Wrestlin' Christmas: (Sweet Western Holiday Romance) (Rodeo Romance Book 2)

by Hatfield, Shanna

  Jacob took Gideon’s hand in his and marched toward the elevator while the adults followed.

  “Rodeo dinner?” Tate asked, appearing somewhat flustered. He and Kenzie admitted they’d fallen asleep along with Gideon and barely woke up in time to get out the door.

  “You got it.” Cort grinned as they stepped into the elevator.

  After arriving at the rodeo, they purchased burgers, fries and sodas then headed to their seats. Mara and her youngsters were there so Jacob shared his fries with Hunter.

  Although they knew what to expect at that night’s performance, Jacob and Kaley were every bit as engrossed in the events as they’d been the night before.

  At the end of the rodeo, a brief awards ceremony took place. Amid the clapping and cheering when Huck received the title of world champion bull rider, Cort tried not to recall how satisfying it had been to stand in the arena with shouting fans calling out his name.

  His heart tripped in his chest when Kaley’s gaze melded to his. It was definitely time to let go of the past and embrace his future.

  Lifting Jacob in his arms, he took Kaley’s hand and made his way through the sea of people exiting the arena. Kenzie wanted to use the restroom, so they all stood waiting nearby. Tate and Cort were soon visiting with old friends who stopped to chat. Cort set down Jacob. The little boy held onto Kaley’s hand, swinging back and forth.

  Cort turned to introduce her to someone who joined the group. She let go of Jacob’s fingers to shake the friendly cowboy’s outstretched hand. Engrossed in the teasing banter Cort and Tate shared with their rodeo friends, Kaley joined in as Jacob stood beside her.

  When she glanced down to check on him, he was gone.

  She whipped her head up but didn’t see him anywhere as throngs of people pressed forward toward the exit.

  “Jacob!” she called, her chest tightening with dread. “Cort, I can’t find Jacob.” Stricken with fear, she grasped his arm and stared at him in alarm.

  “He can’t have gone far.” Cort gazed over the crowd, not seeing the little boy anywhere.

  “Tate, Jacob’s lost. Gather the troops.” Cort asked Kaley to stay where she was in case Jacob came back. Plunging into the crowd, he began calling for the boy.

  Tate handed Gideon to Kaley and ran off the opposite direction, talking on his phone. The friends they’d been speaking with joined in the search.

  Kenzie returned from the restroom and took Gideon. Tightly clasping hands, the two women stood waiting, praying, and trying not to let panic overwhelm them.

  Frantically pulling up a photo of Jacob on her phone, Kaley held it out and began asking people as they walked by if they’d seen her son. The few who responded shook their heads and moved on.

  “This is all my fault. I should never have let go of his hand.” Icy dread filled Kaley’s veins. If something happened to her son, she didn’t know how she’d face another day. He was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

  Lost and unable to speak, she couldn’t bear to think of her baby terrified and alone in the crowd.

  She didn’t know whom Tate called or what he said, but a few dozen cowboys, several of them rodeo competitors, joined in the search. It seemed like hours later when she finally spotted Cort hurrying her direction with Jacob in his arms.

  Her knees shook, threatening to give out beneath her as Cort placed Jacob in her arms. “Oh, baby, you scared me to death. I’m so sorry. Mama is so sorry, sweetie.” Kaley held him close, kissing his cheeks and forehead.

  Other than tear tracks on his cheeks, Jacob didn’t appear any worse for wear.

  “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” she asked, setting him down so she could rub a hand over his arms and legs.

  He shook his head and wrapped his arms firmly around her waist.

  “Where did you find him?” She stared at Cort. His face was pale, jaw clenched, and a look of worry still rode his features.

  “He was hiding by the garbage cans at the main doors. Most likely, he got swept up in the crowd and couldn’t get back to us.” Cort turned away from her as several friends joined them. Like the rest of the group, he didn’t want to frighten Jacob more than he already was and tried to remain calm.

  “Riley said you found your boy,” a cowboy named Clete said as they gathered around Kaley and Jacob. “Is he okay?”

  “He is. Please let everyone know we appreciate the help.” Cort shook Clete’s hand.

