A Rancher for Christmas

She shook her head; he’d known she would. “I’m cold, but I’m not going to faint or fall apart, Martin.”

He smiled again. “I didn’t begin to think you would, Hernandez.”

At that she actually smiled, and he saw her vulnerability slip away. She was strong again. Snuggled in his jacket that she would leave scented with her lavender-and-citrus fragrance.

“If you need to do something, go right ahead,” she offered. “I know you didn’t come over here with the intention of rescuing me and then solving a mystery.”

“No, I came over to feed. To do that, I’ll have to get the tractor and hook a round bale. I’ll be gone in about fifteen minutes.”

“I haven’t forgotten how to protect myself. I’ve been doing it a long time.”

He had no doubt she could protect herself. And he also knew that was her way of telling him she didn’t need him to look after her. He walked away, taking a spare jacket that had been left inside the tack room and heading out the side door to the tractor. He climbed up into the big green-and-yellow machine and closed the door, blocking out the sounds and thoughts that were bombarding him this morning.

But one thought wouldn’t be evaded. When was the last time anyone had looked out for Breezy? Had she ever been made to feel safe, to feel protected?

It wasn’t his job, that role of protector. She did have a sister in Oklahoma. And she had made it clear that she relied on herself, her own abilities.

Jake had the twins, Samantha, Brody and sometimes Duke to watch over, to keep out of trouble and to protect. Lawton had put Breezy in his life but he hadn’t made Jake her guardian.

With that settled in his mind, he drove out through the field with a round bale on the back of the tractor and cattle following behind him. He’d hired a kid to do this job but it hadn’t worked out. James had been twenty-one and wanting to save up to go to welding school. After a week of taking care of things at Lawton’s place, James had stopped showing up.

That left it to Jake. Maybe when Brody came home he’d help out. And Duke would do what he could.

As he headed back to the barn to park the tractor the county deputy was pulling up in his car. Mac the blue heeler greeted him, his stub tail wagging. Jake knew the deputy. They’d gone to school together a long time ago.

When he stepped back into the barn after parking the tractor, Deputy Aaron Mallard was in the office. Breezy stood in the doorway answering questions and apologizing because she really hadn’t seen anything other than loose cattle and an open door.

The deputy nodded in greeting when he saw Jake. “Jake, been a while.”

“Aaron, yeah, it has. I didn’t touch anything, but I can tell you it wasn’t like this yesterday.”

“Didn’t figure you left it a mess. And I know Lawton was a stickler for neatness. Someone was looking for something in the filing cabinet. It’s pried open. Funny, because I’m not seeing anything but feed bills and farm equipment receipts.”

“That’s really all that we kept in here.”

“Anything in the house that someone would want?”

“I guess there could still be paperwork or research in Lawton’s office. He took most of his work to Austin but sometimes he worked at home,” Jake responded. He tried to remember anything Lawton had said or even hinted at. Had they had prowlers before? It wasn’t unheard-of these days.

The country used to be safe. They hadn’t locked their doors for more years than he could remember. Yeah, life had changed. People didn’t mind stealing from neighbors. Worse than that, now they even stole from the church if they got a chance.

What had happened to respect? Leaning against the door frame, he shook his head at the turn of his thoughts. “I’ll take a look around, and see if I can find anything that might have been interesting to a burglar.”

“Could be it isn’t a burglar, Jake.” The deputy closed the filing cabinet drawer and walked out of the office. “Could be they’re searching for something and it isn’t a random break-in. Lawton developed some pretty serious financial software. Could he have left something around here that he was working on? Something new?”

“Yeah, maybe,” Jake agreed, trying hard not to think about how this put the twins, and Breezy, in danger. If someone was searching for Lawton’s latest project, what would they do to get their hands on it?

“I’ll make sure we send a patrol by here a couple of times a day, and you all keep the alarm system activated.” The deputy gave Breezy a look this time. “And keep the doors locked.”

Jake walked Aaron out. They discussed the odds of it being someone they knew. They talked about the weather and Christmas. As they talked, Breezy walked out of the barn, closing the door behind her. She told Jake she’d meet him at the house.

She was still wearing his jacket. He watched her walk down the driveway, his dog next to her. He knew her scent would linger on his jacket. Every time he pulled it on, he’d smell that light spring fragrance.

Jake had been around awhile. He knew temptation when he saw it, when it walked away with his dog and his coat. And maybe took a little of his common sense with it.

It had been years since he’d met temptation head-on like this, but he still recognized it for what it was. And he still knew where that road led. He knew he wasn’t going there.

Chapter Five (#ulink_ef36e313-e370-5d46-8461-81c3524bd3b2)

After Jake left, Breezy decided to unpack her few belongings. She’d been putting off the task of settling in, thinking something would happen, preparing for the reality that this, too, could be taken from her. She’d kept her clothes in her suitcase and her toiletries in the bag she’d put on the bathroom counter. Unpacking meant staying. Unpacking meant a commitment to remain here and help raise two little girls.

It meant staying in Jake Martin’s life. For a long, long time. Always being the person he tolerated. A person he’d rather not have in his world.

She had news for him. He was no picnic, either. But they were stuck with each other and she’d make the best of it.

The decision to stay meant picking a room. There were two bedrooms and a craft room upstairs. She had picked a spare room on the ground floor, close to the room that had belonged to the twins. A room those twins would return to in time. They would spend nights with her. Maybe even weeks.

Breezy’s new room was pretty with tan, textured walls and another wall of stone, with a fireplace in the center and French doors that led to a patio. She stood in the middle of that room and tried to imagine herself living there. She tried to picture herself helping Jake Martin raise two little girls, picture them growing up. She would be there as they went to school, as they started to think about boys and dating, and then someday they would leave. And where would she be then? Still in Martin’s Crossing, still single and wishing she could find a place to belong?

What if she grew to love this town?

How would it feel to grow old in Martin’s Crossing? For some reason, images of Jake Martin popped into her mind. Unattainable, undeniably gorgeous, a man with rules, a man of faith. She would be coparenting those little girls with a man who was everything she’d never been.

She headed down the hall to the kitchen, where she quickly made a list of things she needed from the store. What she really needed was to get out of the house. Breezy headed for Martin’s Crossing, AKA: The One-Horse Town. As she drove she called Mia. She needed to tell her sister everything that had happened. She also needed to know she still had an ally, someone who trusted her.