A Cowboy for Christmas

by Sara Richardson

  Colin was risking his life out there, and she was helpless to do anything except wait and wonder and worry.

  And pray.

  Chapter Four

  After what seemed an eternity, the back door was shoved inward and Colin strode through, eyes fierce, his mouth a grim, tight line of anger. He leaned in to the door before locking it.

  Without a word, he caught the boy by the arm and dragged him along the hallway until they were at the reception area, where, thanks to the generator, the lights of a gaily decorated Christmas tree and the soft strains of holiday music were in sharp contrast to his dark mood.

  With a grip on the boy’s chin, he forced his head up. “Look at me. The man’s gone and he won’t be coming back. Not if he values his life. Now, what’s your name?”

  “Chip. Chip Carter.”

  Anita gasped. “Is your mother Emily?”

  He nodded.

  “How old are you, Chip?” Colin fought to keep the anger from creeping into his voice.

  “Fourteen.”

  “What in the hell is a fourteen-year-old doing breaking into a medical clinic on Christmas Eve? You’d better tell me the truth, because I already heard the other guy’s story.”

  The boy closed his eyes. “I needed to get some money for my mom.”

  “You needed it so badly you’d resort to stealing?”

  A tear slid from the boy’s closed eyes.

  Colin removed his hands from the boy. “Where’s your father, Chip?”

  “He’s somewhere in Oklahoma. He…took a job driving a big rig to make enough money to keep our ranch going, and now he’s caught in this storm. My mom spent her last twenty dollars buying my little brother a pair of used ice skates over at Anything Goes. She figured my dad would be home by now with his paycheck. I heard her talking on the phone with him. She said she doesn’t even have enough left for Christmas supper.”

  “You ever think about earning money the old-fashioned way instead of stealing it?”

  The boy looked away. “I tried. I offered to clean tables or wash dishes at D and B’s Diner earlier today, but they said they didn’t need me ’cause they were closing up early. I asked to work the counter at Woodrow’s Pharmacy, but he said I was too young. I have to be sixteen before he can legally hire me. That’s when that stranger heard us talking and led me outside before offering me money to just walk in here.”

  Colin’s voice was low with fury. “He may have jimmied the door, but you were the one who was actually going to steal. Do you know how much trouble you could have been in if you’d succeeded in getting what that junkie wanted? Do you think he’d have calmly paid you the money he promised and let you walk away, knowing you’d be a witness against him later?”

  “No, sir. I…wasn’t thinking. It didn’t seem like a big deal. It was just Dr. Cross’s notepad.”

  “A notepad with her clinic’s seal. Good enough in most towns to get a prescription filled.” Colin fell silent for nearly a full minute before glancing at Anita. “Could you use some help around here?”

  She arched a brow. “I…suppose so. What do you have in mind?”

  He turned to Chip. “Are you serious about wanting to work?”

  The boy swallowed hard before giving a nod.

  “Can you come in every day after school and on the weekends to sweep the floors, clean the bathrooms, empty the trash, and do whatever Dr. Cross wants you to do?”

  For the first time, the boy actually met his steely gaze. “Yes, sir. I’d like that. It would be a help to my mom and dad.”

  “All right, then.” Colin flicked a glance at Anita. “Are you willing to trust him? He did, after all, try to rob you.”

  She never hesitated. “I’m willing to risk it.”

  Colin stared directly at the boy, gauging his reaction. “You can always file a report with Sheriff Graystoke if Chip doesn’t live up to his part of the bargain.”

  Anita nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Reaching into his back pocket, Colin removed his wallet.

  When he handed a bill to Chip, the boy’s eyes went wide. “This is fifty dollars.”

  “Give it to your mom for Christmas dinner.”

  Chip was shaking his head, holding out the bill. “I can’t take that. I have no right…”

  Colin closed Chip’s hand around the money and propelled him toward the front door. “You okay with walking home through this storm?”

