by Tina Leonard
“Because it’s her heritage. All the Callahan children will one day run Rancho Diablo.”
“How do you know?” Ash asked. She never felt that certain of anything.
“You’re strong.” She kissed Skye’s cheek. “Because you’re strong and the future is in your hands.” She looked at Skye. “These babies make me so happy! I always feel better when I hold them.”
Ash knew exactly how she felt.
Fiona turned to look at her. “You can wear that dress in the attic if you wish.”
“You said it was ugly!”
Fiona nodded. “It is no magic wedding dress. But you don’t need magic, niece.”
“I’m so sorry about your dress, though. I’d love to have worn it.”
Fiona kissed Skye’s little hand. “The message was that you walk your path without magic, niece. Your soul will survive this challenge, but you’re going to have to face it alone. Because you alone hold the answers to Rancho Diablo.” She kissed Skye again. “We’d best go join your daddy. I think I hear his heart thundering, wondering where his girls are.”
Ash glanced toward the scar in the dirt floor again. “Do you ever dig that up? Make sure the silver is still there?”
Fiona laughed, walked up the steps. “It’s still there.”
“Wolf would be shocked if he knew it was right under his nose.”
Xav was indeed hovering at the top of the staircase. He looked at Ash with a brow raised quizzically.
“Wolf has searched the house for the silver,” Fiona said.
“How do you know?” Ash and Xav followed her aunt toward the fireplace. It had been cool in the basement, but Fiona seemed over her earlier spell of chills.
“We know,” Fiona said, “because he told us. And he’s always said he’d one day find it.”
The silver was buried deep, but it could be found. “Why did you go downstairs after you looked at the gown?” Ash asked curiously as they warmed their hands.
“Because I understood the message,” Fiona said simply. “The magic wedding dress is of spirit. The silver is of the earth. Both are part of Rancho Diablo, and both must survive for the next generations.”
“But the dress is gone,” Ash said, and Xav looked at her, confused. She wanted to kiss him desperately, hold her to him, tell him that marrying him was going to be the happiest moment of her life, especially since he’d given her four beautiful children. “It’s not coming back.”
“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Take heart that the dress in the attic now is a gift.”
“It’s not magic,” Ash said, knowing it was true.
“No, it’s not. But it can be, if you make it that way.”
“The easiest way to solve this,” Xav said, “is for me to take Ash to the wedding shop in town and let her choose her own gown.”
Ash wanted to hug him for being so supportive. “I’d like that, Xav.”
He perked up. “I’m sure I’m pretty good at picking out bridal gowns.”
Ash smiled. “You’re going to say the first one I put on is beautiful, so the adventure is over quickly.”
He sat on the sofa next to Fiona, took Skye from her. “I just think anything you put on is beautiful, so I’m not picky.” He looked at Fiona. “Your hands are cold.”
“Cold hands, warm heart,” Fiona said. She picked up her tea and sipped it. “I’ve been in the basement trolling for spirits.”
“Why would spirits be in the basement?” asked Xav.
Ash looked at her husband-to-be and her aunt chatting like they didn’t have an audience. Skye looked up at Xav, and Xav put Valor in his other arm. Fiona took Briar, so Ash picked up Thorn and sat down to listen.
“Spirits are everywhere,” Fiona said patiently. “Angels, et cetera. Do you not believe in such things?”
He shrugged. “Haven’t thought about it much.”
“Well, you should,” Fiona said archly. “Ash needs you to understand that her world is a spiritual place.”
He looked at her, and Ash felt like her heart burst into song.
“Hi,” Xav said. “Apparently, I’ve missed the fact that you’re a spirit guide, beautiful.”
The room went deadly silent. Ash stared at him.
And that’s when it hit her. Grandfather’s spirit lives in me, and that’s why I’m the hunted one.
Chapter Fifteen
“I thought we were going to check out wedding gowns,” Xav said. “I know that’s what I want to do. Some guys want to watch football reruns, I just want to see my gal in a white dress.”
Ash laughed, and his heart seemed to fill up at the sight of her smile. “I’m going to take a peek at the one in the attic first.”
“You said Fiona told you it was ugly. Pretty sure you could wear a burlap sack and be gorgeous, but I think the kids might be a little disappointed in our wedding photos.” He pulled her into his arms. “Let’s skip the one upstairs, and go get you one with your name on it.”
She kissed him, and he thought he’d never felt so whole. “You rock my world,” he told Ash. “You’ve changed me for the better.”
“Xav.” She smiled up at him. “Only you would have stuck with me through this whole journey. Any other man would have run off screaming.”
“That’s right. I’m a badass.” He stole another kiss. “And later on, when it’s just you and me, and the babies are asleep—”
“For a whole ten minutes,” Ash teased.
“I’m going to let you give me some badass reward.”
“Aunt Fiona made a wicked pumpkin pie today—”
He swatted her fanny gently. “I’m looking for a different kind of sweet. Up the stairs with you. Make it fast, beautiful. I’m in the mood for a trip to the wedding shop. If you’re lucky, I may even splurge for one of those dainty little garter things.”
