A Callahan Christmas Miracle

“Cheating.” Galen took a sip. “Jace told you that?”

“Sure. Just like your sister told me that she’s gone off Xav Phillips.”

He choked on the tea, set the glass down. “Gone off? As in isn’t trying to herd him to the altar anymore?”

“I guess not.” Rose looked thoughtful. “So maybe the field is completely clear for you now, after all.”

“Why does everybody tell you everything? I should know these things.”

“Maybe I’m a little easier to talk to you than you are?” she teased. “Or they don’t want to let big brother down.”

“It’s still no reason to make you the resident advice columnist,” Galen groused. He was thunderstruck by everything he’d learned. “Does Somer know where Sawyer’s gone? Or why she left?”

“No. Didn’t say anything to me about it. I’d better go, though. Don’t want to keep her waiting.” She put her plate in the dishwasher.

“Just a minute,” Galen said, wishing she would stay a little longer. “Anything else I need to know?”

Rose smiled. “Perhaps.”

“I’m listening.” He wanted to kiss her in the worst way. Hopefully, he didn’t look like his brothers had when they’d been all slobbery about the women who were now their wives. That was the thing about watching his siblings fall like rocks to the bottom of a well—the process had been ugly.

He sure didn’t want to do ugly. “I’m listening, if there’s something I should know.”

“Here’s something you should know,” Rose said. Then to Galen’s utter astonishment, she walked over and pressed her lips against his in a gentle kiss that happened so quickly he didn’t have time to pucker up. She went out the back door, leaving him glued to the floor, his whole body humming like a divining rod.

She’d just kissed him. She wanted him to know she liked him—that could be her only meaning. And he’d missed the moment, like a giant doofus stuck on stupid. Hadn’t even kissed her back, or put a hand on her to drag her close to him. The way he would have if he hadn’t been frozen with shock.

If she ever does that again, I’ll pucker up like a girl in a kissing booth. I won’t be like my brothers. I’m not going down hard.

No, if that little gal wants me, I’m pretty sure I’ll fold like a cheap seat at a picnic—fast and easy.

Chapter Five

The last thing Galen wanted to do was talk to Storm Cash, but thanks to his grandfather’s directive he saw no reason to linger—even if he’d rather chase after Rose and find out if she had any more sugar with his name on it.

“Hi,” Storm said, when Galen drove up in his truck and got out. “It’s not often that I see a Callahan at my place. Is this a friendly call?”

“I hope so. It’ll start out that way. Could go either direction, depending on the weather.”

Storm laughed. “You Callahans are moody cusses, that’s for certain. What’s on your mind?”

“I may take you up on buying the land you offered us,” he said without stalling.

Storm picked up a bale of hay and tossed it into his truck bed. “Might you?”

“Is the offer still open?”

“Sure it is. I’m not the kind of man to go back on my word.”

Sometimes Storm seemed honest to his bones. Galen couldn’t say why he and his siblings felt a sense of unease about the big man. They just did. But then again, they didn’t trust many outsiders. “Why do you want to sell it? You didn’t buy it that many moons ago.”

“Let’s just say that I’m uncomfortable with the undercurrents attached to that land.”

That was a signal to dig deeper if he’d ever heard one. “Storm, you might as well get it off your chest. Skeletons don’t go away, you know. They have a disturbing tendency to hang around and rattle when you least expect it.”

“True,” his neighbor said, “but it’s not the skeletons I’m worried about.”

“So it’s the mercenaries,” Galen stated, and Storm looked him straight in the eye.

“Look, I’ll sell the land to you for a quarter less than I paid for it. I just want rid of it, Callahan. Take it or leave it.”

Galen watched his expression carefully. Storm had less of a poker face than he might have imagined. The man seemed concerned about something. Galen decided to be the needle that dug out the splinter. “That’s quite a loss you’ll take on the asking price.”

“I’ve got a beautiful fiancée. I don’t have time to oversee an enormous ranch,” Storm said.

“I think there’s more to the story.”

His neighbor gave him a dry look. “I don’t want to get caught in the middle of anything.”

“Nothing to get caught in the middle of. We’re the good guys.” A sudden thought occurred to Galen. “Wait a minute. You’ve come to our ranch a couple of times mentioning that you’d found stragglers camping on your land. That there were trespassers you couldn’t control. You haven’t been threatened in any way, have you?”

“If you want to buy the land across the canyons and my land, you’ve got yourself a deal, neighbor. We’ll leave it at that.”

Galen blinked, caught off guard. “You planning to move away, Storm? You haven’t been on this spread but about four or five years, have you?”

“Think I’ll move into town, to Lu’s place,” Storm said evenly.

The rancher had been threatened. Galen’s sixth sense was going wild with warning. “What does Lu think about that?”

Lu Feinstrom was Storm’s lady friend. She was a great cook and quite a woman. Storm had gone down like a sack of hammers for her and her cooking.

“She’d rather live here. But what can I do?” He glanced at the sky. “Looks like a storm is coming, Callahan. I’m going to have to bring some livestock in. Have your lawyer or agent send me an offer. Then we’ll smoke on it.”

“I’ll do that.” Galen watched as the big man headed off in his truck, then got in his and drove back to Rancho Diablo.

* * *

“IT’S BEAUTIFUL, FIONA,” Rose said, gazing at the wedding dress on her bed. “But I don’t know anything about modeling wedding gowns.”

“Sure you do,” Fiona said brightly. “Just hop in that one and let’s see what you see. I mean, let’s see how it fits you.”

“What is this big event Rancho Diablo is hosting?” Rose couldn’t say why she didn’t want to put the gown on, she just didn’t.

On the other hand, she couldn’t disappoint Fiona, whose face was bright and expectant.

“I’m just about out of bachelors, except for Jace,” Fiona told her. “So this Christmas, for the Christmas ball, I’m going to do a bride-a-thon. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

“You’re planning early.” Rose’s heart shifted a bit. “How can you be out of bachelors?”