Bring Me A Maverick For Christmas!

When Bailey Stockton left Rust Creek Falls thirteen years ago, he’d thought it was forever. His life and family were gone—torn apart by his actions—and he hadn’t imagined he would ever want to return. He’d tried to move on with his own life—first in various parts of Wyoming, then in New Mexico—certain he could find a new path. After a few years, he’d even let himself hope that he might make a new family.

That hadn’t worked out so well. Though he’d had the best of intentions when he’d exchanged vows with Emily, it turned out that they were just too different—and too stubborn to compromise—which pretty much doomed their marriage from the start.

And then, last December, he’d heard that his brother Luke had made his way back to Rust Creek Falls, and he’d impulsively decided to head in the same direction. He’d arrived in town just in time to witness their brother Danny exchange vows with his high school sweetheart. At the wedding, Bailey had reconnected with most of his siblings, who had persuaded him to stay—at least for a while.

Eleven and a half months later, Bailey was still there. He was living in one of the cabins at Sunshine Farm now and filling most of his waking hours with chores around the ranch. Still, every few weeks he felt compelled to remind himself that he was going to head out again, but the truth was, he had nowhere else to go. And while he’d been certain that he wouldn’t ever want to return to the family ranch that held so many memories of the parents they’d lost and the siblings who’d scattered—he’d been wrong about that, too.

When Bailey, Luke and Dan left town, they’d believed the property would be sold by the bank to pay off the mortgages it secured. They’d been shocked to discover that Rob and Lauren Stockton had insurance that satisfied the debts upon their deaths—and even more so to discover that their maternal grandfather had kept up with the property taxes over the years. And while they would all have gladly given up the farm to have their parents back, they were now determined to hold on to the land that was their legacy.

Of course, holding on to the land required a lot of work—and his brothers had started with the barn, because that was the venue where Dan and Annie had promised to love, honor and cherish one another.

The simple but heartfelt ceremony Bailey had witnessed was very different from the formal church service and elaborate ballroom reception that had marked his own wedding day, but he was confident now that his brother’s marriage was destined for a happier fate.

On the day Dan and Annie exchanged their vows, though, Bailey had been much less optimistic about their prospects. Still smarting from the failure of his own union, he’d felt compelled to caution another brother when he saw the stars in Luke’s eyes as he’d looked at his date.

Luke and Eva had gone their separate ways for a short while after that. Bailey didn’t know if his advice had played a part in that temporary breakup, but he was glad that his brother and new sister-in-law had found their way back to one another. Luke and Eva had gotten engaged last New Year’s Eve and married seven months later.

In addition to being committed to one another, they were committed to using Sunshine Farm to spread happiness to others. In fact, Eva’s childhood friend Amy Wainwright had recently been reunited with her former—and future—husband, Derek Dalton, at the farm, resulting in the property gaining the nickname Lonelyhearts Ranch.

Bailey couldn’t deny that a lot of people were finding love in Rust Creek Falls, including four of his six siblings. But he had no illusions about happily-ever-after for himself. He’d already been there, done that and bought the T-shirt—then lost the T-shirt in his divorce.

But he was happy to help out with Presents for Patriots. He would even acknowledge that he enjoyed working with Brendan Tanner—because the retired marine didn’t try to get into his head or want to talk about his feelings, which was more than he could say about his siblings.

Bailey believed wholeheartedly in the work of Presents for Patriots. He had the greatest respect for the sacrifices made by enlisted men and women and was proud to participate in the community’s efforts to let the troops know they were valued and appreciated. Maybe sending Christmas gifts was a small thing, but at least it was something, and Bailey was pleased to be part of it.

He was less convinced of the value of this dinner and dance. Sure, it was a fund-raiser for a good cause, but Bailey suspected that most of the guests would be couples, and—as the only single one of his siblings currently living in Rust Creek Falls—he was already tired of feeling like a third wheel.

Not that he wanted to change his status. No, he’d learned the hard way that he was better off on his own. No one to depend on and no one depending on him. But it was still awkward to be a single man in a social gathering that was primarily made up of couples.