  “I’ll let the others know you’ve got him.” Clete tipped his hat as he hurried off through the thinning crowd.

  “Let’s go back to the hotel.” Tate took Gideon from Kenzie and led the way to the door.

  Jacob hugged Cort around his neck when he picked him up. He kept a reassuring hand on the boy’s back, while Kaley pressed against his side as they walked down the steps of the center and got in line to catch a cab.

  Cort sent up a silent prayer of thanks the boy had been found quickly and unharmed. A dozen horrible ways the situation could have ended crossed his mind. He held the boy a little tighter.

  “I’m so glad you’re fine, partner,” Cort whispered in Jacob’s ear.

  Jacob raised his head from Cort’s shoulder and gave him a weak smile, placing a hand on Cort’s cheek while nodding his head, expressing his gratitude for the big man coming to his rescue.

  “Being scared to death sure takes a lot out of a body,” Kenzie said as they rode back to the hotel.

  “That’s for sure.” Cort dug a toothpick from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth out of habit. He watched as Kaley held Jacob on her lap, afraid to let him go. “I’m sure I just lost ten years off my life and as many as I’ve already shaved off in the past, I’m in big trouble. If I don’t join you for breakfast in the morning, you better just start on the funeral arrangements.”

  Kenzie and Tate laughed, as he hoped they would, but Kaley didn’t even look up. Her lips pressed together with a vertical line creasing her forehead, as it did whenever she was upset or worried.

  When the taxi stopped outside the hotel, Tate paid the driver and the solemn group walked inside.

  Jacob made it clear he wanted his rescuer to carry him. Cort threw away his toothpick and followed Kaley to her room with Jacob in his arms. Inside, he sat on the couch with Jacob on his lap and removed the boy’s hat, running a hand over the child’s head.

  Pushing back Jacob’s bangs, he thumbed the scar then ran his finger along the little chin.

  “We were worried about you, partner. I’m so happy you’re fine.” Cort held Jacob close, breathing in the scent of little boy while he memorized every detail about the child from the mole on his cheek to the shape of his ears.

  Jacob’s gaze, so like his mother’s, met his then the child wrapped his arms around Cort’s neck and squeezed.

  Quickly swallowing the lump in his throat, Cort smiled at him. “Guess you know how to end the evening with excitement, don’t you?”

  Jacob nodded then took out his notepad and drew something, handing it to his hero.

  After looking at Jacob’s lopsided drawing of a heart, Cort had to stare at the ceiling for a moment to gain control of his composure. When he could speak without losing it, he tenderly brushed his hand over Jacob’s head again.

  “I love you, too, partner. Now, you better get a good night’s sleep because we have to get up early so we can fly home.” Cort carried Jacob into the bedroom and gently tossed him on the bed, eliciting a giggle. “Are you excited about flying on the plane tomorrow?”

  Jacob nodded and hugged Cort again.

  “Sleep well, Jacob. I love you.” He kissed the boy on his forehead then backed away from the bed.

  Cort walked out as Kaley collapsed onto the bed next to Jacob, pulling him to her and raining kisses on his head. From his position on the couch, he listened to her talk to the boy, telling him how much she loved him and how special he was to her before reading him a bedtime story.

  Her voice caught as she wished Jacob sweet dreams. As she stepped
out of the bedroom and closed the door, Cort stood and opened his arms to her. Quietly crying, she wilted against him.

  “It’s okay. He’s fine. Everything is fine, Kaley. He’s fine,” Cort murmured, trying to comfort her.

  With her face buried against his chest, she seemed inconsolable. Finally picking her up, he carried her to the couch and sat with her clinging to his shirt as if it served as a lifeline.

  Silent tears rained down her cheeks in an effort to leave Jacob undisturbed.

  Every sob she choked back ripped into Cort’s heart. He wanted to cry right along with her, but took a series of deep breaths. One of them needed to stay outwardly calm.

  “What if I’d lost him?” Kaley finally asked.

  “But you didn’t. Nothing happened. He’s fine. It just scared him, that’s all.” Cort knew something more bothered Kaley than Jacob getting lost in the crowd.

