Cowboys Under The Mistletoe: Five Christmas Christian Romance Novellas

by Kristen Ethridge

  Hope and Savannah pulled out his mom’s old recipe book and settled on making a batch of her famous chocolate mint thins. He hadn’t smelled those baking since his parents’ passed away and there was something warm and reassuring in the scent of the cookies his mom had loved baking filling the house again.

  New life.

  New hope.

  A new future for him.

  Please let them stay, Lord.

  As much as he knew it was unconventional for Hope and her children to live with a bachelor, he hadn’t been able to help but keep repeating the same prayer over and over for the past three weeks. The memory of the quiet house before they’d started living with him bothered Rider now. He loved having them at the ranch.

  He loved them.

  And as much as that realization rattled him, he knew it was truth.

  After Rider finished stringing lights on the tree, Ethan went to work hanging ornaments on the bottom of the tree. While the cookies cooled, Hope and Savannah joined them to spread his mom’s decorations all over the house. Rider ended up ordering a pizza so they could all focus on spending time together instead of cooking for the rest of the day.

  When they were almost done Christmas-ing the house, as Savannah called it, Rider lifted Ethan onto his shoulders so the boy could place the star on the top of the tree, with a little help. Ethan patted Rider’s head a few times, a gesture to thank him. He set Ethan down.

  Rider looked at Hope. “Turn all the lights off.”

  “All?” She shot him a questioning look.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He grinned back.

  She shook her head in a teasing way and then set to flipping off all the lights.

  Once the room had gone dark, Rider bent down and plugged the tree into the wall, sending a spray of colored lights around the room. Hope, Ethan, and Savannah all cheered.

  “My dad always did that.” Rider’s throat was itchy with emotion. “Gives the full effect.”

  “It’s beautiful.” Hope wrapped her arms around Ethan and drew him against her. The little boy had his mouth open in pure awe.

  Had they ever had a Christmas tree before?

  If Hope allowed it, Rider would make sure they would have one every year going forward.

  Savannah skipped to him and wrapped her arms around his legs. Rider scooped her into his arms and surveyed the room. He’d missed celebrating Christmas with a family.

  “Now what?” Savannah asked.

  “Sweetheart.” Hope made a move to reach for her daughter. “I think Rider’s spent enough of his time with us today. Let’s leave the poor man alone so he can have some peace. I’m sure there are other things he wants to do with his day.”

  Savannah turned in his arms to face him. She placed a little hand on his cheek. “You’ve spent too much time with us?”

  Rider winked at Savannah. “Actually, I don’t think that’s possible.” Then he turned to include Ethan and Hope in the conversation. “What do you guys say to a Christmas movie marathon?”

  “With cookies?” Savannah’s eyes were wide.

  Rider chuckled. “That goes without saying.”

  She made a little fist and pumped it in victory. “I’m in.”

  For the second time that day Rider caught Hope mouthing thank you.

  They all piled onto the faded, leather couch and he found a channel playing back-to-back Christmas movies. Ethan planted himself on Rider’s side and Savannah took the other. They were less than halfway through a cartoon version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer when he felt both children sag against him, lost in sleep. He let them stay there.

  Rider had always pegged himself as a solitary man. As someone who longed for silence and alone time. But he’d been dead wrong. Now with Hope and her children in his home, he knew how much he wanted this—a family—and he never wanted to let them go.

  *

  After Rider carried the kids up to bed, he went out to check on one of his foaling horses. Hope collected the plates and cups they’d all used throughout the day, loaded the dishwasher, and then sagged into one of the kitchen chairs.

  She buried her head in her hands. Someday, when they no longer lived at Rider’s house, the memory of today would hurt. She’d ache with the longing of what she wanted and couldn’t have. What might have been hers, if only she hadn’t made so many mistakes in her life. But someone like Rider could never want her load of baggage. He was kind and good and wanted to help. She was grateful. So grateful.

  That’s all this was.

  If she kept repeating that, maybe it would become true.

