The Cowgirl's Christmas Gift (Last Chance Ranch Book 1)

by Deb Kastner

  And she was quite literally holding his nephews by their collars, one on each side of her, lifting them nearly off the ground.

  “Your nephews?” she said again, although with the deadpan way she spoke the words, they weren’t exactly a question. More like a reminder of where his focus was supposed to be.

  On his nephews, not on the beautiful woman at the door.

  “Y-yes. Right. Umm. Right. Yes,” he stammered.

  She narrowed her eyes on him, her gaze momentarily flicking to his VR apparatus before settling back on his face.

  “You did know they were outside playing, right?”

  “Playing,” he repeated, looking from one of his nephews to the other, thoroughly flummoxed. “Yes, yes, they were playing, but—er--.” He paused. “Silas, Sebastian, what where you doing outside?”

  “Please tell me you knew they were wandering around outside on their own.” The woman cocked her head, her gaze never leaving his.

  Cam removed his VR glasses and gloves and tossed them onto the accent table next to the front door and then ran a palm back through his hair.

  “To be honest, I thought they were inside the house playing video games.”

  He couldn’t blame her for the flash of judgement that crossed her expression. How could he have gotten so wrapped up in his own work that he hadn’t realized his nephews were no longer inside the house? It was a ginormous house, but that was no excuse.

  Some kind of permanent guardian he was turning out to be. He was failing on every conceivable level—except maybe for the pancakes he made every morning for breakfast. Those seemed to be a hit with the boys.

  If only his sister Lynda had been able to get her life together. But she hadn’t, and now she was in jail and the twins were with him.

  Full Stop.

  Except not so much a full stop, because there was currently a stranger—a female stranger--standing on his front porch waiting for—something.

  He supposed he did owe her an explanation for bringing the twins home safely—even if he had to suffer through an awkward and uncomfortable encounter.

  He stepped back and opened the door wider. “P-please. Come in.”

  Her dark reddish-brown eyebrows rose but she silently stepped into the foyer. He turned to follow her and nearly ran her over. She’d frozen, quite literally gaping at the sparkling chandeliers and high ceilings.

  Heat flooded his face. It didn’t take a genius with two doctorates to know what she was thinking.

  The house was ridiculous in every respect, especially for a single man. Or even a single man with twin boys.

  Especially out in the middle of nowhere, Wyoming. Cam still wondered what idiot had built the monstrosity in the first place. And even worse, why he was living in it.

  He gestured her into the nearest room, a living room of sorts with tons of modern furniture and a large wood fireplace with a mantle lining the back wall. “Take a seat anywhere you like.”

  CHAPTER 2

  M aisey’s gaze dropped to the state of her clothes and then rose to meet his. “I’m covered with dust and horse—er—hair, she stammered. I don’t want to get any of your furniture dirty.”

  She shouldn’t even be standing in this house, much less sitting on the furnishings. She’d done what she’d come here to do--bring the two errant boys home. Now it was time for her to go back to the tiny ranch house she shared with her mother and three sisters and forget all about the high ceilings and sparkling chandelier which had greeted her upon entering Cam’s house.

  But she had to admit she was curious about her new, apparently very wealthy, neighbor.

  He wasn’t anything like she’d anticipated. He most definitely wasn’t Hollywood, A-list or otherwise. He didn’t even look rich, at least not anything like what Maisey thought of when she pictured a man with money, not that she really knew what she’d expected a man with money to look like.

  Cam appeared more like he was a…geek. A man whom, despite the fact that it was mid-November in Wyoming, was wearing mismatched plaid walking shorts and a glaringly fluorescent orange t-shirt with the name and logo of some robotic company or other on it. Thanks to pulling off the VR glasses the way he had, his dark hair stood up like a mad scientist’s and he had at least three days’ growth of beard on his face. Even his sneakers looked like they had seen better days.

  Scruffy. That was the right word for him.

