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“I don’t mind, but speaking of that, which horses did you supposedly show me?”
Jack paused before opening the door. “Let’s see. How about Calamity Sam? He’s a fine-looking gray-and-white stallion, five years old, could be used as a saddle horse and as a stud.”
A gray-and-white Paint. The artistic appeal of a horse with a patterned coat fired his imagination. He’d never made a black saddle, but that might look good with the gray and white. “Any others?”
“You could say I tried to sell you Ink Spot, but you liked Calamity Sam better. Then tell everybody that you have to think about it before you make a final decision.”
“And why didn’t I bring a horse trailer?”
Jack adjusted the fit of his black Stetson. “That’s easy. You saw no point in transporting a horse in this God-awful weather, but you were in the mood to go looking. If you decide on Calamity Sam, you’ll pick him up in the spring.”
“You’d hold him for me that long?”
Jack’s brow creased. “We’re making this up to fool my mother. It’s not real.”
“Yeah, I know, but supposing I actually wanted to look at your horses?”
“Ah.” Jack’s puzzled expression cleared. “Do you?”
“I might.”
“Well, then.” Jack stroked his chin and his dark eyes took on a speculative gleam. “In that case, maybe we could work out a little trade, one of our horses for some of your saddle-making skills.”
“It’s a thought.” In the back of his mind, Ben was already designing a black saddle with silver accents. “Right now I don’t have a place to keep a horse, but that could change.”
“Especially if you take a liking to Calamity Sam.”
Ben smiled. “Exactly.” The idea of posing as a horse buyer on this trip had sparked his interest in actually buying one. He made saddles for everyone else but didn’t have one for himself because he didn’t own a horse. Stable horses were okay, but he craved a horse of his own with a custom saddle on its back.
“You’re staying for a couple of nights, aren’t you?”
“Just overnight. This is your holiday, and I don’t want to—”
“Hey, you just brought the coolest gift my mother has ever had, so you can stay as long as you want. We have plenty of room.”
“Well, if you’re sure.”
“Absolutely. The only person staying upstairs is Molly, which leaves three empty bedrooms. Cassidy, our housekeeper, is off visiting family, so you might have to fend for yourself. My brothers and I have our own places, now.”
“Who’s Molly?”
“My cousin from Arizona. She’s here to do genealogy research on the family, but she’ll go back to Prescott before Christmas. Don’t worry. There’s plenty of space if you want to stay on and scope out the horse situation. Unless you have to get back.”
“I don’t have any plans that can’t be changed. So thanks for the hospitality. I might take you up on it.” Much depended on whether he felt like an interloper once he met the rest of the family. As usual, he had no holiday gatherings back in Sheridan.
He’d never been part of a big family Christmas, and he was curious about whether it would be the way he imagined. But he was a stranger, so he wouldn’t really fit in. On second thought, he shouldn’t stay. The horse deal, though, was worth considering.
“You should stay at least three nights,” Jack said. “I might not have time to show you the horses tomorrow because we’ll be getting organized for Mom’s party, but the next day I could.”
“How about giving me a preview right now?”
“Now? Aren’t you ready for a warm fire and a cold beer?”
“Yeah, but how long would it take to wander through the barn?”
Jack gazed at him. “You’re right, and I’d be a damned poor salesman if I didn’t take you over there right now, especially if you’re considering swapping horseflesh for saddles. My brothers would kill me if I screwed that up.” Jack opened the door and ushered Ben out into the cold late afternoon.
Darkness approached, and the two-story log ranch house looked mighty inviting with smoke drifting from the chimney and golden light shining in most of the windows. But the barn looked inviting, too, with its old-fashioned hip-roofed design and antique lamps mounted on either side of the big double doors. Each door had a large wreath on it, decorated with a big red bow.
“Well, look at that,” Jack said. “My brother Gabe’s over at the barn. That’s his truck there. I wonder what he’s up to.”
“Is he the one who rides in cutting-horse competitions?” After Jack’s visit to his shop, Ben had done some research on the Last Chance Ranch. He’d heard of the place, of course, but he’d wanted more in-depth information to guide him in his saddle design.
“He is, and I’m sure he’d love a new saddle. But I warn you he’s picky as hell.”
“I’d enjoy the challenge.” Ben looked forward to meeting the other family members, and if any of them wanted saddles, so much the better. He navigated a narrow path that had been cleared between the tractor barn and the horse barn. Knee-high drifts formed a barrier on either side.
He was used to Sheridan, where snowplows kept the streets passable except during the worst storms. Out here, the Chance family had to use their own resources to deal with weather issues. In the barn where the saddle was hidden, he’d even seen a tractor with a plow attached.
Jack opened the barn door and they were greeted with warmth, light and the satisfying aroma of hay and horses. Ben decided that he wanted a barn. He’d need some kind of shelter if he planned to buy a horse. Some folks left horses outside through the winter, but he’d rather have a barn.
