Her Christmas Family Wish

by Lois Richer

  Wyatt nodded. “I used to be a workaholic, but after Taryn died, I vowed I’d always put Cade first.” Self-conscious about revealing that, Wyatt kept his head bent as he cleaned his boots on the grass.

  “A good thing for all fathers to remember,” Tanner agreed. “But doing your job isn’t ignoring Cade. He’s not suffering. He’s probably still sleeping, in fact. And he’s got an amazing caregiver in Ellie. She’s really fantastic with kids. She used to have lists of people begging to get their kids into her day care.”

  “It was nice of her to watch him for me.” So Ellie had run a day care. Was that how she’d known Cade was going to be sick that day in the store? “I thought she was a nurse.”

  “She is. But when Gracie was born, Ellie wanted to stay home with her. So she set up a day care in her house.” Tanner made a face. “Believe me, there were a lot of unhappy folks last August when she closed down Fiddlesticks—that was the name of her day care.”

  “If it was successful, why would she do that?” He had no business asking anything about Wranglers’ nurse, but Wyatt was curious.

  “Gracie was ready for school. Ellie figured it was a good time to get back to nursing.” He grinned. “Sophie and I have been blessed having her here at Wranglers. The kids just adore her. Cade will, too. You’ll see.”

  Privately Wyatt doubted his son would be around Ellie Grant enough to get to that stage, but he simply nodded and kept his opinions to himself, anxious to see how his son had fared.

  “He’s still asleep,” Ellie said meeting them at the patio door. “I’ve just made some coffee and put a tray out here. Want some?”

  “Sounds good. I see Sophie’s car. I’ll just go see if she needs help,” Tanner said. “You two go ahead.”

  Somewhat self-consciously Wyatt followed Ellie to the table under a lacy mesquite tree where she’d set a plate of cookies, a carafe and three mugs. Cade lay nearby in the shade in a makeshift bed in an old washtub, eyes closed, breathing deeply.

  “He’s still sleeping.” Wyatt was somewhat surprised to realize two hours had passed.

  “Of course.” Ellie smiled, her eyes lighting up as she glanced at the little boy. “He wore himself out yelling, I guess. Gracie used to do that. Drove me bonkers sometimes. She’d get so tired out that she couldn’t seem to relax and let sleep come. I was usually so exhausted that when she finally crashed I did, too.”

  “Except when you had to open your day care,” he added. “Tanner said you had a long client list.”

  “I did. It was fun if exhausting. I was ready for a change. Especially after—” She checked herself as a fleeting frown washed over her face, then regrouped and shrugged. “I was pretty nervous about letting Gracie start school.”

  “Why?” He sipped the coffee she’d poured.

  “Until then I’d been in total control of Gracie’s world.” Her lips tilted in a wry smile. “The thought of allowing someone else to take over and not be there to see she was all right caused me some sleepless nights.”

  “So how did you handle it?” he asked.

  “With Sophie’s help.” Ellie grinned. “I’d consulted her about some catering, she led me to the Lord, and she’s been mentoring me ever since. She suggested I needed to start trusting that God cares as much and even more about Gracie than I do, so now I’m trying to trust Him. Since I’m a control freak where Gracie’s concerned it’s not easy, but I’m learning.”

  “Was Sophie catering something for your day care?” he asked as he selected one of Sophie’s homemade cookies from the plate Ellie held out.

  “Uh, no.” Ellie hesitated. To Wyatt she looked sort of embarrassed. “Something personal, but it turned out that I didn’t need her services after all.” Her diffidence surprised him.

  “She sure has a good reputation as a caterer. Well deserved, judging by these cookies.” He savored the lemon flavor. “I’ve heard about her success all over Tucson.” Wyatt glanced around. “Just like I’ve heard about Tanner’s success with this place.”

  “Sophie’s amazing, and Wranglers Ranch is a fantastic ministry. I am so happy to be part of it,” Ellie enthused. “And Gracie loves school, so God took care of that worry, too.” She studied him, her head tilted to one side. “How do you manage work and Cade?”

  “Mostly I don’t,” Wyatt admitted. “My wife died about a year ago. Since then work has come a distant second.”

  “I’m sure.” She touched his hand fleetingly. “I’m sorry, Wyatt.”

