Christmas Kisses with My Cowboy. Kate Pearce

* *

      Parker stopped at the steps where Katy was standing. “I’ll be over Thursday about six to take you guys trick-or-treating,” he said. “That okay?”

      She smiled. “That’s fine. Teddie will be looking forward to it. She loves Halloween.”

      “Me, too,” he said with a grin. “I like anything to do with fantasy creatures, although I’m partial to dragons. But giant spiders and bats are okay.”

      She rolled her eyes. “You and Teddie,” she mused. “I always decorate for all the holidays, but my favorite is Christmas.”

      “I like that one also,” he said. “My mother was traditional. She didn’t celebrate regular holidays, but my cousin’s parents were Catholic, so they always had a Christmas tree and presents. It was great fun.”

      She cocked her head. “Crow people have a proud tradition,” she said softly. “I grew up reading about them in Montana.”

      “I forgot that you were raised there as well. Where?”

      “Near Hardin, where the battleground is.”

      He whistled. “The rez is close to there,” he reminded her. “That’s where I was raised.”

      She laughed. “I’m surprised that we didn’t know each other then.”

      “I’m not. I didn’t venture off the rez until I was in my late teens. When I did, I got into all sorts of trouble. I’ll bet you never put a foot wrong.”

      She shrugged. “My parents were strict.”

      “My mother died in my formative years. My cousin’s parents were lenient; they pretty much let us do what we pleased,” he confessed. “Probably not the best way to raise a child. But we’re not big on heavy-handed discipline.”

      “I had a friend whose grandfather was Crow,” she recalled. “I learned a lot from her.”

      His dark eyes searched hers. “Teddie wants to learn to speak it.” He laughed. “I told her it was a lot harder than it looked.”

      She nodded. “I know it is. Most native languages have glottal stops and high and low tones and nasalization.”

      “Do you speak any of them?”

      She shook her head. “I just have Spanish,” she said. “I loved it from the time I was a child. I read a book that had Spanish words in it when I was in fifth grade. I took it all through high school and college.”

      “Are you literate in it?”

      “Yes.” She smiled. “I love to read books in the original language, books like Don Quixote.”

      “I envy you that. I can only read books in English. Well, and in Crow,” he added, “and there are a few, mostly about legends.”

      “How about sign language?”

      He chuckled. “I cut my teeth on that. My grandfather taught it to me.”

      “I learned just a few signs. I can’t even remember them now.”

      “You need to brush up,” he teased. “We can talk over Teddie’s head without her knowing what we say.”

      “I’ll get out my books,” she returned, eyes sparkling.

      He hesitated. “Well, I’d better go. I brushed Bartholomew down, by the way, and put him in his stall. He’s doing fine. Tell Teddie.”

      “I will.”

      “Have a good night,” he said.

      Her eyes searched over his handsome face. “You, too.”

      He smiled and turned away with visible reluctance. She watched him all the way to his truck. When he drove off, with a wave of his hand, she was still watching.

      * * *

      Parker came to get them on Halloween night. Teddie went as Rey from the new Star Wars movies, complete with light saber. Katy was too self-conscious to wear a costume, although she did wear a pretty black silky blouse with pumpkins and lace, and nice-fitting jeans. She left her hair down, because she knew that their new friend liked it that way.

      “The fire department is also handing out candy,” he said when they were on the way into Benton. “So we can make a lot of stops.”

      “Oh, boy!” Teddie said. “Endless candy!”

      “Endless dentist visits,” Katy groaned.

      “Stop that,” two voices said at once. Teddie and Parker looked at each other and just howled with laughter as they realized they’d said it at the same time.

      “You two!” Katy said in mock anger. “I can’t take you anyplace!”

      “We’ll behave,” Teddie promised.

      “Speak for yourself.” Parker chuckled. “I never behave.”

      * * *

      Their first stop was the side of the town square that contained a restaurant and a sports bar, along with a dress shop. The proprietors were wearing costumes and carrying pumpkin baskets full of candy.

      Teddie held out her own bag and received handfuls of candy while Parker and Katy watched from the sidewalk.

      “They really pull out the stops to do this, don’t they?” Katy asked. “It’s so nice of them!”

      “It’s dangerous for kids to go alone these days,” he remarked. “And houses are spaced so far apart that it would take forever to go door to door.”

      “That’s true.”

      “Hey, Mrs. Blake,” a young voice called.

      Katy turned. She smiled. The girl, a redhead with brown eyes, was in the class she taught. “Hello, Jean,” she greeted. “You look very trendy!” she added.

      Jean, who was wearing a Wonder Woman costume, laughed. “Thanks! My mom bought it for me!”

      A woman joined them. She was tall and she looked irritated. “Honestly, all this fuss just for some candy we could have bought at the store,” she muttered. “I’m missing my favorite program on TV!”

      Jean flushed and looked as if she could have gone through the concrete with embarrassment.

      “We all make sacrifices for the children we love,” Katy said gently, making the tactful remark with just a faint bite in her tone.

      The woman actually blushed as she looked from Katy to Parker. She cleared her throat. “Well, of course we do,” she added belatedly. She forced a smile, and Jean relaxed. “Come on, Jean, there’s another bag of treats waiting for you.” She nudged her daughter forward.

      “Good to see you, Mrs. Blake,” Jean said.

      “Good to see you, too, Jean,” Katy said softly.

      Parker made a face as the two of them went out of earshot. “My mother would never have complained like that.”

      “Neither would mine,” Katy said on a sigh.

      “Parker?” came an almost incredulous voice from behind them.

      Chapter Five

      Parker turned around and there was his former sergeant, Butch Matthews, grinning like a Cheshire cat as he saw his friend keeping company with a woman. A pretty woman, at that.

      “How’s it going, Sarge?” he asked, extending a hand to shake. “What are you doing here? And where did you leave Two Toes?”

      “Safely locked in the den,” the man replied. “Double locked. Is that Mrs. Blake?” he added.

      “It is. Katy Blake, this is Butch Matthews. He was my sergeant