He could build a tack room for his saddle and other equipment. If he had more than one horse, he’d make a saddle for each of them. Saddles on horses were like boots on a cowboy. If they didn’t fit, no amount of padding or stretching would make them feel right. He winced whenever he saw a horse with an ill-fitting saddle. Had to feel damned uncomfortable.
A cowboy with a sandy-colored mustache walked down the wood-floored aisle toward them. “Hey, Jack.”
“Hey, Gabe. I’d like you to meet Ben Radcliffe. He just brought Mom one hell of a saddle. You should go see it.”
Gabe smiled. “Why do you suppose I’m here?” Then he shook Ben’s hand. “Good to meet you, Radcliffe. Thanks for making the trip.”
“Glad I could.”
Jack unbuttoned his coat. “You snuck over here to get a look at the saddle?”
“I didn’t sneak. I drove.”
“Yeah, well, you’d better have given your kids a good excuse for doing that, especially Sarah Bianca. If she gets wind that there’s a secret present for her grandma hidden somewhere on the ranch, we’ll hear about it all day long. Mom will get suspicious and the surprise will be ruined for sure.”
“I told them I wanted to check on Persnickety. He’s been favoring his right front leg.”
Jack frowned. “He has?”
“Well, he was. Sort of. But guess what? Now he’s all better. Is the saddle in the tractor barn?”
“I thought that was the best place. Go all the way to the back in the right-hand corner. There’s a blanket covering it. Take a flashlight.”
Gabe pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket. “Get with the program, bro. Nobody carries a flashlight anymore. We have an app for that.”
“I’m sure you do. I’ll keep using my Coleman lantern, which will still be functioning when your teeny battery is DOA.”
Gabe laughed and picked up a battery-operated lantern sitting on a shelf. “I just say these things to get your goat, big brother. Works every time.”
“Bite me.”
“Nah, I’ve outgrown that. Say, have you done your homework for Molly yet?”
Jack groaned. “Hell, no. Have you?”
“Some of it. The form she gave us is longer than a dead snake. I got bored and quit.” Gabe looked over at Ben. “Our cousin from Arizona. She’s a history professor by day but a genealogist by night.” He turned to Jack. “Which reminds me. Have you told her about the saddle? Morgan wanted me to ask if Molly’s in on the secret.”
“I haven’t told her. I had to get to know her first and find out if she could be trusted to keep quiet. Now I know she’s trustworthy, but there hasn’t been a good time to say anything when Mom wasn’t around.”
“Yeah, and that’d be one more person who could slip up accidentally. Morgan seems to think we should tell her, but I say if it’s gone this long, might as well not take the risk.” He glanced at Ben. “That means as far as Molly’s concerned, you’re a prospective horse buyer.”
“Got it.”
“You might not see much of her, anyway,” Jack said. “She spends a lot of time on the computer with her genealogy program. Once she has the family tree all completed, she’s going to put it into some kind of book for all of us.”
“Sounds nice.” It also sounded like something done out of love for family. Ben doubted his family would ever create something similar.
Jack sighed. “I suppose it will be, but all the paperwork is a pain in the ass. I tried to get Josie to do it for me. She filled in her part, but she flatly refused to fill in mine.”
“Yeah, Morgan wouldn’t do mine, either.” Gabe glanced over Jack’s shoulder as the barn door opened. “Well, if it isn’t Nicky. Whatcha doing here, Nick, old boy?”
“Oh, just happened to have a little spare time.” Nick walked toward them.
Jack shoved back his hat. “I don’t suppose you’re here to check out the saddle or anything like that.”
“Maybe.” Nick smiled and shook hands with Ben. “You must be Radcliffe. I had a look at your website. Impressive work.”
“Thanks.” Ben’s eye for detail took in the similarities among the brothers—same height and build, same mannerisms. But there were marked differences, too.
Jack’s dark hair and eyes suggested he had some Native American blood, while Nick and Gabe showed no evidence of that. Gabe was the fairer of the two. He’d probably been a towhead once. Nick’s green eyes made him look as if he belonged in Ireland. Interesting.
“Ben outdid himself on the saddle for Mom,” Jack said. “But I hope she doesn’t happen to glance out the window when you two yahoos head down to the tractor barn together.”
“What about Ben’s truck?” Gabe smoothed his mustache. “It’s parked right in front of the tractor barn, but he’s supposed to be here to see horses, not tractors.”
“You can’t see the front of that barn from the house.” Jack crossed his arms. “But she could see you leave here and walk in that direction.”
Nick looked over at Gabe. “Did you say the tractor hitched to the snowplow has a bad starter?”
“No, I didn’t—oh, wait.” Gabe smiled. “Come to think of it, you’re right. You and I need to go check on that. They’re predicting a blizzard in a couple of days and we don’t want to be caught without a snowplow.”
