Christmas at Colts Creek

by Delores Fossen

  Rowan certainly didn’t jump to accept her apology. No surprise there. If Brody was having trouble dealing with this, then it had to be much, much worse for Rowan.

  “And you didn’t know?” Rowan asked him.

  Brody shook his head. “Mom told me yesterday, and no, I didn’t suspect anything.” Going with another round of hindsight, Brody hadn’t wanted to suspect anything. He’d just been so damn glad that having a baby around might help Darcia’s grief over Layla.

  Darcia went closer to Rowan as if she might try to hug him, but Rowan backed away from her. There was still no rage. Still no fired off insults as to what a huge mistake this had been for her not to tell him.

  Rowan held out his hand in a don’t-come-closer gesture. All things considered, it was a fairly mild reaction, but Brody saw that it cut Darcia to the core.

  “I, uh, think I want go for a ride around the ranch,” Rowan said to Brody. “Mind if I use Thorn or one of your other horses?”

  “No, I don’t mind. But choose any horse other than Thorn unless you want to deal with his pissy mood. You want me to go with you?”

  Rowan shook his head. “I just need some time to myself,” he said, aiming that at their mother. “I won’t do anything stupid.”

  His brother had probably said that because he knew this would cause a flashback or two back to the night Layla had died. Later, when things had settled down, Brody would thank Rowan for saying it to her.

  “It’s cold out there,” Darcia told him. “It might snow.”

  “I’ll bundle up, and I won’t do anything stupid,” Rowan repeated. He grabbed his coat and headed out the back door toward the barn.

  Brody expected Darcia to stay put, to wait until Rowan came back. Whenever that would be.

  Darcia’s gaze drifted to the window that faced the barn. “He’ll be all right by himself?”

  Brody nodded. “Rowan’s a good rider, and I believe him when he said the doing-nothing-stupid part.”

  That didn’t mean Brody wouldn’t check on him. He’d give Rowan a couple of hours, then text him. If he got any bad vibes from the text response, or no response at all, then Brody would ride out to whatever part of the ranch Rowan had gone. All of his horses had trackers on them so it wouldn’t take long to find him.

  Darcia brushed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for everything, and let me know if Rowan wants to see me.”

  He would, but that might take a while. “Rowan might want to stay here until he’s worked out some things in his head.”

  Her sad, weary sigh coupled with a sad, weary nod told Brody she had already resigned herself to that. She was probably also terrified that she’d lost her son forever. Not in a car wreck like Layla. But it was possible that Rowan might never be able to forgive her.

  With that dismal thought hanging in the air like lead, Brody gave his mother a hug and left. It was indeed cold, right at freezing, and it certainly felt damp enough for something to start falling from the sky. Maybe if it started sleeting, that would be enough to get Rowan to come home.

  Once he was in his truck, Brody used the tracker app on his phone to see that Rowan had indeed taken Thorn out for his ride. Apparently, his brother wanted a pissy horse to go with his mood. No way did he want to wait around for hours while he stewed and worried about Rowan, so he set the app to alert him when Rowan brought Thorn back.

  Hoping to help with his own mood, Brody drove to Colts Creek, and he immediately spotted Janessa in the front doorway that she’d obviously just opened. She was wearing her red coat, a white knit hat, and she was tugging on some gloves.

  Janessa smiled at him, waved, and that smile fixed some of the lead-weight air, which seemed to lift a little. She continued to smile when she opened the front door for him, but apparently worry was the word of the day because he could see plenty of that for him in her eyes.

  “Should I ask how it went with Rowan?” she said. The moment he was on the porch, she caught onto his hand, pulling him into the foyer. Once the door was shut, she leaned in and kissed him.

  That kiss did some weight lifting, too, and Brody leaned into it for a moment, taking all that she was offering and then some. When he finally eased back from her, he showed her the app with the moving, pulsing dot.

