Santa in a Stetson Page 17

  A car had pulled up in the drive, covered in snow. Hardly able to breathe, he jumped out and rushed around to the back door of the house.

  “Kathryn?” He charged into the kitchen.

  “I’ve been wondering how long it would take you.”

  Colt swung around. She was sitting on the counter in a Christmas-red skirt and sweater. Her gorgeous, nylon-clad legs were crossed at the knee. The transformation from Santa back to flesh-and-blood woman wearing high heels left his senses reeling.

  “When it seemed like you would never come, I was afraid you didn’t want to.”

  Didn’t want to?

  “I came the second Matt discovered your hat on his way up to bed.” He took a step closer. “I guess you know you turned a regular Christmas Eve into something magical for the kids. They think they’re way past believing in miracles. You should have seen Allie’s eyes light up at the sight of the nutcracker prince.”

  “I’m glad. While she was in the hospital, we had long talks. I told her the Ballet West put on the Nutcracker every winter and hoped one day she’d be able to see it.”

  “She loves you, Kathryn. So does Matt.”

  “I love both your children.” Her smile charmed him down to his core. “Tonight I had more fun than you can imagine. I’ve never played Santa before, but I was afraid in case you resented the intrusion.”

  He drew in a sharp breath. “You were superb, like you are at everything. I think I might be in the middle of another dream.”

  She cocked her head, sending the mass of blond silk to one shoulder. “Why do you say that?”

  “How long can you stay this time?”

  “It depends on this blizzard.”

  “That’s what I thought,” he sighed.

  “Colt!” Her eyes glinted with pain. “It’s impossible to reach you, isn’t it?”

  His head reared. “What do you mean?”

  “Do you honestly think I came all the way here in this storm on the most wonderful night of the year to suddenly take off again? Don’t you know I’m here for as long as you want me?”

  She couldn’t know what she was saying. The muscles in his throat constricted. “No more pretense.”

  “When did I ever do that?”

  “Maybe not, but I need an honest answer from you.”

  “I’ve never given you anything else.”

  Maybe he was cracking from the strain of wanting her so terribly. “It’s Christmas. You missed twenty-six of them with your family. Why aren’t you home with them tonight?”

  “Because I wanted to be here with you.”

  “Why?”

  “You know why! Oh, sometimes you drive me crazy! I love you, Colton Brenner. I’m so madly in love with you it’s disgusting.”

  “Kathryn…”

  “You still don’t believe me?” she cried.

  “It’s not that,” he murmured. “I saw you speak at that conference. It’s clear you’re needed by the world to keep other people inspired.”

  “I’d like to think I’m needed elsewhere. Come here and let me convince you I’d be good for you.”

  He held back. “I’m afraid to touch you. Tomorrow—the day after tomorrow—you’ll have to leave on another noble cause that requires your particular gifts. It’s what you do because you’re Kathryn McFarland.”

  “Not anymore.”

  The blood pounded in his ears. “Say that again?”

  She moved off the counter. “That was the old Kathryn who has served her thirty years trying to find out who she really is. Now it’s someone else’s turn to do that job. Since meeting you, I’m not the same person.”

  Colt wanted to believe her so much. “Who are you, then?” he whispered.

  In the next breath, she wrapped her arms around his chest. “Promise you won’t laugh if I tell you something?”

  “I swear.”

  “For quite a while now I’ve thought of myself as Colt’s woman, hiding out on the Cloud Bottom Ranch.”

  He’d promised not to laugh, but he couldn’t help it. Happiness flooded his being.

  “I’m tired of being the Lost and Found McFarland. I want to settle down with my own man on our own mountain where nobody knows our business. I want to help you keep raising our children—because that’s how I think of Matt and Allie—and hopefully give you another baby. I have such dreams, you can’t imagine. If that terrifies you, I’ll go away and never bother you again.”

  Colt crushed her against him. He buried his face in her hair, relishing its fine texture. “How does your family feel about it?”

  “Didn’t I ever tell you how great they are? They want me to be happy. Imagine that. Of course, they’ll be happier if you make an honest woman out of me first.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that. Two days ago I became a single man.”

  Her head flew back. “You did? You are?” He saw heaven in those blue eyes devouring him.

  “You don’t know the battle I had not to come and get you and drag you away to my secret hideout.”

  “I want to see it.”

  “When the snow melts, we’ll ride up there. Marry me, Kathryn.”

