Holly for Christmas

by Lisa Prysock

  “Oh, that’s Boots, our family cat.” Jill smiled. Then she gave Holly the key to her new room. “I hope you’ll be comfortable here.”

  Holly looked around at the en suite while holding the purring cat. An oak desk beneath a picture window drew her eye at once. There was an inviting double bed with an oak carved headboard and footboard, a nightstand on either side with reading lamps. A wingback chair and sofa filled a small sitting area alcove along with a bistro table, microwave, and mini-fridge.

  “The room is perfect, thank you.” She glanced at the garden tub in the spacious bathroom. Then she saw another alcove led her to a closet, dresser, and vanity. Everything appeared clean, modern, beautifully decorated, and comfortable.

  “Good, I’m glad you like it. Dinner’s at seven in the main dining room downstairs this evening, breakfast is served from six until ten o’clock. There’s a fall dance coming up next weekend. Let me know if you need anything at all.” Jill handed her a welcome packet. “Here are all the details and the activity calendar.”

  Holly nodded and gave her the cat. “I had a delicious dinner in town at Bubba’s Burgers, but I might do some writing and take a walk later.”

  “Best burgers in town.” Jill smiled and nodded. “I noticed you’re a journalist from the information on your application. I used to write a travel column, but now I publish travel books and other stories. It’s really nice to meet another writer.”

  “Yes, it is. I’m always happy to meet other writers. I’m happy you shared that with me. I was just hired on as a columnist for The Lander Chronicle today.” Holly was delighted to learn more about Jill’s writing.

  “What will your column be about?” Jill asked, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

  “It’s going to be called ‘Holly’s Happenings.’ I’ll do human interest stories mainly about the local people and interesting places in the area.”

  “Sounds like it’s going to be a popular column. Enjoy your walk. My husband and I placed a map of the property in the welcome packet. I hope you get to ride the horses before the snow flies. I think winter is coming fast this year. We don’t do as much riding when there’s ice.”

  Holly nodded. “I can understand that since the safety of the horses and riders needs to come first. Thanks for the tip. I’ll try to squeeze in some riding time before winter sets in.”

  Then Jill scurried away, mentioning something about an incoming call.

  Holly sighed contentedly, happy to have a room at the ranch rather than being stuck in a hotel. This property offered so many amenities. She’d feel right at home. She was anxious to change into her favorite jeans and unpack. Then she could take a leisurely walk. Later on, maybe she could begin making a list of story ideas for “Holly’s Happenings.”

  A glance out the window and she spotted a hunky cowboy exiting his log cabin about twenty yards away. He appeared to be heading toward the barns, maybe to go horseback riding. The sun would be setting soon, but for now, she could see the beautiful autumn colors lighting up the ranch with burnt oranges, sienna browns, deep reds and plums, and sage greens. Between the good-looking cowboy and the scenery, the ranch had certainly nailed her request for a room with a view.

  She stared out the window for a while after the handsome man, watching him until he rounded a bend, leaving her to focus on the white country chapel and the covered bridge in the distance. The Lord had answered her prayers for a good job with the local newspaper. Now she hoped He had heard the prayers of her heart she hadn’t been able to put into words for a wonderful, God-fearing husband, and a happy future. It’d be extra nice to be reunited with her best friend, too.

  Four

  ***

  “Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts.”—H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

  “Thanks for sharing this space in the hangar with me, Joey. I really appreciate you and Logan allowing me to park Betsy here.” Calvin continued to work at polishing the dark purple pick-up truck. He loved to see the hood staring back at him with a gleaming shine.

  “I don’t mind, and I’m sure Logan is glad to see the space go to good use. Judging by the smile on your face, I can tell you’re happy she arrived today on the bed of that tractor-trailer from Montana.” Joey Trenway adjusted his baseball cap while he observed Calvin’s work, crossing his arms over his chest. “So what year is this beauty?”

  “This is a 1940 Ford,” Cal said proudly.

