Harlequin American Romance October 2013 Bundle: Twins Under the Christmas Tree\Big Sky Christmas\Her Wyoming Hero\A Rancher's Christmas (31 page)

“Oh, I did love him. But I couldn't leave my father. He had no one by then. He'd never gotten over losing our mother, and I was all he had left. So I said no to Vince's proposal and stayed on at Silver Creek. I wish I could say I never regretted that decision, but it wouldn't be true.”

It was ironic, Jackson thought, how the two sisters had both paid a price for the love of their father. Olive had suffered because she had too little. And Maddie had suffered because she had too much.

“Vince didn't take my refusal well,” Maddie continued. “He started drinking. And taking up with casual affairs. He'd never been like that before. And then he got your mother pregnant, and though I begged him to do the honorable thing, he was too far gone with his drinking.”

“He told me all of that.”

“Good. But I bet he didn't tell you that when your mother got into trouble with the law and you were put into the foster program, he came to me and pleaded with me to look after you.”

“He did?” Suddenly it was impossible to sit still. Jackson got up and paced to the window. Shoving a hand through his hair, he asked, “What did you do?”

“I couldn't see taking in a thirteen-year-old boy on my own. So I asked Bob Lambert to do it.”

“I didn't think Bob and you were on speaking terms in those days.”

“Not officially. Bob wanted to support his wife. He really did love Olive, you know. But he had a good heart, and he worried about me living out here on my own. Just the way his youngest son would do when he was older, Bob looked in on me now and then. And he agreed to go see you and think about taking you to live on Coffee Creek Ranch.”

“That was the best thing you could have done for me.”

“I'm glad it worked out well. But I know Olive has never really accepted you into the family. That's why I wanted to give you Silver Creek.”

Jackson looked at her worn, frail face with wonder. She'd done so much for him. But was it too much?

“I don't need to own a ranch. I could always find work as a foreman or hired hand.”

“You could. But I have this selfish desire to have Silver Creek Ranch become a vibrant, successful cattle ranch again. If I left the ranch to one of Olive's children, the operation would be merged in with Coffee Creek. But you, Jackson, you could bring this place back to life.”

“It means that much to you?”

“Oh, yes. I didn't have children of my own, so this ranch is my legacy. And in a strange and twisted way, you are the closest thing I ever had to a son.”

Chapter Fifteen

Jackson took a week to absorb the startling news about his father's identity and Maddie's subsequent role in his life. He wished he could talk to Winnie about it all, but she'd replied to his attempts to text her with a request that he give her some space.

So he turned to Corb, who, now that Brock was gone, was the closest friend he had. They went out for a few beers at the Lonesome Spur in town and Corb was astounded to hear that Vince Butterfield was Jackson's father and that Maddie had been behind Bob Lambert's decision to take him in as a foster son.

“Holy crap.” Corb pushed both his hands through his thick blond hair. “Vince, your dad? I never would have guessed.... Though now that I think of it, you're the same height and similar builds.”

“Still, it's crazy, right?”

“And Maddie actually asked my dad to take you in. That's another tough thing to believe. All of us kids have memories of our dad walking right by her in town without so much as a nod of recognition.”

“I guess he was torn between his own sense of what was right, and being loyal to your mother. Maddie says he used to check on her once in a while. And when her border collie was expecting, he asked if she would give one of the pups to Cassidy.”

“I'll tell my sister that. She's never known the whole story before. When she found Sky in a basket on the front porch on her birthday, Dad couldn't stop smiling—so we figured he was behind the gift. Mom pretended to be pleased, but we could tell she was furious. She would have known the pup came from Silver Creek. But I wonder if she also guessed then that Dad sometimes talked to Maddie.”

They'd finished their first beer by then. Corb nodded at the server to bring them another. Then he folded his arms on the table and leaned in closer.

“So. What's going on with you and Winnie? Laurel says she's never seen her friend this miserable. Given what she's been through the past few years, that's saying something.”

Jackson closed his eyes briefly. He hated hearing that she was suffering. Again. And it was his fault. Again.

“I should have listened to what everyone was saying and kept my distance.”

“You really think that's true?”

“Don't you?”

“At first, I did,” Corb admitted. “And so did Laurel. But then I got to thinking what I would have wanted if
I'd
been the one to die in that car crash.”

It had almost happened, Jackson reflected, thinking of Corb's coma and long recovery.

“If Laurel had been left on her own—she was pregnant, too, at the time, though she didn't yet know it. What would I want for her?”

“And?”

“I'd want her to be with a guy who loved her. I'd want Stephanie to have a dad to protect her.”

“Really? You could be that generous?”

