Christmas In Montana (Treasures of The Rockies)

by Eason, Mary

  Christmas In Montana

  Book Four of Treasures Of The Rockies Series

  By

  Mary Eason

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Mary Eason

  Copyright © 2013 by Mary Eason

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to the author and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoy Cara and Jase's love story as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. Christmas In Montana is the fourth book in the series, Treasures Of The Rockies.

  At the end of their story, I’ve included sample chapters from the three previous books in the Treasures Of The Rockies Series.

  In Standing On The Edge Of Goodbye – Book One of Treasures Of The Rockies, Matt Stevens is finished with life. Grieving the death of his son, Matt withdraws from humanity, sequestering himself in a mountain cabin far from the reaches of anything human, anything that may remind him of the life he can no longer have. That is, until Kate Alexander arrives on his doorstep and begins to strip away the bitterness he carries in his heart.

  In A Family For Christmas – Book Two of Treasures Of The Rockies, Rachel Peters thought she’d left the past along with all of her mistakes behind in Austin after her brief marriage to childhood sweetheart Jack Bryant ended with an annulment and a broken heart. Now, Rachel must face the man she still loves once again in order to save her son’s life. But can she believe Jack when he tells her he’s not the man he once was. And more importantly, can she trust him when her son’s life hangs in the balance?

  In Capturing the Prodigal’s Heart – Book Three of Treasures Of The Rockies, When Faith Michaels is caught in the sudden snowstorm on a deserted mountain road, she has no idea how quickly her life is about to change. Brady Samuels never expected a simple act of kindness to turn his life around from a carefree screw-up to an unexpected hero.

  And coming Spring of 2014, Saving Grace – Book Fiver of Treasures Of The Rockies will come out. Saving Grace will be the final book in the series, but don't worry, Saving Grace will be the first book in a new series entitled, The Delaney Mountain Series.

  Nothing is too great for God to forgive, but sometimes forgiving yourself isn’t so easy.

  Two years earlier, Grace Dupre’s life was perfect until her husband passed away Nick passed away and Grace turned to her husband's brother for comfort. When Grace discovers she is pregnant and overcome with guilt, she moves to Delaney Mountain, Colorado for a fresh start, never expecting to see Nick's brother again.

  Torn by the way he treated his brother's widow, Kyle Delaney leaves Colorado in his past. But when he makes a promise to his dying father to make Delaney Ranch a working cattle ranch again, Kyle uproots his life in Dallas and returned to Delaney Mountain Colorado only to find, Grace, the woman who was unknowingly responsible for bringing him back to God, now lives in Delaney Mountain.

  Can Grace and Kyle each let go of their guilt and accept the second chance at happiness God has given them, or will old insecurities stand in the way of love?

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my mother, Maudie and my father- in-law, MJ who went home to be with the Lord last year. God’s gain, our loss. We miss you both terribly but we know that one day we’ll see you again in Heaven, thanks be to God.

  Chapter One

  The snow started as she reached Carson City, Nevada and it followed her all the way north to the Montana border. There, puffy snowflakes had promptly turned to foreboding pellets of sleet.

  Cara Stevens turned off the main highway onto the county road that dissected downtown Cartwright, Montana a small town at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The windshield wipers of her battered SUV could no longer keep up with the onslaught of winter weather.

  Just outside of town lay the deserted stretch of county road that would take her home.

  Another five miles. Almost there.

  Almost home.

  The further she drove in the storm, the more the tiny Explorer skidded along the glassy pavement. The first of November was too early in the year for a storm like this in Montana.

  She’d checked the weather carefully before leaving Paradise, California. The radio announcers said the storm had taken everyone by surprise. Snow she could handle, ice was another danger entirely.

  Cara slowed the SUV’s speed to a crawl. At this time of the year, darkness descended quickly over the Montana horizon. There wasn’t another soul in sight tonight. Not the place to lose control.

  It had been a little more than six months since she spent her last night here in Cartwright. Still, she couldn’t think about that night and Jase’s betrayal and not want to fall apart. She couldn’t fall apart. She’d done that already. She was barely hanging on.

  Memories both bitter and sweet washed over her as she drove through the familiar streets of what had once been her hometown. Her aunt hadn’t lived in the town in more than a year, the house she’d once cherished had sat abandoned all that time, and yet it seemed as if nothing had really changed in that year except for Cara herself.

  Funny, she was the one who’d clung to her aunt and Cartwright while Jase couldn’t wait to shake the Montana dust from his boots.

  Cara scarcely remembered the naïve girl she’d been when a childhood crush turned to love and the man she adored made all her dreams seem possible just by asking her to marry him. They’d gotten married shortly before her twenty-third birthday. A few weeks later, she’d learned her aunt had terminal cancer. And then her world collapsed. She thought burying her aunt was the hardest moment of her life until she’d learned of Jase’s betrayal.

  She forced those memories back to the dark recesses of her mind and made another circle around the town square for old time’s sake.

  Just let go. Let God take it...

