Her Cowboy Till Christmas

“Thank you.” Brittany held the door open for them.

“Tell Nan I’ll be over on Monday afternoon.”

She blinked. “How often do you stop by?”

“Every day but Sunday. I’d take her to church, too, but Lois Dern insists on picking her up.”

For once there wasn’t any animosity in his gaze. Just the truth. And the truth hurt. He’d been taking care of Nan all this time, and Brittany hadn’t even known Nan had needed help.

“I see.” Her voice sounded as small as she felt.

He arched his eyebrows but didn’t say a word. Then he carried Noah, who waved at her, down the steps to his truck.

She did see. And she didn’t like the picture.

Mason had taken over Nan’s care. His disdain for Brittany came through loud and clear.

Like most guys in her life, he’d decided she was all about herself.

Maybe she was.

They never seemed to understand that she had almost no free time and hadn’t in years. Working multiple jobs and scraping pennies to have her own studio might be selfish, but it didn’t make her a terrible person.

It looked like more changes to her life would need to be made. Nan was too important for Brittany to just leave her here without knowing she’d be safe. Mason might check on her in the afternoon, but what if Nan fell in the middle of the night? Got sick? Stopped paying her bills? Or grew more forgetful?

Was it time to look into assisted living?

Or...she supposed she could move Nan to California to live with her. Her head hurt at the thought. The logistics of it overwhelmed her.

She had time—a couple weeks—to figure out Nan’s care.

What would be best for her grandmother?

Chapter Three (#u8af6b2d2-9db1-5cd0-b040-8f261759659b)

One question had been gnawing at him since finding Ryder on his porch last night. Which of them had been born first?

Mason strode beside Ryder down the path to the stables. Thankfully, Eden had offered to watch Noah for him. He’d briefly filled her in on the situation when he dropped Noah off after putting away the groceries. Eden, Mia’s younger sister by three years, still lived with his in-laws. Bill and Joanna had gone Christmas shopping, allowing Mason to avoid having the twin conversation with them. They wouldn’t be put off for long, however.

“Okay, now that you’re here,” Mason said, “I have a burning question.”

“Shoot.”

“When were you born? Which one of us is older?”

Ryder barked out a laugh. “I’ve been wondering the same thing. One of us is the big brother, and one is the baby. It’s time we found out.”

“My birth certificate says I was born at 5:43 a.m.”

Ryder grimaced. “Mine says 5:54 a.m.”

“I guess that means you’re my little brother.” Mason slapped him on the back. “By eleven minutes.”

“And I guess it means you’ll be rubbing it in forever.”

“I guess it does.” It didn’t seem quite as bizarre to think of the man beside him as his brother anymore. He hitched his chin toward the stables. “You sure you want to ride?”

“I’d love to. I miss it,” Ryder said. “I grew up on a sheep ranch in southern Montana.”

“Sheep, huh?” Resentment between sheep ranchers and cattle ranchers had been simmering since the West had been settled. Both fought for grazing land, and both begrudged each other for it. Pops had never had a good thing to say about sheep ranchers.

He took a closer look at Ryder. His clothes were typical Western wear, but they were high quality, as were his expensive boots and hat. “You aren’t still ranching?”

“No.” He matched Mason’s strides under the brilliant blue sky. “My grandparents got out of it when I was eleven. We moved closer to the city because Granddad needed medical care. Cancer took him a few years later.”

Cancer. How he hated the disease that had stolen Mia from him. “Pops inherited this land along with the cow–calf operation and passed it down to me. Are you still living in Montana?”

“No. Moved out to California for college. I’m in the Los Angeles area. For now.”

They reached the stables and Mason slid open the door. Dim light and floating dust motes greeted them as he led the way to the tack room. After hauling gear out, they saddled two quarter horses.

“Feels good to be out in the wide open again. It’s been a long time.” Ryder patted the neck of Rookie, one of Mason’s favorite horses, as they rode toward the frozen-over creek. “I was torn about coming over, but this makes it worth it.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about last night.” Mason hadn’t put much thought into how Ryder might be handling having a twin. When had he gotten so self-absorbed? “It was a shock.”

“For me, too. Finding out about you...well... Life has been chaotic lately.” Ryder shrugged and nudged Rookie forward. Mason, riding Bolt, fell in beside him. “I’m glad you called this morning.”

Mason was, too. And he knew all about chaos. Change had never been easy for him, and the past couple of years had been downright terrible. Noah had been the only thing worth waking up for besides the ranch. Mason would keep it running, even if it got to the point where he had to thin the herd further or let go of his extra ranch hands. He’d give this land to Noah someday.

“What do you do in LA?”

“I’m a CPA, and I do financial planning, as well.” Ryder glanced around, taking in the hills. “Sometimes I miss this—outdoor living. My girls would love it out here.”

“Twins, right? How old did you say they were?”

“Three and a half.”

“Huh.” That was a weird coincidence. “Noah is, too. When’s their birthday?”

“March 24.”

“Whoa-ho-ho.” Mason shifted in his saddle as Ryder slowed Rookie. “That’s Noah’s birthday.”

His eyes widened. “You mean they were born on the same day?”

“Just like we were.” It seemed impossible. Yet he looked at his spitting image riding next to him and realized it was possible. Anything was, really. Suddenly, Mason wanted to know everything about this man. “I had appendicitis in the third grade.”

“Me, too. January. Right after Christmas. I was glad to miss school.”