  “Rowan’s out riding,” Brody explained, giving her the condensed version. “He’s confused, probably pissed off some, probably hurt. But he’s not a hothead. I think he’ll be okay. Well, okay-ish anyway.”

  “Okay-ish is a good start,” Janessa assured him.

  Yeah, it was, and Brody needed to hang on to the good that was going on in his life. Which brought him to one of the reasons he was here. He’d wanted that smile and kiss from Janessa, but there was something else.

  “You’re going somewhere?” he asked, motioning to her coat.

  “To the inn to see Mom. She was here earlier when we opened presents, but she asked me to come for coffee. Then I was going to stop by your place and give you your Christmas present.” She took out a small box from her coat pocket to show him.

  It was wrapped in gold foil, very similar in color and size to the gift he had for her in his truck.

  Janessa motioned to the stairs. “Margo and Velma Sue are with the baby while she’s taking her morning nap. Deputy Ollie’s with them.”

  Good. Because despite everything else going on, the baby’s safety was still at the top of everyone’s list.

  “I can text my mother and tell her I need a raincheck,” Janessa suggested.

  “Do that,” he said, not feeling the least bit guilty for screwing up whatever plans Sophia had. “I want to show you something. And I want to give you your Christmas present. It’s hard to explain, but I need to take a step forward today.”

  “You don’t have to explain, and I want to give you your present, too,” she assured him while she followed him to his truck. “It’s flattering that you’d want to make that step forward with me around.” She froze. “Uh, you’re not going to ask me to marry you, are you?”

  Her tone stung just a little because she made it sound as if that was a really out-there idea. And it was. They weren’t in love and were in the middle of a holiday fling. Flings by definition weren’t permanent and didn’t usually lead to marriage. Still, Brody would have preferred she didn’t look so dumbfounded.

  “Rowan asked if I’d knocked you up,” he grumbled as he drove away. “So, I guess it’s the day for wild conclusions. No, this isn’t a drive so I can propose.”

  Though the possibility of it didn’t dumbfound him, and it could perhaps even happen if a whole boatload of things changed. Not just the falling-in-love and the fling parts, either. There was that whole wacky notion of Janessa’s life not being here, and Brody knew he was a long, long way from being her life.

  He took a back road, driving past the string of small ranches that were east of Colts Creek. No black stone houses and fences here. This was the heart and soul of the county.

  “That’s Joe’s place,” Brody pointed out when they went by the sign for Saddle Run.

  In the distance from the main house, Brody spotted the ground that was being cleared for Joe’s new place. One that he would no doubt end up sharing with Millie. They weren’t engaged yet, but Brody thought that was on the near horizon for his good friend.

  Brody only had to drive another quarter of a mile before he got to the next ranch, and he pulled into the gravel driveway. He stopped the truck, sat there, taking in the view. The white limestone and pine house, the freshly painted barn and corral fence.

  “This is the place you want to buy?” she asked, moving to the edge of the seat so she could look around.

  “It’s the place I bought,” he corrected. “Right before we talked to Rowan, I got a text from the Realtor saying that the owner had accepted my offer. I should be able to close on it the end of next month.”

  An
d because life was just filled with a crapload of irony, that would be when Abe’s will would be done and Janessa would be heading back to Dallas.

  “It’s eighty acres,” Brody continued. “And there’s a good stretch of the creek running through the property so I’ll be able to get a lot more horses than I have now. I want to focus on the breed stock, building a name and reputation.”

  “Like you did at Colts Creek,” she muttered. She made a sweeping glance around the place before her gaze came back to his. “You’re sure this is what you want?”

  He nearly told her he wanted a lot of things. Her included. Instead, he ran his thumb over her bottom lip, gathering up her taste and brought it to his own mouth. It gave him exactly the heat kick that he’d expected.

  “I’m sure,” Brody said. “The Realtor’s putting my place on the market as we speak.” Heaven knew how long it’d take to sell, but he could financially swing both places for a while.

