His Christmas Cowgirl

by Alissa Callen

  Garrett spoke without looking at her. “It has been a while. Thanks again for the Christmas lunch offer, I’ll let you know.”

  She nodded as they continued to walk.

  At the caramel apple stand they bought an apple each, along with two steaming cups of hot cocoa. She made sure she paid for her share.

  Garrett dipped his head toward the bench that stood beside a lamppost tied with a red ribbon.

  “Fancy a seat?” he asked.

  The ache in her knee was only dull but it would be good to sit and drink her cocoa. The evening was also going well. The relationship between them continued to be easy and relaxed. There’d been no accidental touches or locking of gazes. She’d heeded Hal’s words about not worrying so much about what people said. But, if she were honest, she still wasn’t entirely comfortable with close scrutiny or with being gossiped about. The closer they walked to Community Park, the more the crowds thinned. No one would pay attention if she shared a bench with Garrett.

  “Yes, please.” She sat with a smile.

  *

  Garrett took his time to sit beside Peta. He needed to get his emotions under control. The more he strolled through the picture-perfect street with Peta, the more his feelings bucked like a saddle bronc.

  As much as he wanted to spend Christmas with her, it was only asking for trouble. He couldn’t allow the feelings he already had for her to deepen and grow. In the cutthroat corporate world that had brought him and Hal financial freedom, there was no room for emotions or distractions. He’d buy a rundown ranch, build it up and sell it without forming any sort of attachment to the ranch or the community. He’d then move on to the next ranch and the next business venture.

  A personal relationship with Peta remained off-limits, even more so now he’d created a gossip fest with his poorly thought out plan to save her from the bouquet throw. Even though she appeared unconcerned tonight when people snuck glances at them, he’d seen the strain in her eyes this week whenever she returned from town. But all the reasons why he shouldn’t start anything with the beautiful cowgirl, whose hair shone gold beneath the lamplight, didn’t seem to count when he was with her.

  He took a swallow of his hot cocoa. After Ivy and Rhett’s wedding, talking to Carol Bingley wasn’t the only item on his to-do list.

  He waited until Peta had taken a bite of her sweet apple and then spoke. “There’s something I want to ask you about.”

  She stopped chewing.

  He smiled to chase the wariness from her eyes. “At the ranch we’re always busy, or with people, so now’s a good time to talk about what you meant by your Wyoming women-trouble comment at Ivy and Rhett’s wedding.”

  Peta’s gaze searched his before she spoke. “I don’t want to bring up a painful topic but it was something Hal said about how it’s good for you to be away from Wyoming. I just assumed… it was because of what happened with your fiancée.”

  “I did need a break from Wyoming but the reason’s not because of Jeanie. It’s been five years since she left me and she’s now on her second husband.”

  Peta blinked. “Five years?”

  “Yes and the truth is we would never have been happy together so her leaving me when she did was a good thing.” He paused. “Now might also be a good time for my long and boring life story because it will explain my real women-trouble in Wyoming.”

  Peta nodded and took another bite of apple.

  He stared at the caramel apple he held and hadn’t yet tasted. “There’s a reason why I’ve never had one of these or been to a Christmas stroll; my childhood wasn’t exactly full of Christmas cheer.”

  Peta turned to face him, her mouth soft. “I’m so sorry.”

  He shrugged. “It’s okay. I survived. It also wasn’t really anyone’s fault. Just life not always being as kind as it could be.”

  Peta tilted her head, encouraging him to continue.

  “I think there was a time when my mother had been happy. I can remember sitting on my father’s bay gelding and hearing her laughter as she held my father’s hand. But one winter we lost him in a truck accident… then Mom miscarried my baby sister… and things were never the same again.” He sighed. “We moved to town and when I started school, I thought it was normal for mother’s to stay in bed all day and to drink all night.”

  Peta’s gloved hand briefly touched his.

  “But then Mom married Phil, stopped drinking, and things took on a semblance of normalcy. Until Phil ran off with a younger woman who didn’t have a child.”

