Page 2 of Merry Christmas, Cowboy

After grabbing coffee in the teacher’s lounge, they sat down at a table and greeted two other teachers and several PTA members, the Honeysuckle Elementary School’s fundraising committee. This was Nicole’s third year on the committee, and somehow, she’d been wrangled to head it up this time. She wanted to do it justice. They had thirteen families in need and it was important to give them a good start into the new year.

Nicole led the discussion, the PTA president taking notes as they touched base about how the progress was going.

“Do we have permission to use the Cottonwood property?” one member asked.

Nicole nibbled on her lips. “Not yet. I haven’t heard back from the new owner. But being Randolph Brown’s nephew, I figured it wouldn’t be a problem. Rand had donated his property for the past five years, ever since we’ve started doing this. Hopefully, Garrett Brown, who inherited the ranch from his uncle, will follow suit.”

“That place is perfect,” another committee member said. “Cottonwood Ranch isn’t too far from town, and being a nonworking ranch means we have full use of all the facilities.”

“I hope it won’t be a problem,” Cathy Jacoby said. “Mr. Brown has been coming into our store a lot, picking up supplies, and my Wes says he’s quiet, businesslike and never cracks a smile. Not even a polite one and we all know Wes’s corny sense of humor.”

Nicole smiled. Wes Jacoby ran the local hardware store and she’d never walked out of that store without a chuckle.

Julie twisted her mouth. “Maybe we should nail that down before we get ahead of ourselves. We’re on a tight schedule and if he’s not agreeable, we’ll have to come up with another place really fast. Everyone knows, our tiny auditorium isn’t big enough, and the parking lot is hardly conducive to what we have planned. The families love the sleigh rides in Rand’s old wagon, as well as the ornament making and tumbleweed snowman contest.”

“I’ll get right on it,” Nicole said.

She figured her polite little notes weren’t doing the trick. She needed a better plan of action. She’d taken what would’ve been her honeymoon off to recover from the shock and humiliation of being left at the altar and she’d never gotten the chance to meet Cody’s uncle after school started.

“Maybe more than a note this time,” Julie suggested. “Why not go over there and ask him in person?”

Nicole didn’t think it was a bad idea. The kids had no school tomorrow, a student-free day and she had no big plans, no hot dates. She scoffed at the notion. She couldn’t even wrap her head around dating anyone ever again. Both Julie and her dear friend, Taylor, said she was being dramatic; she shouldn’t give up on her future. Maybe they had a point. But she had every right to be dramatic. It wasn’t every day a woman got stood up by her groom because he wasn’t sure he loved her enough to marry her. And he wanted to get his head on straight.

Geesh. How had she been so blind?

“I think I will,” she said, getting back to the important matter at hand. The event was to take place in three weeks and she had been negligent in nailing this down. “I’ll pay Cody and his uncle a friendly little visit tomorrow.”

After all, what was the worst that could happen? He couldn’t very well run her off his property, could he?

*

Garrett stood atthe gates of Cottonwood, waiting for little Cody to come home from school. Usually, Paulette would drive him right up to the front door, but today, he wanted to surprise Cody with a greeting. The boy had been through too much lately, and Garrett couldn’t love him any more than he already did. He only hoped he was enough for the boy. He didn’t have any experience in raising a child and when his twin sister Carrie died so unexpectedly, he was the only one close enough to Cody to raise him. He couldn’t imagine any distant relative taking him in. Cody deserved to be loved. It was just that Garrett wasn’t sure he could be both father and mother to the boy. Did he have the financial means to raise little Cody right?

It weighed heavily on him. He’d been working hard to flip the ranch house he’d inherited from Uncle Randolph. His plan was to put the entire property on the market, so he and Cody could finally settle down in Northern California. He’d bought a house there. It was a fixer-upper in a great neighborhood that was ready for a remodel. The sale of Cottonwood Ranch would give him peace of mind that Cody’s financial future would be secure.

Paulette’s white Honda came into view and Garrett lifted his hand to her. She waved back as she slowed the car to a stop and rolled down the window. “Hi Paulette. How’d it go today?”

“Really well. Miss Russell said Cody is keeping up with the class. She did ask me about a note she sent you.”

Garrett rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh yeah. Haven’t gotten around to answering her yet. I’ll try to remember on Monday.” Or not. He didn’t want to get involved with the community any more than he had to. He didn’t want Cody to get attached to being here. He’d had enough transition in his life already, with his mother dying and having to start kindergarten in a new place.

He walked to the back of the car and opened the door. Cody, being an independent kid, had already unbuckled himself out of the car seat and put on his jacket and his backpack. Every new thing that Cody learned swelled Garrett’s heart with pride.

“Hey, Code. Good to see you, buddy.”

“Hi.”

“How was school today?”

“Good.” He bounced out of the SUV and high-fived him.

Garrett ruffled his shaggy dark hair.

“How come you’re out here?” the boy asked.

“Well, I’m all through for the day and I couldn’t wait to see you.”

“Why?”

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