A Cowboy For Christmas

It was that kindness that got to her. It felt like a long time since anyone had expressed a truly kind interest in her. Her friends had grown angry on her behalf, and too many people had been trying to avoid looking at her, as if she made them uneasy. His frankness, the gentleness of his tone...well, they made her throat and chest tighten.

Oh, man, she didn’t want to start weeping. She tried to draw some steadying breaths, and finally managed to say, “Old familiar story. Husband runs off with another woman. Who happened to be my boss until then. Nothing unusual in that, I guess.”

“Maybe not, but that doesn’t make it any easier. I’m sorry.”

She couldn’t answer. She became fascinated by the pattern on the tabletop. Easier than looking at him and perhaps seeing pity.

He astonished her by reaching across the table and lightly covering her hand with his. “We all have some healing to do,” he said quietly. “Maybe this place will help us find some peace. Good night, Abby. Thanks for listening.”

She didn’t move until she heard him reach the top of the stairs. Then she stood and turned off the coffeepot, rinsing it out so that it would be ready for morning.

As she turned out the kitchen light and walked back to her rooms, she wondered what to make of what had just happened. The guy had reached out to her, shared some of his problems, asked about hers. Then he’d gotten up and walked away.

Had she repulsed him somehow? She wouldn’t be surprised considering the way Porter had bailed on her. Something about her had to be very wrong. She just couldn’t figure out what it was.

Much to her amazement, before she could close her suite door behind her, Rally trotted in. Still afraid to get into a disagreement with an animal so big, she readied for bed, leaving the door open, and finally climbed beneath crisp sheets and a puffy comforter.

The dog leaped up beside her and put his big head next to hers and his paw across her waist.

A hug from a dog. This might be her absolute nadir, but she didn’t care. He comforted her.

And maybe that was what she really needed.

Chapter Three (#ulink_e8a058d0-8cec-5d98-9ce3-8364fb4f557e)

The clouds that had lumbered over the mountains moved through without dropping any rain or snow, but they left a deep chill in their wake. Frost covered the ground in the early morning hours and Regina started bundling up before heading out to catch the school bus.

Rory had returned to spending his days in his barn studio, and Abby spent her free time online, looking for classes she might be able to afford that would give her transferable credits for when she returned to school.

A kind of anticipatory excitement began to fill her, and all her gloominess and boredom blew away. So many subjects interested her, and she enjoyed looking into the requirements for a number of majors, trying to decide what might suit her best. It was a step toward a future, the first real one she’d taken since Porter’s betrayal.

Her improved outlook brightened everything around her, and when she looked up from her computer to realize that Regina was already returning from school one afternoon, she was astonished at how the time had flown. She hadn’t even started dinner, and her mind immediately shifted gears as she glanced at the clock and tried to decide what she could manage quickly.

Regina had taken to popping in to say hi when she got home, spending only a few minutes in the kitchen with Abby. Today was no different. She grabbed her can of soda and a bag of pretzels and sat down at the table, indicating the laptop.

“Getting anywhere?”

“Your suggestion about looking for online classes was great.”

Regina screwed up her face. “I can hardly wait to be done with school.”

Abby felt immediate concern. “Something bad happen?”

Regina shook her head. “Just boring. I’d rather be riding a horse.”

Abby laughed. “I keep hearing that.”

“Dad isn’t listening so well.” Regina flashed a grin and shrugged. “He will eventually. Every girl should have a horse.”

“I’m sure most girls your age would agree.”

“Did you have one?”

Abby shook her head. She’d had a period of infatuation with horses, a lot of girls did, but she’d lived in town and her parents couldn’t afford it. They’d taken her out for a few trail rides at the Ironheart ranch, but that had been it. “Not possible.” Then she shifted the subject purposefully. She didn’t want Regina to try to drag her into the middle of her campaign for a horse. That was solely between her and Rory. “I need to come up with a quick dinner. I lost track of time.”

“I won’t die if we eat late,” Regina said, grabbing another pretzel. “Who knows if Dad will even surface?”

He’d been doing a good job of it most of the time. Given what Rory had said when he’d first arrived, Abby was surprised by how often he turned up for dinner. Of course, since Regina joined him in the studio most days after school, he probably found it hard to forget time.

She wondered if that was giving him any problem with his composing. She hoped not.

Regina picked up her bag of pretzels. “I’d better get out there. Rally is probably getting frantic.”

Just then, as if in answer to her thoughts, Rally’s feet could be heart clacking and padding down the hall from the back door. He zoomed into the kitchen and began to lick Regina’s cheek. She shrieked a giggle.

“Somebody was missing you, girl,” Rory called from the hall, sounding amused.

“Sorry, Dad, I was talking with Abby.”

Abby felt pleasant anticipation humming along her nerves. She always enjoyed seeing Rory, however rarely or briefly, and she was growing more impressed with how ordinary he seemed. Fame and wealth hadn’t gone to his head as far as she could tell. But more than that, he filled out jeans and a Western shirt better than any man she’d ever seen. Broad shoulders, narrow hips, just the sight of him seemed to zoom straight to her core.

But that was the only way he was ordinary. She felt almost guilty the way everything inside her seemed to leap at the sight of him. Guilty and maybe a little silly, like a fan with a crush. She’d even sneaked online to listen to a couple of his songs, to learn something about the music that was so important to him. Listening, she had wondered how she’d managed to miss this phenom for so long.

But it was her guilty secret and pleasure. She didn’t want to lose her job because she acted like a star-struck fool around him, nor did she want to cause the kinds of problems Regina had mentioned. She did wonder, however, if he felt as used as Regina had sensed. That would be awful.

She ought to know. She felt she had been used by Porter and Joan. How long must they have been carrying on behind her back? Using her for cover to prevent talk? She had no idea, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

Bad enough that she felt branded by shame. She wasn’t going to make it worse be allowing herself to go overboard about Rory. She was just a housekeeper. She needed to remember that.

But Rory didn’t come into the kitchen. She heard music coming from the piano in the living room and perked up, listening. It was a gentle melody, almost mournful, yet achingly beautiful.

Regina fell silent, listening, too. Then she hopped up and went to the living room.

Abby didn’t feel she had the right to follow, but the melody, soon accompanied by some minor chords, held her riveted.

A weight fell on Abby’s thigh and she looked down to see that Rally had laid his head there. Not since that one night had he come into her room, but now he looked up with those sad eyes, as if asking for something.

She scratched his huge head. His tail wagged, but only a little. Was he hungry? Regina always fed him at dinnertime and it was still too early. Maybe a treat?

The melody still drifted from the living room, but the dog’s intervention broke the spell and she rose. There were treats in the pantry, and no one had told her she couldn’t give one to the dog. A soft bacon chew settled him down, then she leaned against the doorway listening to the music.

She could hear the stops and restarts as Rory seemed to be searching for something just right. She heard no voices, just the music. It would have been nice to keep on listening, but inevitably she remembered she had a job and needed to figure out a fast dinner.

Sighing, she began to hunt in the refrigerator and pantry when she would have vastly preferred to creep into the living room and just sit and listen.

Magic was being created out there, and she wished she could be part of it.

Dinner was a tossed-together affair. Rory didn’t return to his studio, but instead staked out the living room and piano. Eventually Regina popped into the kitchen to say good-night. That was Abby’s cue to head for her apartment.