  She couldn’t think about Jase now or she’d lose the tiny bit of courage she clung to, turn the car around, and head back to Paradise. To the empty life, she’d left behind there.

  Father, please, help me stay strong…

  It didn’t matter that she’d lost her job a few months back, her savings had dwindled to nothing, and she’d come close to being homeless. All those things would be a welcomed fate compared to facing Jase again. Not that she needed to worry. By now, Jase would have sold the ranch and moved on with his life. With any luck, she would never have to face him or their past.

  Not much had changed downtown through the years. A burger joint replaced the ice cream parlor. The five-and-dime had long ago disappeared. In its place, a furniture store that barely had a pulse in the current economy. The only notable change in all the years was when the dress shop Cara had loved so much as a gangly teenager converted into a grocery store. For the most part, time stood still for Cartwright.

  Even though it was barely six, not a single soul roamed the sidewalks this cold night. The nasty weather kept most people off the streets. As sleet continued to assault the windshield, the last of the town’s businesses, a burned-out brick storefront that had once housed Noack’s Hardware came into view.

  Cara left Cartwright behind and turned onto the blacktop farm-to-market road leading to her aunt’s home.

  Aunt Maudie would have loved her adventurous spirit as much as she would have hated Cara’s rush to end her marriage to Jase. Her aunt believed in the power of prayer. On waiting
for God’s answer. On letting go and letting God handle things that seemed impossible. Aunt Maudie would have encouraged her to pray. Yet when her prayers hadn’t worked and Jase’s drinking had gotten out of hand, putting distance between herself and her problems had.

  Like most things in her life, Cara hadn’t planned any of this. Aunt Maudie’s house might not even be livable. The electricity was probably off along with other basic amenities. She hadn’t considered any of those things. She’d simply run away from her life in Paradise, clutching at the only lifeline available to her, the house her aunt had left her.

  A few miles outside of town, the blacktop road forked. To the left, the Cartwright Ranch, if it was still called that, and a past that had once seemed so promising…until Jase’s reckless side had spiraled out of control and she’d learned the truth. To her right, the less traveled section of road turned to dirt. The county didn’t maintain this piece of road much past the fork.

  Cara had barely cleared the first bend when the SUV’s threadbare tires skidded on black ice covering the tiny bridge over Cartwright Creek.

  She jerked the wheel hard to the left. The vehicle spun out of control. Once, then twice before plunging headfirst down the steep embankment and into the frigid waters of Cartwright Creek.

  *****

  Jase Cartwright saw the taillights up ahead and wondered who in their right had the nerve to venture out on a night such as this. Well, other than him. He had no choice in the matter.

  No one lived down that part of the road any longer. Not since Maudie’s passing. Yet the vehicle didn’t even pause at the fork in the road before turning right. The driver clearly had no idea the rickety bridge would be impassible by now.

  The last thing Jase wanted to do tonight was chase after some lost soul. His leg ached like all get out. On days like this, he could count every single one of the pins in his leg. Even though he was barely thirty, at times he felt twice that age.

  He was dead tired from helping Seth and Carter search for the herd in the thick brush that grew near the bottom of the back forty. He was dirty and more than a little in need of a hot shower, and yet his conscience wouldn’t let him leave the driver to their own defenses.

  That wouldn’t be very Christian-like, Jase… he could almost imagine Maudie saying. He smiled as he pictured her stern expression. She’d be tickled pink to know some of the things she’d preached had sunk in past the self-destructive haze he’d been hell bent on keeping since his eighteenth birthday.

  There wasn’t a day that went by over the past year that he hadn’t wished for her guidance. Instead, he’d relied on the worn-out Bible she’d left for him, making sure she’d marked all the right passages to bring him to this point. Even in death, Maudie guided him. She’d claimed Jase would get there some day. He hoped she was right but wasn’t so sure.

  Jase eased the truck around the curve in the road then slammed the brakes hard. Smoke drifted up from the creek, but the vehicle was nowhere in sight. From there, it was easy to fit the pieces together.

  He edged the truck closer to the bridge and hopped out. An SUV had slid down the creek bank into the chilly water. It was lodged against one of the large boulders, and smoke billowed from the hood as the murky waters closed in around it. But it hadn’t washed down the creek. Water poured into SUV’s crevasses at an alarming rate. He could see the driver, a woman, slumped over the steering wheel. The plates said California.

  After several attempts at getting a signal on his cell phone, Jase finally gave up on reaching 911. He’d be on his own to rescue the woman.

  His footsteps stumbled over the slippery terrain as he slowly made his way down the bank, managing to keep his footing despite the ice. When he reached the driver’s door, he recognized her immediately.

  If he lived to be a hundred, he would never forget the woman who stole his heart and then tore it to pieces. They’d been married barely a year when she’d left him without listening to what he needed to tell her. He almost didn’t survive her leaving. Cara Cartwright...Stevens. His Cara. His wife.

  Cara was here. What on earth was she doing out here on a night such as this?

