Christmas Gifts: Cinderella and the Cowboy / The Boss's Christmas Baby / Their Little Christmas Miracle

Elizabeth stood and thanked Carol for the pancakes, then she cleaned her plate at the sink. She turned around to Jack. “Are we ready to go?”

“Yeah, we are.”

She kissed her son. “Brady, be good while I’m gone.”

“Okay, Mommy.”

Jack knew Elizabeth would have a few choice comments for him when they got to the car alone. He was ready for them.

“Jack, I don’t want to take the car away from Kim.”

That he definitely wasn’t ready for. He shot her a confused look as he drove.

“I know she may have gotten it illegally,” she said, “but I imagine Reggie took more than he gave.”

“How do you know that?” Jack said, his voice full of irritation. He couldn’t believe she was concerned about a lying gold digger who faked a marriage and scammed to get more money.

“Trust me, I know.”

Reggie had no doubt done the same to her. But she was nothing like Kim Hall. He told her as much.

“You don’t know that. You’ve only known me for three days.”

Yeah, Jack said to himself, it was amazing, wasn’t it? “I know enough about you to know you’re nothing like Kim. She’s out to get what she can and she’s not interested in giving anything. You, on the other hand, will give to anyone who needs something.”

From the corner of his eye he saw Elizabeth look at him. He turned to her and grabbed her hand when the traffic came to a stop ahead of him.

“You’re a good person, Elizabeth. And I aim to see you get what you deserve.”

Her blue eyes glistened with tears and she ducked her head. “Thank you, Jack.”

“Nothing to it.”

They didn’t speak again till they got to the bank.

Jack did the talking, explaining the problem to the bank president. He invited him into his office and opened an account for Elizabeth. Then he called the bank in Amarillo. He faxed them a copy of Reggie’s death certificate and the papers from probate, which Elizabeth had supplied. He asked for the transfer of the funds available, telling whoever he was talking to that he had Reggie’s widow sitting in his office. Jack asked for her marriage certificate and handed it to the banker.

Elizabeth was shocked that she so easily let Jack handle her business. But there was something about him that made her feel safe, taken care of. For the first time in her life.

But he also made her angrier than a bull seeing red, she reminded herself.

Caught in her daydream, she lost track of what the men were discussing. When Jack put a piece of paper in front of her, she stared at the figures on it, but they didn’t really register.

“Elizabeth, what do you think of this balance?” Jack nudged her.

She forced herself to focus on the figure in front of her, but the six figures kept fading in and out. It couldn’t be. Reggie couldn’t have left almost a quarter of a million dollars! Incredulous, she choked out, “This is the balance right now?”

“Yeah, that’s before we recover the money for the car.”

As if snapped out of a trance by a hypnotist, she felt her head clear. “I told you I didn’t want to take the car away. It’s not something I want to drive.”

“If you don’t take the money away from her, you’ll be allowing her to get away with fraud,” the banker explained.

“I don’t want the car and I don’t want to bring charges against the woman. I’m sure she won’t do that again.”

Jack commiserated with the banker, and they whispered together while Elizabeth sat quietly and took in the new developments.

Two hundred fifty thousand dollars.

Never in her life did she ever think to see that much money. And now she owned it all.

“Elizabeth, what do you want to do with the money?”

She gave Jack and the banker a blank look.

The bank president leaned forward. “My advice would be to put the bulk of it in high-yield investments and the remainder in an interest-bearing checking account.”

That sounded good to her.

“How about we keep ten thousand in the checking?” the banker suggested. “Is that enough for you?”

She looked at him as if he were crazy. “More than enough.”

“In that case, then, I think we’re finished here. We’ll send you your checks when they’re printed, but in the meantime you can use these.” He handed her a few generic checks and stood up. “A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Ransom.”

Shaking his hand, she returned the compliment.

When they exited the bank, her head was still spinning at the money at her disposal.

“How are you feeling?” Jack asked her.

“I’m not sure really.” She turned to look at him. “Jack, do you promise to leave Kim alone?”

“Yeah, but why are you protecting her? She doesn’t care about you.”

“I know that, but…but we were victimized by Reggie. She deserves something.”

“So you’re going to let her get away with it?”

“Yes, and I’m tired of talking about it.”

“But it’s a lot of money.”

“Yes, it is. And I have a lot of money now, myself. I can afford to let her have it.” To terminate the conversation, she walked ahead, leaving Jack standing outside the bank.

Elizabeth was eager to break the news at home.

When they got to the ranch she found Kim sitting by herself at the kitchen table. “Do you know where Carol is?”