Daddy's Christmas Miracle: Santa in a Stetson

“As I just told Allie, it’s my fault she went to Salt Lake without telling anyone. It’s time the three of us had the conversation I should have had with you years ago. Pull up the other chair.”

He saw his twins exchange a private glance before Matt did his bidding.

“I’ve already told you my parents froze to death during a blizzard when I was four and your aunt Sherry was six. They didn’t marry until their mid-thirties, so we came along late in their lives.

“What’s interesting is that my grandfather didn’t meet my grandmother until they were in their thirties. My father was their only child and he wasn’t born until my grandmother was forty. I’m telling you all this because I was the dark horse in the Brenner family. I got married at twenty and had you two right off the bat.” They both laughed.

“My grandparents loved you like you were their own children. They helped me raise you. I wish you could remember them, but you were too little when they passed away within a year of each other. I can tell you this much.” Emotion almost closed his throat. “They were saints.”

He eyed them with an ache in his heart because he was about to break his silence. When they heard the unvarnished truth, it would shatter them. His grandmother had warned him to tell them everything when they were old enough to understand, but for fear of hurting his children, he’d waited years too long. Now all three of them were going to be in a new kind of pain.

ON SATURDAY MORNING, Kathryn finished checking on one of the children at Renaissance House who needed to see a dentist, then went downstairs to make the appointment. When that was done, she let herself into her brother’s office. While she waited for him to get off the phone, she wandered over to the windows overlooking the snow-dusted east gardens of the estate. The grounds became a fairyland of flowers in every season but winter.

It was cold out there this morning. Beneath an overcast sky, everything looked dead. Her thoughts flew to the Cloud Bottom Ranch, as she liked to think of it. Winter clothed the pines in a grandeur of pristine white.

Colt, astride his stallion, would be up on the mountain checking the herds. She could see the lone, tall cowboy in silhouette. He would be dressed in sheepskin and a cowboy hat covering midnight-black hair while he looked over his empire, making sure everything was in working order. His hard-boned feat—

“Yoo-hoo! Kathryn?” When she realized her brother was talking to her, she turned around, flush-faced. “Where were you?” he teased with a smile.

“I was wondering if it’s going to snow before the football game this afternoon.”

His blue eyes searched hers. “I don’t think that was the only thing on your mind. You’ve been different since you got back from Montana. Everyone at Thanksgiving dinner noticed it.”

She averted her gaze. “It’s because that little girl hasn’t been found yet.”

“That and something else.” Cord was psychic. “Whenever you want to talk about it, I’m your man.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

“Just checking. Are you going to the game with all of us?”

“That depends on what’s happening at the foundation.” She walked over to his closet for her parka and put it on. “I’m heading there now. If more volunteers are needed to continue the search, I’ll be manning the phone.”

“I’ll save a seat for you in case you come late.”

“Thanks.”

“Do you know you work too hard? All the signs are there.”

She leaned over the desk to peck his cheek without saying anything before leaving the mansion through the south entrance. The plaza was only a block down the street. Except for a few frozen spots, she accomplished her short jaunt on mostly dry pavement.

A group of people surrounded the “Blessed are the Children” sculpture that stood in the courtyard. She hurried past them to enter the doors and immediately heard the recording, “Welcome to the Kathryn McFarland Foundation. Take the time to come in and learn how to help us fight crime so the next kidnapping won’t be your child.”

Walking past the lobby screens showing the dates and times of the latest kidnap victims, Kathryn headed for the front desk. She could see several of the staff huddled together.

“What’s going on?”

One of the new volunteer recruits named Melanie turned to her. “I was just going to phone you. We heard from a team of rescuers. They came across a little girl’s unclothed remains up Millcreek Canyon.”

A moan broke from Kathryn. It could be Whitney, but no one would know until the forensic expert got busy. Whatever the answer, someone’s dear little child had been murdered.

“I’m going to my condo and calling home. My parents need to know what we’ve learned.” They would want to be there for Whitney’s family and wait for the news with them. “I’ll be back.”

“But I thought this was your day off.”

“I don’t always take one.” Kathryn would rather be here. She was too restless. Work kept her from thinking. “See you in a while.”

She walked out to the lobby and headed for the bank of elevators servicing the plaza tower. She took the private lift used exclusively for the penthouse. Only Kathryn and her family knew the code.

As soon as she walked into the living room, she removed her parka and sat down on the couch to phone her parents. As she knew they would, once she’d given them the update, they called off their plans to attend the game. No one could enjoy it right now.

After she hung up, she set the HD/DVR to record it. She’d left the condo without eating breakfast and knew she needed nourishment, but the news about a little girl’s remains having been discovered hit her like a body slam. Her appetite was nonexistent.

Those poor parents.

Every time there was a watch-and-wait period, she thought about her own parents’ agony of thirty years ago and got sick inside. Kathryn had assumed that after running the foundation since her graduation, she wouldn’t react like this, but if anything her response to each new tragedy seemed to be affecting her more adversely than ever.

Her parents were so strong! Kathryn wasn’t anything like them and would never be able to measure up. That distressed her so terribly she couldn’t stand her own company. She freshened up, eager to get back to work. Working kept the demons at bay.

On her way through the living room for her purse, her cell rang, causing her stomach to clench. Kathryn didn’t think it possible the child’s body could be identified this quickly, but a comparison of dental records might have already been done.

She pulled out her phone and glanced at the caller ID. “Hi, Melanie. Has there been official word yet?”

“No.” In a hushed voice she said, “I’m calling because this gorgeous—and I mean gorgeous as in the extreme—guy came over to the desk asking for you. I told him to stroll around and look at the exhibits while I tried to reach you.”

Only one male on Earth fit that description, but he didn’t venture outside his mountain kingdom unless it was a dire emergency.

Since Melanie was a twenty-year-old college student working for them part-time and a natural flirt, Kathryn could forgive her for the over-the-top exaggeration. “What’s his name?”

“He said to tell you he was from the Circle B, but if you weren’t available, he’d be back later.”

Kathryn clutched the phone against her chest, hardly able to breathe. When she could find the words she said, “Tell him to wait for me. I’ll be right down.” She clicked off before Melanie could ask questions Kathryn had no intention of answering.

Right now her curiosity was on the verge of exploding, but she didn’t have time to ponder his reason for being here. The fact that he knew where to come looking for her meant he’d talked in-depth with his daughter. All Kathryn could do was fly to the bedroom and change out of the work clothes she’d worn to Renaissance House.

Colt had only seen her in pants, so she donned a three-piece Pendleton wool suit in rich plum and slipped on her black dolly-pointed kidskin pumps. She put gold studs in her ears, then ran a brush through her hair. It had a natural wave and hung loose from a side part. A light spray of Fleurs d’Elle mist and she was ready. For what exactly she didn’t know.

Maybe he’d brought the twins with him. Her pulse raced all the way to the plaza foyer. At the moment the only thing that mattered to her was that he’d either flown or driven to Salt Lake and had sought her out.

Slow down, Kathryn. Walk, don’t run to him.

Reflecting back to her mid-teens, she’d always been the one to run from men who wanted a relationship with her. Yet a relationship was the last thing Colton Brenner had on his mind. He hadn’t come here to pursue her. Far from it.

Your fantasizing days are over. Remember?

By the time she entered her workplace, she’d come to her senses and could handle the sight of him standing at the counter, being chatted up by her staff. In his Stetson and black bomber jacket, every eye in the room, male or female, was riveted on him.

Gorgeous in the extreme, Melanie had said because there were no words, in any language, that came close to truly defining him.