  “Let me check on Rowan and then we can have a look around.” Brody took out his phone, opened the app. “Rowan’s still riding,” he explained as he followed the little dot on the screen. “The abrupt stops are probably because Thorn’s acting like an ass.”

  “He’ll be okay?” Janessa asked.

  “Rowan, yes. Thorn, no. But Rowan can handle Thorn.”

  In fact, the horse’s orneriness might help Rowan focus on something other than his own anger. Still, the boy was going to have to deal with that shock and anger and come to terms with forgiving Darcia for holding back like this.

  “Here,” Janessa said, taking the gift from her coat pocket. “You look as if you could use this. Maybe it’ll cheer you up.”

  He eyed the box, then her. “Is this an engagement ring?” he joked.

  “No.” She stretched that out a few syllables. “It’s something to keep you on the right path.”

  Well, he needed help in that area so Brody opened the box, and he smiled when he saw the antique compass inside. A brass one with turquoise studs on the arrow. “This was at Once Upon a Time during the scavenger hunt.”

  “Yes, it was.” She flipped it over so he could see the back. An etched rearing horse pawing at the air.

  Since he hadn’t picked it up the night of the party, he definitely hadn’t noticed that, but it suited him. Suited him more because it was a gift from Janessa.

  “Thanks.” He kissed her, lingered some doing that, and then Brody took out her gift from the glove compartment. “Not an engagement ring,” he told her right off.

  Unlike him, Janessa didn’t hesitate opening the tiny box, and he watched the smile bloom on her mouth when she saw the antique heart-and-pearl earrings. Yep, the very ones she’d eyed at the party.

  “I went back to Once Upon a Time to buy them,” Janessa said, her voice a little misty with emotion, “but Millie told me they’d already been sold.” She plucked them from the box and threaded the delicate gold backs through her pierced ears. She took a moment to look at them in the vanity mirror before she kissed him. “Thank you. I love them. And they’ll remind me of you.”

  That had a bittersweet tinge to it. Because she wouldn’t need to be reminded of him if she were here.

  “Now, let’s see the ranch,” Janessa insisted, getting out of the truck. Brody turned off the engine and got out with her. Janessa motioned around her. “So, this is your house, your barn, your fences?”

  “It soon will be. The owner, Elmer Tasker, moved out a couple of days ago. He went to Florida to live with his daughter.” Brody pointed to the Charolais cattle in the pasture. “He sold the livestock to a broker over in Wrangler’s Creek, and someone will be coming to get them in a couple of days.”

  She turned to him, and for a moment he thought she was about to caution him about moving too fast. Or try to talk him into staying at Colts Creek. But she merely smiled. Not an I-want-to-distract-you-from-your-troubles smile. This one had some heat to it.

  “I think you should kiss me by the fence and in that barn,” she said, leading him in that direction. It was cold enough for her breath to create a wispy fog between them. “Sort of a christening like whacking a champagne bottle against a ship when it’s dedicated. Then, when you move into the house, you can christen me there, too.”

  She might not be there for his move-in, but Brody wasn’t an idiot so he kept that depressing thought to himself. And he stopped and kissed her before they got to the fence.

  “We should christen the driveway,” he muttered against her mouth.

  Circling their arms around each other and while kissing, they began to inch their way to the nearest fence. It wasn’t easy since neither one of them could actually see where they were going. This could turn into another hammock deal where they ended up with scrapes and bruises.

  Then again, that had turned out to be a sky-high rating on the pleasure meter.

  They stumbled and kissed all the way to the fence, and Brody was mindful of not stepping on her toes. Literally. He didn’t want to risk reinjuring the toe she’d broken so he lifted her, sitting her on the top rung. The fence was a standard four and a quarter feet high and with him at six-two, that put Janessa’s mouth higher than his. But she remedied that by leaning down and kissing him as if this was to be the hottest, best christening in history.

