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

by Linda Bridey

  Joe shut his mouth and sat in a chair, but his right leg bounced up and down. “This is gettin’ out of hand, Thor. This whole Loyalty stuff is putting innocent people in danger. They had no call to go to that camp last night. There are little kids there. What if they’d started shooting? I want it stopped right now. They’re on private land and they live there. It’s not like they started a fire in the middle of the town square or something.”

  Thor said, “I understand, Joe, and I’m sympathetic. I’ll see what I can do to get a handle on it.”

  Joe leaned forward. “See what you can do? I’d like more assurance than that. These are good, law-abiding, tax-paying citizens. Several of their boys are fighting overseas and a couple of their girls are in the Red Cross over there. They’re growing a lot of crops that are going towards feeding our troops and they do all kinds of volunteer work besides. They deserve respect and to be let alone. Now, you need to take care of this today or else the repercussions are gonna be bad.”

  Thor’s brown eyes narrowed. “I don’t like being threatened.”

  Joe banged a fist down on Thor’s desk. “And I don’t like guns aimed at my friends for no good reason! Either you do something or I will, and I don’t think you’ll like what I do! I’ll tell you one thing: those Loyalty jackasses better not go back there because the tribe will defend themselves and they’ll be within their rights.”

  “All right, all right. You need to watch your mouth, though, Joe. Be careful who you’re spoutin’ off to about this or you’ll wind up in jail for sedition,” Thor said.

  Joe snorted. “I ain’t saying anything against the war, Thor. I’m not saying anything against the government, either. I’m just talkin’ about this one group that’s causing trouble. I support our troops and make sure to send the finest horses I have. Frankly, I don’t have that many left to send until I get a few more trained. Anyway, you just take care of this or I won’t be contributing to your campaign when it comes time for the next election.”

  The mayor stomped out of Thor’s office, slamming the door behind him. Thor sighed and rubbed his temples before picking up his telephone to begin making calls.

  *****

  “I think this is the best one we’ve looked at,” Sawyer said. “It has good natural light and plenty of storage room. This office back here will be easy to convert into a darkroom, too.”

  Devon smiled at the excitement in Sawyer’s expression as he moved around the empty store. After what had happened with the military, she knew that this was another positive thing he could focus on to get over the huge disappointments he’d suffered.

  “I agree,” she said.

  Sawyer turned to Mrs. Bissinger, the owner of the building. “I’ll take it. I can give you the first month’s rent right now in cash.”

  The attractive, middle-aged woman smiled. “That’ll be just fine. I brought the lease with me just in case. I guess I had a good feeling.”

  She took a fountain pen from her purse along with the lease papers. Sawyer looked it over, found it in order, and signed it. He handed it back to her along with the money. They shook hands and Mrs. Bissinger gave him the keys.

  “Now, just let me know if there’s anything you need, and good luck to you,” she said.

  “Thanks. I will,” Sawyer said.

  She smiled and left them then.

  Sawyer let out a whoop as he held a crutch aloft. Devon hugged and kissed him. “I’m so happy for you. This will be wonderful!”

  “I can’t wait,” Sawyer said. “I already sent an order off for equipment. This will just need cleaned and painted, but other than that, I don’t see any repairs that’ll need to be made. Once the equipment comes, I’ll know better how to set it all up.”

  “I’ll help. It’ll be fun to work on together,” Devon said. “Are you happy that we’re back together?”

  He gave her a sardonic look. “Of course, I am. Are you?”

  “Yes. I sometimes still can’t believe it,” Devon said. “I never thought we’d be able to work things out.”

  “Honestly, I didn’t, either,” Sawyer replied. “But I’m so glad we have. I love you so much.”

  “I love you, too,” she said.

  Their eyes met and the passion that was always just under the surface flowed between them in a strong current. It was getting harder to keep it in check.

  To distract them from it, Sawyer said, “Well, let’s get out of here. You have to get back to work and I have some things to do myself.”

  “Right,” she said, smiling.