“That would be um, exciting.”
“Go.” He gave her a tiny push toward the stairs. “I’d be happy to go up there with you, but I sense I’m not invited.”
“No need for this. It’ll only take me a jif. Go talk to Fiona,” she said, her voice floating down from the attic.
He went and sat in the den dutifully. “Is it really ugly?”
Fiona laughed. “We’ll know in a minute.”
“How did this gown get up there?”
“I assumed you put it there.”
“You called a gown you thought I bought ugly?” He looked at Fiona. “Whose side are you on?”
“Ash’s,” Fiona said blithely. “Although I like you very well, too.”
He sighed. Stared at his children, who were all now lying on their soft pallet while Fiona wrapped more presents. His ear stretched toward the attic, waiting to hear any sound from Ash. “Sure is taking a long time.”
“You know how ladies are about these things.”
He supposed so. His sister, Kendall, certainly took her time when looking at fashions. He didn’t care what Ash wore, just so long as he got a ring on her finger, and an “I do” from her lips. “Why hasn’t Running Bear been by to see these babies?”
Fiona looked at him. “What makes you think he hasn’t?”
“Has he?”
“I don’t know,” Fiona said, and it felt to Xav like they were playing nowhere fast. Maybe by Fiona’s design.
“Need any help wrapping those?” he asked, deciding to make himself useful while his children played with their toes and looked at the tree lights.
“Oh, no. Men can’t wrap presents. They don’t pay attention to the details. Details are important.”
“I can diaper a baby in under five seconds. Pretty sure I can put a little paper around a box.”
She looked up at him, her round face pert with merriment. “Only a man would think that wra
pping a gift is like a diaper. It’s the beauty of the wrapping that counts, it’s part of the gift, Xav. It’s not entirely utilitarian.”
“I guess so.” Just like the wedding gown Ash would eventually wear, he didn’t care so much about outside coverings. “Ash! You’re killing me down here!” he yelled toward the attic.
“Sorry!” she called.
Fiona giggled. “To think there was a day when we all thought you wouldn’t marry our girl.”
He scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, well. Have no idea why you folks would even think that.”
“I was very surprised when you called in with the winning bid that night, you know,” Fiona said, her voice low, even though Ash was in the attic. “You wanted me to keep your secret, so I did, but it was the toughest one I ever kept!”
He was a little embarrassed about that. “I just didn’t want anybody else winning her. I didn’t want some schlub getting the wrong idea about Ash being available.”
“She was very available! But if you liked Ash so much, how come you didn’t ever ask her out?” Fiona shook her head. “Seems to me you move awfully slow, Xav Phillips, for a guy who’s proud of being ruled by rational thought and not emotions.”
He got down on the floor and grabbed a white box, the contents of which couldn’t be ascertained but which had the certain shape of a child’s toy, and began wrapping it. “I never asked Ash out because I thought she was just making time with me.”
Fiona blinked. “Making time?”
“I thought she came to see me when I was camping out in the canyons because she didn’t want anything more than that.”
“Are you insane?” Fiona demanded. “Why are men so ridiculously hard to decipher?” She wagged a finger at him. “You put yourself through this agony. You could have told her last year that you’d won her, and taken her out on a fancy date in Santa Fe. You wasted a year of wooing thanks to your pride.” She made a disgusted sound and snatched the package away from him. “While you’re doing a tolerable job, it’s not a thing of beauty.”
Ash walked into the room wearing a white dress, a sheer sleeveless column with lace at the hemline. His breath caught. “That’ll do,” Xav said. “That’ll do just fine.”
“I can’t get it off,” Ash said.
“Is the zipper stuck?”
“No.”
He looked at Ash, got up to examine the zipper. “It’s a pretty dress.”
Ash looked over her shoulder. “Can you unzip it?”
He’d get anything off his bride-to-be she wanted. “Can’t be responsible for my actions if I do,” he teased, but she stood very still without saying a word.
He got down to the business of undoing the dress, making certain he didn’t forget himself and start kissing her neck the way he wanted.
The dress didn’t seem to want to cooperate. The zipper way stuck.
“Fiona? Can you help me with this? I don’t appear to have the hang of this wedding gown.” Xav stepped back.
Fiona walked over, unzipped the gown. “Probably like your gift-wrapping skills. Just a teensy bit lacking.” She moved the zipper down without hesitation. “There you go, niece.”
“Thank goodness! I was beginning to think I was stuck in the stupid thing.” Ash tore back up the stairs to take it off.
Shaking his head, Xav sat on the floor again, took another package to wrap, and this time, Fiona didn’t take it away from him. “Feisty gown.”
“You’re very impatient,” Fiona observed.
“We’ve already agreed on that.”
“Sometimes it’s good to be patient with things you don’t understand.”
He winked at her. “I’m learning that all the time. No worries that I’ll fail that particular lesson.” He chose a silvery foil with Santas on it and began cutting the paper. “How many gifts are we wrapping?”
“Tonight, twenty. I do a little wrapping every day. That way I get finished by Christmas Eve.”
