The Christmas Cowboy: (Sweet Western Holiday Romance) (Rodeo Romance Book 1)

by Shanna Hatfield

  Concerned by her behavior, he gave her another hug and asked if she wanted to change her shirt. At her slight nod, he took her hand as they walked to her bedroom.

  She opened the door of her closet and pulled out a sweatshirt while kicking off her shoes. While she changed, Tate picked up a quilt from the foot of the bed, covering her with it when she sank onto the mattress and closed her eyes.

  “I think I’ll rest awhile,” she whispered as Tate kissed her forehead.

  “Rest as long as you like,” he said, his voice raw with emotion. “I’ll be right here.”

  “Thanks, Tate.”

  He carried in a chair from the kitchen and placed it close to the bed, watching her sleep. When her breathing evened out, he went back to the living room and sank down on the couch. If it hadn’t been icy out, Darcy could have really hurt Kenzie, or worse.

  It was the thought of worse that made Tate’s blood turn to ice and his gut tighten with fear. He couldn’t fathom a day without Kenzie in it. He loved her completely, from the very depths of his soul.

  Anger unlike anything he’d ever known washed over him, making him clench his fist.

  He was angry with Darcy for the harm she inflicted to Kenzie and putting her in danger. He was also angry with himself for putting Kenzie into a vulnerable position. Although he knew Darcy was crazy, he never imagined she’d go to such lengths to try to be near him.

  Thoughts of how close he came to losing Kenzie made him feel sick to his stomach. Tate took a deep breath, then another, and another until he calmed down.

  In hopes of finding a distraction, he turned on the television. Instead of some happy holiday show, he watched a scene from his morning nightmare replayed on the national news. He stood holding Kenzie against his chest while people from the restaurant poured outside.

  The camera panned to police dragging Darcy to a car and placing her inside. It showed him and Kenzie answering questions then the look of horror on his face as he discovered the bloody slash on the back of her coat.

  The final shot showed him helping Kenzie into his truck. The reporter dubbed him a hero, highlighting how he’d pulled the woman away from Kenzie and put himself in harm’s way to keep her safe despite his recent injuries.

  Not feeling at all like a hero, Tate wondered how the news clip had spread so quickly. The whole thing happened only a few hours ago.

  He hoped his dad wasn’t watching the news. Or his friends. Or anyone they knew.

  What if Kenzie’s mom saw it?

  The immediate buzzing of his phone assured him someone he knew had definitely seen it.

  “Tater, are you okay? Is our girl fine?” his dad asked, his voice sounding surprisingly strong and commanding for a man in his nineties. “What happened and how come I had to see it on the news?”

  “We’re both okay, Pop. I was going to call you later and let you know then I turned on the news and there it was.” Tate explained what happened and that Kenzie had fallen asleep.

  “You give her a hug for me and take good care of her, Tater. I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again, that girl is a keeper.”

  “I know she is, Pop.”

  Kent disconnected the call.

  Tate stared at his phone and nodded his head in agreement to his dad’s parting statement. Kenzie’s home phone and Tate’s cell began ringing at the same time. He let his phone go to voice mail and picked up her phone. “Beckett residence.”

  “Who is this?” a panicked voice questioned.

  “I might ask the same.” Tate wanted to know the identity of the caller before he divulged any information.

  “This is Susan, Kenzie’s mother.” The voice suddenly went from frightened to annoyed and demanding. “I’ll ask again, to whom am I speaking?”

  “Sorry, ma’am. This is Tate Morgan, Kenzie’s boyfriend. She’s sleeping right now.” Tate wanted Kenzie’s mom to like him, or at least not be irritated with him.

  “I just watched the end of a news report and couldn’t believe what I saw. What in the world happened? Is she okay? Are you okay? What’s going on?” Susan pelted him with questions faster than he could answer them.

  “She’s fine. The stab wound is really just a scratch, and the doctor said some antibiotic cream and a bandage is all she needs to treat it. She’s a little out of it from the shock but the doctor said that is normal from trauma,” Tate said, realizing he probably told Susan more than Kenzie would want her to know. “Really, the doctor said she’ll be as good as new in a day or two.”

