Wyoming Winter--A Small-Town Christmas Romance

by Diana Palmer

  “She’s precocious,” Colie laughed. “She constantly amazes me. She knows her alphabet and her colors and numbers already. She’s in prekindergarten back in Texas...” Her voice trailed off. There were so many connections back there.

  “They have a very good Presbyterian preschool right here in Catelow,” he pointed out. “And you can Skype with your cousins.”

  “Yes. I can do that.”

  He caught her hand in his and kissed the palm hungrily. “I’ll never let go again, Colie,” he said huskily. “I promise you that!”

  She touched his lean cheek with the tips of her fingers. “It’s been so long, J.C.,” she said sadly.

  “Too long,” he agreed. “Your father missed you, too. He thought I was the reason you wouldn’t come back, at first. But then, he paid more attention to Rodney and what he was up to, and he came up with another scenario. He thought you’d been threatened, and that’s why you didn’t come home.”

  “He was right. I couldn’t tell him,” she said, her eyes sad. “It would have put him right on the firing line. I would have told you, if things had been different. That’s what I planned to do, but Rodney made sure I couldn’t.”

  J.C.’s silver eyes flashed. “I did finally realize that you’d never have sold me out like that.” He winced. “But by the time I came to my senses, you were already married. If it hadn’t been for your father, I think I’d have gone mad.”

  “Playing chess with Daddy,” she said, and laughed. “I didn’t believe that, at first.”

  “He figured I wasn’t a complete lost cause, and he got to work on me.” He shook his head. “I never knew anyone like him. He was the closest thing to a father I’ve ever known. I’d have done anything for him. Anything in the world.”

  “He was very special,” she agreed.

  There was a brief silence of shared grief. He pulled her up into his arms and held her as closely as he dared. He didn’t want to make her any more uncomfortable than the wound already did.

  “We start over, right here,” J.C. said softly. “And from now on, if you tell me the sky is green with cherry blossoms in it, I’ll believe you without proof.”

  She grinned. “Okay.”

  He bent his head and brushed her soft lips with his hard ones. “And I will love you,” he whispered into her mouth, “until the stars go out. And forever after, Colie.”

  Tears rained down her face. “I never stopped loving you,” she whispered back. “I couldn’t. It was only you. Only you, my whole life...!”

  His mouth stopped the words. He held her face between his warm hands and kissed her until her mouth was sore and her face flushed.

  He lifted his head and looked into her eyes, the tension so sweet and thick that it was almost tangible.

  And in the middle of that soulful exchange, a little voice called from the next room, “Mommy, I dropped my sock in the cubbymode!”

  “So now you know all about parenthood,” Colie teased him.

  He shrugged. “It’s just a sock. We can buy her lots of new ones.”

  “Last week, she flushed two washcloths down the ‘cubbymode,’” she informed him. “It took the plumber fifteen minutes to get the toilet working again.”

  “Scientific curiosity,” he said, defending his child. “She likes to experiment.”

  She grinned. “In that case, since you’re in a nesting mood, suppose we go to the courthouse in the morning and get one of those license thingies?”

  “I would love that,” he said.

  She sighed, pressing against him. “I would, too. But before we can get married, we have to have a funeral. And somewhere out there is my brother, running from the law. There’s also a drug lord who may have a very long reach, even in prison.”

  “Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow,” he advised, kissing her forehead. “Tonight, we have a sock in the cubbymode to handle.”

  “You first,” she offered.

  He laughed and went to fish out the offending object. Inside, he felt like a man who’d won the lottery. He’d never expected her to feel the same way she had about him, much less agree to take a second chance on him. He was never going to fail her again, no matter what!

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  THE FUNERAL WAS quiet and dignified, just as Jared Thompson himself had been. The assistant minister at the Methodist church led the service. He spoke of Jared’s kindness, his love for his congregation, his love for the church.

