A Cowboy for Christmas

by Sara Richardson

  “So who’s going to be at the shower?” he asked once they’d all gotten situated in his truck.

  “Definitely Mateo, Everly, and Harper Rose.” Darla couldn’t wait to see that sweet little baby girl again. They’d made a trip to the hospital right after she was born but hadn’t seen her since. “Besides them, it will pretty much be the whole gang from what I’ve heard.” The Cortez brothers and their wives, Dev and Charity, Tucker McGrath and his wife Kenna. “Oh, and Josie, Ralph, Peter, and Norman will be there too, of course.” After keeping them a secret for far too long, her two worlds in Topaz Falls and Glenwood Springs had officially collided, and she couldn’t have been happier about it.

  “I love those guys,” Ty said, driving extra slowly and cautiously. Darla smiled to herself, wondering if he’d ever go the speed limit again when Graycie was in the car.

  “They love you too.” She and Ty had invited her bereaved spouses support group over for dinner at least once a month since the spring, and the six of them had gotten close. She couldn’t wait for them to meet the baby—it would be like having four extra grandparents to spoil her.

  “So what do you do at baby showers?” Ty asked, not taking his eyes off the road. “I’ve never been to one.”

  “Well…” She wasn’t sure what to tell him without scaring him. “There’s usually a lot of pregnancy talk. And everyone feels compelled to share their birthing story.”

  “Ew.” He stopped at a stop sign and looked over at her. “Seriously?”

  “Yes, but since this is a co-ed shower, I’m guessing it’ll be a little more laid-back. We’ll probably eat and hang out.” God knew birthing talk would scare all the men out of the room. Ty had been a champ at her bedside when she’d delivered Graycie, but he’d told her later, he’d had to talk himself out of keeling over a few times.

  “Eating and hanging out. I can handle that.” He eased a foot back onto the gas, and they moseyed down Main Street all the way to the end, where they turned into the driveway that led to the brand-new Farm Café. Mateo and Everly had rebuilt an exact replica of the original farmhouse where Everly had started the café when she’d moved to town. Except now, everything was shiny and new. They’d gotten the business up and running again in time for the summer season, and had even hired extra help to run the place while Everly took some maternity leave.

  “I can’t wait to see everyone.” As nice as it had been to have some alone time with Ty and the baby the last few weeks, she’d missed their friends. Most of them had dropped by at one point or another to bring them dinner and get a peek at the baby, but Darla had been so groggy she hadn’t socialized much.

  “I can’t wait to show off our little girl.” Ty parked the truck and they both carefully fussed over getting Graycie’s car seat out of the base, and then the three of them walked into a party that had already started.

  “You’re here!” Everly was the first one to spot them. “Look at you, Graycie Faith.” She leaned over the car seat. “Oh my goodness, she looks exactly like you with that beautiful dark hair.”

  Darla liked to think so too. Apparently, unruly dark hair was genetic. Graycie’s usually stuck up all over her head, but today Darla had slicked it together in a miniature ponytail and added a bow.

  “Where’s Harper?” she asked her friend, already itching to get a picture of the two of them together.

  Everly hiked a thumb over her shoulder in Mateo’s direction. “He won’t let anyone hold her yet. Can’t seem to give her up.”

  “I get that.” Ty set the car seat on a nearby table and lifted Graycie into his arms. Darla and Everly tagged behind as he crossed the room to introduce their daughter to her new best friend.

  “Look who it is,” Mateo said in his best baby voice. “Your buddy.” He held out Harper and Ty held out Graycie, and Darla took yet another picture.

  The four of them caught up briefly—comparing sleeping and eating and pooping patterns until Josie, Ralph, Norman, and Peter arrived.

  “Look at you!” Peter drew Darla in for a hug. “You’re radiant!” He shot a sly smile at Ty. “Don’t worry, I know she’s taken.”

  “I’m not worried.” Ty gave them all sidearm hugs too, showing off Graycie to each of them and getting the required ahhhs back in return.

  “You comin’ back to group next month?” Norman asked hopefully. “I sure have missed your truffles.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it.” Darla had managed to make it to every meeting except for the previous month’s, when she’d been too tired to stay up past seven o’clock in the evening, and she’d even found herself opening up more to them too. She’d had her ups and downs with her anxiety issues during the pregnancy, but the doctor was able to help her find a low-dose medication that had helped. Her friends’ support had helped too. And of course, she’d had Ty to walk through it with her.

  “You could bring the baby if you want,” Josie offered. “There are no rules against that or anything.”

  Darla stroked her daughter’s soft head. “She would love to come.”

  The rest of their friends closed in, obviously getting restless for their turns to hold the babies. Ty and Mateo had no choice but to pass Graycie and Harper around, and the sight of all that love being showered on her daughter made Darla burst into tears.

  Everly was in the same boat, it seemed. They looked at each other and said “Hormones” at the exact same time.

  While Ty and Mateo kept a close watch on their baby girls, Darla and Everly answered all the typical questions about the birth.

  “Was it awful?” Charity asked with a facial expression that declared she assumed it was.

