“Your mom sounds great.”
Molly smiled. “She is great. You would love—well, anyway. Yes, my mom’s terrific.”
She’d been about to say he’d love her mother. He probably would, but that was beside the point. He would never meet her.
Perversely, now he wanted to. People said you could tell what a woman would be like in twenty-five years by looking at her mother. Despite having no future with Molly, he couldn’t help fantasizing about what one would be like.
“I’ll bet Jack’s out plowing the ranch road so we can get through.” Molly chuckled. “I could be wrong, but I think he likes doing that.”
“I can guarantee he does. Most little boys never outgrow their obsession with tractors.”
“So I guess you’ll be getting one of those, too.”
Ben hadn’t thought of that. “Guess I will. If I have horse property, I’ll need a tractor for raking the corral. And I’ll need a blade attachment so I can get in and out in winter.”
“You’ll also need a name for the place.”
“I suppose so. Got any ideas?”
“Oh, tons!” She rummaged in her purse. “This will be fun. Let’s make a list.”
He smiled at her burst of enthusiasm. God, how he loved...her. He loved her. The thought hit him with stunning force. His pulse raced and he lost track of what she was saying. “Hold on to that thought. Let me get past this icy stretch.” If he pretended that the road had suddenly become more of a challenge, she might not notice his distracted behavior.
Taking a deep breath, he refocused on the conversation. “Okay, run those past me one more time.”
She rattled off several potential ranch names, some decent and some hysterically funny. They debated the merits of those names and came up with more. The subject occupied them for the rest of the drive, but all the while, in the back of his mind, lurked his newfound knowledge. He was in love with Molly Gallagher. And she would never know.
* * *
BEN PULLED INTO the circular drive in front of the ranch house behind two vehicles he didn’t recognize.
“Oh, I just remembered!” Molly practically bounced on the seat. “Jack’s half brothers, Wyatt and Rafe Locke are supposed to arrive today with their wives. I’ll bet that’s who’s here. Yay! I’ve been in touch with them for my project, and now we’ll meet face-to-face!”
“Then you’re okay with not making it home?”
She glanced at him. “I feel like a traitor for saying this, but I’m pretty excited about being here for Christmas now that it’s a done deal, especially if I get to meet more family members.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for the door handle.
“Molly, hang on a second.” He wouldn’t bare his soul to her, never that, but he could take advantage of the last few moments of their time alone. “Once we go in there, we won’t have any privacy.”
She turned to him, her expression contrite. “That’s true. Sorry. I didn’t mean to rush out of here.”
“You’re eager to meet them all. I understand.”
“But we really will be in a goldfish bowl for the next couple of days. I’ve considered braving it out and announcing that we’ll share a room. I’ve been debating that ever since we agreed to come back, but I don’t think it would be appropriate.”
“No, it wouldn’t. Before we go in, though, I want to wish you Merry Christmas.” He gave her a wry smile. “Minus the gift.”
“No apologies necessary. I don’t have one for you, either.” She touched his face. “But ever since I met you, you’ve been teaching me what a sexy woman I can be. That’s quite a gift, when you think about it. You’re precious to me, Ben.”
“As you are to me.” Nudging his hat back with his thumb, he slid her glasses off and laid them carefully on the dash. Then he cupped her face in both hands. “Merry Christmas, Molly.”
“Merry Christmas, Ben.”
He took her mouth gently, reverently. It wouldn’t be the last time his lips touched hers. He planned to drive her back to the airport after Christmas, but that kiss would be all about goodbye. This one was all about gratitude...and love.
Her response was filled with such unspeakable tenderness that his breath caught. Slowly, reluctantly, he lifted his head and looked into her eyes.
They were filled with wonder, as if she’d just had a revelation.
Hope blazed within him. Maybe, just maybe...
The massive front door flew open and people he didn’t recognize poured out chattering and laughing. They clattered down the steps toward the truck with an older woman in the lead, a brunette who had Jack’s coloring.
Ben put his money on that being Diana, the runaway wife and mother, which meant the rest of the posse could be her sons and their wives. “Your welcoming party is here.”
Molly put on her glasses just as the woman leading the pack rapped on her window. With a start of surprise, Molly looked out. Then she opened the door, letting in a cold blast of air. “Hi.”
“Hi! I’m Diana, and these are your long-lost cousins, or step-cousins, or whatever the terminology is, Wyatt and Rafe. Oh, and their dearly beloveds, Olivia and Meg. Come on in! After all those emails, we’re dying to meet you!”
Molly turned back to Ben. “Listen, I hate to—”
“Go ahead.” He gave her a smile. “I’ll bring the luggage.”
Belatedly Diana glanced at Ben and seemed to remember her manners. “Sorry, how rude of me! And now I’ve forgotten your name.”
“Ben.”
“Kids, this is Ben, the guy who made that amazing saddle.”
A chorus of greetings and compliments went up from the group. Then Molly climbed out, and their attention shifted to her. That gave Ben the leisure to study everybody.
