A Baby in the Bunkhouse (12 page)

“Hmm.” He held the door for her.

Jacey removed the knit cap from Caitlin's head and set aside the thick blanket that had kept the baby warm on the walk across the yard. “I notice you're not denying it.”

Eli's blue eyes twinkled behind his glasses. He looked, at that moment, a lot like Santa Claus. “I'm an old man. Forgive me for wanting everyone around me to be happy.”

The backdoor opened and closed. Rafferty walked in.

Eli looked at his son. “As long as you're here,” he started in a voice that brooked no argument, “I want to talk to you about the Christmas stockings.”

Rafferty looked irritated. He shot her a glare that left her feeling as if she was most definitely
not
on his side. “I already told Jacey she could hang mine wherever she wants.”

Hard to believe the two of them had just been kissing a few minutes ago.

“So she told everyone in the bunkhouse.”

Rafferty waited, looking more impatient than ever.

“I think we should put something in them,” Eli continued.

Now, there's the spirit, Jacey thought.

“Bonus checks,” Rafferty suggested.

“In addition to that,” Eli specified.

Rafferty's lips took on a cynical slant. “Like what?” he queried. “An orange or some candy?”

“I was thinking along the lines of something more personal that the boys would treasure.”

Nice, Jacey thought.

Rafferty looked flummoxed. “Like what?”

“Well, I was hoping you would help me think of what.” Eli mocked his son's uncooperative tone.

“I don't know what they'd want,” Rafferty grumbled.

Eli beseeched Jacey. “What do you think?”

Jacey shot Rafferty a pointed look, then turned back to Eli. “I think it's a great idea.”

“Then maybe
you
should be in charge of doing it.” Rafferty stomped off.

Eli and Jacey were left facing each other. “I'll help you figure something out,” she promised.

Rafferty stuck his head back in the kitchen. “I think bonus checks would be fine. We can add extra to each one.”

Like money solved everything, Jacey thought, knowing it would never replace the personal touch.

“Add extra,” Eli said. “We're still getting gifts. And since you won't help, Jacey will assist me.” Eli pivoted back to her. “Want to go tomorrow morning?”

“Sure thing,” Jacey said, happy to be of assistance to the ranch family that had done so much for her.

Eli smiled. “Nine o'clock fine with you?”

Jacey ignored Rafferty's dark, parting glance. “Nine o'clock is great.”

 

R
AFFERTY KNEW
the moment his dad got up the next morning he was not feeling well. His arthritis was obviously acting up. He could hardly get around. “Listen, Dad, I'll go with Jacey today.”

Breakfast over, Eli moved stiffly back toward the ranch house. Every step seemed to be causing him a great deal of pain. “You will not. This has to be done right.”

Rafferty tossed a glance at the cowboys spilling out of the bunkhouse, headed for the barn. “Dad, I'll do it.”

Eli shook his head. “We've not done right by Christmas and these cowboys since your mother died and it's wrong. The fellas are family to us and should be made to feel that way! I might not have realized that till Jacey came along, but now I do, and we're not going back to half-baked ways.” Eli regarded Rafferty sternly. “I mean it, Rafferty. If you can't do it with the right spirit, it's not going to be done by you.”

Rafferty held the door for his father. “I'll do it with the appropriate attitude. I promise. You promise me you'll give those aching joints of yours a rest.”

Eli grasped the frame and moved unsteadily through the portal. “I think I might go back to bed.”

“The fellas can handle the chores. I'll see that Jacey and Caitlin have a proper escort. We don't want her getting lost to and from the ranch.”

Jacey came up behind them, Caitlin bundled in her arms. Clearly, Rafferty thought, she was still upset with him, too. She'd hardly said a word to him all through breakfast.

“I think I can make it to and from town now, Rafferty,” she stated irritably.

Figuring time alone together was exactly what he and Jacey needed, Rafferty shrugged off her disclaimer with the same un-yielding look she was giving him. “One never knows,” he said mildly. “And as Dad just said, this needs to be done by either him or me—as well as you. And it looks like it's going to be me.”

 

“Y
OU'RE JUST DOING THIS
to be alone with me,” Jacey accused the moment they hit the road.

Rafferty shot her an amused look. “What man in his right mind would give up a chance to spend the day with a beautiful woman by his side?”

Not Rafferty Evans, it was clear. “Even if the assigned task is Christmas shopping?” she teased.

A satisfied smile curved his lips. “I prefer to concentrate on the perks.”

Jacey settled back in her seat and looked out at the peaceful Texas countryside. As long as they were alone, she figured she might as well work on his attitude, even if doing so risked his ire. “Your dad told me you liked Christmas a lot when you were a kid.”

He gave her a curious glance. “What else did he tell you?”

Jacey reached for her travel mug of decaf coffee and took a sip. “That your enthusiasm began to wane somewhere around your college years.”

Rafferty was silent, his attention focused on the highway.

“Why did you lose interest in the holidays?” Jacey asked softly.

For a moment, she thought he wasn't going to answer. Finally, he shrugged, and adjusted his grip on the steering wheel.

“Somewhere along the line Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's became like every other day. The food maybe was a little better, and unless there was some sort of emergency, no one had to work on the ranch. But other than that, it was simply no big deal.”

Jacey studied his handsome profile. “And when you were a kid, it was,” she guessed.

His forehead creased. “Well, yeah.”

“What did you like about the holidays?”

He sent her a quelling glance. “Picking out the tree.”

