The Maverick's Snowbound Christmas Read online

  Hadley unzipped her jacket and groaned. “Not you, too.”

  “What do you mean, not me, too?”

  “My sisters asked all kinds of questions, and Claire and Tessa aren’t easy to stonewall. My grandmother wasn’t too subtle either.”

  Jazzy eyed her before she took a small pitcher from the cupboard and poured milk into it. “From what I’ve heard, Eli is a good guy, loyal to his family and friends. You certainly would want that quality in a guy you dated, wouldn’t you?”

  Hadley gave it serious thought because this was Jazzy who was asking, and they’d become friends. “I would want that quality in a guy, but I’d want an adventurous spirit, too. I’m not sure Eli has that.” She didn’t mean to be that blunt, but she knew Jazzy would push as much as Claire or Tessa if she didn’t give her honest answers.

  After Jazzy set the milk pitcher on the table, she asked Hadley, “Do you know that Eli used to be a rock climber?”

  Hadley’s eyes widened in surprise.

  “And he took trips to the Mexican ruins and the Alaskan glaciers. But that was when—” Jazzy stopped. She might have even stopped on purpose to force Hadley to ask questions.

  All right, well, now Hadley did have some questions. “Go on,” she encouraged her friend. “What were you going to say?”

  Jazzy shrugged. “I go out with friends now and then. I don’t just see horses and Brooks.”

  Hadley gave her an understanding smile.

  “When we go to the Ace in the Hole, I hear talk...from the girls and from the people they know. The talk always seems to turn to the guys.”

  “So what did you hear about Eli?”

  “Out of high school, he dated Elaine Nixon. She worked for a local insurance office. They were serious, and she had an adventurous spirit, and it seemed he did, too, back then. Together they’d find the best travel deals at slow times at the ranch. They dated for two years. They took a few jaunts to Mexico, and as I said, they visited the Alaskan glaciers, too, by helicopter. She’d go with Eli when he went rock climbing, and he taught her a lot about it. But then Elaine left town to take a job in Chicago because she was tired of small-town life. Rumor has it, she wanted Eli to go with her. But that wasn’t what he wanted. Apparently after she left, his adventurous spirit just seemed to fade away.”

  Hadley heard noise coming from the living room and realized it was Eli bringing in the baskets. Her conversation with Jazzy ended, giving her a lot to think about as she took mugs from a mug tree and lined them up on the counter.

  * * *

  Eli knocked on the door of Barrett Smith’s suite and heard a gruff, “Come in.”

  When he opened the door, he saw Barrett in a recliner, his leg propped up on a pillow. He was a barrel-chested man with gray hair and ruddy cheeks. Eli knew he was about six feet tall, but in the recliner he looked shorter and older.

  As soon as Brooks’s dad saw Eli, however, he grinned and sat up a little straighter. “Good to see you, boy. What are you doing here?”

  “I came over with Hadley Strickland to drop off some baskets from the community center. Jazzy’s going to distribute them to people who don’t want their name on an official list.”

  “I get that. Some folks want to keep their pride. How’s your dad?”

  “He’s good.”

  “I heard Hadley tended to your mare. I wish I could have done that for you. I’ve tended to Dalton horses for years.”

  Eli had known Barrett Smith since he was a boy. “I figured you probably miss what you like to do. That’s why I stopped in to tell you Amber and her foal are doing really well. Hadley was great. She helped with the breech birth.”

  “She did, did she? She’s like Brooks, up-and-coming vets when I’m on my way out.”

  “Do you want to retire?” Eli asked.

  Barrett pointed to his knee encased in loose sweatpants. “I don’t know as if I have a choice. If I had my druthers, I’d still be working part-time. We’ll see what happens. I might sell my place and my practice and just help out Brooks when he needs it. I’ll tell you one thing. I don’t like feeling like an invalid.”

  “I know you don’t. Nobody does. But you are one, at least for a short while. It hasn’t been that long since your surgery.”

