The Cowboy's Pride and Joy

“She can but she won’t,” Claudia said, kicking back on the love seat and crossing her booted feet at the ankles.

It was extremely infuriating that her little sister looked neither contrite nor worried. “Oh really. And why not?”

“Because it would seriously piss off her son and she doesn’t want to do that.”

“I should take your word for it because you’re such an expert on Elise Hunter?”

“No, you shouldn’t take my word for it.” Claudia sat straight up and met Cass’s gaze with a fierce stare. “You should call Jake and tell him what his mother’s up to.”

Cass just blinked at her. As if she’d gone momentarily deaf, she shook her head to clear it and said, “Call Jake? I’ve been avoiding calling Jake since I found out I was pregnant.”

“Which I didn’t agree with,” Dave put in.

Cass sneered at him, then faced her sister again. “I can’t believe you haven’t called Jake. You called his mother—betrayed your big sister and practically handed your nephew over. Traitors. You’re both traitors.”

Snorting, Claudia briefly inspected her fingernails, then pushed to her feet. “You’ve really become a drama queen since having a baby. I wanted to call Jake, believe me. And I would have, but I didn’t have his number. I did call Elise because I figured she’d call Jake. I didn’t think she’d make a play for Luke on her own.”

Cass sighed and rubbed her forehead. Elise hadn’t called her son. Cass knew that for a fact because if she had, Jake Hunter would no doubt be standing on her doorstep right now demanding answers. Why Elise hadn’t told him was a mystery. But the meaning behind her letter was clear. She wanted her grandson and if Cass didn’t find a way to fight her old boss, the woman would find a way to get custody of Luke.

Her pounding temper was turning into a pounding headache. Taking a breath, she focused inward, trying to find a solution to this jumbled-up mess her life had become.

What if she was wrong and Jake did want his son? Would he try to take Luke from her? Would she go to him for help only to find herself fighting two custody suits instead? And what if everything went great? What then? She’d been solely responsible for Luke from the start. What would it be like to suddenly have to share him?

There had been so many times over the course of her son’s life that she had wished for Jake to be there with her. To be able to share the joyful moments along with the scary ones. And in spite of the worry shooting through her at the moment, a part of her yearned for the closeness with her son’s father.

“Cass, we didn’t mean to hurt you,” Dave was saying.

“We were trying to help,” Claudia added. “You’ve worked so hard your whole life. You took care of me single-handedly—practically raised Dave, too. It’s not right that you have to do all the worrying and work alone again.”

Cass sighed. “I know you meant well.”

They loved her. They had been trying to help. Instead they’d created a tangled mess that Cass would have to solve. But she would solve it. This battle she couldn’t afford to lose.

She walked across the room to stare down at her sleeping son. He had thick black hair and big blue eyes, just like his father. And like his daddy, Luke’s smile melted her heart. Five months old and he was her entire world. Until he had come into her life, she’d had no idea you could love so deeply, so completely. She couldn’t risk losing him. Which meant she really had only one option.

Jake.

This was going to be Luke’s first Christmas and she’d wanted to make it special. Well, it didn’t get much more special than meeting your father for the first time. Worry curled in the pit of her stomach. What would it be like to see Jake again? Her pulse skipped into a quick beat. So many times she had dreamed of being with him again. Now, it seemed, her wishes were about to be granted.

“Montana,” she whispered, more to herself than her siblings, “here we come.”

* * *

The last storm ended four days ago, but Jake knew there was another one coming in, fast. December in Montana meant snow. Lots of it. They were prepared as much as they could be, though. Generators at the house, barn and cabins were at the ready in case the power went out. There was enough firewood cut and stacked to last everyone a month and food storage was plentiful. They were ready for whatever Mother Nature tossed at them.

And still, he was restless.

“Probably Christmas getting to me,” he muttered, standing at the kitchen counter staring out over the yard and the acres of white that seemed to fill the landscape. Every pine tree was draped in a solid cape of snow, and every oak and maple and aspen stood naked but for the lacy snow covering each of the bare branches and twigs.