The Cowgirl's Christmas Gift (Last Chance Ranch Book 1) Read online

  ***

  Cam’s arms and shoulder muscles were going to hurt like the Dickens tomorrow. He was having a hard time moving around now. But doggone it, he’d cut that tree down. There’d been something oddly satisfying to his masculine ego to hear the sound of the tree slap against the snow as it fell. He had conquered over nature. And then, with Maisey’s help, he’d dragged that tree back to the house.

  Cam refused to admit nature might have conquered him—slightly. Nothing that a couple of ibuprofen couldn’t fix.

  It was all worth it just to see the beaming smiles on the boys’ faces, the way their eyes glittered and gleamed as he and Maisey set the tree into the base. With Cam’s help, the boys strung the lights, which, to their delight, ran through eight different patterns.

  “Look what I have here,” Maisey announced, shaking a large bag full of Christmas tree ornaments. She dug inside and pulled out the first ornament. “Who here likes The Flash?”

  Cam raised his hand and then lowered it again, his face burning. Of course she was talking to the kids.

  Sebastian claimed the first ornament, and before Cam knew it, the tree was officially trimmed. Maisey pulled out the ornaments and passed them to Cam and the twins. He let the boys do most of it, but Maisey insisted Cam hang some of the ornaments near the top of the tree. He would have been perfectly happy just watching her interact with the twins. She was a natural and brought so much joy and laughter into their house.

  He was so grateful to her. He never could have done any of this without her help. Thanks to her, the twins would have the Christmas they deserved. And to his surprise, Cam was likewise experiencing the season for the first time in forever.

  The woman was nothing short of amazing.

  After all the ornaments had been hung, Maisey completed the picture by wrapping gold and silver garland from top to bottom and adding a few of the large bows she’d tied the night before.

  Cam had never seen anything like it. Their tree was beautiful. And more than that, it was unique. It didn’t look like anything out of a department store, but rather the result of a family’s special care. There were places where the boys had clumped their favorite ornaments together. The tree was bottom-heavy, since the boys had done most of the ornament-hanging.

  But to Cam, it looked perfect. And he couldn’t remember ever being happier in his life. He gave each of the twins two wrapped presents to put under the tree for the final finishing touch. The boys were so excited Cam picked up on their energy.

  “Guess what?” Maisey announced, digging through yet another shopping bag. “Uncle Cam bought everyone a stocking.”

  “Stockings!” Sebastian shouted, pumping his arm in the air and dancing around. “Hole in the wall!!!”

  “Hole in the wall?” Maisey repeated, sounding confused.

  “Hole in the head, more like,” Cam said, rolling his eyes. “Half the time I don’t know what these kids are talking about. They speak a completely different language.”

  “So then, hole in the wall means totally awesome, right?”

  “I don’t speak six-year-old, but I think that’s a fairly accurate guess.”

  Maisey’s laughter was contagious, and soon everyone was holding their stomachs and snorting air.

  She covered the coffee table with a plastic sheet she’d bought just for this purpose and laid out the stockings. Then she pulled out bottles of glitter glue and gestured for everyone to gather around her.

  “Silas, you’re up first. What colors do you want your name to be written in?”

  His eyes widened but he didn’t answer.

  “What’s your favorite color, dude?” Cam encouraged.

  “Red.”

  “That’s perfect, Silas,” Maisey assured him, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “Red is a great Christmas color.”

  “Spiderman is red,” he stated.

  Maisey chuckled. “That, too. Do you want any other colors?”

  Silas shook his head, and Maisey wrote his name in careful manuscript letters. “Can you read this?” she asked.

  “Silas,” the boy said proudly.

  “Good! I knew you could do it. Now Baz, what about you?”

  “Blue and orange.”

  “Umm…okay. Why blue and orange?”

  Cam groaned and threaded his fingers through his hair. “He likes the Denver Broncos. My sister lived in Colorado before—well—”

  “Blue and orange it is, then.”

  Cam was grateful to Maisey for interrupting him so he didn’t have to finish that painful sentence.