  “No,” Darla said. “Not at all. It was hard and excruciating and exhausting, but it was the best thing I’ve ever done.” She glanced over and watched Ty share their baby girl with the world. Their new little family was a dream that had been abandoned and then restored and fulfilled. The day they’d welcomed Graycie Faith into the world had felt like the start of a whole new adventure.

  “Hey everyone.” Ty clanked a spoon against his glass. “I’d like to make a toast.” It took a few minutes but the room finally quieted. Darla scurried away from her friends and went to join her husband.

  “Thank you all for coming out to celebrate our little girls.” Ty secured Graycie in one arm and he wrapped his other arm around Darla. Being so close to him was still the best feeling in the world.

  “I’ve moved around a lot and traveled to a lot of different places, and I’ve never seen a community like the one in Topaz Falls.”

  Murmurs of agreement went around the room. Darla looked out at all their friends, these people who had been there for her, who had helped her heal, who had helped her hold on to the courage to find love again.

  “We couldn’t ask for a better place to raise our daughter. We couldn’t ask for better people to help shape her life.” He glanced down at Darla and brushed a kiss on her head. “It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like I had a home, but that all changed when I moved here. And I’m so grateful that Graycie and Harper will grow up knowing what ‘home’ means.” He somehow managed to lift his glass from the table beside them. “To family and friends and a community that comes together.”

  Everyone raised their glasses and repeated the toast. That was when the celebration really began. The room erupted into a happy chaos. Darla held Ty’s hand as they showed off their daughter and accepted advice and hugs from all her favorite people. It was all such a blur, but her heart had never felt so full.

  No matter what the future held, as long as she had Ty and Graycie and this roomful of beautiful people, her life would be full of love and light.

  Discover Your Next Great Read

  Get sneak peeks, book recommendations, and news about your favorite authors.

  Tap here to learn more.

  About the Author

  Sara Richardson grew up chasing adventure in Colorado’s rugged mountains. She’s climbed to the top of a fourteen-thousand-foot peak a
t midnight, swum through Class IV rapids, completed her wilderness first aid certification, and spent seven days at a time tromping through the wilderness with a thirty-pound backpack strapped to her shoulders.

  Eventually Sara did the responsible thing and got an education in writing and journalism. After a brief stint in the corporate writing world, she stopped ignoring the voices in her head and started writing fiction. Now she uses her experience as a mountain adventure guide to write stories that incorporate adventure with romance. Still indulging her adventurous spirit, Sara lives and plays in Colorado with her saint of a husband and two young sons.

  You can learn more at:

  SaraRichardson.net

  Twitter @SaraR_Books

  Facebook.com/SaraRichardsonBooks

  Instagram @SaraRichardsonBooks

  PRAISE FOR THE

  ROCKY MOUNTAIN RIDERS

  SERIES

  COLORADO COWBOY

  “Readers who love tear-jerking small-town romances with minimal sex scenes and maximum emotional intimacy will quickly devour this charming installment.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  TRUE-BLUE COWBOY

  “Richardson takes readers on an emotionally satisfying, sometimes wrenching journey in her fourth Rocky Mountain Riders contemporary western.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  RENEGADE COWBOY

  “Top Pick! An amazing story about finding a second chance to be with the one that you love.”

  —Harlequin Junkie

  “A beautifully honest and heartwarming tale about forgiveness and growing up that will win the hearts of fans and newcomers alike.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  COMEBACK COWBOY

  “Richardson beautifully illustrates the rocky road of love and the power of redemption in this emotionally charged tale. With a tight, compelling plot and expert characterization, she creates a warm, comfortable world readers will want to visit again and again.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Richardson’s empathy for her protagonists shines through every page of her second Rocky Mountain Riders novel, making their long-awaited reunion into a sweet tale that will easily win readers’ hearts.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  HOMETOWN COWBOY

  “Filled with humor, heart, and love, this page-turner is one wild ride.”

  —Jennifer Ryan, New York Times bestselling author

  “An emotional ride with characters that come alive on every single page. Sara brings real feelings to every scene she writes.”

  —Carolyn Brown, New York Times bestselling author

  “[The] story is sensitive, charmingly funny, satisfyingly spicy, and dedicated to ensuring both protagonists grow to earn their lasting love. This will satisfy Richardson’s fans while welcoming new readers to a sweeping land of mountains, cowboys, and romance.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  Also by Sara Richardson

  Heart of the Rockies Series

  No Better Man

  Something Like Love

  One Christmas Wish (novella)

  More Than a Feeling

  Rocky Mountain Wedding (novella)

  Rocky Mountain Riders Series

  Hometown Cowboy

  Comeback Cowboy

  Renegade Cowboy

  Rocky Mountain Cowboy (novella)

  True-Blue Cowboy

  Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas (novella)

  Colorado Cowboy

  Keep reading for the bonus novella,

  A Cowboy’s Christmas Eve

  by R. C. Ryan!

  Colin Malloy enjoys spending Christmas with his family at the Malloy ranch. But this holiday, what he really wants to do is to get closer to the alluring Dr. Anita Cross. So when a blizzard conspires to keep her from joining the Malloy family’s festivities, neither snow, sleet, nor spun-out cars will prevent Colin from reaching her side.

