Once Upon a Cowboy Christmas--A River Ranch Novel

by Soraya Lane

  “So don’t sell it,” Tanner said, shrugging as if the decision were that easy. “You can keep it and stay in the aged-care sector.”

  “Keep it?” Cody laughed. “I do business, not charity work. That place isn’t exactly a cash cow. The only thing going for it is the land it’s built on.”

  “Don’t speak to me like I’m a goddamn idiot, Cody.” Tanner glowered at him as he spoke. “You’re not the only person in this family who understands business.”

  “Whatever, Tanner. Since when did you get so sensitive, anyway?” Cody shook his head. “Being all loved up has turned you soft.”

  Tanner’s stare turned ice cold. “You leave Lauren the fuck out of this argument.”

  “Whoa!” Sam held his hands out. “You guys are worse than the mustangs I started breaking in today. Now cut it out, it’s Christmas.”

  Cody leaned back again, taking another pull of beer.

  “Look, way I see it is that you’ve got to figure out what’s important to you.”

  “I don’t let business and pleasure cross paths,” Cody said. “I’ve got as little interest in breaking hearts as I have in losing money on deals, but business is business.”

  Tanner didn’t say anything, just sat and watched him. But Sam leaned forward. “So think a bit more creatively. Looks to me like you’ve got a lot of making up to do, and you’re going to have bad press to contend with regardless.”

  Bad press? “Has there been something about this in the media?” he asked.

  “Dude,” Sam chuckled, but then his laughter died off suddenly, probably in reaction to the stone-faced look Cody gave him in return. “I take it you guys haven’t looked on Facebook lately?”

  Cody grunted and reached for his phone, but Sam beat him to it, swiping on his own phone and passing it over.

  “Sorry, I thought you already knew about this.”

  Cody reached for the phone and scanned the post, checking to see how many likes and comments were there already. Goddamn it. If things weren’t already bad, they were catastrophic now, and the last thing he needed was a shitstorm two days before Christmas Eve when all his staff were already jetting off on vacation or back to their families.

  Looks like Texas’ most eligible bachelor is the developer behind Bright Lights Retirement Home being pulled down. Who’s with me to march on the 22nd? Let’s show Cody Ford exactly what we all think of him storming back into town and ripping our community apart! Every voice counts, come and join us—and don’t forget to share! Our elderly deserve better than someone ripping their homes down to make millions!

  “Fuck,” Cody swore. “I can’t believe she’d do this to me.”

  “Oh believe it, brother,” Tanner said, giving him a sly grin. “There ain’t nothing quite like a woman scorned.”

  Sam laughed and Cody watched as he exchanged an amused look with Tanner.

  “What am I missing here?”

  Tanner shrugged. “Call us pussy whipped if you want, but we know better than to mess with the women in our lives.”

  “Yeah, you got that right.” Sam slapped a hand to his shoulder. “Your sister would kick my ass if I did anything to hurt her or the people she loved, so just be careful what you’re messing with here, Cody, that’s all I’m saying.”

  He frowned and started to scroll through the comments, annoyed to see that more than two hundred people had liked the post already. What the hell had she done? Paid for advertising to boost the damn thing?

  What an asshole. Calls himself a Texan?

  So this is how he made the Fortune 500 list, by stealing homes from old people?

  Oh man, this was worse than he thought. One thing he didn’t agree with in business was the saying that “Any publicity was good publicity.” He preferred to stay as low profile as possible, Fortune list withstanding, and the last thing he needed was his company’s name being dragged through the mud. His foreign investors liked how squeaky clean he was, no skeletons in the closet, that sort of thing. And this was fast becoming the biggest fucking skeleton he could imagine.

  And it got worse. The page had been updated with a picture of him. The same one as that ad that appeared in Fortune magazine. He grimaced, before realizing that it would be a copyright infringement.

  He grabbed his phone and dialed his assistant. It rang and rang, then went to voicemail. Cody glared at his phone, checking the time. She should still be on the clock for another thirty minutes, and given the generous Christmas bonus he’d paid her, he expected her to pick up the goddamn phone.