  “You want to do your own, Uncle Cam?” Maisey asked.

  He shook his head fervently. Arts and crafts was yet another class Cam had failed while in school.

  “Please. Do the honors.”

  “Favorite colors?”

  He shrugged. “You choose.”

  She bit her bottom lip as she surveyed the glitter glue bottles. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from that little movement, her slightly-crooked teeth peeking out over the edge of her mouth.

  After a moment, she plucked up two bottles.

  “Gold and silver,” she explained. “The color of royalty. Uncle Cam, you’re the king of this giant monstrosity of a castle.”

  “Like Beast,” she pseudo-whispered to the boys, more than loud enough for Cam to hear.

  That got the twins rolling with laughter. He assumed that was some kind of cultural reference, but he didn’t keep up with movies. He hadn’t even had a television in his old apartment, and now he had three big-screens.

  He raised his brow, waiting for Maisey to explain.

  “Beast?” she repeated, as if the problem was that he hadn’t heard her correctly.

  “Is that an insult?” He ran a palm across his stubbled jaw.

  “What? No. You know, Beauty and the Beast? Everyone loves Beast. He’s adorable. I’d take Beast over the Prince any day of the week.”

  She’d just accosted him with many words, but he only heard one.

  Adorable.

  CHAPTER 7

  M aisey walked into the stable and took a deep breath of country air. As odd as it might seem, she loved everything about the sounds and scents of the barn—the snuffling of the horses and the crisp, fresh smell of bales of hay. This was the place she most belonged in the world, with her beloved horses.

  Today was even more special than usual. Cam and the boys were coming over to meet some of the horses and learn about what she did here.

  She approached one of the stalls and a gorgeous blood-bay quarter horse mare leaned her head out over the top of the door. Maisey kissed her muzzle and rubbed between her ears.

  “Hi there, Miss Morgan. Are you ready to do some training today?” While Butterscotch was Maisey’s Equine Challenge horse, she was training Morgan to be rideable for a family in Casper. She spent sixty days with horses like these, taking them from green broke to comfortable with a rider in the saddle. Maisey also taught her horses to load and unload into and out of a trailer without a fuss and got them used to a farrier working with their feet. Morgan was going to be an excitable teenager’s horse, so Maisey wanted to make sure she was especially well-trained before releasing her back to the family.

  “Hello?” Cam whispered, stepping into the stable. “Anybody here?”

  “Over here, Cam. Why are you whispering?” Maisey answered back.

  “I remember what happened when the boys were last here,” he said. “They’re not allowed to speak until you tell them it’s okay.”

  Both boys followed their uncle in, their eyes wide and their lips pressed tightly together to makes sure no sound slipped out.

  Maisey scrubbed her hands through their blond hair and laughed. “You can talk now. The horses in these stalls have been around people before. It’s the ones in the pasture who have come from a wild background. I’ll try to introduce you to Butterscotch later, but for now, this beauty is named Morgan.”

  Maisey haltered Morgan and led her out into the corral. S
he saddled and bridled the horse and then turned to the boys. “We’re almost at the end of our sixty-day training period. Morgan here enjoys giving people rides. What do you think, guys? Do you want to get up in the saddle?”

  Both boys started to exclaim and then clapped their hands over their mouths and did their very best not to wiggle in excitement.

  “Uncle Cam? Is that okay with you?” Maisey asked, sensing some hesitation on his part.

  “You’re the expert. I trust you. Boys, do exactly what Maisey tells you, all right?”

  At Maisey’s request, Cam lifted Silas into the saddle.

  “Hold on to the saddle horn now. It will feel like she’s rocking back and forth as she’s walking. Just let your body rock with her.”

  Maisey stepped out, keeping Morgan at a slow walk as they toured around the corral a few times. Sebastian was getting antsy for his turn, especially seeing the way Silas was beaming in the saddle.

  She pulled the horse up next to Cam, who helped Silas off, and then she gave the same attention to Sebastian. When they were both finished with their rides, Maisey praised them.

