The Cowboy's Holiday Blessing. Brenda Minton

the sky a clear blue, not a cloud in sight. It hadn’t warmed up much and didn’t seem to be heading in that direction.

       The corral held a few of their best bulls. Jackson walked up to the metal pipe enclosure and raised a foot to rest it on the lowest pipe of the six-foot-tall pen. He hadn’t ridden bulls professionally for several years. He trained them, sometimes hauled them and then sold them. The Cooper bull breeding program was his baby. Gage, the brother between Reese and Travis, was the bull rider these days.

       Raising bucking bulls had become a big business, bigger than they’d ever thought it would be.

       Travis pointed to a rangy, Holstein mix bull. “Bottle Rocket is scheduled for the championship round in Oklahoma City?”

       “He is.” Not one of them had guessed that little bull calf they had bottle-fed would be a champion bucking bull. But there he was, pawing at the ground and looking for all the world like a top athlete and not the sickly calf they’d saved six years earlier.

       A car rumbled up the drive. Jackson didn’t turn as quickly as he would have a week ago. Travis beat him to the punch. And that meant a lot of explaining for Jackson to do.

       “Isn’t that Madeline Patton?” Travis crossed his arms over one of the poles of the fence but turned to watch as Madeline got out of the car and then the front door of the house opened.

       What in the world was she doing here so early?

       “Yeah, I guess it is.” Jackson turned his back to the woman and kid heading their way. He needed to think fast and distract Travis.

       But of course this would be the day that Travis was focused and sharp. He pulled dark-framed glasses out of his pocket and shoved them onto his handsome face. Somehow Travis always looked studious in those glasses. And serious.

       Jackson kept his own attention focused on Bottle Rocket.

       “So, Madeline Patton and a kid that looks like you. Something you want to tell me?” Travis stared straight ahead, his voice low.

       Jackson wanted to clobber his younger brother. Travis was like the farm dog that kept chewing up shoes, but you kept it anyway. He didn’t mean to cause trouble, he just naturally found it.

       “No, I don’t really have much to tell you.”

       “Well, there are rumors spreading through town about a kid that looks like you showing up at the Mad Cow asking for directions to Jackson Cooper’s house.”

       Travis let out a sigh and shook his head. He stepped back from the fence and turned to face the woman and teenager heading their way.

       “People in this town gossip more than they pray.” Jackson walked away from his younger brother.

       “Shoot, Jackson, what do you think a prayer chain is?”

       Jackson didn’t wait for Travis, but Travis caught up with him anyway, “Travis, I’d hope that a prayer chain is for prayer.”

       “Is she yours?”

       Jackson glanced at Travis. “What do you think?”

       “What are you going to do about it?”

       Jackson shrugged. At this point he didn’t have a clue. But it would help if he could find her mother. Since he’d discovered there wasn’t a death certificate for Gloria Baker, he assumed she was still alive.

      Chapter Four

      Madeline didn’t quite know what to say, not with Travis staring from Jackson to Jade and then to her. She wanted to lift her hands and back away. She wanted to explain to them all that this family drama didn’t belong to her. But the girl standing next to her, what happened to her if Madeline took the quickest exit from the situation?

       Common sense told her that someone else would step in. If she left, Jackson would have to turn to his family for help. She looked up, caught him watching her, probably wondering the same thing she’d caught herself wondering. Why in the world was she here? He grinned and winked.

       Someday she’d regret this moment, the moment she decided not to walk away. But the past had to be conquered. She couldn’t spend her life running from the fear. Standing there looking at Jackson Cooper, all of that fear, rational and irrational, rushed in, pummeling her heart.

       She took a deep breath and Jade reached for her hand, holding her in that spot.

       “Travis, maybe it’s time for you to go.” Jackson slapped his little brother on the back. “And if you can, keep your mouth shut.”

       Travis tipped his hat. “Will do, brother. If I can.”

       “Try. Real hard.”

       Travis laughed as he walked away. Madeline watched him go and then she couldn’t ignore Jackson any longer. He stood in front of her, an imposing six feet of strength, muscle and charm.

       She watched Jade’s retreating back as she followed the dog into the stable. Madeline fought back the urge to run, because running was easy. Something had clicked in Sunday services a few weeks ago, about facing life with God’s strength, not our own. If she couldn’t be strong on her own, she could be strong, more than a conqueror, with God.

       “Jackson, I know this isn’t easy. I think the sooner you tell your family the better.”

       “I’m going to do that. It isn’t as if I’m a kid who’s afraid to go home and tell his dad he messed up. I’ve messed up plenty in my life, Madeline. I know exactly who and what I am.”

       That’s good, because she didn’t know him or what exactly he was. He could be charming and funny. He helped a woman pick up her spilled canned goods. He always showed up first when a neighbor needed help. The tornado last spring had been an example of that. He’d worked tirelessly on homes that were damaged. He’d hauled food and water to people trying to rebuild their lives.

       She’d admired that about him. Admired him from a distance, of course. Distance kept a person safe.

       “You’re a good person, Jackson.” The words slipped out, honest but ugh, so embarrassing once they were said. She looked away, seeking Jade, making sure the girl hadn’t decided to climb on a bull or a wild horse.

       Jackson stared at her for a long minute and then he smiled.

       “Madeline, I think that’s about the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

       “I doubt that. But honestly, about Jade…”

       He glanced at his watch. “What are you doing here so early?”

       “We got out at noon today. I forgot to tell you that earlier.”

       “Right, a holiday?”

       “For the kids. A planning day for teachers.” She started toward the barn, drawn by the whinny of a horse and laughter. Jackson walked next to her. She glanced up at him. “What are you going to do?”

       “I’m not sure. I can’t find any information on her mother’s death. And I emailed a friend in law enforcement. She hasn’t been reported missing.”

       Madeline stopped walking. “So where do you think her mother is?”

       He didn’t have a clue. “Maybe she’s the one that’s missing? I might have to drive to Enid. I’m going to keep searching because I’m starting to think she’s not actually from Enid.”

       “You think?”

       “What, you came to that conclusion first?”

       She smiled because the look on his face said he clearly didn’t think she could think of it first. “The thought had crossed my mind. I think there’s far more to her story than she’s telling.”

       “The guy is always the last to know.” He motioned her inside the stable ahead of him.