  “What kind of engine she got?” Joey asked, leaning on a tall red metal tool box on wheels.

  “It’s a 383 Stroker engine with a turbo 350 automatic transmission. The rear axle and everything has been fully restored. I’m putting the air conditioning in next.”

  “Nice!” Joey whistled.

  “Drives like a dream,” Calvin returned.

  “I bet. Looks like new tires, too. Do you collect these?” The airplane mechanic continued to look on with some degree of enthusiasm and mutual interest.

  Calvin reached for another chamois cloth, enjoying the chance to talk about his hobby with someone who appeared to have a genuine interest. “A few of them remain in my small collection, but most of the time I restore them and then auction them off for missions and evangelical work. I donate a lot of the proceeds to the Montana Mission, an organization connected to my home church. They do a ton of work for the homeless and so forth.”

  “Wow, that’s great!” Joey looked dazzled, but he was interrupted by a timer that went off on his phone. “I have a flight scheduled to land in about ten minutes, so I have to head up to the control tower room, but let me know if you need anything. They brought some of your tools and a few parts in those boxes over there, too.” Joey patted the tool box he was leaning on before disappearing toward a set of steps leading to his control tower room.

  “Thanks, I saw the boxes and recognize the tool box. Thanks again.” Calvin turned to focus on his truck. Restoring antique cars and pick-up trucks was one of his favorite leisure activities.

  He could hardly believe he’d have so many weeks ahead of him to work on Old Betsy. Plus he had a date with someone named Brenda which made him both happy and nervous all at the same time. He’d finally decided to give a Christian dating website a try since he had the worst luck when it came to women. They’d had a few conversations and had finally decided to have lunch at a café in Lander. He finished polishing the truck and began opening a few of the boxes containing the parts he needed.

  He wasn’t too keen on dating after watching his father struggle with two divorces and three marriages, but one thing bothered him more than anything else. The idea of Honey Ridge not having anyone after him to carry on the farm’s legacy had been on his mind heavily since he’d finally had some time to slow down. As he prayed about the direction his life should take, he realized at age thirty-two, it was more important than ever to find a wife and take a chance on beginning a family of his own.

  It wasn’t as if he needed the help of a website to find a date, but he liked the idea of dating someone without revealing his financial status. A dating website gave him that opportunity. Women found out about his billions and flocked to his side, but it was precisely why he didn’t find himself too trusting of many women he’d met. Most reminded him of his first stepmom, June Hobart Davis. She’d been a first rate floozy only after his dad’s bank account. He hoped Brenda would turn out to be different.

  Five

  ***

  “First impressions matter. Experts say we size up new people in somewhere between thirty seconds and two minutes.”—Elliott Abrams, an American diplomat and lawyer born in 1948 who served in foreign policy positions for Presidents Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump.

  The Café on Main Street in Lander, Wyoming...

  JILL HAD INVITED HOLLY to join her mother and aunt for lunch in town, and when the four of them were seated at a far corner table, she introduced her to everyone. “Holly, this is my mom, Betty Anne Fontaine, and m
y aunt, Meredith Johnston. My mom lives on a small farm beside our ranch, Belden Farm, and Aunt Meredith owns and operates a resale shop here in Lander called Second Chances.”

  “It’s nice to meet all of you,” Holly replied, shaking their hands.

  “Holly’s a writer for The Lander Chronicle. She’s going to be writing a weekly column called ‘Holly’s Happenings.’” Jill reached for a menu from the stack the waitress had left on the table with glasses of water.

  “My daughter will be so happy to have another writing friend. She wrote a travel critic column for years in New York and has published a number of books in recent years.” Betty Anne smiled proudly at her daughter from over the edge of her menu.

  “I mentioned all that to Holly before, Mom.” Jill blushed and rolled her eyes.

  “Can I help it if I’m proud of my daughter’s writing ambitions and experience?” Betty Anne grinned and exchanged a shrug with her sister.