  “You two are born cowboys. It’s a good thing you get to live with your uncle here in Wyoming. Maybe we can make this a weekly thing—riding lessons. Someday you all may even get your own horses. Who knows?” She leaned down conspiratorially. “We just have to convince your Uncle Cam here that he’s a cowboy, too.”

  Cam chuckled. “Let’s not stretch this too far.”

  “You don’t like horses?”

  “I didn’t say that. I just can’t see myself riding one.”

  “Oh, now that sounds like a challenge. Let’s go, buddy. Morgan is waiting for you.”

  Cam was already shaking his head.

  “It’s time to get out from behind those virtual reality glasses and experience the real world, my friend.”

  ***

  The real world? Cam was about to make his humiliating debut into the real world. There was a reason he was a loner who preferred gaming to actually doing. He fully expected to slide right out of the saddle and be shone up by both the twins. But with Maisey’s challenge in front of him, what could he do besides climb into the saddle, no matter what kind of a disaster he was setting himself up for.

  He stopped breathing when, unlike with the boys, Maisey threaded the reins over Morgan’s neck and handed them to Cam. What was he supposed to do with these?

  She grinned. “It’s like driving a car. Morgan will go forward on her own with just the slightest nudge of your heels. Left for left, right for right, and pull back gently for whoa. Got it?”

  No, he didn’t get it. But even though he would classify himself entirely in the beta camp, some bizarre alpha male hormone rose and his John Wayne ego emerged.

  He was going to ride this horse. Hi, ho, Silver, away!

  Nudge with his heels, she’d said. He nudged, but nothing happened.

  He questioned Maisey with a look.

  What now?

  Maisey laughed and slapped Morgan on the flank. The horse lurched forward and then settled into a walk. Cam almost had a heart attack when the horse first moved, but it didn’t take him long to settle into the saddle.

  He was doing this. Mental arm pump! He had to admit, he liked this horse thing.

  “Could I get lessons, too?” he asked as he slid out of the saddle. “I live in Wyoming, after all. I know giving riding lessons isn’t really your thing, but I’ll pay for them, of course.”

  “No possible way,” Maisey responded without missing a beat.

  Cam whirled her direction, gaping. It wasn’t like Maisey to be so curt. “I--wh-what?”

  But Maisey wasn’t looking at him. She was looking out over his shoulder to the pasture beyond the corral.

  “Look,” she said softly, wonder in her tone.

  Cam turned to see what she was looking at. There, with his head over the corral fence, was a magnificent palomino horse.

  “Butterscotch,” she explained. “My Equine Challenge horse.”

  “The wild one?” Cam asked.

  “Yes. The one the twins scared the first day we met. I haven’t worked with him since. I’ve been so busy—”

  “Trying to get me straightened out. I’m sorry.”

  “What? No. I figured it would be good for Scotch to have a couple of days of freedom, anyway, and he’s been sheltered away against the storm. I couldn’t have worked with him then. But now—”

  “He’s right up against the fence.”

  “Yes,” she said in a hushed, reverent tone. “He’s responding to Morgan. How about that?”

  She took Morgan’s bridle and led her toward Butterscotch, one slow step at a time. Butterscotch whickered but didn’t shy away.

  “That’s my boy,” Maisey said, and Cam’s throat closed around his breath. She was amazing, and the horse knew it. “That’s my good boy.”

  She stretched out her hand and let him sniff it, waiting patiently until he bumped her palm with his muzzle. Then she ran a hand down his neck.

  It was amazing, watching this interaction between horse and woman. In a way, she was doing the very thing he’d been working so hard on, the project he intended to give Sebastian and Silas for Christmas. Only this was all flesh and blood, horse and human, whereas his was robotic parts and computer code.

  Maisey interacted with Butterscotch for a couple minutes more before he whinnied and trotted off. Cam had just regained his breath and then promptly lost it again when he saw Maisey’s radiant countenance. She was glowing with delight.

