A Cold Creek Noel

“Can I ride one of your horses sometime?”

“Jack,” Ben chided, but Caidy only laughed.

“I think that can probably be arranged. We’ve got several that are very gentle for children. My favorite is Old Pete. He’s about the nicest horse you could ever meet.”

Jack beamed at her, his sunny, adorable self. “I bet I can ride a horse good. I have boots and everything.”

“You’re such a dork. Just because you have boots doesn’t make you a cowboy,” Ava said with an impatient snort.

“What about you, Ava? Do you like horses?”

In the rearview mirror, he didn’t miss his daughter’s eagerness but she quickly concealed it. He wondered sometimes if she was afraid to hope for things she wanted anymore because none of their prayers and wishes had been enough to keep Brooke alive.

“I guess,” she said, picking at the sleeve of her parka.

“You’ve come to the right place, then. I bet my niece Destry would love to take you out for a ride.”

Ava’s eyes widened. “Destry from my school? She’s your niece?”

Caidy smiled. “I guess so. There aren’t too many Destrys in this neck of the woods. You’ve met her?”

Ava nodded. “She’s a couple years older than me but on my very first day, Mrs. Dalton, the principal, had her show me around. She was supernice to me and she still says hi to me and stuff when she sees me at school.”

“I’m very glad to hear that. She better be nice. If she’s not, you let me know and I’ll give her a talking-to until her ears fall off.”

Jack laughed at the image. Ava looked as if she wanted to join him but she had become very good at hiding her amusement these days. Instead, she looked out the window again.

“Here we are,” Caidy said when he pulled up front of the house. “I turned up the heat earlier when I came down to clean a little. It should be nice and cozy for you.”

How much work had she done for them? He hoped it wasn’t much, even as he wondered why she was making this effort for them when he wasn’t at all sure she really wanted them there.

“So all the rattraps are gone?” he asked.

“Rats?” Ava asked in a horrified voice.

“There are no rats,” Caidy assured her quickly. “We have too many cats here at the River Bow. Your father was making a joke. Weren’t you?”

Was he? It had been quite a while since he had found much to joke about. Somehow Caidy Bowman brought out a long-forgotten side of him. “Yes, Ava. I was teasing.”

Judging by his daughter’s expression, she seemed to find that notion just as unsettling as the idea of giant rodents in her bed.

“Shall we go inside so you can see for yourself?” Caidy said.

“I want to see the rats!” Jack said.

“There are no rats,” Ben assured everybody again as Caidy pushed open the front door. It wasn’t locked, he noticed—something very different from his security-conscious world in California.

The scent of pine washed over them the moment they stepped inside.

“Look!” Jack exclaimed. “A Christmas tree! A real live one of our very own!”

Sure enough, in the corner was a rather scraggly pine tree as tall as he was, covered in multicolored Christmas lights.

He gazed at it, stunned at the sight and quite certain the tree hadn’t been there a few hours earlier. She had said the house was empty, so somehow in the past few hours Caidy Bowman must have dragged this tree in, set it in the stand and strung the Christmas lights.

She had done this for them. He didn’t know what to say. Somewhere inside him another little chunk of ice seemed to fall away.

“You didn’t need to do that,” he said, a little more gruffly than he intended.

“It was no big deal,” she answered. In the warmth of the room he thought he saw a tinge of color on her cheeks. “My brothers went a little crazy in the Christmas tree department. We cut our own in the mountains above the ranch after Thanksgiving, and this year they cut a few extras to give to people who might need them. This one was leftover.”

“What about the lights?”

“We had some extras lying around. I’m afraid this one is a little on the scrawny side, but paper garland and some ornaments will fix that right up. I bet your dad and Mrs. Michaels can help you make some,” she told Ava and Jack. As he might have expected, Jack looked excited about the idea but Ava merely shrugged.

He wouldn’t know the first thing about making ornaments for a Christmas tree. Brooke had always taken care of the holiday decorating and his housekeeper had stepped in after her death.

“Come on. I’ll give you the grand tour. It’s not much, as you can see. Just this room, the kitchen and dining room and the bedrooms upstairs.”

She was too modest. This room alone was already half again as big as one of the hotel rooms. The living room was comfortably furnished with a burgundy plaid sofa and a couple of leather recliners, and the television set was an older model but quite large.

One side wall was dominated by a small river rock fireplace with a mantel made of rough-hewn lumber. The fireplace was empty but someone—probably Caidy—had stacked several armloads of wood in a bin next to it. He could easily imagine how cozy the place would be with a fire in the hearth, the lights flickering on the tree and a basketball game on the television set. He wouldn’t even have to worry about turning the volume down so he didn’t wake Jack. It was an appealing thought.

“Through here is the kitchen and dining area,” she said.

The appliances looked a little out-of-date but perfectly adequate. The refrigerator even had an ice maker, something he had missed in the hotel. Ice from a bucket wasn’t quite the same for some reason.

“There’s a half bath and a laundry room through those doors. It’s pretty basic. Do you want to see the upstairs?”

He nodded and followed her up, trying not to notice the way her jeans hugged her curves. “We’ve got a king bed in one room, a queen in the second bedroom and bunk beds in that one on the left. The children won’t mind sharing, will they?”

“I want to see!” Jack exclaimed and raced into the room she indicated. Ava followed more slowly, but even she looked curious about the accommodations, he saw.

The whole place smelled like vanilla and pine, fresh and clean, and he didn’t miss the vacuum tracks in the carpet. She really must have hurried over to make it ready for them.

“There’s a small bathroom off the master and another one in the hall between the other bedrooms. That’s it. Not much to it. Do you think it will work?”

“I like it!” Jack declared. “But only if I get the top bunk.”

“What do you think, Ava?”

She shrugged. “It’s okay. I still like the hotel better but it would be fun to live by Destry and ride the bus with her and stuff. And I get the top bunk. I’m older.”

“We can work that out,” Ben said. “I guess it’s more or less unanimous. It should be great. Comfortable and spacious and not that far from the clinic. I appreciate the offer.”

She smiled but he thought it looked a little strained. “Great. You can move in anytime. Today if you want. All you need are your suitcases.”

The idea of a little breathing space was vastly appealing. “In that case, we can go back to the inn and pack our things and be back later this afternoon. Mrs. Michaels will be thrilled.”

“That should work.”

“Can we decorate the tree tonight?” Jack asked eagerly.

He tousled his son’s hair, deeply grateful for this cheerful child who gave his love unconditionally. “Yeah. We can probably do that. We’ll pick up some art supplies while we’re in town too.”

Even Ava looked mildly excited about that as they headed back outside.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” Caidy said suddenly. “What are you doing all the way down here, you crazy dog? Just want to make a few new friends, do you?”

She spoke to an ancient-looking collie, with a gray muzzle and tired eyes, that was sitting at the bottom of the porch steps. Caidy knelt down, heedless of the snow, and petted the dog. “This is Sadie. She’s just about my best friend in the world.”

Ava smiled at the dog. “Hi, Sadie.”

Jack, however, hovered behind Ben. His son was nervous about any dog bigger than a Pekingese.

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