  Barrett frowned and looked down at the knee again. “I suppose you’re right. That’s what Jazzy and Brooks keep telling me. But I feel like I should be doing more. I hate just sitting here watching TV.”

  “You know, don’t you, the more you fight it, the longer it’s going to take to get better? Why don’t you just let Jazzy pamper you? It isn’t just for your benefit. That will make her feel like she’s helping you.”

  Barrett looked like he was going to seriously consider Eli’s words. He pointed to the armchair beside his recliner. “Sit down for a few minutes. Talk to me about what matters—ranching, animals, your family. I hear you have a houseful.”

  Eli spent the next fifteen minutes or so keeping Barrett company. The older man seemed starved for some talk and opinions about what was happening in Rust Creek Falls.

  When Eli left Barrett with the promise to visit again soon, he returned to the living room, where Hadley and Jazzy were talking. They stopped when he came in, making Eli suspicious. Were they talking about him?

  He motioned to Barrett’s suite. “I had a few ideas while I was in there with him that could help all of you.”

  Jazzy was altogether interested. “Tell me.”

  “First of all, get one of those portable intercom systems, or a walkie-talkie. Let him call you when he needs you instead of your checking on him so often. That way he wouldn’t feel like such a burden.”

  Jazzy was already nodding. “That’s a great idea. I don’t know why we didn’t think of it.”

  “Because you’re in the middle of the situation,” he said. “I also noticed that once he started talking, he didn’t want to stop. I think he’s starved for a little companionship. You’ve got to remember, he was treating clients all day, as many as he could fit in. So he had lots of people interaction as well as pet action.”

  “And what can I do about that?” Jazzy asked, worried.

  “Invite a couple of his friends in to play checkers or cards.”

  Listening up to now, Hadley chimed in, “I bet Old Gene would enjoy a visit and a game with him. In fact, he might like a break from everybody at the boardinghouse. It sure is noisy there. And my grandmother doesn’t need his help with so many people around.”

  “Those are both great suggestions,” Jazzy said. “It’s serendipitous that you two dropped off the baskets.” She gave her attention to Eli. “You’ve never taken a tour of the barns and the horses. If you want to, now’s a great time. My part-time helper, Darby Conrad, is out there now. She can answer any of your questions. So can Hadley, for that matter. She’s been here often enough to know most of the horses and our routine.”

  Eli glanced at Hadley. “Do you have time?”

  “I’m not on the clock. Sure, I have time.”

  * * *

  The path to Jazzy and Brooks’s barn still had a layer of snow. Hadley’s boots made impressions as they walked, but that wasn’t what held her rapt attention. It was the cowboy next to her. She cast a covert glance at Eli. After her conversation with Jazzy, she had trouble seeing him in a different light. He was a rock climber? He’d explored Mexican ruins and Alaskan glaciers? He hadn’t mentioned traveling during their snowbound time together. Yesterday, he had mentioned the wild horses he’d seen in Colorado. With Elaine?

  He wasn’t one of those silent-cowboy types. Yet she had the feeling that he was a very private person. Certainly she respected that. She’d become private about her personal life. And just like her, she was sure there was a reason he was quiet about his, too.

  “There are two barns,” she explai
ned, giving him another considering look.

  “I can see the one has long pens attached that separate the horses,” he noted. “That’s essential for wild mustangs, and I guess it would be good for horses who have been abused, too.”

  “Until they learn to trust,” Hadley agreed.

  When they walked into the larger of the two barns, Eli said, “I can tell this is a new barn. The smells are different than in a decades-old one.”

  “Tradition means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

  “It does. I learned from my dad before I could talk, I imagine the same way he learned from his. Handing down a legacy is important, and caring for the land and the animals the best way possible. Family customs matter, too.”

  The door to the barn was propped open, and they walked along the stalls. Eli seemed to gravitate toward a stall with the nameplate Gypsy.

