Christmas with the Cowboy Read online

  “Holiday Roundup?” Zach asked.

  “Christmas, pal. Huge around here.”

  “Today is the fifth of November. Thanksgiving is two and a half weeks away and Christmas is a long way off.”

  “Not when you’re planning Christmas for every child who has made their home at Big Heart Ranch. These are abused, neglected and abandoned children. Many don’t know what a real Christmas is. And I don’t mean gift giving. The true meaning of the season.”

  “Who does the regular ranch chores while you’re busy making all these Christmas memories?” He knew his voice sounded cynical, but his interest in Christmas was right up there with his interest in RangePro.

  Travis nodded. “Nothing changes. We add the Holiday Roundup to our regular workload. Emma spearheads the entire project.”

  “Emma? Aren’t her hands full enough?”

  “Both of my sisters are without boundaries when it comes to the kids and Christmas.”

  Christmas. Zach squirmed. The holidays were nothing but a brutal reminder of the emptiness in his life. It had been that way since he was a kid. Pulled away from his father and half brother by a spiteful mother so he could spend Christmas all by himself. Yeah, one thing he didn’t need was another reminder of the past.

  “So, how many head do you have?” Zach asked, changing the subject.

  “Up to one hundred now.” Travis released a sigh. “And then there’s the bison.”

  “You have bison? No kidding?”

  “Definitely not kidding.” Travis raised a hand and grimaced. “It’s a long story. AJ is crazy about those shaggy beasts, and sometimes you do things you told yourself you’d never do all in the name of love.”

  Zach stared at him. “Did you ever think back when we rode on my father’s ranch that one day you’d be telling me you were doing anything in the name of love?”

  “I didn’t know half as much as I thought I did in those days.”

  “How exactly did the cowboy who swore off love fall in love?” Zach asked.

  “Not a clue. I sure wasn’t looking.” Travis offered a goofy grin.

  Zach contemplated his friend’s words for a moment and hesitantly asked the question pulling at him. “How’d you know?”

  “Know what?”

  “That she was the one?”

  “The real question is how did I not know.” He looked across the pasture to where AJ rode her horse checking cattle. As if sensing she was the topic of their conversation, his wife turned their way and raised a hand in greeting. In that moment, love shone in Travis’s eyes pure and true.

  Zach ached for what his friend had found. What would it be like to have his love returned unconditionally? To find a partner to face life with? He couldn’t even imagine.

  “You’ve got it real bad,” Zach murmured.

  “Terminal, I hope.”

  Zach chuckled.

  “Quit your laughing. You might be next, so you better be careful.”

  He gave a slow nod. “At all times.”

  When Travis nudged his horse forward to inspect a group of heifers, Zach followed. Several had reclined in the pale brown grass and barely glanced up. “These mommas are ready for the whole pregnancy gig to be over,” he observed.

  “Yeah. Got a bent tail here,” Travis said. “That cow is going to calve soon. We’ll keep an eye on her.”

  Zach nodded.

  “In a perfect world they’d all deliver in twenty-four hours and we’d be done counting calves before lunch tomorrow,” Travis said.

  “Good to have dreams, because my guess is that in the real world they’ll be staggering delivery for the next two weeks and totally messing with your plans.”

  “You’re right on.” He turned in the saddle to face Zach. “Do you miss this?”

  “When I’m praying to God that I’ll make it out of a mission alive, yeah, I do.”

  It was more than that. More than he could ever admit aloud. He missed those summers on his father’s ranch when he could pretend he had a normal family, instead of one where he was a bungee cord between divorced parents.

  Zach leaned back in the saddle and inhaled the clean earthy fragrance of red dirt and golden autumn pasture grass. Seemed like he couldn’t get enough. “In truth, I miss quite a lot about ranch life.”

  “You’ve got two months until you start the new job. What are you going to do until then?” Travis asked.

  “No clue.”