  “Thanks. Anyway, I’m Cade’s only parent now, so I’ve been trying to be sure I’m there when he needs me.” He made a face. “Only thing is, toddlers don’t have much downtime. And that makes it hard to build up my veterinarian practice.”

  “And you must do that—build it up?” Ellie’s eyebrows lifted as she waited.

  “Yes. It’s very important to me.” He wasn’t going to tell her why, though he could see the question lurking in her eyes. “But it’s difficult. Just yesterday I agreed to be at a client’s place in the morning, but then Cade bumped his head on the coffee table. After that he wouldn’t settle down, so I had to cancel.” He made a face. “Doesn’t make for a good working relationship with your clients or help your reputation when you have to withdraw from a call.”

  “No, I don’t suppose it does.” Ellie frowned. “Couldn’t you hire a caregiver to come in?”

  “I do sometimes,” he said, feeling defensive. “But she wasn’t available yesterday morning when I called.”

  “I can see that would be a problem. What about scheduling specific work hours? You could hire a caregiver from, say, eight to noon. While they watched Cade you could work, knowing you’d be available for him later.”

  “Actually I did try that once when Cade was younger. It didn’t work.” Wyatt reconsidered. “Maybe it’s time to try it again. Thanks.” The agency would be relieved if he had regular hours to offer their nannies instead of always calling at the last minute.

  “Now, since I’ve helped you, would you be willing to help me out?” she asked with a cheeky grin.

  “Uh, with what?” he asked. Depending on what she wanted, he might have to refuse her. He wasn’t getting involved.

  “I had this idea that Wranglers should sponsor a Thanksgiving Day dinner for kids who don’t have any place to go.” Ellie huffed out a sigh that lifted the spiky bangs across her forehead. “Of course Sophie will do the food, but she and Tanner asked me to set up some kind of decorations and, well…” She made a face. “I’m not exactly artistic. The most art I’ve ever done is kids’ crafts at my day care.”

  “Why not go with that?” Wyatt shrugged. “Wranglers is a kids’ camp, after all.”

  “How exactly would that work?” Ellie stared at him as if he had all the answers.

  And that was so far from the truth that Wyatt wanted to laugh. He had the answers to exactly nothing in his own life. How could he possibly help anyone else?

  “Come on, tell me what you were thinking,” she pressed.

  He tried to vocalize the vision that had fluttered inside his head. “I guess I always associate Thanksgiving with harvest, you know, a time to count your blessings like the Pilgrims did. So maybe bales of hay scattered around, a few pumpkins on top, a sheaf of wheat if you could find anyone to make it—that kind of thing.”

  “Sounds good,” she said with a nod. “And easy. Sophie wants to have an evening meal outside so we’d need lights of some kind. I’d thought candles on the tables, but I suspect that’s out because of the fire risk.”

  “There are lots of solar lanterns available. Or battery lights. You could even put some inside hollowed-out gourds and set those inside tipped-over bushel baskets. I’ve seen that done before.” Wyatt felt silly throwing out these ideas about decorating, especially given the state of his ramshackle ranch. “Or you could string some lights in the trees. Maybe even leave them up for Christmas?”

  “I love lights at Christmas.” Ellie’s eyes sparkled, her excitement obvious. “So, wi
ll you help me do it?”

  “Uh, no. I mean, I can’t. I, er, I’m busy with Cade,” he stammered. Though he liked Ellie’s enthusiasm, admired the way she threw herself into things, he pulled out the excuse he always used to escape involvement. He wasn’t ever getting involved again anyway, so it was better to maintain his distance.

  “Cade can sleep here while we work, as well as he can sleep at home.” As Ellie called him out her face got a shrewd look. “In exchange for helping me with the decorating I could babysit for you once or twice. Gracie would love that.”

  This man would make a good daddy for us, Mommy.

  Gracie’s words reverberated in his head, and he knew he had to get out of this arrangement.

  “I appreciate the offer, Ellie, but I don’t think it would work.” he said quickly and swallowed his coffee in a gulp. “I’d better get going. I’ve got chores to do at my ranch.”

  “You have a ranch?” Ellie’s face had lost some of its excitement as she rose gracefully and walked with him toward Cade.

