Western Christmas Wishes. Brenda Minton

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      Cameron didn’t consider himself an impatient person. He thought that thirty-five years on this earth had taught him to be kind, take his time in making judgments and choose his words wisely. For whatever reason, the woman at his side had him forgetting all those things, and scrambling to find his better self.

      Maybe Gladys was right. Maybe he’d spent too much time alone. Since his return from Afghanistan, he’d found solace in his lone existence and in his horses. This was his version of healing.

      Being alone had worked for him until Gladys had made him her pet project. She had a way of invading a person’s life. All of his usual tactics for running people off—growl a little, glare a lot, make himself unavailable for small talk—hadn’t worked on Gladys. Or Capital T, as he liked to call Rose.

      He spotted the girl inside the stable. His dog spotted her at the same time and loped off to join her.

      The city girl tromped along behind him, not quite able to keep up with his longer strides. He smiled, picturing her back there in her high-heeled boots, a knit scarf around her neck and her red hair bouncing around her face. It was cool enough that her hazel eyes would flash and her cheeks would turn a shade of pink that would clash with her complexion.

      He stopped when he reached the stable doors and didn’t go inside as he’d planned. With an about face, he almost bumped into Gladys’s granddaughter as she marched up behind him. He’d been right about how she would look. Her hazel eyes flashed and her cheeks were pink from the cold. He refocused over her shoulder to the view of the lake. From here the view was stunning. In winter the water appeared to be the biblical crystal sea, it was that clear.

      “Where is Rose?” the city girl asked, a little out of breath.

      “Probably bothering my cat. She had a new litter of kittens and Rose won’t leave them alone.”

      As if on cue, the teen appeared. She had a kitten cuddled against her face but her smile dissolved when she spotted them. Wary dark eyes focused in on their visitor.

      “Who is she?” Rose asked, brushing short dark hair back from her face.

      “I’m Laurel Adams. Gladys’s granddaughter.”

      “Oh.” Rose shot him a look that made him think he’d just gained enemy status. But it hadn’t been his idea to call the granddaughter and ask her to come to Oklahoma.

      “Gladys sent for me,” Laurel informed her.

      “I’m not sure why,” Rose went on, in Rose-like fashion. Full-throttle, take-no-prisoners, no-holds-barred. That was Rose. “It isn’t as if you know her or she knows you. You haven’t seen her in ten years.”

      “Nine,” Laurel countered.

      “Oh! Nine. That’s so much better.” Rose rolled her eyes heavenward. “I have to take the kitten back to her mother. I’ve been staying with Kylie West. I’ll have to go get my stuff.”

      “Get your stuff?” Laurel asked, her hands jammed into her pockets.

      Rose smirked but then softened the look into a somewhat sympathetic expression. Cameron watched the two of them, wondering when the drama would play out so that he could get back to the horse he’d been working with.

      “If you’re here, I should probably stay with you. Right?”

      Laurel looked a little panicked. “I’m really not sure.”

      Her gaze shot to him, asking for intervention.

      Cameron took a step back. “I raise horses, not teenagers. If I were you, I’d go visit Gladys and find out what she’s up to.”

      “Then that’s what we’ll do. I’ll unload my luggage and then we’ll make a trip to town. Oh, I need the key.”

      “I’ll walk you down there. The lock is tricky and there are a few things I should show you.” He didn’t know why he offered. He could tell her the things she needed to know and the lock wasn’t that tricky.

      “I’m sure we can manage,” she told him.

      “Still, I’d rather make sure you’re all settled. That’ll keep you from knocking on my door at midnight.”

      Before Laurel could say anything, he started for the path that led back to Gladys’s house. Rose caught up with him, walking on his right side because she knew that he preferred to see the person walking next to him. He glanced down, noticing a suspicious movement in her coat pocket, and decided he’d ignore it for now.

      But he couldn’t ignore the fact that he was getting dragged further and further into СКАЧАТЬ