  There were songs, the ones Jared had loved most. When the choir sang “Amazing Grace,” Colie burst into tears. J.C. slid an arm around her shoulders and drew her close. Ludie, on his other side, was also pressed close. It was the nearest thing to a family J.C. had ever known. He missed her father. He’d turned J.C.’s life around with his quiet, patient counsel. Now, looking back, J.C. would have given anything to be able to start over with Colie, at the very beginning of their turbulent relationship, when he went to supper at the Thompson home and asked her out for the first time. But that wasn’t possible. He had to move forward, and do all he could to take care of her and his daughter.

  Colie seemed to feel that regret in him. She looked up at him and smiled tenderly through her tears. He smiled back.

  Her father had been a military veteran, so there was an honor guard and a flag, which was reverently folded up when it was removed from the casket. The officer handed it to her, with his condolences.

  * * *

  THEY BURIED JARED on a hill overlooking the distant peaks of the Teton Mountains, snowcapped and beautiful.

  Little Ludie didn’t even fidget during the graveside service. She sat between her mother and father and listened quietly to the brief prayers.

  The new minister, the former assistant pastor, Marvin Compton, paused beside Colie to offer condolences.

  “He was a wonderful man,” he told her. “It was a privilege to be in his life.”

  “It was for me, too,” Colie said with a sad smile.

  “Gimpa in heaven,” Ludie said. She smiled at the minister, too. “Gimpa with Grandma.”

  “That’s what I think, too, little lady.” He smiled back. “You two planning to come to Sunday services?”

  “I am,” Colie said. “I don’t know about...” She looked at J.C. warily.

  “I meant you and Ludie,” the minister chuckled. “J.C.’s in the front pew every Sunday,” he added, surprising Colie, who just stared at him.

  “Second row,” J.C. corrected. “Your kids take up most of the front pew,” he teased.

  Marvin chuckled. “Well, them and my wife and my mother and my mother-in-law,” he agreed. “We think it’s a great church.”

  “So did Daddy,” Colie replied. “And, yes, Ludie and I will be coming with J.C. from now on. I joined the church when I was just fifteen,” she added.

  “Your father told me,” the minister said. “J.C. joined two years ago.”

  That was news. Faintly shocking news. She looked up at the man beside her with the surprise in her face.

  He shrugged. “Your father was very persuasive,” he said simply.

  She grinned.

  There was a faint, ruddy flush on his high cheekbones, but he smiled, too.

  “Then we’ll see you Sunday. And again, I’m so sorry, Colie,” Marvin repeated.

  “Thanks, Reverend.”

  The family left first, but they didn’t go far. There were friends and neighbors who wanted to express their own condolences. Among them were J.C.’s boss, Ren Colter, and his wife, Merrie, and their little boy, barely walking now.

  “He was a fine man, Colie,” Ren said gently. “We all know where he went.”

  “Yes, we do,” Merrie agreed. She grinned at Ludie and wrinkled her nose. “I’m painting you,” she said, “with your dad.”

  “I know!
It’s so pretty,” Ludie added to her mother. “She draws nice!”

  “I knew that already,” Colie told the child. “I can’t wait to see it,” she said to Merrie. “It’s so kind of you. The one you did of J.C. is just awesome.”

  “He was a fascinating subject,” Merrie said.

  “Not on a par with the East Coast gangster, however,” Ren said, tongue in cheek. “Saved her life, painting that one.”

  “I remember,” J.C. said. “Those were dark times.”

  “So. Are we invited to the wedding?” Ren teased.

  “You know you are. This Sunday, at 2:00 p.m. at the church.”

  “Yes,” Marvin said, clapping Ren on the shoulder. “I’m officiating.”

  “We expect half of Catelow to show up,” Ren added. “Nobody could believe that he was actually going to get married,” he said, nodding toward J.C.

  J.C. caught Colie’s hand in his. “Instant family, just add rings,” he chuckled, looking down at his daughter, who was beaming at him.

  “Where does she get that red hair?” Marvin wondered.

  “From my mother,” J.C. replied. “She was from Dublin. She had curly red-gold hair, just like Ludie’s, and pale gray eyes. I inherited the eyes.”

