A Cowgirl's Christmas Read Online Free

spellbound for a moment by the beauty, the colors, the enormity of it all. Up ahead was the Circle C, comprising all the land up to the snow-capped mountains on the horizon. “Speaking of wills...”
    Ren held up his hand. “Not yet, Court. One thing at a time. First, you meet the family.”
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    T he night after her father died was the longest of Callan’s life. Sage made her some soup for dinner, then turned on the country music station and played cribbage with her until Mattie and Nat arrived. The four of them talked for hours, then Mattie and Nat retired upstairs to sleep.
    Sage and Callan resumed their cribbage match. Shortly after two a.m. Sage stretched out on the sofa and fell asleep. Callan, who was six inches shorter, took the love seat, and despite being reasonably comfortable, only managed to doze off around three. An hour later she awoke abruptly with her heart pounding and the sense that something terrible had happened.
    And of course it had.
    She drifted back to sleep eventually, waking just before dawn to the sound of someone making coffee in the kitchen.
    She found Mattie at the kitchen sink, dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt, her thick brown hair tied back from her pretty face. Judging from the dark circles under her eyes, she hadn’t slept well either.
    “Morning. Where’s Nat?” Callan slid onto a stool at the island and yawned. A box of half-eaten chocolates that Sage had brought with her last night was open in front of her so she grabbed one. The flavor was lost on her, she might as well have been eating gruel for all she enjoyed it.
    “He’s gone out to help with chores.” Mattie was holding a mug under the drip spout of the coffee maker. Once it was full, she passed it to Callan. “Did you get any sleep?”
    “A little. How’s Nat doing?” Just this September, Mattie had learned Nat had multiple sclerosis. So far his symptoms had been mild. When he was tired he had a slight limp. If there was pain he never complained.
    “About the same.” Mattie gave her a brave smile. “We’re hoping he’ll be one of the lucky ones, but MS is so damned unpredictable.”
    Nat was such an active man. Callan knew it would break his heart if he had to stop riding and working on his ranch. She hoped he had many good years left, for both his sake and Mattie’s.
    “Nat is so worried I’m going to regret marrying him. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat. He’s such a great guy, Callan, I can’t believe he was living right next door for all those years and I didn’t realize how perfect he was for me.”
    “You were married to another man. You wouldn’t let yourself think that.” Her sister was an honorable woman. Callan sipped the aromatic coffee. “This is hitting the spot, but I should go look after the horses.”
    Mattie placed her hand over Callan’s. “Why not let Nat handle them for you? It’s going to be a busy day. My girls, and Dani, Eliot and the baby will all be here soon, and then we have the meeting with the lawyer at four.”
    “The lawyer and Court McAllister,” Callan reminded her. She was terribly curious about this mystery cousin of theirs. “It’s so strange that in all these years we never met anyone from that side of the family.”
    “I agree. It’s almost as if Dad deliberately wanted to keep us apart.”
    “Is that coffee I smell?” Sage called out from the family room.
    For the rest of that morning Callan was busy with her sisters, first helping Mattie and Sage cook a big breakfast then preparing bedrooms for Mattie’s twins, and Dani, Eliot and baby Bev.
    Everyone would be arriving together. Portia had coordinated her travel with Dani and Eliot, while Wren, coming in from Denver, was arriving in Bozeman at around the same time.
    “I hope Dani rented a large SUV,” Sage said.
    Callan nodded. “This house is going to be filled to the rafters again.” It hadn’t been long since Sage’s wedding, only that had