  “You have every right to be proud,” Holly smiled. “Writing is hard work. My mom used to do the same thing. When she passed away, I found a scrapbook among her belongings. She’d cut out every single newspaper article I’d ever published and preserved each one inside.”

  “Wow, that’s so sweet, and evidence of how much she loved you. I’m sorry to hear she isn’t here with you now.” Aunt Meredith tilted her head with a compassionate look in her eyes and the others nodded.

  “Did she say the soup of the day was split pea with ham? I think I’ll order that and a half of a turkey and provolone croissant.” Jill placed her menu aside and began applying some chap stick.

  “That sounds perfect for such a windy, chilly day,” Betty Anne agreed. “I think I’ll have the same.”

  “I’m going to try the potato soup and the egg salad on a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel.” Aunt Meredith sipped some of her water and smiled at Holly, making her feel welcome.

  “I’ll try the chicken noodle soup and the turkey provolone croissant as well.” Holly closed her menu as a waitress arrived and then took their orders. She returned with the hot tea they’d each ordered after a few minutes.

  “Did you see the bookstore across the street?” Jill asked, her eyes on the charming shop outside the window. “I could get lost inside it for hours.”

  “I did notice it. I’m thinking it might make a nice story if I interview the owner or the manager sometime, perhaps.” Holly glanced across the street through the café window as she steeped an apple flavored tea bag in her cup of hot water. She liked the burgundy awnings above the shop windows. In fact, she loved the quaint and scenic area with the neat little shops and businesses along Main Street.

  “That would make a lovely story,” Jill commented, nodding.

  “Thank you. I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of what my first story should be. Then it came to me last night. I was thinking it could be about The Sweetwater, perhaps. Do you know if the paper has ever run a story on your ranch resort before?” Holly added two teaspoons of sugar to her tea and stirred absently.

  “It never has to my knowledge, although they’ve done some advertising for events for us, like when we’ve had a few rodeos or bands there, or the year we hosted the local beauty pageant, and the time we held a pioneer days festival.” Jill swept a few strands of hair away from her eyes.

  “I agree,” Betty Anne interjected. “They’ve not done a story on it since that little article they printed when the ranch officially opened. It was only about three or four paragraphs. I usually read the entire paper each week.”

  “It certainly would make Logan happy. There was a little story about our wedding in the chapel on our ranch printed in The Lander Gazette I think. Logan and I would be delighted to see a full story about the ranch in our local paper. The property has been in his family for generations,” Jill explained as the waitress returned with their orders and then hurried away to take another order.

  “I’ll say the blessing,” Aunt Meredith offered. They bowed their heads and prayed.

  The food tasted delicious, but Holly was thinking about Belden Farm being situated so close to The Sweetwater. “So you mentioned your mom lives on neighboring Belden Farm. So did you grow up next to Logan?” Holly’s eyes widened when Jill nodded.

  “I sure did,” she smiled.

  “So has Belden Farm been in your family for generations, too?” Holly asked, wondering if they’re grandparents had known each other.

  Jill held her croissant in mid-air. “Yes it has, going all the way back to before the turn of the century. I read about it in an old steamer trunk filled with letters Mom found in the attic.”

  “What a treasure!” Holly smiled. “I hope you won’t mind if I interview you and Betty Anne about her farm for a future article.” They were smiling and nodding yes as she turned to Aunt Meredith, adding, “And Second Chances, may I do a story about your shop at some point?”

  “I would be so honored.” Aunt Meredith beamed from ear to ear and then tasted some of her soup. “This is really good.”

  There was a lull in their conversation, but the café bell sounded as more customers entered. They all looked in the direction of the door to see who it might be. Holly recognized the hunky, good looking cowboy she’d noticed at The Sweetwater on her first night there.

  “So nice to see Calvin here,” Jill smiled, waving in his direction. The cowboy tipped his hat and smiled back, waving at everyone at their table.

  Holly observed as the waitress seated him and an attractive blond at a table on the other side of the café.

  “You know he’s the sole heir to billions and among our chief investors at The Sweetwater,” Aunt Meredith whispered in a low voice, winking at Holly.

