Steve was right, she told herself. Russ was too savvy a cowboy to let himself get caught in a snowstorm. He’d consider his horse even if he didn’t care about himself. Hoping that her conclusions were right, she walked into the house.
The scene inside made her gasp with pleasure. A fire blazed in the huge fireplace made of smooth river rock, and a pine garland decorated with bandanna bows looped along the edge of the oak mantel. Hector, Lucile and Matt stood in front of the fireplace sipping from mugs and talking. The three older children sat in front of the tree playing with a wooden train set. The tree itself, which had to be at least twelve feet tall, was covered with western ornaments of every description—miniature saddles, boots, hats, spurs and lariats, all interspersed with chili-pepper lights.
The rest of the guests were seated on the rustic leather furniture grouped around the fireplace. Afghans in red and green lay over the arms of the sofa and chairs if anyone got chilly. For added color, poinsettias were scattered around the room, along with bowls of red and green apples. The mingled scents of roasting turkey, sweet-potato casserole and steamed winter squash reminded Jo that she’d had very little to eat all day.
A petite woman with curly black hair came toward Jo with a smile and a cup of steaming liquid. “Have some hot apple cider,” she said. “I’m Claire. And you have to be Jo, because you’re the only woman in the room I’ve never met.”
“It’s good to meet you.” Jo took the mug of hot cider and glanced into Claire’s friendly blue eyes. “Thanks. My mother used to make this back home.”
“You must miss being home for the holidays.”
“I do.” Jo sipped the cider, which tasted exactly like her mother’s. “But this sure helps. I felt so welcomed when I walked in here just now. I can’t believe I haven’t met you before, but you’ve never come into the Roundup with Steve, have you?”
Claire laughed. “Steve and I spend lots of time together at the ranch, and I figure he needs one little hidey-hole that belongs to him alone.” She gazed at Jo and her smile faded. “Thank you for coming today. This can’t be easy for you, considering the way Russ has been acting.”
“No, it wasn’t easy.” Jo took a steadying breath.
“But I keep thinking about Clarence.”
“Clarence?” Jo looked puzzled.
“The angel who saves Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life.”
“Oh, that Clarence. The angel who keeps him from committing suicide by showing him how much good he’s done for others.”
Jo nodded. “That’s the one. I love that movie.”
“Me, too. We could use a Clarence today. Are you volunteering?”
Jo grinned. “I can’t claim to be an angel, Claire.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” She squeezed Jo’s arm. “If that rascal of a brother-in-law would just show up, we could find out.”
“I don’t like the looks of this weather.”
“He’ll be in any minute,” Claire said with determined cheer.
“Sure. Any minute.” The wind howled down the chimney, causing the flames to dance wildly.
Claire glanced out the window and over at her husband, who was sitting next to Dave’s wheelchair and having an animated discussion. “If Steve’s not worried, I won’t be worried.” She looked back at Jo. “Russ will have a big appetite after such a long ride. I’d better check on things in the kitchen.”
“Could you use some help?”
“Sure. Let’s think positive and assume that we’ll need to learn how to operate in the same kitchen one of these days.”
Jo choked on her cider.
“Easy, sweetie.” Claire patted her on the back. “That is what you’re going for, isn’t it—marriage, family, the works?”
Jo wiped her eyes, cleared her throat and looked straight at Claire. “Damn right I am.”
“That’s my girl.”
JO HAD CALLED HIM an idiot, and he was proving it, Russ thought as he pulled his bandanna up over his nose and mouth and tugged his hat farther down over his eyes. Ears pinned back, his big bay moved steadily through the swirling snow, and Russ gave him his head, knowing the horse had more sense than the rider, and was more likely to find his way home. If they were going in the right direction, the huge rock Russ used to climb as a kid would show up on his left.
It would serve him right if he froze to death out here. He’d probably make things a lot easier on everybody else, too, if he just let nature take its course. But his horse didn’t deserve that, and so he’d stick with him and make sure he got back to the barn.
