Montana Mistletoe

by Roxanne Rustand

  “Speaking of that, I don’t know if we can get to town for your physical therapy.”

  “No worries. A few days won’t matter either way.”

  “Still...do you have the number of the clinic? I can call to see if they’re open.” Abby looked out the windows by the kitchen table. “Then I can check with Jess to find out if we can even get out of here.”

  “The phone number is on the red magnet on the fridge, upper right.”

  After making the call, Abby shoved the phone back into her pocket. “They’re open for urgent care, but the physical therapist and her assistant can’t make it in. So—what would you like for breakfast?”

  Bella sidled next to Betty and whispered in her ear, then raced out to the living room.

  “I guess I would like chocolate-chip pancakes,” Betty said solemnly, with a sparkle in her eye. “And some bacon, too.”

  Abby listened to the girls playing for a moment, then moved closer to Betty and lowered her voice. “I hope I’m not prying, but maybe you can tell me something?”

  Betty frowned up at her. “Of course, dear. Is something wrong?”

  “When I first got here, Jess warned me that it can take only a blink of an eye for something bad to happen to little kids. Of course everyone knows that’s true, but he... Well, he seemed almost paranoid about it. Did something happen to the twins after they arrived here?”

  “No, but if anything happens to them—even just Band-Aid worthy—it’s like another reminder of his worst nightmare. But he probably told you about that years ago.”

  Mystified, Abby shook her head.

  “The boys were just nine, eight and six when their dad accidentally backed over their sister, Heather.” Betty’s eyes filled with tears. “She was only four.”

  Abby drew in a sharp breath. “That’s awful.”

  “Yes, it was. Her death was a terrible tragedy.” Betty’s expression hardened. “Their dad was a mean old coot. He couldn’t face what he’d done, and when it happened, he flew into a rage and blamed the boys for her death. Said they hadn’t been watching her, and it was all their fault. He repeated that over and over until they believed it. But the thing is, they weren’t anywhere nearby and they hadn’t been told to watch her that day. He just hadn’t looked before he stepped on the gas.”

  Abby’s heart wrenched at how helpless the little boys would have been to defend themselves against their father’s tirades. The nightmares they must have suffered. “Those poor kids.”

  “Less than a year later, their mama died—my youngest daughter. I know it was from a broken heart. And the boys? Not one of ’em is married. I think they were so emotionally damaged by their father that they never wanted to take responsibility for a family of their own.”

  Abby closed her eyes, thinking about how Jess had to somehow overcome those wounds and his fear to take in two little girls in need and had become such a loving substitute dad.

  “Thank you, Betty, for telling me.” Abby gave her a long hug. “It was a great loss for you, too, and I’m so sorry for all you’ve been through.”

  By the time the food was ready to serve, both of the girls were sitting at the table on either side of their grandmother and Jess was just coming through the back door.

  His face was drawn and weary.

  Abby looked up from flipping pancakes. “How is everything outside?”

  “Better, now that the power is back on,” he said as he shrugged out of his down jacket. “Chores are all done and I cleared the road to the highway so we can get out, but the county plow hasn’t cleared the highway yet.”

  “Back when you boys were growing up, that sometimes took a week or more,” Betty said with a chuckle. “All winter I made sure our storeroom and freezer were stocked, just in case.”

  Jess toed off his boots and washed up before coming into the kitchen.

  When he came to the table, his half smile revealed the dimple Abby had always loved. “Thanks again for helping move the cattle yesterday, Abby. No way I could’ve gotten hay to them after this storm.”

  “I enjoyed every minute.” She brought the pancakes and bacon to the table, along with cheddar-cheese-scrambled eggs. She caught Jess watching her, his smile now reaching his eyes.

  “You wouldn’t be just a little saddle sore from yesterday, would you?”

  Her gaze collided with his and held, and what started as a teasing look seemed to deepen into an awkward awareness that simmered between them.

