Mistletoe Mayhem: Clean Historical Western Cowboy Romance Novel (Dawson Chronicles Book 1)

by Linda Bridey

  “Since I’m a mayor, my word carries a little more weight than some other fellas’ does. But everyone has to do their part, including doing things that we normally wouldn’t do. Like getting married so young and making a show of being willing to go fight for our country,” Joe said.

  Joey’s heart throbbed with apprehension, but he would do his duty. “If that comes to pass, of course I’ll go.” He looked at Snow Song. “Can we have a few minutes to ourselves, please?” he asked the others.

  Raven sighed. “Yes. Perhaps that would be best.”

  Once they were alone, Joey took Snow Song’s hands. “I love you so much and I’ll do anything to protect you. They’re right. We should get married. Not only because of what they said, but mostly because we love each other.”

  Snow Song said, “This is all so sudden and not how I ever imagined getting engaged.” She steeled herself and looked into his eyes. “But, I agree. If—”

  He put a finger over her lips before dropping down onto both knees. “When I was fourteen, I fell half in love with you. I thought you were the most beautiful, brave, smart girl and I think so even more now. I never thought anything would come of it, though.

  “But when you told me that you felt the same way about me, I fell the rest of the way in love with you. I know that we’re young and I know that people think I’m just like my father, and in a lot of ways, I am, but not when it comes to you. Since you kissed me in the barn that day, there’s been no one else I wanted and I know that I never will. You’re the woman I love and you will be until I die. Snow Song Dwyer, will you marry me?”

  Usually his eyes shone with devilish good humor, but at that moment they reflected utter sincerity and his expression was completely serious. How could she refuse him when he was looking at her with such love? Her heart swelled and she didn’t want to refuse him.

  “Yes, Joey, I’ll marry you,” she said, smiling.

  His posture deflated with relief; he’d been holding his breath while he’d anxiously awaited her answer. “Oh, thank God!” He fished around in his pocket until he found what he was looking for. “This wasn’t meant to be an engagement ring, but I’m improvising, so bear with me. I was gonna give it to you for Christmas, but I guess Christmas came early.”

  The ring sparkled brilliantly in the lamp light. She would recognize that sparkle anywhere. Although there was no stone setting, the gold-backed solid band of quartz shone so brightly on its own that it didn’t need any.

  He slipped it on her finger and they kissed until they were breathless. They slowly parted, smiling into each other’s eyes.

  “Does that mean you like the ring?” he asked.

  Snow Song laughed. “Yes, I love it.”

  Joey kissed her again and got up off his knees. “I guess we’d better let the folks know, huh?”

  She nodded. “Yes, we should.”

  No sooner had their parents reentered the house than Joey said, “She said yes. We’re gettin’ married.”

  All four parents gaped at the couple, who hugged each other happily.

  Lacey asked, “Is that why you wanted us to leave?”

  “Yeah. I was nervous enough as it was. I couldn’t do it with you all in the room,” Joey said.

  Snow Song held out her hand so they could see the ring. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

  Zoe smiled. “Is that quartz?”

  “Yes. It was supposed to be a Christmas present,” she said.

  “It’s lovely, Joey. You couldn’t have picked a prettier ring for Snow Song; she loves quartz so much,” Zoe said.

  Joey thought his chest was going to explode from all the pride he felt inside, both in having just become engaged to the girl of his dreams and by the compliment from Zoe. “Thank you, Zoe. I appreciate that.”

  Lacey hugged Snow Song and congratulated them while Raven grasped arms with Joey and thumped him hard on the shoulder. Joey was positive that he’d find bruises, but he never winced. Joe smiled and hugged both of the young people, but he was still a little subdued.

  Joey and Snow Song ran out to the central fire to start spreading their good news and their parents followed them. Shouts of surprise and joy rang out and a couple of people brought out some whiskey to celebrate the occasion.

  Skip teased Snow Song, “At least you don’t have to worry about changing your last name. Mr. Dwyer adopting Raven came in handy, huh?”

