Yuletide Cowboys: The Cowboy's Yuletide Reunion / The Cowboy's Christmas Gift

Sarah absently brushed her hand across his shoulder. “She’s put you between a rock and a hard place, that’s for sure.”

“Right? And somehow I have to figure out what’s best for the whole family. I have to find a way to let Matt and Grandma Sheryl know that she wants to be a part of our lives. Matt’s going to be furious. I just hope he doesn’t take it out on me.”

“Can you find it in your heart to forgive her, do you think? Allow her to be a part of your life, even if your brother wants nothing to do with her?”

He blew out a breath and winced. That was the question he’d been asking himself for a week, and he wasn’t any closer to an answer now than he had been back then. “I don’t know, Sarah. I honestly don’t know.”

* * *

Sarah’s heart went out to Marcus. His mother had really done a number on him. She’d let her family down in the worst possible way, abandoning them and walking away without looking back. She was an alcoholic, which explained her actions but didn’t absolve them.

She could see the pain in Marcus’s eyes and felt it as if it were her own. His mother’s sudden return to his life was ripping his heart out. She wasn’t the least bit surprised that the woman had approached Marcus and not his bad-boy brother, Matt. Marcus was tenderhearted. He always tried to do the right thing—but what the right thing was in this situation was difficult to call.

Sarah’s first impulse was to suggest he toss his mom out on her ear should she dare to show up in person. She didn’t deserve any better than that, and it would spare Marcus from any additional pain she might cause. But that wasn’t Marcus’s way.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, sweeping her hand over the tense muscles of his shoulders and coming to land on his arm. His biceps tightened. Time had certainly worked in his favor in that regard. She didn’t remember him being so strong when she’d dated him in high school.

“Honestly? I don’t know. I told her I’d try to broach the subject with Grandma Sheryl and Matt, but I already know they won’t be too keen to hear the news that mom is suddenly ready for us. I highly doubt reconciliation will be on the menu, at least not for a long time to come.”

“Are you planning to meet up with her?”

“No.” He shook his head fervently and then shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. Better I step forward than deny her and have her end up going after Matt. If I see her face-to-face, I’ll know right away if she’s lying about turning her life around. I suppose that’ll give me a better idea about what I should do next.”

Sarah opened her mouth to offer her support and then clamped it shut again. Surely he had many people in his life who would stand up with him during this trial—if not his family, then at least some close friends. He was nothing if not a social being. She was in a bad place in her life right now. She had nothing to offer him. And as for the two of them—

Well, there was no two of them. Not anymore.

She was still debating on what she should say to him when the lights flickered. She groaned.

His gaze widened. “Are we going to—”

He never finished his sentence. The lights flared once, she heard a loud bang and then everything went dark. It was twilight outside and there was still a small measure of gray light pouring in from the windows, but she knew it would be only a matter of minutes before they would be cast into the pitch-blackness of mountain living.

“Electrical outage?” Marcus asked.

She nodded. Onyx darted into the room, clutching her stuffed brown bunny and whimpering. “I heard a scary sound, Mama.”

Before Sarah could say a word, Marcus crossed the room and held out his hands to the little girl. Onyx didn’t hesitate. She climbed right into his arms and clung to his neck.

“It’s okay, little darlin’,” Marcus assured the three-year-old. One side of his mouth crept upward as he met Sarah’s gaze. That crooked grin had always made her heartbeat quicken, and now was no exception. She’d never found him more attractive in her life than in the moment he stepped in to console her child. “We’re going to play a little game right now. It’ll be fun. Do you like flashlights?”

Onyx nodded and Marcus shifted her to one side so he could dig into the front pocket of his jeans. He withdrew his key chain and pressed the button on a tiny silver flashlight, waving the beam toward the wall so Onyx could see the light dance against the shadows.

“Can you be a big girl and hold the flashlight for your mama and me while we gather some supplies together? It’ll be just like camping out. Do you like to camp?”

Onyx squealed in delight as Marcus handed her the flashlight and showed her how to use it. For not the first time that day, Sarah’s eyes burned with unshed tears. During the summertime, Justin had often taken the family fishing and hiking. They were some of Sarah’s fondest memories, although she doubted Onyx was old enough to recall such outings.

“Do you have a backup generator?” he asked, directing the question to Sarah. “How long do you think it will be before the electrical company can get the power back up?”

“We had a generator when the farm was doing well. After Justin passed away, I had to sell it.”

He studied her, his golden eyebrows lowering.

