The Cowboy's Holiday Blessing

Jackson moved a chair from the nearby rolltop desk and straddled it backward. He draped his arms over the back rest and sat there, staring at Jade. His legs were stretched out in front of him. His feet were bare.

Madeline picked up the throw pillow leaning against the arm of the couch and held it in her lap. Next to her, Jade fiddled with her ragged little backpack.

Madeline did not belong in this little drama. She had to come up with something to move the action along so she could escape.

“Why did your aunt leave you here?” Jackson asked, zeroing in on the girl with a question Madeline had asked and not gotten an answer for.

Madeline shifted to look at the girl, who suddenly looked younger than her thirteen years. Jade shrugged and studied the backpack in her arms.

“Well?” Jackson might not have kids, but he had a dozen siblings and some were quite a bit younger. His parents had adopted a half dozen or so children to go along with the six biological Coopers. And then there had been Jeremy.

Next to her, Jade looked up, glaring at the man in front of them. She chewed on her bottom lip, not answering Jackson’s question. This wasn’t going to get them anywhere.

“Jade, we need to know what is going on. We might need to call the proper authorities.” Madeline smiled to herself. The word authorities always did the trick. The girl’s eyes widened and her mouth opened.

“My aunt can’t take care of me. She doesn’t have the money or a house for us.”

Jackson rubbed the back of his neck and when he looked at Madeline, she didn’t know what to say or do. She taught English at the local school. She wasn’t a counselor. She no longer had siblings. The other foster children in the home where she’d spent a few years until she turned eighteen hadn’t counted.

“Maybe we should have coffee.” Madeline glanced at the man sitting across from her.

Jackson smiled that smile of his, the one he probably thought conquered every female heart. With good reason. There probably wasn’t a single woman under seventy living in and around Dawson who didn’t sigh when Jackson crossed her path. But she wasn’t one of the women chasing after him. And she certainly wasn’t the type he chased.

“You know, some coffee would be good. Do you have time?”

“I can make coffee, but then I have to go. School is out but it’s a teacher work day.” She glanced at her watch again, and not at Jackson. “You should call your parents.”

Because this had nothing to do with her.

But years ago she’d been a kid like Jade, lost and alone, looking for someone to keep her safe. As much as she wanted to run from this situation, she couldn’t leave Jade alone.

Chapter Two

The schoolteacher looked at her watch again and then she sighed. He nearly sighed in unison because he didn’t know what to do with the kid sitting across from him. Madeline Patton taught school. She had to know more than him.

Jackson pushed himself up from the chair, groaning a little at the spasm in his back. He held the back of the chair and hoped it didn’t roll away, because if it did, he’d be face-first on the floor in front of God and everyone.

Madeline stood, too. She faced him, looking him over as he stood trying to get his balance. His lower back clenched and he managed a smile to cover up the grimace.

“Are you okay?” Madeline faced him, her brown eyes narrowing as she watched him, her gaze settling on his white-knuckled grip on the back of the office chair.

“I’m good…” He was great. “I think I’ll make that pot of coffee and try to sort this out.”

Some kid had knocked on his door, claiming to be his. He had broken ribs and a messed-up back. He was wonderful. Every day should start this way. He managed a smile because it wasn’t Madeline Patton’s fault.

“Maybe she should go with you?” he offered, a little bit hopeful that he was right about her being worried.

“No, she shouldn’t.” Another little glance at her watch.

“I’m in the room.” The girl slumped on the couch and Bud had curled up next to her. The dog raised its head and growled at him. Yeah, well, his hackles were raised, too.

Jackson shook his head and turned his attention back to Ms. Patton. “What do I do with her?”

“I’d start with feeding her.”

He sat down, hard. The chair rolled a little. “Right, feed her. I think there’s more to it than that.”

“I know there is.” She hefted her huge purse to her shoulder.

Concern flickered through those brown eyes. He hadn’t meant to play her. He was long past games. In the words of his niece, games were so last year.

Yeah, he was going through a mid-life crisis, but Madeline didn’t need to know that. She didn’t need to know that he envied Wyatt Johnson for settling down with someone he’d wake up with every morning. Man, he was even jealous of Andie and Ryder Johnson’s twin girls.

Jackson had two rocking chairs on the front porch, and at night he sat alone and watched the cattle graze in the field. He was as sick of being alone as a man could get. But most of the women his age, if they were still single, were listening to their biological clocks. They were ready for rings and babies.

Which brought him back to the problem at hand: Jade Baker.

“I’ll get the coffee started, then you need to make a plan,” Madeline offered.

“Thanks, that would be great.” He smiled at her and she didn’t even flinch. He was losing his touch or she was immune. Either way, he was a little baffled.

“Where’s the kitchen?”

He pointed to the wide doorway that led to the dining room and from there to the kitchen and family room. Madeline nodded and away she went, that long skirt of hers swishing around her legs.

“Why don’t you just give me a hundred bucks or something and I’ll head on down the road.” The kid, Jade, shot the comment at him.

Jackson turned the chair to face her. She was hugging his dog. She looked younger than thirteen, maybe because she looked sad and kind of lost. Wow, that took him back to Mia when she’d landed on their doorstep twenty years ago. Travis, nearly twenty-five years ago. Jesse when he’d been about twelve. Jesse had been an angry kid. Now he was a doctor.

Jade Baker, aka his kid. She’d asked for a hundred bucks to leave. Surely the little thing wasn’t working him for money? Could it be she’d been dropped off by someone who knew she resembled their family? He rubbed his thumb across his chin and studied her. She just stared at him, with eyes that looked like his and Reece’s. Eyes that looked like Heather’s and Dylan’s.

He could smell toast in the toaster. Jade glanced toward the door that led to the dining room and the kitchen. The dog perked up, too. The girl had pulled her blond hair into a ponytail. Her jeans were threadbare and her T-shirt was stained. He didn’t know a thing about her life or what she’d been through.

He hadn’t really known Gloria. She’d been about his age and she’d liked hanging out at rodeos. Someone had told him she lived in the back of a van with her older sister. He hadn’t believed it. He should have. The next time he’d gone through the Texas town where he’d met her, she wasn’t there.

Fourteen years ago. He barely remembered her. But seeing Jade, the memories resurfaced. He hadn’t loved Gloria. He let out a sigh. A kid should at least have that knowledge, that her parents loved each other.

He stood up, holding his breath to get through the pain.

“Sorry, kid, I’m not giving you money. We’ll figure this out, but money isn’t going to be part of the deal.”

“Why not? You obviously don’t want me here. With some money I can hit the road and find a place to live.”

He admired her pluck. She had stood, and his stupid dog, Bud, stood next to her. “You’re not even fourteen yet. You can’t live by yourself or even take off on your own. And one hundred dollars? That wouldn’t get you to Tulsa.”

“I could get emancipated.”

“Honey, at your age you can’t spell that word and you can’t even get a job. We’ll try for plan B, okay? Let’s go see what Ms. Patton is cooking up in there.” He eased forward a couple of steps. Jade glared at him and started to walk away. He reached for her arm and stopped her.