The Cowboy's Holiday Blessing

“No, you haven’t.” Tim lifted his cup and finished off his coffee. “Don’t hurt her. If you don’t want big trouble with your mother, remember that people think of lot of Madeline.”

“I’m not chasing the schoolteacher, if that’s what you think.” He shook his head. “And I’m not eighteen years old. So thanks for the advice.”

Tim stood. He put a hand on Jackson’s shoulder. “She’s the kind of woman a guy marries.”

Yeah, that said it all. Put him in his place. Jackson, who had done his running around and then settled down on this farm with a dog and some livestock, had yet to outrun his reputation. It sure felt like he couldn’t do enough good deeds to undo what the people around here thought of him.

He stood to follow his dad out of the kitchen, and he couldn’t stop one last attempt at denial. “I’m not planning to marry Madeline Patton.”

His dad laughed. “When do things ever go the way we plan?”

“This is different. She’s helping with Jade.”

“Right, of course.” He slapped Jackson on the back. “Careful, son, the word never usually leads right where you never thought you’d go.”

Jackson stood on the front porch, thinking of all the times he’d said never. It wasn’t until his dad’s taillights disappeared that he remembered his dinner in that truck.

Fortunately he’d lost his appetite.

Chapter Five

A light snow had fallen overnight, just enough to dust the grass and the trees. Madeline drove her car up the long driveway to Jackson Cooper’s ranch. The old farmhouse with the wraparound porch looked pretty with the powdery white snow sprinkling down. In the field the cows stood tail to the wind, snow sticking to their thick winter coats.

“This sure ain’t Oklahoma City,” Jade whispered.

“What? And don’t say ‘ain’t.’” Madeline pulled her car in at the side of the house.

“Nothing. And I’m sorry.” Jade already had her door open. “I bet he’s still sleeping.”

“No, he isn’t. I saw him walk out of the barn.”

“Oh, okay.” Jade slammed the door of the Buick and ran toward the big barn.

Madeline waited. And she worried. What happened to a girl when she thought she’d found a fairy-tale parent who would make everything right, and then found herself let down? Heartache? Madeline remembered a father, but he hadn’t been her real father. She blocked the memory because too many other memories chased after it. Yesterday she’d gotten a card from her mother. Her mother always managed to find her. Madeline couldn’t run far enough or fast enough to outrun Marjorie. She would never escape the past.