  She turned away to get the warmed maple syrup from the microwave. “No cowgirl is ever going to admit being saddle sore,” she retorted, avoiding his eyes when she put the syrup and butter on the table. “Especially not one who was riding before she could walk.”

  “Okay...then I don’t need to tell you that the ibuprofen is in the cupboard above the stove, right?”

  Betty chuckled under her breath as she cut up the girls’ pancakes. “I’ve missed having an extra adult or two here. Keeps things lively, don’t you think? All right, girls—bow your heads.”

  Everyone joined in the table prayer, then started eating.

  “This is real good,” Betty said with a smile. “Food always tastes better when I don’t have to cook it. Aren’t these pancakes yummy, girls?”

  Bella gave her pancake a listless poke with her fork and pushed her plate away. “I don’t like pancakes. Not with spots.”

  “Watch your manners, Bella. Those are chocolate chips and I believe Abby made them especially for you girls,” Jess said in a low voice. “I think they are delicious.”

  Sophie looked between Jess and Bella, wavered, then put down her fork. “I’m not hungry. Can I go?”

  “That’s ‘can I be excused.’ And the answer is no, Sophie. Not until you’ve eaten something on your plate.” Jess gave the girls a warning look. “And that goes for you, too, Bella.”

  Bella flopped back in her chair, her expression mulish. After sliding a sideways glance at her sister, Sophie did the same.

  Abby felt Jess’s eyes on her and figured he was probably assessing her ability to handle the situation.

  “Well. I was planning to make cookies this morning with lots and lots of sprinkles, but I don’t think the girls are interested. So instead, the girls and I could start cleaning the whole house,” she said. “If we work hard, we could get it done by supper time, since it’s too cold to play outside.”

  “Then they’d sure work up an appetite by lunchtime, since they don’t seem to be hungry for breakfast,” Betty said with a solemn nod of agreement. “Good idea.”

  The girls looked at them in horror, then resolutely started eating.

  Abby smothered a laugh. One small battle won, though she knew that Bella’s rebellious streak would have to be dealt with and that Sophie usually followed her sister’s lead.

  When everyone finished breakfast, Abby cleared the table and began loading the dishwasher.

  “Are we making cookies next?” Sophie asked hopefully.

  “We should go out to the barn first, because there’s something I want you girls to see,” Jess said. “It’s nice and warm in there now that the electricity is back on. If Abby comes along, she can bring you back to the house when you’re ready.”

  Excited, the girls raced for their coats.

  Jess reached for a pair of pink leather cowboy boots on the top shelf above the coat pegs. “Use these, Sophie, since your snow boots are at school. I’ll carry you out to the barn, okay?”

  “I’m just going to sit in my favorite chair by the fire and read awhile,” Betty said with a mysterious twinkle in her eye as she stood and grabbed the handles of her walker. “You girls can tell me all about what you find in the barn when you get back.”

  Abby refilled Betty’s coffee cup and brought it to her once she’d settled comfortably in the living room with her Bible resting on her lap.

&nb
sp; “You’re a sweet girl, Abby,” Betty murmured. “Always were. It was such a shame that you and Jess didn’t end up together. Maybe someday...”

  “Someday soon I’ll be moving on.” Abby grabbed an afghan and settled it around Betty’s shoulders. “I want to try to spend time with my dad and his new wife while I’m here, but I hope to be back in school this fall.”

  “Jess tells me you want a PhD from some fancy college. That’s wonderful, dear.”

  Abby laughed. “I have to wait to see if any of them accept me. Besides, Jess might find his perfect housekeeper any day. And then I’ll be packing my bags.”

  Betty searched her face with an all-too-knowing look. “Things haven’t been so easy for you all these years, have they?”

  “I’ve been blessed in many ways. Really.”

  “Yet here you are. Without a home of your own, a family...”

  “I’m just in transition and ready to start over.” Abby smiled. “Somewhere.”

  “Somewhere could be here, my dear. If you and Jess just—”

  Abby squeezed her hand gently and took a step back, suddenly realizing that the crafty matchmaker was probably trying her not-so-subtle ploys on Jess, as well.