  “What do you think I’ve been trying to tell you? Don’t you know you didn’t even need to ask? I’m yours for the taking, Colt. I was from the minute I heard your love for Allie over the phone. I’ve already told you the reason why I accompanied her back here, but it was also because I had to find out if you lived up to the image that had filled my mind.”

  “I couldn’t wait to meet you, either. There was something about you…”

  She kissed him all around his mouth without kissing him dead center, driving him crazy. “Tell me about it. All it took was stepping off the plane with your daughter. There was this gorgeous hunk of Western male striding toward me with purpose and that was it. I swear it was like being hit by a bolt of ligh—”

  Colt smothered her words, needing her kiss more than he needed air. When he finally lifted his mouth from hers he said, “I love you, Kathryn, but it’s going to take all night to even begin to tell you what you mean to me.

  “Unfortunately we’ve left my house full of family who won’t be able to settle down for a long winter’s nap until we make an appearance. Let’s go. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can concentrate on you.”

  He picked her up and carried her to the door. She opened it and they walked out into a white wonderland toward the truck. The snow had stopped falling.

  “Oh, Colt! This is the most beautiful place on Earth.”

  “It is now.”

  Unable to keep their hands off each other, it took him longer to get her home. “They’re back!” he heard Matt shout from the front door as he lifted her out of the truck.

  Colt swept her inside the foyer where everyone had gathered. Unwilling to put her down, he couldn’t refrain from kissing her in front of them.

  “Whoa, Dad!”

  He eventually lifted his head and smiled at the family he loved. “I’ve already got the Christmas present I want. Kathryn has agreed to marry me. It’s all settled. Now you don’t have to worry about me anymore, Sherry.”

  His sister had broken down in happy tears.

  “Awesome,” Matt whispered. His brown eyes had grown suspiciously bright.

  “Put me down, darling,” Kathryn whispered against his jaw.

  As he lowered her, his Allie came running and quietly sobbed as she hugged both of them. “I’m so happy. I’ve wanted you to be my mom forever.”

  “I’ve wanted to belong to all of you forever. Come here, Matt.”

  While Noreen wiped her eyes, Ed smiled at Colt. “Life doesn’t get better than this.”

  “Nope.”

  “Who is she?” Sarah asked. She looked as bewildered as Paul.

  Their father flashed Colt a broad grin. “Santa Claus. Didn’t you guys know Santa’s a girl?”

  Circle B Ranch, six months later

  “MOM? WHERE ARE YOU?”

  “I
n the den, Matt!”

  “Good! I need you and Dad to sign this.” He hurried in the room and handed her a form.

  Kathryn took a look at it. “Did this just come in the mail?” It was the National Junior Bull Riders Association Membership and Release to Ride.

  “Yeah. There’s some other mail, too, and a postcard from Ed and Noreen. They love the Winnebago. This was sent from Mount Rushmore.”

  She glanced at it before getting back to the business at hand. “I can see you’ve filled everything out.” It was the parents’ consent and release form.

  “Yeah.” He was so excited he was bouncing with energy. Matt had grown taller since Christmas. His body had filled out more. When he was an adult, he’d be a heartbreaker like his father.

  His father. Kathryn’s husband. She loved him too much. To wake up in his arms every morning constituted the greatest happiness she’d ever known.

  She signed her name. Kathryn Brenner. “If you want to get this in the mail by five, then we need to find your dad. Let’s drive up to the north forty and look for him.”

  Colt hadn’t known about her doctor’s appointment this morning. Now she had news that couldn’t wait and she wanted to deliver it in person. Matt’s timing was perfect.

  “Let’s go.” She put the letter marked Personal in her pocket for Colt, then grabbed her purse. They left the house through the back door and headed for the new Ford truck Colt had bought her. “You drive.”

  She tossed Matt the keys. Next month, he’d turn sixteen and would take his driver’s test, but she let him drive everywhere on the ranch. He was a good driver; Allie was not as good yet. Under Colt’s tutelage he was becoming a pretty good bull rider. Maybe a champion one day like his dad.

  “Thanks.”

  On the way up to the range she phoned Allie. She’d stayed overnight at Michelle’s. Kathryn planned to pick her up when she drove Matt into town later. As they climbed higher, she breathed in air perfumed by the wildflowers. The sight of cattle grazing beneath a blue sky made the experience surreal.

  Colt was easy to pick out in his black Stetson. He must have seen them coming because he separated himself from the men and galloped toward the truck on Lightning. Like the poster of him, he represented the quintessential cowboy, at home in his element.