He looked around the crowd gathered at Sawmill Station, hoping to see Serena in attendance. She’d said that she had a ticket for the event, but considering the abruptness with which she’d left the restaurant after lunch, he had to wonder if she’d changed her mind about coming.

Her plans shouldn’t matter to him. After all, he barely knew her. But he couldn’t deny there was something about her—even when she was admonishing him for his admittedly inappropriate behavior—that appealed to him.

In fact, while she’d been scolding him, he’d had trouble understanding her words because his attention had been focused on the movements of her mouth. And he’d found himself wondering if those sweetly curved lips would stop moving if he covered them with his own—or if they’d respond with a matching passion.

Yeah, he barely knew the woman, but he knew that he wanted to kiss her—and that realization made him wary. It had been a lot of years since he’d felt such an immediate and instinctive attraction to a woman, and he would have happily lived out the rest of his days without experiencing that feeling again. Because he knew now that the euphoric feeling didn’t last—and when it was gone, his heart might suffer more dings and dents.

So it was probably for the best that she’d walked out of the diner before he’d had a chance to ask her to be his date tonight. Because while he wasn’t entirely comfortable being a single man surrounded by couples, at least he didn’t have to worry about the stirring of unexpected desires—and the even more dangerous yearnings of his heart.

Just when he’d managed to convince himself that was true, he turned away from the bar with a drink in hand and saw her. And his foolish heart actually skipped a beat.

The silky blond hair that had spilled over her shoulders when she’d removed the Mrs. Claus wig was gathered up on top of her head now. Not in a tight knot or a formal twist, but a messy—and very sexy—arrangement of curls. Several loose strands escaped the knot to frame her face.

She was wearing a dress. The color was richer and deeper than red, and the fabric clung to her mouthwatering curves. The skirt of the dress ended just above her knees, and she wore pointy-toed high-heeled shoes on her feet.

He took a few steps toward her and noticed that there were sparkles in her hair. Crystal snowflakes, he realized, as he drew nearer. She’d made up her face, too. Not that she needed any artificial enhancement, but the long lashes that surrounded her deep blue eyes were now thicker and darker, and her temptingly curved lips were slicked with pink gloss.

“You look... Wow,” he said, because he couldn’t find any other words that seemed adequate.

Her cheeks flushed prettily. “Back atcha.”

He knew his basic suit and bolero tie were nothing special, particularly in this crowd, but he smiled, grateful that she didn’t seem to be holding a grudge. “I wasn’t sure you were going to come.”

“Neither was I,” she admitted.

“I’m glad you did,” he told her. “And I hope you brought your checkbook—there’s a lot of great stuff on the auction table.”

“As soon as I figure out where I’m sitting for dinner, I’ll take a look,” she promised.

“You can sit with me,” he invited.

“I think I’m supposed to be at Dr. Smith’s table.”

He shook his head. “There are no assigned tables.”

She looked toward the dining area, where long wooden tables were set in rows on either side of the dance floor.

The decor was festive but simple. Of course, Brendan and Bailey had left all those details in the hands of the event planners, who had adorned the tables with evergreen branches and holly berries, with tea lights in clear glass bowls at the center of each grouping of four place settings. The result was both festive and rustic, perfect for the venue and the occasion.

“I’ve never been here before,” Serena confided. “But this place is fabulous. You and Brendan did a great job.”

Bailey immediately shook his head. “This was all Caroline Ruth and her crew. The only thing me and Brendan can take credit for is putting her in charge,” he said. “And picking the food.”

“What will we be eating tonight?” she asked.

He plucked a menu off a nearby table and read aloud: “Country biscuits with whipped butter, mixed greens with poached pears, candied walnuts and a honey vinaigrette, grilled hand-carved flat iron steak, red-skin mashed potatoes and blackened corn, with huckleberry pie or chocolate mousse for dessert.”

“And that’s why I had salad for lunch,” she told him.