  “Your poor mother.”

  “Yes, she took it hard. She started drinking again and disappearing for days. We also moved around again so no one really knew how bad things had become. But she did manage to find someone else, Ralph. Except Ralph didn’t last very long either. And when he left… Mom didn’t really want to be seen with me. She said I made her look… old.”

  This time Peta’s hand covered his. Despite the thickness of her glove, he could feel her care and concern as she squeezed his hand. “Somewhere in this long story you must meet Hal and things get better?”

  He nodded. “Instead of going to school, I’d hang out at the feed and supply store. One day I’d given Hal lip about something, I think he’d asked how old I was. He then gave me a long look and said if I wanted to work for him on his ranch, I’d better learn some manners.”

  Peta smiled and lifted her hand from his. “That sounds like Hal.”

  “And he’s been a part of my life ever since. Miriam, his wife, was the one who taught me to read and eventually I was able to go back to school.”

  “Hal always said she had the patience of a saint.”

  “She did. I’m not proud to admit that in the early days she needed that much patience to put up with me.”

  “And your mother? What happened to her?”

  Garrett set his now cold cocoa on the ground near his boots. “After marrying her third husband I only ever saw her when she needed money or a place to stay… until Wyoming. She turned up alone and for the first time admitted she needed help. So I supported her through rehab, a relapse, and then through rehab again. So the women-trouble I had in Wyoming… was that of riding the roller coaster of addiction with my mother.”

  “And… how is she now.”

  “She’s in a good place. She laughs again and has moved in with a widowed rancher who understands she’ll never marry him.”

  Peta smiled. “That might have been a long story, but it wasn’t boring at all. And I’m glad it has a happy ending.”

  Something in his expression must have alerted her that not all of the parts of his story had a happy ending.

  Her smile ebbed. “Garrett… what happened to Hal’s ranch? I know he lost his wife in a car accident but sometimes, when he thinks no one’s looking, I see a great sadness in him and I can’t help but feel there’s more to his loss.”

  Garrett took a second to subdue his emotions. “There is. Hal won’t mind me filling in the blanks. It’s not that he wouldn’t want you to know… it’s just hard for him to talk about. Miriam was in a car accident, a drunk driver ran into her at a T-section… but… she lingered for a long while. Hal couldn’t face turning off her life support. The bills mounted. His ranch suffered and…” Garrett’s jaw clenched. “The day he turned off the machine keeping Miriam breathing, the bank foreclosed on his ranch.”

  Tears shimmered in Peta’s eyes. “I had no idea. Poor Hal. He must have to come to work on Bluebell Falls not long after.”

  Garrett gave into the urge to touch her cheek to offer her the same comfort she’d given him. “He did and, over a decade later, he’s still here. So I’d call that a happy ending, too.”

  The corners of Peta’s mouth curved and the sadness lifted from her eyes. He lowered his hand, the cold air replacing the warmth of her soft skin. The high emotion associated with telling Peta his long story meant he couldn’t guarantee his self-control would hold. He needed to keep a safe distance between them. The full sweep of he
r bottom lip called for him to bend his head and to seek her mouth. He collected his cocoa and came to his feet.

  She too stood and after placing their cocoa cups in the trash, they continued down Main Street. He crunched on his apple as they strolled and Peta appeared content for silence to lapse between them. Until she stopped, her attention fixed on someone ahead on the sidewalk.

  “Carol Bingley, again?” he asked.

  “No, potentially worse. It’s my father.” She sighed. “I’m apologizing in advance for anything he might do or say. He can be a little… abrupt at times.”

  “It will be fine.”

  They started to walk. As he finished his apple, Garrett examined the tall but stooped man who slowly walked beside Kendall. At Ivy and Rhett’s wedding, Stewart Dixon had sat unsmiling and grim at a table close to the wedding party. But when he’d been on the dance floor with his daughters, Garrett had noticed Stewart’s glower soften. He’d also seen raw emotion tug at his mouth when he’d hugged Ivy and Rhett before they’d left.

