by Liz Isaacson
Logan laid his head against Lance’s shoulder, and he hugged the boy with all the love he had. He went to greet his family, welcoming them to the homestead and introducing them around. As soon as that was finished, he said, “Amber’s coming. I just found out, and I figured you guys should know.”
“I knew,” his mother said, and Lance’s annoyance sparked to life again. “She just texted me about an hour ago,” she added quickly. “I didn’t have time to text you.”
Lance pressed his teeth together, not wanting to be angry with anyone today. Including himself.
Kristen arrived, and he asked Sandy to let her know about Amber, and he went to find a soft spot to sit while the baby he held slept. Everyone would gather in the living room for the Christmas story before they ate anyway. Stockings would get opened. Cheer and love would be present. And then they’d eat, so he had time to sit and relax with this baby who seemed to love him when no one else did.
As soon as he thought it, he knew he’d lied to himself again. Everyone here loved him, and it wasn’t fair to say they didn’t.
Dave joined him on the couch, his own sleeping baby in his arms. He also looked exhausted, and Lance just smiled at him. “How’s she feeling?”
“She’s getting better,” Dave said. “Slowly. What about you?”
“Logan skipped his nap today.”
“I meant you.”
“I’m fine.” He held Dave’s eyes for a moment as Karla and Cache arrived, adding more chaos to the house. Scarlett had been right. Amber being here would be fine. He’d stay on his side of the room, and she could chat with all of her friends.
Carson sat between Lance and Dave, James on his lap. “I tried to tell Adele,” he said.
“It will be fine,” Lance said, probably harsher than he needed to. I’m an adult. So is she. We won’t ruin this for anyone.” Thankfully, the conversation moved to something else, and Lance only had to listen as Carson and Dave started talking about the new horses they’d gotten on the ranch in the past few weeks.
“They’re completely wild,” Dave said. “It’s going to take a long time to break them.”
“I agree,” Carson said.
Lance knew the moment Amber arrived, because somehow her opening the door had caused a hush to settle on the entire ranch. He drew in a steady breath and didn’t turn to look behind him. Her presence called to him, and he closed his eyes as he heard her laugh and say hello to Adele.
He hadn’t laughed for weeks after she left. Maybe she didn’t either, a voice whispered in his head, and he knew he was being unfair again. But every breath felt like work, and he felt like he was functioning with only ten-percent of his heart.
She’d taken the rest of it with her to Colorado.
“Lance.” Scarlett’s hand landed on the shoulder where her son wasn’t sleeping.
“Yeah?”
“Amber wants to talk to you.” She started to take Logan, but the boy shrieked, and she let go of him. He settled right back to silence and sleep against Lance’s shoulder.
“I’ve got him, Scarlett,” he said. “Now’s not a great time to talk.”
“Let’s gather in the living room,” Hudson said, clearly oblivious to the Amber-Lance situation. Carson couldn’t seem to look away from him, but Lance just watched as the others brought in chairs or sat on the floor as they filled the living room.
Amber sat to his right, in his line of sight if he turned his head. Unfortunately, Hudson sat over there too, so that was where most people looked.
“Welcome to our home,” he said, his voice low and filled with emotion. “We love each of you, and we love having you here. Our ranch family has grown so much this year.” He took a few moments to look around at all the new faces and babies that were there this year.
Lance did too, and extreme gratitude for Scarlett and Hudson streamed through him. They didn’t have to let his mother live here for free. They didn’t have to add seven people to their Christmas table. And yet, they did, no questions asked.
Oh, how he loved them.
His eyes caught on Amber, and everything he’d ever felt for her came roaring through him. The blocks, the defenses, the scars he’d thought had healed were all broken wide open as she looked right back at him.
She tried to smile, but her chin trembled as if she might start crying. She wiped her eyes, and Lance was actually surprised. Could Adele be right? Would she feel the things he’d always felt about this place and come back?
He didn’t dare to hope for such a thing, and he looked away just as his mother reached over and took Amber’s hand in hers. She looked at his mom now, and his mom smiled and nodded as if they’d had more than a quick texting conversation an hour ago.
They probably had, and that used to bother Lance. Tonight, though, it didn’t.
“I thought we’d go around and read a few verses each tonight,” Hudson said. “Does one of the older kids want to start?” He looked at Art’s kids. “Devon?”
Art handed his son his phone and pointed. Devon focused on the device and started in his clear, angelic voice, “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from….”
“Cesar Augustus,” Art said quietly.
“Cesar Augustus,” Devon repeated. “That all the world should be taxed.”
Lance’s spirit calmed, and he let himself get wrapped up in the love of the story. When it was his turn, he read, his voice steady and strong, and then he let Dave finish the story.
Silence filled the room, even with all the babies present.
“I want to be a shepherd,” Hudson said. “Telling the world of the good news about the Lord. I hope I can do that by how I treat others and how I conduct business.” He looked around at all of them. “I love the Lord, and I know all of you do too.” He glanced at Scarlett, who smiled at him, her eyes filled with tears.
“Let’s do the stockings,” she said in a bright voice. “Hudson and I will pass them out.” They got up to do that, and Lance leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Maybe he could just stay right here for the rest of the night.