“Twenty!” He added up Callahans and Callahan cousins in his mind. If Fiona and Burke gave one gift each to each Callahan child, they could be wrapping gifts until kingdom come. “I never thought about what a huge job Christmas is around here.”
“You’d better start thinking about it. Have you bought your own gifts?”
He looked at his children. “I meant to take Ash shopping, but I haven’t gotten around to it.”
“In the future, you’ll spend your Christmas Eves putting toys and bicycles together late into the wee hours.” Fiona sounded pleased about that. “I recommend organization.”
“Yeah. Sure.” He glanced over his shoulder as Ash rejoined them. “That one was a dud?”
“That gown and I did not get along.” Ash flopped down on the sofa. “I swear I think it was fighting with me.”
Fiona looked at her. “Let me get you a cup of cocoa.”
She got up and left the room.
“So, you and I are off to the wedding shop, then?” Xav finished the present he was wrapping and looked at it with pride. “Not too bad.”
“Xav,” Ash whispered, “Fiona’s acting strange.”
“How can you tell?” He looked around to see if Fiona was returning. “Isn’t she always a little eccentric?”
Ash shook her head, and he wished he could hold his hot, sexy momma and let her know that he was going to take care of her. Nothing bad was going to happen ever again.
“That gown was weird.” Ash said. “I hated it the moment I put it on.”
He would have thought trying on a wedding gown would be a happy experience, even if it wasn’t “the one.” “We’ll find something you like.”
“That gown didn’t want me to take it off.”
“It’s okay, Ash. You’re free now.”
She stared at him, her navy eyes huge.
“What?”
“I’m free now,” she murmured.
He got next to her, pulled her into his lap. “See those darling babies right there?”
“Yes.”
He loved her delicate giggle. “They’re your freedom. Whatever you do for the rest of your life, you’re going to have four little things that want to kiss you and suck up to you and make you ugly clay pottery pieces that you’re going to think are the prettiest things anyone ever gave you.”
Ash smiled. “I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right.”
“And that’s freedom, babe. They make you smile, and that sets your soul free.”
She put her arms around his neck, kissed him so sweetly he felt his toes warm in his boots. “Only you understand me.”
“That’s right. You just remember that when you get cold feet on Christmas Eve, right about the time the deacon asks you if you’re going to obey me, love only me and wash my socks for the rest of your life.”
She giggled again. “I don’t think that’s what marriage is about, exactly.”
“You’re right, of course. I left out the cooking and making-my-lunch-every-day parts.”
“You’re leaving something else important out.” She whispered something sexy in his ear that brought him right out of the teasing mood and into something far more serious.
“Keep suggesting things like that, and I promise not to forget again,” he said huskily, wishing he had his sexy girl naked right this moment.
“Here’s cocoa for all,” Fiona trilled, holding a tray in front of her that she set on the coffee table. There were three cups of cocoa, and some cookies on a plate.
“Later,” Ash whispered in his ear, and Xav felt better as she hopped out of his lap.
Later.
* * *
ASH COULDN’T PUT her finger on what was bothering her. She had so many thoughts pushing through her mind, almost scrambling her brains. Trying on the dress had
really unnerved her. It felt hot and scratchy, ugly and somehow evil. When she tried to take it off, it was as though she was lost in it, with it clawing at her, trying to keep her a prisoner in its white folds.
Which was her imagination run wildly amok. Ash looked out the kitchen window at the white-covered landscape, brightened by the pale moon. Icicles hung from the barn roofs, where the stalls would be filled with horses covered in their blankets. She shivered, wrapped a wool shawl around her more tightly. The babies were down for the first round of sleep, which would last maybe four hours.
She was too keyed up to sleep.
Xav was out helping her brothers secure the barns and putting away the animals. Fiona and Burke had gone to bed.
She lit a vanilla-scented soy candle in the kitchen and perched on a barstool. Closing her eyes, she thought about her visit with Grandfather.
She’d learned so much—but there was so much more to learn.
A frown wrinkled her brow. Everything in the house was askew; it felt as if time was dancing around her, upsetting everything in what should have been a peaceful house. She couldn’t get her thoughts to calm.
Fiona had seemed so giddy tonight. Otherworldly. And that business of her taking Skye downstairs to show her the silver treasure had been odd. Why had the Callahans buried the treasure down there, anyway? It was too easy to find.
Especially with all the digging his cartel mercenaries were very good at—witness the maze of tunnels.
Xav said he thought Wolf was operating on his own now. She wasn’t sure why he would have been abandoned by the cartel—unless they’d decided they no longer needed him.
If they no longer needed him, then they thought they could take over Rancho Diablo without his help.
It also might mean the cartel had information on where Jeremiah and Molly, and Carlos and Julia were. Since their only reason for working with Wolf in the first place was to find the Callahans, then had they somehow achieved their goal? And let him go. She shivered, startled by the idea that perhaps the cartel had somehow found the Callahans.
Was that why Wolf had been so quiet lately? He had no connection any longer to the cartel. But if they weren’t working with him, wouldn’t they just kill him off?