  As they approached, Kendall waved and sent them a sweet smile.

  When Stewart stopped to frown at him from beneath bushy grey brows, Peta quickly made the introductions.

  “Dad, this is Garrett Ross, the foreman filling in for Hal.”

  “I know who he is. He’s the fool who opened his mouth in front of Carol.”

  “Dad—”

  Garrett didn’t look at Peta but the note of warning in her tone left him in no doubt that she too frowned. “Yes, I am that fool. But I’ve apologized to Peta and my lapse in judgment won’t happen again.”

  Stewart’s eyes narrowed. “So, you’re a smooth talker, too. I thought you were just a foreman?”

  He held Stewart’s stare. He’d dealt with far more difficult and belligerent men across a boardroom table. “I’m many things. Just like you are.”

  Stewart grunted. “You’ll do.” Then he swung away.

  “Dad.” There was no missing Peta’s frustration as she reached for her father’s arm. “You can at least talk to Garrett for another minute and try to be civil.”

  “Why? I’ve worked out he’ll do. He won’t be bossed round by you.”

  “Dad… please.” Kendall stepped forward.

  The patience of her words and the quick, placating look she sent Peta, told Garrett she’d played the role of family peacemaker many times.

  Stewart shuffled around to look at Peta. “You being a bossy firstborn isn’t a bad thing. The truth is I wouldn’t have you any other way.” He glanced at Kendall. “And your soft smile doesn’t fool anyone. You have a will as tough as your sister’s. I’m proud both of you are so strong.”

  Peta and Kendall didn’t speak. Their large eyes and parted lips conveyed how shocked they were at their father’s words.

  “Why do you think I gave you boy’s names and not some fancy, girly ones?” Stewart asked. “It’s not because I only wanted sons. I could never have been happier when you were born. But life isn’t always easy for a woman. Look at poor Clara, Zane’s mother. I never wanted you to be powerless or disrespected by any man.”

  Kendall blinked to hide her tears and the smooth skin at Peta’s throat rippled as she swallowed.

  “I know I was hard on you,” their father added. “Too hard your mother would say, but I can now go to my grave knowing you both can take care of yourselves.”

  “Dad… don’t talk like that,” Kendall said, slipping her arm through his.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere in a hurry. I’ve got your wedding to go to and…” Stewart frowned at Peta and Garrett hid a smile. Even her father wasn’t brave enough to broach the subject of his eldest strong daughter getting married. “But right now I want to go and get some hot cocoa before I lose my toes to frostbite.”

  Kendall glanced over her shoulder as they moved away, her eyes over-bright but happy.

  Garrett continued walking and Peta fell into step beside him. Her stiff shoulders and her set mouth communicated she didn’t want him to comment on anything that had just happened.

  She soon broke the silence. “Well, after all of that, you don’t need to hear my long and boring story. Meeting my father will have explained everything.”

  “All I will say is… his heart’s in the right place. Even if it doesn’t always feel like it, he’s always looked out for you.” Garrett grinned to lighten the tension. “It’s a little like me and the Carol incident. My intentions were good: it’s just that the execution wasn’t great.”

  A brief smile tugged at Peta’s lips. “You can say that again.”

  “You also don’t need to worry about Carol gossiping about you anymore?”

  “Why?”

  “Let’s just say, the tables have turned. When I went to see her the other day, she’d locked herself out of her house… wearing only her nightdress.”

  Peta’s gaze rounded. “She didn’t? Carol’s always immaculately dressed and passes comment when others aren’t. Kendall’s always worried about bumping into Carol when in town in her gardening clothes.”

  “Well, the frothy pink thing she had on didn’t exactly cover all of her so I’m not sure if that counts as being immaculately dressed.”

  “It wouldn’t. She would have been mortified.”

  “She was but I told her not to worry because I’d keep this incident just between us… which includes you. And I will because, unlike Carol, I keep my word.” He grinned. “So now when you see her around town she will be wondering if you too will keep her little secret between ‘us’.”

