A Cowboy's Christmas Promise

by Maggie McGinnis

  “Yes.” Daniel sighed. “I tried the mudroom, but he made like a monkey and found his way over our homemade barricade. Living rooms are more his style.”

  “The girls must love him.”

  “Not as much as he loves them. He rotates between their beds all night long, when I don’t find him curled around my head.”

  Hayley laughed, picturing the cat flopped on Daniel’s pillow. “Sounds like true love to me.”

  “Sounds like I’m the biggest sucker in the West, actually. We were not going to have a cat.”

  “Guess the cat knows a softie when he sees one.”

  “Bite your tongue.”

  “It was a compliment.”

  “Thank you. I think. At least the girls have stopped asking for a dog. He’s enough of a novelty to entertain them right now.”

  Hayley smiled. “And just think. You can practice your small-animal skills on him so you don’t become a one-trick pony, y’know?”

  “That. Was. Terrible.”

  “I know. I didn’t even know it was coming out until—there it was.”

  “So,” he paused, and again Hayley had the distinct feeling he wasn’t anxious to hang up. “What exciting things are you up to in the big city tonight?”

  “Well,” Hayley looked around her tiny living room. “I thought I’d start with a bowl of fresh microwave popcorn, and then watch my favorite show.”

  “That Nashville one? I, uh, I actually watched it last week.”

  He had? For her?

  “And? What did you think?”

  “Have you ever noticed the color scheme?”

  “Um, no.”

  “It’s really—green. And yellow. Is John Deere their corporate sponsor?”

  “Are you insulting my show?”

  “Just the color scheme.”

  “Maybe if you watch it again, you’ll notice something besides the colors.”

  “Ha. We’ll see.” He was silent for a long moment. “So, I have to ask. Do you miss it out here?”

  Hayley stood up and looked out her dusty window to the street four stories below. It was nine o’clock at night, but a steady stream of traffic still plowed to and from downtown Boston. Horns sounded, mixed with the clatter of bikes and skateboards on the sidewalk. Voices called out, and a thrumming bass beat still filled the air from a car that was two blocks down the street now.

  “Well, here,” she said as she pushed up the window. “Listen to what it sounds like in my world right now.” Yeah, she was avoiding the question, but it wasn’t an easy one to answer just now. She held the phone against the screen, wincing when a cab blared its horn, then screeched to a stop just below her. She put it back to her ear, bracing for what Daniel was going to probably say.

  “Do you live on the expressway? Or under it?”

  “Neither.” Hayley laughed. “That’s just my street, and I’m four stories up.”

  “Okay, want to hear what it sounds like outside my house?”

  “No. I’ll be homesick, and that’s not even my home.”

  She heard him shuffle. “Come with me out to the porch.”

  She heard the screen door squeak open and closed, and then a peaceful mix of tree frogs and crickets and birds.

  “No fair,” she said. “You have a cruel streak, you know.”

  “Shh.” His voice was low, husky. “Just listen. Picture it.”

  Feeling only a little bit ridiculous, Hayley closed her eyes and tried to take herself back to Montana; pictured sitting on her little cabin porch listening to the horses settling down in the stable, to the birds calling their goodnights from their treetop nests, to the crickets warming up in the meadows surrounding the main lodge.

  She sighed dreamily without meaning to, and with a startle, she realized he’d probably heard her.

  “See? It’s like your own personal spa phone. Admit it.”

  “Maybe I find blaring rap music and random car horns incredibly relaxing.”

  Daniel chuckled. “All right. And I’ve taken you away from your show for long enough.” He paused. “It’s good to talk with you, Hayls.”

  “You, too. Say hi to the gals for me, okay?”

  “I will. I should probably warn you that they’re still angling to get you back out here for Christmas.”

  “Oh, boy.”

  “They’re trying to get Kyla and Decker in on the scheme, too, so beware any suspicious holiday invitations from Whisper Creek.”

  “Thank you for the warning. Kyla’s been talking about it since she got back from her honeymoon.”