  And the moment he’d opened the door with those silly VR glasses on? They had magnified his sky-blue eyes to about four times their regular size. He’d looked like something straight out of Disney’s WALL-E. It was all she could do not to crack up when she’d seen him like that.

  He was probably one of those computer tech guys who created and sold multi-million-dollar companies over breakfast each morning.

  Man, what she could do with even a tenth of the money that had gone into this house, never mind the upkeep.

  How many horses would she be able to save with those kinds of funds? Was it a sin to be envious if it was for a good reason?

  “I’m Cameron Flynn,” he said as he gestured her to an armchair and seated himself on a sofa. “Don’t worry about the furniture. It really doesn’t matter to me.”

  Seeing he was completely serious about his statement, she chuckled. Maybe she ought to ask him if she could sell some of it for charity.

  “You’re the boys’ Uncle Cam?”

  He nodded. “I just moved into the area a couple of weeks ago, and the boys have only been here for a few days.”

  “You moved here from…California?” she deduced.

  His jaw dropped. “Uh…y-yeah. How did you know?”

  She chuckled and pointed at each item as she listed it. “Educated guess. VR glasses, robot t-shirt, shorts in the middle of winter. Silicon Valley, right?”

  His gaze flicked down to his clothing and then back up again. As if suddenly aware he was gaping, he snapped his jaw closed.

  “The boys mentioned their mother is in jail,” she said, looking around for family pictures. There were none. “No other family in the picture?”

  Color bloomed on his face, starting with the neckline of his t-shirt and rising to the top of his forehead.

  “No, there’s j-just me,” he stammered, coughing. “My sister, she—”

  “I’m sorry,” Maisey interrupted. “That was totally rude of me. The boys probably shouldn’t have mentioned it to me and I definitely oughtn’t have said anything. It’s none of my business.”

  “Maybe not, but I hope it helps you understand how I accidentally—er—let my nephews slip through my fingers today. I have zero experience with children. I barely know my nephews at all and now I’m their permanent guardian. I had them all set up with a video game in the TV room next to where I was working. That’s what I used to like to do when I was their age. At least, I think it was. I don’t really remember. I had no idea they would take it upon themselves to go play outdoors, and I was absolutely floored when you showed up at the door with them in your grasp.”

  Maisey laughed at the way he was rambling. “How old are the twins?”

  “Six.”

  “Six-year-old little boys need fresh air and sunshine.” She internally rolled her eyes. Here she was giving him advice as if she was some kind of expert on the subject. She didn’t know the first thing about what little boys needed.

  Evidently, neither did Cam.

  “Right.” He clasped his hands in front of him and dropped his gaze to the white carpet. “The truth is, Ms.--?”

  “Maisey. Maisey Gray. I’m your next-door neighbor to the west.”

  “Well, Maisey, the truth is, I don’t know what six-year-old boys need or want. I was thrown into this situation rather suddenly. As the boys told you, their mother—my sister—is serving a prison sentence. Her third, unfortunately, so the chances of being released are slim to none. I’m the only family the boys have, and so I have applied to become their permanent guardian.”

  “Wow. Insta-Daddy. I
can’t even imagine.” She had to give the guy props—and a break. He’d been put between a rock and a hard place and had stepped up to the challenge—the honorable thing, even though he was clearly underprepared for the role.

  “It’s not ideal. And neither is this house.” He frowned and scrubbed a hand through his already messy brown hair. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to keep track of them in this ginormous place. I have important work to do here and I can’t always be--”

  “Wait a sec. You almost sound as if you didn’t know how big the house was when you bought it.”

  He shrugged and scoffed softly. “I didn’t. I was tired of all the crowds, all the noise, in Silicon Valley. I just want to be left alone. Like I said—I’m doing important work here. I don’t like to be interrupted. I don’t really like…”

  He wound down his sentence without finishing it.

  “People?” Maisey suggested, only half teasing.

  The cherry flush of color that rose on his face clashed with the vibrant orange of his shirt.

