Lone Star Christmas

“Not so little anymore. She’s a genius when it comes to fixing things like this.”

“Max! We’re starving!” Great. Bored with the old LPs, the boys were back to being hungry.

Ethan stood behind them. “I think it’s colder in here than outside.”

Jackie looked at the boys. “Want to go into town to get some food? And maybe some of the best hot chocolate in the world?” She looked up at Max. “The Hill Top Café has great burgers. That’ll give Sammi some time to see if she can get this working.”

The boys nodded. “Yes! Please, Max?”

Ethan joined them. “I’m starving, and my phone is dead. I’m sure the restaurant has electricity.”

Wow. Ethan had strung two whole sentences together. Max pushed back his hair. “I don’t know. I had planned to drive to Uvalde for supplies. I thought we could get something there.”

Jackie narrowed her eyes. “That’s an hour away. What’s wrong with buying your supplies in town? The local businesses would appreciate your shopping in Clear Water.” She crossed her arms. “My family owns the local hardware store and lumberyard. There are also ranch supplies at the feed store.”

With his brothers and Jackie watching him, there wasn’t one single excuse he could come up with to avoid town. She was the main reason he had planned to hide out on the ranch anyway.

First the barns weren’t sound, then Jackie showed up, now the house had no electricity. Even if it did, it wasn’t habitable. And he was out of food. He was pretty sure Parenting 101 said something about feeding kids on a regular basis.

“Okay. Let me unhitch the trailer and we can follow in my truck.”

In unison, a groan rose up from his brothers, and the matching glares from all three sets of brown eyes looked at him with the same disapproval he remembered from his father.

Jackie moved to stand next to the boys. “I came out to discuss a project we have planned for the original town buildings. Why don’t you let me drive? We can talk, then order supplies. I’ll text Sammi to look at the wiring. If she can’t do the work, she knows who can.”

“Yes. Yes! Please, Max. We’re starving. We can’t last another minute!” one of the boys pleaded with Max.

The other one joined in. “I’m so cold I’m turning into a icicle.” Were his brothers always this dramatic? Maybe this was normal for them. He didn’t even know what was normal for five- and six-year-olds. Especially when they’d lost both parents. He remembered feeling so lost and alone when his mother died, and all he had wanted was his dad. That hadn’t happened. But he could be here for his brothers.

“Okay. Okay. We’ll go into town with Jackie and get you fed. We’ve got a lot of work to do. Let’s at least wash up.” He went to the kitchen sink and turned the faucet. Did they even have water? The pipes sputtered and groaned, then an explosion of water came through and splashed him. Brown water.

Joining him, Ethan made a face. “Man, that’s gross.”

Jackie grimaced. “You might want to have the well and tank checked before you use that water. You can wash your hands at the restaurant. Sound like a plan?” She looked at him, waiting.

He gave in. “Yeah.”

With a nod she turned, and his brothers fell into line, two with huge grins, and one with a bored expression. Max didn’t like what he was feeling. He was surprised by the strong emotions seeing her had stirred up. He felt like a teenager again. Not cool.

All he had wanted was to get some practice in, get to know his brothers, and avoid Clear Water and anyone with the Bergmann name. Less than a day—less than three hours—and he was getting in to Jackie’s car and heading in to town to have lunch with her.

The one person who probably had the power to expose his weaknesses was now sitting next to him. Coming to Clear Water had been a mistake. He would just say no to whatever she wanted and send her on her way.

Chapter Two (#u3fe89e3b-0e99-5609-bb44-f48bc393f505)

Jackie’s hair flew across her face as she got out of the car. All the way in to town she had tried to focus on the reason she drove to the Delgado Ranch in the first place, but sitting next to Max, the guilt of the past crowded out all other thoughts.

Seeing him was more confusing than she could have imagined. It had been so many years ago. She was surprised how disappointed she had been when he had called her Danica.

People confused her and her twin all the time, but coming from Max, it had hurt. Even on the first day they had met as teenagers, he had been able to tell them apart. That had been the best summer of her life. Either they were riding or he was writing poems for her. She had been so in love and couldn’t have imagined anything but a bright future for them. Until her father had found them together and she had learned who Max was. More to the point, she had discovered who his mother was.

She didn’t deserve for him to remember her. Her father had unfairly blamed his mother for the accident. His hurt expression was still so clear in her mind. He hadn’t said a word as her father reamed him out along with his whole family.

Not only had they both lost their mothers, they had lost them in the same car crash. She closed her eyes to block the memory, but the look of betrayal on Max’s face still took up too much space. He had just stood there. Alone.

Her father had made sure that had been the last time she saw him. That was a long time ago. They had been kids, and he obviously had gotten over her. If she wanted to have access to the original settlement, she would have to bury the past.

The buildings. From the records and her mother’s letters, there was an old church, school and general mercantile, along with several other buildings. She needed his permission to move them off the ranch to the land the city had granted for the project. What would be the best angle to get Max on board with her plan?

One step ahead of her, he went to open the door. A short gust of wind pushed it out of Max’s hand as they hurried inside. “The weather’s getting worse.” His voice was muffled in the zipped-up Carhartt jacket.

“Too cold to stay out at your place without heat.” The air burned her throat with each breath. “You might need to make plans to stay somewhere else tonight. The Pecan Farm has cabins. I could call Maggie for you.”

“A cabin?” Ethan sounded suspicious.

“We’ve always wanted to go camping. Are there bears by the cabin?” Isaac hopped around. “That would be so cool. Right, Tomas?”

Jackie laughed as she moved past him. “No. No bears, but there are deer, raccoons and a river where you could fish. If this weather keeps up, we might have ice fishing for the first time in Texas.” She pointed out the bathrooms before leading them to her favorite booth in front of the large window.

A young waitress with a huge smile brought a basket of tortilla chips and a bowl of salsa. The boys attacked the food like they hadn’t eaten in a week.

“How are you, Kelsey?” Jackie was looking at the girl, but Kelsey was glancing at Ethan from under her lashes.

“Hi, Ms. Bergmann. Is it cold enough for you?” She never took her gaze off the teen. He didn’t seem to notice. He was frowning at his dead phone.

Rubbing her hands together before tucking them in her jacket, Jackie smiled up at her. “I don’t remember it ever being this cold in November.”

“Yeah, it’s a record breaker. What a cute crew you have with you today. What can I get for you to drink? Coffee and hot chocolate?”

Jackie leaned closer to the young brothers. “I recommend the hot chocolate. That’s what I’m getting.”

The little ones looked at Max. He nodded. “Three hot chocolates and one coffee.”

Ethan looked up from plugging in his charger, and when his eyes widened, Max raised a brow.

The teen’s expression took Jackie right back to the summer with Max. Ethan looked so much like him. The Delgados definitely had a look.

He pushed his hair back and grinned at the waitress. “Hi, I’m Ethan. I’d give anything for a Mocha Frappuccino with organic, unsweetened almond milk.”

“Hi. I would love to have one, too, but all my mom serves is plain coffee. Plain cream and sugar are the only options. I could put some Cool Whip from the desserts on top.”

“We want whipped cream on our hot chocolates!” Isaac pointed to his brother. Tomas nodded in agreement.

“Sure.” She looked back at Ethan. “I make the hot chocolate myself with real ingredients. It’s my favorite.”

Max’s brother blushed. “I’ll take one of those.”

“Good. So, are y’all visiting or moving to town?” It seemed as if everyone else at the table had disappeared as the two teens stared at each other. “Are you gonna go to school here? Everyone’s out for Thanksgiving break, but Monday we start again.”