The Maverick's Snowbound Christmas

by Karen Rose Smith

  He had a feeling there was more to those words than the subject of their kiss.

  Where they hadn’t been awkward before, now they were. He wasn’t sure the best way to handle Hadley or the situation.

  She slid from his lap back onto the sofa. As he tried to convince his heart to slow, Hadley righted her clothes. But then she turned toward him, one leg up on the sofa, purpose on her pretty face.

  Uh-oh. He had a premonition he wasn’t going to like what was coming.

  Earnestly, she asked, “Why did you stop traveling and rock climbing?”

  He’d been right. He didn’t like the question, or the answers it brought with it. On the other hand, he realized in order to earn Hadley’s trust, he needed to give his. To give himself a moment to pull his thoughts together, he reached up on the sofa to stroke the cat. “I was serious about a woman once...maybe too young to know what serious was or simply too young to read character well. I suppose I ignored things I shouldn’t have because she liked to go rock climbing with me. We traveled together. I suppose it was her adventurous spirit I liked. But it was her adventurous spirit or her wanting something bigger that took her away from me. I didn’t realize until it was too late that she had no desire to stay in Rust Creek Falls. I didn’t realize that what I considered an adventurous spirit in Elaine was really ambition. I thought we were happy. I was wrong. She informed me she felt trapped. So we broke up and I lost the traveling bug.”

  “And the rock climbing?”

  With a shrug, he explained, “I poured that energy into the ranch, making it a success, making sure no one could fault the fencing or the upkeep on the barn or feeding the cattle in winter or making sure the horses had the right feed. Derek might think he’s a rancher, but he’s not about ranching. Do you know what I mean?”

  Her eyes sparkling with empathy, she told him, “I know some vets who are great clinicians, but they don’t have a bond with animals.”

  “I feel the ranch in my blood, just like my father does.”

  Suddenly there was a loud rap-rap-rap on Eli’s door. The next moment the door opened and Derek strode in.

  When he saw the two of them on the sofa, he grinned. “Am I interrupting something?”

  Before Eli could give him a gruff turn around and go back outside, Hadley motioned to their coffee and plates. “Just having dessert.”

  Derek had never been good at taking hints, and now he didn’t take the one that the two of them possibly wanted to be alone. He said, “You have the pies Mom baked.” He crossed to the kitchen as if he might steal one.

  “You didn’t get enough dessert at Uncle Ben’s?” Eli asked him.

  “I got dessert, but Mom’s apple pie went first, and I see you still have some left. Coffee, too. I’ll just join you.”

  There was a retort on the tip of Eli’s tongue, but Derek was his brother. He wouldn’t get into a spat with him in front of Hadley.

  In no time at all, Derek had cut himself a big slice of pie, poured a mug of coffee and sat in the armchair across from the sofa. He said to Eli, “Anderson wanted to know if you want to meet up tomorrow night at the Ace in the Hole. I told him you would.”

  Eli’s cousin Anderson was probably his best friend. Meeting up with him to share a beer and talk sports would be good. “I’ll text him later,” Eli said. “But that should be okay.”

  In between forkfuls of pie, Derek asked Hadley, “Are you going to the holiday dance at the community center on Saturday night?”

  “I haven’t decided,” she said.

  “I’d be glad to take you,” Derek offered.

  “Not necessary, bro. Hadley said if she goes, she’s going with me.”

  Derek looked from one of them to the other. Then he waved his hand across the coffee table. “So this isn’t just we’re going to have dessert together. This is, we might be dating each other.”

  Eli didn’t want to put Hadley in the position she didn’t want to be in. “I think this is none of your business,” Eli said firmly.

  Hadley turned around to Winks, who’d fallen asleep on the back of the sofa with her mom. She said, “The cats look great. You’re taking wonderful care of them.” Then she got to her feet. “I’d better be getting back. My mom and dad will be leaving in the morning, and they’ll want to visit while they’re here.”

  That sounded odd to Eli since Hadley would be going back to Bozeman soon. But he’d let her use the excuse. He went to get her coat and helped her put it on. The touch of her hair on his fingers reminded him how soft it was, how much he liked running his fingers through it.

  He pointed to Derek. “Don’t eat all the pie. I’m going to walk Hadley out.”

  His brother gave him a thumbs-up.

  As soon as they were outside, Hadley turned to him. “You don’t have to feel obligated to go with me to the dance. I know you were just protecting me from Derek.”

  “Nope, I wasn’t. I know you don’t need protection. Asking you to go with me has nothing to do with him.”

  “You didn’t exactly ask,” she teased.

  “Well, I’m asking you now. Will you go to the dance with me?”

  “I will,” she said with a wide smile.

  He couldn’t help it then. He had to kiss her again.

  They created enough heat to ward off the cold, but once again Hadley pulled away. “I really do need to get back. The reason I need to spend time with my parents tonight is that I won’t be seeing them again for a couple of weeks.”

  He waited for her to explain.

  “Brooks asked me to stay and help him, and that’s what I’m going to do. I cleared it with my practice.”

  “So the dance at the community center might not be our first and last date?”