  “Jazzy told me about Gypsy the last time I was here,” Hadley explained. “She’s a fairly new rescue who was left to starve when the owners moved away and abandoned her. She’s sweet and wants to trust, but she’s afraid.”

  He looked at her. “I thought you didn’t relate to horses so well.”

  “Not that I don’t relate. I just haven’t cared for them the way I’ve cared for small pets. I feel more confident with other animals because I’ve had more experience with them. But I like horses.”

  He must have accepted her response because he didn’t challenge it. Instead, he had his eyes on Gypsy. He didn’t approach the horse, or even reach out his hand. He just stood there quietly appreciating the Appaloosa, then he started a conversation with the horse. “You know, don’t you, that everybody here wants to take care of you. They won’t abandon you. They’ll feed you and water you and groom you. Soon you’ll remember what it’s like to run across a field and enjoy it, or to carry a human on your back who wants to know you, not use you.”

  Hadley watched, amazed, as Gypsy turned her head toward Eli, then she lifted it and her eyes seemed to study him.

  “You were meant to have a good life,” he told her, and she took a step toward him.

  He waited a beat, then he slowly lifted his hand and held it out to her. She sniffed at his fingers. He let her, not attempting to do more than just get to know her. Finally, she nosed his palm. He ran his hand up her neck and under her mane.

  Jazzy had been making progress with Gypsy and so had Brooks. But the mare was still skittish around them. With Eli, however, she’d already seemed to have given her trust. He’d made a connection so quickly. Hadley was impressed again with his gentleness and his horse-whisperer tendencies.

  She stayed where she was so as not to disturb their communication, but she asked, “How did you learn to communicate with horses?”

  “There’s nothing magical about it,” he said in the same low voice he’d used to talk to Gypsy. “Once upon a time there was a Native American who lived in a hut not far from our property’s boundary line. He lived meagerly with the bare essentials. But that’s all he wanted. I used to sit and listen to his stories. He knew everything there was to know about horses. I followed him around and split wood for him. In exchange, Joe made me fried bread. He spent some time with our horses, too. He died when I was in high school, but I’ll never forget what he taught me.”

  “What was that?”

  “That nothing’s more important than patience, observation, a gentle voice and a kind hand.”

  “He sounds like a wise man.”

  “He was.”

  Hadley would have liked to have found out more, but just then the barn door opened and Darby Conrad barreled in. She was blonde and tall and had enough energy for two Energizer Bunnies. She was young, in her early twenties, and when she spotted Eli, Hadley saw her flip her hair and widen her eyes. She was in flirt mode, that was obvious.

  She walked straight up to Eli and extended her hand. “Hi there. I’m Darby Conrad. Who are you?”

  Eli’s lips twitched with amusement, and Hadley thought he gave Darby one of those male appraising looks. “Eli Dalton is the name. I’m a friend of Brooks’s. I understand you work here part-time.”

  “I do. I wish I could give it more hours, but I help my mom in her hair salon.” She held up her hands, and her nails were painted bright pink. “I know it seems a little odd to have a manicure when you work in a barn, but it helps keep my nails in shape.” She sauntered a little closer to Eli. “I suppose you love horses, too? Everybody around here does. I have a quarter horse named Moses. I barrel race with him.”

  “Do you participate in any rodeos?” Eli asked, as if he were interested.

  At that, Hadley felt left out, so she wandered away. She went down the line until one of Jazzy’s favorite horses, Clementine, a beautiful Chestnut, stuck her head over the stall in Hadley’s path.

  Hadley stepped up to the horse and rubbed her neck. She suddenly felt as if she were back in high school, and one of the popular cheerleaders had sneaked into the conversation that she was having with one of the boys in her class. One of the boys whom she wished would think of her as more than just a classmate. It was silly, really, that Darby could make her feel that way. But her time with Justin and the consequences of it had done a number on her self-esteem. At least in the way she related to men. She was overly careful now and much too guarded. She understood that, but she didn’t know how to get beyond what had happened. Most of all, she didn’t know how to trust again because of Justin’s lies.

