The Texan's Christmas. Linda Warren

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      He drew back as if she’d hit him. “Come on, Lucky.”

      Come on, Lucky. That and his I-live-for-you smile were his trademarks. Come on, Lucky. He’d kiss her cheek. Come on, Lucky. He’d stroke her hair. Come on, Lucky. And she’d do anything he wanted.

      But not anymore.

      CHAPTER TWO

      KID SANK INTO A COMFY CHAIR in Cadde’s den, feeling out of breath and sucker punched by a blue-eyed, short-haired blonde.

      The land is not for lease. To a Hardin.

      After that, Lucky put the lid on anything else he had to say. It was the first time in his life that his smile, his words, had failed, but it wasn’t over. Lucky just thought it was.

      His chest tightened and he focused on Jessie playing on the floor with Jacob. The moment the baby saw him he fell to all fours and crawled over, pulling up on Kid’s jeans.

      “Hey, partner.” Kid lifted the nine-month-old baby onto his lap. Jacob bounced up and down, smiling, showing off his two lower teeth. Kid had always thought he didn’t want kids, but the moment Jacob was born something changed in him. Instead of going on a date, he’d play with Jacob. He didn’t understand that. Maybe it had something to do with his thirty-eight-plus years, which he’d been reminded of more than once today.

      The whirl of a helicopter sounded above. Before Roscoe Murdock, Jessie’s father, had died, he’d purchased a top-of-the-line helicopter for Shilah Oil so they could save time when traveling to oil wells. It was also an easy way for Cadde and Chance to go to work in Houston. Jacob’s eyes opened wide and his mouth formed an O. Quickly he scooted from Kid’s lap and crawled to his mother.

      Jessie clapped her hands. “Daddy’s home.”

      Excited, Jacob bounced up and down again on his butt. All he had on was a diaper and a T-shirt.

      “What door does Daddy come in?” Jessie asked.

      Jacob’s mouth formed another O. “Da, da, da, da,” Jacob babbled. Mirry, Jessie’s dog, barked and trotted to the back door. The baby zoomed after her.

      “He’s understanding a lot,” Kid said.

      “Yes, he does,” Jessie replied. “We read to him all the time and he loves animals.”

      “Wonder where he gets that from?” Jessie had an affinity for animals. Besides Mirry, she had a one-eyed donkey, a ram with no horns, five abused horses that were now healthy and a fawn she’d raised from a bottle. She’d set the doe free, but she always came back for feed and pampering.

      When he’d first met Jessie, she was standoffish, but a looker, like Bubba Joe had said, with dark tumbling hair and black eyes. Her father protected and sheltered her all her life. On his deathbed, the man had made a deal with Cadde—marry my daughter and keep her safe and I’ll give you my shares in Shilah Oil.

      For ten years Cadde had worked his ass off for Roscoe. He’d earned everything he’d inherited, but Roscoe forgot to mention that Jessie received the largest part of Shilah. That set up the biggest test of wills Kid had ever seen. It had brought his strong brother to his knees and Jessie almost lost her sanity. But through it all they found the magic formula—love.

      Love—what the hell was it?

      “You look a little down,” Jessie remarked, picking up a toy.

      Kid clasped his hands between his knees. “I just had to face my past and it was a little unsettling.”

      “Cadde said you were trying to lease a piece of land from an old girlfriend.”

      “Yeah. My high school sweetheart, Lucky Littlefield.”

      “Oh.” Jessie paused in stacking Jacob’s toys on the coffee table. “I’ve met her.”

      “That right?”

      “Yes, at Walker’s General Store. I was browsing so long at the old neat stuff that Jacob grew fussy. He threw his stuffed dog out of the stroller. Lucky handed it back to him. Mirry didn’t bark or growl like she usually does if anyone gets near him. Mirry’s a very good judge of character. Lucky introduced herself and I liked her. She’s very pretty with a stylish haircut.”

      “Yeah.”

      “Why are you frowning?”

      Was he? He hadn’t realized that.

      “Don’t you like her hair?”

      He shrugged. “It used to be long.”

      “And you liked it that way?”

      He looked into Jessie’s teasing eyes. “Could we change the subject?”

      She picked up another toy as if he hadn’t spoken. “Cadde said she was the owner of The Beer Joint. When he said ‘beer joint,’ I had this vision of an older woman with yellowish bleached blond hair, tight-fitting clothes, a cigarette dangling from her lip and someone who had lived a rougher-than-rough lifestyle. Lucky wasn’t like that at all. It’s all about how we perceive people and most of the time it’s wrong.”

      He stared down at his locked hands. “Kids in school looked down on her because her dad ran The Beer Joint.”

      “Did you?”

      “What?”

      “Did you look down on Lucky because of her circumstances?”

      Did he?

      “No,” he answered his own question. “We were close since about the seventh grade. I didn’t care what her father did for a living.”

      “That’s a long time to know someone.”

      “Yeah.” He rubbed his hands together. He remembered the first time she’d smiled at him and his heart had almost pounded out of his chest. He remembered the first time he’d kissed her. He remembered…

      The back door opened and childish squeals of delight echoed from the hallway. Cadde walked in with Jacob in his arms, Mirry at his feet, barking, as if to alert everyone that Cadde was home.

      Jessie placed her hand on the coffee table and tried to stand, but at seven months pregnant she was having difficulty.

      Cadde kissed his son’s cheek. “Go play with Uncle Kid. Daddy has to help Mommy.”

      Jacob shook his head vigorously and clung to Cadde. Reaching down, Cadde lifted Jessie with one arm while still holding Jacob. Nestling into his side, Jessie kissed him, her eyes sparkling.

      “I think this baby is going to weigh ten pounds,” she said, rubbing her stomach. She stroked Jacob’s head. “You get a little territorial when Daddy comes home.”

      Jacob made a whimpering sound and Jessie laughed. “I’m going to check on supper. Kid, you’re welcome to stay.”

      “I didn’t know you cooked.”

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