Corb sat back in his chair and met Jackson's gaze straight on. “What kind of man would I be if I wasn't?”

* * *

C
ORB
'
S
WORDS
LINGERED
in Jackson's mind all night long. He didn't sleep much, but when he awoke he felt oddly invigorated.

That morning, after chores, he asked Maddie if she would mind if he did a few renovations around the place. December was a notoriously slow month on a ranch and he had too much time on his hands.

“This place could sure use a face-lift,” Maddie agreed. She looked curious, but didn't ask him for any more explanation. She knew when to talk and when to be silent.

Affection for the older woman welling up in his heart, Jackson stooped to give her a hug, then headed to the hardware store to buy some supplies.

He resisted the urge to stop in to see Winnie. He knew he needed time to let his conversation with Corb really sink in.

Besides, this time he had to do it right.

He had a plan.

And only two and a half weeks to execute it.

* * *

“E
IGHTEEN
DAYS
UNTIL
Christmas,” Winnie sighed. “I've decorated our tree and baked a batch of shortbread, and that's it. I haven't even started my shopping.”

Laurel had stopped in at the Cinnamon Stick after buying groceries for the week and Winnie was glad to see her. It had been a long day.

Make that a long week.

A couple of times a day Jackson had sent her text messages saying he needed to talk to her. She'd turned him down the first time and simply ignored the subsequent requests. She wasn't intending to be mean, she simply didn't think her heart could withstand seeing him again. She knew she had to stay the course. A clean break would be easier in the long run.

And yet a part of her wondered what he'd wanted to say.

She'd never know now, though. It had been more than a day since his last text.

And while she ought to be relieved that he'd finally taken the hint, of course she wasn't. She felt sadder than ever.

“I finished my list last weekend,” Laurel admitted.

“You always were the organized one.”

“Let me take Bobby tomorrow afternoon and you can go shopping in Lewistown,” Laurel offered.

“Really?”

“Sure. It's always fun to let the rug rats play together.” Though Bobby and Stephanie didn't really play with each other yet, they did seem to get a kick out of being together.

“That would be awesome. I really need to get my parents' gifts in the mail soon or they won't make it to Arizona in time.”

She'd buy a few gifts for Bobby, as well. Not too many, because she had a strong suspicion his grandparents—especially Olive—would be spoiling him rotten.

She also wanted to buy something for Laurel and for Stephanie. And gifts for her staff. And she mustn't forget Olive.

“My pleasure. Corb and I wanted a quiet day at home anyway. And speaking of my darling husband, I have news.”

“Oh?”

“Last night he went out to the bar with Jackson.”

Winnie pulled back. “I'm not sure I want to hear this.”

“I think you should.” Laurel leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Vince went to visit Silver Creek a few days ago....”

Winnie nodded. She'd figured as much.

“He and Jackson had a private chat, and Vince confessed that he'd once had an affair with Jackson's mother.”

Winnie frowned. She'd noticed her baker had been even more testy than usual the past few days, so she hadn't called him out for interfering. But this was not at all what she'd been thinking was behind the covert trip.

“Are you saying that Vince is Jackson's father?”

“Yes.”

“Good Lord.” Winnie sank onto a stool and tried to process this.

“Think about it,” Laurel said. “They're almost exactly the same height and build. They both have blue eyes, and I'll bet Vince's hair was dark, too, before it turned gray.”

Not only that, Winnie thought, but there was something about their smiles. Maybe she would have picked up on the similarity earlier if Vince's teeth weren't so brown from years of smoking and poor care.

“Quite the shocking bit of news, huh?”

Winnie nodded.

“But there's more. Maddie finally told Jackson the entire story of her romance with Vince. It turns out that he
did
ask her to marry him, but she couldn't leave her dad alone on the ranch, so she said no.”

“Did Maddie love him?”

“Yes. But she felt obliged to her father.”

“Oh, poor Maddie. And poor Vince... Do you think that's why he started drinking?”

“Maddie said it was. And there's more...”

Laurel went on to explain how it was that Bob Lambert came to be Jackson's foster father. Maddie had been behind it all. Winnie's head was spinning by the time Laurel finally left to go back to Coffee Creek Ranch.

So many things that had seemed strange or coincidental suddenly made sense. As did Jackson's flurry of text messages. He must have been trying to tell her about all of this.

And not, as she'd secretly hoped, been hoping to woo her back to him.

* * *

T
HE
NEXT
DAY
,
Corb dropped into town to pick up Bobby, as Laurel had promised.

“How's it going, Winnie?”

“Fine.”

“Really?” Corb raised his eyebrows pointedly.

