A CALLAHAN CHRISTMAS MIRACLE (2 page)

“Ah,” Dante said, “you’re trying not to get on his bad side by hiring Rose.” He nodded wisely, as if he understood the entire situation. Galen felt pretty much in the dark. “So, Galen, what do you think about the new girl?”

Galen cleared his throat, realizing his family had him pinned against the wall. If he let on that he did have a weakness for Rose, there would be incessant teasing and subtle ribbing. “I couldn’t care less who is hired on at Rancho Diablo.” He pondered his words for a moment. “Though I do admit I’m not certain about Somer Stevens....”

Everyone said, “Ah!”

He sighed. “I guess I couldn’t convince you that there’s just something about her that puts me off. It’s not personal.” He glared around the room at all the smiling faces. “Never mind. I don’t care who gets hired. Can we get on to planning how to beef up security?”

They moved on with the meeting, shooting him a few knowing looks, sizing up his mood in a way that family does when they know you’ve got something on your mind. His family did know him—very well—but on the matter of his heart, Galen preferred to remain an enigma.

Then he could romance Rose without his family observing every single move he made, the way they had with his brothers when they were courting. Of course, Galen did the same thing to them, which was why he had no desire to have the matchmaking tongs applied to him. Once his family had you in their sights, the well-meaning interference never ended.

If Rose accepted the position, he’d begin to plan a different strategy, called Romancing the Nanny.

He didn’t want to be the Lone Ranger of Rancho Diablo for the rest of his life.

“What are you grinning about, bro?” Tighe asked, and Galen shook himself from his daydream of Rose’s delightful curves and big smile. “Look like you had something sweet on your mind.”

“Just wondering how you dolts ever ended up with women. Proceed.” He waved a hand imperiously. “Let’s hear all your plans for securing this ranch, especially if that fire over there was set by our renegade uncle, Wolf. Because if it can happen across the canyons, it most certainly can happen at Rancho Diablo. And I refuse to allow the work of our father and Uncle Jeremiah to go up in smoke.”

Chapter Two

Rose knew immediately she was going to like living at Rancho Diablo, and it wasn’t just because of the long-term crush she’d had on Galen Callahan. He was just about the biggest hunk of delicious cowboy she’d ever seen. Tall, strong, with dark hair tumbling over his forehead and down the back of his neck—she got shivers just thinking about him.

She’d tried desperately to win him at the ball year before last, but Sawyer Cash had outbid everyone else. Rose figured Sawyer had needed a job really bad if she’d tried to grease the skids with winning bids.

Or maybe she’d just wanted a man. Rose thought about that. She could definitely see Sawyer Cash trying to catch a cowboy that way, by appealing to his ego.

Ego was something the Callahans didn’t lack, for sure.

Fiona bustled into the kitchen. “You’re hired!”

Rose smiled. “Thank you!”

“Now, when can you start?” Fiona pulled out a workbook and began inputting information.

“I can start as soon as you need me.” Rose knew her father wouldn’t be thrilled that she was taking this job—he said the Callahans were surrounded by danger and he didn’t want his little girl around them—but she needed work, and this was perfect for what she liked to do best.

“That would be today,” Fiona said. “We always need help, and we know you’re hardworking and that we can trust you. I’ll show you your room.”

She followed Fiona up the stairs, amazed by the size and beauty of Rancho Diablo as they passed a large window. The working ranch was almost like a museum, but every building was styled by a decorator with an eye to classic comfort. “Your home is beautiful, Fiona.”

“Your home, now, too.” The older woman opened a door, revealing a spacious bedroom decorated in blue and white, with toile curtains. “If this suits you, this will be home sweet home. I picked this room because it’s far enough from all the others that you can have some peace and quiet.”

Rose wondered where Galen’s room was. “This is perfect,” she said. She gazed at the white crocheted duvet on the bed, and immediately wanted to sit at the pretty vanity and enjoy the beauty of the room. “Thank you, Fiona.”

“No. Thank
you,
” Galen said, as he stepped past them in the hall, continuing on to another room. He grinned back their way, then went inside, closing the door.

Rose blinked. If that was Galen’s room, then they were less than twenty feet apart. She realized Fiona was watching her reaction, and Rose hurriedly said, “I’ll drive to Tempest and get my things, then be back tonight, if that’s all right.”

“Fine, fine.” Fiona beamed. “There’s just one thing I should mention before you formally accept the job. And we’ll all understand if you decide not to work here.”

Rose wasn’t about to turn away from this employment, not when it was everything she wanted, including having a big, handsome cowboy sleeping just feet away from her. “What is that?”

“We do ask, especially for the sake of the children, that you never go near the canyons, and that you never ride without an escort.” Fiona looked sad about her words. “It’s just the way it has to be for the sake of liability and the protection of our employees.”

“That’s fine,” Rose said. “I completely understand.”

The older woman beamed. “That’s it, then. I’ll let Jace go over the paperwork with you. Mealtimes are posted in the kitchen, as is what’s being served.”

