The Rancher's Christmas Bride

by Brenda Minton

  Dan looked skeptical, but even he seemed to know when to give in. He handed over the feed can and gave his granddaughter a sharp look. “Don’t be abusing my rooster. He’ll remember that and he’ll be waiting to get back at you.”

  “He’s a rooster,” she said. “I doubt roosters plot vengeance.”

  “Just you wait,” was his grumbled response as he headed back to the trailer. “I’m holding you to lunch, Palermo. You’re buying.”

  “What do we do now?” the woman at his side asked Alex as they headed for Dan’s old farm truck.

  Alex unlocked her door and opened it. “Well, we feed Dan’s cattle. In the summer he had plenty of grass, but this time of year we feed hay and grain. In years past that would have been more of a job than it is now. Dan’s been selling off some cattle recently. I’ve actually been a little worried about him.”

  “Do you think he’s okay? I mean...” She hesitated and then got in the truck. “Dementia?”

  He got in and turned the key, knowing it would take a few attempts to get the old truck started. Dan had a sedan he kept parked in a carport behind the camper, but he claimed it didn’t have a battery.

  “No, I don’t think he has dementia,” he answered as the truck roared to life. “His health isn’t the best but I think it’s more. Something seems off and he won’t say much about it.”

  “If he’ll let me stay, maybe I can figure it out.”

  Alex thought the best thing she could do was head on back to Dallas. Dan’s old camper suited him but it wasn’t the life she was used to. Not that he knew about her life or what she was used to. But he guessed she didn’t know what it was like to live in an old piece of metal when the wind blew hard from the north.

  “I don’t think he’s going to let you stay,” Alex told her as they drove toward the barn.

  “Have you always known him?” she asked after he’d opened the gate and they’d driven through.

  “All my life. He’s always been here.”

  “So you grew up in Bluebonnet?”

  He stopped the truck at the feed trough and got out. She followed, watching him, then watching the cattle heading their way. She moved to his side and stayed close as he tossed a feed sack over his shoulder, pulled the string to unseal the bag and poured it out, starting at one end of the trough.

  “Did you?” she asked as he went back for the second bag of grain.

  “Yeah, I grew up here.”

  “You don’t sound happy about that.”

  “Because I’m busy and you’re asking a lot of questions.” Questions about growing up were his least favorite. There were too many bad memories attached to his childhood in Bluebonnet. Not because of the town but because his father had tarnished childhood for Alex and his siblings in a way that should have been against the law. It probably was against the law.

  “Do you have siblings other than your sister?” she asked.

  He pulled off his hat, swiped a hand across his brow and shook his head. “You know a guy for five seconds and suddenly you need his life story.”

  She started to protest but he stopped her. Holding his hand up to quiet her, he studied the cattle that were heading across the field. His attention shifted to the slightly damp ground. And tire tracks.

  “What’s wrong?” Marissa asked as she moved to stand next to him.

  He pointed to the tracks in the soft earth. “Someone has been out here. On four-wheelers. And I might be wrong but there seems to be a couple of cows missing. I wouldn’t usually notice that about Dan’s herd, but he had two black baldies that looked ready to drop their calves any day. And they’re gone. I’ll ask Dan if I need to go look for them. It’s possible they’re off having their calves. But I don’t know who would have been out here with an ATV.”

  “Black baldy?” she asked with narrowed eyes and her nose scrunched up.

  “A black cow with a white face.”

  Her mouth formed an O. “Maybe he sold them?”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  He tossed the empty sacks and headed for the truck. “We’ll ask him when we get back. And then I’ll head to my place. I’ve got to get some work done before more rain hits.”

  “Work? Do you have another job, other than ranching?”

  Another question. He motioned her into the truck. “I used to be a bull rider. Now I ranch and I’m starting a tractor-and-equipment-repair business. I also own bucking bulls.” He got in the truck and cranked the engine. “What about you?”

  “I teach kindergarten.” She said it with a soft smile but also with a little bit of sadness that he didn’t like. She looked like the type of person who walked on sunshine and never had a bad day. But that’s what he got for judging a book by its pretty cover.

  Everyone had bad days. Most people had secrets or a past they didn’t want to talk about. Those were the hard facts of life. He tried to stay out of other people’s business and leave them to their own past, their own secrets.

  Marissa Walker caused a man to forget those simple rules for an uninvolved life. Rule 1: don’t ask personal questions.

  They were nearing the gate and he slowed. “Why don’t you open that gate for me?”

  She climbed out of the truck and pulled on the gate until she had it open. A couple of times she had to stop and tug up on the jeans Lucy had loaned her. He swallowed a grin as she got back in the truck.

  “I hope you enjoyed that,” she muttered.

  “I did.” He leaned over to brush her cheek. “You had something on your face.”

  And just like that the humor died, and he was face-to-face with the greatest temptation of his life, a woman who just last night had sat in his truck and cried. A woman who wouldn’t be around long enough to know left from right when it came to Bluebonnet.

  He leaned back in the seat and put his hands on the steering wheel of the old truck. The clutch was sticky and the gears grinded a bit. It was familiar, and right now he needed familiar.