  “I had no idea.” Holly didn’t look in his direction again. She had no interest in someone like him. He was most likely a self-absorbed bachelor, and from the look of his age, he’d been avoiding marriage for a while. Just what the world needed, another bachelor who wanted to play the field!

  “YOU’D BETTER WATCH out for these girls,” Jack Colten warned Calvin as they saddled up two horses. Lowering his voice, he added, “The quiet one in the corner, Holly, is a reporter, and the others, you don’t even wanna know.”

  “Why’s that?” Calvin asked as he swung a saddle on his horse and then turned to see who the wrangler was talking about. He didn’t like reporters much at all, first of all. His mother had loathed the ones who wrote the high society gossip columns when her marriage to his father had crumbled and all sorts of details about his infidelities had ended up in print for all to see. Then he saw the others. Was he about to be attacked by five more women walking right toward him? He could hear all of their boot heels clicking across the barn cement floor.

  “They’re a group of librarians on retreat here, and I happened to overhear them talking at breakfast today. One of them recognized you from the cover of some well-known magazine about your family horse farm.” Jack adjusted a saddle and patted the horse before leading him over to a corner of the barn where the reporter waited patiently. Then he handed her the reins and his voice returned to a normal tone. “Here you are Miss Williams. Need any help mounting?”

  “No, I think I’ve got it. I used to go riding every summer at camp as a kid,” the brunette with the pretty light blue-gray eyes answered. “Thank you, though.”

  Cal noticed she stepped into a stirrup with her red cowgirl boots on and swung into the saddle like an expert.

  “Hey there, big fella.” One of the librarians in the group of women entering the barn sidled up next to Calvin immediately, several more right behind her. “Did you saddle this one for little ol’ me? That was so sweet of you, Mister. What a beauty!”

  Calvin was taken aback by how bold the librarian was with her flirtation, along with the rest of them. The group of librarians swarmed around him, giggling and ooing about the horse. They began petting the horse, batting their eyelashes at him, all of them talking at once. He’d never seen so many librarians behave with so much talki
ng, laughter, and giddiness before. Weren’t they usually quiet, strict types? Not these ladies, apparently. They were flirtatious and giddy. They made him more than a little uncomfortable for some reason with the brunette beauty in the red boots observing. Part of him wondered if she would write about him with some slant concerning these women. Part of him didn’t want her to witness them hanging all over him for other reasons. She seemed highly intelligent and it wouldn’t impress her kind. Who was he kidding? Why was he even thinking about trying to impress her? Maybe he was a little attracted in spite of her profession.

  “Sorry, ladies, this one is for me,” Cal replied, ignoring their remarks as he watched the brunette nudge her horse forward, riding confidently out of the barn toward one of the trails.

  The girls sounded disappointed collectively, but they moved beyond him when Jack came to his rescue bringing two horses toward them, one lead in each hand. “How can I help you ladies? Would you like me to saddle up some horses for you?”

  Ignoring the rest of the conversation as the librarians then swarmed Jack Colten, Calvin mounted his horse. He kept the stallion steady while keeping one eye on the stranger lurking at the entrance of the barn. The stranger appeared to be staring in the direction of the newspaper reporter lady. Jed—one of the other wranglers for the ranch—stepped inside the barn and noticed the stranger, too.

  “Can I help you, Sir?” Jed asked, studying the fellow.

  It seemed to Cal that he’d seen this man at lunch when he was on his first date with Brenda at the new Lander café. He’d appeared out of nowhere on foot and followed Miss Williams, the reporter, and Jill Haven, into the book store on Main Street. He was tall with dark brown hair. Cal had yet to get a good look at his face. The stranger didn’t look like a country boy in his tennis shoes and fall jacket. Oddly, he appeared to continue to stare in the direction in which Holly was riding. Maybe it was all coincidence. Perhaps he was merely admiring the scenery, or maybe the horse, and maybe Holly. Cal had to admit, she was an attractive lady.