  “Yes, sir. But—”

  “Good.” Colin put a hand on Chip’s shoulder. “Now you listen to me, son. If you want to give your folks the best gift ever, remember to never again do anything that would bring them shame. Soon enough you’ll be a man. Grow into one who will always make them proud.”

  “Yes, sir.” The boy’s voice trembled with emotion. “Thank you.”

  He looked past Colin to where Anita stood. “Thank you, Dr. Cross. I won’t let you down. I’ll see you the day after Christmas.”

  As the boy disappeared into the night, Anita fought back tears.

  “Hey.” Colin laid a hand over hers. “It’s okay now.”

  She wiped at her eyes. “You realize, don’t you, that you just saved that boy from making a horrible mistake.”

  “He strikes me as a good kid who was about to fall into a deep hole.”

  “And you caught him before he fell. Oh, Colin. I was so afraid when you rushed out into the dark. That man could have been waiting with a gun.”

  “Don’t think about that now.”

  “I can’t help thinking that if you hadn’t been here, this could have ended so badly.”

  Colin’s hand fisted just thinking about it. A lone woman, in the dark, and a desperate junkie. He would be forever grateful that he’d been here with her.

  At his movement, Anita caught sight of his knuckles, bloody and swollen. “I wondered how you got the stranger to agree to just walk away. I should have known, from the fierce look of you, that it ended in a fight. I’d better get some ice. That looks pretty painful.”

  He straightened his hand and shook off the pain. “Don’t bother. I’ve had worse. The guy had a chin like a block of concrete.” Then he gave her one of those slow, devilish smiles. “I think I broke his jaw.”

  He looked around, pleased that the lights, though dimmer than usual, were working throughout the clinic. The dim glow of lights and the sound of music added a festive feeling. The hum of the furnace assured him that it would soon be comfortably warm inside.

  Anita glanced at the darkness outside. “I didn’t see your headlights before you knocked on the door.”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t drive.”

  “How did you get here?”

  “I hitched a ride with a snowplow driver and walked from the interstate.”

  “But that’s miles from here.”

  He gave a lazy shrug of his shoulders. “What’s a few miles on a pretty night like this?”

  She was amazed that after what they’d just been through, she could laugh at his humor. “Of course. The perfect night for a walk in hip-deep snowdrifts.”

  “Waist-deep by now.”

  “Even worse. Especially with the temperature below freezing.”

  “Just a minor inconvenience.”

  She gave a shake of her head. “Colin Malloy, you’re amazing.”

  He winked. “Why thank you, ma’am.” He shrugged out of his parka and hung it on a coatrack near the reception desk before adding his hat as well.

  Anita studied the ripple of muscle across his back and shoulders. “I hope you took time for dinner before coming all this way.”

  “No time. My mother has her mind set on having you there with the family.”

  “I don’t see how it can happen now.” Anita twisted her hands. “I feel terrible about spoiling all her plans.”

  He stepped closer to put a big palm on her shoulder and absorbed another jolt to his already-charged system. “From what I heard, you had no choice. Wasn’t it an emergency that kept you
here?”

  “It was. Ben Whitfield put his hand through a window and needed stitches.”

  “I know Ben and his pa, Huck. I’m glad you were here to help.”

  “I’m glad, too.” Her smile bloomed. “I know it was Ben who got hurt, but his poor father was suffering every bit as much as his son.”

  “Huck’s a good man. If I were a father, I’d be worried sick if my son put a hand through glass.”

  “Have you ever been married, Colin?”

  “No.” He paused, almost afraid of the question and the answer. “You?”

  She shook her head and he felt his heart begin to beat faster.

  He seemed to realize that he was still touching her. He started to lift his hand away, then, thinking better of it, began running his hand across her shoulder, down her arm. “You warm enough?”

