A Cold Creek Noel (The Cowboys of Cold Creek) Read Online Free Page B

a well-used late-model pickup truck with a
king cab that was covered in mud. Bales of hay were stacked two high in the
back.
    “Be careful. The roads are likely to be slick after the snows
of earlier.”
    “I’ve been driving these roads since before I turned sixteen. I
can handle a little snow.”
    “I’m sure you can. I just don’t want you to be the next one in
need of stitching.”
    “Not much chance of that, but thank you for your concern. And
for all you’ve done today. I’m sorry you won’t see much of your children.”
    “The clinic is closed tomorrow. I can spend the whole day with
them. I suppose we’ll have to go look for a temporary furnished house somewhere
or I’m going to have a mutiny on my hands from Mrs. Michaels, which would be a
nightmare.”
    She opened her mouth, then closed it again, and he had the
distinct impression she was waging some internal debate. Her gaze shifted to the
door they had just exited through and back to him, then she drew in a
breath.
    “We have an empty foreman’s cottage on the River Bow where you
could stay.”
    The words spilled out of her, almost as if she had been trying
to hold them back. He barely noticed, stunned by the offer.
    “It’s nothing fancy but it’s fully furnished,” she went on
quickly. “It does only have three bedrooms, but if you took one and Mrs.
Michaels took the other, the children could share.”
    “Whoa. Hold on. How do you know Mrs. Michaels? And who told you
we might be looking for a place?”
    “We met in the waiting room earlier. I knew you were staying at
the inn because my sister-in-law Laura runs it.”
    If not for that moment of sweetness when he had found her
humming a soothing song to her dog, he would have had a tough time believing the
warm and welcoming innkeeper could be any relation to this prickly woman.
    “Anyway, your housekeeper mentioned you might be looking for a
place. I, uh, immediately thought of the foreman’s cottage on our ranch.
Nobody’s using it right now, though I do try to stop in once a week or so to
keep the dust down. Like I said, it’s not much.”
    “We could manage. Are you certain?”
    “I’ll have to ask my brother first. Though all four of us share
ownership of the ranch, Ridge is really the one in charge. I don’t think he’ll
say no, though. Why would he?”
    He didn’t understand this woman. He had been extraordinarily
rude to her, yet she was offering to help solve all his domestic problems in one
fell swoop.
    “I’m astonished, Ms. Bowman. Er, Caidy. Why would you make such
an offer to a complete stranger?”
    “You saved my dog,” she said simply. “Besides that, I liked
Mrs. Michaels and I gather she’s had enough of hotel living. And how will St.
Nick find your children in a hotel, as lovely as the Cold Creek Inn might be
these days? They should have a proper house for the holidays, where they can
play.”
    “I agree. That was the plan all along, but circumstances
haven’t exactly cooperated.”
    He had planned to spend the entire next day looking around for
somewhere that better met their needs. He never expected the answer would fall
right in his lap. A less cynical man might even call it a Christmas miracle.
    “I still have to talk to Ridge. I can let you know his answer
in the morning when I come to check on Luke.”
    “Thank you.”
    She gave him a hesitant smile just as the moonlight shifted.
The light combined with her smile managed to transform her features from pretty
to extraordinarily beautiful.
    “Good night. Thank you again for your hard work.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    He watched her drive away, her headlights cutting through the
darkness. When he had agreed to buy James Harris’s practice, he had been seeking
a quiet, easy community to raise his family, a place where they could settle in
and become part of things.
    Pine Gulch had already provided a few more surprises than he
expected—and he suddenly suspected Caidy Bowman might be one