He chuckled as he steered her toward the table where Luke and Eva were already seated, along with Brendan Tanner and his fiancée, Fiona O’Reilly, and Fiona’s sister Brenna and her husband, Travis Dalton.

Conversation during dinner covered many and various topics—Presents for Patriots, of course, including the upcoming gift-wrapping at the community center—but Brendan and Fiona’s recent engagement was also a subject of much interest and discussion.

“So how long have you and Serena been dating?” Brenna asked, as she dipped her spoon into her chocolate mousse.

Bailey looked up, startled by the question. “What?”

Serena paused with her wineglass halfway to her lips, obviously taken aback, as well.

“I asked how long you’ve been dating,” Brenna repeated.

“They’re not dating,” Eva responded to the question first. “But they’re married.”

“Really?” Brenna sounded delighted and intrigued by this revelation.

“Not really,” Serena said firmly.

“I don’t know.” Eva spoke up again, winking at Bailey and Serena to let them know she was teasing. “There were a lot of people at the community center today who believe you are.”

Serena rolled her eyes. “Only because we were dressed up as Santa and Mrs. Claus.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a little role-playing to spice things up in the bedroom,” Brenna asserted.

Serena shook her head, her cheeks redder than the dress she’d worn during their role-playing that afternoon. “I should have stayed home tonight.”

“I’m just teasing you,” Brenna said, immediately contrite. “Although Travis and I fell in love for real while we were only pretending to be engaged.”

“I cheered for both of you on The Great Roundup,” Serena admitted.

“Then you saw me win the grand prize,” Travis chimed in.

Bailey frowned. Though reality shows weren’t his thing, it would have been impossible to be in Rust Creek Falls the previous year and not follow the events that played out when two local residents were vying for the big money on the television show. “It was Brenna who won the million dollars.”

“That’s true,” Travis confirmed, sliding an arm across his wife’s shoulders and drawing her into his embrace. “But I won Brenna.”

She smiled up at him. “And I won you.”

“And I need some air,” Bailey decided.

“Me, too,” Serena said, pushing back her chair.

They exited the main reception area but didn’t venture much farther than that. Leaving the building would require collecting their coats and bundling up against the frigid Montana night.

“They don’t mean to be obnoxious,” Bailey said when he and Serena were alone. “At least, I don’t think they do.”

She laughed softly. “I didn’t think they were obnoxious. I thought they were adorable.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, I watched The Great Roundup, but you never know how much of those reality shows is real, how much is staged, how much is selectively edited. It’s nice to see that they truly are head over heels in love with one another.”

“For now,” Bailey remarked.

Serena frowned. “You don’t think they’ll last?”

He shrugged. “I don’t think the odds are in their favor.”

“Love isn’t about odds,” she said. “It’s a leap of faith.”

“A leap that frequently ends with one or both parties hitting the ground with a splat.”

“Spoken like someone who has some experience with the splat,” she noted.

He nodded. “Because I do.”

“Of course, most people don’t make it through life without a few bumps and bruises.”

“Bumps and bruises usually heal pretty easily,” he said.

Bailey’s matter-of-fact statement told Serena that the heartbreak he’d experienced had left some pretty significant scars. She also suspected that the romance gone wrong had reopened wounds caused by the loss of his parents and the separation from his family when he was barely more than a teenager.

“Usually,” she agreed.

“I’m sorry,” he said, after another moment had passed.

The spontaneous and unexpected apology surprised her. “Why are you sorry?”

“Because I obviously said something that upset you at lunch today.”

“I can be overly sensitive at times,” she admitted.

“Does that mean I’m forgiven?” he asked hopefully.

She nodded. “You’re forgiven.”

“That’s a relief,” he told her. “We wouldn’t want the kids of Rust Creek Falls Elementary School to worry about any obvious tension between Santa and Mrs. Claus.”

“I’m not sure they care about Santa’s marital status so long as he delivers their presents on Christmas Eve.”

“Which he wouldn’t be able to do if the missus got possession of the sleigh and custody of the reindeer in the divorce,” Bailey pointed out.

“Then he better do everything he can to keep her happy,” she suggested.

