A Texas Ranger's Christmas

by Rebecca Winters

  So do I.

  Caige manifested the same symptoms as his son. If he couldn’t have Blaire, he didn’t want anyone else. Until it was proven otherwise to him, he would go with his own gut instinct that the neuropsychologist had nailed the problem.

  “I owe you thanks more than you know, Dr. Sweeney.”

  “You’re welcome. Let me hear from you about the results.”

  “I will.”

  The second he got off the phone, he checked his watch. It was almost two in the afternoon. Blaire could be anywhere, doing anything. But Josh’s life, Caige’s life, depended on finding her.

  BLAIRE HAD ALREADY BOUGHT all her gifts, but her dad had asked her to go with him while he finished up some last-minute Christmas shopping. It was an excuse to get her out of the house because he knew she was missing Caige so badly, she was dying.

  While they were in the car, her cell phone rang for the third time. She was terrified to look at the caller ID. Every time her ring tone had gone off, she’d suffered a heart attack because it wasn’t Caige. She didn’t know if she could go through that again.

  Over the past few days she’d had several dozen calls from old friends and coworkers who’d heard the breaking news about Nate’s arrest and wanted to lend their support. Perry and Marty were particularly sweet to her. It was all over the local media how Texas Ranger Caige Dawson had cracked two cold cases that had eluded law enforcement for the past five years.

  “Aren’t you going to answer it?” her father asked as he pulled in the driveway.

  “I’ll call them back.” Her phone was in her purse.

  “It might be important.”

  “You mean it might be Caige.” She shook her head. “I don’t think so. He made it clear he was going home for Christmas to be with family. One of these days I’ll hear from him, probably sometime in January after he’s settled there with Josh. It will be in the form of a touchbase kind of call. His way of wrapping up the case for good.”

  Before they could open their car doors, it rang again. Her father shot her a speaking glance, then got out to get some gifts and groceries from the trunk. With a moan, she reached in her purse for the phone to retrieve the latest message. It was Caige’s deep voice.

  Blaire? Please call when you can. This is extremely important.

  No preamble, no chitchat asking how she was. He sounded more distraught than she’d ever heard him. Frantic even. After checking the messages, she realized all three calls had been from him.

  She phoned him immediately, praying for him to answer straightaway.

  “Thank heaven it’s you—” he blurted after the first ring. “Can you come to Naylor right now? Bring some clothes for overnight. Josh isn’t dying, but there is something wrong with him. I need your help.”

  Blaire could hardly breathe. “I’ll leave in five minutes. Where are you?”

  “At my parents’ home. This is the address.” He gave her directions.

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  The next few minutes were a blur as she ran into the house to inform her parents of the emergency. They helped her gather the few things she’d need and brought the presents she’d bought for Caige and Josh to her car. After they hugged, she promised to call them as soon as she had news, then took off for Naylor.

  While she drove the sixty miles, her mind relived every moment of her life since Jack Lignell had helped her get up after her jump from that oak tree. He’d not only given her life back to her, he’d transformed her world. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for him.

  His parents’ two-story ranch house sat back a mile from the main street. The straight dirt road leading in was lined with fencing. She spotted Nate’s red Toyota parked alongside some cars and a couple of pickup trucks to the side of the house.

  Two people about the ages of her parents came out to greet her and introduce themselves. She could see where Caige got his attractive looks. His parents wore anxious faces.

  “Our son is in the front room with Josh. Go on in. We’ll bring your things.”

  The fact that Caige hadn’t come outside himself spoke volumes.

  “Thank you.”

  Blaire hurried on in, not knowing what to expect. She found Caige sitting on the couch with Josh in his arms. Both were dressed in plaid shirts and jeans. The boy had buried his dark head against his father’s shoulder, as if he didn’t want to look at anything. What a sad irony when there was a beautiful Christmas tree dominating the living room. Caige’s mother had made the place a fairyland.

  When Blaire drew closer, Caige lifted his head. She saw several emotions stirring in those gray eyes staring back at her. Part pain and part something else that took her breath away.

  “Thank you for coming,” he whispered.

  She clamped down hard not to let her feelings spill out in a gush. “I wouldn’t be anyplace else, would I, Josh?” On instinct, she sat down next to them and leaned over to kiss Josh’s cheek. She saw moisture on his lashes.

  “Hi, sweetheart,” she said with a broken heart. “It’s Blaire. I’ve missed you.” She inserted two fingers into the curled hand pressed against Caige’s chest.

  No response. Caige had been right. Josh was a different child from a few days ago. He’d shut out the world. If she were Caige, she’d be terrified.