  Brody certainly didn’t object to her enthusiasm and thoroughness. Nope. He just let her have her way with him until she laughed and then jumped off the railing and into his arms. Kissing her, he carried her in the direction of the barn. He doubted they’d get any visitors, but if Joe had seen them drive by, he might come to check if the sale had gone through. Brody didn’t have plans for sex. Then again, he hadn’t planned all this kissing, either. It was a nice bonus to buying his place.

  “Does the ranch have a name?” she asked. She hooked her legs around his waist as Brody walked.

  “No. Maybe you can give it one.”

  That’d be a nice perk, remembering Janessa every time someone said the name of his ranch. Though it might not be a reminder he wanted if things didn’t end well between them. Sort of like getting a tat of the person you thought you’d love forever and ever, only to have to go through tat removal when it turned out forever had a much shorter shelf life than expected.

  “I’ll give it some thought,” she assured him.

  She kept the leg lock around him while he carried her to the barn. Then he stopped when he felt something cold and wet land on his face.

  “It’s snowing,” Janessa gushed with loads of enthusiasm. Probably more than warranted since it was only a couple of flakes. Still, it seemed as if everything, including Mother Nature, was cooperating to make this very special.

  He walked into the barn where Janessa’s warm scent immediately blended with that of the hay and saddle leather. Brody didn’t waste any time backing her against a wood stall door. There was a high risk of splinters, but he was pretty sure this was going to be worth it.

  With her anchored against the stall, he could free up one of his hands to slide between their bodies and swipe his thumb over her nipple. He also untangled their tongues so he could go after her neck.

  The sound Janessa made was part lust, part laughter. “This dedication is heating up.”

  Yeah, it was, but the heat did a nosedive when his phone dinged with a text. “It might be Rowan,” he managed to say.

  With his breathing ragged and his body hard and aching, he eased Janessa to her feet so he could dig out his phone from his pocket. Not Rowan.

  “It’s Betty Parkman, the real-estate agent,” he grumbled.

  Brody nearly declined the call, especially since it was Christmas and there was no way the woman should be working. However, there might be a problem with the sale of this place so he held up his finger in a wait-a-second gesture to Janessa, and he answered.

  “Good news,” Betty greeted him.

  “Yeah, I got yo
ur text about Elmer accepting my offer. Thanks.” He was about to end the call when Betty continued.

  “Double good news, then,” Betty amended. “Merry Christmas, Brody. I already have a buyer for your place.”

  That didn’t cool him down, but it did get his attention. “Is it even officially on the market yet?”

  “Nope, but word gets around, and you have a buyer for the full listing price we discussed.”

  Brody tried to wrap his mind around that, and he frowned at Janessa. “Did you do this?” he asked.

  Obviously, she’d heard the conversation. Hard not to since they were still plastered against each other, and she had her hand on his belt buckle. Janessa shook her head. “It wasn’t me.”

  “Who wants to buy my place?” Brody came out and asked Betty.

  “Well, it’s a surprise, that’s for sure,” the woman said in her overly cheery voice. “It’s Sophia Parkman.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  JANESSA CONTINUED TO open the old Christmas presents from Abe while she listened to Kyle’s update.

  “I broke down and bought Alisha a grilled-cheese maker for Christmas,” Kyle continued. “And I plan to have a second fire alarm installed in her room.”

  Janessa didn’t ask if it would have been easier just to get the girl kitchen privileges because it wouldn’t be. Bright Hope’s cook, Thelma Garcia, fixed amazing meals on a budget, but she ruled the kitchen roost and never allowed kids in there. Never. It was the reason Janessa had bought another fridge and had had another pantry built in the rec room. That way, the residents could still have snacks without bothering Thelma.

  “Good call,” Janessa agreed—especially since Kyle’s update from the day before had included another bad grilled-cheese attempt from Alisha. This time with aluminum foil and candles.