  “What are you going to do?” Tanner asked, and he saw his father had ambled into the room. Cody was going to tell Tanner off for giving their dad a beer, but he didn’t bother. He was a grown man, and if he wanted to have a beer in hand, that was his prerogative.

  “I’m going to kill the story, and then I’m going to find Lexi and tell her exactly what I think of her petty little stunt.”

  Tanner laughed and clinked beer bottles with Sam, but he saw his father was watching him with a more serious stare. He met his gaze and swallowed, knowing in that instance that he was still the same little boy so desperate for his old man’s approval. There was no way he was going to let his family’s name be dragged through the mud by one woman with a vendetta against him, even if that woman was Lexi.

  All was fair in love and war, and as far as he was concerned, this was war.

  “You okay there, son?” Walter asked.

  Cody inhaled as his phone buzzed and he saw it was Katie, his assistant. “Yeah, Dad, I’m fine. Nothing I can’t handle, but I do need to take this.”

  He smiled at his dad, not letting anything betray the cool, calm demeanor he was trying his best to exude. There was a reason he was a good poker player, and he only hoped his father was buying it.

  “Katie, I need you,” he said quietly as he answered the call. It was loud in the background and he grimaced, imagining everyone who was left in the office having drinks and celebrating the festive season. If Katie was already a few drinks in, he was screwed.

  “Cody, it’s after five. What’s so urgent?”

  He felt his back bristle. Since when was he a nine-to-five kind of guy? She knew that better than anyone. “I’m in the middle of a social media shitstorm and I need you to fix it.”

  There was a long pause and then it went silent on the other end, like she’d moved from whatever party she was part of to somewhere quieter.

  “Cody, are you sure this isn’t something that can wait until—”

  “Facebook, now,” he ordered. “I need this sorted, and I need it sorted now. I want my photo taken down and I want the post deleted.”

  “Cody, it’s not as easy as that. Unless there’s something that breaches the—”

  “I don’t care how you do it, just get it done. I’m sending you the links now.”

  He heard Katie’s sigh on the other end and wished he hadn’t snapped at her. It wasn’t her fault and she worked hard for him all year, always in the office before him and never failing to anticipate what he needed. Cody took a deep breath.

  “You still flying out to see your folks in the morning?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she replied, her voice sounding brighter at the mention of her family.

  “Upgrade your ticket to first class, use the company card,” he said. “And take your parents out for a nice meal somewhere too, tell them Merry Christmas from me.”

  He could almost hear Katie smiling down the line. “Thanks, Cody. You’re a real sweetheart sometimes.”

  “Hey, I’ve got to make up for the uptight asshole part somehow, don’t I?”

  She asked him a few more questions before saying goodbye. He ended the call, taking a minute to calm down as he stared out into the dark. Maybe he should just go. Would anyone really care if he wasn’t there? If he was gone, the storm might pass over a whole lot faster.

  A hand closed over his shoulder and he turned to find his father standing behind him. He was holding a glass tumbler filled
with amber liquid, and Cody took it as it was passed to him.

  “Son, you look like you need something strong.”

  Cody lifted it to his lips, inhaling the familiar aroma of his old man’s favorite whiskey. He swallowed it down in one long gulp, savoring the hot burn as it traced a tumbling path down his throat all the way to his stomach.

  “Thanks,” he said, patting his father on the shoulder. “You want to sit?”

  “I want to know who the hell organized a boys’ night and didn’t invite me?” he growled. “No more business tonight, Cody. Your old man here wants to sit and drink without anyone taking my blood pressure or telling me what I should be doing.”

  “Fair enough,” Cody said. “Who wants some of the good stuff?”

  All three men facing him let out a roar of approval, and Cody went to get the whiskey and more glasses.

  “Hey, we didn’t organize this. The girls kicked us out to have their own get-together,” he told his father as he passed him.

  Sam laughed. “Yeah, we had nowhere else to go.”

