A Cold Creek Noel (The Cowboys of Cold Creek) (3 page)

“Anyway, your housekeeper mentioned you might be looking for a
place. I, uh, immediately thought of the foreman’s cottage on our ranch.
Nobody’s using it right now, though I do try to stop in once a week or so to
keep the dust down. Like I said, it’s not much.”

“We could manage. Are you certain?”

“I’ll have to ask my brother first. Though all four of us share
ownership of the ranch, Ridge is really the one in charge. I don’t think he’ll
say no, though. Why would he?”

He didn’t understand this woman. He had been extraordinarily
rude to her, yet she was offering to help solve all his domestic problems in one
fell swoop.

“I’m astonished, Ms. Bowman. Er, Caidy. Why would you make such
an offer to a complete stranger?”

“You saved my dog,” she said simply. “Besides that, I liked
Mrs. Michaels and I gather she’s had enough of hotel living. And how will St.
Nick find your children in a hotel, as lovely as the Cold Creek Inn might be
these days? They should have a proper house for the holidays, where they can
play.”

“I agree. That was the plan all along, but circumstances
haven’t exactly cooperated.”

He had planned to spend the entire next day looking around for
somewhere that better met their needs. He never expected the answer would fall
right in his lap. A less cynical man might even call it a Christmas miracle.

“I still have to talk to Ridge. I can let you know his answer
in the morning when I come to check on Luke.”

“Thank you.”

She gave him a hesitant smile just as the moonlight shifted.
The light combined with her smile managed to transform her features from pretty
to extraordinarily beautiful.

“Good night. Thank you again for your hard work.”

“You’re welcome.”

He watched her drive away, her headlights cutting through the
darkness. When he had agreed to buy James Harris’s practice, he had been seeking
a quiet, easy community to raise his family, a place where they could settle in
and become part of things.

Pine Gulch had already provided a few more surprises than he
expected—and he suddenly suspected Caidy Bowman might be one more.

Chapter Three

“Y
ou say the new vet only needs a place to
stay for a few weeks?”

Caidy nodded at her oldest brother, who stood at the sink
loading his and Destry’s supper dishes into the dishwasher. “That’s my
understanding. He’s building a new house on Cold Creek Road. I’m guessing it’s
in that new development near Taft’s place. Apparently, it was supposed to be
finished before he took the job, but it’s behind schedule. Now it won’t be ready
until after Christmas.”

“That’s a nice area. Heck of a view. I imagine his house is
probably a good sight better than our foreman’s cottage.”

“They’re at the inn now. I got the impression the children and
the housekeeper might be going a little stir-crazy there.”

Ridge straightened and gave her a look she recognized well. It
was his patented
What were you thinking?
look. He
was ten years older than she was and she loved him dearly. He had stepped in
after their parents died and had raised her for the last few years of high
school and she would never be able to repay him for being her rock, even when
his own marriage was faltering. He was tough and hard on the outside and sweet
as could be underneath all the layers.

He still drove her crazy sometimes.

“You ever stop to think that Laura might not be too thrilled if
you go around finding other lodging arrangements for her paying guests?”

“I called her already and she was cool with it. I know it’s
lost business, but all I had to do was paint the mental picture of Alex and Maya
cooped up in a couple of hotel rooms for weeks on end—including through
Christmas—and she had complete sympathy for Dr. Caldwell and his housekeeper.
She thought it was a great idea.”

She didn’t bother telling her brother that Taft’s wife had also
dropped a couple of matchmaking hints a mile wide about how gorgeous the new vet
was. He was kind to animals and he loved his kids. What more did she need? Laura
had implied.

Ridge didn’t need to know that. Much as she loved both of her
sisters-in-law and considered Laura and Becca perfect for each respective twin,
she didn’t need her brothers joining in and trying to look around for
prospective partners for her. The very idea of what they might come up with gave
her chills.

After one of his long, thoughtful pauses, Ridge finally nodded.
“Can’t see any harm in Dr. Caldwell and his family moving in for a few weeks.
The house is only sitting there empty. I can run the tractor down the lane to
make sure it’s cleared up for them. It might need the cobwebs swept and a little
airing out.”

“I’ll take care of everything tomorrow after I check on
Luke.”

So it was settled, then. She had to fight the urge to give a
giant, cartoon-style gulp. What had she just gotten herself into? She didn’t
want the man here.

Okay, he had been a little less like a jackass toward the end
of her visit to the clinic with Luke, but that didn’t mean she was obligated to
invite him to move in down the road, for Pete’s sake.