  Snow Song laughed and nudged him. “Shut up.”

  Sawyer said, “You have plenty of practice writing that signature, too.”

  Joey said, “It was strange saying her whole name to propose since it’s my last name, too. Maybe that’s a sign that it was always meant to be.”

  Sawyer was so happy and relieved that things had worked out for his friend and his cousin. However, he wondered why their parents were slightly subdued. Then he figured that even though the couple was happy, that didn’t mean that their parents didn’t wish things had happened differently. He planned to get Joey alone at some point in the next day or two to find out exactly what was going on. For the time being, though, he joined in the revelry, raising his cup along with everyone else in a toast.

  Devon watched her little brother and his new fiancée and couldn’t believe that they were getting married. Snow Song was such a good match for Joey, she thought. She had all of the attributes she could imagine Joey preferred in a girl and she was no pushover, which was also good. Joey’s choice in a ring was sweet and thoughtful.

  It was amazing that they’d been able to hide their relationship for so long. Now they knew why Joey had kept pursuing her so hard; they were already a couple and it was a great cover. She chuckled to herself at their ingenuity. However, she knew that Joey being married wouldn’t change him from being the impulsive, reckless, charming, funny young man that he was.

  Across the fire, her gaze suddenly clashed with Sawyer’s and the expression on his face clearly said, “That could have been us.”

  It was a hard look and Devon couldn’t look away for a few moments. Then she got up and walked out of the firelight, disappearing into the darkness.

  Skip was goofy, a little scatterbrained, and sometimes hard to shut up, but he was also very observant, and he hadn’t missed the little exchange. Unlike his father, who was hopeless with tools or sharp objects, Skip was good at fixing things. His Uncle Will had taught him all about fixing furniture and mechanical devices and he excelled at it. But how did one fix a broken relationship? He didn’t have the answer to that question right then, but he tucked it into what he called the “Question Cabinet” in his mind.

  This was a place where he filed questions to be answered when a solution came to light. He’d had success with this method in the past and he hoped that he would with this, too, since it would help two people he loved. As he drove Sawyer home, he talked about the evening, but all the while, his active mind worked on the problem.

  Chapter Eight

  “I’m not dressing up for Halloween,” Sawyer said a couple of nights later as they sat conversing in Skip’s bedroom.

  Skip nodded. “Of course you are. You can’t go to the Halloween party if you don’t dress up. I mean you could, but what fun would that be? People would ask you what you were supposed to be and you’d be awfully boring saying ‘Myself.’” He stepped out of his room. “Pa! Can you come here?” he hollered down the stairs of their four-bedroom house.

  They used to live over the old medical clinic, but when the hospital had been built, Switch and Hope had bought a house close to the new facility because it was quicker for Hope to get back and forth to work; she was the hospital administrator. It also allowed her check on Switch easier when he had bad days.

  Switch liked being close to the hospital since he acted as an orderly there a few nights a week. He was curious about all of the new equipment and helped out with whatever needed to be done. Switch didn’t have any one full-time job, but he was still busy with various jobs. On top of being an orderly, he helped at Will Foster’s furni
ture store, performed at the Watering Hole, and even took an overnight shift here and there at the telegraph office since there were nights when he didn’t sleep.

  At Skip’s call, he started jogging up the stairs and tripped twice. “What the heck?”

  “Pa, take your reading glasses off,” Skip said.

  Switch laughed and removed them before coming the rest of the way up the stairs. “That’s better. I was reading the new play Jethro sent us and I forgot to take them off. They’re good for reading but not for walking around. Things get blurry. I’m glad I don’t have to wear them all the time. I hate them. Here put them on and go look in the mirror.”

  Skip gave him a quizzical look. “Why?”

  “Just do as I say, young man,” Switch said in a mock-stern voice.

  Sawyer looked up as the two men came into Skip’s room. Skip put the glasses on and looked in his mirror. “Ok. I’m looking. Now what?”

  Switch clapped him on the shoulder and said, “That’s you in thirty years. You’ll need glasses, too, someday. You should put them on once a week and just look at yourself so you get used to it.”