  The back door flew open, making her jump.

  “Sorry to startle you.” Rider kept his hand on the doorknob. “But you’ve gotta come out here. You have to see this.”

  “What is it?”

  “Just trust me.”

  She slipped on her shoes. Rider held out her coat to assist her in slipping it on. Then he grabbed her hand and guided her out of the house.

  “The kids—”

  “They’ll be fine,” Rider said. “We’ll just be right in back of the house.”

  He gave her hand a playful tug and she followed him around the house. Rider dropped her hand, but only so he could position her in the right direction. She immediately saw why he’d brought her out here.

  “Are those?” she breathed the question.

  “The Northern Lights,” he said from behind her.

  The normal night sky in Montana was a sight to behold all on its own. Away from most of civilization, the night sky became the deepest black Hope had ever experienced. And not a scary black, either, but a calming one, like a thick blanket that covered the world. Billions of stars, always visible, more than Hope had realized existed in the galaxy.

  But tonight, bands of green-white light ran through the sky like a banner flapping in the wind. As they stood still, watching, the lights began to arc southward.

  Hope sucked in a sharp breath. “I’ve never seen anything this beautiful. Thank you for coming and getting me.”

  “We don’t see them often, but when we do, it’s worth getting bone-chilled for.”

  Each exhale of air became a white puff on the breeze, but Rider was right, a little cold was worth the light show. They stayed there in silence for a few minutes.

  Rider cleared his throat. “I was thinking… are you going to enroll the twins in school? We’d need to—”

  She quickly pivoted to face him. “Not yet. I can’t. I don’t know what my plan is. We’d need to find a place first and—”

  “Hope.” Rider caught her arms. “You have a place.” His hands moved to her back and, for the first time ever, she felt safe in a man’s embrace. “Stay here. Stay with me.”

  His sweet words made her tears gather. “Rider, you don’t know me,” her voice cracked. “Not really.”

  Rider ducked so he could be at her eye level. “I know how I feel.”

  “Feelings get you into trouble.”

  “Not always.”

  “If you knew how messed up my life is, you’d want no part of it.”

  “Try me.”

  Hope swallowed hard. If she held back now she risked him continuing in the foolish belief that he was falling for her. And while a part of her wanted that, she knew she had to do right by him. She had to set him straight. Once Rider knew her story, he’d want nothing to do with her. It was better that way.

  At least, it would be in the long run. For him.

  “I’m from Nevada.” Even admitting that much was hard. Not because there was anything wrong with her home state—she’d actually always loved the place—but Hope had faced judgment all her life. She was tired of it and she didn’t know if she could face it from Rider, too. But she had to. “My father walked out on us when I was five, which left my mom working two jobs. One of those was a hostess at a casino. It wasn’t abnormal for her to bring one of the men home. I think she thought if just one of the high rollers decided he liked her enough, it would save us. So when I put it l
ike that, I guess she was trying… in her own way.”

  Rider’s hold on her hadn’t changed.

  A stiff wind tossed hair in her face. “My brother committed suicide when I was in high school.”

  Rider tucked her hair back behind her ear. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I’m the one who found him,” her voice came out hollow.

  “Oh, Hope.”

  “His name was David,” Hope added. “After that, I wanted out. It was only Mom and me and she was never around. She’d slowly been dabbling in drugs and had become an addict by the time. She didn’t even show at David’s memorial. One of the only people who did was Cyprus Anders.” She hated saying his name. Hated having to tell Rider about Cyprus, but there was no getting around it. “He’d been David’s boss.”

  And she’d never gotten proof, but Hope had a gut-feeling that Cyprus had a hand in driving her brother to kill himself.

  “Cyprus showed an interest in me right away and I was stupid enough to fall for his attention. He’s a lot older and maybe I was looking for a father figure. Maybe I just wanted a connection to someone who had known my brother, but…” Hope shrugged because she couldn’t go on.

  “Cyprus is the twins’ father,” Rider finished for her.

