Lone Star Christmas. Jolene Navarro

He’s looking to clean up the land and get it back into shape.”

      Max glared at her. “I don’t need to explain myself or my brothers to anyone.”

      Isaac stood, holding his puppy close. “Mr. McClain, we’d take really good care of these two. We think they want to stay together, so they won’t be scared when they leave their mom.”

      Jim softened and smiled at the five-year-old. “I believe they like you, too. I’ll talk to my sister, and you talk with your brother. It’s a big responsibility.” He went down on his haunches so that he was eye to eye with both boys. “They’d count on you to take care of them.”

      The brothers now stood next to each other, each hugging a puppy like they’d never let go. Tomas kissed his black pup on its nose. “We’re going to call this one Baby. That’s what Momma called Daddy.”

      Isaac giggled as the golden pup licked his ear. “This one is going to be Queenie because Daddy called Momma his queen. She’s blonde like Momma. What do you think?”

      Jim patted the little dog. “Those sound like fine names.” He stood and turned to Max. “Looks like you got a couple of dogs. I can put all the supplies you’ll need on a ranch account for you.” He turned to the boys. “On that second aisle over there is a bunch of collars and other stuff puppies need. Pick out what you want, and I’ll have it all ready for you when you pick them up the Saturday after Thanksgiving.” He smirked at Max. “I trust you’ll pay the balance then.”

      Rushing over the fencing, the twins charged into Max. “Please. We love these puppies. Vanessa’ll love them, too.”

      He looked at Jackie, a sadness in his eyes. She thought about pointing out to the boys that Max hadn’t actually agreed to them keeping the dogs. With a sigh, he shook his head.

      Ethan scowled. “You’re going to let them do whatever they want, aren’t you?”

      Max dropped to meet the boys eye to eye. “I’m so sorry, boys, but we can’t take these puppies. If Vanessa says no, then they will have nowhere to go. That’s not fair to them.” He reached out to wipe a tear off Isaac’s cheek. “It’s not fair to you, either. I can’t tell you yes, then turn around and take them away from you.”

      Tomas squeezed his puppy. “We could all stay with you.”

      The sadness in Max’s eyes caused her to fight back her own tears. There had to be some way she could help. Maybe she could offer to take the puppies.

      Max picked up one of the puppies. “Tomas, I’ll be going back to the rodeo soon. We have the next couple of weeks together, then you’ll be going with Vanessa. We’ll visit and talk as much as you want, but you can’t live with me. Do you understand?”

      “Yes, sir.” Both boys nodded.

      He looked at Jim. “Maybe we could visit while we’re still in town?”

      “Not a problem. The puppies always need a bit of attention.” Jim held his hand out again and waited for Max to take it. “Welcome back to Clear Water, Delgado. Let me know what you need, and I can have it delivered. If you need help clearing out the thistles, I know where you can hire some local boys.” He pulled a card out of his shirt pocket. “Call me for whatever you need.”

      “Thanks.” Max didn’t look all that thankful. “Come on, boys. Tell the dogs bye. We need to get our food and head to the ranch. I don’t need you getting sick from being out in the cold.” He turned to her as he pulled off his jacket. “Here, put this on. You can’t get sick, either. Don’t need more reasons for people to hate me.”

      “I come from tough stock.” She pulled the comfortable denim around her shoulders anyway and tried not to inhale his scent too deeply. It filled her with comfort. Not good. “But thank you.”

      * * *

      He watched as she gently helped the boys put the puppies back with the litter. Caring for the boys, and giving them what they needed, seemed to come naturally for her.

      Why is it so hard for me? It would be easier to face down an angry bull than tell these boys no.

      A few more tears and they said their goodbyes. Going back through the convenience store to the café, they gathered their food and got everyone buckled in to her car.

      Not a word was spoken as they drove down Main Street. Early signs of Christmas had already appeared in some of the shop windows. The holidays were just around the corner. It had pretty much been just another day in his life.

      Isaac slurped his drink. “When can we visit the puppies again?”

      Jackie made eye contact through the rearview mirror, then glanced at Max.

      Ethan shook his head. “Are we going to talk about what they did?” He leaned forward and glared at the boys. “You took off without telling me where you were going. You caused a lot of trouble.”

      Jackie stopped at the only light in town. She looked at Max as if she expected him to do something. He was tired, and he didn’t know how to fix any of this.

      “Ethan, when I sent you with the boys, I expected you to watch them. They’re only five and six and in a strange place. Maybe I need to take your phone, so you’ll remember your responsibilities.”

      Horror etched itself on the teen’s face. “You can’t do that! You don’t pay the bill. My mom does.”

      “If you want to return to your mom, that wouldn’t be a problem. I can hire a driver to take you to the airport, and you can go back to Chicago.”

      Crossing his arms, Ethan stared out the window. “So, I lose my phone because they ran off. They don’t even have phones, so what’s going to happen to them? I told them to come right back, and they didn’t listen to me.”

      Isaac twisted around. “No, you didn’t say anything. You were playing a game.”

      “You didn’t check on them. That was your job.” He looked at the tiny versions of himself. “Guys, you can’t ever disappear like that again. If you had gotten hurt or lost, we wouldn’t have known where to find you.”

      “Like Momma and Daddy on the boat? They didn’t tell anyone, and no one knew they were lost. Could we have died like them?”

      Ethan leaned over his seat from the back. “Yes! That’s why you can’t go off by yourselves.”

      Tomas looked like he was about to start crying again.

      “Ethan!” Saying this sharper and angrier than he had meant, Max closed his eyes for a minute and counted before addressing the teen again. “Scaring them is not the way to go.”

      “Well, they scared me! And now you want to take away my phone.” He threw himself back. “This isn’t fair. I don’t want to go back to Chicago.” He twisted his mouth and glared out the window.

      Oh, man, it looks like he is about to cry. “You don’t want to go home with your mother?”

      “Do you want me to leave?”

      “No. But it’s going to be Thanksgiving. I thought you might want to be with your family. Don’t you have stepbrothers?” He still wasn’t too sure why Ethan had asked to come with them.

      “Yes. I’d rather be here without my phone than being forced to hang out with them. I’d sleep in the barn if I have to. They’re not nice, and my stepfather thinks...everything they do is funny.”

      Jackie looked up. “What about your mother?”

      He shrugged and looked out the window. “She’s busy.”

      Max closed his eyes. And scrambled some ideas around in his brain. He could figure this out. The reason he had taken the boys and why he’d let Ethan join them was that he remembered the loneliness after his mother’s death. Like the world had gone on and forgotten her and him.

      With