  “Yes. Thanks.” Anita shivered as her body strained toward his. “Oh, Colin, I’m so glad you’re here. Not just because of the break-in, though that had me terrified. And not just because you got the generator going. But I was feeling…” She sighed. “I guess I was feeling sorry for myself. Alone. Afraid. And…”

  “And in a strange new place.” His voice lowered. Softened. “Don’t beat yourself up. You had every right to those feelings. Nobody wants to be alone on Christmas Eve.”

  She felt the warmth of his breath, the strength of his hand as it moved along her arm.

  He was staring at her in a way that had her heart speeding up.

  Without meaning to, she moved closer to him, until their bodies were nearly touching.

  His head dipped slightly.

  Hers lifted in anticipation.

  At a sudden knock on the outer door of the clinic, both heads came up sharply.

  They stepped apart with matching looks of guilt.

  When Anita started toward the door, Colin stopped her with a hand to her arm. “Wait. Let me check it out before you open the door.”

  They walked together to the entrance and peered into the darkness.

  A young man stared back at them, his face pinched with worry. He was holding on to the rope of a toboggan. On it, wrapped in layers of quilts and blankets, was a girl, half-sitting, half-lying, her face mirroring her pain.

  “Oh, Colin. Hurry and unlock the door,” Anita called.

  As soon as he did, she thrust the door open and the man lifted the young woman, blankets and all, from the toboggan and hurried inside.

  “What’s wrong?” Anita stood aside as the young man rushed past her, carrying his burden into the warmth. “What happened to her?”

  Still holding her, the man turned to Anita, noting her white lab coat. “Are you the doctor?”

  “I am.”

  “Thank goodness.” In the light his face appeared even younger. Now that he was no longer frowning, he appeared dangerously close to tears. “We’re having a baby.”

  Chapter Five

  Follow me.” Anita led the way past the reception area and along a hallway toward an examining room, with Colin and the young man following.

  When Colin offered to help with his burden, the boy refused, saying, “It’s okay. She’s not heavy. I’ve got her.”

  The girl clung firmly to the boy, burying her face in his neck.

  Colin held the door and the young man carried her to a bed, setting her down with great care, as if to cushion any further pain.

  Anita was busy washing her hands at the sink. “I’m Dr. Anita Cross, and this is Colin Malloy.”

  “I’m Scott Kelly. This is Carly.”

  “Do you have a last name, Carly?”

  At Anita’s question, the girl glanced hesitantly at Scott before giving a nod. “Carly Jennings.”

  “Carly, I’ll need to examine you to see how far the baby has progressed.” Anita turned to Scott. “If you two gentlemen would step out, I’ll do my exam and you can return and hear the results.”

  Colin led the way out the door and into the hallway before turning to the boy, who was leaning nervously against the wall. “Are you two from around here?”

  Scott shook his head. “We’re both from Timberline.”

  Colin gave the boy a steady look. “That’s a couple of hours from here.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Where were you headed?”

  “To my grandfather’s cabin up in the hills.”

  “Your family having a holiday reunion up there?”

  He shook his head. “We just…thought we’d settle in there for a while.”

  “That’s a pretty remote area. You figured on delivering this baby by yourself?”

  Scott looked down at the floor. “We thought we had a few more weeks before the baby would be here. By then, we’d figure out where we wanted it to be born.”

  “All right, gentlemen. I’ve completed my exam. You can come back now.”

  At Anita’s words, Scott’s head came up sharply and he hurried into the room, with Colin trailing.

  Anita was smiling as she covered her young patient, now wearing a cotton gown, with a blanket. “It’s a good thing you got here when you did, Scott. The baby’s made good progress and is on its way.”

  “On its way?” Scott tensed. “How soon?”

  “I’d say no more than an hour.” She turned to Carly. “While I get a birthing room ready, you have two choices. You can stay here in bed, or if it feels better, you can walk the halls, as long as Scott stays right beside you.”

  “I can walk?” Carly started to swing her legs over the edge of the bed.