  After easing her fingers away, she got up and went over to the tree where his parents had put her gifts. She undid the package containing a squirrel. It had the cutest face and eyes, and it was the softest stuffed animal she could find. Blaire knew he loved his old blue bunny, but maybe he’d welcome a new pet.

  She moved toward them once more. Bending over, she tickled Josh’s chin with the squirrel’s tail. “This is Bushy.” She rubbed it back and forth along his jawline, teasing his lips and nose in the process. His darling face was a replica of his handsome father’s. “Doesn’t he feel good?”

  Josh buried himself deeper against his father.

  Caige’s haunted expression devastated her. She couldn’t bear that the progress she’d made with Josh might be gone for good. He hadn’t been like this before. Blaire remembered Caige telling her that every time he dropped his son off at school, Josh didn’t want to go in, and he clung to his daddy. But he finally went in because he liked his teacher and remembered her.

  This was different. He didn’t know Blaire. She didn’t want to believe any memory of her was gone. Sick with disappointment and desperate to make a connection, she did the only other thing that came instinctively and started to sing.

  “Hi ho, hi ho—” she nudged his hand with the squirrel in time with the words “—it’s off to work we go. Tra la la la la, tra la la la lo, hi ho, hi ho.” She ended by poking his tummy gently with the squirrel’s head.

  Miraculously, he stirred and squeezed the tail with his free hand. She sang the song again, moving the squirrel clutched in his fingers in rhythm with the music. After several more renditions, his blue eyes looked at her and he smiled.

  “Well, hi, big boy. I think you’re awake.” This time when she leaned down to kiss him, he gave three kisses back and kept tugging at her hand to play.

  As they did a tug-of-war with the squirrel, Caige cupped the back of her head and pulled her close to him. A look of love radiated from his eyes, shining with such a luminescence it couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. She felt it overflowing inside her before he kissed her fully on the mouth in front of his parents and half a dozen other family members who’d sneaked into the room. But she was too much in love to be embarrassed.

  His uninhibited kiss was telling her so many things, she would have expired on the spot if it weren’t for Josh, who was demanding attention from both of them.

  “Later, darling,” she whispered against Caige’s hungry lips before she got to her feet on unsteady legs.

  Reaching for his son’s hand, she led him over to the tree and sat down. He promptly sat next to her with the squirrel in one hand, his other one hugging her arm while she opened a
nother present for him.

  Caige joined them on the floor and kept giving her kisses on the neck and lips while his son sat enraptured with a new toy.

  She handed the man she worshipped one of his presents, but he was too busy smothering her with kisses to open it. She did it for him and pulled it out of the tissue. There was an inscription on the trophy: Caige Dawson—World’s Greatest Father.

  “Blaire—” After examining it, he kissed her as if there was no tomorrow. This was joy to the world a hundredfold.

  WHEN CAIGE STAYED WITH HIS folks, his son had to sleep in the same room with him or it didn’t work, so there were two beds. Josh always needed a night-light.

  Tonight Josh had been so wired, Caige hadn’t put him down until after ten. He lay on one side of his son with Blaire on the other. It was very cozy on the twin bed. The more they were wedged together, the better Josh liked it. Once his head rested on the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep with the bunny and the squirrel clutched to him for dear life. In fact, they all slept for a while because of emotional exhaustion.

  When Caige woke up again, he discovered Blaire studying him. He reached for her hand across Josh’s body. In a minute the two of them would move to the king-size bed where Caige would like the arrangement even better.

  “After I phoned you, I had to wait for you to call back. It gave me an inkling of how Commander Travis must have felt at the Battle of the Alamo when he called on the people of Texas to come to his aid. Unlike the tragedy that befell him and all those men, I saw my relief walk in the living room earlier today and knew I’d been saved.”

  “I’d been waiting for your call for days,” she admitted. “If I’d had my way, I would have gone back to your house after we flew home from San Diego. This could have been avoided, but I understand the reasons why you made that decision. In a way, I’m not sorry about it because I had proof a little while ago that Josh really missed me. That’s a very important thing to know if you’re still going to let me be his caretaker.”

  He raised up. “We’ve got a lot of talking to do. Let’s go over on my bed.”

  Her womanly smile seduced him. “Do you really think we’ll get much of that done there?”

  Caige stood up, careful not to disturb his son. “I don’t know. Let’s find out.” He walked around the bed. After drawing her to her feet, he picked her up and carried her to the other bed. Once he’d laid her down, he didn’t kiss her right away.

  His avid gaze ate up her gorgeous features. “Do you know what time it is?”

  “I haven’t any idea, and I don’t care,” came her breathless answer.

  “Ten after one. Merry Christmas, my love.”

  “Christmas? Oh, darling—”

  “You called me darling. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to hear those words from you?”