  “Well…if the tiny critters of Boston could survive for a week without you, you could always come visit over the holidays. And y’know, Cole would love it if you convinced Jess to come along, too.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Man-code prohibits me from divulging anything further.”

  “But bring Jess?”

  “Totally bring Jess.”

  Hayley grinned, looking out the window and picturing waving green grass, endless sky, and warm breezes instead of grimy cement, gray sky, and someone’s haddock dinner downstairs.

  “I’ll think about it,” she finally said.

  Chapter 20

  Two weeks later, Daniel paced angrily in his attorney’s office, holding on to a manila envelope that had arrived that morning from Denver via a high-priced delivery service. Just when he’d thought maybe Evelyn was backing down on her efforts to get the girls moved back to Denver, he’d been blindsided by a sheaf of papers almost a half-inch thick.

  No wonder she’d been quiet. She’d just been gathering steam.

  After he’d paced for what seemed like twenty minutes, Stacey-Lynne finally appeared in the doorway of her office and motioned him inside, closing the heavy door behind him.

  “Sorry, Daniel. I was stuck on a call.”

  She motioned to the chair facing her desk, but he was too keyed up to sit down. “Do you want coffee? Water? A Valium?” She looked at his face, concern written all over hers. “What in the world is the matter?”

  Daniel handed her the envelope. “This. It came this morning.”

  She opened it and pulled out the sheaf of papers, scanning them quickly. He watched her expression change from polite concern to outright disbelief in a matter of seconds, which he wished he could find comforting.

  “This is ridiculous,” she finally said.

  Daniel scraped his hands through his hair. “I knew she had something brewing, but I had no idea it was this.”

  “She wants custody?”

  “Apparently.” He blew out a breath, trying to control his rage. “I thought she was making idle threats, but Jesus. This is what she was up to the whole time.”

  Stacey-Lynne scanned the papers once more, shaking her head.

  “Is it legitimate, Stace? Can she really file something like this?”

  “She can file it. Doesn’t mean she could win it. The court would be most concerned with what’s in the best interests of Gracie and Bryn.”

  “I can’t believe she’s taking this to court! She’s completely insane.”

  Stacey-Lynne narrowed her eyes as she read through the second page. “I can’t believe this.”

  “She’s crazy, right? She could never win, right?”

  Please say she could never win. Otherwise I’m heading straight out this door, scooping my girls, and disappearing to a place where Evelyn will never find us.

  She tipped her head. “Unfortunately, there are allowances in both Colorado and Montana law that her attorney could capitalize on, but it would be a really long shot for her. A really long shot.”

  Daniel tried to swallow a softball-sized lump in his throat as he started pacing again. “But…is there a chance I could lose them? Oh, my God.”

  “Let’s not jump the gun. You’re obviously a loving parent with whom they’re completely bonded, and they’ve already lost their mother. They’re safe, they’re as happy as anyone would expect them to be, and you’re doing an incred
ible job as a single parent. Plus, your mother is just a few miles away, so there’s family here, too. A judge would have to be insane to award Evelyn and her husband more rights than they’ve already got.”

  “Do we have insane judges here?”

  She sighed. “I hope not.”

  “So what do we do?” Daniel kept pacing, unable to sit still. “I can’t lose these little girls, Stacey-Lynne. I’ve already lost…everything else.” He blew out a breath as he turned away from her. “What the hell do we do?”

  “We delay.”

  He turned around. “We delay?”

  “Yes.” She nodded. “We drag things out in hopes that sooner or later, they see reason and drop this case altogether.”

  “How long can we delay things?”

  “Depends on where we’re at. They’ll ask for reams of documents right now, trying to find ways to prove you’re not a fit parent.”

  “What kinds of documents?”

  “Medical records, utility payments, that sort of thing.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “Their attorney is just digging. That’s what attorneys do at this stage. I’d be willing to bet he knows he’s on a losing case, but the more hours he can book up, the more money he makes. Evelyn’s pockets are pretty deep, and I don’t know this particular guy’s reputation. If he’s not completely aboveboard with her, he could take her for a good chunk of money. It may be in his best interest to drag this out as well.”