  “Your father had dark hair, I presume?” Marvin asked innocently.

  Colie braced herself for his response. J.C. didn’t speak of his father.

  But J.C. didn’t blow up at the man. “He was Blackfoot,” he told the man. He hesitated. “I’ve blamed him for everything that went wrong in my life. Colie’s father taught me that vengeance is a dead end, that resentment is a wound that festers.” He shrugged. “I’ve had a private detective looking for him,” he confessed. “I’d like to mend fences, before he dies, if he hasn’t already.”

  “My other gimpa got collar,” Ludie interrupted. “Got a collar.” She yawned.

  J.C. shook his head. The child was tired and not making sense, either. “We’d better go. Somebody needs a nap.”

  “I noticed.” Marvin shook hands with them. So did Ren. Merrie hugged everyone. “We’ll see you Sunday at church,” Merrie said, “and we’ll stay for the wedding,” she added with soft laughter.

  “We’ll be there,” Colie promised. “All of us,” she added, looking up at J.C. with adoring eyes.

  * * *

  THE WEDDING WAS not only well attended, there was a newspaper reporter and a photographer there to record the ceremony.

  Colie, in a neat white suit and a hat with a veil, was surprised at the coverage. She saw Ren Colter grinning and figured he had something to do with it. But she was too happy to care about any publicity. After all, they lived in Catelow. It was natural that the community would want to know that one of their own—two, if you counted J.C.—was getting married.

  Lucy served as matron of honor, along with Ren’s wife, Merrie, and Ludie was the flower girl, precious in a lacy white dress carrying a basket of white rose petals. As Colie stood beside J.C., resplendent in a dark suit, she thought over the past few years of her life and how sad they’d been. She couldn’t help remembering the prophecy her grandmother had told her, the one that meshed so perfectly with the one J.C.’s grandmother had given him years ago. A long sadness, followed by great joy. She looked up at him and felt the joy, like a silky wrap around her body. It was reflected in the green eyes that met J.C.’s loving gray ones.

  The minister pronounced them man and wife. J.C. bent and lifted the veil. He looked into her eyes for a long moment before he bent and kissed her reverently, one big hand caressing her rosy cheek.

  Her fingers brushed over his. She smiled with her whole heart.

  The strains of the “Wedding March” began again, the signal for them to leave the church, down the aisle, where a group of people were waiting to congratulate them. Colie couldn’t have stopped smiling to save her life.

  “Happy?” J.C. asked on the way to the fellowship hall where the reception was being held.

  “So happy,” she said softly. “It’s been a long, long road here, J.C.”

  He nodded. “But a sweet rest at the end of it.” He glanced down at his daughter, grinned and lifted her up into his arms. “Instant family, just add rings,” he chuckled, echoing what he’d said before.

  “My daddy.” Ludie sighed, and rested her little cheek on J.C.’s broad shoulder.

  J.C. hugged her close. “My angel,” he replied, kissing her red-gold curls.

  Watching them together, Colie could hardly believe the expression on the face of a man who’d sworn he wanted nothing to do with kids.

  “Congratulations, you two,” Lucy said with a grin. She had her son in her arms. Her husband, Ben, beside her, was smiling as he echoed her sentiments.

  “Thank you for everything, Lucy,” Colie said softly.

  “You’re very welcome. I hope...” She stopped and looked past them at an approaching figure. It was Cody Banks, in his sheriff’s uniform. He looked grim.

  “Oh, dear,” Lucy murmured.

  Colie turned and ground her teeth together. She searched for J.C.’s free hand and held it tight.

  “Sorry,” Cody said gently as he approached them. “It’s a happy occasion and I don’t want to taint it, but I’d rather you heard this from me before you saw it on Facebook, or Twitter,” he added.

  “Shoot,” Colie said, steeling herself.

  “We have your brother in custody.”

  She grimaced.

  “It’s not quite as bad as it sounds,” he added quickly. “He actually turned himself in, and he’s turning state’s evidence against Barry Todd.”