Rose glanced one last time at the door Galen had passed through. All the Callahans had been rumored to be hard to tame—but once tamed, they made wonderful husbands and fathers.

If any man needed taming, it was Galen Callahan.

* * *

R
OSE
’
S
EYES
SNAPPED
OPEN
in the night and she pulled the crocheted duvet up to her throat, telling herself she was nervous for no reason. She’d gone home and retrieved her things, and her father had sent her off full of dire warnings: Don’t go anyplace by yourself, and don’t let any of the Callahan men turn your head. They were rascals and scoundrels, and loved women like bees loved honey.

Her dad had no idea how much the thought of a rascal Callahan appealed to her. But the other warnings had scared her a bit. She’d heard tales of the danger that circled Rancho Diablo.

The door eased open, and she held her breath.

“Knock, knock,” she heard a man’s voice say softly.

“Yes?” At least it was a friendly visitor.

“It’s Jace. Got a second?”

Rose wondered if this was a Callahan ritual. “Do you always make nocturnal visits?”

“Sometimes. Depends. She’s in here, Galen. She says we can come in.”

She hadn’t said anything of the sort, but since Galen was around, Rose pushed herself eagerly to a sitting position. “What’s going on?” she asked, flipping on the tiny lamp on her nightstand. “Oh, my goodness! What did you do to yourself?”

Both men were covered in mud from head to toe.

“Don’t you dare get near my bed!” The pretty white coverlet wouldn’t stand mud on it—she’d never get it out. “Step on that rug, and don’t either of you move!” She hopped out of bed and pulled a robe from her closet, putting it on over her smiley-face pajamas.

Galen grinned at her. “Cute.”

“Thanks.” She wished she was wearing something sexier than the pajamas she’d had for the past two years, but she hadn’t expected two handsome cowboys to visit her in her bedroom. “What have you been into?”

“We want you to come down to the canyons with us,” Galen said. “We need a small, delicate person like you to do something.”

Rose eyed the mud that covered their jeans and smudged their handsome faces. “You two are nothing but trouble, I can tell. It’s written all over you.”

“That’s what they say,” Jace said, and he looked so pleased about it that Rose wondered if either of these men could be tamed. She looked carefully at Galen.

“If I come with you, and I’m not saying I will, what is it that you want me to do? Because I don’t want to come back looking like you. I don’t think crawling around in canyons was in the employment contract I signed.”

“We’ll give you combat pay,” Jace said. “Fiona baked fresh chocolate chip cookies tonight. You’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven.”

“I bet. Occasionally, my dad sends me to Diablo to the Books’n’Bingo Society tearoom for cookies. We have a bakery in Tempest, but Dad likes what your aunt and her friends make better.” Their cookies were lures, and the Callahans had other lures, too. Her gaze longingly touched on Galen’s biceps, his broad chest, his lean hips in blue jeans.

Even caked in mud, he was so sexy she ached.

“So anyway,” Rose said, “I assume this outing is dress-down?”

“Something a little less bright than smiley faces,” Galen said cheerfully, and his brother glared at him.

“We’ll step out while you change,” Jace said, dragging him from the room.

Rose dressed quickly. Even though it was June, it could be cool in the canyons. She pulled on jeans she wouldn’t mind getting filthy, a dark sweatshirt that read
Dark Shadows,
boots and a dark hat.

Galen’s gaze widened when she joined them in the hall.

“I didn’t expect you to wait on me right outside my door.”

“Expediency,” Galen said. “We’re nothing if not expedient.
Dark Shadows?
”

She closed her door. “Seemed appropriate. You do go to the movies on occasion, don’t you?”

“No, he doesn’t go to the movies. He barely leaves this ranch. Galen is our resident nerd. Brother, it was also a black-and-white TV show many, many moons ago.” Jace waved them down the stairs. She followed, and Galen brought up the rear.

“I’m not a nerd,” he said, his deep voice husky. “I’m busy. And we didn’t have televisions in the tribe. Not back then. I missed the good days of black-and-white TV.”

“Don’t mind him,” Jace said, leading them through the kitchen. He slid all the cookies off the plate Fiona had put out and into a bag, and left the empty dish on the counter. “He’s harmless. Some of us had the opportunity to watch television shows, but Galen was always studying.”

They went out the kitchen door and headed to a truck. Rose was thrilled to be in on a Callahan caper. Their adventures were legendary; people spoke of their stories in reverent tones. Despite her father’s warnings, she wouldn’t have missed this for the world.

The brothers sandwiched her between them in the front seat, and she enjoyed the feeling of having a strong man seated on either side of her. “So what am I supposed to do?”

“We’re going to lower you into a cave,” Galen said. “We want you to tell us what’s down there.”

Bats and snakes, no doubt. “A cave?”

“Yeah. We’ve both tried, but we’re too big to get inside, with only one of us to pull the other out.” Galen winked. “We can lower you in and pull you out so fast it’ll feel like you’re on a carnival ride.”