She still wasn’t quite sure what had motivated her offer. Maybe
that little spark of compassion in his blue eyes when he had tended to Luke with
that surprising gentleness. Or maybe it was simply that she couldn’t resist his
cute son’s charm.

Whatever the reason, they would only be there a few weeks. She
likely wouldn’t even see the man, especially as it appeared he spent most of his
time at the veterinary clinic. And she could be comfortable knowing she had done
her good deed for the day. Wasn’t Christmas the perfect time for a little
welcoming generosity?

“What did you think of his doctoring?” Ridge asked.

She thought of Luke and his carefully bandaged injuries. “He’s
not Doc Harris but I suppose he’ll do.”

Ridge chuckled. “You’ll never think anybody is as good as Doc
Harris. The two of you have taken care of a lot of animals together.”

She had loved working at the vet clinic when she was in high
school. It was just about the only thing that had kept her going after her
parents died, those quiet moments when she would be holding a sick or injured
animal and feeling some measure of peace.

“He’s a good man. Dr. Caldwell has some pretty big boots to
fill,” she answered.

“From rumors I’ve been hearing around town, he’s doing a good
job of it so far.”

She didn’t want to talk about the veterinarian anymore. It was
bad enough she couldn’t seem to think about anything else since she had left the
clinic.

“What were you saying to Destry after I started clearing the
dishes? I heard something about the wagon,” Caidy said.

He glanced through the open doorway into the dining room, where
Destry was bent over the table working on a homework assignment about holiday
traditions in Europe.

“Des asked me if she could invite Gabi and a couple of their
other friends over for a wagon ride Sunday night. She suggested caroling to the
neighbors.”

She never should have shared with Destry her memories of doing
that very thing with their parents when she and the boys were young. “What did
you tell her?”

He didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to. She could tell by his
expression that he had given in. Ridge might be a hard man when it came to their
cattle and the ranch, but when it came to his daughter he was soft as new
taffy.

“You’re a good father, Ridge.”

“She loves Christmas,” he finally said. “What can I do?”

The rest of them weren’t quite as fond of the holidays as Des
but they put on a good show for her sake. Since their parents’ murders just a
few days before Christmas eleven years ago, the holidays seemed to dredge up
difficult emotions.

Becca and Laura had worked some kind of sparkly holiday magic
over Trace and Taft. This year the twins seemed to be more into the spirit of
Christmas than she’d ever seen them. They had both volunteered to cut trees for
everyone. They had even gone a little overboard, cutting a few extras for
neighbors and friends.

She and Ridge didn’t share their enthusiasm, though they both
went through the motions every year. Caidy even had all her Christmas presents
wrapped and the actual holiday was still more than a week away. No more
last-minute panics for her this year.

“What time are they coming?”

“I told her to make arrangements for about seven. I figured we
would be done with Sunday dinner by then.”

Though Taft and Trace both lived closer to town, her brothers
usually brought their families out to the ranch every week. With the hectic pace
of their lives protecting and serving the good people of Pine Gulch, it was
sometimes the only chance she had to see them all week.

“I’ll throw some cookies in just before they get here so they
can have something warm in their little bellies before they go. And I’ll make
hot chocolate for the ride, of course.”

“Thanks. Destry will appreciate that, I’m sure.” He finished
wiping down the countertop and set the cloth on the sink’s edge. “You won’t
consider coming with us?”

By his solemn expression, she knew he was aware just what he
asked of her. “I don’t think so.”

“You would really send me off on my own with five or six giggly
girls?”

“You can take one of the dogs with you,” she offered with a
grin.

He made a face but quickly grew serious again. “It’s been
eleven years, Caidy. Taft and Trace have moved on and both have families. Of all
of us, you deserve to do the same. I wish you could find a little Christmas joy
again.”

“I find plenty of joy the rest of the year. Just not so much in
December.”

His mouth tightened, his eyes darkening with familiar sadness.
Each of them had struggled in different ways after their parents’ deaths. Ridge
had become more stoic and controlled, Taft had gone a little crazy dating all
the wild women at the tavern in town and Trace had become a dedicated
lawman.

And she was still hiding away here at the River Bow.

“You need to move on,” her brother said. “Maybe it’s time you
think about trying school again.”

“Maybe.” She gave a noncommittal answer, too tired to fight
with him right now after the ordeal of Luke’s injury and the hours spent in the
waiting room of the veterinary clinic. “Hey, thanks again for letting the vet
stay in the foreman’s cottage. It shouldn’t be longer than a few weeks.”

Ridge wasn’t fooled for a moment. He knew she was trying to
change the subject. For once he didn’t try to call her on it.

