Page 2 of Christmas with the Cowboy
Had they known one another better back in the day, they would never have wed, and Lex probably wouldn’t have been born, so there was something to be said for two headstrong kids making stupid decisions.
Granted, things had become more complicated when Candice married Gregg, but it was impossible not to like the guy, and the transition into thruple parenting had been easier than expected thanks to Gregg’s easygoing nature and robust common sense. The unconventional family dynamics marked one of the few times in Reed’s life where things fell into place, and he’d managed to leave them there. The Holloway Ranch, where he’d lived and worked until a few days ago, was only twenty minutes from Bozeman, which meant he was a constant presence in his daughter’s life and she in his.
“It’s okay if you do yell at each other.” Lex gave him another irony-laced look. “Don’t worry about scarring your child. I watch the WWE.”
Reed rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses. Had he been as together as his kid back in the day, maybe things would be different now. He had a feeling that Lex’s personality was the result of being an only child and having three adults presenting a united front from the time she was a toddler, coupled with the fact that she inherited her grandmother’s down-to-earth personality and patience, as well as her mom’s wry sense of humor. The real blessing was that she seemed comfortable in the here and now. She didn’t need to search for the big adventure the way Reed and his father had. She seemed content to read and study, hang with her friends, and tend to her pet guinea pigs, Calvin and Cedric, who were in a travel cage in the backseat of the Dodge.
A few minutes later, Reed parked the truck between the main house his parents lived in and the slightly smaller house, known as the Little House, where Reed’s grandparents had lived. Now it was the guesthouse, and for the next several months, Reed and Lex’s home. If he stayed, he’d probably invest in a mobile home and free up the Little House, but he wasn’t investing until he was certain that he and his dad did okay.
Reed’s mother, Audrey, met them on the porch, enveloping first Lex, then Reed in a hug. She smelled of ginger and home and, as usual, was dressed in jeans and a loose flannel shirt over a tee, the sleeves rolled up to just below the elbows.
“I’ve been baking,” she said as she released her hug and stepped back. “And you know what that means.”
“Fire alert?” Reed asked.
She shot him a dark look. “I have not let myself get sidetracked once.”
“I can bake now that I’m here,” Lex said.
“That would be amazing.” Audrey beamed and pulled Lex against her in a one-armed hug. “There’s a Christmas bake sales coming up and the family baking, and…well…I can use all the help I can get.”
“But not at the expense of your classes,” Reed said. Every time he said something along those lines, he felt a twinge of conscience because he hadn’t given a rat’s ass about classes. But he should have.
“As if,” Lex said on a sniff.
“How’s Gregg?” Audrey asked, glancing from Reed to Lex, then back to Reed.
“Mom and Gregg got to Virginia yesterday,” Lex said. “They’ll start tests tomorrow.”
Reed nodded his agreement. Gregg’s best shot at beating the disease invading his body was at a specialty clinic on the opposite side of the country, and the four of them had agreed that the best course of action was for Reed and Lex to move to the family ranch during the treatments. Lex had segued to online classes after the first quarter of the school year, and hadn’t muttered a word of complaint—to Reed or Candice, anyway—even though it had to be rough, leaving her friends and face-to-face interactions behind.
It’s temporary, Reed reminded himself. Lex understood that eventually they would find their new normal, and then the only question would be, where would he land? On the family ranch if all went well, but truth to tell, he was still a little uncertain about giving up his autonomy. His ability to live it up now and again without causing his family to worry. Having a kid had definitely helped him cut back on following his wild urges, but if he wasn’t booked for time with Lex, and one or more of his fellow ranch hands were in the same mood, he still enjoyed cutting loose.
Those days were over for now. He was temporarily a single parent, and he intended to be a decent role model.
“I’m glad the clinic could get him in earlier than scheduled,” Lex said as Audrey ushered her through the door into a kitchen that smelled of ginger, molasses, and burning sugar.
“The cookies—”
Well accustomed to the drill, Reed beat his mom to the oven, grabbed the hot pads off the counter, and opened the oven door to pull out a sheet of only slightly overbaked gingersnaps.
“More snap this way,” he said, and Audrey rolled her eyes.
“It looks like it’s just some of the sugar that burned, Grandma,” Lex said as Audrey quickly shoveled cookies onto a waiting wire rack.
Cautiously Audrey tipped up a cookie with the spatula and peered underneath it. “You’re right.” She wet her finger and marked a tick on an imaginary score sheet.
“Do you want me to finish these?” Lex asked, gesturing at the bowl of dough covered with a tea towel.
“You have unpacking to do.”
“I’d rather bake cookies,” she said. “I have a lot of time to unpack.”
“Not with the schedule your grandfather has lined out.”
Lex’s eyes went wide. “He’s making me work?”
“You’ll like it,” Audrey said cryptically. “I’ll let him tell you about it.”