  Jase rushed in further, wading through frigid, knee-deep water until he reached the door handle on the driver’s side. It had jammed closed with the impact. He threw his full weight against it and somehow managed to pry it open. A rush of icy water almost swept him away in its flow. As he gripped the door tight, he felt for a pulse. It was there. Weak, but she was alive.

  Thank you, God.

  Cara groaned a pitiful whimper as she regained consciousness. She struggled to open her eyes. In all the times he had imagined her return, dreamed of it, longed for it, nothing prepared him for this. Maudie would call this God’s doing and an answer to prayer. If this was an answer to prayer, God sure had a weird since of humor.

  Please let her be okay.

  “Cara, can you hear me? Cara, it’s Jase. Don’t try to move until I’m sure you’re okay. I’m going to get you out of here,” Jase tried to reassure both of them. “Everything is going to be fine.”

  Slowly, she turned to look at him. There was no welcoming in her expression when she realized it was him. Her green eyes burned with the same hurt, the same disappointment as they had that night.

  “Jase? What are you doing here? I thought...How did you find me?”

  His jaw tightened. She wasn’t happy to see him. He wasn’t surprised. Not after the way she left him. Refused his calls. Wouldn’t talk to him. She had insisted on a divorce that he refused to give her.

  They had left so many things unsaid between them. Things that needed fixing. Mostly, he needed to tell her he wasn’t the same man he’d been back then. He only hoped it wasn’t too late.

  His tone flattened at her response. He had hoped…Well, it really didn’t make much difference now. “Does it matter? I’m here now and I’m going to help you.”

  “The vehicle--it skidded out of control. I didn’t have time to hit the brakes.” She fumbled with her seatbelt. “I can’t get it to release. Jase, the car’s filling up with water. I can’t swim.”

  He knew this fact very well. He’d tried a dozen times to teach her when she was a small child spending summers with Maudie and tagging around wherever he went. Cara was terrified of water any deeper than a bathtub.

  “It’s okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” He leaned closer, felt her tense, and then reached past her to work on the belt. It took several tries before the latch released.

  He did a preliminary check of her limbs to make sure nothing was broken. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

  She shook her head while keeping a nervous eye on the rising water. “I don’t think so. Get me out of here, Jase.”

  He scooped her up in his arms and awkwardly climbed the slick embankment. Jase opened the passenger door of his truck and gently deposited her inside the warmth of the cab before he climbed behind the wheel. He studied her with concern. She had bruises and God only knew what other types of injuries, but she was alive.

  “Thank you, God.” The prayer slipped out before he realized he’d said it aloud. Too much time spent by himself. He wasn’t used to having people around most times.

  Cara obviously hadn’t heard him, or if she had, she probably didn’t believe him capable of praying.

  He put the truck in reverse, edged off the bridge, then turned around.

  “I’m taking you the hospital.”

  She jerked to face him ready to argue. “No. No hospital. I’m okay.”

  “You’re not. Cara, you don’t know that for sure. You could have internal injuries.”

  “Jase, I’m not going to the hospital and that’s it. Can you please just take me to my aunt’s house? I’ll take care of the SUV tomorrow. Tonight, I just want to go home.”

  For a moment, he could not believe he’d heard her correctly. “You can’t be serious. The house isn’t livable any longer. The power’s off, and the roof is damaged in several spots. You can’t
stay there.”

  Tears gathered in her eyes. She turned away and drew a shaky breath. “I didn’t know. I guess I just thought…” She shook her head. “Would you take me back to town then? I’ll stay at the hotel until I can take care of the repairs and move in,” she defiantly added as if daring him to argue.

  Now, all of the sudden after months away, she wanted to move back into her aunt’s home. It sounded as if she’d come back for good. Back where she belonged. Back home to him? He had almost given up hope of that happening through the worst year of his life. If she’d returned to Cartwright, at least she wasn’t unreachable as before. He had a chance. Today of all days, the second anniversary of their first official date, it felt like a sign from God.

  Jase put the truck in drive, his decision final. Why Cara had chosen to return to Cartwright after so long was another discussion meant for a different time. For the moment, he would do as she asked, but he was not taking her back to town. She would come home with him.

  Instead of heading straight for the city limits, Jase turned right onto the paved road leading up to the Cartwright Ranch. For the first time in a while, it felt as if he were finally coming home as well.

  *****

  Cara shifted uncomfortably in her seat, a sob catching in her throat. “No.”

  “Cara, yes. Let me help you. There’s no way I am going to take you back into town and pretend this didn’t happen for a reason. You’re still my wife whether you want to be or not.”

  Disbelief forced her to look at him. “What are you talking about?”

  All the anger and resentment was still there in his eyes. It reminded her of their last night together. “I mean we’re not divorced. I never signed the papers. Didn’t your lawyer give you the message?”

  She broke eye contact. They were still married. She hadn’t known. Cara hadn’t spoken to the attorney since she’d had Jase served with the papers. She’d left town the same day and sworn the attorney handling her case to secrecy. She’d just assumed Jase couldn’t wait to end their marriage. Obviously, she had been wrong. But why was he holding on?