  “I’m a horrible mother. I got so wrapped up in…” She started to say “him,” then snapped her mouth shut before the words exposed the truth. She couldn’t admit to anyone, especially Cort, she was in love with him. Caught up in having fun with him and his friends, she’d lost her son.

  Mental images of all the horrific things that could have happened to Jacob made her shudder. It was nothing short of a miracle that he slept peacefully in the next room. “I’m a terrible parent.”

  Cort shook his head and kissed her temple. “You’re one of the best mothers I’ve met, Kaley. I don’t ever want to hear you say otherwise. Things happen with kids. They do. Once Tate and I decided to go on an adventure and hiked so far out in the brush, it took hours for his dad to find us. By then, we were cold and hungry, and we both had ticks. It wasn’t his dad’s fault. He told us to stay close to the shop where he worked and we disobeyed. Kids don’t always make the best choices and stuff happens. It’s just the way it is.”

  “Not with my son.” Kaley stared at Cort with a desperate look that made fear slither up his spine. “I can’t do this. I can’t let anything happen to him. He’s all I’ve got in this world.”

  “You’ve got me.” Cort’s quiet assurance had the opposite effect on Kaley. When he leaned in for a kiss, she pushed him away and rose to her feet.

  She cleared her throat, looking at the floor instead of him. “You should go back to your room. We’ve got an early start in the morning.”

  “Kaley, we need to talk about this.” Cort stood and reached to pull her against him.

  She stepped away before he could touch her.

  “Please, Cort. Just go.” Her frosty tone compounded the worry that began niggling at him the moment Jacob disappeared. “Thank you for bringing us on this trip. It’s certainly been memorable.”

  Cort grabbed his hat and walked out the door. He heard it shut behind him and the lock click.

  This wasn’t how he envisioned the evening ending. Not at all. Fingering the ring box in his pocket, he knew sleep would never come.

  Overcome with the craving for a drink, Cort took the elevator down to the lobby and rushed outside to hail a cab.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “You look like…” Tate stopped mid-sentence as Cort glared at him, standing beside the table he and Kenzie occupied in the hotel’s restaurant.

  “I don’t need your commentary this morning.” Cort settled himself onto one of the chairs and accepted the cup of coffee a waiter poured for him from the pot on the table.

  “Please tell me you weren’t out celebrating last night.” Tate studied his friend to see if he had a hangover. Quickly deciding he didn’t, he regretted jumping to an incorrect conclusion.

  “I wasn’t drinking, if that’s what you’re thinking. You know I haven’t had a drink since I went to the Hanging P.” Cort’s irritability and annoyance came through loud and clear in his curt tone.

  “What’s wrong?” Kenzie placed a gentle hand on Cort’s arm. He looked at her and Gideon then released a sigh.

  “Kaley’s acting weird. She went on and on about being a bad mother and how she can’t let anything come between her and Jacob. She thinks it’s her fault about what happened last night. I tried to talk some sense into her but she turned cold and kicked me out of her room.” Cort took a long swallow of the black coffee. “I couldn’t sleep, so I went to the rodeo after-party with every intention of getting drunk. By the time I got there, I knew I wasn’t going to do it. I walked back to give myself time to cool down, which took a while.”

  Cort absently rubbed his leg. The miles he walked last night hadn’t done anything to help his knee. It already ached from all the walking they’d done the last few days. His joints creaked and groaned like an old man when he rolled out of bed that morning.

  A stop at Kaley’s room to see if he could escort her and Jacob to breakfast left him upset and angry when she refused to accompany him and shut the door.

  Cort played back everything she said from the time Jacob disappeared until she’d closed the door behind him last night and still couldn’t figure out what he’d done to upset her to the point she’d shut him out.

  “Are you okay?” Kenzie noticed the way he favored his leg as well as the haunting sadness in his usually bright eyes.

  “Not really.” Cort finished his coffee. “I don’t know how to make her see that she didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “She’s going to have to figure that out for herself, Cort.” Tate grabbed Gideon before he took a nosedive out of his highchair. “Maybe she just needs some time to herself. Everyone handles stress and trauma differently. It might be that she needs to spend a little time with just her and Jacob.”