  “Are you staying with your father?”

  “My father has leased out the Pawhuska ranch. He’s retired and is now circling the globe with my stepmother. Sort of a celebration because her cancer is in remission.”

  “I knew they were traveling on and off, but hadn’t heard he’d leased. Any thoughts of taking over?”

  “Never. Too many memories.”

  “I hear you.” Travis frowned. “So where are you staying?”

  “A bed-and-breakfast in Timber.”

  “That’s no good. We have plenty of room in the bunkhouse. Why not stay with us until January?”

  “Here?” Zach drew back slightly at the generosity of the unexpected gesture. “That’s not a sympathy offer, is it?”

  “No way. We’re short staffed right now and having a jack-of-all-trades like yourself on staff to fill in the gaps here and there would help me sleep at night.”

  Zach adjusted his ball cap as he considered Travis’s words.

  “It’s not nearly as exciting as being a navy SEAL, or staying at the Timber B & B, but we are your family. The plus side would be you get to spend the holidays with your nieces.”

  The mention of his nieces was enough to yank him right in. He was overdue for being a real uncle to Rachel and Elizabeth.

  “I’m going to take you up on that,” Zach said before he had a chance to change his mind.

  “All right.” Travis grinned. “Stop by human resources in the admin building tomorrow morning and fill out the paperwork. They’ll get you squared away with a security badge to get you in and out of the gate.”

  “Will do.”

  Travis snapped his fingers. “Oh, and before I forget. Monday evening, 6:00 p.m. Big meeting at the Oklahoma Rose in town. In the banquet room.”

  “At a restaurant?”

  “It’s the staff Christmas party.”

  “Trav, I hate to beat a dead horse, but it’s November fifth. You haven’t even had a good frost around these parts.”

  “You’re still not getting it. There’s no time in December. This place has nonstop holiday activities from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve.”

  “I’m trying to understand,” Zach returned, tucking away the information.

  “You will, firsthand, and soon enough.”

  The pounding of hooves, announcing a horse and rider approaching in the distance, had both men turning around.

  “Uh-oh, Emma found us.” Travis raised his brows. “Or maybe she found you. Wait until she hears that you’re staying.”

  “Could we keep his between us right now?” Zach asked. “Emma has her own agenda that I’m doing my best to dodge.”

  “RangePro, right?”

  “How’d you know?”

  “She’s done nothing but talk about turning Steve’s company over to you since you got back.”

  A groan slipped from Zach.

  “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. That said, this is a female-dominated ranch, so you know the odds of anything remaining a secret long are slim to none.”

  “Yeah. I figured as much, but if I can get even a short reprieve from her trying to lasso me into her plans for my future, I’ll take it.”

  “Have you suggested selling?”

  “She’s convinced that if she can tie me to a chair long enough for the RangePro spiel, I’ll change my mind.” He too
k a deep breath. “I’m telling you, your sister is the only woman I know who’s as stubborn as I am.”

  Travis gave a chuckle. “I respect the fact that you admit that.”

  “That only means that one of us is going to end up very unhappy.” Zach narrowed his eyes. “I’m committed to that person not being me.”

  “I hear you.” He gave a nod toward his sister and called out. “You looking for me, Emma?”

  “Yes. Dutch is bringing a breech to the barn and he needs your help.” She pulled her horse up next to them and adjusted the black Stetson at the back of her head.

  “Can you two monitor the rest of the herd?” Travis asked.

  “I’m good.” Zach nodded.

  “Then I guess I am, too,” Emma said as Travis headed back to the barn. The grim set of her lips and the expression on her face offered an uneasy détente. She’d work with him for the good of the ranch.

  “Where are the twins?” Zach asked as his gaze skimmed over her. Despite the tension between them Emma was relaxed in the saddle. She wore a long-sleeve black T-shirt with the ranch logo on the front pocket. With a gloved hand, she pushed a single plaited braid of long dark hair off her shoulder. He stared, mesmerized for a moment, before returning to his senses and quickly averting his eyes.