“If Santa had a secret formula for keeping a woman happy, it would top every man’s Christmas list,” he said.

“Ha ha.”

“I’m not joking,” he assured her. “But in the interests of keeping you happy, can I buy you a drink?”

“No, thanks. I had a glass of wine with dinner and that’s my limit.”

“One glass?”

She nodded.

“Okay, how about a dance?”

“The words sound like an invitation,” she remarked. “But the tone suggests that you’re hoping the offer will be declined.”

“Maybe, for your sake, I’m hoping it will,” he said. “Because I’m not a very good dancer.”

“Then why did you ask?”

He shrugged. “Because it might seem like everyone else is paired off, but I have noticed that there are a few single guys in attendance and I know they’re just waiting for me to turn my back for a second so they can move in on you.”

“Should I be flattered? Or should I get out my pepper spray?”

“Maybe you should just dance with me,” he suggested.

So Serena took the hand he proffered and let him lead her to the dance floor. But the minute he took her in his arms, she knew that her acquiescence had been a mistake. Being close to him, she felt those unwanted feelings stir again.

She’d had a few boyfriends in her twenty-five years, and even a couple of lovers, but she’d never really been in love. And though she didn’t know much about Bailey, the intensity of the attraction she felt for him warned her that he might be the man she finally and completely fell for.

But she also knew that he didn’t want to be that man, and his brief and blunt comments about his marriage gone wrong should serve as a warning to her. Which was too bad, because she really liked being in his arms. And notwithstanding his claim that he wasn’t a good dancer, he moved well.

As the last notes of the song trailed away, she tipped her head back to look at him.

The heels she wore added three inches to her height, so that if he lowered his head just a little, his mouth would brush against hers.

She really wanted him to kiss her.

But they were barely more than strangers and in a very public setting. And yet, in that moment, everyone and everything else faded into the background so that there was only the two of them.

Then he did tip his head, so that his mouth hovered a fraction of an inch above hers. And she held her breath, waiting...

A guitar riff blasted through the air—an abrupt change of tempo for the couples on the dance floor—and the moment was lost.

Serena stepped back. “I—I’m going to check out the auction items.”

So Bailey returned to the table without her.

“Watching you and Serena on the dance floor, I could see why Brenna thought that you guys were together,” Luke commented.

“Why were you watching us instead of dancing with your wife?” Bailey asked his brother.

“Because I was working at Daisy’s at 4:00 a.m.,” Eva responded to the question. “And my feet are very happy to not be dancing right now. But he’s right,” she continued. “You and Serena look good together.”

“Except that we’re not together,” he reminded his brother and sister-in-law.

They exchanged a glance.

“Denial,” Eva said.

Luke nodded.

“Look, it’s great that the two of you found one another and happiness together, but not everyone else in the world wants the same thing,” Bailey told them.

“You mean they’re not ready to admit that they want the same thing,” Eva said.

Bailey just shook his head.

“A year ago, I was a skeptic, too,” Luke said. “And then I met Eva.”

The smile she gave her husband was filled with love and affection. And maybe it did warm Bailey’s heart to see Luke and Eva so happy. And Danny and Annie. And Jamie and Fallon. And his sister Bella and Hudson. And maybe he was just the tiniest bit envious.

But only the tiniest bit—not nearly enough to be willing to risk putting his own heart on the line again.

Thankfully, he was saved from responding by the sound of—

“Is that dogs barking the tune of ‘Jingle Bells’?” Eva asked.

“That’s gotta be Serena’s phone,” Bailey noted.

Luke picked it up from the table, his brows lifting when he looked at the case. Then he turned it around so Eva and Bailey could see the image of a bulldog wearing a Santa hat.

Bailey wasn’t going to judge her for loving Christmas as much as she loved her dog, especially when the call had provided a timely interruption to an increasingly awkward conversation. He took the phone from his brother and went to find Serena.

“This would send Marvin into a frenzy of joy,” she told him, gesturing with the pen in her hand to a Canine Christmas basket filled with toys and treats that had been donated by Brooks Smith and his wife, Jazzy.