  “Might not,” she said coyly. Then she gave him a wave and went to her SUV.

  Eli felt as if he’d just been handed an early Christmas present. Now he just had to figure out what to do with it.

  * * *

  On Friday, Eli pulled a hay bale from the back of the buckboard and laid it out for the cattle. His mind was on another viewing party tonight at the Ace in the Hole. He was going to meet his cousin Anderson there. Would Hadley be there, too? He couldn’t wait for the dance tomorrow night to see her again.

  Thinking about holding her in his arms, he came back to earth when his dad asked from the driver’s seat of the buckboard, “Need a hand?” His father had a weathered face and dark brown hair heavily laced with gray. He usually wore his hat, so not many people noticed he was going bald on top. Eli had looked up to him all of his life and liked working beside him.

  “I’m fine,” Eli called back. This wasn’t like him not to keep his mind on what he was doing. After he finished with a few of the bales, he climbed back in the buckboard to take the feed a little farther. This was a good time to talk to his dad about something.

  “What do you think would please Mom for Christmas?”

  His father just shook his head. “She insists she doesn’t need anything, so I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe you should get some advice from that woman you have your eye on.”

  Eli was surprised his dad had noticed.

  Surprising him again, his dad went on, “Your mom thinks that girl has her head on straight.”

  “Hadley’s a very caring vet.”

  “Um,” his dad mumbled, “that’s about her job. What about her?”

  Eli and his dad talked straight when they talked serious. “I think somebody did a number on her.”

  “You mean like Elaine did to you?”

  There again Eli didn’t think his dad had paid all that much attention. After all, Eli had tried to hide his feelings about the breakup, about the disappointment he felt in not having the future he’d envisioned. Apparently his father saw more than Eli realized.

&
nbsp; “Yeah, just like that,” he answered. “The other thing is—she’s college educated. She’s getting her pilot’s license. I think she wants to own her own practice someday.”

  “And you mind you didn’t go to college?”

  “No, it’s not that I mind. I didn’t want it. I didn’t think I needed it.”

  “You feel less than her?” his dad asked perceptively. “You know, if you want a college education you can do it on that computer of yours.”

  Eli had thought about that, too, getting a degree that way. Something in business management, maybe, that would help him run the ranch.

  His phone inside his coat pocket vibrated and buzzed. It was the signal that a text had come in. Cell service could be spotty out here but texts usually made their way through. Slipping it from his pocket he saw that it was from Derek. The text made fear grip Eli’s chest. 911.

  Eli knew Derek had gone out snowmobiling on the other side of the ranch. Keeping his voice as calm as he could, he said to his father, “We’ve got to head back. Derek could be in trouble.”

  * * *

  As Hadley entered the boardinghouse, bags in hand, she realized she hadn’t gone dress shopping in way too long. She actually had had fun, and she’d found something for the dance that might make Eli take a second look tomorrow night, and maybe even a third.

  She entered the kitchen to hopefully pull Claire upstairs with her so she could show her the dress. But then Claire’s husband, Levi, came clomping down the stairs and into the kitchen, his cell phone at his ear, worry on his face. Into the phone he said, “I’ll load up Old Gene’s snowmobile on his truck. Be there in ten.”

  “What’s wrong?” Claire asked.

  “An alarm has been sounded for anyone with a snowmobile.”

  “What happened?” Hadley asked.

  “Derek is missing. He went out snowmobiling and texted Eli a 911 message. Nothing since then.”

  Levi grabbed his jacket from the peg near the door but Hadley called to him. “I’m going with you.” She dropped her bags on the counter and asked Claire, “Will you take these up to my room?” Then she was hurrying after Levi, praying nothing serious had happened to the brother Eli loved.

  At the Circle D, Hadley raced into the house while Levi unloaded the snowmobile and spoke to other ranchers who had gathered there. In the kitchen Rita Dalton was busy making sandwiches while two coffeepots brewed.

  Hadley shrugged out of her coat. “What can I do to help?”

  “They started the search about an hour ago. Eli’s been out there the longest. The searchers are going to need sandwiches and coffee to keep them going. Can you fill those thermoses? Just add a touch of milk. Most of the men like it that way.”

  “You’ve done this before,” Hadley guessed.

  “I had lots of experience after the flood. Now once in a while we get a lost hiker. Before I’ve never had to worry that one of my own was out there, possibly hurt.” Rita’s voice cracked.

  Hadley went to her and put her arm around the woman’s shoulders. She didn’t say anything because she realized Rita was a realistic woman who didn’t want platitudes. They didn’t know what had happened to Derek or what would happen next.

  After a moment, Rita pulled away. She continued to assemble sandwiches. Then she said, “A rancher’s wife has to be prepared for anything.” Her gaze met Hadley’s, and there seemed to be a message in that. She went on. “All I ever wanted was to be a wife and a mom. That single focus has driven my life, and there hasn’t been room for much else. But now that my children are grown, my girls and Jonah married, Eli with his own house, I respect women with careers even more. They have something else to occupy their thoughts when their children are on their own. That might make for livelier conversation with their husbands.”

  Hadley said, “It’s never too late to have other interests.”