  “If it had been Gideon that disappeared, I’d feel the same way, like it was my fault,” Kenzie said, adding a woman’s perspective to the conversation. “I’d probably want to just sit and hold him and not think about anything else for a while. It’ll be hard for her to get through all the people at the airport this morning. We all need to be aware of helping her and Jacob feel safe and secure.”

  Cort hoped that was possible.

  Raptly gazing at something the man pointed to out the plane window, Jacob stood between Cort’s muscular thighs, smiling. Kaley wanted to snatch her little boy away from him and hold him securely in her arms.

  She hadn’t slept all night and the drain on her already depleted reserves had caught up to her.

  Exhausted, frightened, and more upset than she’d ever been in her life, she wanted to go home and never leave the ranch again.

  After kicking Cort out of her room, Kaley had gone to bed and left a light on in the bathroom so she could watch Jacob sleep.

  Unable to face Cort that morning, she ordered room service. Jacob seemed confused why he couldn’t eat breakfast with their friends, but didn’t make a fuss. Obediently packing his suitcase, he ran to Cort when they met the group in the lobby to take a cab to the airport.

  Now, as he and his hero stared at the clouds, she knew she’d do anything, absolutely anything, to keep him safe.

  Kaley bit her tongue to keep her tears from flowing again. She’d cried more since she met Cort than she had in her entire life. He made her feel safe and accepted, like her thoughts and opinions mattered. Perhaps that was why tears teetered so close to the surface, after she spent years being ignored and subdued.

  Cort picked up her son and set him back in his seat when the seatbelt sign lit up, helping him refasten his seatbelt.

  With a fresh resolve to do what was best for Jacob, Kaley steeled her heart against the love she possessed for the gentle giant who so obviously cared for her little boy.

  Once they landed, it didn’t take long to gather their bags and pile into Tate and Kenzie’s big SUV for the drive home. Kaley gave them both hugs and Gideon a kiss on his cheek when they dropped her, Jacob, and Cort off at the Hanging P.

  Cort carried in their bags then went to his room to change while Kaley stood in the kitchen, trying to gather her thoughts.

  Jacob scampered off to his room. He reappeared wearing a pair of old j
eans and a thick sweatshirt. Uncertainty wrinkled his little brow as he stared at his mother.

  He hugged her waist then climbed onto the counter to help himself to a cookie from the jar she kept there.

  Unable to move, Kaley watched him as he ran into the living room. She stood in the kitchen wearing her coat when Cort returned dressed in work clothes.

  “I’m going to check the stock and make sure everything is in good shape. I’ll do the feeding while I’m out there, even if it’s a little early. I’m sure the cattle won’t mind.” He glanced up from tugging on his boots, noticing she stood in the exact spot he’d left her several minutes earlier.

  “Are you okay, Kaley?” He tamped on his boot and took a step toward her, placing his hands on her arms.

  The contact sent a jolt through her and she blindly nodded her head.

  “I’m fine,” she whispered. Turning from Cort, she rushed down the hall to her room, flopping across her bed as more tears spilled from her eyes. The bed pillows absorbed her sobs until she felt thoroughly drained.

  Aware of her need to pull herself together, Kaley yanked off her coat. She changed her clothes, braided her hair then washed her face. With a fortifying breath, she hurried to the living room where Jacob pushed a toy tractor around the floor while eating a cookie.

  She ruffled his hair then went to the kitchen to get him a glass of milk. A whiff of sour milk tickled her nose, so she dumped out the remnants of the carton and made a list of groceries.

  “Buddy, let’s go to the store.”

  Jacob skipped in from the living room and she handed him his coat while she retrieved her purse.

  Buford ran up to them as they walked out the door. The dog refused to move off her feet until she’d given him several pats to the head and a good scratch on his belly.

  Before Buford decided he needed more attention, she hurried Jacob to the car then drove to a small country store located a couple of miles down the road and purchased a few necessities. Jacob gazed longingly at a little bottle of Dr. Pepper and she told him he could have it.