  “Stab wound? Trauma? Does she need me to come take care of her?” Susan asked. Before Tate could answer, she continued. “How did this happen? Who would want to hurt Kenzie? She’s one of the sweetest girls in the world.”

  “I agree.” Tate took a deep breath, admitting Kenzie’s injury was his fault. “I’ve had a problem with a fan turned stalker. She somehow found out I live near the Tri-Cities and has been hanging out here trying to find me. When the news aired a promo about me being on their morning show today, she waited in the parking lot and followed us to the restaurant where we had breakfast. Kenzie walked out of the restaurant and Darcy attacked her before I could even get out the door. I’m sorry. I had no way of knowing Kenzie was in any danger. I’d have done everything in my power to keep her safe if I’d known Darcy was in the area. Evidently, she’s done this before, but with the jail time she’s facing she won’t be bothering us anymore.”

  “What about the next stalker? What then?” Susan asked, sounding near hysteria. “Would you keep putting my daughter in danger?”

  “Never. I had no idea she was in danger here, of all places.” He started to wonder if anything he could say would calm the distraught woman on the other end of the line. “This is an isolated incident. Not something that is going to keep happening. I promise I won’t let anything happen to Kenzie. I love her too much to let her be in harm’s way.”

  “You love her?”

  Tate tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling before answering. He certainly didn’t plan to share that news with Kenzie’s mom before he told Kenzie.

  “Yes, I do. More than life itself. If something had happened to her today, I don’t think…” Tate needed a moment before he could finish his statement when emotion burned fiercely through his chest. Clearing his throat, he went on. “I don’t think I could live with myself if anything happened to your daughter, ma’am. She’s everything to me. If keeping her safe means giving up rodeo, I’ll do it in a heartbeat.”

  “Oh,” Susan said. From the sound of things, Tate really was in love with Kenzie and had her best interest at heart. When he revealed the depth of his feelings, it went a long way toward calming her. “I’m sure that won’t be necessary, but I appreciate you sharing that with me, Tate. Now, are you certain Kenzie doesn’t need me to care for her? My husband can take care of the girls for a few days if she needs me.”

  “I’ll have her call you when she wakes up, but I’m pretty sure she’ll be fine.” He hoped he had properly assured Kenzie’s mother. “She did mention your invitation for New Year’s and if the weather cooperates, I look forward to meeting you all then.”

  “We’re looking forward to meeting you as well. The twins have researched all sorts of information about you online. They’re quite excited to have you visit. They’ve been referring to you as Kenzie’s Christmas cowboy.”

  Tate could almost detect a smile in her voice.

  “They sound like they’re as much fun as their big sister.” Tate pictured the twins as younger, shorter versions of his beloved Dewdrop.

  “Almost,” Susan said with a genuine smile in her tone. “I’ll let you go for now, but please have Kenzie give me a ring when she’s up.”

  “I will.” Tate liked Kenzie’s mother from their conversation. “I’m truly sorry this happened, Susan. If I could make it all go away I would.”

  “I’m sure you would, Tate. Bye.”

  Tate didn’t have time to mull over the conversation before
the phone rang again. He snatched it up to find one of the neighbors on the line, asking if they were okay. He answered a few questions and thanked them for the call. Kenzie’s cell phone rang in her purse but let it go to voicemail while he answered her home phone again, this time finding her boss on the other end of the line. After assuring the man all was well, Tom said he’d let the rest of the company know Kenzie was fine.

  Unable to handle all the incoming calls, Tate unplugged the landline from the wall. He answered his phone when it rang again. He spoke to Cort and then Huck, thanking them for their concern and letting them know they both were okay. The next call was from Megan and he guaranteed her Kenzie was going to be fine and promised to have her call later.

  Finally taking Kenzie’s cell phone from the outside pocket of her purse, he turned off the volume so it would quietly go to voice mail and answered three more calls on his phone from friends.