  Chapter One

  Glacier Ridge, Montana—Present Day

  Colin Malloy urged his big bay gelding through snowdrifts that were belly high in places along the trail. When the latest snowstorm had begun in earnest in the hills, he’d had half a mind to remain snug and warm in his mountain cabin retreat until it blew itself out. But he couldn’t miss Christmas Eve supper at the ranch.

  Colin peered through the curtain of snow toward the distant lights of the Malloy Ranch. He wasn’t really bothered by the snowy trail or the bite in the wind. Having grown up on these thousand-plus acres here in Montana, he was as comfortable in a blizzard as he was sleeping under the stars on a warm summer night. Though he often enjoyed a quiet night up at the cabin, with a steak over the fire and a cold longneck, the thought of his family’s special Christmas Eve guest had him thinking instead about a bottle of champagne and some roast goose. But only if it came with a certain pretty dark-haired woman who’d been sneaking into his thoughts lately.

  Dr. Anita Cross, the beautiful new doctor who had come to Montana to join her uncle at the town’s medical clinic. The only time they’d ever spoken was when his nephew, Matt, had been seriously injured and required a doctor’s care. Anita had impressed him with not only her skill as a physician, but also with her radiant personality. Just the thought of her filled him with a sort of quiet joy. She had a smile that could light up the darkest night and a sweet nature that made him want to treat her with the greatest of care—that is, when he wasn’t thinking about taking her into his arms and tasting those perfect lips and ravishing her until they were both sated.

  He hadn’t felt like this about a woman since Shelby Ross, whose father owned a ranch in Rock Creek. They’d been barely out of their teens, but it had felt a lot like love. Maybe that was because his older brother had married the great love of his life, Bernadette, when the two were just seventeen and Colin had assumed that was how life was and would always be. Watching Patrick and Bernie had made Colin believe in true love and happily-ever-after. But those beliefs were shattered when the two had been killed in a brutal accident on a snowy road one cold December night. It wasn’t long after that that Colin learned Shelby had run off with one of her father’s wranglers.

  So much for true love and happy endings.

  Now, all these years later, he was beginning to believe in such things all over again.

  He swore softly.

  Not that a doctor from a big city would ever give him a second look, and if she did, he stood no chance of being alone with her. With his big, noisy family, they probably wouldn’t get a single word in edgewise tonight.

  “Come on, Buddy.” He leaned over to run a big, work-roughened hand over his horse’s snow-matted mane. “Time to get home and make sure Ma has a Merry Christmas. If I’m lucky, I can sit in the corner and stare to my heart’s content at the prettiest girl in the whole world, even though she doesn’t know I’m alive.”

  “Hey, Yancy.” Reed Malloy shook snow from his hair as he looked around the kitchen of his family’s ranch house, where the table was set with festive holiday plates, and the countertops were covered with serving dishes of every size and shape.

  Yancy Martin, the short, boyish-looking cook for the Malloy family for over thirty years, looked up to grin at the youngest of the Malloy men. “Hey, Reed.” He returned his attention to putting the finishing touches on an elegant holiday torte, making swirls of dark chocolate in the creamy white frosting.

  “Something smells amazing.” Luke Malloy, Reed’s older brother, trailed behind, his arm around the waist of his bride, Ingrid. “Looks like you’re going all out on the menu for Christmas Eve supper.”

  Yancy’s head came up. “Miss Grace told me she wanted it to be extra special, because of our guests.”

  “Guests?” Matt Malloy, oldest of the three brothers, walked into the kitchen hand in hand with his wife, Vanessa, and tried to dip a finger in the frosting. It was quickly slapped away by Yancy’s wooden spoon. “Are we having more than family here tonight?”

  Yancy gave a conspiratorial grin. “Your gra
ndma invited old Doc Cross and his niece, Dr. Anita.”

  Luke shared a look with his brother. “All this fuss for two extra people?”

  “One of them is extra special, according to Miss Grace.”

  At their puzzled looks, Yancy shook his head, sharing a knowing smile with Vanessa and Ingrid. “Where’ve you three been? Don’t you know your grandmother has had her eye on Anita Cross as a potential wife for your uncle Colin ever since that pretty young doctor came to town?”

  The two women were nodding in agreement.

  “Wife?” Reed started laughing. “Seems to me Gram Gracie’s had every pretty girl in the town of Glacier Ridge paired with Colin since we were teenagers. None of them worked out. What makes her think this will be any different?”

  Yancy shrugged.

  It was the boys’ great-grandfather, Nelson LaRou, called “Great One” by all of them, seated in his favorite chair across the room, who answered. “If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say it’s the two family weddings this past year. First Matt to his Nessa and then”—he turned to fix Luke with a pointed stare—“Luke and Ingrid.” He paused to sip the martini Yancy had learned to fix to his exact specifications and gave a nod of approval. “Now Grace Anne hopes all that romance rubs off on your uncle Colin. I swear, my daughter’s bound and determined to get that poor man married off before, as she says, it’s too late.”