  They both got out to wait for him. He rode straight up to them. His green gaze bored into hers. “Is everything all right?” Their vigilant protector never took time off worrying about them. That was one of the reasons she loved him with a passion.

  “Everything’s wonderful.” She smiled to reassure him.

  “I need you to sign my junior bull-riding release form, Dad.”

  Kathryn felt her husband’s relief. Before he dismounted, she could tell he was trying hard not to laugh. To his son, this constituted an emergency. Matt handed him the form.

  Colt walked over to the truck and signed it against the fender. “You’ll need to send the forty-dollar fee.”

  “I’ll write him a check,” Kathryn volunteered.

  “Here’s the money I earned helping Ed.” He pulled two twenties from his pocket.

  Colt took them and put them in his shirt pocket. “Now you’re really official. I’m proud of you.”

  “If it gets there in time, can we go to Oklahoma’s junior rodeo in July?”

  “A bargain’s a bargain. We’ll all go and make a vacation out of it.” He gave Matt a bear hug.

  “So…” Her husband’s eyes traveled to Kathryn. Through veiled lashes he looked her up and down the way he’d done early this morning before they’d made love. Just being near him turned her insides to mush. “Anything I can do for you?”

  “I would say you already have.”

  They were so in tune with each other, Colt picked up on her message and turned to Matt. “Do you mind if I to talk to your mother for a minute?”

  “Heck, no. Just don’t make it too long,” he teased. He walked around the truck and got in behind the wheel.

  Colt looked down at her. “Our son’s in no doubt how I feel about you. Now talk to me.”

  “Darling!” She couldn’t hold it in any longer. “We’re going to have a baby. I hope you meant what you said about having one with me because it’s too late to change your mind now.”

  His eyes blazed with new light before he caught her in his arms. “Kathryn,” he cried softly. “I’ve been hoping for this since our wedding night. Lately I’ve worried that maybe something was wrong with me and I couldn’t give you the thing you wanted most.”

  “Oh, I got everything I wanted when I married you. To have your baby is one of those added blessings you hope for but don’t always get.”

  “I wish we weren’t standing out in the open where all the hands can see us.”

  “I know. I picked the worst time to tell you, but as soon as I left the doctor’s office this morning, I had to come. I could never keep anything from you. When you get home tonight, we’ll celebrate.”

  “What’s that little worry line on your face?”

  “I hope the twins will be happy about it.”

  “How can you even say that when all they do is hint?”

  “I know. I’m being paranoid.”

  His white smile thrilled her. “That’s your prerogative as an expectant mother. But I tell you what. I’ll bring Chinese home so you don’t have to cook. We’ll tell the twins together. We’ll all want to know everything the doctor said.”

  “That sounds wonderful. Oh! I brought you a letter marked confidential that might be important.” She pulled it out of her back pocket and handed it to him. “Now I’d better go. Matt is already antsy about getting his form in the mail. See you tonight.”

  He gave her a hungry kiss before helping her into the passenger side of the truck. “Drive safely, son.”

  Colt waited until the truck disappeared down the slope before he opened the envelope. A small note fell out.

  Colt: I sent you this the second it came to my house. I was afraid a phone call would alert Kathryn. Let me know if you want to talk. Jake.

  He looked at the letter. It had been typed on paper with a Sahara Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, letterhead.

  Dear Agent Halsey:

  Re: Natalie Brenner

  Your inquiry prompted an investigation of a cold case concerning the death of a former employee working here sixteen years ago. The DNA sample you sent matched the DNA sample of the estimated twenty-year-old woman hired by the name of Vicky Adams who was found dead in the employees’ bathroom on the fourth floor. I’ve included the Clark County coroner’s report with the death certificate. She died from a mixture of alcohol and drugs. No foul play was suspected. The remains are on mortuary rotation.

  If I can be of further assistance, don’t hesitate to call.

  Office of Internal Affairs

  Colt blinked. Natalie was dead.

  He bowed his head. Later he would phone Jake to thank him for a masterful investigation. As for Natalie’s body, he’d pay for it to be buried at one of the local Las Vegas cemeteries under the name Vicky Adams.

  There was no decision to make where the children were concerned. They’d already said they wanted to leave the past in the past. That was what Colt intended to do.

  With a new sense of peace that life had come full circle, he mounted Lightning and started down the mountain to find Kathryn. She was his future. Filled with exhilaration that they’d created a new life, he broke into a gallop.

  “Hey, Colt!” one of the men called after him, but he was already too far away to answer.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-7520-5

  SANTA IN A STETSON

  Copyright © 2010 by Rebecca Winters

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