  He shut off his cell and went into Kenzie’s office. After turning on her computer, he wrote a short comment about what happened on his blog and thanked everyone for their concern. He posted the same information on his Facebook page and left a brief statement on all his social media sites.

  Tired, he went to the kitchen, took a bottle of Mountain Dew out of the fridge, and realized he was hungry. A glance at the clock told him the afternoon would soon be gone.

  Although he wanted Kenzie to rest, he hadn’t meant to leave her alone so long.

  Hurriedly setting the pop back in the fridge, he walked down the hall to her room and peeked in her door to see her moving restlessly on the bed. He sat in the chair he brought in earlier and brushed his fingers lightly across her forehead, smoothing her hair away from her face. She stilled then slowly opened her eyes.

  Looking up at him, she pulled her hand from beneath the quilt and grasped his.

  “Hi,” she said quietly.

  “Hi,” he whispered, his heart suddenly climbing to his throat as he thought again how close he came to losing her.

  “What time is it?” she asked groggily, not bothering to turn over so she could see the clock on the other side of her bed.

  “After four.” He didn’t want her to be concerned about the time.

  Swiftly sitting up, Kenzie glanced around the room, looking more like herself.

  “I didn’t mean to sleep the day away. Should we go get your dad and take him to dinner? Did you have some lunch? Did the…” Tate silenced her when he slid onto the bed and pulled her to his chest, softly kissing her lips then nuzzling her neck.

  She could feel the hard form of his cast against her side where his arm encircled her. His other hand rubbed comfortingly along her arm.

  “Everything’s fine. I told Pop we’d see him tomorrow. I thought we could order something delivered for dinner or I can get some takeout.” Tate held Kenzie like he’d never let her go. “Don’t worry about anything.”

  Gently pushing away from his chest, she looked into his eyes. They gazed back at her with such love, it made her catch her breath.

  “Tate, I’m fine, or at least I’ll be fine.” She sensed the need to reassure him. “Some knife-wielding crazy woman won’t keep me down for long. Besides, it’s nearly Christmas, there’s no whining, moping, or fits of hysteria. Santa’s watching, you know.”

  Tate mustered a smile at her attempt at teasing. He rose to his feet and held out his hand to her.

  “Come on. How about we order an early dinner and watch some Christmas movies? I might even be able to make hot chocolate by myself.”

  Kenzie flipped aside the quilt and stood. She looked down at her dress slacks and wrinkled her nose.

  “You go ahead and make the chocolate. I’m going to change then I’ll be right there.”

  Tate nodded and shut the door behind him when he left her room.

  Kenzie changed into a pair of jeans and some fuzzy socks then went into the bathroom and washed her face.

  She pulled up the sweatshirt she wore and looked at the bandage on her shoulder in the mirror. There was bruising around the cut, but she was very fortunate the knife hadn’t done more damage. She was current on her tetanus shot and the doctors gave her antibiotics to make sure nothing nasty from the knife got in her system.

  Fortunately, her long coat absorbed most of the fall and with gloves on her hands, she didn’t even have scratches from the icy sidewalk.

  Both her knees were a little stiff and her shoulder ached, but other than that, she didn’t have any injuries.

  Unable to fathom how someone could want to kill her and actually make an attempt at it, Kenzie struggled to wrap her head around the idea. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the crazy woman slash at Tate and then viciously bury the knife in his arm.

  What a blessing his broken arm turned out to be. Without his cast, there was no telling what kind of damage the knife would have done to him.

  Determined to push those thoughts aside, she put on a fresh coat of mascara, spritzed on her favorite perfume and applied a coat of clear lip gloss. After fluffing her hair, she pinched her cheeks to add some color then went to find Tate.

  After agreeing on Chinese for dinner, Kenzie called and placed the order while Tate warmed up his pickup. He gave her a kiss goodbye with a promise to be back soon with food.

  In his absence, Kenzie called her mom and let her know she was fine and not to worry, reiterating Tate’s promise to visit for New Year’s if the roads were clear.