One of the guys was the spitting image of Jack, only a few years younger, so he had to be Rafe, who managed investment portfolios. Ben should probably talk to him before the holiday was over, considering all his plans for expansion.
The sandy-haired stepbrother must be Wyatt, who owned an adventure trekking operation. Ben observed body language to figure out the pairings, and he found the matchups fascinating. The pulled-together woman, Olivia, was with Wyatt, while Meg, the wholesome one with the freckles, was Rafe’s bride.
He waited until they’d all gone inside before unloading the luggage. After setting his duffle bag and Molly’s suitcase on the porch steps, he drove his truck down to the barn and parked. Much scraping and shoveling must have gone on this morning, because the entire area was clear of snow. Huge mounds of the stuff had been dumped to the side of the buildings, though. Sled tracks and snowball forts told him that the kids had enjoyed themselves today.
As he walked back to the house, he thought about the look in Molly’s eyes after their kiss. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear she’d just figured out that she loved him. If so, then what?
He was still a serious gamble for her. She obviously thought he had no reason to be concerned about his potential as a husband and father. But he was afraid that some little thing could flip a switch, and he’d become his dad.
He stepped through the front door into a world of joyful chaos. Christmas carols were on the sound system and Sarah’s grandchildren raced through the living room in delirious glee. Christmas Eve was only hours away. Anticipation hummed in the evergreen-scented air.
His saddle—no, Sarah’s saddle, was still in its place of honor beside the Christmas tree. Leaving the suitcases in the entryway for now, he meandered over to take another look at the project that had brought him to this place. To Molly.
Damn, but he was proud of it. He ran his hand over the seat and remembered how he’d struggled to fit the leather just right. The stirrups hung straight and true, and the tooling was...wait a minute. He crouched down and peered at the intricate work.
Dear God. Somebody, some kid, had scribbled on the leather with a neon green felt pen. His work, his labor of months, had been defiled, and recently. He could smell the acrid scent o
f fresh marker. Gut churning, he stood and scanned the room.
Archie, Jack’s tow-headed three-year-old, met his gaze. He held a neon green pen in his chubby fist.
Anger seethed as Ben glared at the child. “Archie.”
Archie stared back, his gaze stricken. “I made it...pretty.”
All conversation in the room stopped. Jack put down his beer and looked from Ben to his son. “Archie, what did you do?”
“I...I colored it.” His lower lip quivered.
Jack’s expression was thunderous. “You marked on Grandma’s saddle?”
“I wanted to make it nice, Daddy!” the little boy wailed.
Jack started toward him, fire in his eyes. “That is not acceptable, young man! You are in big—”
“Jack.” In that moment, Ben remembered being that age and screwing up. Archie was so small. So vulnerable. Instinctively Ben knew that Jack wouldn’t harm the kid, but anger was not appropriate here. Understanding was. Ben moved between father and son. “It’s okay. It can be fixed.”
“Archie needs to understand that he can’t do this kind of thing.”
Ben looked down at the little boy. “I think you already know that, don’t you, sport?”
Archie nodded vigorously.
“So, tell you what. You and I will get some alcohol and we’ll clean this off, okay?”
Archie nodded again, his eyes wide.
Sarah approached. “I’ll help.” She crouched down next to her grandson. “I know you were only trying to decorate it.”
His voice was a faint whisper. “I was, Grandma.”
Sarah glanced up at Ben. “Thank you for understanding. He’s learning.”
“Yeah, I know.” Ben’s throat felt tight. And he knew something else. He’d been tested just now, and he’d passed with flying colors. He was not like his father.
Someone touched his arm and he turned to see Molly standing there, that same look of wonder in her eyes.
“Could I—” She cleared her throat. “Could I talk to you for a moment?”
“Sure.”
Taking his hand, she led him out of the room and down the hallway into the large dining room, which was empty. Light spilled in from the busy kitchen, but the room was still mostly in shadow.
Molly took his other hand and faced him. “I love you.”
His world tilted.
“You put your heart and soul into that saddle, and Archie messed with it. If you were ever going to become a bully like your father, you would have done it then.”
“I know.” And suddenly it was all so easy. “I’ll move to Arizona. I’m sure there are people there who need custom saddles. As for Calamity Sam, I’ll—”
“You’ll buy him and stay right here in Wyoming.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I can’t ask you to leave your family.”
“You’re not asking me to. I’m offering. My folks have a great ranch that they’ll pass on to my brothers. Sure, they’d give me a share, but when you and I started tossing around names for your ranch, I realized that I want to be part of something that I’ve helped build, something that hasn’t existed before. I want us to be like Archie and Nelsie, creating a life from the ground up.”
Joy threatened to turn his brain to mush, but he forced himself to ask the necessary questions. “What about your job?”
