The Holiday Gift

Hope’s eyes glittered and her smile wobbled. “Oh. You’re both going to make me cry and Rafe tells me I’ve already hit my tear quota for the day. Quick, talk about something else. How did the auction go today?”

At the question, all her angst about Chase flooded back.

She suddenly desperately wanted to confide in her sisters. That was the whole reason she’d stopped at the lodge, she realized, because she yearned to share this startling development with them and obtain their advice.

I want you to be my date, with everything that goes along with that.

What was she going to do?

She wanted to ask them but they both adored Chase and it suddenly seemed wrong to talk about him with Hope and Celeste. If she had to guess, she expected they would probably take his side. They wouldn’t understand how he had just upended everything safe and secure she had come to depend upon.

When she didn’t answer right away, both of her sisters looked at her with concern. “Did something go wrong with the horse you wanted to buy?” Celeste asked. “You weren’t outbid, were you? If you were, I’m sure you’ll be able to find another one.”

She shook her head. “No. We bought the horse for about five percent under what I was expecting to pay and she’s beautiful. Mostly white with black spots and lovely black boot markings on her legs. I can’t wait for Louisa to see her.”

“I want to see her!” Hope said. “You took her to Chase’s pasture?”

“Yes, and a few moments after we unloaded her, Cindy pulled up with Addie. Apparently Carol Johnson had a small stroke this morning and she’s in the hospital in Idaho Falls so Cindy came home to be with her and help her father.”

At the mention of Chase’s ex-wife, both of her sisters’ mouths tightened in almost exactly the same way. There had been no love lost between any of them, especially after Cindy’s affair with the oral surgeon who eventually became her husband.

“So Cindy just dropped off Addie like UPS delivering a surprise package?” Hope asked, disgust clear in her voice.

“What about school?” ever-practical Celeste asked. “Surely she’s not out for Christmas break yet.”

“No. She’s going to do her homework from here.” She paused, remembering the one other complication. “I haven’t asked Mary yet if she’s available but in case she’s not, would either of you like a couple of extra kids on Friday night? Three, actually—my two and Addie. Chase and I have a...a thing and it might run late.”

“Oh, I wish I could,” Hope exclaimed. “Rafe and I promised Joey we would take him to Boise to see his mom. We’re staying overnight and doing some shopping while we’re there.”

“How is Cami doing?” Faith asked. “She’s been out of prison, what, three months now?”

“Ten weeks. She’s doing so well. Much better than Rafe expected, really. The court-ordered drug rehab she had in prison worked in her case and the halfway house is really helping her get back on her feet. Another six months and she’s hoping she can have her own place and be ready to take Joey back. Maybe even by the time the baby comes.”

Hope tried to smile but it didn’t quite reach her eyes and Faith couldn’t resist giving her sister’s hand a squeeze. Celeste did the same to the other hand. Hope and her husband had cared for Rafe’s nephew Joey since before their marriage after his sister’s conviction on drug and robbery charges. They loved him and would both be sad to see him go.

Joey seemed like a different kid than he’d been when he first showed up at The Christmas Ranch with Rafe, two years earlier, sullen and confused and angry...

“We’re trying to convince her to come back to Pine Gulch,” Hope said, trying to smile. “It might help her stay out of trouble, and that way we can remain part of Joey’s life. So far it’s an uphill battle, as she feels like this is where all her troubles started.”

Her sister’s turmoil was a sharp reminder to Faith. Hope might be losing the boy she considered a son, and Celeste’s stepdaughter, Olivia, still struggled to recover from both physical injuries and the emotional trauma of witnessing her mother’s murder at the hands of her mentally ill and suicidal boyfriend.

In contrast, the problem of trying to figure out what to do with Chase seemed much more manageable.

“Anyway,” Hope said, “that’s why I won’t be around Friday to help you with the kids. Sorry again.”

“Don’t give it another thought. That’s exactly where you need to be.”

“The kids are more than welcome at our place,” Celeste said. “Flynn and Olivia are having a movie marathon and watching Miracle on 34th Street and White Christmas. I’ll be writing during most of it, but hope to sneak in and watch the dancing in White Christmas.”