  When her mother told her she’d seen the whole thing on the news, Kenzie couldn’t believe anyone thought what happened was important enough to share on such a broad scale. Then again, Tate was something of a celebrity in the rodeo world, especially after his injury in the last round of the finals.

  She called Megan and promised to let her know if she needed anything. One by one, she went through the numerous messages on her phone, returned calls, and let everyone know she was fine.

  Kenzie was exhausted from repeatedly answering the same questions by the time Tate returned with bags of wonderful-smelling food. He took one look at her and shook his head.

  “Decided to turn on your phone?” he asked, hanging his coat in the closet and setting his hat on the shelf above the coats.

  “Yep. How’d you guess?” Kenzie gave him a tired smile. He went to the kitchen and returned with two plates and forks then went back to get them both something to drink. He removed the food from the bags and lined up the cartons on the coffee table.

  “You mind if we eat in here?” he asked as he opened a carton of Mandarin chicken and passed it to Kenzie.

  “Not at all.” She slid off the couch to sit on the floor by the table. They both leaned back against the couch and Tate pulled the coffee table closer. Kenzie started to give thanks for the meal but choked on her tears and couldn’t continue. Tate squeezed her hand and finished, emotion making his eyes moist as he looked at her and kissed her cheek.

  “Sure you’re okay?” he asked, concerned not so much about her injury but the thoughts tumbling around in her head. Although she tried to act as if everything was fine, he could tell the whole situation unsettled her.

  “I’m fine, but thanks for asking and taking care of me.” She picked up her fork and waved it at Tate. “No chopsticks for you either?”

  “Nope. Never learned how to use them and I’m usually too hungry to waste time trying to get the hang of it.”

  Kenzie laughed.

  They watched some old Disney Christmas cartoons as they ate while the fire blazed merrily and the lights twinkled on the tree.

  They finished eating, did the dishes, then returned to the living room where they watched a Christmas comedy. Kenzie relaxed as she rested against Tate’s side with his arm around her shoulders.

  She laughed at the funny parts of the movie and visited with him on the commercials. When it ended, she asked if he wanted some more hot chocolate. He volunteered to make it so she let him.

  As he walked into the room trying to balance the mugs and a plate of cookies,
she grinned at him and took the plate, setting it on the coffee table.

  A holiday romance movie held their attention for a while. Tate enjoyed the time spent stretched out on the couch with her beside him. Her head rested on his good shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her as they watched a couple overcome their challenges to admit their love for each other in a dramatic Christmas Eve scene.

  Although Tate had planned to tell Kenzie he loved her Christmas Eve, he couldn’t wait that long, didn’t want to wait a moment longer to tell her how he felt. If he’d lost her today, she would never have known she completely captured his heart, made everything brighter and better in his world.

  He loved everything about her — her laugh, her smile, and the way her eyes turned warm and liquid when she looked at him. He could never get enough of the sound of her voice, the feel of her hand in his, the smell of her perfume.

  Then there was the way she cared about the people at her company, her family, and friends. She was loyal, gentle, loving, witty, and perfect for him. He loved every little detail about the beautiful, smart woman, especially the way she fit so wonderfully in his arms and his life.

  As the movie ended, Kenzie rolled over to look at him. A magnetic pull drew him to her lips.

  After kissing her tenderly, he whispered the words that had been on his heart for so long. “I love you, Kenzie. So, so much.”

  “I love you, too,” she whispered, putting a cool hand to his warm cheek and fastening her gaze to his. “I’ve loved you since the day you sat by me at the airport and asked me if our consultants went door-to-door peddling goo.”

  Tate laughed and kissed her again. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  “Same here, cowboy.” Eagerly tugging his head down, she kissed him passionately.

  Tate pulled her more firmly against his chest, trying to absorb her very essence. Her heart pounded against his and he suddenly found himself consumed with her. Before he got too carried away, he kissed her reverently and pressed his cheek lovingly against hers.