The Cowboy's Christmas Miracle

This is the cattle growers’ association holiday party, right? Since I run four hundred head of cattle at Raven’s Nest, doesn’t that make me eligible?

If he was your average rancher, she was Julia Child.

“I can’t believe that man had the nerve to show up here.”

Jenna swiveled to find her sister-in-law coming through the doors with another empty tray. “What man?” she asked, playing innocent, just as if her thoughts hadn’t revolved around him from the moment she had discovered him at the party.

“McRaven!” Terri’s glare looked incongruous on her pixie features. “Does the man have to ruin everything? It’s not enough that he waltzes away with your ranch and starts building that Taj Mahal on it but now he has to show up all over town like he owns the place.”

“He didn’t waltz away with anything, Terri. You know that. He paid good money for the ranch. And the house he built is big but it’s not obscenely big.”

“It’s the biggest house in town. I mean, who really needs a twelve thousand square foot mansion out in the middle of freaking nowhere? Do you have any idea what kind of hit he’s going to take if he ever tries to sell the place? Who else is going to want to shell out that kind of money in this soft market?”

“Does everything have to come down to real estate with you?”

Terri made a face. “I can’t help it. I’ve got loan-to-values and escrow analyses on the brain.”

When her sister-in-law wasn’t helping her serve the mad rush of holiday events she had overcommitted to, Terri was studying for her real-estate license.

“McRaven should have taken a good look at the market around here before he jumped in and started building his megahouse,” she added.

“I’m guessing he doesn’t care about the market. He’s got the money and the land. He’s free to build whatever kind of house he wants on it.”

She had to admit, she hadn’t been thrilled that, for ten months, Raven’s Nest had seen a constant stream of workers and delivery trucks and construction vehicles, with their dust and noise. The boys had been fascinated by it all but she had mostly found it annoying. And, okay, she had resented that Carson had the endlessly deep pockets to come in and make all the changes she and Joe had only ever been able to dream about in whispered conversations in the dark quiet of their bedroom.

“I still don’t think it’s right,” Terri muttered. “He doesn’t belong here. It doesn’t help that he comes in looking like he just finished a photo shoot for some sexy men’s magazine. No man should be allowed to be that rich and that unbelievably gorgeous. It’s just not fair.”

“You’re a married woman, Terri!” she teased.

“Very happily married,” she agreed. “But you have to agree, that man is lethal.”

Jenna decided she would be wise to just keep her mouth shut right about now.

“You should see Annalee Kelley putting out the vibe. She’s all over him. If Annalee has her way, she’ll be the first one in town to see the inside of Raven’s Nest. Or at least one of the bedrooms there.”

Okay, she didn’t want to go there, Jenna decided, and quickly changed the subject.

“How are the crab cakes? They seem to be going fast, don’t they?”

Terri looked reluctant to be distracted but finally gave in. “You have, like, three left out there. You’ve done a fantastic job, as usual, Jen. Everybody’s raving about how delicious the food is and at least a half-dozen people begged me for your white chocolate mousse recipe.”

She had been working like crazy to make everything perfect for the party. It was amazing the sense of satisfaction she found.

“Thanks for all your help these last few weeks as everything has been so crazy, Terri. You’ve saved my bacon.”

“You’re welcome, hon. I’m just glad this is our last gig for a while. I can’t wait for the cruise this week. I’m going to completely put the stupid real-estate test out of my head and just bask by the pool with an umbrella drink in my hand.”

Her brother and his family were leaving the day before Christmas for a weeklong cruise on the Mexican Riviera.

“Well, I won’t have umbrella drinks but I’ll be glad to take a rest, too. It will be nice to have things get back to normal.”

“As normal as your life can get when you live just down the hill from the McRaven McMansion. I heard from Melina Parker that he’s got guests coming in this weekend. You let me know if there are any naked hot tub parties up there, okay? As much as I despise the man, I might have to come over with Paul’s binoculars, just for a little peek.”

Oh, as if she needed that visual image in her head. She thrust a platter at her sister-in-law to distract her. “Here. This is the last of the crostini. Try to move them. I don’t want to take any home with me.”

Terri grinned but obediently headed back out to the party.

The next time Jenna dared venture out of the kitchen, Carson McRaven was nowhere in sight. She told herself that odd, hollow feeling in her stomach was simply relief that he was gone and she could finally concentrate on the job at hand.

It certainly wasn’t disappointment.

Chapter Four

“You’ve got company.”

Carson looked up from his computer monitor. His foreman’s wife, Melina—who served as housekeeper at Raven’s Nest—stood in his doorway, a dust cloth in one hand and an amused smirk on her plump features.

“Can you handle it? This is not really a good time for me to be distracted. I’m videoconferencing with Carrianne right now.”

Melina did a little finger wave. “Hi, Carrianne.”

His hyperefficient assistant smiled from the computer screen. “Hello, Melina. How are you?”

“Can’t complain. Except I woke up this morning with a little sciatica, but that should pass when this miserable cold weather eases a little. Sorry to disturb you two while you’re plotting to take over the world or whatever, but I’m supposed to tell you that your visitors are on strict orders to talk to you and no one else.”

“Who is it?”

“You’ll have to find out yourself, won’t you? See you, Carrianne.”

Before Carson could protest, she grinned at him and at Carrianne on the computer screen then walked away. He frowned after her. Neither Melina nor Neil were the most docile of employees, which was probably the reason he liked them both so much.

“Is everything all right?” Carrianne asked.

“Damned if I know but I’d better go see. Can you hang tight for a few minutes?”

“Of course.”

Even if some emergency kept him away all night and unable to reach her, he knew Carrianne would still be waiting by the computer for him in the morning. She was dependable to a fault—and invaluable for it.

The slightest of headaches thudded in his temples in rhythm with the frustration throbbing through him. He didn’t need the distraction right now. He and Carrianne were trying to wrap up several projects before the holidays, a difficult enough task to accomplish via long distance. And even though Christmas was still five days away, the whole business community seemed to have decided to start celebrating early.

His frustration didn’t ease when he reached the foyer and found the three Wheeler boys standing inside the doorway, snow dripping from their parkas onto his custom Italian tile floor. The oldest one, Hayden, he remembered, was holding a couple of small parcels.

Cold poured in from the door they had left open to the outside and he caught a glimpse of two ponies tied to the railing of the front porch. Two horses, three boys. Two must have been forced to double up, a fact he was quite certain didn’t please either of them.

“Hi, Mr. McRaven.” The medium-sized one with the glasses—Drew, he remembered—seemed to have been elected spokesman for the group.

“Hello, boys. What brings you up this way?”