeared that absence did make the heart grow fonder, because she’d only been gone for a few hours and he was falling all over himself. “Would you want to move in permanently?” He did his best to keep the conversation casual despite the way his heart hammered out hope that she’d choose to stay. “After all, you already have a bedroom here.”

  She smiled into her cup. “Dad and I need to clear up a lot of things. I didn’t get to see him today because of this emergency. I don’t think we are at a point where being business partners is a good idea.”

  “Working with family is a challenge.” He lifted his mug in salute and then felt like an idiot, so he hurried and slurped a sip. “You just said you loved the ranch calls, and I haven’t seen you this happy since you got here.” If he didn’t know that she’d gone out to Old Man Miller’s, he might be jealous of the man who put the spring in Faith’s step.

  She laughed lightly. “It was a great day. I almost got kicked by the bull, but he just missed me. I think my heart about jumped out of my chest.” She placed her hand over her heart even as her smile slipped. “My practice is in Grafton, though. I have a lot of money wrapped up in it, and I can’t just walk away. It’s impractical to even consider it.”

  Well, there went that hope. If only Faith could see herself in Sleigh Bell Country. She’d realize how good this place was for her. Everything in her bright countenance said that moving here would be an improvement over the life she had in the city. Maybe she needed a big dose of this small town to change her mind. He stood, closing his book in the process. “Let’s go out.”

  She half-choked on her cocoa. “But I just got in.”

  He pressed forward. “Tonight is the sing-along. It’s a huge deal in town, and it’s one of the best traditions we have—second only to Santa’s ride on Christmas Eve.” He winked, hoping she’d take his pressure as friendly and not desperate.