  No doubt the poor man had to be counting the days until somebody answered his housekeeper ads so Abby could be on her way.

  Though with every passing day here, her uncertainty was growing. Did she really want to leave?

  Chapter Seven

  Jess carried Sophie out to the barn with Bella at his heels and set her down in the heated tack-room office.

  It was utter chaos—but what else was new?

  Clients coming to buy horses, drop off mares for breeding or bring their own in for training came in here to do their paperwork with Jess at the desk in the corner.

  Those with training horses here stood at the big counter along the window with a cup of coffee or a Coke and watched him working their horses out in the arena. He prided himself on the tack room being a professional workspace.

  Today, however, the girls’ toy closet had to be empty, because there were dolls and doll clothes and crayons and paper everywhere, along with tiaras and sparkly princess gowns for dress-up.

  “I guess we didn’t get this cleaned up when you girls were out here last.” He glanced at his cell phone to check the time. “Do you think you can get it all picked up in a hurry?”

  “But we’re gonna play, Uncle Jess,” Bella pleaded. “We can put it away later.”

  “Actually, you need to do it right now.” At the sound of a distant, high-pitched whine of a motor, he shook his head. “And we need to hurry.”

  Both girls heaved a dramatic sigh but grabbed their toys and dolls and helped him put everything into the baskets and on the shelves in the closet. In a few minutes the room was clean once again.

  The sound grew louder, then stopped just outside the barn.

  “Who could that be?” Jess mused. “It must be Fred. Do you remember him?”

  “He’s the one who took away our puppy when Gramma got sick,” Bella said glumly.

  “Well, guess what?” Jess opened the tack-room door and went out to help Fred unstrap a small, blanket-covered carrier from the rear half of the snowmobile seat, then brought it inside. “Who do you think this is?”

  Sophie’s eyes rounded. “Poofy! Is it Poofy?”

  The girls excitedly knelt next to the cage and squealed with joy when Jess lifted away the blankets. When he opened the cage door, a puffball of golden retriever fur burst out of the cage and headed straight for the girls, climbing all over them with sloppy puppy kisses.

  Fred shuffled in and closed the door behind him. Almost indistinguishable in a heavy snowmobile suit, boots and a helmet, he pulled off his mittens and slapped them against his thigh, then removed his helmet, revealing a shock of white hair and his jolly face. “Looks like everyone is happy.”

  “Perfect timing.” Jess reached out to shake the older man’s hand. “Betty’s home and we have a temporary housekeeper. I could’ve come to get him, though.”

  “Nah. You wouldn’t have made it through those drifts with your truck or four-wheeler. Anyways, it felt kinda good to get out on the snowmobile before we head south for a week.”

  “Florida?”

  “If the weather holds and the highways are cleared, we fly out on Monday.”

  “If your son has any trouble at your ranch while you’re gone, just have him give me a call.”

  “Will do.” Fred chuckled. “By the way, I heard about that new housekeeper of yours. An old girlfriend, eh?”

  The rumor mill in Pine Bend was apparently alive and well.

  “Abby and I dated a long time ago. But she’ll only be here until I can find someone permanent.”

  “Hhmmpf.” Fred gave him a knowing look. “I hear she’s quite a gal.”

  The puppy began racing around the tack room, the girls laughing and chasing after him.

  The door reopened and Abby stepped inside, her blond hair fanned over her bright red jacket and her cheeks rosy from the cold. The puppy darted for the escape route past her ankles but she swooped down and caught him just in time.

  “Abby, this is Fred Baker, our neighbor,” Jess said. “Fred, this is Abby Halliday.”

  “Mighty pleased to meet you.” Fred winked at Abby as he pulled on his helmet and his heavy snowmobile mittens. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again, young lady—unless that pup drives you crazy.”

  * * *

  Feeling a blush climb up her cheeks, Abby held the wriggling puppy as she watched the elderly man go outside to his snowmobile. She was pretty sure Jess and his friend had been talking about her and she was just glad she hadn’t arrived any sooner.