As soon as the stockings were out, Scarlett took Logan from him, and this time the baby didn’t even stir. “I’m going to go lay him down,” she said, nodding to the stocking. “You get opening, Mister.”
Lance cast another glance at Amber, who somehow had a stocking too. She wore a gorgeous smile to go with those brown eyes that he longed for and that gentle spirit he’d fallen for long before he’d even been out with her.
She lifted her eyes to his, and time slowed. He still managed to get the message when she nodded toward the front door, got up, and left her stocking right where it was.
Lance’s gaze followed her for a moment and then looked back at his mother. She wore hope in her eyes and a smile on her face, and she motioned for Lance to go after Amber.
He barely hesitated, because he wanted to be where she was, even if it was only for tonight.
Chapter 26
Amber swallowed, but the buzzing nerves would not be calmed.
Then Lance stepped onto the porch with her, and everything aligned. “Hey,” he said. “It’s…so great to see you.” He took her easily into his arms, and Amber couldn’t hold back the tide of tears that had been threatening to spill from her eyes since the moment she’d left her parents’ house, hours ago.
She couldn’t speak, so she just held onto his powerful shoulders and cried as he hugged her. To her surprise, he stepped back and wiped his eyes too, cleared his throat, and moved farther from her than she ever wanted him to be again.
“How’s Denver?” he asked, his voice gruff but steady.
“You know what?” she asked. “It’s terrible. I hate it there.”
He looked at her, and all the texts Amber had wanted to send to him over the months sprang into her mind. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “Is there any way we could try again?”
A frown furrowed his brows. “I don’t see how, Amber. You live somewhere else, and
I can barely manage an in-person relationship.”
Amber moved closer to him, keeping a respectable distance between them. It felt like a gulf she couldn’t get across by herself.
Of course she couldn’t. She couldn’t do anything by herself. But she could take one step—a leap of faith—and hope the Lord would build a bridge as she continued to walk.
“You’re the best boyfriend I’ve ever had,” she said, not sure where the words came from. “I made a mistake. Or maybe I didn’t. I felt so right about going to Denver. But…I’m not happy there.”
Feeling reckless and brave at the same time, she reached over and touched his hand. When he didn’t flinch away, she curled her fingers around his. “I want to come back. I want to come home.”
He looked at her, those bright blue eyes firing over and over.
“I’ve never said this to anyone.” She swallowed again, but the words wouldn’t budge. “I love you, Lance Longcomb. And maybe God sent me to Colorado so I would realize it. I don’t know. I just know I’m going to do whatever I can to come back to this ranch, because there’s nowhere like this place anywhere else on Earth.”
Several seconds of silence passed, and then he asked, “This is about me, right? Not my mother. Not your friends.”
Amber turned toward him, a true smile lighting her soul. “Lance, this is all about you. I’m miserable without you, and I’m honestly dumbfounded how I thought I could survive without you. I want you to be my cowboy. I want a cowboy Christmas every year—with you. I—”
He stole her next sentence from her by kissing her, his mouth hard at first. Unyielding. Taking. Searching.
He kissed her roughly for a moment, softening after that, and testifying to her that he hadn’t forgotten about her. Hadn’t gotten over her. “I love you, too,” he whispered against her lips, quickly joining their mouths again.
Whatever Amber had thought their reunion would be like, it wasn’t this. There were so many details to work out. When she pulled away and said that, Lance said, “They’re just details. If I know you want to be with me, we can get all the little stuff lined up.”
“I want to be with you.”
Lance nodded and gazed across the street again, tucking her right against his side. “I miss you so much,” he whispered.
“I’ve written you dozens of texts,” she said just as quietly. “I keep them in a folder on my phone instead of sending them.” Tears choked her again, and Lance’s arm tightened around her.
“Guys,” Adele said from behind them. “We’re getting ready to eat.”
Amber turned and found questions in her friend’s eyes. “All right. We’re coming.” She stepped away from Lance, but he caught her hand as she went. Adele saw it, a smile filling her face as she too ducked back into the house.
“Amber,” Lance said, and she stopped and twisted back to him.
He searched her face, so many emotions storming across his. “I’ll do everything I can to make you happy again.”
“Is it that obvious that I’m not happy?”
“To me it is.”
“I don’t have a gypsy spirit,” she whispered.
He smiled and leaned down to touch his nose to hers. “Yes, you do, sweetheart. But even gypsies can fall in love and build a life in one place.”
“That’s what I want,” she said, and she hadn’t even known it until the possibility wasn’t there anymore. God had taken her to Colorado, but it wasn’t for the reasons Amber had thought it was. Not even close.
“Seeing you with that baby was pretty sexy,” she said playfully as they entered the homestead together.
“Oh, you liked that, did you?” He grinned at her and paused to close the door behind them. “Let’s get married quick, sweetheart. Then we can have our own babies that I’ll hold while they sleep.”
Amber pressed against the fear threatening to overtake her. “I’d like that, Lance.”
“Yeah?” He chuckled and touched his lips to her forehead. “I thought it would take a bit more convincing. Can’t change your mind on that one, you know.”