“Just what I was thinking.” Nick turned up the collar of his sheepskin jacket.
Gabe did the same and pulled on leather gloves. “Hey, did you do your homework for Molly?”
“I did. Scanned it and emailed it to her this morning.”
“Loser.”
Nick laughed. “I take it you haven’t?”
“Jack hasn’t, either.” Gabe looked to Jack for backup.
“Haven’t found the time,” Jack said.
“Yeah, right.” Nick sent them both a knowing grin. “Just do it, okay? She’s very into this, even if you two aren’t.”
Gabe blew out a breath. “Yeah, I know she is. Morgan thinks it’s endearing. She also thinks Molly should be told about the saddle. You haven’t said anything, have you?”
“Nope. If she knows, she didn’t get it from me.”
“She doesn’t know,” Jack said. “And she might want to contribute if we told her about it, but we’ve dealt with the money situation already. Gabe and I think we should just keep it a secret since we’re this close and she wasn’t part of it from the beginning.”
“Fine with me.” Nick glanced at his two brothers. “But you really should fill out those forms for her. It’s not so much to ask.”
“You’re right.” Jack grimaced. “Otherwise, she’ll bug me until I do.”
“Yep, guaranteed she will,” Gabe said. “I like her okay, but she sure can be a bossy little thing.”
Ben listened to the conversation with amusement. Jack had said he’d be sharing the second floor with Molly, who sounded like a determined woman. This trip was becoming more interesting by the minute.
2 (#ud2e81383-0de4-558a-a32b-52d63b4f7047)
SOMEONE WAS PLAYING “Silent Night” on the harmonica. Nostalgia washed over Molly Gallagher and she paused, fingers resting on the computer keyboard. Her Grandpa Seth had played the harmonica, and the gentle sound, especially at Christmastime, always made her think of him.
Harmonicas and cowboys seemed to go together, and her grandpa had been an old-fashioned cowpoke who’d grown up right here in Jackson Hole. He’d even lived in this house for a little while with his sister, Nelsie, and his brother-in-law, Archie. If Molly believed in ghosts, she might think Grandpa Seth had taken up residence down the hall from her bedroom.
“Silent Night” was followed by “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Talk about atmosphere. Snow drifted down outside her window and the scent of pine filled her room. Yesterday she’d helped Aunt Sarah arrange fresh boughs all over the house. With her bedroom door open, she could hear the logs crackling in the giant fireplace downstairs.
Feeling all warm and cozy, Molly went back to entering data in her Excel file. The harmonica player was likely the guy Jack had mentioned was staying down the hall. His name was Ben something-or-other. He’d come to look at the ranch’s registered Paints and would be around for a couple of nights. Molly had offered to help out by making his bed and putting clean towels in his bathroom.
Being alone upstairs with four empty bedrooms had been a little spooky. She was glad to share the space with someone, especially if he chose to serenade her every so often with Christmas carols on the harmonica. Hard to believe she’d be leaving in four days. The time had flown by.
Although she’d love to stay and meet everyone who’d be coming in to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, that would mean she’d miss the big Gallagher family celebration in Prescott. So far, she had a perfect record—twenty-eight consecutive holidays spent at the Double Down Ranch. Her parents ran it now that her grandparents were gone, and it was her favorite place in the world.
“O Little Town of Bethlehem” came to a close with a long, drawn-out note embellished by some vibrato. Ben was pretty good on that thing. Then he switched away from carols to play the theme from Beauty and the Beast. She’d loved that movie from the first time she’d seen it as a little girl. Belle was the perfect heroine—pretty, brave and well-read.
Plus she was a brunette, and Molly had been thrilled about that, too. The scholarly Belle had been her role model for years. She’d never heard the theme played on a harmonica before, but it worked. It worked so well that she left her chair and moved into the hall so she could hear it better.
What a lovely sound. He really was talented. She moved a few steps closer and then a few steps more. He played with heart, and she could almost imagine him as the Beast longing for his Beauty to show up. That was plain silly, of course. The way her luck went, he’d be old as the hills, or middle-aged and balding.
His bedroom door was open. As the music continued, she edged closer. Now that her curiosity was aroused, she wanted to find out what the man who created such a heavenly sound looked like. But she decided to wait until he’d finished the song. She liked it way too much to interrupt him, and if she suddenly appeared, he’d probably stop playing.
The last note trailed away, and she walked up to the doorway, prepared with a little speech. “That was...” She forgot what she’d intended to say. Ben something-or-other was drop-dead gorgeous.
Why hadn’t she brushed her hair before walking down here? Why hadn’t she checked to see if she had anything in her teeth? Why hadn’t she taken two measly seconds to glance in a mirror and find out if her glasses were smudged?