  “I can’t believe it,” she said, so excited she threw her arms around Cam and hugged him vigorously, nearly knocking him to the ground. He laughed and put his arms around her waist to steady both of them.

  Their eyes met and locked. His heart thudded so hard he thought Maisey must be able to hear it. Her arms tightened and his gaze dropped to her smiling lips. Just one more inch and—

  “Uncle Cam is kissing Maisey!” Silas announced.

  “Uncle Cam and Maisey, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” both boys tweeted.

  Heat flooding his face. Cam tried to pull away, but Maisey framed his jaw with her hands and kept him right where he was at—the best place in all the world.

  CHAPTER 8

  M aisey truly had the best Christmas Eve ever. Not only was she sitting with her family at the midnight service, but Cam and the twins joined them, taking up the entire pew. And during the homily, Cam had slyly reached out and threaded his fingers through hers.

  Admittedly, she remembered very little of that sermon, but she thought the Lord would probably forgive her. She was walking on air, between Cam’s hand in hers and the unexplained progress with Butterscotch, not to mention the two sweetest little boys in the world, who gave her big hugs before they left to return home and get to sleep so they could rise early on Christmas morning.

  “I know Christmas is a family holiday,” Cam had said after the service. “But I’m making my famous pancakes for breakfast if you want to stop by.” His blue eyes glittered in the moonlight and she was reminded of the first time they’d met, when he’d had those silly VR glasses on and his eyes had looked four times as large, like robot eyes.

  But Cam wasn’t a robot. He might be a techie, but he had a heart as big as Wyoming.

  And she did want to stop by. She had gifts for Cam and the boys and couldn’t wait for them to open them.

  Maisey enjoyed Christmas morning with her mom and sisters, but she had to admit she was antsy to get to Cam’s house and see him and the boys. Her sisters wouldn’t stop teasing her about it, but she was too happy to care.

  Arms full of gifts, her heart raced as she pressed the doorbell at what she now thought of as the Flynn mansion. It no longer seemed odd to her that Cam lived there. He’d made it into a home for the boys, and that was what counted.

  But when Cam opened the door, she forgot all about it being Christmas morning. His blue eyes looked bigger than normal again, but this time it w
asn’t due to VR glasses or the way the light shined on him.

  He had tears in his eyes. And from the expression on his face, they weren’t tears of joy.

  “Cam,” she said, dropping the presents at the entrance and taking his elbow. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Silas,” Cam said, a catch in his voice.

  “Where is he? What happened?”

  “Lynda. My sister. She called this morning. I thought it would be a nice surprise for the boys. Sebastian seemed glad to get to talk to his mom, but Silas—”

  “He’s sensitive,” she finished for him.

  “Yeah. It broke his little heart. I shouldn’t have let that happen.”

  “You couldn’t have known.”

  Frustrated, he punched the air. “I should have known. That’s my job, to protect these boys.”

  Maisey put her arms around him and drew him into a hug. “And that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re a great guardian, Cam. I’ve watched you. You really love the twins. It shows in everything you do.”

  “The ironic part is, I’ve been working on something to help him with his anxiety. It’s a different way of looking at coping skills. I keep thinking that maybe if there’d been some way to help my sister, she wouldn’t have ended up like my mom. And now Silas is having the same problems.”

  “Working on something?” Maisey asked, both curious and wanting to help Cam focus on something positive. “Like what?”

  “His therapist gives him different toys and gadgets to use to focus and talk him down when he gets upset. He calls them coping skills. That day we first met? I was working on code for this.”

  He took her hand and led her to the living room, where a little white robot about a foot and a half tall stood under the Christmas tree, untouched.

  “Oh, he’s so cute,” Maisey exclaimed. “I’m sure the boys will love him. What does he do?”

  “Asks questions, like, “What is your favorite toy?” or “How fast can you run?” He then answers with funny jokes to make the boys laugh. I designed him to help Silas to think about something else other than his problems.”

  “That’s brilliant.”

  “Thank you. I—I hope so. But Silas never made it to the living room this morning, and I wouldn’t let Sebastian come out here without him.”