Page 42 of The Holiday Gift

Below the ranch house, he could see that the parking lot of The Christmas Ranch—which had been full when he pulled up—was mostly cleared out now, with a horse-drawn sleigh on what was probably its last go-round of the evening making its way back to the barn near the lodge.

He would really like to find time before Christmas to take Addie on a ride, along with Faith and her children.

The Saint Nicholas Lodge glowed cheerily against the cold night. Beyond it, the cluster of small structures that made up the life-size Christmas village—complete with indoor animatronic scenes of elves hammering and Santa eating from a plate of cookies—looked like something from a Christmas card.

Her family had created a celebration of the holidays here, unlike anything else in the region. People came from miles around, eager to enhance their holiday spirit.

“It’s nice that Hope has hired enough staff now that she doesn’t have to do everything on her own,” he said.

“With the baby coming, Rafe insisted she cut back her hours. No more fourteen-hour days, seven days a week from Thanksgiving to New Year’s.”

Those hours were probably not unlike what Faith did year-round on the Star N—at least during calving and haying season and roundup. In other words, most of the year.

She worked so hard and never complained about the burden that had fallen onto her shoulders after Travis died.

When they reached the haystack, tucked beneath a huge open-sided structure with a metal roof, he heard the problem before he saw it, the thwack of a loose tarp cover flapping in the wind. Each time the wind dug underneath the tarp, it pulled it loose a little further. If they didn’t tie it down, it would eventually pull the whole thing loose and she would not only lose an expensive tarp but potentially the whole haystack to the storm.

“That’s gotten a lot worse, just in the last few hours,” she said, pitching her voice louder to be heard over the wind. “I should have taken time to fix it earlier when I first spotted the problem, but I was doing about a hundred other things at the time. I was going to fix it in the morning, but I didn’t take into account the storm.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “We’ll have it safe and secure in no time. It might take both of us, though—one to hold the flap down and hold the flashlight while the other ties it.”

They went to work together, as they had done a hundred times before. He wrestled the tarp down, which wasn’t easy amid the increasing wind, then held it while she tied multiple knots to keep it in place.

“That should do it,” she said.

“While we’re out here, let’s tighten the other corners,” he suggested.

When he was satisfied the tarp was secure—and when the bite of the wind was close to becoming uncomfortable—he tightened the last knot.

“Thanks, Chase,” she said.

“No problem. Let’s go see if Rosie is smart enough to stay in from the cold.”

She clutched at her hat to keep the wind from tugging it away and they made their way into the relative warmth and safety of her large, clean barn.

The wind still howled outside but it was muted, more like a low, angry buzz, making the barn feel like a refuge.

“That wind has to be thirty or forty miles an hour,” she said, shaking her head as she turned on the lights inside the barn.

“At least this storm isn’t supposed to bring bitter cold along with it,” he said. “Where’s Rosie?”

“I set her up in the back stall but who knows if she decided to stay put? I really hope she’s not out in that wind somewhere.”

Apparently the dog knew this cozy spot was best for her and her pups. They found her lying on her side on an old horse blanket with five brand-new white-and-black puppies nuzzling at her.

“Oh. Will you look at that?” Faith breathed. Her eyes looked bright and happy in the fluorescent barn lights. “Hi there, Rosie. Look at you! What a good girl. Five babies. Good job, little mama!”

She leaned on the top railing of the stall and he joined her. “The kids will be excited,” he observed.

“Are you kidding?Excitedis an understatement. Puppies for Christmas. They’ll be thrilled. If I let her, Louisa probably would be down here in a minute and want to spend the night right there in the straw with Rosie.”

The dog flapped her tail at the sound of her name and they watched for a moment before he noticed her water bowl was getting low. He slipped inside the stall and picked up the food and the water bowls and filled them each before returning them to the cozy little pen.

For his trouble, he earned another tail wag from Rosie and a smile from Faith.

“Thank you. Do you think they’ll be warm enough out here? I can take them into the house.”

“They should be okay. She might not appreciate being moved now. They’re warm enough in here and they’re out of the wind. If you’re really worried about it, I can bring over a warming lamp.”

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