  “I’ve hired a sitter for a couple of hours every afternoon so I can help out, since Lucy can’t ride,” Emma said.

  “Everything okay with your sister?”

  “Apparently, you haven’t seen Lucy yet. My big sister is having a baby.”

  “Whoa. Is everyone getting married and having babies around here?”

  Emma laughed. “There does seem to be an epidemic, now that you mention it.”

  “Her first child?”

  “Her first pregnancy. She and her husband, Jack, adopted triplets last year.”

  Zach opened his mouth and then closed it again. “I have no words.”

  “Most people simply say aw when they see seven-year-old triplets.” She gave him a long look. “You’re helping Travis out?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s hardly a vacation.”

  “In my world it is.”

  Emma shook her head and led her brown Appaloosa with white spots toward the outside of the pasturing herd. Zach followed, riding the flank.

  “How long’s this one been in labor?” she asked, pointing to a heifer reclining near the fence.

  “Not long.”

  Silence stretched between them as they circled the pasture.

  “Who’s your App?” he asked with a nod to the Appaloosa.

  “This is Rodeo.” Emma patted the animal’s neck as she continued to ride at a slow pace, eyes never leaving the herd.

  “Rodeo? Does that mean you’re still barrel racing?” Zach asked.

  “No. I was never really much of a barrel racer.”

  “I thought you were.”

  Emma’s face pinked at his words and she shook her head. “AJ is our resident barrel racing expert, though I try to get in some practice when I can. Sometimes I bring the twins to watch. I want to get them comfortable around horses right away.”

  “Good idea.”

  She pulled up on the Appaloosa’s reins. “We have one dropping over there.”

  “Where?”

  “There.” She moved right and Zach followed. “The head is pushing through.”

  They held back at a distance, waiting and watching.

  “Come on, little momma, you can do this,” Emma murmured. “You were born to do this.”

  “There she goes,” Zach said. The calf slid to the grass minutes later.

  “That calf isn’t breathing,” Emma cried.

  Zach’s pulse kicked into overdrive at the alarm in Emma’s voice. He made a clumsy dismount, forgetting for a moment that his knee had no plans to cooperate. Zach caught Zeus’s saddle, barely escaping a face plant.

  “Are you okay?” Emma asked as she, too, dismounted.

  “I’m fine. Worry about the calf, not me.”

  Steps ahead of him, she slipped to the ground next to the calf. Pulling her shirttail free from her Wranglers, Emma swiped the animal’s face, and then tickled the nostrils with straw.

  The calf sneezed, spreading a shower of fluid all over her.

  “Oh, yuck.” She grimaced, wiping her face with her sleeve. “Thanks a lot, little guy.”

  Zach laughed. “Nice job. He’s breathing all right.”

  Emma stood and backed away from the heifer as the mother sounded a grunt of protest and took over cleaning her calf.

  “Whoa. Momma wants you out of there, Emma.”

  “Yes. I’m going.” Emma moved and kept moving until she could grab Rodeo’s reins and hoist herself back onto the horse.

  Zach carefully swung his leg over Zeus’s saddle, his gaze already taking in the rest of the herd.

  “How could you leave all this?” Emma pulled out a bandanna and wiped her face again. Despite her disheveled appearance, there was a wide grin on her face.

  “I know you don’t understand, but it wasn’t easy. Toughest decision of my life.”

  Their gazes connected and Zach swallowed hard.

  “Then why did you?” she asked softly. “We’d been friends since I was seven years old, and suddenly you left without a backward glance.”

  He kept his mouth shut, unwilling to open that particular can of worms here and now.

  “I guess there’s no point asking why you’ve stayed away for three years, either,” she continued.

  Another heifer released a loud mournful wail and Zach turned his horse around. “Saved by the heifer.”