God, it was cold out here. To keep his mind off the frigid weather, he thought about Jo. Nobody would have to know of his private imaginings and accuse him of loving her, after all. Just remembering the warmth of her arms and the light in her eyes when he’d made love to her was enough to make him not mind the stinging of the snow in his eyes and the bone-chilling temperature.
Jo. She’d been right about the driver’s-license thing. Driving Dave and Fran’s truck over the icy streets had proved to him that he could handle the stress, and he couldn’t depend on other folks to get him around anymore. With a license, he could buy a truck and a horse trailer and take his big bay, High Noon, to Tucson instead of leaving him in Prescott to get barn sour during the winter.
A sober night with Jo had also convinced him to give up the booze each Christmas Eve and come back to the Double G so he could help Steve and Claire with the deliveries. They’d invited him before and he’d always turned them down, figuring a no-account cowboy like him shouldn’t be parading around as Santa Claus. Then he’d discovered nobody cared if he was a saint or not They just liked the excitement of a Christmas Eve visit, and come to mention it, so did he.
He kept watch for the rock, but he’d lost track of time. The snow could do that to you. He pictured Jo ahead of him, urging him forward with that wonderful smile. He loved seeing her smile. There. Was that the rock or had he imagined it? The snow was so thick he couldn’t tell for sure. Yeah, it was the rock. His sorry hide was saved, but more important, his horse wouldn’t die out here.
Beyond the rock was the clearing where his mom and dad had built the Double G, using money his dad’s aunt had left him. Russ could barely make out the house and barn, but his horse knew right where he was going. Russ leaned down and patted his neck. “Good job, High Noon. Oats for you once we get inside that barn.”
Getting the barn door open with the wind blowing was a trick, but Russ finally managed it. He rubbed High Noon down real good and gave him his treat. Then he wrestled the door open and shut it again before plowing his way toward the house. He would have preferred to go straight to his cabin for the rest of the day, but he had one other job to do. He had to apologize to Steve and Claire for getting their Christmas off to a bad start.
He pictured them inside having an intimate little Christmas dinner. They’d probably want to bring up the subject of Jo, but he wouldn’t let them talk about her anymore. Steve sure had some crackpot ideas, saying Russ hadn’t loved Sarah. He’d planned to marry her, hadn’t he? Of course he’d loved her. Jo wasn’t anything like Sarah, and he wasn’t in love with Jo because he didn’t want to be in love with her or anyone.
If he’d fallen in love with Jo, he’d want to marry her, and he didn’t want to marry anyone, either. What a disaster, living every day with someone who knew the worst about you. Living with Jo would be a nightmare. Sure, they’d have a great time in bed, and she was easy to talk to and laugh with, but now that she knew about him, her feelings would change. He could bet on it.
He went in the back door because he was covered with snow and the kitchen was the best place to take off his jacket and hat He opened the door and stepped inside. Then he stared in speechless amazement at the two women standing there.
Jo and Claire whirled at the same moment.
“Thank God!” Jo cried.
The welcoming light was in her eyes, just the way he’d imagined it. when he was fighting hi
s way through the storm.
She looked so damn good that he wanted to walk over and take her in his arms. He even found himself starting in that direction, before he woke up and realized that would be another mistake in a whole line of them He found his voice, although it sounded a bit rusty. “What are you doin’ here, Jo?”
“Steve and I invited her,” Claire said, lifting her chin. “And you will be civil, Russ Gibson, or I’ll—”
“Claire, did I hear Russ?” Steve bolted through the kitchen door and paused, his anxious expression hardening as he looked at his brother. “Well, look what the cat dragged in. Is your horse okay?”
“He’s fine.” Russ gradually realized that the noise he was hearing from the living room wasn’t the sound of the television set “Who else is here?”
“Everybody you took presents to last night,” Steve said.
Russ looked from his brother to Claire, a suspicion growing in his head. He remembered the extra pies on the counter this morning. “You’ve had this planned a while, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” Claire said. “But—”
“How did you know you’d be well enough, considerin’ how sick you were yesterday?”