  Hope breathed past the tightness in her chest and then forced herself to keep talking, “I was seventeen and had to drop out of high school. I thought he’d ask me to marry him or at least take care of me. But Cyprus was in his thirties at the time, he’s almost eighteen years older than me. He liked to party—still does. I would have cramped his style.”

  “That’s horrible.”

  “After the twins were born we started to notice that Ethan wasn’t hitting milestones.” Tears were falling in earnest now. Hope’s voice shook, “People told me Ethan’s issues are a punishment for my sins.”

  “Hope.” Rider tugged her into a tight hug. “That’s not true,” he whispered over and over. “God doesn’t work like that. Ethan is perfect and God knew you were the mother he needed.”

  Her nose was pressed into the warmth of his neck. Rider smelled like leather and pine. She never wanted to let go. “Thank you.”

  “People are cruel and those words are their sin. Don’t give words like that space in your mind or heart.” He released her, but only so much as to lead her back toward the house. “The lights are fading and you’re freezing”

  She walked beside him into the house and he eased her coat off of her shoulders. Under the bright indoor lights, Hope wondered if revealing so much of her baggage had been wise. Would Rider treat her differently?

  Rider tossed his hat onto a peg and motioned toward the couch. “I get the feeling your story wasn’t done.”

  She might as well tell him everything.

  Hope dropped onto the couch and pulled a pillow against her stomach in a bear hug. She sat so she was facing the rest of the couch. Rider sat down six inches away and casually draped his arm across the back of the couch where she was.

  Now that Rider knew her past, she needed him to understand the level of danger he was in.

  “Cyprus works for the casinos and he has a lot of power.”

  “Did he kick you guys out?” Rider curled his hand so he could catch a piece of her hair. “Leave you destitute?”

  She took a deep breath. “He doesn’t like the twins, but he sees them as belonging to him. He views me that way too.” She needed to explain it correctly so Rider could understand. “Cyprus cares about controlling people and he can’t handle when something is outside of his control.”

  “He sounds like a narcissist.”

  “He is,” Hope agreed. “We lived in an apartment he paid for. He didn’t live with us, but he dropped by whenever he wanted and demanded what he said was his to take.” Admitting that made her feel dirty, but Rider stayed where he was. “If I fought him, he became violent. With the kids around, it was easier not to fight.”

  A muscle bounced in his jaw as if holding back some choice words he wanted to say about Cyprus.

  Hope rushed on, “I desperately wanted a way out for the twins. When he turned on them, I knew I needed to break free. I started attending a church behind his back and this sweet older lady befriended us. Esther started mentoring me and she acted like a grandma for the kids. She led me to Christ and then helped me plan an escape.” A lump the size of Nevada formed in Hope’s throat, but she pushed past it. “Cyprus found out and started stalking Esther. She filed police reports and he was arrested multiple times, but that didn’t stop him. Esther was found dead—murdered—in her home the day before Thanksgiving.”

  Rider’s fingers, which had been twirling a piece of her hair the entire time she’d been talking, froze.

  “The police are trying to locate him. There’s a warrant out for his arrest, but Cyprus has a lot of powerful friends and he has the money and connections to vanish.”

  “Is there a chance he’s long gone?” Rider asked.

  She shook her head, just once. “The day I left, I found a note taped to my apartment door. It read: You’ll never escape me. You’re next.”

  A breath shuttered out of him. “You did the right thing.”

  “Did I?” She laid a hand on his thigh. “Because it feels like I’m bringing danger to your door.”

  Rider turned to face her. He rested a hand on top of hers. “I won’t let him touch you.”

  “What about Big Sky Dreams?” She searched his brown eyes. “What if he shows up there?”

  “The Freeds are tough. We have to fill them in on what’s going on, but believe me, they’ll want to stand next to you in this. That’s the kind of people they are.”

  “Ali is eight months pregnant. I don’t want to risk Cyprus showing up on her doorstep.”