  “Hold on.” Anita put a hand on her shoulder and slipped a second gown over the other, to cover her back from neck to ankles. “You can walk only if it relieves some of the pain. And, as I said, only if Scott is right beside you. Any distress, and you get right back to bed and send for me. Agreed?”

  The girl nodded, and Scott hurried over to take her hand.

  With great tenderness, he helped her ease off the edge of the bed. Though her movements were clumsy, she looped an arm through his and walked beside him from the room.

  When they were gone, Anita hurried to a second room and began preparing it for delivery.

  Colin followed behind her. “You okay with this?”

  She arched a brow. “Delivering a baby?”

  “It could get complicated. She’s hardly more than a kid herself.”

  “Seventeen.”

  “She told you that?”

  Anita nodded. “She and Scott are both seventeen and seniors in high school.”

  “And they’re running.”

  Anita slanted him a glance. “He admitted that?”

  “Not in so many words, but it’s pretty easy to figure out.”

  She sighed. “We’ll have plenty of time to get to know them and, hopefully, to hear their story.”

  “I thought you said an hour.”

  She smiled. “Babies have their own particular timetables. They come into this world when they’re ready. Since this is a first and the mother is young, it could be quick and easy or slow and plodding. Until we see how it progresses, all bets are off.”

  She touched a hand to the frown that creased Colin’s forehead. “Getting nervous, cowboy?”

  “You bet. Walking miles through a blizzard is a piece of cake. Birthing a baby isn’t something I’m prepared for.”

  She patted his cheek. “Fortunately for you, I can handle this. And so can that young mother, whether she’s ready or not. All you and Scott have to do is stand on the sidelines and be the cheering section.”

  “If you say so.” When she started to turn away, he drew her back and tilted her face up to his. “I just hope, when all this is over, you’ll remember where we were before we were interrupted.”

  She gave him a smoldering look. “I’m not about to forget.”

  He placed a big, callused hand to her cheek.

  The flare of heat was so stunning, they both looked startled by the unexpected flow of emotions.

  Anita felt her heart take a sudden hard
dip before shifting into high gear. There was such an incredible rush wherever he touched her. What would it be like if he kissed her? The thought of his mouth on hers had little fires starting deep inside.

  How was it possible that right now, when all her thoughts should be centered on the pending birth, the only thing she could think about was Colin and the way he made her feel?

  Maybe because he was so much more than any man she’d ever known. The fact that he was here, in a driving blizzard, proved that he was steady as a rock. The sort of man she would trust in time of need. Still, there was something raw and earthy about him that had her heart stuttering with barely contained excitement. He was so cool. So self-contained. A man’s man, accustomed to forging his own trails. And here he was, making her feel as if she were the only woman in the world, and he was thrilled to spend his Christmas Eve in a medical clinic.

  “If we were alone…”

  His words had her breath backing up in her throat and her heart hammering in her temples. “Why don’t you tell me what you’d do if we were alone.”

  “For openers, I’d do this.” He lowered his face to hers and covered her lips with a kiss that had her heart stuttering.

  Oh, the man knew how to kiss. How to make a woman feel special, cherished. She was enveloped in those strong arms while his mouth moved over hers in the most delicious kiss that had all the breath backing up in her throat as a fire began deep inside.

  “And then I’d…” His hands moved along her sides, causing the heat to build as his thumbs encountered the soft swell of her breasts. Her nipples hardened instantly, and she couldn’t stop the little gasp that escaped her lips.

  “If we were alone, I’d already have you out of these clothes so I could just take my time looking at you. You’re so beautiful, you take my breath away. I’m thinking a lifetime wouldn’t be long enough to get my fill of looking at you.”

  She ran her palms up his arms, across his shoulders. “You’re easy on the eye, too, cowboy. I think I like hearing all the things you’d do if we were alone.”

  “That’s just the start of it. Next I’d—”

  “Dr. Cross!”