  As they pulled up to Dan’s camper, his passenger let out a soft gasp and reached for the door handle before he could get the truck stopped.

  “Hey, at least let me stop before you...”

  She was already out of the truck, the door wide-open. He hit the emergency brake and jumped out because Dan was leaning against the side of the camper and he didn’t look too good. Alex remembered those praying lessons the pastor had been giving him, because this looked like a moment to pray for some help, to pray for an old man to take another breath.

  “Dan, are you okay? Here, let me help you sit down.” Marissa had an arm around him but he was fighting her off.

  “I can get myself to the house.” He leaned, wheezing as he tried to draw in a breath. “Lungs don’t work like...”

  “Dan, stop talking and let us help you. We’ll go see Doc Parker.” Alex put Dan’s arm over his shoulder. The older man was taller than him by a few inches and he was still solid. He leaned heavily on Alex as they headed across the dusty yard to Alex’s truck.

  “I don’t need the doc.” Dan gave one last attempt. “Trouble. I knew when she knocked on my door that she’d be trouble.”

  Dan’s granddaughter bristled at that. “Listen to me—”

  “You old coot,” Dan said, finishing her sentence, in a somewhat mocking tone.

  “I wouldn’t call you that.” She opened the truck door. “We’re taking you to the doctor, and like it or not, I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Dad-burn-it.” Dan collapsed as they managed to maneuver him into the truck.

  Alex gave her points for courage. She’d shown up on Dan’s doorstep like a rain-soaked kitten tossed to the curb. Today the kitten had claws and she wasn’t walking out on a grandfather who wasn’t going to make her visit easy.

  Alex had to admit, if he wasn’t so tangled up in h
is bucking-bulls business, and in his past, a woman with her kind of spunk would be the woman to have in his life.

  But he wasn’t anything close to solvent and she wasn’t the kind of woman who looked twice at a cowboy like him.

  Chapter Three

  The doctor’s office was in an old convenience-store building on the south edge of Bluebonnet Springs. Alex drove them there in less than five minutes, with Marissa’s grandfather arguing the entire time that he was fine and didn’t need that “quack doctor.” Alex had merely grinned during the rant. Marissa had tried to get Dan to calm down because his lips were turning blue from lack of oxygen.

  They pulled up to the clinic, and Alex parked next to the front door. Thanks to a brief phone call, the physician waited outside for them. He had an oxygen tank on wheels, and as Dan argued, the doctor placed the tubing in his nose.

  “Don’t fight me, Dan Wilson,” Doc Parker said, as they helped Marissa’s grandfather out of the truck. “I told you to keep oxygen at your house. Now you’re going to have to do what I say and maybe you’ll live a few more years.”

  “Don’t talk like that,” Dan said, inhaling deeply. “You’ll scare the kids.”

  Doc shot them a look, his eyes narrowed. “They’re young but they can handle reality. Where did you get this pretty young lady?”

  “I reckon that’s my granddaughter. She showed up on my doorstep like a stray puppy and now I can’t get rid of her.”

  Once they were inside, Doc got Dan to sit down.

  “Did you feed her?” Doc asked, giving her a swift smile as he examined her grandfather. “If you feed them, they won’t go back where they came from.”

  “I reckon I fed her a sandwich last night and she had a cup of coffee this morning. To repay me, she nearly killed my best rooster.”

  Doc laughed. “That rooster had it coming, Dan. He tried to flog me when I was out there checking on you last week.”

  The physician put a stethoscope to her grandfather’s chest, telling him to breathe, then moved it to the next spot. Dan obeyed, but he shivered from time to time, and Marissa could hear the wheezing even without the stethoscope. A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Alex moved to stand behind her. Briefly his hand touched her shoulder.

  The comfort took her by surprise. Brief as it was, it untangled the emotions of the past twenty-four hours and brought an unexpected tightness to her throat.

  Doc sat back and gave her grandfather a long look. “Now listen to me, you old coot, I’m sending you to the hospital. I called the ambulance before you got here because I figured that cold you’ve had finally knocked you down.”

  “I don’t need the hospital.” Dan paused to take a breath. “And I’ve got animals to take care of.”

  “You’ve got neighbors who will help.” Doc Parker looked at Marissa, his gray eyes kind. “Can you talk some sense into him?”

  How did she talk sense into someone she’d just met? She looked at the gruff man who was her grandfather and she wished she’d had twenty-six years of knowing him. He was salty and rough but already she loved him.

  “Granddad...” she began. He looked up, his eyes narrowing. She couldn’t back down. Not when it was something this serious. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay and take care of the animals. You go to the hospital and get better.”

  “He’s trying to send me off to a nursing home,” her grandfather said quietly. “I’m not doing that.”

  “No, he’s sending you to the hospital. And then you’re going back to your own place to tend to that worthless rooster.” Marissa put a hand on his arm. It seemed a natural gesture, but she was surprised by how easy it was to reach out to him.

  “I’ll help her keep an eye on things.” Alex inserted himself into the conversation.

