The Lawman's Christmas Proposal

“From what your mom says, maybe you ought to make the trip a priority,” his dad suggested.

“I can go with you after school,” Laurie offered. “I can see Daffodil and then go for a ride.”

“And,” his mother said, “I told Jed I’d send along some more vegetables for Paz.”

His brothers volunteered to help her box up the canning jars.

As he considered the conversation, Mitch sat back in his chair and shifted his leg to make himself more comfortable.

Nothing had been mentioned about what had brought him home. No furtive looks had been exchanged between anyone at the table. Yet somehow, he felt certain every member of his family had given the elephant in the room a strong, steady push in the right direction.

At least, from their perspective.

* * *

LATE THE NEXT AFTERNOON, accompanied by nonstop chatter from Laurie, Mitch drove up the road to Garland Ranch for the second time in two days.

She went on about her classes and friends and riding and the holiday open house Jed held every year at the hotel. He hadn’t made it back for one of those parties since he’d left town to go to school. Maybe he’d be gone for this one.

He thought again about his family ganging up on him over today’s trip. Something had made them all suddenly think the return to Garland Ranch would do him good.

Sure, they wanted him to relax and unwind and go back to being the son and brother they’d always known. That wasn’t going to happen, no matter how much they tried. He would never be the man he was before the incident. The incident...

He’d trained himself to use that cop-speak every time he thought about the day. To put a professional spin on an event leaving more than one man dead. To keep from obsessing over the knowledge his partner’s death was personal and a memory he would always carry with him.

He ran his hand over his face, then opened the window all the way, hoping the fresh air would chase away the images filling his mind.

“Hey,” Laurie yelped. “It’s December. You want me to catch pneumonia and miss the party?”

“You’d go to that open house if you had both legs and one arm in a cast.”

“Sure would.” She laughed.

He thought again of his family’s efforts to get him out to the ranch. Their methods had sent up a red flag. Something wasn’t right about their determination.

“You do much riding out at Jed’s?” he asked.

“Not as much anymore,” she admitted.

“Mom says you spend weekends there, though.”

To his surprise, her cheeks turned red. “Well, I go to see Daffodil. She’s old, you know.”

“Yeah. She had been getting up there even when I worked the ranch. She always thought she should be treated like a queen.”

“Jed said she earned that right. And Eddie... I mean, Pete thinks she likes when I visit.”

“Sounds like Eddie-I-mean-Pete knows a thing or two about horses.”

Laughing, she smacked his arm, the way she had done a hundred times before. It surprised him to realize he’d missed that, along with roughhousing with the boys.

“All right,” she said, “I meant Eddie. He takes care of the stables.”

Just the job he’d had the first time he’d seen Andi. The luckiest day of his life till then.

It looked as though his little sister might have the same kind of good fortune. Maybe hers would last. “Am I going to have to play biggest brother and give the guy a warning about being good to my sister?”

“Show him your gun. That’ll work even better.”

His hands clamped onto the steering wheel so tightly, he could barely make the turn into the drive. The flash of memory that hit made him wince.

PTSD, the psychiatrist assigned to him after the shooting had labeled it, the body giving way as remembered trauma took control. According to the shrink, the stress showed up in different ways.

Yeah, he’d dealt with that, right after the...incident. It had eased up a lot since then. He was fine. Fine, except for those nights he woke up in a sweat. And those times he paced his apartment to outrun the demons chasing him.

And, so it seemed, when he heard his baby sister joke about his weapon.

He parked near the corral on Garland Ranch and shot a glance at the woman who stood outside the fence, her back to them. Andi. He thought of all the drugs the shrink had offered him and he had refused. Seeing Andi again made him feel better than any drug ever could.

With one boot planted on the lowest rail, she watched a blond-haired little boy on a small Shetland. Her son, Trey, he had no doubt.

“That’s him,” Laurie said, as if she’d read his mind. But one glance told him her mind was on the teenager leading the horse. He’d wager he knew who that was, too.

By the time he had eased out of the truck and made his way around it, Laurie had left him far behind.

Either Andi had no interest in newcomers or she hadn’t recognized Laurie as his sister, because she hadn’t moved from her spot near the rail. He had time to notice the fall of blond hair around her shoulders and the way her jeans hugged her curves. He even had time to remember how it had felt to hold those curves. By the time she turned to look his way, he’d broken into a sweat brought on by the memories. That was the kind of healing meds he needed.

Dragging his shirtsleeve across his brow, he took a deep breath. Then he moved forward, cursing his knee brace and every halting step she had to see.

She clung to the top rail the way he’d gripped the steering wheel. Her gaze shot toward the barn.

“Eddie and Laurie are with the boy. Your son?”

She nodded.

“Tell me about your kids.”

The light in her face told him he’d said the right thing. The same light he once saw when she looked at him.

“Trey is two, almost three.”

“Ah. The terrible twos?” When her eyes widened in surprise, he shrugged. “I remember my brothers and sisters going through them.”

“Well, I’ll admit my son has had his moments.” A smile lit her face even more. “It’s been good for Trey to be here on the ranch and around Tina’s son, Robbie, and Pete’s two kids. You remember Pete Brannigan?”

He nodded. “Jed said he’s ranch manager now. And he did mention the kids.”

“Yes. He has a girl and boy of his own. All three of the kids are just old enough not to take any interest yet in my daughter, Missy.”