Her Cowboy Till Christmas

“You did? I thought you’d marry him.”

“Nope. We weren’t meant to be.” Within two months Charles had apparently decided she wasn’t serious girlfriend material. He’d dumped her and started dating a marketing executive shortly after.

She sighed. The story of her dating life.

“Have you been feeling okay?”

Nan took the tiniest sip of her coffee, a faraway look in her eyes. “Yes, things are fine.”

Things didn’t seem all that fine. Maybe she was just forgetful since it was so early in the morning. Memory lapses were a normal sign of aging, weren’t they?

“Mason will be here in a little while,” Nan said. “You two can run off and play the way you used to every summer.”

“Does Mason come here often?”

“Oh, yes.” Her shoulders poked through her thin cotton robe. “That reminds me...what day is it?”

“It’s Saturday.” It didn’t surprise her that Mason would stop by now and then. He’d always been fond of Nan. Brittany took another bite of cookie.

“Shopping day. I’d better make my list. You can go with him.” Nan padded over to a kitchen drawer. She returned to the table with a pen in one hand and a small notebook in the other. With shaky movements, she wrote milk, eggs and bread on the list. Then she stared into space.

“Why don’t you and I go to the store together?” Brittany asked. She and Ryder had flown into the nearest major airport, and together they’d driven to Rendezvous in his rental car. He was driving back to the airport tomorrow to catch his flight, and she figured she could borrow Nan’s truck to get around during her stay. “I’ll drive you to town if you don’t mind me borrowing your truck.”

“You can borrow it anytime. But Mason always does the shopping.”

Always? When had Nan stopped doing her own shopping? No matter what Nan said, Brittany highly doubted Mason would stop by with her being there.

“He might not be over today.”

Nan brightened. “Oh, no. He’ll be here.”

Nan had been confused about a few things this morning. Brittany hoped she was wrong about this, too.

But Mason was nothing if not dependable. Something told her she’d be seeing him sooner rather than later.

“Nan’s!” Noah jumped up and down, clapping his hands. His brown eyes sparkled and his blond hair was mussed. His cheekbones were all Mia’s. Mason wished she could see Noah now. “After cookies, we feed the kitties, Daddy.”

Mason loved the kid’s enthusiasm. His son loved Nan, and every day it was the same request—have a cookie, then feed the cats in Nan’s barn. But after a sleepless night wrestling with the fact he had a twin and a frigid morning feeding and working the cattle, Mason had no plans to visit Nan, even if it was shopping day. Brittany could take care of it.

But would she? He raised his eyes to the ceiling. Probably not. She knew nothing about Nan’s needs. And if Ryder was leaving tomorrow, Brittany would be heading out with him.

After the early-morning chores, Mason had called Ryder and invited him out to the ranch. Ryder was dealing with an unexpected work emergency but said he’d be over this afternoon.

Anticipation wound Mason up tighter than a lassoed calf. He was eager to learn more about his brother, to find out what else they had in common, but what if it poured gasoline on his happy childhood memories? He didn’t want his entire past to go up in flames.

“We’re not going to Nan’s today.” His shoulders tensed as he waited for the inevitable meltdown. He couldn’t exactly tell his son the truth—that his ex-girlfriend had rattled his nerves and he’d rather jump in the ice-cold waters of Silver Rocks River than run into Brittany again.

“Yes we are, Daddy. We go to Nan’s every day cuz we love her.”

No tantrum? That was a first. His conscience whimpered at his own words being repeated back to him. He pulled on his cowboy boots. “That’s right, but her granddaughter is in town visiting. We’ll give them some space.”

“But, Daddy, what about the kitties? And the food? We have to buy Nan’s food.” Noah tried to step into his own small cowboy boot and almost fell over. “I don’t wanna be on the naughty list.”

“Why don’t you sit next to me on the bench and pull on your boots, buckaroo?” He patted the bench. “And you won’t be on the naughty list. Remember why we celebrate Christmas?”

“Jesus’s birthday.” He clutched the boots to his chest and hoisted himself onto the bench as one boot clattered to the ground. Mason picked it up and helped him tug it onto his foot. The other went on quickly. “But Nan’ll miss me, Daddy.”

“You’ll see her Monday.”

He screwed up his face, his chubby cheeks puffing out in confusion. “When’s that?”

Mason held up two fingers. “In two days.”

“Two days? No! Too long. I want Nan today!” His little face grew red.

“Noah,” he warned, giving him a stern look. A text came through his phone. He almost groaned when he saw it was from his father-in-law, Bill.

What’s this I hear about you having a twin? Joanna and I are coming over to discuss it.

Acid reflux burned his throat. Thanks to Babs, the news of Ryder had likely spread through town like the bubonic plague. Mason had already received several texts from locals. He’d ignored the phone calls. The thought of discussing the situation with Bill and Joanna right now gave him heartburn.

He didn’t want to talk to anyone about Ryder until he’d had a chance to speak with him more in-depth. Figure out why on earth they were separated and how anyone could justify keeping them apart.

Without wasting a second, he texted Bill back.

I just found out myself. Noah and I are out shopping for Nan, and we have plans this afternoon. I’ll fill you in later.

He slipped the phone into his pocket. If a few minutes in Brittany’s presence was the price to pay for avoiding his in-laws, he’d pay it. He’d dealt with worse punishments in his life.

“Okay, buckaroo. We’ll pop in to get Nan’s list. But we aren’t having cookies or checking on the cats because we don’t want to interrupt her visit. We can buy a doughnut in town instead.”

“With sprinkles?”

“You got it.”

Five minutes later, Mason’s truck rumbled up Nan’s drive a mile down the road from his. The peace of the white prairie and distant mountains always made him say a silent prayer to thank God for letting this beautiful spot be his home. After parking, he got out of the truck, nudged his cowboy hat into place and unbuckled Noah from his car seat before setting him on the snow-covered ground. The boy took off running toward the front porch yelling, “Nan! I’m here!”

She opened the door and clapped as she bent to greet Noah. He took her by the hand and went inside. The sight of white-haired Nan in her saggy pants and embroidered sweatshirt holding hands with his little boy always made Mason smile.

He followed them into the entry, took off his hat and froze. Brittany stood only a few feet away, her blue eyes locked with his. He blinked away the connection. Noah had climbed onto a chair at Nan’s table and was already helping himself to a cookie.

“We’re here to get your list.” Mason crossed over to give Nan a hug.

She patted his cheek, but confusion wrinkled her forehead. “List? Oh, right! Now where did I put it?” She began moving around the kitchen, then meandered down the hallway. Mason was used to it. She usually forgot where she put it and would find it a few minutes later.

“Who are you?” Noah peered up at Brittany.

“I’m Brittany. Nan is my grandma.”