The Christmas Gift 3

By Alias

e-mail: [email protected]

He never should have gone in there. It was bad enough the first time,

when she’d wound up in his arms, and it had been all he could do to

keep himself from kissing her, but this time was worse. This time he

had had to stand in that doorway and stay away from her and try to

forget how small her waist was, how light she was, how her eyes became

liquid gold when she got mad, and how beautiful it had made her look,

and how inviting her lips had been, barely—if even—a few inches from

his own. And what the hell had he been thinking going in there?

To make peace with her? What the hell did he care what she thought of

him or if the two of them were at war? He was getting paid to keep

Cates off the land, not to be nice to the boss’s daughter. Girl was

one damn fine cook though, even if she was to damn sassy and stubborn

for her own good. Not that a bit of sass was a bad thing, she just

had too much of it. Those thoughts were consuming him when he saw a

rider approaching.

He knew who the rider was long before Kyle Larabee’s face was clear.

The first words out of Kyle’s mouth were the very same ones he had

been expecting to hear since he had wired the older man three days ago.

"What the hell kinda trouble did you get yourself inta this time boy?"

Chris ignored the ‘boy’. He knew that no matter how old he got, and

no matter what happened between them, a part of Kyle would always see

Chris as the thirteen-year-old, half-dead, boy he had saved from a

stepfather's heavy hand and cruelty 16 years ago.

"What makes you think I’m in trouble?"

"Because I haven’t heard one word from you in eleven years, and three

days ago I got me a telegram in Culthers sayin’ that you wanted me to

haul my ass outta Ellie’s bed and come down to Rockley as fast as that

ol’ horse of mine could carry me. Add that ‘I’ll explain everything

when you get here.’ is the only information you offered…well, that

sounds like trouble to me." "So you came."

"Yup. So, again, what’s the trouble?" "Long story."

"Then make it short. You always were good at that." Only because you

taught me to, Chris just barely kept himself from saying. But he

wouldn’t say that. Couldn’t. Everything he knew about survival,

about living, he’d learned from Kyle Larabee. A part of that was to

spend as little time explaining as possible, so that you’d have more

time for the doing. But ‘thank you’, well, that was something he’d

never learned how to say. Almost as hard as ‘I’m sorry,’ and ‘I love

you,’ all of which, and more, he owed Kyle Larabee. Part of the

reason he’d parted ways with the older man. And so he just summed it

up as quickly as he could. "So you got Woods stashed in the boarding

house?"

"Yup. Lady who runs it was a friend of his wife’s, and doesn’t like

Cates. He can be here the second Cates tries to start something, and

Cates thinks that all the ranch has now in the way of defense is a

coupla hired guns who’ll be too busy everywhere else on this place to

protect the girl." "Sure, he can come—if’n you can get word to him."

"You sayin’ it was a bad call?"

"Nope. Probably the best call you coulda made. What made you take

the job?"

Chris muttered something under his breath. "What was that?"

"Said it was the man’s damn fool daughter." "Oh?"

"Girl’s gonna get herself killed or married off to Cates. Refuses to

leave, even though she knows Cates wants her as part of the deal if he

can manage it, and he probably can." Kyle held back his grin, but

Chris still saw the amused twinkle in his eye. "What?"

"Sounds to me as if you like this girl."

Chris snorted. ""You’ve been drinking to much rot gut." "If you say

so."

"I say so. You stayin’ or not?" "Staying. This could be fun."