  Daniel felt his eyes narrow as he stared at the folders on her desk. “What kinds of medical records would they be after?”

  “Just the normal stuff. Have they had their immunizations, are they getting their check-ups.” She waved an arm. “That sort of thing.”

  Shit. He still hadn’t scheduled their physicals. It wasn’t a year they needed booster shots, was it?

  Daniel noticed a strange expression cross her face.

  “What aren’t you telling me, Stace?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.” She shook her head, but Daniel had known her since fourth grade. He heard the concern in her voice. She met his gaze and held it for a good ten seconds. “Okay. I can almost guarantee they’ll want the girls’ records from their therapist.”

  “No.”

  “I know.”

  “No, no, no, no, no.”

  “They’re not going to get them. Not if I there’s anything I can do to prevent it.”

  He sat back down, elbow on the arm of the chair, fingers scrubbing through his hair. “That’s their private pain. That’s their healing. It’s no business of anyone else.”

  “I agree. And we’ll fight it every step of the way. We’re working with two states’ rules here, so I’ll need to do some digging to see whether they even can subpoena that information.”

  “So in the meantime? What do I do? Is the court going to appoint someone to come do surprise inspections on the house? Try to figure out whether I fed them chicken fingers too many times this month or didn’t read enough stories or dragged them to horse barns when they should have been having tea parties?”

  Stacey-Lynne shook her head. “The court isn’t much involved at this point. I can try to keep it at the attorney-sparring phase for as long as possible.” She sighed. “You are the best dad I know, and those little girls are doing so well, considering all they’ve been through. It’s going to be fine. Please try not to worry.”

  “How can I not worry? It feels like Evelyn just lit a grenade under my life! I need to do something. I can’t just sit and wait.”

  “Well, if you really wanted to help your case—”

  “What? Anything! What?”

  “The court would have a much harder time pulling the girls out of a stable home with two parents.” She raised her eyebrows. “You could always get married.”

  —

  “—Happy birthday to you.” Hayley finished her song and blew out nineteen candles. Somewhere, Isabelle was celebrating her birthday. Somewhere, she could now vote for the second time. Somewhere, maybe she still had no idea she had an older sister who thought about her every day. And made her purple cupcakes every November twelfth.

  Jess smiled and took one of the cupcakes. “I think it’s really sweet that you do this for your sisters.”

  “Makes me feel just a little less disconnected from them, I guess.”

  “I wonder how she’s celebrating today?”

  Hayley shrugged. “Could be surfing, could be skiing, could be reef-diving, could be scaling Everest, I guess.”

  “I still can’t believe that P. I. wasn’t able to find them anywhere. Seems like in this day and age, it should be harder to be invisible.”

  “Well, once he came across Roger’s death certificate in Texas, the trail went cold. We don’t even know what last name the girls go by. Not any of the four we knew about, apparently.”

  “Have you thought about trying again? Maybe finding a different P. I.?”

  “Maybe someday. I don’t know, Jess. There’s always the chance they do know about me and don’t want to be found. Roger had a lot of years to spin whatever stories he wanted to about Mom and me. They may not think of me as their long lost anything. They may be glad we’re not in contact.”

  “I doubt that, sweetie.”

  “Well, we kind of hit a dead end in Dallas, and I can’t really go walk the streets and see if I can find grown-up versions of them. Even if they’re still there, it’s a huge city, and I wouldn’t have any idea how to start looking.”

  “No, but maybe another P. I. might have different ways of searching.”

  Hayley sighed. “Well, I’ll need a different bank account before I go down that road again.” She plopped down on the couch. “Some days I can’t stop thinking about them, you know? Not just their birthdays, either. Every time I see a little girl in a tutu, it’s Izzy. And every time I go by a kids’ baseball field, I picture Celia playing first base with her too-big cap and way-too-big glove.”