  She didn’t know how long she stood there thinking about it, everything that had happened, and why she couldn’t seem to get beyond the past to find a future. She heard the back barn door open and shut, but she stayed where she was.

  Soon Eli came up beside her. “Why did you wander away?”

  “I didn’t want to intrude.” As soon as she said the words, she wondered if that was the truth. Or was the problem deeper than that? No, she couldn’t have been jealous!

  “You wouldn’t have intruded,” Eli insisted. “Nothing was going on. We were just talking about her latest rodeo.”

  “You’re blind if you don’t think anything was going on. Darby was flirting and you were flirting back.”

  “I was just having a conversation,” he protested.

  Deciding to take the bull by the horns, so to speak, Hadley focused on him instead of the horse. “Can you be honest with me about something?”

  “Sure, I can be.” He sounded certain.

  “Were you attracted to Darby?”

  He mulled over the question for an instant, but then he shrugged. “Not nearly as much as I’m attracted to you.”

  That comment made her speechless, and she didn’t know what to say to it. But she had to come up with something, and she had to come up with it fast. So she fell back on the first thing that floated into her mind. “We’d better get back to town before Lorna sends out a search party.”

  “You could call her and tell them you’re going to be delayed,” he suggested, still with that calm, cool manner he had that frustrated her.

  “And why am I going to be delayed?”

  “I’d like to make a stop at my brother Jonah’s office. I thought you might like to go with me. His architect office is a refurbished Victorian. It’s quite impressive. I thought you might like to see it.”

  “And you need to see him right now?”

  “He just got back from a business trip. I know Mom would like him and his wife, Vanessa, to come to dinner, and I thought with a face-to-face meeting I might be able to convince him better than in a text or over the phone.”

  “He doesn’t see your parents much?”

  “Ever since Uncle Phil and his boys moved in with us, Jonah has kept out of the commotion. I can’t blame him. There are usually lots of conversations going on and not enough time to talk to any one person. Do you know what I mean?”

&
nbsp; “Sure do. It’s like that at the boardinghouse right now.” She thought about seeing Jonah’s office, and then she said, “I really do like Victorians. The boardinghouse has lots of nooks and crannies.”

  “Melba’s place is a gem...not only for its architecture but for the news that’s generated there.”

  “For sure. I can’t help but hear gossip. I can’t be around my grandmother or my sisters without getting an earful.”

  Actually, Tessa, Claire and her grandmother wanted to pull her into the drama and romance in Rust Creek Falls, and there had been a lot of it. But Hadley kept herself removed as much as she could. It wasn’t easy. And truth be told, she was interested in everything that happened here. How could she stay removed from lovers who had found each other? Claire and Levi had renewed their marriage, and Tessa had found true love with Carson.

  She was still thinking about that a half hour later as Eli drew up in front of a beautiful Victorian house. She hopped out of the vehicle before he could come around and open her door. But there was a giant snowbank to climb over to get to the sidewalk. Eli saw that. His long legs easily topped it. Once he was on the sidewalk, he offered her his hand. “I can help you climb over, or I can lift you over.”

  The idea of being lifted in Eli’s arms actually made her giddy. That’s exactly why she said, “I’ll take a hand in climbing over.” Still, that didn’t work out exactly as she’d planned.

  Eli took both of her hands. As she gazed into his eyes, the brim of his Stetson shaded his face. Somehow her booted foot sank into the snow mound. She would have lost her balance and fallen, but Eli’s large hands caught her around the waist.

  “Easy,” he said, his voice deep and husky.

  Easy. It would be so easy to fall into her attraction for him. She concentrated on extricating her foot from the snowdrift, but as she did, she leaned forward and practically slid down the other side. Eli caught her, his arms going around her, holding her tight against him. She lost any desire to breathe. When she looked up at him, she knew what he wanted, and she wanted it, too. He was warmth and all man, and his sizzling sexuality just seemed to encompass her. Remember Justin, a warning voice in her head yelled at her.