  She held the adorable puppy at arm’s length and looked into its shiny, black eyes. “Who is this—and what breed is he? He looks like a lamb in need of shearing.”

  “This is Poofy,” Jess said. “His mom was a golden retriever, father unknown. That’s what we were told at the animal shelter, anyway. His littermates were all different colors and some even had spots.”

  She turned the pup this way and that, admiring him. “Whatever he is, he’s a sweetie, and quite young, I think.”

  “Ten weeks. We got him a couple weeks ago.”

  “I’m so impressed that you adopted him from a shelter.” She eyed Jess over the puppy’s downy head and suppressed a laugh. “And I think you figured out the perfect name for him, Jess. Good job.”

  He gave her a pained look. “The girls had that honor and I couldn’t say no.”

  Yet another glimpse at what a kind and loving man he’d become. Bringing a new puppy into a family was never easy, and he’d already had his hands full as it was with the ranch and the twins. And it couldn’t be easy calling the pup by name when other ranchers were around either.

  Abby gently set the pup down and he took off again, playing some sort of puppy tag with the girls and skidding on the hardwood flooring beyond the area rug.

  “So the neighbors have been taking care of him?”

  “They came over to get him after Betty got hurt. It was just too difficult to give him enough attention.” He looked as if he wanted to say something more, but then he turned away. “Girls, I need to start working the horses in the arena now, so I’m leaving you with Abby. Be good, okay?”

  They were on the floor now, laughing as the puppy climbed all over them, and probably didn’t register a word he said.

  “They’ll be fine.”

  He tipped his head in acknowledgment. “They have lots of toys in the closet, but the puppy will probably chew them all if he has a chance. There’s a hay stall just down the aisle that the girls like to climb in, or you can take them back up to the house. The pup can go into his kennel in the laundry room if he needs a break from the girls for a while.”

 
; “No problem. Wait—can the girls be in any other parts of the barn, or just here?”

  He hesitated at the door leading into the aisle. “Their pony is in the second stall down, and you can cross tie him in the aisle. They like to brush him and braid his tail and...uh...put pink ribbons in his mane.”

  “So he’s a very patient pony, then.”

  “What my mom called a yard pony. A confidence builder. You could turn him loose in the yard with a kid on his back and he wouldn’t stray more than a dozen feet in any direction. Only a nuclear bomb could make him move faster than a walk.”

  “Do they ride him?”

  “In the arena, but always with helmets and close supervision. This spring I’m going to look for some ponies that are a bit more mobile than Lollipops.”

  Lollipops? Abby tried to suppress a laugh and failed. In all the time she’d known him, Jess had been a strong, resolute man’s man who stood up for what he believed in and worked harder than anyone she knew. From his thick dark hair to the toes of his cowboy boots, he was more masculine and appealing than any guy she’d ever met, bar none.

  And now his ranch was turning into a pink fairy castle, thanks to two five-year-old girls. It made her laugh—and it touched her heart in a way nothing had for a very long time.

  “Before I forget—I need you to fill out a W-4 tax form in my office tonight, if you have a minute.” After Jess shut the door behind him, she turned back to the girls, who were now sitting together in one of the club chairs, cuddling Poofy on their laps.

  Yesterday she’d come through this room in a hurry. But now, with the twins happily occupied, she took time to look around.

  The room was the size of a two-stall garage, with solid wood paneling. In the center lay a black-and-white-spotted cowhide area rug, with leather club chairs arranged around a large round coffee table. Trophy shelves filled one wall, flanking both sides of the large picture window looking out into the indoor arena.

  She took it all in, realizing just how much she’d missed this world of horses, cattle and wide-open spaces during her years in Chicago.

  The back wall was covered with saddle racks stacked four high and pegs for halters, bridles and myriad types of tack, all clean and neatly arranged. The glittering silver show saddles were on the top racks, protected by clear vinyl covers. The everyday working equipment was stored lower, within easy reach.