  “Trust that God brought you here.” He threaded his fingers through hers. “God knows you landed on my property. Maybe there’s a reason for that.” He touched her cheek with his free hand, drawing her gaze back to his. “Promise me you won’t run off in the middle of the night now that you’ve told me all this. Promise me you’ll come talk to me if you start to worry or sense something. Please, Hope?”

  She felt like she stood on a precipice of something and everything could change if she took the next step. If she let herself fall. But with her eyes locked on Rider’s sincere gaze, she couldn’t say anything but, “I promise.”

  Chapter Five

  Hope spent most of the day in the kitchen preparing food to bring to the Christmas Eve dinner at the Freeds’ home. Rider had served as her sous chef, chopping, and dicing whatever needed to be cut whenever she asked it of him. But mostly he’ played with the twins. He’d given at least twenty piggyback rides through the house during the last three hours. His knees had to be hurting from crawling across the wooden floors, but he’d issued no complaints. In truth, he seemed to come alive around Ethan and Savannah.

  “Are you sure Santa is going to come tonight?” Savannah asked for the fifth time that hour.

  “I’m sure.” Hope tucked the final bundle to rolls into a box headed to the Christmas Eve party.

  The week before, Rider had arranged a babysitter for Savannah and Ethan so he could take Hope shopping for the twins. The two of them had enjoyed a few hours purchasing gifts together. Hope had confessed that the twins had never had a proper Christmas and Rider had promised that this year would be different. He’d insisted on buying extra gifts for them, saying he had nothing else to spend his money on.

  She had just finished zipping the kids into their winter coats when Rider stepped inside, ready to haul the last of the food out to his truck so they could leave. She pointed to the box she’d packed for him to carry out, and then ushered the kids out into the snowy night.

  On the way over to Big Sky Dreams, Rider sighed happily. “Boy, my truck smells good. And my house hasn’t smelled that wonderful since before my mom passed away. What all did you make?”

  She smiled over at him lazily. Being around Rider made her so happy, it made
her feel safe. Maybe, just maybe, Cyprus was more concerned with outrunning the cops than with hunting her down. Maybe he didn’t care where she’d taken off to. He’d never truly claimed a legal right to the twins. The place on the birth certificates that listed Father had been left blank. Maybe he’d truly leave her alone and she could live happily ever after with Rider.

  A girl could dream.

  It was Christmas, after all.

  Rider peeked over at her again and she remembered that he’d asked her something. “Stuffing with sausage and bacon, chicken wild rice soup, honey butter dinner rolls, and a chocolate peppermint trifle.”

  “Mmm.” He patted his stomach. “I’m gaining weight just thinking about it.”

  She poked at his ribs. “It wouldn’t exactly hurt you to put on a pound or two.”

  “Hey, now.” He caught her hand in his and held on while driving with the other one. “Scrawny guys have feelings too.”

  Ethan let out a happy shriek in the backseat, joining in their banter.

  “At least I know you’re on my side,” Rider said as he glanced in the rearview mirror, catching her son’s eye.

  Not to be left out, Savannah leaned forward in her seat. “Do you like my mom?”

  Rider clicked on his blinker. “Yes, indeed. In fact, I like your mom a whole lot.” He squeezed Hope’s hand.

  When they parked at Big Sky Dreams, Chance, Kate and Jericho rushed out the front door to greet them and help carry everything into the house.

  “Ali’s almost done with the prime rib. Everything smells amazing.” Jericho chose the largest box out of the back of the truck. Chance ran up the front steps with the twins in tow.

  Kate eased the final box out of Rider’s grasp. “I got it.”

  With nothing left to carry in, Rider offered Hope his arm and led her up the front steps of the house where Ali was standing just inside the entryway ready to welcome them.

  “Mistletoe.” Ali pointed to the sprig of green hanging over the front door.

  Hanging exactly above where Rider and Hope both stood.

  Kate swung around, box in hand. “You have to kiss. It’s tradition.”