Steve and Claire looked at each other, guilt all over their faces.
“You faked bein’ sick, didn’t you?” The heat of anger chased away the chill in his bones. “You knew I’d have to go on that run if you pretended to be sick.” He swung a hand toward Jo. “Was she part of the plot, too? You probably knew she wasn’t really married all along, didn’t you? Figured you’d play a little trick on me.”
Jo started toward him. “They didn’t plan that Nobody knew I wasn’t married except Lucile. That part was an accident.”
He backed toward the door. “I don’t know why I should believe you. I don’t know why I should believe any of you.”
“Dammit, Russ, you didn’t give us any choice!” Steve bellowed. “All we’re tryin’ to do is make you see that—”
“That my family lies to me?”
“Straight talk wasn’t workin’ worth a damn!”
“Well, this ain’t gonna work, either.” Russ jammed his hat tighter on his head and went back into the snowstorm. Tricked. The whole thing had been a plot to get him hooked into Christmas. He wondered how much Jo had been a part of it He felt sick inside at the thought that she’d known all along he was being played for a fool. Not that it mattered whether she’d been in on the plot. She was nothing to him. Nothing at all.
CLAIRE TURNED to Steve. “That sure turned out well.”
Jo stared at the kitchen door, her heart thumping wildly. “It might yet,” she said. “He won’t leave, will he?”
“Nobody’s goin’ anywhere until this snow lets up,” Steve said. “I imagine he’s headed for his little cabin to nurse his wounds.”
“He doesn’t stay here in the house?” Jo asked.
“No,” Claire said. “There’s a little guest cabin out beyond the corrals. Steve’s mom was a painter and she used it for her studio. Now Russ stays there whenever he’s in town. I think he likes the reminder of his mother. He loved her very much.”
Jo took a deep breath. Her plan might not work, but she was willing to try based on one thing—the look in Russ’s eyes when he’d first walked in the door and seen her there. She’d waited a lifetime for that look. She wasn’t giving up the chance to see it again without a fight.
“Okay,” she said, glancing at Steve and Claire. “Here’s my idea.”
17
BECAUSE EVERYBODY ELSE raved about the meal, Jo was certain it was delicious, but she couldn’t taste a thing. She ate to avoid insulting Claire’s cooking, but she might as well have been chewing on Styrofoam packing peanuts. She kept glancing out the window at the swirling snow and imagining that it wasn’t as thick as before. Her plan wouldn’t be as easy if the blizzard continued full force.
The eating seemed to go on forever, which made everybody happy except Jo, and perhaps Steve and Claire. She could tell they weren’t completely focused on the celebration, either. Finally, after Ned’s third helping of pie, it looked as if everyone had filled themselves at the Gibsons’ hearty table.
“Let us clean up,” Fran said. “We’ve made enough mess to give you serious dishpan hands, Claire.”
“Uh, if you’ll all bear with us,” Steve said, standing at the head of the table, “we have a bigger favor to ask than doin’ dishes.”
“Now, Steve,” Ned said with a chuckle. “Are you plannin’ to have us muck out your stalls? ‘Cause I ain’t dressed for it.”
Steve grinned. “Maybe later. I can give you a change of clothes. But that’s not what I’m talkin’ about right now. All of you had a visitor last night.”
“Santa Claus!” Benny said, jumping out of his chair. “He said he knew you!”
Uh-oh, Jo thought. Benny could be a problem. Well, Russ would just have to bluff his way through it.
“Yeah, where’s Russ?” Dave asked. “I thought I heard him come in the back, but then he didn’t show up for dinner. I wanted to talk to him.”
“That’s what I wish all of you would do,” Steve said. He glanced out the window. “The snow’s lettin’ up a little, and I can drive us over to his cabin in the van. Russ doesn’t seem to think he...has much to celebrate this Christmas.”
“What a shame,” Lucile said. “He made my holiday with those kittens.”
“And that baby blanket was a lifesaver,” Elaine said. “I know you made it, Claire, and I thank you. But when Russ and Jo arrived, my whole Christmas started to happen. I’d like a chance to tell him.”
