Forever Santa (14 page)
Jordan smiled at Gracie. “Be careful when you kiss my brother. His lips will get you into trouble.”
“They already have.” Trent grinned. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting something out of the truck?”
“I’m going now,” Jordan grumbled as he left the room.
Trent kissed Gracie quickly on the mouth. “I’ve got something for you.” He disappeared into the corridor and came back carrying something big under a blanket.
“It’s huge.” Gracie frowned at whatever was under the blanket. “Did you borrow Santa’s sleigh?”
“Close, but not quite. It’s your Christmas present.” He put it on the floor beside her. “Do you want me to take the cover off?”
Trent looked so excited that Gracie began to wonder what was actually under the blanket. She pushed the remote on her bed and sat more upright. “Okay. I’m ready for your surprise.”
Trent held onto the front of the blanket and pulled it off the present.
“Oh, wow,” Gracie whispered. “It’s beautiful.” The rocking chair gleamed under the lights in her room. “Did you make it?”
Trent tipped the chair so that it rocked gently. “Nathan let me use his workshop so it would be a surprise. I hope you like it.”
“Like it? I love it. Now come here so I can give you a kiss.”
Jordan walked into the room. “You’re still kissing?”
“Trying to,” Trent muttered.
“Well you can’t kiss Gracie now. Santa’s brought you a Christmas gift.” Jordan checked the tag and read it out loud. “To Trent. I love you, even though you snore. Gracie.”
“I didn’t say that.” Gracie laughed, then groaned.
Jordan frowned. “You’re just too polite. Here you go.” He passed Trent the box in his arms and stood back.
Trent wasted no time ripping the paper and ribbon off the box. “A reciprocating saw?”
Gracie smiled as he checked out what it could do. “Someone told me that every man should have one.”
Jacob walked into the room carrying a box that smelled like roast turkey and gravy. “Merry Christmas, little sister.”
“Merry Christmas, Jacob. I think Santa’s got something for you.” Gracie looked over at Jordan.
“Ho, ho, ho,” Jordan said as he dug deep in the red sack in front of him.
Jacob found a space for the box of food he was carrying and frowned. “Weren’t we going to open our presents when you get home?”
“We were,” Gracie said. “But I thought I might get a Christmas present dispensation because of my injuries.”
“You’re pulling the sick card now?” Jordan asked. “Here I was feeling sorry for you and all the time you were twisting me around your little finger.”
Gracie smiled her sweetest smile at Jordan. “Will you forgive me?”
“Hard not to,” he mumbled. “I know Jacob’s present is in here somewhere.” He tried bending over his stomach, but couldn’t move with the extra stuffing around his waist. “If anyone believes in Santa, look away now. This isn’t going to be pretty.”
He reached into his red jacket and pulled out two fluffy pillows. “There goes the extra fifty pounds.” He winked at Gracie and kept hunting. “Here it is, Jacob. Merry Christmas.”
Jacob opened the little box and smiled at Gracie.
She watched him lift one of the little gold clips out of the box. “They’re cuff links shaped like kiwis for when you wear your fancy shirts to work.”
“They’ll remind me of you.” He leaned across the rail on Gracie’s bed and gave her a kiss. “Thank you.”
“And next out of Santa’s happy sack of goodies is a present for mom.” Jordan handed Karen her gift.
“You shouldn’t have, Gracie.” She carefully opened the box. “It’s a fancy cell phone.”
“You can take lots of pictures of your new granddaughter and email them to your friends,” Gracie said. “Trent and Jordan will show you how to use it.”
“It’s lovely, thank you.”
Jordan reached into his sack and handed Gracie’s dad his present.
He tore the wrapping off and smiled. “Figure this might come in handy to take my granddaughter around the ranch.” He held the baby front pack up for everyone to see. “Does this mean you’ve got babysitting duties in mind for us?”
“If you’d like to, dad.”
“It would be my pleasure, Gracie.” He kissed Gracie’s cheek and she brushed a tear away from his eyes.
“Well I guess it must be my turn?” Jordan dipped his hand in the sack and came out with an envelope.
“I hope you like it, Jordan,” Gracie said.
He pulled out the voucher and grinned. “You know the way to my heart.”
“What is it?” Karen asked.
Jordan looked at Gracie. “I’ll read the voucher to everyone.
To the second most sweetest guy I know, for the sweetest place I know. Bon appetit.
The voucher is for Angel Wings Cafe.”
“Get ready to put that fifty pounds back on,” Trent said.
“You work me too hard for that,” Jordan said. “Thanks, Gracie.”
“And on that calorie filled note,” Karen said. “I think we should have lunch.”
While Trent handed out their roast turkey meals, Jacob unscrewed the cap on a bottle of apple cider. Jordan found extra chairs in the empty rooms around them and they sat down to enjoy each other’s company.
It wasn’t the Christmas day any of them had expected, but it was filled with love, hope and laughter.
After the cider was finished and lunch had been eaten, Gracie watched her family. She didn’t know what the next few months would have in store for them, but right now, it didn’t matter. They had each other, and that was all that mattered.
THE END
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Alex and Emily’s story, and
Forever and a Day,
Jordan and Sarah’s story.
BOOK FIVE IN THE MONTANA BRIDES SERIES
Written by Leeanna Morgan
“Drop everything. I’ve found the perfect building.”
Emily looked up from her work table at her stepsister, her scissors hovering in mid air. “That’s what you said about the last one.”