  “Keep an eye on her, too. She doesn’t know a thing about cows.” Her grandfather paused again to breathe. The color was slowly seeping back into his cheeks. “Don’t you kill that rooster while I’m in the hospital.” And then he raised his gaze to Alex. “And no fox better get in the henhouse, either.” He took another long breath of the oxygen.

  Doc rolled his eyes. “Dan, I’m sending you in for some IV antibiotics and a few tests. That’s all. You’ll be home in a few days at the latest.”

  “You’re sure?” Dan asked.

  “Pretty close to sure. And the ambulance is pulling in. Alex and your granddaughter can follow unless they want to ride with me.” Doc Parker helped her grandfather to his feet, then he gave Marissa his attention. “Do you need to call your family?”

  It was a normal question, but this wasn’t a normal situation. Before she could answer, her grandfather waved his hand and stopped her.

  “No, she won’t be calling family. She’s my family. My only family.”

  Doc raised a questioning brow. “Is that so?”

  Again, Dan answered. “It is if I say so.”

  “Dan, you have to let her answer.” Doc glanced at her as he continued to examine his patient.

  “Yes, I’m his family. But Granddad, I will tell my mother what is going on.”

  “Bah,” he said, waving her away. As if she would go.

  Suddenly, the paramedics entered. Alex stood with her as they readied her grandfather. Memories crashed in, and she closed her eyes against the pain that the images brought. It had been so long, but seeing her grandfather on that gurney, it seemed more like yesterday.

  In an instant she was ten again. Her mom was screaming. There were police cars. And she was alone, standing on the sidewalk, unable to scream, unable to cry. That day had changed her life. Since then, she had felt alone.

  The paramedics were moving. Her grandfather was cursing them. She tried to shake off the pain of the past. A hand briefly touched hers, giving a slight squeeze.

  She wasn’t alone.

  “Are you all right?” Alex asked in a husky whisper.

  She nodded, her attention glued to the scene taking place in front of her. She was okay. But she wasn’t. She was about to fall apart.

  “Sit down,” he ordered. He led her to a chair.

  She sat, then lifted her gaze to meet his. He squatted in front of her, putting him at eye level.

  “I’m fine,” she insisted.

  “I don’t believe you. I know what it looks like when a woman is about to come unglued. But trust me, he’s going to be okay. He’s too ornery for anything else.”

  “I know. It isn’t...” She swallowed and met his gaze again. “I’m fine. It was just a memory. But I’m okay.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  She managed a shaky laugh because he didn’t look like a man who really wanted to talk. “No, not really. I should go. Maybe I can ride with the doctor.”

  He put a hand out and helped her to her feet. “I’m driving you.”

  “I’m sure you have other things to do. You aren’t responsible for me.”

  “I know I’m not, but I found you. Finders keepers and all of that childish stuff. And besides, you don’t want to ride with Doc Parker.” He leaned close as he said it. “He’s had so many speeding tickets, they’re about to take his license.”

  “Thank you,” she said, smiling at his warning. No matter how she felt at this moment, she wasn’t alone.

  * * *

  Alex walked with Marissa to his truck. A breeze kicked up, blowing dust across the parking lot. In the distance the ambulance turned on its siren, and he could see the flash of blue lights on the horizon. The woman standing next to him shivered violently as if a cold arctic wind had just blown through her. He reached into his truck, grabbed his jacket off the seat and placed it around her shoulders.

  He didn’t think it was the breeze that had chilled her. He’d watched her in Doc’s office. He’d seen the moment that pa
st met present—her eyes had darkened and the color had drained from her cheeks. He recognized a person getting hit head-on by a painful memory. It had happened to him more than once.

  There were days he could still hear his teenage self tell his father he wouldn’t last five seconds on the bull he was straddling. His father had laughed and said, From your lips to God’s ears.

  Thirty seconds later his father was gone. His last words, a whispered, You were right.

  He had his past. It appeared Marissa might have her own.

  He wouldn’t pry because he didn’t let anyone pry into his memories. He helped her in the truck and then he got in and started it up. She was still stoic, still dry-eyed.

  “Did you charge your phone?” he asked as they pulled onto the road.

  “I’ll have to buy a charger.” She averted her gaze and concentrated on the passing scenery.

  There wasn’t much to Bluebonnet Springs. Main Street with its few business, the feed store and his aunt Essie’s café. On the edge of town there was a convenience store and a strip mall with a couple of businesses. The rest of the town was made up of a few churches and a couple of streets lined with houses that had been built a few decades ago. There was a new subdivision being built in the east end of town. That had caused quite a stir and given the lunch crowd at Essie’s something to talk about for a good month.

  A city utilities truck was parked on the side of the road.

  “They’re putting up the Christmas lights,” he told her, because the silence was deafening and he didn’t know what else to say.

  “Christmas isn’t my favorite holiday.” She cleared her throat. “I didn’t mean it like that. Christmas is difficult for my family.”

  “I’m sorry.” He sped up as they left town. “It’s a big deal here in Bluebonnet.”

  She gave him a questioning look.

  “Christmas,” he responded. “They love Christmas in this town. They have a big community service. There are four churches in the area and they all come together and each one has a play or music. The whole month of December the shops are open late each Friday. They serve cookies and hot cocoa.”