  She crossed her arms and looked out the window. “Christmas is the worst, though. As soon as Thanksgiving passes and the whole freakin’ city turns red, green, and gold, I just can’t stop thinking about them—can’t stop wondering where they are, how they are. I think—I just need to know they’re okay. If I could just know that, then I’d be so relieved.”

  “Aw, Hayls.” Jess came up beside her. “I think you’re going to find them someday. It’s a matter of time, that’s all.” She lifted her cupcake and squeezed Hayley’s shoulder. “And when you do, I’m going to tell them just how many cupcakes you’ve baked them over the years.”

  Hayley raised her cupcake to touch Jess’s in a silent toast. “Someday.”

  Before she could take a bite, her phone rang, and she picked it up without looking to see who was calling.

  “Hayley?”

  Daniel’s voice did the liquid honey thing to her insides. She put down her cupcake, widening her eyes at Jess.

  “Hey, Daniel. What’s up?”

  “The girls and I just finished making a batch of cupcakes, and we were thinking of you.”

  “Aw, that’s sweet. Unless they came out horribly, and then I’m going to be insulted that they made you think of me.”

  He laughed. “I promise it wasn’t because the smoke detector went off.”

  “Comforting, thanks. What’s the cupcake occasion?”

  “Apparently Olaf needs a birthday.”

  “Who is Olaf?”

  “The Himalayan.”

  Hayley sputtered the water she’d just sipped. “Olaf? You named the cat Olaf?

  “Well, apparently, when two females make a decision, there is no man who can stand in the way. Olaf is his name, and today is his birthday.”

  “I just baked, too, actually.”

  Hayley picked her cupcake back up, but didn’t bite into it yet. She waved as Jess headed out the door to her evening class, and then she settled onto the couch. Brutus immediately jumped into her lap, did three circles, and lay down with a quie
t thump.

  “What’s the occasion on your end?” Daniel’s amused voice did quivery things to her insides.

  “Um—National Chocolate Cupcake Day.”

  “Is there such a thing?”

  “Absolutely. Happens every November twelfth. It’s also National Purple Frosting Day, but don’t tell the girls if they already went with pink.”

  “So do you honor all foodie holidays? Or is this one particularly dear to your heart?”

  “No, and yes. I do love me a good chocolate cupcake.”

  Daniel laughed. “Good to know.”

  “Actually,” Hayley sighed, “it’s my little sister’s birthday.”

  “Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to call in the middle of a party. A very quiet party, apparently.”

  “No apologies. There’s no party. I wish there was a party. I—I don’t actually know where she is. Haven’t seen her for a long, long time.”

  Her voice was quiet, and she hated the catch that had accented the last two words. Brutus pricked his ears and looked up at her.

  “How long?”

  “Fifteen years.”

  “Wow. What happened?”

  “My, um, stepdad—well, ex-stepdad, I guess—left when I was fourteen. He took my two little sisters with him.” Brutus bumped her hand with his little wet nose, begging for attention. “I haven’t seen them since.”

  Why was she telling him this?

  “I’m so sorry, Hayley. I can’t even imagine.”

  Hayley could hear Bryn and Gracie chattering in the background, and decided to use them as a welcome diversion. “It’s okay. Topic for another day, maybe.” She took a deep breath, trying to refocus. “I hear the girls. Is your kitchen going to recover from the cupcake extravaganza?”

  “Are you trying to change the subject?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Okay, then. No, I’m pretty sure I’ll be scraping frosting off the ceiling for months. Want to say hi to them?”

  “Umm, sure?” Before she could finish answering, the phone was fumbled, and Gracie’s voice filled the air.

  “Hi, Hayley! We’re making cupcakes and we used the super-big sprinkles like Ma uses and have you ever tasted those? They’re the best! We had some accidents but we’re getting better every time. Daddy tells us we just need to practice but we still dropped a couple on the floor but it’s okay because Olaf tried to eat them but Daddy scooped him up before he could because did you know chocolate is bad for kitties like it is for dogs?”