  Cody stood and watched as they laughed and joked, wishing he didn’t feel so uptight and that a certain woman wasn’t circling his mind, driving him crazy. Being with her had felt so damn right: the weight of her in his arms; the softness of her lips; the fact that he actually, for once in his goddamn life, felt like he could just be himself.

  He poured the drinks and passed them out, including a large one for himself. It was Christmas, he was with his family, and that was what he should be focusing on. Not chasing tail and stressing over business deals that were as good as done.

  Chapter 11

  LEXI watched as Harry played with Sophia, pretending she was listening to whatever Mia and Lauren were chatting about. They were all sitting at the kitchen counter, but Lexi’s mind was a million miles away. She resisted the urge to check her iPhone, guilt creeping through at what she’d done. Cody deserved what was coming to him. If he was going to do something like this, then his name was going to be leaked at some point, but she still felt bad about the fallout on his family. And how they might react.

  If Walter Ford got wind of what she’d done and decided to side with his son, which she knew was more likely than not, then it wouldn’t just be her mom who became homeless. Lexi gulped and started to reach for her phone, wondering if she should just delete her post and go beg Cody to reconsider instead.

  “Hey, Earth to Lexi?” Mia said, tapping her hand from the other side of the counter where she was leaning. “Bubbles or wine?”

  Lexi sighed and forced herself to smile. This was why she felt bad. The Ford family had, on the whole, been so kind and welcoming to her. But maybe they’d all agree with what Cody was doing. The family was wealthy beyond her wildest dreams, and she knew they didn’t end up that way from being pushovers.

  “What are you girls having?” she asked.

  Lauren held up her tall champagne glass, the bubbles rising in rapid succession to the top. “I don’t get out a lot, so I’m making the most of it. I’ve been all work and no play for way too long.”

  “I’ll have the same, thanks,” she said, reaching for an olive from the platter in front of her.

  “So Lauren told me a little before you arrived, about a big fight you and Cody had,” Mia said. “I was really hoping you guys would have a great night together.”

  The last thing Lexi was going to do was tell Cody’s sister and sister-in-law exactly what she thought of him, so she decided to water it down a little. She’d probably said too much this morning to Tanner as it was.

  “We just have a lot of history, so I guess it was never going to be easy between us,” Lexi said, gratefully taking the champagne and clinking glasses with the other two. She took a sip and the bubbles tickled her throat, relaxing her almost instantly.

  “Cody’s biggest downfall has also been his biggest success,” Mia said. “He has prioritized work all his life, and he doesn’t seem to see how badly the people around him need him sometimes.”

  Lexi just nodded, trying to find the right words, but she was saved from having to say anything at all when a bang signaled the front door had opened and a woman called out.

  “Where’s my welcoming party?”

  Mia’s daughter squealed and ran through the kitchen and Mia burst out laughing at the commotion.

  “That’ll be my sister,” she muttered. “Always one to make an entrance, and someone loves her Aunty Angie.”

  “She’s the only one allowed to call me that,” Angelina Ford said as she stepped into the room with Sophia on her hip and a Louis Vuitton bag in her hand. Lexi smiled as she stared at her, wondering if the woman’s handbag was more expensive than every item of clothing and jewelry Lexi was wearing. She guessed yes. “What’s with the party tonight?”

  “We decided to have a girls’ night,” Mia said as she hugged her sister and then peppered Sophia with kisses while she hung on tight to her aunt.

  Angelina gave Lauren a one-armed hug too, and then turned to Lexi and held out her hand. “You look familiar, but I can’t quite place you.”

  “Lexi,” she said, taking in the warm smile that counterbalanced the tailored trousers, silk shirt, and high heels. “I’m your father’s nurse and I think we met a long time ago when I dated your brother.”

  Angelina’s smile turned into a full-wattage grin. “Oh wow, you look different but I definitely remember you. It hadn’t clicked when the others told me Dad had a caregiver.”

  “No one told Cody either,” Mia said with a sigh.