“Me, too,” said Hector Barnes.
Benny gazed around the table. “What’s everybody talking about? Didn’t Santa come to your houses?”
“Yes, he did, Benny,” Fran said. “And Russ brought him.”
Jo sighed with relief. Keeping the faith in Santa obviously required the touch of an experienced mother like Fran.
“Oh.” Benny looked very pleased.
“I didn’t see Santa Claus,” Marcy said.
“Silly. You don’t see Santa Claus,” Kathy said. “He’s there and gone before you know it.”
“I saw him,” Benny said. “I talked to him, too. He came into my house.”
“That was special,” Jo said. “I’ll bet he thought you were asleep, and you surprised him.”
“Yeah, I did.” Benny tugged on his hat “I s’prised him.”
“Lucky ducky!” Kathy said.
“Well, let’s get over to that cabin while the storm’s died down a bit,” Dave said.
“Has he eaten any dinner yet, Claire?” Fran asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, let’s have everybody take something. The poor boy needs food, after all.”
Jo began to grin as the party got organized, with each person wrapping up his or her favorite part of the meal to take to Russ. She chose to take nothing. She had something to give him besides dinner.
Once they were in the van, with the aroma of food wafting around them, Lucile spoke up. “Let’s go in one group at a time, in the same order as Russ showed up at our houses. I’ll be first.”
“And we’ll be last,” Fran said.
“No, I’ll be last,” Jo said.
“Oh.” Fran glanced at her with a secret smile. “Right.”
“We have time for one Christmas carol,” Claire said. She started “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” which they just had time to finish before they pulled up in front of the small log cabin with a single light burning in the window.
Jo sat by the van window, her hands clenched in her lap as Steve helped Lucile down the steps of the van and over to Russ’s door. Lucile was a good choice for the first visitor. Russ wasn’t likely to close the door in the older woman’s face.
The door opened and Russ looked surprised to see Steve and Lucile there. Jo couldn’t hear what they said, but Lucile went inside and Steve hopped back in the van.
“He’
s completely kerflummoxed,” Steve said, grinning.
When Lucile reappeared, Ned and Sharon jumped from the van. Ned helped Lucile back on board while Sharon knocked on Russ’s door.
“What a sweet boy,” Lucile said. “He asked about the kittens.”
“I think it’s stopped snowing enough to take Amanda in to see him, don’t you, Jo?” Elaine asked.
“Absolutely. He needs to see Amanda,” Jo said. Her stomach felt as if she’d swallowed Mexican jumping beans.
Hector Barnes tapped Jo on the shoulder. “This is sort of like that movie, you know?”
Jo gazed at him as if the concept was brand new to her. “Is it really?”
“Yeah. We’re all reminding him of how he helped us out, to cheer him up. That’s what that angel did for Jimmy Stewart.”
Claire squeezed Jo’s arm. “Let’s hope it works.”
“Let’s hope.” Jo grew more and more nervous as the trail of visitors continued and her turn drew near. Finally, Fran and the girls climbed back into the van while Steve and Ned helped Dave in through the back.
“I told him to snatch you right up,” Fran said as she passed Jo.
Jo’s stomach churned. “Thanks, I think. Does he seem...upset?”
“He seems totally confused,” Fran said. “But I’m sure you can straighten him out.”
“Go get him, Clarence,” Claire said.
Jo paused before leaving the van. “Listen, Steve, why don’t you take everybody on home? I may be a while.”
“I hope you are.” He winked at her. “Good luck.”
“Merry Christmas, Jo!” called Lucile from the back of the van.
A chorus of Merry Christmases followed Jo as she stepped from the van. The swirling snow felt good against her flushed cheeks. She had no idea what she’d say to Russ, but she knew it would be the most important speech of her life.
She knocked on the door.
He opened it, showing no surprise at seeing her there. “I figured you’d be at the end of the train.” He didn’t sound angry, or even impatient. He stepped back. “Come on in, sweetheart.”
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