  Sawyer and Skip laughed at his reasoning and Switch joined them. Sawyer thought that although Skip was still a little shorter than Switch, they could be twins with their almost black hair and deep brown, soulful eyes. Skip’s chin was slightly squarer than Switch’s angular features, but other than that, they were remarkably similar.

  “What did you need?” Switch asked, tucking his glasses into his shirt pocket.

  Sawyer looked over his mismatched outfit of brown dress pants, blue Western shirt, and tan work boots. Switch’s unconventional mode of dress was just one of many things that endeared him to people. However, it drove Joe crazy.

  “Sawyer needs a costume for the Halloween party. What do we have that would work with his cast?” Skip asked.

  “I’m not going to the party,” Sawyer said.

  “Of course you are,” Switch said.

  Despite being annoyed, it amused Sawyer that his response was the same as Skip’s.

  “No, I’m not,” Sawyer said.

  Switch frowned. “What?”

  “I’m not going.”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t hear you,” Switch said.

  Sawyer raised his voice. “I’m not going to the party.”

  “I don’t understand what you’re saying,” Switch said, laughing. “I seem to have selective hearing. I only hear what I want to hear and I don’t wanna hear that you’re not going, so I won’t. Oh! A pirate with a peg leg! C’mere!”

  Sawyer groaned as Switch hurried from the room. “I guess I’m going to the party.”

  “Told you,” Skip said, grinning.

  Sawyer said, “I’ll get you back for this.”

  He followed them to what used to be Switch’s oldest son, Jethro’s, room. Since he’d moved to New York to pursue an acting career, it had been converted into a large dressing room with several racks of costumes lining one whole wall. Switch incorporated them into his shows at the bar sometimes, but they were mostly used at the Dawson Playhouse, which he and Hope had founded a couple of years ago.

  Switch might not care much about his everyday appearance, but he meticulously organized his costumes. Mumbling to himself, he sorted through the multitude of garments hanging there and handed stuff to Skip.

  “There. That should do it. We’ll keep it simple since you’re on crutches. We won’t make you a pirate captain, just a lowly pirate first class or whatever non-captain pirates are called. Do they have ranks? I don’t think so. Just captain and plain old pirate, I guess,” Switch said.

  Sawyer almost laughed as he saw Skip’s wheels turning over his father’s question. I’ll bet he’ll put it in his Question Cabinet.

  Switch held up the various pieces of the costume. “Large handkerchief for around your head, one of the long-sleeved, flowing shirts they wore, and any old, black pants will work. Here’s a leather vest, too. Come down to Will’s tomorrow and I’ll have him make you a peg leg. He’ll have to fit it to your knee so that it works properly.”

  Sawyer said, “I don’t want to interrupt his work.”

  “Don’t worry about it. He won’t mind,” Switch insisted. “It won’t take him long.”

  “Ok, if you’re sure,” he said, knowing it was pointless to resist.

  Switch nodded. “I’m sure.”

  “Thanks,” Sawyer said. A horn sounded from outside. “There’s Dino and Grandma. She doesn’t like driving at night so he chauffeurs her around. Thanks for your help, Switch.”

  “You’re welcome. Justin, help him down the stairs, son.”

  “I planned on it,” Skip said.

  “Good man,” Switch said in a perfect imitation of Randall as they trooped down the stairs. He was very talented in performing impersonations and creating skits out of thin air while he performed a one-man show.

  After he saw Sawyer off, Skip went upstairs to his sister’s room, knocking on her door.

  “Come in,” Renee said.

  “It’s just me,” he said going in. “You’re devious and I need your help with something.”

  Renee smiled at him as she sat at her dressing table, brushing her long, dark hair. “You came to the right place, little brother. What can I do for you?” The two of them were very close.

  Skip sat down on her bed and drew his long legs up to sit cross-legged on it. “I know that Sawyer and Devon still love each other, but neither of them are going to admit it. I want to get them back together, but I don’t know how.”

  “And how do you know that they do?” Renee asked.