  “It hardly deserves the term ranch, but I’m working on improving that,” Wyatt told her, then grinned. “In my spare time.”

  Ellie smiled back before glancing at Cade. “He’ll probably wake soon.”

  “Which is why I need to get home. He always wakes up hungry.” Wyatt gently scooped the sleeping boy into his arms, relishing the baby powder smell of his son and the warm weight of him against his chest. “Thank you, Ellie. I appreciate all your help.”

  “You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.” She brushed one fingertip against Cade’s cheek. “Bye, sweetie. I hope I see you again soon. You, too,” she added, glancing at Wyatt.

  He made a noncommittal response, feeling her gaze on him as he hurried to his truck. Funny how much he wanted to stay and enjoy her company. Ellie’s warm personality, quick laughter and generous nature chased away the gloom and cares that had weighed him down for so long. Talking to Tanner and then sharing coffee with Ellie had, for a little while, brought Wyatt back into the adult world, a place where he didn’t feel quite so incompetent.

  As he drove home, Wyatt decided that today’s excursion proved that both he and Cade could benefit from more time among others. Right now he only had that on Sunday mornings when he took his son to church. But keeping an eighteen-month-old toddler amused and happy didn’t allow much opportunity for Wyatt to hear the sermon, let alone interact with adults later. But at least the Sunday morning outing gave them both a break from their routine.

  Maybe Ellie was right. Maybe there was a way Wyatt could manage to get more work done. After all, Cade slept in the afternoons. It was unlikely he’d know if his daddy was there or not, but even if he did, wouldn’t Cade benefit from contact with more people? People like Ellie? Wyatt grinned. He had a hunch there wasn’t anyone else quite like Ellie.

  Wyatt pulled into his yard and carried a wakening Cade into the house, mindful that he was thinking an awful lot about Ellie Grant. Just as well he’d refused to help her with that Thanksgiving thing at Wranglers.

  He admired her plucky spirit and generous outlook. But no way could he allow admiration to turn into anything else. Wyatt would not allow a relationship to grow between them. He failed at relationships. Failed his father and failed Taryn.

  What he could not do was fail Cade.

  *

  The following day, after she’d finished work at Wranglers, Ellie bundled Gracie in the car and drove to Wyatt’s ranch. All day she’d vacillated between compunction about invading his personal space when he’d made it clear he wanted nothing more to do with her and a silly female yen to hold Cade again.

  Okay, and to see his good-looking father. It had been so nice to just talk to a male friend yesterday, one who wasn’t her boss. She hadn’t had that since Eddie had been part of her life.

  “Hey, cut that out. Wyatt’s a nice guy, but he’s nothing to you,” she reminded herself.

  “What did you say, Mommy?” Gracie poked her head out from the book she’d been trying to read. A book about daddies, of course.

  “Oh, just talking to myself, honey.” Ellie gave herself a stern, though silent lecture about controlling her interest in the vet. Since the day they’d met Wyatt in the grocery store she’d repeatedly told her daughter that he could not be her father.

  Well, neither can he be anyone special to you, Ellie Grant. But still, here you are driving onto his ranch on the faintest of pretexts…

  “Is this where my new daddy lives?”

  Her heart sinking, Ellie began, “Gracie, I’ve told you—”

  “Look! Dogs, Mommy. Lots and lots of dogs.” If there was one thing Gracie wanted almost as badly as she wanted a daddy, it was a dog. She clapped her hands in delight as Ellie parked near the house and several animals swarmed around the car, yapping excitedly.

  “Don’t open your door,” she cautioned her daughter. “They might not be friendly. Wait.”

  When no one appeared, she tapped the horn. A moment later Wyatt poked his head around the corner of a dilapidated structure that might once have been a barn. He waved, disappeared for a moment, then began walking slowly toward them with Cade clinging to one hand, toddling along. As they came nearer, he gathered up the boy and shooed most of the dogs into a pen before shoving in a wooden stick to hold the loosened gate closed. But he left an adult German shepherd and a small puppy out. The shepherd went to lie down under a tree, but the puppy followed on Wyatt’s heels to Ellie’s car.

  “Hey,” he said when she rolled down her window. A question feathered across his face, but all he said was, “Welcome.”