She supposed he was referring to her appearance, which she knew wasn't great. The sleepless nights were catching up to her.

“I really appreciate you and Laurel taking Bobby for the day.”

“Hey, we're his aunt and uncle. Anytime you need a break, we're happy to help.”

Gosh, but Laurel had been lucky, marrying a great guy like Corb. Easygoing and uncomplicated—the exact opposite of Jackson.

And yet, underneath the layers of complex emotions, Jackson was a good man, too. She could admit it. Even if she was mad as hell at him right now.

She bundled Bobby into his snowsuit and boots, then walked out to the truck with Corb, tucking the diaper bag into the space below Bobby's feet.

“Bye-bye, baby boy.” She kissed his forehead. “Have fun with Auntie Laurel and Stephanie.”

“Fee!” He started kicking his boots against his seat, his standard move when he was excited. “Fee, Fee, Fee!”

Corb gave her a quizzical look.

“His name for your daughter,” she explained.

“Ah.” Corb grinned, then touched the brim of his hat in farewell.

Winnie stepped back to the sidewalk and watched them drive off. Then she grabbed her purse and shopping list and headed to Lewistown.

She felt melancholic as she strolled down the main shopping street. It seemed that most of the shoppers today were couples, strolling arm in arm along the snow-covered sidewalks, pointing out items in the decorated shop windows, whispering hints about what they'd really like for Christmas.

Winnie stuck to her list, and within two hours she had everything she needed, but felt no sense of satisfaction about it.

Where was the joy of Christmas when your heart was broken?

She'd been so foolish to take the risk of getting involved with Jackson. And yet, looking back on the six weeks since her return to Coffee Creek, she couldn't decide what she would have done differently. Because if she hadn't at least given a relationship with Jackson a try, she would have always wondered what if.

But was it any better being left with if only?

* * *

C
HRISTMAS
WAS
A
major occasion on Coffee Creek Ranch. Jackson knew this well, having lived there for over seventeen years. Olive spared no expense with the decorations. He'd helped Corb and B.J. bring in a tree that had to be at least fourteen feet tall and then watched as Olive, Savannah and Laurel loaded it with ornaments, garlands and lights that would do the tree in Rockefeller Center proud.

That had been a week ago.

And now here was B.J., knocking on the back door at Silver Creek then stepping into the kitchen where Jackson was stirring a can of paint, getting ready to put the final touch on his renovation projects.

“Oh, boy,” B.J. said when he saw the painting supplies laid out on the floor. “I hope you don't need help with that. Savannah wants me home this afternoon to welcome Regan back from her first term at med school.”

“Nah. I can handle it.” He waited for the eldest Lambert son to get to the point. It didn't take long.

“Mom was wondering if you're coming to Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow night. And she wants you to bring Maddie. Will she come, do you think?”

“Of course I will,” Maddie replied from the other room.

B.J. grinned. “Well, there's my answer. We're having drinks at five, dinner at six. See you then!”

And he was off, before Jackson could find a way of discreetly inquiring if Winnie would be there. But surely she would. Olive would want her grandson present.

The big surprise was that she had invited her older sister.

He went to the sitting room to see how Maddie felt about it. “So? What do you make of being invited to Coffee Creek Ranch?”

Maddie was reclined on her usual chair, with her cat Ginger sleeping on her lap. Slowly her translucent eyelids fluttered open. “I'm sure it was hard for Olive to do. But I'm grateful she did.”

“Grateful? That's generous of you after all the years she treated you like an outcast.”

“And why shouldn't I be generous? It's a good thing to be. Especially at this time of year, and at my stage of life.”

“But isn't it hard? I mean, don't you feel any bitterness at all? Especially now—when you ended up with this stupid cancer. It isn't fair.” It made him angry—really pissed—when he thought about it. Maddie was a sweet, kindhearted person who hadn't had many breaks in life.

Maddie smiled at him sadly. “It's such a common expression—
life isn't fair—
and yet people still seem blindsided when bad things happen to them or the people they care about.”

“I guess you're right. It isn't logical to be mad. But that's how I feel. Did you even smoke?” He had never seen any sign that she did around the house or barns.

“No. But my father was a heavy smoker and they say secondhand smoke can be just as bad....” She shrugged. “At least I've had sixty-eight years. That's a lot more than my mother had.”

There she was. Looking at the bright side again.

“You amaze me, Maddie.”

“I'm not saying I don't have regrets. Because I do. But I'd feel better if I could believe that you might learn from some of my mistakes.”

“Such as?” he asked cautiously, not sure he wanted to hear what she had to say.

“If I could boil it down to one sentence, it would be this. When it comes to love, you can never give too much.”