  She started to move away from him, but he suddenly hooked his left arm around her waist and pulled her against him. The crutch under that arm fell to the floor, but he balanced on the other one as he kissed her soundly. Devon relished the way he held her and her heartbeat accelerated as desire for him ran through her.

  Parting was difficult, but they didn’t want someone walking by to look in and see them.

  Devon retrieved his fallen crutch. “It seems like I’m always doing that,” she joked.

  “I’ll be so glad to get this cast off,” he said. “I want to see how well I can walk.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be able to walk normally after all the physical therapy, and your shoulder will do better once you don’t have to use the crutches.”

  “From your lips to God’s ears,” Sawyer said.

  She gave him a last little kiss. “Come on, photographer man, I have horses to train.”

  He followed her out the door and locked it. As they drove away in Devon’s buggy, he looked at the building, envisioning a business sign. What was he going to call it? He smiled as he knew exactly who he’d ask.

  *****

  “You want me to do what?” Joe asked Switch as he sat at the bar in the Watering Hole.

  Switch slid onto the stool next to him. “I need you to play the Second Spirit in the play.”

  “Me? I ain’t never been in a play. Well, once when I was about ten and that didn’t go very well,” Joe said.

  “You’ll be great and it’ll be fun, too.”

  “That’s a big part, Switch. Don’t you have a smaller part I can do?” Joe said. “I help Randy practice for Scrooge, so I know the part somewhat, but I don’t know how reliable I’d be in front of an audience.”

  Switch arched a brow at him and looked meaningfully over at the stage area of the bar. “Huh. That must be some other guy up there performing a couple of nights a week then.”

  Joe made a face. “That’s singing, not talkin’.”

  Switch laughed. “You’re not helping your cause any. No one except me talks more than you do. Or Justin.”

  “Chet’s playing Crocket, so he can’t play that part. Why isn’t Skip doing it?”

  “Cratchit, not Crocket. I can’t do that. I need Justin for something else,” Switch said.

  It was hard to refuse Switch when he asked for something. “Ok. I’ll do it,” Joe said, “I can’t do a British accent, though. Actually, it might be pretty fun because a Ghost of the Present Christmas with a Texan accent will annoy the heck out of both of those Brits. Thanks for thinking of me for the part, Switch. I can kill two Brits with one stone!” He clapped Switch on the back and headed out the door.

  “You’re welcome,” Switch said uncertainly to no one. “And it’s the Spirit of Christmas Present.” He put a hand to his forehead. “Oh boy. What have I done?”

  *****

  The next week and a half was a busy time for Sawyer. A whole host of people helped clean and paint the store, which he’d named the Shutter Shoppe, the name Tessa had come up with. His shipment of photography supplies came in and D.J. helped him organize it since they used the same methods for storage and arrangement.

  They’d missed doing this sort of thing together and it was a wonderful way to reconnect on a professional and personal level. D.J. had missed his oldest son more than he’d told anyone except Frankie. It had been hard being separated from him because they’d always been so close. D.J. didn
’t believe in playing favorites, and he loved each of his children equally, but none of Sawyer’s siblings had caught the photography bug the way he had and it was something they’d shared since Sawyer had been young.

  D.J. and Frankie had been very grateful that Dino hadn’t been of drafting age. Having one son fighting overseas was bad enough, but two would have been doubly excruciating. Sandy had talked about going into the Red Cross, and while D.J. wouldn’t have stood in her way had she been adamant, he and Frankie did make her give it serious consideration before committing.

  When one of Jack’s waitresses had gotten married and moved away, he’d asked if Sandy had wanted the job and her parents had been secretly relieved that she’d accepted it and stayed home. Lyla wasn’t quite old enough to go, but she helped out with the Red Cross at home and she was thinking about going to nursing school.

  As Sawyer and D.J. worked one day, Devon came in with a thermos full of chocolate milkshake.

  “You’re the best,” Sawyer said as she split it between three cups.

  She smiled. “Yes, I am pretty wonderful.”