  “Rod?” Colie exclaimed.

  “That’s the Rod I knew overseas,” J.C. said quietly. “He lost his way. But it seems he’s found the path again.”

  “Yes, he has,” the sheriff agreed. He smiled at Colie. “He’ll still have to serve time,” he told her, “but he’s sure to get a reduced sentence. It will help us get Todd off the streets for good.”

  “What a lovely thought.” Colie sighed. She smiled at Banks. “And I didn’t get you anything,” she teased.

  “I love chocolate pound cake,” he suggested.

  “That will be the first thing on my list after my job interview tomorrow,” she promised.

  “What job interview?” J.C. asked.

  “Lucy’s bosses are going to try and fit me in doing my old job,” she explained, as Lucy nodded enthusiastically. “Their other administrative assistant has an aging mother in Montana and wants to go and take care of her. That will leave a job available.”

  J.C. smiled. “You can stay home, if you want to,” he told her. “It wouldn’t work a hardship on the family budget.”

  “You’re sweet, but I’ve always worked,” she pointed out. “It makes me feel useful, to do a job like I do. People who come into law offices are usually scared or sad or angry. I like helping them get through the process.”

  “She’s very good at consoling terrified people,” Lucy said.

  “Whatever you want to do, honey,” J.C. said gently, smiling down at her. “I’m behind you, all the way.”

  She leaned against him and rested her head on his broad chest. “That goes double for me,” she replied.

  “Want cake, Mommy,” Ludie said. “Please?”

  They all chuckled. “Okay, sprout, let’s see what kind they’ve got,” J.C. agreed, leading the way into the fellowship hall.

  * * *

  IT WAS A NOISY, joyful reception, even with the sad news about Colie’s brother.

  “At least he’s finally doing something right,” Colie mentioned to J.C. as they were sipping champagne for photographs.

  “I like the idea of Todd going away for a hundred years or so,” J.C. said icily.

  “Me, too, but it’s probably
going to be more like ten.” Colie sighed.

  “I wish we could go back and start over, sweetheart,” J.C. said with heartfelt emotion. “I’d give anything to start over with you.”

  She touched his chin with her forefinger. “We’re starting over right now,” she pointed out. “One day at a time.”

  He sighed and drew her close. “I wish we had time for a honeymoon...”

  “Every day will be a honeymoon, for the next forty years or so,” she interrupted. She smiled up at him. “Honest.”

  He laughed. “Okay, then.”

  * * *

  IT WAS LATE when they got back home. Snow was falling lightly. Ludie was asleep in the back seat and had to be carried inside. She woke only briefly, when Colie was changing her into a gown before she slid the sleepy child under the covers.

  “Gimpa got collar,” Ludie repeated sleepily.

  Colie had no idea what she meant. She just smiled and kissed the rosy little cheeks. “Sleep tight, my baby.”

  Ludie smiled and went right back to sleep.

  * * *

  A FEW WEEKS LATER, when she was released by her doctor after the surgery following the gunshot wound, Colie was steeling herself to cope with what was going to happen next.

  In spite of the tender kisses and caresses that accompanied her path to healing, she was still a little apprehensive when the lights went out in J.C.’s bedroom. She loved J.C., but this had been an unpleasant part of their relationship, just the same.

  “It’s okay,” he said softly as his mouth found hers. “You have to trust me, this once.”

  She felt stiff and unresponsive, but she forced her rigid body to relax. “It won’t hurt?” she blurted out.

  He laughed softly. “I told you. I’ve been reading books...”

  She gasped as he touched her in a new way.

  “Just relax,” he whispered. “Come on, now, honey. Relax, that’s it.”

  The things he was doing to her made her body sing. She’d never even read about some of them in her romance novels. Of course, the books she liked weren’t the wild permissive ones with graphic details. She liked sweet romances...!

  Her body arched off the bed and she made a sound she’d never heard come out of her own throat. She writhed under the slow, deep caresses. All the while, his mouth teased hers, coaxed it open, penetrated it in slow, deep thrusts.