  “You can run...” Emma murmured. “But it seems to me that you and I have a lot to talk about.”

  Yeah, she was right. If he was going to be here until January, eventually he and Emma would have to talk.

  Zach shook his head as he carefully headed toward the birthing cow.

  Why was it that although he never gave a second thought to heading into danger as a navy SEAL, the thought of going toe-to-toe with his brother’s widow in Timber, Oklahoma, terrified him?

  Chapter Two

  Emma sluiced cold water over her face and arms, rinsing the evidence of a day’s hard work into the industrial sink of the stables. She shivered and reached for paper towels to dry off. A glance down at her once shiny Ariat boots had her cringing. Something she didn’t want to think about now decorated the hand-tooled leather. Rubbing the soles against a boot scraper in the corner, followed by the hard stomp of her feet on the stable floor, she managed to kick off most of the offending debris.

  Though exhaustion dogged her, Emma’s spirits remained energized. There was something satisfying about hands-on ranch work. She missed this. The last two and a half years had seen her cloistered in her office juggling the twins between therapy sessions with children and RangePro issues.

  She glanced at her watch and then out the nearest window. The shadows of the day were closing in and she still had a riding lesson before she could head home to dinner and her girls.

  “Miss Emma, can my brother, Mick, come with us for today’s lesson?”

  Emma turned to meet the hopeful gaze of Benjie Brewer, a ten-year-old with bright red curls and a round face. She resisted the urge to correct his grammar. Her sister, Lucy, was a grammar stickler, whose comeback when they were growing up was always I don’t know, can you?

  Emma favored example as the better teacher. “Isn’t Mick on the schedule?”

  “Yes. With Mr. Travis, but he’s still working with some sickly calves in the barn.”

  “I can take Travis’s lesson.”

  The familiar deep rumbling voice had Emma whirling around. Her eyes widened at the sight of Zach standing in the doorway. With his shoulders nearly blocking the sun behind him, the
man seemed larger and twice as imposing as usual.

  His gait was slower and the limp more pronounced as he closed the distance between them. Her gaze went to his face. The tight jaw clearly said that he was in pain.

  After four hours in and out of the saddle with calf birthing in the pasture, she was in pain, as well. But she knew her minor aches were nothing compared to Zach’s and yet he continued to soldier through. What drove the man?

  “That work for you, Miss Emma?” he asked as he swiped at his brow with the back of his hand.

  With a pointed gaze at his knee, she raised a brow in question.

  “The knee is fine.”

  “If you say so,” she murmured.

  “And I do.”

  Emma took off her Stetson and pushed damp and tangled strands of hair from her face before sliding the hat to the back of her head. “Mr. Zach, this is Benjie Brewer. His brother is no doubt hiding around the corner.”

  “Mick, you can come out now,” Benjie called.

  Where Benjie was pale, short and freckled, Mick Brewer was tall and lean with straight dark hair. His coloring and facial features hinted at a Native American heritage.

  “Brothers?” Zach repeated.

  Zach took the words from her mouth.

  “We’re half brothers,” Mick said. “I’m older.”

  “By a year is all,” Benjie returned.

  Zach’s eyes rounded as he looked between the boys. He hadn’t missed the irony, Emma noted. They were as different as he and Steve were.

  “Can you ride, Mick?” Zach asked.

  Benjie blew a loud raspberry.

  “I asked Mick,” Zach said drily.

  Benjie’s eyes popped wide at Zach’s tone and he inched back.

  “’Course I can ride.” Mick swelled up his chest and got in his brother’s face. “Better than this little runt can.”

  “Naw, that’s not true,” Benjie defended himself. “You’re the one who rides like a scaredy-cat.”

  “Do not.”

  “Do, too.”

  “Stop.”

  All heads turned to Zach as the thunderous words echoed throughout the stables. He held up a large gloved hand. “First rule. Less talking. And there is zero tolerance for name-calling.”