  “Er—yes,” he admitted. “I know I should have been more involved in the decision on which house to choose, but I allowed my real estate agent a free rein, and this,” he gestured around him, “is what I got. Maybe I should have been a bit more specific regarding my wants and needs.”

  Maisey lifted a hand to her mouth to hide a smile. Cameron Flynn must be the only person on the planet who would actually complain about having to live in a McMansion. Oh, to have his problems.

  “You definitely got taken. It looks to me like your real estate agent was more interested in his cut than your conditions.”

  Maisey didn’t think it was possible for Cam’s face to turn any redder, but somehow his color deepened even more. “I---I---y-yeah.” He breathed out deeply. “But I figured at least it was quiet and I wouldn’t be bothered here. And then, well…” He nodded his head toward the corner where the twins were playing on a tablet.

  “Buh-bye, peace and quiet.” This time she did chuckle.

  He cringed. “I know that makes me sound like a terrible person.”

  “On the contrary. You’re putting your own needs aside for the sake of your nephews. I think that’s highly commendable.”

  “Oh, no. N-not at all. I didn’t think a family was in my future because—well--” He paused. “I guess it doesn’t matter what I thought. I’m a dad now, and somehow I have to learn how to be a good one.”

  Her heart warmed at the sincerity gleaming from his eyes. “So what are your plans for the boys, then? You’ll have to put them in school, either here or I guess you could do boarding school. We have a great school system here locally, but Christmas break is coming up in a couple of weeks. Maybe get a nanny for them in the meantime?”

  “I—I—I don’t think I want them to be raised by a nanny, and I’m definitely not sending them away to school. They’ve had enough upheaval in their little lives and they deserve better than that. But I’m not sure I’m going to be enough to—”

  “Well, use the holiday to think about it. I figure by the beginning of the new year they’ll have driven you so crazy you’ll be wanting to move them to Mars.”

  “Really?” His gaze met and locked with hers, and she didn’t see one single grain of amusement in his blue eyes. The poor man looked terrified.

  “No, not really. I’m kidding, silly. I can’t claim to be an expert on children, but I suspect they’ll grow on you.”

  “Y-yes. Right.”

  “Got big plans for Thanksgiving?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “Thanksgiving?”

  “Yeah, you know. The holiday with turkey and pumpkin pie? The one where you give thanks for all God has done in your life?”

  “I—”

  “Forgot about Thanksgiving?” Cam was truly the strangest man she’d ever met. He was clearly a genius in some regards. His IQ was probably double hers. And yet he was probably the least down-to-earth person she’d ever met. It was as if he lived somewhere within the morphed reality of those VR glasses she’d seen him in earlier. Real life kept thunking him on the side of the head as if out of nowhere.

  “Well, let’s see. It’s Tuesday, so you’ve still got tomorrow to go get all the fixings from the grocery store to do everything up. But of course that’s assuming you would be making the whole meal yourself. Do you even cook? You could get takeout and refrigerate it.”

  His mouth was moving but no words emerged.

  “Or,” she said as an idea came to her, “you and the boys could come over and be a guest at our ranch. It’s just me, my three sisters and my mom. And of course, the horses. I can introduce you to Butterscotch, the horse the boys frightened today.” Her voice rose with enthusiasm as the idea grew on her.

  His gaze widened with panic. He scrubbed a hand through his hair again, a gesture Maisey was already beginning to recognize as a nervous tell on his part. It made him look even more like a mad scientist, as if he didn’t already give off that vibe.

  “It’s settled then,” she said when it was clear he wasn’t going to give her an answer either way. He’d clearly forgotten Thanksgiving was coming up and she’d just solved his problem for him. “Boys,” she called. “You and your Uncle Cam are going to come to our house for Thanksgiving dinner, okay?”

  “With Turkey?” Sebastian asked.

  “And pie?” Silas added.

  “Of course.” Maisey laughed. “We’ll have a huge turkey. You can even have seconds if you want. And don’t get me started on the pie. My mom makes all kinds. What is your favorite?”

  “Cherry,” Sebastian said.