  “Oh, Charles and I are set in our ways. But you might have a point. I might stop in at the community center and see if anyone’s interested in organizing a book club or something like that.”

  Hadley had poured coffee into the thermoses and was making sandwiches with Rita when Charles tramped in the door. “Eli found Derek. He’s bringing him home.”

  “Is Derek hurt?” Rita asked.

  “We don’t know what condition he’s in,” Charles answered her. “Eli didn’t say. I’ve called the paramedics just in case. Even if the boy is on his feet, something happened out there and I want him checked out.”

  Rita nodded her approval at that.

  The paramedics arrived before Eli. Hadley went outside to wait. The revolving red light on the paramedic’s van cast an eerie glow over the snow. She heard the sound of a snowmobile before she saw it. Then she saw the machine and the man driving it, and Derek holding on behind Eli. If he was holding on, he had to be all right. At least that’s what she told herself, though she didn’t know for sure.

  She stayed back as Rita and Charles crowded around their sons. The paramedics took control, spoke with Eli and handled Derek as if he were glass. They laid him on a board, put a collar around his neck and then loaded him into the ambulance.

  They were backing out, when Eli saw her. “What are you doing here?”

  “I had to know if you were okay...if Derek was okay.”

  The features of his face softened a bit. “I have to follow the ambulance to the hospital.”

  “I’ll go with you,” she said impulsively. “Let me grab coffee and a couple of sandwiches for you.”

  “No need,” he said, raising his hand. But she didn’t listen. She ran to the house, grabbed the items and ran to Eli’s truck that he’d already started up. She hopped inside before he could protest.

  “Hadley, there’s going to be a lot of waiting.”

  “I know that. Don’t you need someone to wait with you?”

  He cut her a glance and turned up the heater.

  She realized he had to be freezing from being out in that weather for the time he’d been searching. It probably hadn’t been easy finding Derek in the snow, getting him on the machine and worrying through the ride back.

  Without being asked, she poured coffee into the top cup of the thermos. “Take this,” she said, “and drink it.”

  He didn’t argue. After he swallowed about half the coffee, he handed it back to her.

  “Just tell me if you want more. How about a sandwich?”

  He shook his head. “Maybe later.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Eli seemed to mull that over. “I was never so scared as when I got that text from him. It was just ‘911’ then it cut out. I tried calling him back. I tried texting him back. But there was no answer. I think he passed out. He probably has a concussion and maybe a broken arm. I don’t know how he held on to me on the way back, but he insisted that we do it that way. I wasn’t going to argue. I just wanted to get him warmed up.”

  “What happened?”

  “I think he hit an ice patch. I found him pinned under the machine. But once I moved the snowmobile off him, he insisted he was perfectly capable of riding back with me. I’m still afraid I made the wrong decision. But with the snow and night falling, I didn’t have any choice.”

  She reached over and touched Eli’s arm. If he had more to say, she’d let him get it out.

  “I’d had some first aid training. I checked his breathing and took his pulse. But nothing prepares you for an emergency like that. Absolutely nothing.”

  “Your mom was worried sick about both of you, but she didn’t let it show much.”

  “That’s Mom. I’m so thankful for everyone who came out to search. I think every man in town who had a snowmobile came to the ranch.”

  “Levi included. That’s how I knew what had happened.”

  “That’s the emergency
alert chain. One person calls the next.”

  “Rust Creek Falls is really a tight-knit community,” she mused.

  “Yes, it is. Neighbors really care about each other.”

  “Not just neighbors,” she said lightly.

  Eli cut her another glance.

  What had she just admitted? That she cared about Eli Dalton?

  As if he wasn’t sure what she’d meant either, he said, “I’ll take more of that coffee now.”

  She added hot coffee to what was already in the cup, handed it to him and watched his large, capable hands as he drank the coffee and expertly steered the truck. When she couldn’t tear her gaze from him, she knew then without a doubt she was falling for Eli Dalton.

  What was she going to do about that?

  Chapter Ten

  Hadley didn’t try to make conversation as she and Eli sat in the hospital waiting room for over an hour. Eli had alternated between pacing, sitting and brooding. Talking would have been too much of a burden at a time like this.

  Finally she looked at the thermos that she’d brought inside with her. “How about another cup of coffee? I’m sure it’s better than what’s in any vending machine here.”

  Eli glanced over at her as if he were seeing her for the first time. “Thanks for coming along and waiting with me. If I don’t call Mom and Dad with some kind of report soon, they’re going to be here, too.”

  “Evaluation and tests take time,” Hadley reminded him.

  “I’m sure this isn’t the way you expected to spend your evening,” he muttered.

  “I’ve learned life often takes twists and turns I don’t expect.” She couldn’t help but think about what happened with Justin and what a scoundrel he’d been. She’d been a terrible judge of character because she’d been blinded by attraction. She’d sworn to herself that would never happen again. This attraction to Eli had thrown her into a tizzy because she needed to see through it to the real man underneath.

  Suddenly the doctor appeared in the doorway. Eli stood and so did Hadley.

  The doctor nodded to Hadley. “Is she family?”