  D.J. laughed. “You sound like your father.”

  Chuckling, she said, “He’s been driving Randall and Chester crazy with this whole play rehearsal. It’s the funniest thing to listen to a Texan in the middle of their British accents. He tried to sound British the one day, but it came out sounding more Swedish. Everyone laughed like crazy, especially Randall and Chester.”

  The two men laughed as they imagined it.

  “Randall wants to kill Mr. Keller for casting Daddy in the part. He keeps calling Chester’s character Crocket instead of Cratchit and himself Ghost Number Two,” Devon said.

  Sawyer said, “We should go to play practice tonight just to watch them. I’ll take a camera and tell them that Pa wants some pictures for the paper.”

  D.J. said, “That’s a good idea, actually. So it won’t even be a lie.”

  Tapping the side of his head, Sawyer said, “Sometimes this thing works.”

  Devon finished her milkshake. “Well, fellas, I have to get back home, but I’ll pick you up at six tonight since practice starts at seven and if I know you, you’ll keep changing your mind a hundred times about which camera you want to bring.”

  “Shut up. I will not,” Sawyer said as she kissed his cheek.

  “Yes, you will,” D.J. said. “You can’t help yourself, just like me. Thanks for the treat, Devon.”

  “You’re welcome, Mr. Samuels. See you later,” she said.

  D.J. watched Sawyer as his eyes followed her out the door. He still did the same thing with Frankie, his Italian girl.

  Sawyer saw D.J. looking at him. “What?”

  “Nothing. I was just thinking how good it is to see you two happy again.”

  “I never thought we’d make up after all this time.”

  D.J. said, “Well, you both grew up a lot, you know? I think she knew as soon as you were gone that she’d made a mistake by turning you down. And I think you knew that you’d made a mistake by not asking her again.”

  Sawyer nodded. “Yeah. I was just so hurt that I couldn’t try again.”

  “You should have been like Uncle Black Fox. It took him three tries with Aunt Wind Spirit before she said yes,” D.J. said smiling.

  Sawyer chuckled. “I wish I could remember her. I have this vague memory of her, but it never lasts.”

  “She was such a sweet woman, but she could keep Uncle in line. I don’t ever remember her shouting, but she had a way of shaming him just like the Lakota do with their kids. She’d get mad at him and kick him out of their tipi for the day. They always made up, though,” D.J. said. “I miss her so much. Everyone does. I’m glad that Uncle found Beth though. I love her, too, just in a different way.”

  Sawyer smiled. “She’s fun to watch when she’s clowning around with the kids. I remember her doing that when I was little. I can’t wait to have kids with Devon.” It was out before he could stop it.

  D.J. laughed at his startled expression. “It snuck up on you, huh? So I take it that you’re thinking about proposing again.”

  “Yeah, but maybe it’s too soon. We haven’t been back together very long. Things are going really well, but I don’t want to rush things,” Sawyer said. “It’s strange because we know so much about each other, but we’re still learning things. Is it like that with you and Mama?”

  “Mmm hmm. You’ll always find things to talk about when you’re with the right person. And sometimes it’s just nice to sit quietly together, too. You’ll know when it’s the right time to ask,” D.J. said. “Until then, just enjoy things and be happy.”

  Sawyer nodded. “I plan to. Well, I guess we should get this finished.”

  “Yup. Let’s get at it.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Around one o’clock the next afternoon, Joe took his glass of bicarbonate of soda into what he called his “important” office where the other telephone extension was located and closed the door. His heartburn had kicked up again and the medicine usually helped him. He sat down at the desk that was covered with all sorts of breeding charts and horse catalogues and picked up the receiver.

  “Mr. Dwyer, it’s over!” Skip immediately shouted in his ear. “It’s over! The war is over! They signed an armistice! It just came over the telegraph! I can’t believe you called right now! The war is over!”

  Joe froze. “Did you just say that the war is over?”

  “I did, Mr. Dwyer! Our boys and girls will be coming home! I have to get all this down for J.R. I gotta go, but I had to tell you!”