She tipped her chin and squared her shoulders. She knew he’d picked up on what she’d said—or rather, hadn’t said—about the debts she owed, but she refused to let him pity her.

“I’m not sure about the power company,” she continued. “It might take a while. It sounded like something major blew up just before the lights went out. A transformer, maybe? Once a couple of years ago I remember when a drunk driver rammed his truck into a transformer near the farm. We were without power for a week. I had to do all my cooking in the fireplace.

“We ate a lot of hot dogs that week.” She chuckled. “But that was in the middle of the summer, so it wasn’t quite so bad, temperature-wise. A little stuffy in the daytime, but it still got chilly at night. But now we’re stranded in a snowstorm.”

He nodded in agreement. “It’s going to get cold in here.”

Freezing cold, like an icebox. And fast. She focused on her breathing, refusing to give in to the panic rising in her chest. “I guess the first order of business is going to be lighting a fire in the hearth. Marcus, if you wouldn’t mind gathering an armful of logs, I’ll pull together some old newspapers for kindling. There should be some wood stacked in the bin just outside the back door. Through the kitchen and then to the right.” She pointed to the kitchen and crooked her finger to indicate which way he should go.

“I’ll wear my coat this time,” he said, winking at Sarah as he plopped Onyx onto the armchair. “Will you keep holding that light for your mama while I’m gone?” he asked the child, who beamed up at him as if he held the sun in the sky. “You’re a big girl. Your mama really depends on your help.”

Sarah shivered at the icy breeze that blew through the house when Marcus opened the back door and stepped outside. It was already several degrees cooler in the cabin, and the temperature was dropping at an alarming rate. She hoped Marcus would hurry in with the wood. She was already feeling a chill, and she had an infant and elderly parents-in-law to worry about. They’d be especially susceptible to the cold.

“Onyx, honey, let’s go find Jewel, Pops and Granny. I’ll bet they’ll want to see the big, roaring fire Mr. Marcus is going to help us build.”

“Can we cook hot dogs?” Onyx asked as they walked down the hall to where Jewel was napping. “And roast marshmallows?”

Sarah laughed. She hadn’t seen Onyx’s eyes light up like this in a very long time.

Too long.

“I think that’s a great idea. I might even have some graham crackers and chocolate bars around here somewhere. We can make big, smushy s’mores for dessert.”

“Yay! S’mores!”

Maybe Onyx remembered more about camping with her father than Sarah had imagined. That concerned her. She was ashamed to realize she hadn’t put much effort into doing “fun” things with Onyx since Justin’s death. She’d been so preoccupied with the debts and obligations her husband had left her that she hadn’t spent the time she should have finding ways to make her daughter smile again.

She crouched down to give Onyx a hearty hug and kiss, but the girl quickly wriggled out of her grasp. Chuckling, Sarah stood and scooped Jewel from her crib, wrapping her in a warm blanket. Then she stopped by Pops and Granny’s room to let them know about her plan to light a fire and congregate in the living room. She also suggested they both throw on an extra layer of clothing. Pops especially was vulnerable to the cold these days. His circulation wasn’t what it used to be.

“We’ll gather some blankets and be right with you,” Granny assured her. Pops simply grunted his assent.

Sarah returned to the living room, expecting Marcus to be hunched over the hearth lighting the fire, but there was no sign of him. Where was he with the firewood? Surely it couldn’t take him that long to grab an armful of logs from just outside the back door.

She entered the kitchen with Jewel propped on her hip and Onyx following close behind her, waving the beam of light across the walls and exclaiming in delight at the shadows it made. Sarah pulled the curtain aside to peek out into the backyard.

To her surprise, Marcus wasn’t on the porch. He’d shed his coat and was angling an ax at a slab of wood he’d perched on the chopping block.

Why was he chopping logs? Didn’t they have any wood in the bin? To her dismay, she suddenly remembered she’d used the last of it in October during the first big snowstorm of the year. She’d been meaning to refill the bin, but time had gotten away from her and she’d forgotten all about it.

And now poor Marcus was out there battling the elements on her behalf. She was ashamed of herself for the oversight, but how much worse would it have been if Marcus hadn’t been here? She would have been the one splitting logs in the whiteout, and she wasn’t nearly as competent with an ax as Marcus appeared to be. She imagined his fingers and toes were turning icy with the cold, but he swung away regardless.

She breathed a prayer of thanksgiving for the Lord’s provision, that He’d somehow orchestrated events so Marcus was here during the blackout. But poor Marcus!

She couldn’t even make him a cup of hot cocoa to warm him up when he came inside. At least not until they had the fire going.