  “And suddenly I can see why we’re having a girls’ night,” Angelina said with a wink. “Well, come on then, pour me a drink and let’s get this night started!”

  Lexi felt a pang then, a deep longing to be part of the Ford family. They were all so different, a mix of full-blood ranchers and successful city dwellers, but there was something about each and every one of them that made Lexi want to be close to them. Not to mention how much she’d always longed to be part of a big family, instead of having only her mom to count on when things were tough. Or just herself.

  “So tell me,” Angelina said, sitting beside Lexi as Sophia ran back to play with Harry. She kicked her shoes off and took a sip of her champagne. “Is Cody all twisted in knots over you being here? You were the one who got away, right?”

  Lexi snorted, making both her and Angelina laugh. “More like he was the one who got away,” she said. “I wasn’t the one running.”

  “Oh please,” Angelina waved her hand dismissively, “Cody wasn’t running from you. I bet he would have tucked you into his suitcase if he could.”

  She studied the elegant features of the woman sitting across from her, wondering just how much she knew. Mia was younger than Cody, but Angelina was the oldest, and Lexi wondered if she knew a whole lot more about everything.

  “You know, Cody and I are a lot the same. We didn’t feel the same deep connection to the ranch as Mia and Tanner did. They were born to ride and live on the land, but we had that fire in our bellies to spread our wings. And things were rough at home.” Angelina sighed. “I told Cody to walk away from everything he knew and make a new life for himself. He was suffocating here, seeing Mom getting sicker and sicker and feeling so helpless, and he needed to run while he could. The longer he stayed, the harder it would have been.”

  Lexi’s hand started to shake as she took a little sip of her drink. It had been Angelina who told Cody to move? Had he been simply following his big sister’s advice?

  “So you told him to leave me?” she finally asked, and the room suddenly fell silent.

  “I didn’t even know you, not properly,” Angelina said. “I never told him to leave you, I just told him to do the right thing and look at the bigger picture. He’d never have been happy staying here, but I guess I expected you two to figure things out if it was meant to be.”

  Wow. It was such a long time ago, but she still felt the blow of Angelina’s words. It didn’t change anything, though. Cody
could have talked to her and they could have made long-distance work. Or not. What kind of eighteen-year-olds can do long distance and survive? But anything would have been better than the way he’d left.

  “Lexi, are you okay? You look a little pale,” Mia said, coming around to stand beside her. She looked up in time to see the angry look she was flashing her older sister.

  “I’m fine,” Lexi said, forcing a smile.

  “This girl hasn’t exactly had the best day,” Mia continued. “Idiot brother has taken on a deal waaay too close to home, and Lexi’s feeling the brunt of it on top of everything else. So let’s go easy on her, okay?”

  “What kind of deal?” Angelina asked.

  “Oh, you’ll find out soon enough,” Mia said, topping up their glasses. “Now how about we toast the gorgeous Lexi, who not only has the capacity to drive our brother crazy, but can also make taming our father look so easy! She has the old man eating out of her hand, and it’s sure taken a big load off my mind.”

  Lexi held her glass up, giving Angelina a wary side-glance. Cody’s sister had only been honest, but she couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said. But one thing she said was right: she and Cody were cut from a different cloth than her sweet sister Mia and burly brother Tanner. Only when they were kids she hadn’t been able to see it so clearly.

  “I upset you, didn’t I?” Angelina’s words were more softly spoken this time, after moving her chair closer to Lexi’s. “You’ve been a great help with Dad, and I never meant to hurt you back when—”

  Lexi held up her hand. “It was a decade ago, it’s water under the bridge,” she said bravely, trying to convince herself as much as Angelina. “You just took me by surprise, that’s all. I shouldn’t have let it rattle me. How about we just let the past stay in the past, okay?”

  “Look, Cody’s a good man,” Angelina said. “He’s been incredibly successful and he’s a great brother to me, but he’s married to his work. Whatever happened between you guys back then, just be grateful you didn’t stay together, because he would have made a lousy husband.”