Evergreen Springs. RaeAnne Thayne

you know that?”

      “I did.” Devin smiled, her heart aching a little at the sad note in Jazmyn’s voice when she talked about her mother. Deep compassion seeped through her for these children whose world had been tossed around as if they were pinecones floating in the fast current of the Hell’s Fury.

      Personally, she thought a white tree with pink lights didn’t sound appealing, but she supposed it was like the difference between living somewhere like Haven Point or choosing a warmer climate. Everybody had personal preferences, which was what made the world such a crazy, jumbled place of both beauty and tragedy.

      “Well, there are tons of evergreens at Evergreen Springs,” Jazmyn informed her. “Just look around.”

      “There’s a whole forest of them,” Ty added, grunting a little as he tried to keep rolling the ball that was now up to his chest.

      “I wish we had a tree already but Dad hasn’t had time,” Jazmyn said with a little note of disgust in her voice.

      “He got four new horses to train this week and maybe two more coming next week,” Ty answered.

      So they didn’t only raise cattle here at the ranch, apparently. Cole Barrett sounded like a busy man. Still, that was no excuse for not giving two grieving children as happy a Christmas as possible.

      That was the missing element at the house, Devin suddenly realized. She had seen no sign of Christmas anywhere. No stockings hanging over that beautiful hewn-log mantel over the river-rock fireplace in the great room, no evergreen garlands twining down the staircase, no candles or bells or wreaths.

      And no Christmas tree.

      The holiday was now a little less than two weeks away. Busy or not, Cole would have to find time to give this to his children.

      What would he do now, without his sister here to help? She could only imagine how overwhelming he must be finding this, suddenly having custody of two needy, emotionally fragile children.

      Had he even bought gifts for Jazmyn and Ty?

      Tricia probably would have done a few things to bring a holiday mood to the house but considering her marriage was in trouble and she was pregnant with twins, perhaps she hadn’t quite had the energy.

      Not her business, Devin reminded herself. She had done her kind deed for the day, gathering freezer meals for him in an effort to take one thing off his plate until he could hire a housekeeper. She couldn’t jump in and start decorating his house.

      Why was she so drawn to help him?

      The children, she told herself. It was all about the children. Cole Barrett could sit here in his cold, cheerless house for all she cared, but these children needed more.

      “Do you have a Christmas tree?” Ty asked her, his breath coming in puffs as they pushed the big ball across the yard one more time, working together to pat on more snow as they went.

      “I do. I have a couple of them, one in my bedroom and one in my family room. They don’t have very many decorations on them. I have two cats named Seamus and Simone, a tiger-striped and a black cat, and they like to knock off the ornaments.”

      “You don’t have a little boy or a little girl?” Ty asked.

      Devin forced a smile, ignoring the familiar crampy ache around her heart. “No. I’m afraid not.”

      “But you have two cats,” Jazmyn said. “I’d like to have a cat. If I did, I would name her Penelope and call her Penny.”

      “Sounds like you’ve given it some thought.”

      “I have. I’d like a cat or a puppy.” She went on about the time she, Ty and their mother had lived in an apartment building and the lady next door had four cats and let Jazmyn come over sometimes to pet them and help give them food and water. From there, she chattered about how easy school was for her because they were behind the school where she used to go, about her favorite TV show, about the trip to Disneyland her grandmother had apparently promised her.

      Whenever his sister stopped to take a breath, Ty interjected his own occasional commentary—about the new brick set he wanted for Christmas, about the horse his father said he could get someday and about his new friends at school.

      In the process, they finished the midsection of the snowman and worked together on the final ball.

      “That is the perfect snowman head,” Jazmyn declared. “It’s not too square and not too tall.”

      “I agree. Can you help me lift it up?”

      The two of them worked together to heft the large ball onto the top of the snowman and pat a little more snow in to anchor it in place. Then it was time for the finishing touches.

      “What a good idea you had to bring out a scarf. That’s just what he needs,” Devin said, which made Jazmyn preen. Devin wrapped the scarf around, even giving it a jaunty, complicated knot.

      “We have to put on a face now! I’m going to go see if there’s a carrot in the refrigerator.”

      “Good thinking. While you’re doing that, we’ll look for some sticks for the arms and something to use for eyes and a mouth.”

      She and Ty easily found sticks as well as an abundance of pinecones perfect for crafting the snowman’s face and buttons down his front. She was lifting the boy up to wedge in a couple of pinecones for his eyes when Jazmyn returned from the house.

      “No carrots,” she said in a tone of deep disgust. “All we had were dinky baby carrots and that would just look stupid. But I did find an orange plastic cup. I thought that might work.”

      “Nice save.” Devin smiled. “I think that should do very well.”

      “And look what else!” She pulled a battered black cowboy hat from behind her back. “This is the perfect hat for a snowman who lives on a ranch like us.”

      “As long as that’s not your dad’s best hat.”

      “He never wears it. He has a different one. I think this is an old one.”

      She could only hope so. Cole could always take it down if he didn’t want it on the snowman. With a mental shrug, Devin pointed to the cowboy. “You’d better do the honors and put on the finishing touches.”

      Looking much less surly than she had when they started, Jazmyn reached as high as she could to shove in the nose but she couldn’t reach the top so Devin scooped her up and held her while she positioned the cowboy hat at a jaunty angle.

      “There. Perfect.”

      “It’s the best snowman ever,” Ty declared.

      “I don’t know if it’s the best one ever but it’s the best one I’ve ever built,” Jazmyn agreed.

      Devin fought a smile. Beneath her contrariness, Jazmyn was actually a very sweet girl. She simply had strong opinions and wasn’t afraid to share them. That wasn’t a bad trait at all, only one that perhaps needed tempering. She needed to learn that her viewpoint didn’t necessarily trump all others.

      “We should build a friend for him,” Ty said.

      “Looks like he already has some.” Devin pointed to a couple of finches who had fluttered to a landing atop the snowman’s hat.

      Both children giggled and they stood still for a moment, watching the birds hop around the hat, while the beautiful view of the lake and valley stretched out below them.

      “Can we build another snowman?” Jazmyn asked. “That way he won’t have to be alone here when the birds fly away and it gets dark.”

      “It can be smaller. Maybe like a big brother and a little brother,” Ty said.

      “Of course. Now that we know how to do it, we should be able to make one in a snap.”

      They had