  “The other night down at camp when Joey and Snow Song got engaged, I saw the way they looked at each other,” Skip said. “I know they could be really happy together. Plus, she broke up with Teddy, so I find the timing of that to be a little coincidental.”

  “Hmm. You might be right,” Renee said. “Well, if she saw someone else show interest in him, she might get jealous, which would mean she still cares for him.”

  Skip smiled. “Yeah. Jealousy is a great motivator. But who’s gonna show interest in him?”

  Renee grinned and struck a pose, batting her eyelashes at Skip. “Little ole me.”

  “You? Do you like him like that? Because if you do, the plan will backfire,” Skip said.

  “Of course not! Sawyer is a great guy, but I’m not interested in him as a boyfriend. I have someone else in mind and perhaps if he saw me on the arm of someone else, it might make him take notice,” Renee said, a speculative gleam in her dark eyes. “That’s why I’m the perfect choice. I’m not attracted to Sawyer, although he is very handsome. But neither he nor Devon knows that.”

  Skip laughed. “That’s brilliant! I knew you’d know what to do. It’s a good thing you’re a good actress.”

  “Well, it does run in the family.” Renee rubbed her hands together. “This is going to be so much fun. Now, listen to me. This is what we’ll do …”

  *****

  Renee wasted no time in putting their plan into action. The next day, after she was done with her shift at the hospital where she worked as a nursing assistant, she took their car over to the Samuels’ ranch. She’d taken the time to go home and gussy up a little.

  She’d put on a nice dress and put her hair up into a slightly different version of a Gibson girl style. A little bit of lipstick and cheek rouge completed her outfit. She had also inherited her father’s coloring and his height, but she got her hourglass figure from her mother along with her heart-shaped face. Renee cut a beautiful figure and she used her wiles to the utmost.

  Arriving at the Samuels ranch, Renee straightened her coat and skirt when she got out of the car and then picked up the camera she’d brought with her. She knocked on the door and Sandy opened it.

  “Hello, Renee. How are you?” she asked.

  Renee smiled. “I’m well, thank you. And yourself?”

  “The same. Come on in out of the cold,” Sandy said.


  “Thank you. I was wondering if Sawyer was home.”

  “Yes. He’s in the office. Go ahead on in.”

  “Thank you.”

  Renee walked through the parlor to the office that Frankie and D.J. shared. Sawyer was poring over a journal, his head bent as he read. Renee knocked softly on the office door.

  He looked up and smiled at her. “Hi, Renee. What brings you?”

  She took off her coat and entered the room. “Well, I need your photographer’s expertise. My camera broke and I was hoping that you could fix it.”

  “I’ll be happy to take a look at it,” he said.

  When she handed it to him, she made sure their fingers brushed and gave him a coy look. She almost giggled at the surprise in his eyes.

  “Uh, have a seat while I see what’s wrong with it,” he said, a little disconcerted. If he didn’t know better, he could swear that Renee was flirting with him. She’d never shown that sort of interest in him before.

  He turned his attention to the camera and became engrossed in examining it. “This won’t be too bad to fix. You can just leave it and I’ll get it back to you,” he told her.

  “That’ll be perfect. Are you free for dinner tomorrow evening?” she enquired.

  Her invitation surprised him. “Um, what kind of dinner are we talking about?”

  “The kind a man and woman have when they’d like to get to know each other better.”

  Sawyer had no idea what to say. As long as he’d known Renee she’d never indicated that she had romantic feelings towards him. Had she been harboring her feelings because he’d been involved with Devon? It was a good possibility.

  Was he ready to try seeing someone again? He’d never thought of Renee in those terms, but she was certainly beautiful and witty. What would the harm be in just going to dinner with her?

  Smiling, he said, “All right. I accept your invitation.”

  She clapped her hands together briefly. “Wonderful! I’ll pick you up at seven. We’ll have a nice time. You’ll see. Well, I can see that you’re busy, so I’ll leave you to it. Thanks for fixing my camera for me. I owe you.”