Western Christmas Wishes. Brenda Minton

protested with a grim look of determination.

      “Gladys,” Dora responded, “it appears you have company.”

      Laurel smiled and waved at her grandmother.

      “That I do,” Gladys replied. “And since I’m just here for physical therapy, I’ll be going home soon. The rest of these poor souls have to suffer through your tight budget.”

      Gladys hurried over to Laurel, hugged her tightly and then allowed herself to be led from the room.

      “That didn’t sound good, Gran,” Laurel observed.

      “They’re stealing Christmas,” Rose chimed in.

      “That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?” Cameron asked as he came up behind them.

      Rose shot him a look. “Of course it is, but I’m all about the D’s.”

      He looked perplexed and Laurel found herself smiling, because she knew about the D’s. Her grandmother’s hand on her arm made her feel better than she’d felt in weeks. Since her bakery had failed, then she’d learned the man she’d been dating was also dating another woman, upheaval seemed to be too calm a word to describe how her life had felt.

      For a moment she forgot that a man named Curt Jackson existed and he was more than likely her father. Somehow her quick trip to Hope, a needed visit with her grandmother, had turned more than a little bit complicated.

      Cameron Hunt stepped around her, pushing open the door to her grandmother’s room. He made quick eye contact with her and she smiled. She would leave in a couple weeks but he would always fill a space in her memories. He’d been the person with her when she met her father for the first time.

      Not her mother. Not her grandmother.

      This man.

       Chapter Three

      Cameron stood there awkwardly, watching as Gladys looked her granddaughter over. He should leave. He couldn’t even explain why he’d decided to visit today, other than to make sure Laurel and Rose got here safely. Not that they’d needed an escort.

      He had things to do. He was building a house. He had horses that needed working while the weather was good. He didn’t need to be involved in this reunion. He lived in Hope because the town was peaceful, and he was in need of peace.

      “Who is Curt Jackson?” Laurel’s question jerked him back to the present. He looked from the younger woman to her grandmother.

      Of course, Gladys didn’t look shaken. If she could take on a half-broke horse, she could handle a question like that. But then Rose pulled the kitten out from her pocket. Gladys noticed the animal and her eyes widened.

      “Is that one of Cam’s kittens?” Gladys asked.

      Rose immediately put the kitten back in her pocket. “What kitten?”

      “I can promise you, young lady, my vision is very good.”

      Cameron put a hand on Rose’s back and gave her a little nudge toward the door. “Let’s go find the vending machine.”

      “Thank you, Cam.” Gladys gave him a winning smile.

      “Hey, what’s up with that?” Rose asked as he guided her down the hallway. “I wanted to visit with Gladys, too.”

      “I’ll buy you a candy bar.” He had a suspicion Laurel needed to talk to her grandmother about more than her stay in the nursing home.

      “Is that a bribe?”

      “It is,” he answered.

      “It’s wrong for them to take away the tree and gifts from these people,” Rose told him as they entered the lounge with the vending machines. “I don’t think it’s about Christmas. I think they’re just being cheap.”

      “I would agree.” His guess was that the new owners planned to flip the business and wanted to cut corners and increase profit to make it look like a good investment.

      Rose glanced at him after perusing the selection in the vending machine. “We have to do something.”

      “Not my place,” he answered.

      “I’ll have to come up with my own plan, then.” She held her hand out. “Dollar please.”

      He handed over the money and tried not to worry about Rose coming up with a plan.

      “Do you think she’s pretty?” she asked.

      “Who? Dora?” He pretended ignorance.

      “Good try.”

      “I think she’s none of my business,” he told the teen. He looked at his watch. “And I have to go.”

      “Chicken,” the girl clucked.

      He refrained from rolling his eyes—something a grown man shouldn’t even think of doing. “I’m not going to respond to that. I have an appointment with my contractor.”

      He ignored the look she gave him. He wasn’t chicken, he just needed his space. He needed his horses, a few head of cattle and no awkward looks as people pretended they weren’t staring, weren’t wondering what had happened to him.

      “What about Gladys?” Rose continued, following him down the hall.

      “What about her?”

      “She has to stay here for twenty days. They’ll ruin her Christmas.”

      “Rose, Gladys isn’t going to be here at Christmas. I know Gladys and she’ll be done with this place before then.”

      “She can’t just leave, can she? It’s like prison. When they put a person in a place like this, they lose their freedom. The doors are locked. Didn’t you notice the doors are locked? You’re a lawyer, you know how these things work.”

      “I have a law degree. But I’m not a lawyer.”

      “Yeah, yeah, your face, and all of that. But you know how it works. Legally they can keep people here.”

      The girl was truly frightened. He could see it in her eyes. She might try to act like life was all fun and games, but Rose had been through some hard times. Gladys was probably the first properly functioning adult in her young life and she was giving Rose a first taste of a normal and safe home.

      “Gladys is here voluntarily. It’s a twenty-day program to help her with physical therapy and to regain full use of her arm and shoulder.”

      “So she can leave? She’ll come home?” Rose stood in front of the door, not allowing him to leave. “I won’t have to go to a foster home with strangers? Or a group home?”

      “Rose, I am not an expert at these kinds of cases, but I think you’re safe.”

      “If they try to take me, will you be my lawyer?”

      He pulled his hat low and sighed. “I’m not a lawyer but I’ll do what I can to make sure they don’t take you from Gladys.”

      She wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug. “I hope she stays.”

      “What?” He shook his head at the quick change. “You were just saying you want her out.”

      “I mean Laurel. I hope she stays. It would be easier for Gladys to keep me if she had help. The caseworker says all the time that Gladys is eighty and probably too old to raise a teenager. If Laurel stays...”

      Yeah, yeah, he got it. If Laurel stayed, Rose would be happy. Gladys would be happy. Everyone would be happy. Except Laurel, he suspected.

      Cameron needed to get home and focus on his life, instead of getting involved in the lives of these three ladies.