Her Cowboy Till Christmas. Jill Kemerer

Mason found himself checking on her more often. She’d been slowing down for a while now, so for the past year he’d stopped in every weekday afternoon to see how she was doing and to feed the barn cats. On Saturdays, he and Noah popped over to her place to bring her groceries.

      Nan was as close to a mother or grandmother as Mason had now. And he couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to her, either.

      He pulled out the card Ryder had handed him, gave it a cursory glance and flicked it onto the end table.

      Lies. So many lies.

      Ma and Pops had to have known he had a twin brother. Not once had they mentioned it. Wouldn’t they think he’d want to know he had a sibling?

      An identical twin. Ryder.

      His heart raced.

      He wasn’t ready to think about him. Not yet.

      And what was with Brittany coming here to introduce them? Especially since he couldn’t remember the last time she’d visited her own grandma. She didn’t appreciate Nan. While she romped around California, Mason was the one taking care of her sweet grandmother. Not that he minded checking on Nan. He didn’t.

      The ticktock of the kitchen clock echoed through the house.

      He’d give about anything to have Mia here right now. She’d know what to say. She’d rub his shoulders and ease the gnawing sensation gripping every muscle in his body.

      He missed her so much.

      The first year after she died, he’d strained to hear her laughter. He’d wake up in the dead of night, reach over to touch her and his lungs would seize when he realized he was alone. He’d find himself catching his breath as he entered the kitchen, knowing she wouldn’t be there, but somehow expecting her to be rolling out dough for cinnamon buns. The second year after she died, his in-laws, Bill and Joanna Page, had begun to cling to him and Noah even more, and his memories of Mia had grown fuzzy. Last year, the third year, Mason could no longer hear the echoes of her gentle laugh. Worse, he was drowning under Bill’s expectations of him. Mason itched to create a sliver of distance from his in-laws, and they were just as determined to keep him glued to their side.

      His cell phone’s loud ring made him jump. “Hello?”

      “You’re not going to believe this.” His friend Gabby Stover managed Mountain View Inn, and every Tuesday night he met with her and his sister-in-law, Eden Page. They’d formed their own support group to deal with the tragedies they’d experienced. He and Eden were still trying to piece their lives back together after Mia’s death, and Gabby’s sister had recently died of a heart attack after giving birth to a baby girl. Gabby was now raising little Phoebe as her own daughter. Thankfully, Eden babysat Noah and Phoebe for him and Gabby while they worked. He didn’t know what he’d do without them.

      “I don’t want you to freak out.” Her words tumbled out quickly.

      Gabby must be working tonight. It hadn’t occurred to him to warn her Ryder was on his way to the inn.

      “I already know. I have an identical twin.” Saying the words out loud made them seem real. How had he made it twenty-nine years without knowing he had a twin? Maybe he’d better stop wondering and start coming up with a plan for what to do about his long-lost brother.

      The sound of her gasp came through the line. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

      “I just found out myself. He stopped by.”

      “What do you mean he stopped by? How did he find you? Did you know you had a twin? Why isn’t he with you now?”

      Sometimes Gabby was the bossy older sister he’d always wanted. Not tonight, though. “An old...er...friend of mine ran into him in California and figured we should meet.”

      “California? Who?”

      “Brittany Green.”

      “Wait—Brittany? The name sounds familiar. Do I know her?” He could hear computer keys tapping in the background. “Couldn’t she have called first?”

      “She’s Nan’s granddaughter. And she did call. I didn’t answer.”

      “Nan’s...oh, that’s right. Why wouldn’t you answer? And I’m surprised you let Ryder come to the inn. Why is he staying here and not at your place?”

      He suppressed a groan. Of course Gabby would assume he’d invited Ryder to stay. She was like that—welcoming to all. Well, not cowboys. She had an odd aversion to them.

      “I didn’t ask him.” Should he have asked him to stay?

      “Why not?”

      “Seeing him was a shock. I needed time to process.”

      “No doubt. For what it’s worth, he seems nice.” A moment of silence stretched between them on the line. “You are going to talk to him more while he’s here, right?”

      Yes. But what if it opened a can of worms he’d rather be left shut? What else had Ma and Pops lied to him about? How much of his past was true and how much was false?

      “I think so,” he said.

      “Good. This is your family. You should get to know him better.”

      “Yeah. It’s a lot to take in.” A lifetime of wanting a sibling pulled hard on his heart. What if he got to know—and love—his brother only to lose him the way he’d lost his grandparents and Mia? Nothing good stuck around his life for long.

      Except Noah. Mason trusted God would always take care of his son.

      “I’ll pray about it, and you should, too.” Muffled sounds came through the line. “Prepare yourself, though. Babs saw him on the way to his room and thought it was you. He set her straight.”

      A sinking sensation slid down to his stomach. Babs O’Rourke was the owner of Mountain View Inn and could only be described as a busybody. In her early seventies, she had flaming red hair, talked a mile a minute and noticed everything—and everyone—in Rendezvous. The entire town would know he had a twin before dawn.

      “Can I let you go?” Gabby asked. “I’m being summoned.”

      “Sure. Talk to you later.”

      He got up and poured himself a glass of water. Gabby was right. He needed to pray. Between juggling single fatherhood and managing his ranch, he was full up on problems. This fall he’d had to make tough decisions about his cattle herd. The payment plan for Mia’s medical bills didn’t allow any wiggle room in his budget. Until he paid them off, he needed the ranch to bring in more income than it currently was.

      And now this...

      Maybe his tattered baby book would have some answers. Or the boxes of old photos in the attic might hold some clues.

      One thing was certain—whatever he decided to do about Ryder, he’d be doing on his own. As far as he was concerned, he’d had enough of Brittany Green for another ten years.

       Chapter Two

      Rendezvous was a middle-of-nowhere town where dreams died. That’s what her mother had always told her, anyway.

      The next morning, Brittany slipped her feet into fuzzy slippers and padded into Nan’s kitchen for a cup of coffee.

      Rendezvous hadn’t always been the dream killer her mother claimed. Until Brittany graduated high school, it had been more like a welcoming hug—a place to catch her breath each summer. But she couldn’t deny her mom’s words. One of her dreams had died here a decade ago. And the others had no shot at coming true in these parts. A small town in Wyoming wasn’t the place to put together an elite competitive dance team, that was for sure.

      California had been the right choice