His words stung, but Amber understood where he was coming from. She did seem to change her mind on a whim. Take new jobs. Flit from boyfriend to boyfriend. Move across state lines.
They just needed more time together to build their relationship back to what it had been before she’d left. In fact, Amber knew their relationship would never be what it was before she’d left.
It would be better, because she was better than she’d been a year ago.
“Oh, you two made up.” Jamie Lee rushed toward them, tears streaming down her face. “I knew you would. You two are made for each other.”
She hugged them both, Lance saying, “Mom, you’re embarrassing me again,” before he laughed into his mother’s shoulder.
Amber couldn’t laugh, because she knew Jamie Lee was absolutely right. Thank you for showing me how perfect Lance is for me, she prayed as the embrace broke up and Adele called to them again to come and eat.
“First,” Karla said, stepping in front of the line. “Cache and I have an announcement.”
Amber started crying again as Scarlett said, “Shut the front door. Karla?”
“We’re going to have a baby this summer.” Karla’s joy shone for the world to see, just the way the new star had on the night of the Savior’s birth.
The whole house erupted into cheers and congratulations, and Lance pulled Amber closer, his lips against her earlobe as he said, “I love you,” one more time.
“She said that?” Lance asked, looking at Amber for longer than was comfortable, though no one was on the road this early in the morning.
“From her lips,” Amber said. “She said I could not get engaged until she was married, because it would ‘divide my mom’s attention.’”
Lance shook his head and finally looked back out the windshield. “Unbelievable.”
“They’ll all be on their best behavior today,” Amber said, snuggling into his side. “So it’s the perfect day to meet them.” She shouldn’t be so nervous to bring him to meet her family, but she barely wanted to be there so she couldn’t fathom why Lance would want to come with her to her sister’s wedding.
But he said he did, and they’d just gotten back together a couple of days ago, and Amber wanted to be with him as much as possible before she had to board a plane and fly back to Denver.
She’d spent most of yesterday on the phone with Jewel, and they had a meeting the following day that had Amber’s heart in knots already.
Lance eventually pulled up to the event center that JJ loved and pulled into a spot next to her father’s car. He didn’t get out, and neither did Amber.
She finally released her breath and asked, “Ready?”
“So ready,” he said, taking off his hat and straightening it as he put it back on.
“Oh, another thing,” Amber said. “JJ has insisted her fiancée isn’t a cowboy, but when I finally met him a few days ago, he was wearing a cowboy hat.”
“She doesn’t like cowboys or something?”
“Oh, no,” Amber said, meeting his eyes.
He looked terrified. “I’m a cowboy.”
“And I love cowboys.” She grinned at him. “And you’re way better than her almost-husband, and she’s not going to like you.”
“Great,” he grumbled. “Your mom and dad?”
“They’ll love you,” she said, nudging him to get out of the truck. “Now let’s go.”
Lance got out of the truck and re-tucked his shirt. He wore a dark pair of black slacks with a matching shirt, with a tie the color of the cranberries they’d had on Christmas Eve. His dress hat was also black, and she fully expected someone to ask him if he thought he was at a funeral. She just hoped it wasn’t someone in her family.
He turned back to her and helped her down from the truck so she could also straighten her skirt. She wore a silver dress that glittered in the sunlight, with a pair of bright blue pumps that brought her closer to
Lance’s height.
She slipped her hand into his and they faced the doors together. Before she got there, her father came outside, a smile on his face.
“Hey, sweetie.” He drew her into a hug and then glanced at Lance.
“Dad,” Amber said. “This is my boyfriend, Lance Longcomb.”
“The Lance you were dating over the summer?”
“Yes, sir,” Lance said, reaching out to shake her father’s hand. “It’s so great to meet you.” He wore a brilliant smile, and Amber watched her father melt right in front of her eyes.
“We got back together,” she said by way of explanation. “And I volunteered him to help set up.” She opened the door her father had just come out. “So let’s go, Lance.”
“You didn’t see me,” her father muttered. “Mom’s on a rampage.”
“So should we wait?” Amber said, pausing before going in.
“Maybe,” her dad said. “Apparently the florist isn’t here yet, and if we don’t have the flowers in the next ten minutes everything will be ruined.”
Amber exchanged a glance with Lance, and he shrugged. “Let’s just get it over with,” Amber said, continuing inside.
“I don’t care about flowers, by the way,” he said, his lips right at her ear again. A shiver spiraled down her spine.
“No?” she said. “What if the roses are pink instead of red? Will you die?”
“If you showed up, I’d die of happiness.” He chuckled, and they rounded a corner to find her mom almost yelling into her cell phone.
Amber let her finish, and then she said, “Here goes nothing.” She moved forward on strong legs and said, “Mom, this is Lance.”
She looked him up and down, her eyes appraising every inch of clothing, the hat, the grin on his face. She finally softened and smiled too.
“Lovely to meet you,” Lance said, and Amber almost started laughing. “We just heard about the flowers from your husband. How can I help?”
“Oh, the….” She shook his hand, clearly unable to talk and shake at the same time. “If someone could get what she has ready, we could at least get the dining hall ready.”