“Just think. For a few weeks anyway we’ll have our own
veterinarian-in-residence. With your menagerie, that should come in pretty
handy.”

She made a face. Given her unwilling reaction to the man, she
would rather not have need of his professional services again anytime soon.

* * *

A good four inches of snow fell during the night. It
clung to the trees and bowed down the branches, turning the town into an
enchanting winter wonderland, especially with the craggy mountains looming in
the distance.

Added to the few inches that had fallen the previous evening,
that should be plenty for Destry to have a great time with her friends on the
sleigh ride the next night, Caidy thought as she drove through the quiet
stillness of the unplowed roads on her way to the clinic the next morning.

It wasn’t yet seven. She hadn’t slept well, her dreams a
troubled, tangled mess. With worry for Luke uppermost in her mind, she had risen
early and finished her chores. Ridge could take care of breakfast for him and
Destry when he finished his own chores. Saturday morning pancakes were his
specialty.

Even with her restless sleep, she could appreciate the beauty
of the morning. Colorful Christmas trees gleamed in the windows of a few houses,
and she liked to imagine the children there rushing to plug in the lights the
moment they woke up so they could enjoy the display before the sun was fully
up.

When she reached Dr. Caldwell’s office, she wasn’t particularly
surprised to see the parking lot hadn’t been plowed yet. Like many of the small
businesses in Pine Gulch, he probably paid a service to take care of that for
him and the plows hadn’t made it here yet.

With four-wheel drive and high clearance, her truck had no
problem navigating through the snow. Mindful of helping the plow work around her
vehicle, she parked at the edge of the lot, next to a snow-covered Range Rover
she assumed must belong to Ben.

As she headed for the building, she worried she might be waking
him after a long night of watching over Luke. The sidewalks had been cleared,
though. Unless he paid someone else to take care of that chore, she guessed Ben
had taken care of the shoveling himself.

She wasn’t surprised to find the front door locked. When Doc
Harris was here, she never had to bother with the front door; she could use the
side entrance she had used the night before.

Likely that’s where she would find Ben Caldwell. She trudged
through the snow, enjoying the brisk cold and the scent of snowy pine. A couple
hard raps on the door elicited no response. She checked the door and the knob
turned easily in her hand.

After a quick internal debate, she turned the knob and stepped
inside. She opened her mouth to call out a greeting but the words vanished
somewhere in the vicinity of her tongue—along with any remaining air in her
lungs—at the sight of the new veterinarian coming out of the locker room wearing
only jeans and toweling off his wet hair.

That dramatic cartoon gulp sounded in her head again. Wow.
Double wow. With ice cream on top.

His chest was broad and well-defined with solid muscle and a
little line of hair arrowed down to disappear in the waistband of his Levi’s,
where he hadn’t yet fastened the top button.

Awareness bloomed inside her, as bright and vivid as the always
unexpected crocuses that popped up through the snow along the fenceline of the
River Bow every spring.

Her toes tingled and her heartbeat kicked up a notch and she
wanted to stand here for the next few years and just stare.

He continued toweling his hair, oblivious to her, biceps
flexing with the motion, and she completely forgot about the reason she had
come. Suddenly he dropped the towel and saw her standing there.

His pupils widened and for a long moment, he returned her
stare. Tension seethed between them, writhing and alive. Her insides trembled
and every thought in her head seemed scrambled and incoherent.

Finally he cleared his throat. “Oh. Hi. I didn’t hear you come
in.”

“Sorry.” Her voice sounded raspy and she quickly cleared it,
mortified that he had caught her gaping at him like Destry and her friends at a
Justin Bieber concert. “I knocked and was just checking the door and it opened
and...there you were.”

Could she sound any more stupid? Good grief. She wanted to
slink away through the door and bury her face in a pile of snow somewhere.
Anybody might think she’d never seen a gorgeous, half-naked man before.

“I just... I can go and come back, uh, later.”

“Why?” He grabbed a clean scrub top and she couldn’t seem to
look away as he pulled it over that delicious chest, her gaze fixed on the
disappearance of that little strip of hair trailing down his abdomen.

Despite his towel job, his hair was still wet and sticking up
in spikes. He made an effort to smooth it down but only ended up making it look
more tousled and sexy.

She wanted to gulp again, feeling very much like some
ridiculous maiden aunt.

Which she was.

“I shouldn’t have come so early. I was just...concerned about
how you made it through the night.”

He shrugged, though she thought she noticed a little spark of
something
in the depths of his blue eyes. “Not
too badly. Luke slept most of the night. I imagine he’s going to be ready for a
walk around the yard soon.”