She used to love those movies, Faith remembered. When she was young, her parents had a handful of very old, very worn VCR tapes of several holiday classics and would drag them from place to place, sometimes even showing them at social events for people in whatever small village they had set their latest medical clinic in at the time.

She probably had been just as baffled as the villagers at the world shown in the movies, which seemed so completely foreign to her own life experience, with the handsomely dressed people and the luxurious train rides and the children surrounded by toys she could only imagine.

“That sounds like the perfect evening,” she said now. “Maybe I’ll join the movie night instead of going to a boring Christmas party with Chase. I can bring the popcorn.”

“You can’t skip the stockgrowers’ party,” Celeste said. “It’s the big social event of the year, isn’t it? Jenna McRaven always caters that gala so you know the food will be fantastic, plus you’ll be going with Chase. How can any party be boring with him around?”

Again, she wanted to blurt out to her sisters how strangely he was acting. She even opened her mouth to do it but before she could force the words out, she heard familiar young voices outside in the hallway just an instant before Barrett and Louisa poked their heads in, followed in short order by Celeste’s stepdaughter, Olivia, and Joey. Liv went straight to Celeste while Joey practically jumped into Hope’s outstretched arms.

It warmed her heart so much to see her sisters being such loving mother figures to children who needed them desperately.

“Joey and Olivia were coming to the house to hang out when I got your text,” Louisa said. “We saw all your cars so decided to stop here to say hi before we walk up to the house from the bus stop.”

“I’m so glad you did,” Faith said.

She hugged them both, her heart aching with love. “Good day?” she asked.

Louisa nodded. “Pretty good. I had a substitute for science and she was way nicer than Mr. Lewis.”

“Guess who got a hundred-ten percent on his math test?” Barrett said with a huge grin “Go on. Guess.”

She made a big show of looking confused and glancing in the other boy’s direction. “You did, Joey? Good job, kid!”

Rafe’s nephew giggled. “I only got a hundred percent. I missed the extra credit but Barrett didn’t.”

Her son preened. “I was the only one in the class who got it right.”

“I’m proud of both of you. What a smart family we have!”

Except for her, the one who couldn’t figure out how to protect the friendship that meant the world to her.

Chapter Three (#uf480523b-9005-5beb-8b45-ecb82ef46912)

As he drove up to the Star N ranch house four days after the auction, Chase couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so on edge. He wasn’t nervous—or at least he would never admit to it. He was just unsettled.

So many things seemed to hinge on this night. How was he supposed to make Faith ever view him as more than just her neighbor and best friend? She had to see him for himself, a man who had spent nearly half his life waiting for her.

He didn’t like the way that made him sound weak, like some kind of mongrel hanging on the fringes of her life, content for whatever scraps she threw out the kitchen door at him. It hadn’t been like that. He had genuinely tried to put his unrequited feelings behind him after she and Travis got married. For the most part, he had succeeded.

He had dated a great deal and had genuinely liked several of the women he dated. In the beginning, he had liked Cindy, too. She had been funny and smart and beautiful. He was a man and had been flattered—and susceptible—when she aggressively pursued him.

When she told him she was pregnant, he decided marrying her and making a home for their child was the right thing to do. He really had tried to make their marriage work but he and Cindy were a horrible mismatch from the beginning. He could see now that they would never have suited each other, even if that little dusty corner of his heart hadn’t belonged to the wife of another man.

“This is going to be so fun,” Addie declared beside him. She was just about dancing out of her seat belt with excitement. “Seems like it’s been forever since I’ve had a chance to hang out with Louisa and Olivia. It’s going to be awesome.”

The plan for the evening had changed at the last minute, Faith had told him in a quick, rather awkward conversation earlier that day. Celeste and Flynn decided to move their movie party to the Star N ranch house and the three girls were going to stay overnight after the movie.

If Lou and Olivia were as excited as Addie, Celeste and Mary were in for a night full of giggling girls.