  “Caige!” Her burst of exultation thrilled him. “You know I’m so in love with you, it’s pathetic. After you left me at my parents, I was afraid I might never hear from you again.”

  He trailed kisses everywhere. “I was only trying to give you time.”

  “After five years, I didn’t need any. I fell in love with you during our ride to the lab. Can’t you tell I adore everything about you, including your son? The love you have for him, those pictures of him, it all tugged on my heartstrings.” Her smile enchanted him. “I haven’t been the same since.”

  He smoothed the hair from her temples. “You are going to marry me then?”

  “For a brilliant Texas Ranger, that’s probably the only unnecessary question you ever asked me.”

  “I still require an answer.”

  “Oh, you do, do you?” she teased. Soon they were tangled in each other’s arms and she began kissing him with almost primitive hunger. This was better than any dream. A long time later she said, “I want to be married to you in every way possible. There’s only one thing about you that’s got me worried.”

  His dark brows furrowed, he lifted his mouth from hers. “What is it?”

  “Are you really going to quit the Rangers?”

  “I plan to do whatever it takes to make our marriage work.”

  She traced the lines of his mouth with her index finger. “You mean it?”

  “Blaire, how could you even ask me that?”

  “Then tell me the name of the person who’s causing you to consider quitting. It couldn’t be me because I didn’t ask you to give it up. Josh didn’t, either.”

  His thoughts reeled. “I’m doing it so I can be a better husband and father.”

  “How would doing that make you any better than you are? You already won the world’s greatest father award.”

  “Be serious, darling,” he begged.

  “I’ve never been more serious in my life. Hold on. I’ll be right back.”

  In the semidark, he watched Blaire roll away from him and hurry out of the bedroom. He never knew what she was going to do next. That’s why he was so crazy in love with her.

  She came back in under a minute with two gifts pressed to her chest. He watched in full-on curiosity as she opened one of them. In the box was another trophy. Blaire handed it to him. “Go ahead and read what it says.”

  He saw the writing: Ranger Caige Dawson—World’s Greatest Texas Ranger.

  “Here’s one more present.” She handed it to him. “You have to open this one yourself.”

  His throat had started to swell. He sat up and undid the wrapping. Inside the box was a smaller trophy.

  “Read it out loud.”

  His eyelids prickled when he saw the words. “Josh Dawson—World’s Greatest Junior Texas Ranger.”

  “Now, tell me, my love—how can Josh be a Junior Texas Ranger if his daddy quits? You’re already famous, but I’d say thirty more years in the department will give you legendary status. Did I ever tell you I love the idea of being married to a legend? How about giving us another baby while you’re at it? Someone who’ll be as sweet and wonderful as Josh.”

  She was making him so happy it was scary.

  “If you want to move here to be near your family, that’s totally fine with me. But it’ll be a longer commute to headquarters every day. I don’t care where we live as long as you come home to me and Josh whenever you can.

  “We know that doing Ranger work demands a lot from a good man, but someone has to do it, right? You’re the best good man in Texas. I have the newspaper headlines from the other day to prove it. So…if you want to see a really big tantrum from me, try quitting.”

  Caige locked her in his arms, breathless with wanting her. “Have you finished?”

  “I think so.”

  He burst into laughter. “You only think?”

  “Well, I always like to leave a little wiggle room.”

  “In that case, let’s talk about what’s going to make you happy.”

  “That’s the second most unnecessary question you ever asked me.”

  “Don’t tease me about this, Blaire.”

  “I’m not. I’m planning to start playing the piano again. When Josh is at school, I’ll practice. Another joy I haven’t been able to indulge in is gardening. He’ll love helping me. You have a big yard. Perfect for what I’d like to do if you decide we’re going to stay in Austin. Who knows? I might establish a nursery one day. The point is, you’ll do your thing, I’ll do mine and we’ll make our dreams come true. What do you say?”

  He took another long, deep kiss from her luscious mouth. “Maybe now is the time to bring up the subject of your Christmas present. Since it’s settled that we’re not leaving Austin, after all, I thought we’d find us some property and build ourselves a new house. But we’ll go into the details another time because I have something else much more important on my mind.”

  Her cry of happiness reverberated in the bedroom.

  Just as he thought the talking was over and the business of more fundamental communication was beginning, Josh showed up at the side of his bed clutching his pets.

  “Well, hi, buddy.
”

  “Oh—I woke you up, didn’t I, sweetheart? Come here.”

  Caige chuckled as she helped his son climb on next to them. He kissed both of them.

  “Welcome to my world, darling.”

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-1601-3

  A TEXAS RANGER’S CHRISTMAS

  Copyright © 2011 by Rebecca Winters

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven