’Tis the season to become a family...

Reformed rebel Jackson Cooper thinks he can handle anything—until a sullen teenage girl appears at his ranch, claiming the impossible. Even though he’s not Jade’s father, he can’t turn her away, knowing she’s in need. But he’s going to need the helping hand of compassionate schoolteacher Madeline Patton.

An unlikely duo with their own secret fears, Jackson and Maddie certainly don’t expect the Christmas surprise of instant parenthood. Yet as they work toward giving a foster child a home, they might just discover the most wonderful gift of all: family.

“If you have this under control, I should go.”

Madeline glanced at her watch. “I have to be at work in an hour.”

Jackson nodded, distracted. Even distracted he could make a woman take a second look. His suntanned face was angular but strong. Fine lines crinkled at the corners of his eyes. His mouth, which often turned in an easy, gotcha smile, was now held in a serious line.

“Could you stay, just until I figure this out?” Jackson’s words stopped her as she started to turn away. “Please.”

Softer, a little more pleading.

Reluctant, Madeline looked at the cowboy leaning against the door as if he needed it to hold him up.

He cleared his throat. She looked up, met his humor-filled gaze and managed a smile.

“I think it would be better if you called your family, Jackson.”

There, she’d been strong. She could walk away. He had people to help him.

But she couldn’t walk away. Not from the teen girl dropped on his doorstep. Certainly not from the cowboy standing in front of her.

BRENDA MINTON

started creating stories to entertain herself during hour-long rides on the school bus. In high school she wrote romance novels to entertain her friends. The dream grew and so did her aspirations to become an author. She started with notebooks, handwritten manuscripts and characters that refused to go away until their stories were told. Eventually she put away the pen and paper and got down to business with the computer. The journey took a few years, with some encouragement and rejection along the way—as well as a lot of stubbornness on her part. In 2006 her dream to write for Love Inspired came true. Brenda lives in the rural Ozarks with her husband, three kids and an abundance of cats and dogs. She enjoys a chaotic life that she wouldn’t trade for anything—except, on occasion, a beach house in Texas. You can stop by and visit at her website, www.brendaminton.net.

Brenda Minton

The Cowboy’s Holiday Blessing

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

—Matthew 11:28

Merry Christmas to all of you, and a special thank-you to Stephanie Newton, Nancy Ragain, Barbara Warren and Shirlee McCoy, great friends who helped me so much during the writing of this book.

To Bonnie, Ed and Willie, for helping to carry the load at church.

To Mary, for a clean house.

To my family, for always putting up with me during the deadline crunch.

To my editor, Melissa Endlich, for encouragement at just the right moment.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

Dear Reader

Questions for Discussion

Chapter One

The rapid-fire knock on the door shook the glass in the living room window. Jackson Cooper covered his face with the pillow he jerked out from under his head, and then tossed the thing because it smelled like the stinking dog that was now curled at his feet, taking up too much room on the couch.

The person at the front door found the doorbell. The chimes sounded through the house and the dog growled low, resting his head on Jackson’s leg. The way his luck went, it was probably one of his siblings coming to check on him. This could go two ways. Either they’d give up, knowing he was alive and ignoring them, or they’d break the door down because they assumed the worst.

He opted for remaining quiet and taking his chances. Moving seemed pretty overrated at the moment. Three nights of sleeping on the couch after a horse decided to throw him into the wall of the arena, and this morning it felt like a truck had run over him.

The way he figured it, after another attempt or two they’d give up. Unless the “they” in question weren’t his siblings, but instead someone with literature and an invitation to church. Or it could be that girl he dated last month, the one that wouldn’t stop calling. He covered his face with his arm and groaned. The dog at his feet sat up.

The door rattled again and the dog barked. The next time they knocked harder. Jackson shot the dog a look and Bud cowered a little.

“Thanks, you mangy mutt.”

He sat up, careful to breathe deep. Bruised kidneys, cracked ribs and a pulled muscle or two. Man, he was getting too old for this. He’d given up bull riding a few years back for the easier task of raising bulls and training horses. Every now and then a horse got the best of him, though.

He got to his feet and headed for the door, moving slowly and taking it easy. He buttoned his shirt as he walked. The dog ran ahead of him and sat down in front of the door.

When he got to the door he looked in the mirror on the wall and brushed his hands through his shaggy hair. He rubbed a palm across whiskers that should have seen a razor days ago.

“I’m coming already.” He jerked the door open and the two people on his front porch stared like they’d just seen a man from Mars.

He glanced down. Yeah, his jeans were the same ones he’d worn yesterday and his shirt was pretty threadbare, but he was fully clothed and decent. He ran a hand through his hair again and tried to smooth it down a little.

“What?” If they were selling cookies or raffle tickets, he wasn’t going to be happy. Take that back; he already wasn’t happy.

The woman frowned and he remembered her. She’d moved into the old homestead a year or so back. She wore her typical long sweater, longer skirt and her hair in a ponytail. The glasses that framed big, brown eyes were sliding down her nose. He shook his head and focused on the girl next to her. A kid with blond hair and hazel-green eyes. Man, those eyes looked familiar.

“Mr. Cooper, we… I…” The schoolteacher stumbled over her words. He was on painkillers but he remembered her name: Madeline. Yesterday he’d barely remembered his own name, so that was definitely an improvement.

He grinned because the more he smiled, the more flustered she always got. At that moment she was pulling her heavy sweater a little tighter. A week or so back he’d helped her put groceries in her car and she’d nearly tripped trying to stay away from him.

“Ms. Patton.”

“Mr. Cooper,” she said, pushing her glasses back in place. She was cute, in a schoolmarm kind of way. “Mr. Cooper, this young lady was dropped off at my house.”

“And this young lady is my problem why?” He shifted his attention from Madeline Patton to the girl at her side.

The girl glared at him. He guessed her to be about thirteen. But for all he knew she was sixteen. Or ten. Kids grew up too fast these days. And yeah, when had he started sounding like his parents? He’d kind of thought if he didn’t get married and have kids it wouldn’t happen.

Wrongo.

He leaned against the door frame. The dog had joined him and was sitting close to his legs, tongue lapping up cool air.

“Mr. Cooper, it is your problem…”

“Call me Jackson.” He grinned and she turned three shades of red. He could do one shade better than that. “And I’ll call you Maddie.”

Yep, from rose to pure scarlet cheeks.

“Madeline.” Her little chin raised a notch as she reminded him. “Please let me finish.”

He nodded and kept his mouth shut. Time to stop teasing the teacher. But for the craziest reason, one he couldn’t grab hold of at the moment, he couldn’t stop smiling at her. Maybe he’d never noticed before that her smile was sweet and her eyes were soft brown.

Maybe it was the pain meds talking to his addled brain, scrambling his thoughts the way his insides were already scrambled. Something was causing random thoughts to keep running through his mind. Worse, to jump from his mouth.

“Mr. Cooper, this young lady was dropped off at my house by her aunt. She left the girl and drove away.” She paused a long moment that felt pretty uncomfortable. He got the distinct impression that she was making a point, and he didn’t get it.

“Why is that my problem?”

The girl stepped forward. A kid in a stained denim coat a size too small and tennis shoes that were worn and holey. She brushed back blond hair with bare hands red from the cold. When had it gotten this cold? A week ago it had been in the sixties.

The kid gave him a disgusted look. “What she’s trying to tell you is that I’m your daughter.”

“Excuse me?” He looked at her and then at the teacher. Madeline Patton shrugged slim shoulders.

“I’m your daughter.”

He raised his hand to stop her. “Give me a minute, okay?”

Jackson rubbed his hand through his hair and took a deep breath. Deep as he could. He turned his attention back to the girl with the hazel-green eyes. He noticed then that the blond hair was sun-bleached, sandy brown more than blond.

The kid stared back at him, probably waiting for him to say or do something. Now, what in the world was he supposed to do?

“Aren’t you going to say something?” She stepped close, a determined look on her face.

“Can you give me a minute? It isn’t like I got a chance to prepare for this. It’s early and I wasn’t sitting around thinking a kid would show up on my door today, claiming to be mine.”

“Mr. Cooper—” Madeline Patton stepped forward, a little cautiously “—I know this is awkward but we should probably be calm.”

“Calm?” He laughed at the idea of the word. “I didn’t plan on having the postal service deliver a package to my house today. I certainly didn’t expect a special delivery that walks, talks and claims to be mine.”

It really wasn’t possible. But he could keep some random thoughts to himself. He could take a deep breath and deal with this.

“Why do you think I’m your dad?”

The girl gave him another disgusted look and then dug around in the old red backpack she pulled off her shoulder. She shoved past some clothing and a bag of makeup. Finally she pulled out a couple of papers and handed them to him.

“Yeah, so I guess you’re the clueless type,” she said.

Nice. He took the papers and looked at them. One was a birth certificate from Texas. He scanned the paper and nearly choked when he got to the father part—that would be the line where his name was listed. Her mother’s name was listed as Gloria Baker. The date, he counted back, was a little over thirteen years ago. Add nine months to that and he could almost pinpoint where he’d been.

Fourteen years ago he’d been nineteen, a little crazy and riding bulls. At that age he’d been wild enough to do just about anything. Those were his running-from-God years. That’s what his grandmother called them. His mom had cried and called him rebellious.

He handed the birth certificate back to the kid. Her name was Jade Baker. He wanted a good deep breath but it hurt like crazy to take one. He looked at the second paper, a letter addressed to him. Sweet sentiment from a mom who said Jade was his and he should take care of her now. The handwriting had the large, swirling scrawl of a teenager who still used hearts to dot the i.

The name of her mother brought back a landslide of memories, though. He looked at the kid and remembered back, remembered a face, a laugh, and then losing track of her.

“Where’s your aunt?”

“Gone back to California. She said to tell you I’m your problem now.”

“And Gloria?” Her mother. He kind of choked on the word, the name. He hadn’t really known her. Madeline Patton gave him a teacher look.

“She died. She had cancer.”

Now what? The kid stood in front of him, hazel eyes filling up with tears. He should do something, call someone, or take her home. Where was home? Did she have other family? He didn’t know anything about Gloria Baker.

He looked at Madeline, hoping she had something to say, even a little advice. The only thing she had for him looked to be a good case of loathing. Nice. He’d add her name to the list. It was a long list.

“I’m sorry.” He handed the papers back to Jade. “But kid, I’m pretty sure I’m not your dad.”

Madeline Patton had pulled the girl into her soft embrace while giving him a look that clearly told him to do something about this situation. What was he supposed to do? Did she expect him to open his door to a teenage girl, welcome her in, buy her a pony?

He had known Gloria Baker briefly years ago. He’d never laid eyes on Jade. He wasn’t anyone’s dad. He was about the furthest thing from a dad that anyone could get.

This wasn’t what he wanted. The kid standing in front of him probably wasn’t too thrilled, either.

“We’ll have to do something about this.” He realized he didn’t have a clue. What did a guy do about something like this, about a kid standing on his front porch claiming to be his?

First he had to take control. He pointed into the living room. “Go on in while I talk to Ms. Patton.”

Jade hurried past him, probably relieved to get inside where it was warm. Madeline Patton stared over his shoulder, watching the girl hurry inside, the dog following behind her. He didn’t know Madeline Patton, other than in passing, but he imagined that momentarily she’d have a few choice things to say to him.

Madeline watched Jade walk into the living room and then she turned her attention back to Jackson Cooper. He remained in the doorway, faded jeans and a button-up shirt, his hair going in all directions. Her heart seemed to be following the same path, but mostly was begging for a quick exit from this situation.

Although she didn’t really know Jackson Cooper, she thought she knew him. He was the type of man that believed every woman in the world loved him. Well, maybe this would teach him a lesson.

The thought no more than tumbled through her mind and her conscience took a dig at her. This situation shouldn’t be about a lesson learned. A child deserved more than this.

And Jackson Cooper wasn’t the worst person in the world. He’d come to her rescue last week when a bag of groceries had broken, spilling canned goods across the parking lot of the store. He’d been fishing and was suntanned and smelled of the outdoors and clean soap and was on his way home, but he’d stopped to gather up her spilled groceries, holding them in his T-shirt as he carried them to her car.

Jade had disappeared into the living room. Time for Madeline to make her exit.

“If you have this under control, I should go.” She glanced at her watch. “I have to be at work in an hour.”

The wind blew, going straight through her. She pulled her sweater close and stomped her booted feet. Jackson nodded, distracted. Even distracted he could make a woman take a second look.

His suntanned face was angular but strong. Fine lines crinkled at the corners of his eyes, eyes that were nearly the same color as Jade’s; a little more gray than green. His mouth, the mouth that often turned in an easy, gotcha smile, was now held in a serious line.

“I really need to go.” Madeline didn’t know what else to say, or how to remove herself from this situation, this moment.

“Could you stay, just until I figure this out?” Jackson’s words stopped her as she started to turn away. “Please.”

Softer, a little more pleading.

Reluctant, Madeline looked at the cowboy leaning against the door as if he needed it to hold him up. She’d heard the ambulance going down the road the other day when he got hurt. They had prayed for him at her Thursday Bible study.

A smile almost sneaked up on her because his grandmother prayed for him, too. The woman who had sold her little house to Madeline never failed to mention Jackson when prayer requests were made on Sunday mornings at the Dawson Community Church. Sometimes she even included fun little details about his social life. Once or twice Madeline had heard a gasp from various members of the church.

He cleared his throat. She looked up, met his humor-filled gaze and managed a smile.

“I think it would be better if you called your family, Jackson.” There, she’d been strong. She could walk away. He had people to help him.

“Right, that sounds like a great idea.” He no longer smiled. “If I wanted them all over here in my business, that would be the perfect thing to do.”

“They’re probably going to find out about her anyway, since she stopped at the Mad Cow and asked for directions. Unfortunately she was one house off.”

Madeline couldn’t figure out how anyone could confuse her little house on two acres with this house on hundreds of acres. She felt tiny on the long front porch of the vast, white farmhouse that Jackson Cooper had remodeled. His grandparents had built this house after their marriage. But his grandfather had grown up in the little house Madeline bought from his grandmother.

The Coopers had a long history in Dawson, Oklahoma.

Her legacy was teaching at School District Ten, and building a home for herself in Dawson. And this time she planned on staying. She wouldn’t run.

“Give us thirty minutes, Madeline.” Jackson’s voice didn’t plead, but he sounded pretty unsure. It was that tone that took her by surprise, unsettled her.

She wondered how it felt to be him and have control stripped away by a thirteen-year-old girl. It was for that girl that she even considered staying.

She hadn’t been much older than Jade when she’d found herself in a new home and a new life. She would always remember how her sister had dragged her from bed, leading her through the dark, to safety.

“I’ll come in for a moment, but I don’t know how that will help.”

“Me neither, but I don’t think you should leave her here alone.”

“She isn’t my—” Madeline lowered her voice “—problem. I don’t know her. She says she’s your daughter.”

“Right, I get that, but let’s assume she isn’t and play this safe.”

Okay, maybe he wasn’t as reckless as she had always imagined.

“So, are you a decent cook?” he asked as he led her into his expansive living room with polished hardwood floors and massive leather furniture. The dog and Jade were sitting on the couch, huddled together.

“I don’t have time to cook.” Madeline tried hard not to stare, but the house invited staring. It had the sparseness of a bachelor’s home but surprising warmth.

“Just asking, sorry.” He smiled at Jade then at her. “So, what are we going to do?”

“Do?” Better yet, “we”? He didn’t need to include her in this problem.

“Yeah, do. I mean, we should probably call someone. Family services?”

“That’s a decision you’ll have to make.”

“Right.” He pointed for her to sit down.

Madeline sank into the luxurious softness of one of the two brown leather sofas. The one opposite had a blanket and pillow indicating he’d been sleeping there.

No Christmas tree. No decorations.

Jackson stood in the center of the living room. The light that filtered through the curtains caught bits and pieces of his expression as he stared at the young girl sitting on his sofa. They stared at each other and then both glanced away.

Madeline didn’t know how to help. She could deal with children in a classroom. This seemed to be more of a family situation. And she had no experience with those.

“Maybe you should sit down?” She didn’t know what else to say. It wasn’t her home. Jackson stood in the center of the room, hands in his pockets. When she made the suggestion, he nodded once. Jade, sitting next to her, gave a disgusted snort.

Madeline sighed. She glanced around the big room, because the silence was uncomfortable and she wanted to head for the door. She glanced at her watch and then looked around the room again. A big stone fireplace took up the wall at the end of the room. The fire that crackled came from gas logs, not wood. A television hung over the fireplace. The walls were textured and painted a warm, natural color. If it hadn’t been for the nervous energy of Jackson Cooper standing there staring at her, and then at the girl claiming to be his daughter, Madeline might have enjoyed being in this room.

Jackson moved a chair from the nearby rolltop desk and straddled it backward. He draped his arms over the back rest and sat there, staring at Jade. His legs were stretched out in front of him. His feet were bare.

Madeline picked up the throw pillow leaning against the arm of the couch and held it in her lap. Next to her, Jade fiddled with her ragged little backpack.

Madeline did not belong in this little drama. She had to come up with something to move the action along so she could escape.

“Why did your aunt leave you here?” Jackson asked, zeroing in on the girl with a question Madeline had asked and not gotten an answer for.

Madeline shifted to look at the girl, who suddenly looked younger than her thirteen years. Jade shrugged and studied the backpack in her arms.

“Well?” Jackson might not have kids, but he had a dozen siblings and some were quite a bit younger. His parents had adopted a half dozen or so children to go along with the six biological Coopers. And then there had been Jeremy.

Next to her, Jade looked up, glaring at the man in front of them. She chewed on her bottom lip, not answering Jackson’s question. This wasn’t going to get them anywhere.

“Jade, we need to know what is going on. We might need to call the proper authorities.” Madeline smiled to herself. The word authorities always did the trick. The girl’s eyes widened and her mouth opened.

“My aunt can’t take care of me. She doesn’t have the money or a house for us.”

Jackson rubbed the back of his neck and when he looked at Madeline, she didn’t know what to say or do. She taught English at the local school. She wasn’t a counselor. She no longer had siblings. The other foster children in the home where she’d spent a few years until she turned eighteen hadn’t counted.

“Maybe we should have coffee.” Madeline glanced at the man sitting across from her.

Jackson smiled that smile of his, the one he probably thought conquered every female heart. With good reason. There probably wasn’t a single woman under seventy living in and around Dawson who didn’t sigh when Jackson crossed her path. But she wasn’t one of the women chasing after him. And she certainly wasn’t the type he chased.

“You know, some coffee would be good. Do you have time?”

“I can make coffee, but then I have to go. School is out but it’s a teacher work day.” She glanced at her watch again, and not at Jackson. “You should call your parents.”

Because this had nothing to do with her.

But years ago she’d been a kid like Jade, lost and alone, looking for someone to keep her safe. As much as she wanted to run from this situation, she couldn’t leave Jade alone.

Chapter Two

The schoolteacher looked at her watch again and then she sighed. He nearly sighed in unison because he didn’t know what to do with the kid sitting across from him. Madeline Patton taught school. She had to know more than him.

Jackson pushed himself up from the chair, groaning a little at the spasm in his back. He held the back of the chair and hoped it didn’t roll away, because if it did, he’d be face-first on the floor in front of God and everyone.

Madeline stood, too. She faced him, looking him over as he stood trying to get his balance. His lower back clenched and he managed a smile to cover up the grimace.

“Are you okay?” Madeline faced him, her brown eyes narrowing as she watched him, her gaze settling on his white-knuckled grip on the back of the office chair.

“I’m good…” He was great. “I think I’ll make that pot of coffee and try to sort this out.”

Some kid had knocked on his door, claiming to be his. He had broken ribs and a messed-up back. He was wonderful. Every day should start this way. He managed a smile because it wasn’t Madeline Patton’s fault.

“Maybe she should go with you?” he offered, a little bit hopeful that he was right about her being worried.

“No, she shouldn’t.” Another little glance at her watch.

“I’m in the room.” The girl slumped on the couch and Bud had curled up next to her. The dog raised its head and growled at him. Yeah, well, his hackles were raised, too.

Jackson shook his head and turned his attention back to Ms. Patton. “What do I do with her?”

“I’d start with feeding her.”

He sat down, hard. The chair rolled a little. “Right, feed her. I think there’s more to it than that.”

“I know there is.” She hefted her huge purse to her shoulder.

Concern flickered through those brown eyes. He hadn’t meant to play her. He was long past games. In the words of his niece, games were so last year.

Yeah, he was going through a mid-life crisis, but Madeline didn’t need to know that. She didn’t need to know that he envied Wyatt Johnson for settling down with someone he’d wake up with every morning. Man, he was even jealous of Andie and Ryder Johnson’s twin girls.

Jackson had two rocking chairs on the front porch, and at night he sat alone and watched the cattle graze in the field. He was as sick of being alone as a man could get. But most of the women his age, if they were still single, were listening to their biological clocks. They were ready for rings and babies.

Which brought him back to the problem at hand: Jade Baker.

“I’ll get the coffee started, then you need to make a plan,” Madeline offered.

“Thanks, that would be great.” He smiled at her and she didn’t even flinch. He was losing his touch or she was immune. Either way, he was a little baffled.

“Where’s the kitchen?”

He pointed to the wide doorway that led to the dining room and from there to the kitchen and family room. Madeline nodded and away she went, that long skirt of hers swishing around her legs.

“Why don’t you just give me a hundred bucks or something and I’ll head on down the road.” The kid, Jade, shot the comment at him.

Jackson turned the chair to face her. She was hugging his dog. She looked younger than thirteen, maybe because she looked sad and kind of lost. Wow, that took him back to Mia when she’d landed on their doorstep twenty years ago. Travis, nearly twenty-five years ago. Jesse when he’d been about twelve. Jesse had been an angry kid. Now he was a doctor.

Jade Baker, aka his kid. She’d asked for a hundred bucks to leave. Surely the little thing wasn’t working him for money? Could it be she’d been dropped off by someone who knew she resembled their family? He rubbed his thumb across his chin and studied her. She just stared at him, with eyes that looked like his and Reece’s. Eyes that looked like Heather’s and Dylan’s.

He could smell toast in the toaster. Jade glanced toward the door that led to the dining room and the kitchen. The dog perked up, too. The girl had pulled her blond hair into a ponytail. Her jeans were threadbare and her T-shirt was stained. He didn’t know a thing about her life or what she’d been through.

He hadn’t really known Gloria. She’d been about his age and she’d liked hanging out at rodeos. Someone had told him she lived in the back of a van with her older sister. He hadn’t believed it. He should have. The next time he’d gone through the Texas town where he’d met her, she wasn’t there.

Fourteen years ago. He barely remembered her. But seeing Jade, the memories resurfaced. He hadn’t loved Gloria. He let out a sigh. A kid should at least have that knowledge, that her parents loved each other.

He stood up, holding his breath to get through the pain.

“Sorry, kid, I’m not giving you money. We’ll figure this out, but money isn’t going to be part of the deal.”

“Why not? You obviously don’t want me here. With some money I can hit the road and find a place to live.”

He admired her pluck. She had stood, and his stupid dog, Bud, stood next to her. “You’re not even fourteen yet. You can’t live by yourself or even take off on your own. And one hundred dollars? That wouldn’t get you to Tulsa.”

“I could get emancipated.”

“Honey, at your age you can’t spell that word and you can’t even get a job. We’ll try for plan B, okay? Let’s go see what Ms. Patton is cooking up in there.” He eased forward a couple of steps. Jade glared at him and started to walk away. He reached for her arm and stopped her.

“Let go of me.” She turned, fire sparking in those hazel-green eyes of hers.

“I’ll let go, but you’re not going to blame me for not knowing about you.” He’d made a lot of mistakes that he’d had to own up to. He sure wouldn’t have walked out on a kid.

He would have claimed his kid if he’d known about her. If it was possible that she was his, he’d do everything he could for her. But she wasn’t his. He was pretty sure of that.

“Yeah, well, you do kind of have something to do with my life and not being in it,” she shot back at him, her chin hiking up a few notches and a spark in those eyes that dared him to tell her otherwise.

“I didn’t know where your mother went to, and she never tried to get in touch.” He had let go of her arm and they stood in the center of the living room, facing off.

“Yeah, well…” Jade stared at him, her eyes big in a little-girl face. Man, she was a tough kid. He didn’t know what to do. He could hug her. Or he could just stand there and stare. He didn’t think she’d want either.

“Well, what?”

“Well, you coulda tried.” Her bottom lip started to tremble. “Haven’t you heard of the internet?”

“If I’d known, I would have searched the whole world to find a kid of mine.” He softened his tone and took a step forward.

“Yeah, right. My mom said you told her once that you never planned on having kids and so she didn’t bother telling you that you had one.”

“That was real nice of her to do that.” He wasn’t going to say anything against her mother. The kid had gone through enough, and he didn’t know Gloria well enough to say much more.

She reached for his hand. “I didn’t think you’d be so old.”

“Well, thanks, Jade. Is Jade short for something?”

“Just Jade.” She had hold of his hand. He looked at her hand in his, small and strong. Yeah, he would have been okay with having her for a kid.

The toast popped out of the toaster and coffee poured into a cup from the single-cup brewer on his counter. Jackson Cooper had the kitchen of her dreams. It didn’t seem fair that he had her coffeemaker, the replica of a vintage stove and fridge she’d always dreamed of, granite countertops and light pine floors. But really, what was fair?

Life? Most often not. She’d learned that at an early age. She’d put away the baggage of her past years ago, when she realized carrying it around weighed a person down. If a person meant to let go of their burdens, they shouldn’t pack them back up and heft them over their shoulder.

She pulled toast from the toaster and buttered it. From the dining room she could hear Jackson talking to the teenager who had knocked on her door just over an hour ago. A few minutes later they walked into the kitchen and their likeness floored Madeline. The two had the same strong cheekbones, the same strong mouth, and eyes that matched. Jade’s hair was lighter.

Jackson walked to the sink and ran water into a glass. Madeline stood next to the counter, feeling out of place in this mess of his and even more out of place in his home. This wasn’t where she’d expected to end up today, in Jackson Cooper’s kitchen, in his life. When she woke up this morning, it had been like any other Friday. She’d been looking forward to the weekend and decorating her house for Christmas. Jackson hadn’t figured into her plans. Ever.

She’d lived in Dawson for over a year, and even though it was a small town, she didn’t run in the same circles as Jackson Cooper. Every now and then he flirted with her at the Mad Cow Café. But Jackson flirted with everyone.

“You made toast.” Jackson set the glass down on the counter.

“I did, and the coffee is ready.” She dried her hands and watched as he shook two pills into his hand, popped them into his mouth and washed them down with water.

“Are you eating?” He pushed a plate in her direction.

“I had a granola bar.” She pushed it back. “You need something in your stomach.”

“Right.” He glanced at the girl that she’d delivered to his front door. “There’s cinnamon and sugar in the cabinet if you want it for your toast. After we eat we’ll figure this mess out.”

Jade carried her plate to the table and sat down. “I don’t know what you need to figure out. Fourteen years ago, you messed up.” She shot him a look and flapped her arms like wings. “Your roosters have come home to roost.”

“Great, she’s a smart-mouth to boot,” he grumbled as he picked up a slice of toast.

He took a bite and glanced out the window. He didn’t sit down. Instead he stood next to Madeline, his hip against the counter. His arm brushed hers. Of course he would be comfortable in his own skin. He wouldn’t feel the need for space.

She stepped away from him, picking up a pan that had been next to the sink. Not her pan. Not her mess. She grabbed a scrubber and turned on hot water. Jackson rinsed his plate and opened the dishwasher.

“You don’t have to wash that.” He touched her arm.

“I don’t mind washing it.” She rinsed the pan and stuck it in the dish drainer. She glanced out the window again. The land here rolled gently and was dotted with trees. Cattle grazed and a few horses were chasing each other in a circle, bucking and kicking as wind picked up leaves.

“Can she stay with you?”

“Excuse me?” Madeline glanced in Jade’s direction and turned her attention back to Jackson.

“Look, Maddie…”

She lifted a hand to stop him. “My name is Madeline.”

“Sure, okay, Madeline. I need to work this out and you can’t leave a kid here with a single man, not when you aren’t sure if that single man is her father. And I don’t really want my family to know about this, not yet.”

“So you want to hide her at my house?” She tapped her foot on the light pine floor and fought the urge to slug him.

“Not hide her. She needs to stay somewhere and she can’t really stay here, not until we know exactly what’s going on.”

As much as she didn’t want to, she got it. She also kind of admired him for thinking about the girl. They could call the police or family services, but then she’d end up in state custody. Jade definitely couldn’t stay alone with him, a single man. What if she wasn’t his? Even if she was, there were things to consider.

She glanced across the room at Jade and she remembered that first night, fourteen and alone in the Montana town she’d rarely visited as a kid. Frightened because she had fifty dollars and no one to turn to, she remembered flashing lights at a convenience store and being driven to a group home.

Fear knotted in her stomach, the way it had then, half a lifetime ago.

“Yes, she can stay with me for a little while.”

Jackson watched her, his eyes narrowing. “You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“I’ll pay you.” His mouth shifted into a smile, revealing a dimple in his chin.

“Pay me?”

“For letting her stay with you. I can write you a check or pay you cash.”

Madeline glanced at her watch. “I really have to go, and I don’t want your money.”

“There will be the expense of feeding her. She probably needs clothes. I need to pay you something.”

Jade stood, the quick movement catching Madeline’s attention, and from the jerk of his head in that direction, Jackson’s also. The girl held her plate, trembling a little.

“Stop, okay? I’m a kid, not something you trade off or try to get rid of. I thought it would be different…” Jade bit down on her bottom lip and looked from Madeline to Jackson. “You were supposed to be different.”

His smile dissolved. Madeline watched as he approached the girl who might possibly be his daughter. He sat down at the table and pointed for her to sit back down. He was used to girls, used to kids. He had been raised in a house with eleven other children. Now he had nieces and nephews.

“Different than what?” he asked.

“Different, that’s all.”

“From?”

“From my mom. I thought it would be—” she looked away “—better here.”

Jackson whistled. “So far we haven’t made much of an impression, huh?”

Madeline wanted to correct him, to tell him he hadn’t made a good impression. The girl claimed to be his. Madeline was just the unsuspecting stranger who had ended up with Jade on her doorstep. And she’d gotten tangled up in this.

“No, you haven’t made a great impression.” Jade rubbed her eyes hard. Madeline pulled tissues out of a box on the counter and handed them to her. Jade took them with a watery smile and rubbed her nose and then her eyes.

“Okay, let’s start over. Jade, I’m Jackson Cooper and I don’t know squat about raising teenage girls. Today one landed on my front porch and I’m trying like crazy to figure out what to do and to keep that from being a problem for both of us.” He glanced at Madeline. “And this isn’t her problem at all.”

“I don’t like being called a problem,” the girl cried again.

“Right, okay, you’re not a problem. But you are a situation that I need to figure out. And I need a little time to do that.”

“Okay.”

“So for now, you’ll go with Ms. Patton because that’s the best thing for us to do. And I’ll work at figuring something out.”

“She can’t go with me yet,” Madeline interrupted. “I have to be at work. Now!”

“Okay, so we’ll work this out. She stays with me for now while you go to work and later we figure something out.”

“Jade, I’ll see you later.” Madeline leaned in to hug the girl.

Jackson stood, probably to walk her to the door. She didn’t need that. She didn’t need any of this.

“I’ll see myself out.”

Jackson walked with her anyway. “You’ll be back?”

“Yes, Jackson, I’ll be back.”

He must have read her mind.

“Thank you.” He grinned as he opened the front door for her. “Sorry if I haven’t been the best host. It isn’t every day that I get a wake-up call like this one.”

She didn’t want to like Jackson Cooper. She didn’t want to let her guard down. But he had a way of easing into a person’s life, taking them by surprise.

“I think we’ve both been taken by surprise today.”

Maybe she had been the most surprised. She had formed opinions about Jackson. Now she had to rethink those opinions.

Chapter Three

Jackson couldn’t think of another reason to keep Madeline from leaving. He could think of several reasons why he wanted her to stay. She stood on his porch, brown hair, brown eyes, brown sweater and skirt. He couldn’t quite figure her out, and he felt pretty sure that’s what she planned when she camouflaged herself in brown. What she probably hadn’t expected with her disguise was the fact that she intrigued him.

“I have to go.” She stepped away from him, tripping over that crazy dog of his.

Jackson reached for her arm and steadied her. “Sorry about the dog. He can get in the way.”

“Right, okay, I’ll see you later.”

“Madeline, thank you. I’m sure getting mixed up in this mess wasn’t on your to-do list when you woke up this morning.”

“No, it wasn’t. And I’m still not sure how I feel about this. I think you should call family services.”

“It’s the right thing to do?” He smiled because he guessed she always went by the rules. “But then she’s in the system and my hands are tied. I’d like to figure this out and then I’ll make a phone call.”

“She could be a runaway.”

“I’m going to check into that. Don’t worry, I’m not planning on harboring a juvenile.”

Madeline’s brows shot up. “I think you plan on letting me harbor said juvenile.”

He grinned and shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.

“If you go to jail, I’ll bail you out.”

“Thank you, that’s very kind.” She glanced at her watch. “I have to go. Please think about calling your parents.”

The urge to lean down and kiss her cheek didn’t come as a surprise. But today he had to think like Jackson the dad, not Jackson the guy who loved beautiful women. He smiled and promised her he’d think about calling his parents. But he’d already come to the conclusion that the last thing he needed was the entire Cooper clan descending on his house today.

Madeline hurried down the steps and across the lawn to her little sedan. He couldn’t help but smile as she slammed the door, opened it and slammed it again before driving away. He remembered her doing that when he’d helped her pick up her groceries last week.

When he walked back inside he found Jade on the sofa, a throw blanket pulled over her body. She blinked, and offered a little smile.

“I guess you were up all night?” He eased down onto the desk chair he’d left in the middle of the room.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Jackson rolled the chair closer to her. “I’m going to get some work done. You take a nap and later we’ll figure out what to do next.”

“What’s next? I’m your kid and my mom is dead. What are you going to do, dump me on the side of the road somewhere?”

“No, I’m not going to dump you. I do want to check all of the facts before we make any big plans.”

“Fine.” She looked a little pale and her eyes were huge. “Do I have grandparents or something?”

“Yeah, you have grandparents.”

She closed her eyes, a little-girl smile on her face. After a few minutes he scooted in the other direction, back to the desk and his laptop. He flipped the top up and hit the power button, all the while watching a kid who really thought he could be her dad.

He sighed and shook his head. First he checked his email because a certain bull he’d been after for a year had been put up for sale and he’d made an offer. Still nothing on that front.

So where did he begin searching for Jade Baker’s story? And her mother’s? Death records, obituaries and telephone directories. Every search came up empty. He had another connection, a friend who had gone into law enforcement. He typed a short email asking for information on runaways—one specific runaway, actually.

He sat back, trying to think of other avenues for finding Gloria Baker. But it wasn’t her name he typed in the search engine of the internet. He found himself doing a search for Madeline Patton.

She’d been in the area for a year. She’d moved to a town where she didn’t have family. She’d bought a house connected to his land. The house had once belonged to his great-grandparents. It had been their original homestead, before oil and ranching paid off for the Coopers.

His grandmother had taken a liking to Madeline and sold that little house and two acres to the schoolteacher for almost nothing. Maybe his grandmother knew more about her than the rest of them.

Or maybe he was the only Cooper left out of the loop when it came to Madeline. That kind of bugged him.

His search of Madeline Patton turned up article after article, all from Montana newspapers. He leaned back in his chair and his finger hovered above the mouse. Her story, if she had one, should be private. But the brief sentence under the heading wouldn’t let him back away. He clicked the link and started reading.

For a long time he sat there. He read newspaper articles about a child named Madeline Patton. He searched for more articles. As he read he went from pain to rage. He had never wanted to hurt someone as badly as he did at that moment, thinking about that little girl.

Man, it made him want to drive to the school and hug her tight. It made him want to keep her safe. No one should ever be used the way Madeline had been used. Exploited. Hurt.

He closed down his computer because he knew these were her stories, her secrets. She had a right to her privacy. She didn’t trust him. She definitely wouldn’t trust him with these secrets.

He stood, easing through the motion and then holding on to the desk as he took a deep breath. Jade remained curled in a ball on his sofa, sound asleep. He leaned over her, shaking her shoulders lightly. Eyes opened with a flutter and she pulled back.

“I have to get some work done in the barn. Are you going to be okay here by yourself?” He figured being by herself might be something she was used to. Just guessing.

“Yeah, I’m still tired.”

“Sleep on. If you get hungry there’s lunch meat in the fridge and a container of chili my mom brought over yesterday.”

“Thanks.” Her eyes closed.

Jackson slipped on his boots and pulled on a jacket. When he stepped outside he took a deep breath of cold, December air. It felt good to get out of the house. He never would have made it in the nine-to-five corporate world. Walls were not his cup of tea. He liked open spaces, horses in the field and bulls moving around their pens.

Blake, his older and less charming brother, could have the corporate gig. If someone had to count the money, it might as well be Blake.

Jackson whistled for the dog. He came running from the field, brown splotches on his back where he’d been rolling in the grass. When the dog got close enough, Jackson groaned.

“Bud, you stink. Get out of here.”

Bud wagged his tail as if being stinky sounded like a compliment.

He shrugged down into his jacket and trudged down the driveway toward the barn. Horses whinnied and trotted along the fence line. Cattle started moving from across the field.

He flipped on lights in the barn and a few whinnies greeted him. He stopped in front of the stall of the little mare he’d bought last week. She stuck her velvety black nose over the door of the stall and he rubbed her face. She’d make some pretty foals. Her daddy had sired quite a few champion cutting horses. Her brother was a champion barrel horse. If people were concerned about pedigrees, hers topped the charts.

A minute later he walked on down the aisle to the feed room. As he unhooked the door he heard a truck easing down the driveway, the diesel engine humming, tires crunching on gravel. He stepped back to the center of the aisle and shook his head. Travis, late as usual.

As much as he loved his kid brother, Jackson missed Reese. They were closer in age and understood each other a little better. But Reese was deployed to Afghanistan and wouldn’t be home for a year.

It was going to be a long year. He’d be doing a lot of praying during that time. He and God would be on pretty good terms by the time Reese came home.

Travis whistled a country song as he walked through the wide doors of the stable. He was tall and lanky, his light brown hair curled like it hadn’t seen a brush in days. Nothing slowed Travis down. And nothing ever seemed to get him down.

“I didn’t expect to see you up and around today.” Travis pulled on leather work gloves.

“Is that why you waited until noon to feed?” Jackson blew out a breath, letting go of his irritation.

“Had a cow down and had to pull a calf. I knew everyone here had plenty of hay until I could get here. And I also know you well enough to know you can’t stand staying down.”

“Yeah, I feel better.”

“Good, but let’s not go crazy, right?” Crazy, as in give himself a chance to heal.

“Right.” Jackson scooped grain into a bucket and headed for the first stall. They were only five horses in the stable; the rest were in the pasture. There were two stallions, a gelding he was training for a guy in Oklahoma City, a mare that had been brought over for an introduction to his stallion, Dandy, and the little black mare.

“You left your front door open.” Travis stopped to pet the black mare. “You really think this mare is going to throw some nice foals? She’s small.”

“She’s fast.”

He didn’t remember leaving the door open and wondered if Jade had woken up. Fortunately Travis let it go. He grabbed a bale of hay and tossed it in a wheelbarrow without asking more questions. He pushed the wheelbarrow down the aisle, whistling again, and Jackson knew he wasn’t getting off the hook that easily. Travis didn’t let go of anything. But for now he seemed to be content with a nonanswer. He shoved two flakes of hay into the feeders on the stalls. When he got to the stallion, Dandy, he pulled off three flakes.

“Don’t overfeed him.” Jackson warned.

Travis grinned. “He’s a big guy doing a lot of work. He requires extra fuel.”

“Not every feeding.”

“I’m not five.” Travis pushed the wheelbarrow back to the hay stacked in the open area between stalls. He piled on two bales for the horses outside.

“I know you’re not.” But it was hard to turn off “big brother” mode. He’d been getting Travis out of scrapes for over twenty years.

“The charity bull ride for Samaritan House is next week. Do you think you’ll be able to go?” Travis was a bull fighter, the guy responsible for distracting bulls as the bull rider made a clean getaway. Or distracting bulls when the getaway wasn’t clean. Sometimes the bull fighter took a direct hit to keep the rider safe. That made him a hero. Travis had taken more than his share of hits.

Jackson slapped his little brother on the back. “I’m going to take a rain check.”

Travis grinned. “Really? What’s going on with you?”

The Russian accent was still noticeable, even after all his years in America, and being raised as a Cooper.

“Nothing, just not sure if I’ll be able to make it. If you need me, though…”

“No, we should be fine.”

They walked outside. The sun was bright and the sky a clear blue, not a cloud in sight. It hadn’t warmed up much and didn’t seem to be heading in that direction.

The corral held a few of their best bulls. Jackson walked up to the metal pipe enclosure and raised a foot to rest it on the lowest pipe of the six-foot-tall pen. He hadn’t ridden bulls professionally for several years. He trained them, sometimes hauled them and then sold them. The Cooper bull breeding program was his baby. Gage, the brother between Reese and Travis, was the bull rider these days.

Raising bucking bulls had become a big business, bigger than they’d ever thought it would be.

Travis pointed to a rangy, Holstein mix bull. “Bottle Rocket is scheduled for the championship round in Oklahoma City?”

“He is.” Not one of them had guessed that little bull calf they had bottle-fed would be a champion bucking bull. But there he was, pawing at the ground and looking for all the world like a top athlete and not the sickly calf they’d saved six years earlier.

A car rumbled up the drive. Jackson didn’t turn as quickly as he would have a week ago. Travis beat him to the punch. And that meant a lot of explaining for Jackson to do.

“Isn’t that Madeline Patton?” Travis crossed his arms over one of the poles of the fence but turned to watch as Madeline got out of the car and then the front door of the house opened.

What in the world was she doing here so early?

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Jackson turned his back to the woman and kid heading their way. He needed to think fast and distract Travis.

But of course this would be the day that Travis was focused and sharp. He pulled dark-framed glasses out of his pocket and shoved them onto his handsome face. Somehow Travis always looked studious in those glasses. And serious.

Jackson kept his own attention focused on Bottle Rocket.

“So, Madeline Patton and a kid that looks like you. Something you want to tell me?” Travis stared straight ahead, his voice low.

Jackson wanted to clobber his younger brother. Travis was like the farm dog that kept chewing up shoes, but you kept it anyway. He didn’t mean to cause trouble, he just naturally found it.

“No, I don’t really have much to tell you.”

“Well, there are rumors spreading through town about a kid that looks like you showing up at the Mad Cow asking for directions to Jackson Cooper’s house.”

Travis let out a sigh and shook his head. He stepped back from the fence and turned to face the woman and teenager heading their way.

“People in this town gossip more than they pray.” Jackson walked away from his younger brother.

“Shoot, Jackson, what do you think a prayer chain is?”

Jackson didn’t wait for Travis, but Travis caught up with him anyway, “Travis, I’d hope that a prayer chain is for prayer.”

“Is she yours?”

Jackson glanced at Travis. “What do you think?”

“What are you going to do about it?”

Jackson shrugged. At this point he didn’t have a clue. But it would help if he could find her mother. Since he’d discovered there wasn’t a death certificate for Gloria Baker, he assumed she was still alive.

Chapter Four

Madeline didn’t quite know what to say, not with Travis staring from Jackson to Jade and then to her. She wanted to lift her hands and back away. She wanted to explain to them all that this family drama didn’t belong to her. But the girl standing next to her, what happened to her if Madeline took the quickest exit from the situation?

Common sense told her that someone else would step in. If she left, Jackson would have to turn to his family for help. She looked up, caught him watching her, probably wondering the same thing she’d caught herself wondering. Why in the world was she here? He grinned and winked.

Someday she’d regret this moment, the moment she decided not to walk away. But the past had to be conquered. She couldn’t spend her life running from the fear. Standing there looking at Jackson Cooper, all of that fear, rational and irrational, rushed in, pummeling her heart.

She took a deep breath and Jade reached for her hand, holding her in that spot.