  Joe could hear the tears in Skip’s voice and his eyes filled fast as he stood up. “You go on, Skip. I’ll see you after a bit, son.”

  He hung up and stood quietly for a moment, trying to absorb the fact that the horrible war was over. It took a few minutes to sink in. Then he raced out to the barn, finding Lacey putting a horse away. He didn’t want to scare the horse, so he waited until she came out of the stall before grabbing her and hugging her tight, but he couldn’t speak at first.

  “What is it?” she asked, her eyes wide with fright. “What’s happened?”

  Joe laughed and cried at once. “The war is over, honey! It’s over! Skip just told me. It just came over the telegraph! They signed an armistice!”

  Lacey let out a happy noise and embraced Joe, laughing and crying with him. They made so much noise that Emily and Tim heard them from where they were in the barn and came to see what was happening. Their glad cries rang out once they’d been told and Tim ran to let everyone else know. Joey and Devon came back with Tim and they celebrated together, hugging and crying together.

  Emily sat down on a hay bale and said, “Bobby will be home soon and he’ll be able to meet Noah.” She covered her face and wept with joy and relief.

  Tim crouched by her, tears streaming from his brown eyes as he embraced her. “That’s right, sis. It’s gonna be all right now.”

  The rest of their household was alerted and Devon rode down to camp to let their friends know. By the time Joe arrived in Dawson, word had spread thanks to Skip, who hadn’t been able to contain himself. He’d called Mitch and the hospital and had run to bang on a few doors. Those people had alerted others and people came out into the street to celebrate. Dawson was still a dry town as far as selling alcohol went, but people still had it in their homes.

  While the church bell rang, singing, laughing, and shouting accompanied it as drinks were poured and people danced in the cold afternoon air of November 11, 1918. More and more people kept arriving in town and the streets were filled with joyous noise. The air in Dawson and outside of town was pierced by the noise of celebratory gunfire, much the way it was on New Year’s Eve when the clock struck midnight.

  There was hardly a dry eye as people hugged and shook hands. The celebration continued until suppertime. Matt went to the gazebo and asked for silence around that time. The crowd quieted and waited expectantly for him to speak.

  “My
dear brothers and sisters, today we are witnesses to a great, joyful moment when peace has come to the world. May we please bow our heads in prayer? Most gracious and holy Lord, we give You all of the glory and praise, for we know that this wondrous event is Your work.

  “We thank You for moving the hearts and minds of the leaders of the world to collaborate and come to an agreement. We know that there is still much work ahead to repair lives, rebuild cities, and to heal, but with Your help and grace we know that it can be accomplished. We’re also grateful to You for giving our fighting men the strength and resilience to withstand the harsh and often lonely days, pressing on through the perils they faced in the name of freedom.

  “Please also bless our women who went overseas to provide comfort, medical care, and entertainment for our troops. They have also endured the war so that they could brighten our men’s days. Dear Lord, we ask that You be with all of those who have lost loved ones. Grant them the peace and knowledge that the family and friends who sacrificed their lives are now in Your care and lack for nothing. Give them the assurance that those souls are happy and free in Your splendid Kingdom where there is no pain or strife.

  “We ask for patience in the coming days as we wait for our men and women to come home. Please continue to watch over our loved ones as they prepare to withdraw and return to us. And for all of those who are wounded, please lay Your healing hands upon them and minister to their every affliction as only You can. In Your most holy and precious name we pray. Amen.”

  Every person in the crowd shouted “Amen!” after which more cries of gladness went up. At the Grady House, Jack and his staff prepared a free buffet supper. Elliot donated food from the store to cook, too. Some people even ate their meal outside of the Grady House since there was no more room inside. As they did, the faint sounds of drums reached their ears and people quieted others so that they could hear it.

  After Devon had alerted the tribe of the marvelous news, they had begun organizing a celebration of their own, which included a victory dance. They now had five large drums which required at least four people each to play and numerous hand drummers and singers performed, too.