Bailey glanced at the bid sheet. “Looks like there’s already a bidding war between Paige Traub and Lissa Christensen.”

“And now me, too,” she said, as she scrawled her offer on the page.

He lifted his brows at the number she’d written. “You doubled the last bid.”

“It’s for a good cause,” she reminded him.

“So it is,” he agreed.

“Is there anything here that’s caught your eye?” she asked.

He knew she was referring to the auction table, but the truth was, he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her since she’d arrived.

“I’m still looking,” he told her. But as he’d very recently reminded his brother and sister-in-law, he wasn’t looking for happily-ever-after.

“There’s a lot to look at,” she said. “Everything from kids’ toys and knitted baskets to a weekend getaway at Maverick Manor.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, the bids on that are already out of my price range.”

And yet she was willing to overpay for some dog toys to support a good cause and make Marvin happy.

“Is this Marvin?” he asked, holding up her phone.

She smiled. “No, it’s a stock photo, but I bought the case because it looks a lot like him.”

“Well, you might want to check your messages,” he said. “Because you missed a call.”

Serena finished writing her contact information on the bid sheet, then took her phone from him. “I can’t imagine who might be calling me. Almost everyone I know is here tonight,” she told him, as she unlocked the screen with her thumbprint.

He was surprised to see her expression change as she scanned the message. The light in her eyes dimmed, her lips thinned. She texted a quick response, then said, “I have to go.”

“Now? Why?”

“My mom’s at the Ace in the Hole.”

“And?”

She just shook her head. “Long story.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked.

She seemed surprised that he would offer. “No,” she said, but softened the rejection with a smile. “I appreciate the offer, but it’s not necessary.”

He took her phone from her again, then added his name and number to her list of contacts. “Just in case you change your mind.”

“Thanks,” she said, and even managed another smile. But he could tell that her mind was already at the bar and grill down the street—and whatever trouble he suspected was waiting for her there.

Chapter Four

Serena found a vacant spot in the crowded lot outside the Ace in the Hole and shifted into Park. She pocketed the keys as she exited her vehicle, the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach increasing with every step she took closer to the oversize ace of hearts playing card that blinked in neon red over the front door. She could hear the music from the jukebox inside as she climbed the two rough-hewn wooden steps. The price of beer was subject to regular increases, but the ancient Wurlitzer still played three songs for a quarter.

There were a few cowboys hanging around outside, cigarettes dangling from their fingers or pursed between their lips. She held her breath as she walked through their cloud of smoke and ignored the whistles and crude remarks tossed in her direction as she reached for the handle of the old screen door with its rusty hinges.

Once inside, her gaze immediately went to the bar that ran the length of one wall with stools lined up along it. Booths hugged the other walls, with additional tables and chairs crowded around the perimeter of the dance floor.

She made a cursory scan of the bodies perched on the stools at the bar. The mirrored wall behind the rows of glass bottles allowed her to see their faces. She recognized many, but none belonged to her mother.

Rosey Traven, the owner of the Ace, was pouring drinks behind the bar. Catching Serena’s eye, she tipped her head toward the back. Serena forced her reluctant feet to move in that direction.

She found her mother seated across from a man that Serena didn’t recognize. A friend? A date? A stranger?

Amanda Langley mostly kept to herself. For the past couple of years, she’d worked as an admin assistant at the mill, but outside of her job, she didn’t have a lot of friends. And as far as Serena knew, she didn’t date much, either.

She was an attractive woman, with the same blond hair and blue eyes as her daughter, but a more boyish figure and a raspy voice courtesy of a fifteen-year pack-a-day habit that she’d finally managed to kick a few years earlier.

The man seated across from her wasn’t bad looking, either. He had broad shoulders, a shaven—or maybe bald—head, and a beard and moustache that were more salt than pepper.

Serena hesitated, trying to decide whether to advance or retreat, when her mother glanced up and saw her. Amanda looked surprised at first—and maybe a little guilty? Then she smiled and beckoned her daughter over.