  “Thanks.” Seeing Gracie already had the door open and was exiting the car, Ellie followed her. “I’m sure you’re busy, so I won’t hold you up.”

  “No, it’s good you came. I didn’t realize the dogs had gotten out of the pen. That Irish setter is like a Houdini at escaping.” He shook his head ruefully. “It’s a good thing they’re wearing collars for the electric fence.”

  “I think Gracie’s already in love with this little one.” Ellie smiled as a whirl of brown puppy raced circles around the little girl’s sneakers, to her delight.

  “Puppies. Their energy makes me feel old.” Wyatt shook his head as the dog continued chasing his tail. “I was about to take a break. Want to join me for coffee?” He shifted Cade, who was sniffing and crying, to his other hip.

  “Thank you. Oh, and I’m returning this.” She lifted Cade’s newly laundered blanket from the rear seat and held it out. “You left it behind yesterday.”

  He took the blanket, then shot her a confused look. “He has more than one blanket, Ellie. You didn’t have to make a special trip. But thank you.”

  “I thought it might be his special blankie. Gracie would bawl for hours whenever hers went missing.” Cade yelped and held out his arms to Ellie, jerking to be free of his father’s hold. “He remembers me,” she said with a chuckle, inordinately pleased. “May I take him?”

  “Sure.” Wyatt handed over his son, then led the way into his adobe ranch house.

  “I see he’s got a cold,” she said. “They’re the worst in little kids, aren’t they?”

  “Nope. They’re the worst for adults. He was up most of last night with a fever.” Wyatt shook his head. “He can’t seem to settle much, poor little guy.” He touched Cade’s forehead. “Still cool.”

  “That’s what we want. You have a lovely home.” Ellie glanced around, trying not to appear too nosey but surprised at how show-homey it was beginning to look, even though parts were under construction. “The light is spectacular in here.”

  And everything is so perfectly planned, as if a professional designed this open concept layout.

  “Thanks. One of the ladies from church asked to sit Cade last week. That’s when I installed those French doors. They make a big difference.”

  Wyatt tossed his Stetson on a peg by the door, set the coffee brewer going, then glanced at Gracie who had flopped down on the floor and was cuddlin
g the puppy she’d carried inside. “That’s Mr. Fudge.” He hunkered down beside her to scratch the dog’s ears. “He’s a chocolate lab.”

  “I like chocolate lots,” Gracie told him. “But I really love dogs, ’specially baby dogs.” She bent her head so her face was snuggled against Mr. Fudge’s fur. “Mommy, can I have Mr. Fudge for my birthday?”

  Ellie blushed as she remembered Gracie’s request for a certain birthday gift of a daddy. But as she sat with Cade perched on her knee, her attention was diverted when the boy grabbed her beaded necklace and began chattering to himself in an unknown language. It felt so good to hold him, as right as it had yesterday.

  Ellie knew that somehow she would have to rid herself of the yearning to cuddle another baby just as she needed to shed her lifelong dream to cherish a big family. Because it wasn’t going to happen. So she tightened her grip on the little boy, determined to enjoy it while she could.

  “Can I have this dog, Mommy?” Gracie pleaded. She lifted the squirming bundle in her arms and struggled to her feet, carrying the dog so Ellie could have a closer inspection. “See? Isn’t he sweet?”

  “He’s very sweet, honey.” Ellie touched her fingertips to the dog’s ear, marveling at the silky skin. Aware of Wyatt’s scrutiny she shook her head. “But I’m sorry, we can’t get a dog. They don’t allow them in the city complex where we live.”

  It was so hard to refuse her sweet daughter something as simple as a puppy. At Gracie’s age Ellie’s parents had given her a puppy of her own to cherish. If only…

  Thankfully Wyatt intervened.

  “I’m sorry, Gracie, but Mr. Fudge belongs to someone else. He’s just here for a visit.” He touched her bright head as he smiled. “His owners are coming to get him tomorrow morning.”

  “Well, I’m gonna pray we have to move into a new house so I can get a dog just like Mr. Fudge,” Gracie announced. After shooting a stubborn look at Ellie she flopped down onto the floor and continued to play with the pup.

  “Here, let me put Cade in his high chair.” Wyatt scooped the little boy who’d begun to fuss from her arms.