  “Chocolate,” added Silas.

  Two of her mother’s specialties. She switched her gaze to Cam and grinned. “And for you?”

  “Oh—you don’t have to take special orders on our account.”

  “Trust me. My mom will be over the moon to have the opportunity to do some extra baking. She’s completely addicted to the food channel on TV. So, what’s your poison?”

  He smiled, and for the first time, it really reached his eyes. Nervous or not, the man clearly loved pie.

  “Surprise me,” he said. “I’ll eat anything.”

  ***

  Thanksgiving brought Cam and the boys to the Gray’s property, Last Chance Ranch, to celebrate a holiday he hadn’t taken notice of in years.

  It wasn’t that he objected to holidays in general. But when you lived alone and your best buddies were all on the other end of a gaming platform…

  Not exactly the makings of a hang-around-the-table-and-count-your-blessings holiday. Sometimes he participated in a good MMORPG multiplayer while eating his frozen turkey dinner. He wasn’t the only socially-awkward hermit computer geek trying to get through the holidays without thinking about family and everything he was missing.

  Then the twins had come into his life. They wanted—and deserved—real turkey with all the trimmings and everything that went along with that. And it wasn’t just the food, either. Cam wanted to provide Sebastian and Silas with the family times he and his sister had never experienced growing up in a single-mother household. His mom had always been looking for her next fix—a trait she’d unfortunately handed down to her daughter, Cam’s sister Lynda.

  While the Grays ranch house was small, especially in comparison to Cam’s place, it was alive with warmth and personality. Family pictures of Maisey’s mom Claudia and Maisey and her three sisters graced nearly every wall and accent table. Prayers of blessing were cross-stitched with love and care. Everywhere Cam looked, the ranch house had a personal touch, from the country kitchen with embroidered dish towels to the quilt on the bed where Maisey directed him to put his and the twins’ coats when they’d first arrived. It even smelled like the country, of sage and evergreen.

  When the meal was ready, the Grays, Cam and the twins gathered around a large oak dining room table covered with food-channel-TV-worthy platters of food with scents that made his mouth water with anticipation. He couldn’t wait to dig i
nto the homecooked country meal.

  Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best, although Cam wasn’t wearing a tie, seeing as he didn’t own one. Maisey had, thankfully, tipped him off on that tradition or he and the twins might be wearing ratty jeans and t-shirts to the elegant dinner.

  Naturally, Claudia claimed the head of the long, oblong table and, to Cam’s surprise, seated Silas and Sebastian next to her, one on her right side and one on her left. Then the four sisters split, two on each side, leaving Cam with only one choice—the chair at the foot of the table, which was the last place he wanted to be.

  The boys were especially wiggly and loud and, as usual, were playing right on the verge of out of control. Out of the corner of his eye, Cam caught Sebastian trying to sneak a brownie off a dessert plate without anyone catching him.

  The Gray sisters’ mother Claudia, who had already insisted the boys adopt her as their honorary Granny, had likewise witnessed Sebastian’s misdemeanor and spoke up before Cam had the chance to so much as formulate his thoughts. He knew the boys needed discipline and a strong male role model. He should have been the one to discipline Sebastian for his poor behavior. But they’d already been through so much in their young lives. How could he not want to cut them a break?

  “Young man,” Claudia said, catching Sebastian’s attention. “Have we said grace and thanked the good Lord for His blessings over the food yet?”

  Sebastian dropped his shoulders—and the brownie—and shook his head.

  “What was that?” Claudia asked, gently nudging Sebastian’s chin up with the tip of her forefinger.

  “No.” The little boy’s voice cracked.

  “No, what?” the newly christened Granny Gray urged.

  Sebastian’s blue-eyed gaze widened to epic proportions as he searched for the secret password that would get him out from under his honorary Granny’s firm but tender gaze.

  “No—thank you?” he guessed.

  The entire Gray clan burst into laughter. Cam couldn’t help but join them.

  Poor Sebastian. His face was the shade of the beets on the table.