The Texan's Christmas. Linda Warren

ran and jumped on the fence. Chance lifted his daughter over the top.

      “I’m good, huh, Daddy?” Darcy pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

      “You’re the best.” Chance hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

      “Here comes Mommy.” Darcy drew away and dashed to meet Shay who was walking across the lawn, holding baby Cody. Wearing denim shorts and a tank top, Shay looked beautiful, as always.

      “He was asleep earlier,” Shay said, handing the baby dressed in a blue outfit and cap to him. “Now he wants to see his uncle Kid.”

      Kid stared down at the three-month-old baby. Cody moved his head around, his greenish-brown eyes wide-open as he flailed his hands and legs.

      “I just nursed him and he wants more.”

      Chance kissed his son’s forehead. “Enough, buddy.”

      “Can I hold him, Mommy?” Darcy wanted to know.

      “When we get back to the house.”

      “Does anyone notice how much Cody looks like Jacob?” he asked, studying the chubby cheeks and cap of brown hair.

      “Yeah,” Chance replied, “except Jacob has Jessie’s black eyes. Cody’s will probably be brown like mine.”

      Kid cradled the baby in the crook of his arm and there it was again. That feeling. Suddenly he could put a name to it. Loneliness. His brothers, his running partners, were married and settled with families. He was the odd one out—alone and unattached. Holding their children filled that loneliness inside him. But it wasn’t enough. The thought startled him.

      “Shay.”

      Shay’s cousin, Nettie, strolled toward them. The woman wore a long full skirt and a gypsy blouse with her long gray hair flowing down her back. A purple scarf was tied around her head. Beads of every color were around her neck and on her wrists. She professed to be a gypsy-witch and took some getting used to. But she and Kid were now friends.

      From the start, Shay had wanted Nettie to move in with them because Nettie had raised her and Shay didn’t want her to be alone. Nettie, not wanting to horn in on newlyweds, refused. She liked her independence. When Shay became pregnant, Nettie changed her mind. She moved in about four months ago and took care of Cody while Shay taught school.

      “It’s too hot out here for the baby,” Nettie said.

      “The sun’s going down and it’s only for a few minutes,” Shay told her, glancing at her son. “He’s asleep so you can put him down. How’s that?”

      “I know I’m a little overprotective.” Nettie’s beads jangled as she talked.

      “A little?” Chance laughed.

      Kid handed off the precious bundle to Nettie, who immediately pulled the cap over Cody’s forehead.

      “Hey, Nettie, how about telling my future?” Nettie read palms and Kid thought he could use some help.

      “It’s right in front of your face.”

      “What? You haven’t even looked at my palm.”

      “I don’t need to. Your life line is long and leads to home, but it will not be a pleasant journey.”

      Kid frowned. “Are you yanking my chain?”

      Nettie smiled and walked toward the house with Cody.

      Darcy waved a hand in front of his face. “Can you see anything, Uncle Kid?”

      “Don’t be a smart…”

      Chance cleared his throat.

      “…butt,” he finished.

      Darcy giggled and darted after Nettie, Tiny trailing behind her. “I’m gonna help with Cody.”

      Standing on tiptoes, Shay reached up and kissed Chance. “Supper’s in about thirty minutes. And we have ice cream.”

      Chance smiled and kept smiling.

      “Kid, you’re welcome to stay,” Shay said, looking at him.

      “Thanks, but Aunt Etta’s waiting.” What was it with the cooking? The women he knew didn’t know how to use a stove.

      “I can’t beat that.”

      Shay followed the others and Kid noticed Chance was still smiling. “Is ice cream a secret code or something?”

      “What? Oh. Just memories of when we were dating.” Chance turned to him. “How’d it go with Lucky?”

      Kid placed his boot on the bottom pipe of the fence. “Like sticking a needle in my eye for pleasure.”

      “Ouch.”

      “She’s mad and refused to sign a lease. No.” He rested his elbow on the fence. “She’s angry as hell—at me. After all these damn years, she’s still angry. I don’t get it.”

      “Do you want me to hold a mirror up to your face?”

      “What?”

      “Nettie said your future is in front of you. Maybe you have to confront your past before you can see the future.”

      “Is the heat making you loony?”

      Chance sighed. “Kid, back away from this and I’ll talk to Lucky in the morning.”

      “No.” Kid pointed a finger at his brother. “Cadde said the same thing, but neither one of you is taking over my job.”

      “Okay. Okay.” Chance held up his hands. “I’m not going to mention how important it is to lease Lucky’s land. Everything else is leased up. Without that piece of property, we’re not drilling a well.”

      Kid removed his boot and leaned his back against the pipe. He knew all the risks and he never saw a problem until today. There had to be a way around his shady past.

      “How long has Lucky been home?”

      Chance shrugged. “Five or six years. Why?”

      “You’ve talked to her, right?”

      “Lots of times.”

      “Did she ever ask about me?”

      “No.”

      “Never?”

      “Never.” Chance sighed again. “She didn’t bring up your name and I didn’t, either. Why is this so important to you?”

      “Why did she come back?”

      Chance leaned heavily on the fence and Kid got the impression he wanted to bump his head against it. “We were kids, but I know you remember the time two guys tried to rob The Beer Joint.”

      “Yeah. It’s the only crime ever committed in High Cotton. Some stealing, family squabbles and speeding tickets, but no big crimes like the attempted robbery. As I recall two guys came in after closing with guns drawn demanding all the money. They just didn’t count on Bud having a .45 pistol in the cash register. He shot both of them before they could blink. When he walked around the bar, one of them squeezed off a shot and hit Bud in the hip.”

      “That’s about it. One winter he slipped on some ice and injured the hip pretty bad again. Lucky came home to take care of him and she never left.”

      “So she got a nursing degree?”

      Chance shook his head. “I don’t think so, but I’ve never asked.”

      Kid kicked at the dry September grass. “Why is she slinging beer?”

      “That bothers you?”

      “For some reason it does, and if you mention something about a mirror again I’m going to hit you.”

      Chance shook his head. “Okay.