“Pretty sure she’ll feel more like she’s a puppet,” Jace said. “With you being the puppeteer. Hope you’re a better puppeteer than you are a TV trivia expert.”

“I...” She wasn’t about to refuse, not when Galen’s blue eyes were smiling at her as if they shared a secret. He really was the most handsome man she’d ever seen.

“We looked for our sister,” Jace groused, “but Ash can never be found when she’s needed.”

“Maybe she doesn’t want to be put in a cave,” Rose said.

“When Ash can’t be found, it’s because she’s tracking Xav down.” Galen sighed. “Anyway, you’re thinner.”

“More petite,” Jace said, “like a boy.”

Rose gasped. “I’m nothing like a boy, thank you!”

“I didn’t mean that, exactly,” Jace said hurriedly, and Galen laughed.

“You’re beautiful,” he said. “And my brother’s a dunce. Don’t listen to a word he says. He has zero idea how to talk to a woman. Anyone on the ranch will tell you so.”

Rose felt a bit better, and her spirits lifted. Galen thought she was beautiful! That had to be a good sign—even if he did want to lower her into a dark cave on her first night at Rancho Diablo.

* * *

G
ALEN
COULDN
’
T
BELIEVE
he’d talked the tiny blonde into a midnight adventure. His good fortune kept improving. And she felt so soft and dainty next to him. When he’d seen her in those silly happy face pajamas, his body had been hit with a lightning strike of sexual attraction. Desire, fierce and strong, had poured over him, stopping his breath.

The truck hit a rut and they all bounced. Rose flew into his side, and a breast brushed his arm, which he gallantly tried to ignore. “Whoa,” he said, “you all right?”

“I’m fine.” She smiled at him before quickly looking back out the window.

“Jace isn’t our best driver. He gets behind a steering wheel and thinks he’s at Daytona.” Galen didn’t want Rose to feel awkward about the accidental closeness they’d just shared—but his mind went right back to the tempting touch he’d just received courtesy of his brother’s terrible driving.

He was so glad Jace was driving.

“Not true,” Jace said. “In defense of myself, I’m such a good driver, I could teach driver’s education.”

Rose smiled. “I’m sure you could, Jace.”

A fire smoldered inside Galen, lit when he’d felt Rose’s breast against his arm. What he wouldn’t give to make that accidental touch the real thing. “Here’s the turn, Jace.”

He eyed the canyons, which were steeped in darkness. Somewhere out there, no doubt, their uncle Wolf’s henchmen lurked. No one knew yet how the fire had started, but according to the sheriff, the quaint, solitary farmhouse on the neighboring land had burned to the ground. Fortunately, the foreman hadn’t been home. Hadn’t lived on the property, except for weekends, after he’d sold out to Storm Cash.

“This isn’t Rancho Diablo, is it?” Rose asked.

“No,” Galen said. “This is Rancho Not.”

“Rancho Not?”

“What my ham-headed brother means,” Jace said, “is that we’re trespassing.”

Rose glanced at Galen. “Why?”

“Because we’re spying,” he said simply. “Actually, we’re not even spying. We’re gathering intel.”

“Spying,” Rose said. “You think your uncle Wolf has planted something in the cave we’re going to.”

“Not just another pretty face,” Jace said. “You see, Galen, I told you she had brains as well as beauty. You said Rose was a looker, and I said she was also a brain.”

“You were focused on my superficialities and not my intelligence?” Rose asked Galen.

“That’s about the size of it,” Jace said, happy to have him land in hot water with a huge splash. “This is the spot. Let me help you out, dollface.”

Galen glowered at his brother, who ignored his obvious discomfort with his flirting. “Dollface” took Jace’s hand, and he helped her from the truck, leaving Galen with no option except to get out and tag along behind them with a Maglite and a case of unexpected jealousy.

He had no reason to feel jealous. He barely knew Rose, and Jace was a boob of epic proportion. Rose would never be interested in his wild-eyed brother.
And anyway, I have no place in my life for a girlfriend. Even one as sexy as Rose.

“Galen, tie the rope around Rose. I’ll check for snakes and bats, one last time.”

She let out an involuntary squeal. Galen grinned as he wrapped the rope around her tiny waist. “Don’t listen to him. He just likes to hear you squeak.”

“Well, I will, and loudly if there’s anything down there with two eyes!” Rose watched with trepidation as Jace shone his own Maglite into the crevice. “How did you ever find this cave?”

“Our intel revealed that there’s a lot of activity around this location. Then we found this cave. We want to know what’s down there.” Galen pulled the rope taut, tugging her a little closer to him. She smelled good, a flowery scent that tantalized him. “I’ll be at the other end of this rope, and nothing will happen to you. If you want to come out, you just jerk it, and we’ll get you out faster than a genie out of a bottle.”

“You’d better,” Rose warned. “Or I’ll commandeer the bag of cookies and not give you a single one.”

“That’s my girl,” Jace said, “hit him where it hurts. Now down you go.”