She shrugged. “You have a college in Sheridan. I’ll apply to teach there, or get licensed for public school. I don’t see that as a problem.” She hesitated. “But I’ve done most of the talking. Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions. Maybe you don’t—”
“Of course I love you.” His heart thudded wildly. “I’m crazy about you.”
Even in the darkness, her smile was dazzling.
“Excellent.” She lifted her mouth to his. “You and I are going to make history.”
As he kissed her, he had no doubt of that. Molly Gallagher, source of all things wonderful, would see to it.
Epilogue
CADE GALLAGHER HAD called home every Christmas Eve since he’d left Thunder Mountain Ranch, but he felt an unexplained urgency this year. Maybe it had to do with being several hundred miles away in Colorado and sitting in an empty bunkhouse. All the other hands had gone into town, but he’d chosen to stay here and make this special call. He missed Rosie and Herb Padgett, the people he’d come to call Mom and Dad.
He also missed Lexi, but that was nothing new. Missing her was a constant nagging ache that hadn’t gone away even after five years. She was the reason he hadn’t felt comfortable going back to Sheridan in all this time. Because her parents were good friends with the Padgetts, she’d spent plenty of time at Thunder Mountain Ranch. Still did, judging from stray remarks during phone conversations with Rosie.
He called the ranch’s land line. Cade liked picturing Rosie answering in the kitchen while stirring her famous vegetable stew—a Christmas Eve tradition at Thunder Mountain. When all the boys had lived there, she’d made a huge vat of it. Now that it was just her and Herb, she probably made a smaller batch.
“Cade!” She always sounded as if his call was the best thing that had happened to her all day. “I just talked to Finn a minute ago!”
“Yeah? How’s he doing?” Cade didn’t know how many of the boys called home this time of year, but he, Finn and Damon were faithful about it. They’d been the first three to come to the ranch and their loyalty ran deep.
Homeless preteens within months of each other in age, they’d been desperate to establish an identity. They’d heard about a Native American blood-brother ceremony and had enacted it with typical adolescent drama. They’d named themselves the Thunder Mountain Brotherhood. They still kept in touch, but not as much as they should. Cade often got his news about Finn and Damon from Rosie.
“His microbrewery is keeping him busy, that’s for sure. Seattle is a great town for it, apparently. But his divorce became final last month.”
“Sorry to hear that. I’ll give him a call. How about Damon? Have you heard from him yet?”
“Not yet, but I’m sure I will. He never misses. But you know him, probably out on the town with some woman he met last week. None of them last long, though.”
“Nope.” Unlike Cade and Finn, Damon had never fallen hard for anyone. Cade didn’t ask about Lexi. That would make Rosie think he was still interested. He was, but it was complicated. “So, you and Dad are doing okay?”
“Couldn’t be better. Retirement suits us both. Listen, before I forget, someone called a few days ago. She’s working on her family’s genealogy chart and asked if I knew a Cade Marlowe. Of course I said I didn’t.”
A shiver ran down his spine. “If she’s from the Marlowe side, I want nothing to do with her.”
“Her name is Molly Gallagher, so she could be related to your mother, but don’t worry. I didn’t give her any information. She thinks she hit a dead end.”
“Just as well. I have all the family I need.”
“And I love you, too.” There was a definite smile in her voice. “But I took her number in case you decide to call and find out if you’re related in some way. For what it’s worth, she seemed like a nice person.”
“I’ll think about it.” He searched the empty bunkhouse for a piece of scratch paper and finally pulled an envelope out of the trash. “What’s her number?” As Rosie read it off, he scribbled it down.
He had no intention of calling now. He doubted that he’d ever call. If his mother hadn’t seen fit to contact her family, then why should he? But maybe he’d change his mind in the future, so he tucked the envelope in the cubby where he kept his stuff.
“Lexi’s doing fine.” Rosie tossed it out exactly as someone might throw a bread chunk to a bird.
He approached cautiously and took a nibble. “Good. What’s she up to these days?”
“Teaches riding. She’s talented in that area. She was dating some guy but they broke up.”
And damned if that didn’t make his Christmas Eve a little bit brighter.<
br />
“Should I tell her you said hello?”
“Better not.”
Rosie sighed. “Cade, I wish you’d come home, just for a weekend, and talk to her. I can’t help thinking that both of you are pining away and are too bull-headed to admit it.”
“I’ll think about that, too. Merry Christmas, Mom.”
“Merry Christmas, Cade. I love you.”
“Love you, too. Give my love to Dad.” He sat on his bunk long after he’d hung up. He wondered what Lexi was doing.
At least he didn’t have to worry about her being with somebody else tonight. When Lexi broke up with somebody, she took her time about dating again. From what he’d heard, she’d waited a year after their split.
He’d waited a hell of a lot longer than that. Finally he’d eased back into the game, but he hadn’t found anyone like Lexi. He had a bad feeling he never would.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from BRING ME TO LIFE by Kira Sinclair
Ten years ago one devastating night changed everything for Austin, Hunter and Alex. Now they must each play their part in the revenge against the one man who ruined it all.
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