“Which you skipped this year,” she pointed out.

“Decorating it,” he continued.

“Which you kind of did.”

“And music. My mom used to play Christmas music all the time. Sometimes she'd even start listening to it before Thanksgiving.” Rafferty grinned as he remembered and shook his head.

Jacey unwrapped a breakfast pastry she had packed and handed him half. “What else did you like about the holidays?”

He accepted the cinnamon roll gratefully. “All the baking my mom used to do. Every day I'd come home from school and there would be a new kind of cookie or candy. Most of which went to friends in the form of holiday dessert platters but there was always plenty for me and Dad to have. And then there was the gingerbread house she would make every year. I believe I mentioned helping my mom with that the first time you grilled me about Christmases past. Any way, those gingerbread houses got pretty elaborate.”

Jacey tried to imagine him enjoying Christmas as a young kid. “Sounds nice.”

He smiled, recalling. “It was.”

“So all that stopped when you were in college,” Jacey guessed.

“No. She continued to keep up the traditions. I just wasn't around until the day or so before. I always had to work my part-time jobs off campus, and usually be back around the twenty-sixth or twenty-seventh, so there wasn't a lot of time to join in on the festivities. And, as the years went by, I kind of phased the whole Christmas thing out…”

Jacey considered that. “So really, the fact you're not as into Christmas is as much your fault as anything else.”

Rafferty grew silent as they finished their pastries. But she noted he didn't dispute her estimation.

“You want my advice?” Jacey asked finally.

He smirked. “I don't think I'm going to be able to avoid it.”

Thinking that if she could get through to him, this could be his best holiday ever, she pressed on. “If you want to get more out of the holiday, try giving more of yourself.”

 

R
AFFERTY WOULD HAVE LIKED
to disagree with Jacey's assessment, but he knew in his heart it was true. He had stopped participating in holidays when he was working in retail to help pay his expenses while he was in college. To him back then, all December had meant was the pressure of semester exams, combined with long hours, crabby customers and too little pay. There'd been no time to enjoy the kinds of holiday activities he'd had when he was a kid. Instead of lamenting what he was missing out on, he had convinced himself that it wasn't something he had wanted anyway and hence did not matter.

“You're going to enjoy the holidays this year, even if the fellas and I have to tape a smile on your face,” Jacey predicted.

Ironically, Rafferty already was. He just hadn't admitted it. But to admit it would be to willingly put an end to their bet, and hence, Jacey's constant attention. And he wasn't ready for that. “I'm not sure you can get that holiday spirit back once you lose it,” he fibbed.

“We've got seven more days before Christmas is here.” Jacey winked. “And believe me, miracles have happened in less.”

Soon after, they arrived in Fort Stockton. They had barely started shopping when Jacey's cell phone went off. Her voice lit up at whatever she was hearing on the other end of the line. “That's great.” Her smile broadened. “Yes, that would be fine. Just a minute, please.” She put the caller on hold with a push of a button then looked at Rafferty. “Would you mind taking charge of Caitlin for a few minutes? I really need to step outside and take this call while you continue shopping.”

“No problem.”

She unhooked her BabyBjörn and shifted the wide-awake Caitlin to his waiting arms. Taking her phone, she stepped outside the store. He could see her through the plate-glass windows, talking energetically and smiling.

Caitlin gurgled and grabbed at his shirt with her fingertips.

Rafferty stared down into long-lashed eyes so much like her momma's. “Who is she talking to?” he asked.

Caitlin made a soft cooing sound in reply.

Enjoying the feel of the baby in his arms, Rafferty shifted her a little higher on his chest and patted her gently on the back. He didn't know what it was about this infant. He'd held a few babies over the years, but this child was something special. He felt a bond with her much like, he supposed, he would have felt for his own child…

It was going to be hard to say goodbye to her when Jacey did leave.

If she left…

That hadn't been decided yet.

Jacey came back into the store, beaming. “Good news, I take it?” Rafferty watched while she slid her cell phone into her purse and zipped it shut.

“Pretty good. That was the friend of Cash's family who owns the apartment complexes in Austin. They got my résumé, and they're interested in doing an interview at one of the properties next to the University of Texas.” She smiled up at him. “They want me to come to Austin right away, but I told them it was impossible until after Christmas, so we set up an appointment for late on the twenty-sixth. I can drive there from here, and then fly to El Paso to spend a belated holiday with my sister there.”

Rafferty struggled to contain his disappointment. This was her life, her decision. “Sounds like you have it all worked out.”

Her cheeks took on a happy flush. “I don't have the job yet, but it would be a good one. It comes with a furnished two-bedroom apartment on the first floor of the high-rise, next to the leasing office, and a paid parking place in the underground garage. Full benefits. As well as the ability to have Caitlin with me at all times, since the clientele of that residence is not as demanding as the residents in the luxury adults-only complex I am used to.” She took a breath. “The downside is the residents are university students. And with that group, you're going to have a lot more move-ins and move-outs to monitor and process, as well as noise violations and the like.”

“I can see where wild parties and babies wouldn't mix.”

“It could be a problem. Then again, if—like they said—]it's mostly grad students staying there, it may not be a problem at all. I'll be able to tell what the situation is when I go up to scope things out.”

“Well, congrats on the interview. I'm happy for you.”

“Thank you.” Jacey blew out a sigh of relief. “Now, back to our shopping.”

Rafferty glanced around the small department store. “I'm not really seeing anything here that I think the fellas would like.”