  Peta’s eyes sparkled. “I will, because I too honor my word. But you’re right, she will wonder because she knows herself how easy it is to break her word.”

  A comfortable silence settled between them.

  As they neared Community Park the dark night sky took on a soft glow. When he saw the size of the restored collection he could see why. Christmas lights and lawn ornaments, some almost life-size, filled the park.

  When they reached the edge of the display, they stopped to admire a smiling Santa in a sleigh and his collection of reindeers. Peta pointed to a nearby cluster of cowboy elves. “One of those hats would have to be the one Rhett painted.”

  As they walked closer to take a look, Garrett made the mistake of placing his hand in the small of Peta’s back to guide her forward into a spare space in the crowd. His breathing quickened. Even though her heavy coat lay between his hand and her lower back, his senses remembered the satin feel of her smooth skin. But before he could pull his hand away, she turned her head and the ends of her long hair brushed his fingers like a caress. His self-control cracked.

  Her eyes widened as she glimpsed the need and hunger he was powerless to hide. For a beat, she stared at him and then she stepped away from his touch and into the spare space.

  Shoulders locked, he silenced a curse. He’d just made a false move. A false move that contradicted his statement he didn’t want complications while running Bluebell Falls. A false move that revealed he still wanted Peta with every breath that he took.

  A false move that he now couldn’t undo or explain away.

  Chapter Ten

  ‡

  The deep sound of Garrett’s laughter stopped Peta outside the closed kitchen door. For a moment, she listened. Hal was telling another of his yarns over breakfast.

  She ignored a tug of loneliness. In the New Year she’d come downstairs to an empty kitchen. Maybe even sooner. Garrett hadn’t mentioned anything further about where he’d spend Christmas. Ever since the stroll, their conversations had again centered on ranch business. Their visit to Community Park had changed everything.

  When she’d turned and caught the intensity of his fixed gaze, her knees had weakened. The hunger darkening his eyes had held her still, until she’d remembered they weren’t a couple. Both had reasons for not giving in to the chemistry between them.

  When she’d finished looking at the cowboy elf display, she’d left the crowd to stand beside him. In t
he solemn planes of his handsome face she’d seen an acknowledgment that he’d lowered his guard. There’d also been a look of acceptance that he’d be willing to talk about what his expression had revealed.

  But all she’d done was given him a smile and suggested they retrace their steps along the other side of Main Street to see the nativity display at St. James Church. It hadn’t been the right time to start an awkward discussion. Curious glances continued to be cast their way and, if she was honest, she didn’t want to hear Garrett again say there couldn’t be anything between them.

  Since then the days had fallen into a safe pattern where the two of them were never alone together. While working on the ranch, they were surrounded by others and at night, after dinner when Hal went to bed, Garrett would go upstairs to his laptop.

  She wasn’t sure what he did on the computer for hours. If he was anything like Rhett, he’d be on the internet looking at clips of bull riders. Kendall used to spend her evenings on the computer online when she’d been studying landscape design. Garrett wouldn’t be the first cowboy working to further his education.

  Garrett laughed again and she pushed open the kitchen door to walk into a room lit by the early morning winter sun and the smiles of the two men at the table.

  “Morning sleepyhead,” Hal said, before he took a gulp of coffee.

  She grinned and allowed her eyes to brush over Garrett’s. If their gazes met for longer than a second, telltale warmth colored her cheeks.

  “Considering I’ve already had breakfast and put the coffee pot on for you two, I’m not claiming the sleepyhead title today.”

  Hal returned her grin. “Well, I’m, not either. I’m just following Dr. Wyatt’s orders to take it easy, so I have an excuse for sleeping in.” He looked across at Garrett. “Now you on the other hand…”

  Garrett stood to collect his empty plate and mug. “What can I say? It’s winter.”

  “In Garrett’s defense,” Peta said, as she sat at the table. “Garrett was up at dawn. I heard him head out in the truck.”

  Hal’s eyes narrowed as he studied at Garrett. “What were you doing up before the birds? You not sleeping again?”