“It had potential.” The gleam in Nicky’s eyes brought a smile to Emily’s face. “If you discounted the noisy neighbors.”
“Hard to ignore them when they taught kids how to play the drums and the electric guitar.” Emily went back to cutting the fabric in front of her, allowing a little extra grow room for the pregnant body that would wear the dress. “So tell me why this building is any different to the last ones we’ve seen?”
“The owners of the building aren’t looking for tenants, so you won’t have to worry about an over-inflated lease. They want to sell it. It’s two stores down from Angel Wings Café. Now grab your coat.”
Emily stopped cutting. Since Tess had opened the cafe, it had become one of the busiest eateries in downtown Bozeman. The food was so good that it had come second two years in a row in Montana’s Supreme Café Award.
The location of the building was great. The foot traffic would be huge. But what Emily liked most was that it was in the historic district. The area had character, a place in the founding stories of Bozeman. All of the things she wanted her fashion boutique to be part of.
She’d walked past the businesses either side of the café each week, admiring the handcrafts on one side and the florist on the other. She tried to remember what stores were beside them. “It can’t be the bookstore. I was in there last week and Kelly didn’t say anything about selling. Tell me it’s not the old library?”
“I’m not telling you anything until you see it for yourself.”
“You can’t be serious?” Emily stared at her sister. She’d officially gone nuts. The old library was a disaster. From the photos that had made the front page of the Bozeman Chronicle, there wasn’t much left inside that wasn’t burned to a crisp. “I thought the insurance company was still investigating the fire?”
“All finished. As of this morning it’s officially for sale.”
And probably in need of a major overhaul. Even though her step-family owned one of the largest construction companies in Montana, Emily wasn’t about to pull strings and get the building remodeled by someone else. She couldn’t afford to.
“How much do they want for it?” That was the crunch question that had kept her working from her two bedroom home for the last year.
“Ask me again after you’ve seen it.”
Emily started getting a little worried. Nicky was a hot-shot business consultant. She always had the facts and figures of each property engraved on her brain before they went to look at them. “I’m not going if it’s too expensive.”
“Where’s the creative designer gone? I thought you’d be in your truck and across town before I got the chance to take another breath.”
“She disappeared after we’d seen our fourteenth property.” Emily sighed. “I can’t stay here, but I can’t afford to go anywhere else. And before you mention it again, I’m not coming out to your ranch, or mom and dad’s either.”
“You won’t need to, not after you see this building. It’s got potential with a capital P. Now put those scissors down and come with me.”
Emily looked around her spare bedroom. Rolls of fabric lined one wall, and the shelves she’d made were full of everything she needed to create the clothes her clients loved. Space was so tight that she usually set her cutting table up in the kitchen. Except the kitchen was full of boxes ready to mail to her online customers.
She thought about what Tess had done with Angel Wings Café, how Kelly had transformed the bookstore. They’d turned the old musty buildings into successful businesses. Maybe with some careful planning she could do the same. As long as the careful planning came with an equally careful budget.
Nicky took a bright blue coat out of the closet and held it toward Emily. “If you don’t come and take a look you’re going to regret it.” When she didn’t answer, Nicky added, “I’ll have you back here in under an hour.”
Emily left the scissors on her table. “Okay, I’ll come with you. Just give me a couple of minutes to tidy up.”
“You’ve got three minutes.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re bossy?”
“All the time.” Nicky grinned. “It runs in the family.”
***
Alex buttoned his shirt and frowned at Doc Johnson’s back. “You can’t be serious?”
The gray-haired doctor turned around. The scowl on his face didn’t look promising. “I’ve never been more serious. I’m not giving you a medical clearance so that you can get pummeled by another bull.”
“It’s been four months. The doctor in Vegas said I should be good to go in a few months’ time.”
“He’s not here now and I’ve just seen your latest specialist’s report. If you don’t stay off the circuit for a few more months you’re going to end up with a permanent injury.”
“I’ve already registered for the Livingston Roundup in July,” he said stubbornly.
“Well, I suggest you unregister yourself,” Doc Johnson said in an equally stubborn tone. “If you go anywhere near that rodeo without my clearance you’ll be banned for half the season.”
“It’s three months away.”
“Makes no difference. You’re not ready now and you won’t be ready then.”
Alex worked his way off the bed and swallowed the pain that shot through his leg. “I’m a bull rider. It’s what I do. I need to get back on the circuit.”
Doc Johnson’s face softened. “I know it’s been hard, but you’ve got to give your body time to heal.” He scribbled something on a piece of paper. “I want to see you in four weeks’ time.”
Alex jammed the paper in his pocket without looking at it. When he got home he’d throw it in the same drawer with the other prescriptions he hadn’t filled.
“And this time make sure you take the drugs.”
Alex thought he was too old to blush, but a rush of heat hit his face. “How did you know?”
“I’ve been looking after you since you were knee high to a grasshopper. I can tell when you’re in pain. There’s still too much inflammation in your leg to be anything but uncomfortable.”
That had to be the understatement of the year. Some days the pain was so bad, Alex felt as though his leg was on fire. And it didn’t seem to be getting any better.
“Tell your mom I’m looking forward to sampling her sweet cherry pie at the Wildflower Festival.”
For a man in his early seventies, Doc Johnson seemed to have an ear to every conversation and event in town. “I’ll tell her. She’s got some stiff competition this year. Doris Stanley’s entering her lemon meringue pie and both of them want to go home with the blue ribbon.”
