Christmas Cowboy Kisses: A Family for Christmas / A Christmas Miracle / Christmas with Her Cowboy

The potatoes had begun to boil and she slid the kettle to the rear of the stove to simmer for a bit. The pork roast she was baking would soon be ready to take up and she’d make gravy by the time the potatoes were finished cooking.

“I think I’d better check on Grandpa while I have a few minutes free,” she told Gideon, wiping her hands on her apron and heading for the parlor. “He wasn’t feeling just right this morning and he’s been resting on the sofa, enjoying Joseph from a distance. Said he didn’t want to spread around any germs if he had something going on.”

She went into the parlor, hearing Joseph’s clear tones as he “read” from the picture book he held. It was one from her own childhood and Joseph had felt he’d struck gold when she’d allowed him the use of her outgrown library. Grandpa sat on the sofa, an afghan tucked around him as he listened to the boy make up a story to go with the pictures in the book before him.

Joy touched the old man on the shoulder and bent to whisper in his ear. “Are you feeling any better, Grandpa?”

Grandpa shook his head. “I’m not sure what it is, Joy, but my chest is hurting some, and my breathing seems to be not quite right. I’m thinking it would be a good idea for Gideon to ride to town on your mare and see if the doctor would come out here.”

Joy felt dread strike her soul at his words. She’d feared early this morning that there was something amiss with her grandfather, for he’d not eaten breakfast and had only had hot milk to drink, saying he felt a bit under the weather. Now to hear that his chest was paining him gave her real cause for alarm. She bent to his ear and whispered words of comfort, and then made a decision. “I’d feel better if you’d lie down on my bed, Grandpa. My room is warm, for the stove is just on the other side of the wall and the heat radiates into there. Maybe you’d do better to lie down.”

“I don’t think so, Joy, for I can breathe better when I’m sitting up. If you’ll bring your quilt out here, I’ll put my feet up on the sofa and lean into the corner and let Joseph read his picture book to me.”

Joy squeezed his shoulder in reply and went to her bedroom to get the extra quilt from her bed. She lifted Grandpa’s feet to the sofa and tucked the quilt around him, then put the afghan around his shoulders to keep his back warm. “I’ll go and talk to Gideon now, Grandpa,” she said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to check on you.”

Her heart beat in a rapid cadence as she walked to the kitchen, unwilling that Joseph be frightened by anything going on, then caught sight of Gideon. He stood when she came into the kitchen and grasped her shoulders.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart? Is Joseph all right?”

“It’s Grandpa, Gideon.” She felt the tears sliding down her cheeks and Gideon’s warm arms enclosed her tightly, muffling the tears she couldn’t help but shed against his chest.

He whispered soft words into her ear. “Whatever it is, we’ll take care of it, Joy. Is he not feeling any better? Shall I go for the doctor in town?”