“Travis, maybe it’s time for you to go.” Jackson slapped his little brother on the back. “And if you can, keep your mouth shut.”

Travis tipped his hat. “Will do, brother. If I can.”

“Try. Real hard.”

Travis laughed as he walked away. Madeline watched him go and then she couldn’t ignore Jackson any longer. He stood in front of her, an imposing six feet of strength, muscle and charm.

She watched Jade’s retreating back as she followed the dog into the stable. Madeline fought back the urge to run, because running was easy. Something had clicked in Sunday services a few weeks ago, about facing life with God’s strength, not our own. If she couldn’t be strong on her own, she could be strong, more than a conqueror, with God.

“Jackson, I know this isn’t easy. I think the sooner you tell your family the better.”

“I’m going to do that. It isn’t as if I’m a kid who’s afraid to go home and tell his dad he messed up. I’ve messed up plenty in my life, Madeline. I know exactly who and what I am.”

That’s good, because she didn’t know him or what exactly he was. He could be charming and funny. He helped a woman pick up her spilled canned goods. He always showed up first when a neighbor needed help. The tornado last spring had been an example of that. He’d worked tirelessly on homes that were damaged. He’d hauled food and water to people trying to rebuild their lives.

She’d admired that about him. Admired him from a distance, of course. Distance kept a person safe.

“You’re a good person, Jackson.” The words slipped out, honest but ugh, so embarrassing once they were said. She looked away, seeking Jade, making sure the girl hadn’t decided to climb on a bull or a wild horse.

Jackson stared at her for a long minute and then he smiled.

“Madeline, I think that’s about the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“I doubt that. But honestly, about Jade…”

He glanced at his watch. “What are you doing here so early?”

“We got out at noon today. I forgot to tell you that earlier.”

“Right, a holiday?”

“For the kids. A planning day for teachers.” She started toward the barn, drawn by the whinny of a horse and laughter. Jackson walked next to her. She glanced up at him. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure. I can’t find any information on her mother’s death. And I emailed a friend in law enforcement. She hasn’t been reported missing.”

Madeline stopped walking. “So where do you think her mother is?”

He didn’t have a clue. “Maybe she’s the one that’s missing? I might have to drive to Enid. I’m going to keep searching because I’m starting to think she’s not actually from Enid.”

“You think?”

“What, you came to that conclusion first?”

She smiled because the look on his face said he clearly didn’t think she could think of it first. “The thought had crossed my mind. I think there’s far more to her story than she’s telling.”

“The guy is always the last to know.” He motioned her inside the stable ahead of him.

Madeline loved barns of all kinds, but this one took the cake. Shadowy and smelling of hay and horses, it stretched from stalls to a wide aisle that led into the arena. Country music played softly and Jade stood in front of a stall petting a pretty black mare.

The girl smiled at Jackson, hazel eyes glittery and full of light. “She’s a beautiful horse.”

“I thought so.” Jackson walked up next to the girl. “After she settles down I’ll let you ride her.”

“I’ve never ridden a horse.” Jade’s voice came out breathless and wistful.

“I guess that’s something we’ll take care of.” Jackson turned to smile at Madeline and she felt a little wistful, too. “What about you, Ms. Patton?”

“I’ve ridden a few times with Andie Johnson.”

Jade stepped back from the horse who had her head down, munching hay. “Why don’t you have a Christmas tree?”

Jackson blinked at the rapid change of topics. Madeline nearly laughed because he clearly needed to adjust to how a teenage girl’s brain worked. He didn’t understand that a girl like Jade could have a dozen or more things going on in her mind at once.

“I guess ’cause I don’t need one.”

Jade’s mouth opened at that revelation. “You have to have a Christmas tree. How can you have Christmas without a tree?”

Jackson shrugged. “Because I go to my parents’ house and they have a tree.”

Madeline didn’t want to jump in but Jade turned, clearly intending to pull her in.

“Do you have a tree?” Jade asked, her attention now on Madeline.

“I have a little one.” Pitiful, really. She had a pink tree with silver ornaments. It had seemed like a good idea at the time because it came pre-decorated.

Now a pink Christmas tree just seemed wrong.

“Christmas isn’t about a tree.” Jackson stepped in, almost defensive.

Jade blew out, obviously disgusted. “I think I know that. The tree isn’t what Christmas is all about, but it kind of makes me think more about the holiday.”

“We’ll get a tree.” Jackson herded them toward the door of the barn. “Tomorrow.”

Madeline thought about tomorrow, the day she planned on baking bread, decorating her house and then working on finishing touches at the Dawson Community Center’s living nativity. She also needed to run to town and buy ingredients for candy.

“We can drive my truck out to the back pasture and find a decent cedar. And if Madeline needs a tree, we can cut her one, too.”

“I really don’t.” Madeline stiffened when his hand went to her back, lingered and then moved away. When she glanced at him his hands were in his pockets and his smile had disappeared.

“Of course you do.” He looked down at her. “We’ll cut down trees and then we’ll come back here for hot chocolate and cookies.”

Jade’s face lit up. “Perfect.”

Madeline wanted to disagree. Perfect would be how she’d describe her life before this morning, before being invaded by the two Coopers standing next to her. Perfect would be her little pink tree being left alone and her heart not hammering out the tune “Meet Me Under the Mistletoe.”

She didn’t want those thoughts, those dangerous-to-her-heart thoughts. She didn’t want to be afraid. Of what, she asked herself. Afraid of rejection? Afraid he’d hurt her? Or worse.

Always worse.

God’s strength. She reminded herself that she could do this, she could face her fears. She could be the strong person she sometimes knew existed inside her.

Tomorrow should be good enough to start on being strong. Today she had to deal with her emotions tumbling inside her, mocking her because she’d thought she had them locked up tight.

Jade and Jackson were still talking and laughing, discussing the plan for tomorrow. She wanted to explain that she already had plans. Instead she chose escape.

“I should go. I need to get some stuff done at my house before our big adventure tomorrow.”

Jade walked away from the horse but her gaze lingered on the animal, and then turned to Jackson. Of course she wanted to stay with him. Madeline understood that. But Jade, like so many kids that Madeline knew who were used to disappointment, brushed it off. She raised her chin a notch, shrugged, and let it go.

Still, it had to hurt. Even if she knew how to pretend none of this bothered her, on the inside, where it counted, Madeline knew Jade had to be afraid.

Worse, she seemed to be counting on Madeline for strength and for guidance.

“What are you going to do for the rest of the day?” Jackson leaned against a stall door and she figured it had to be holding him up.

“Is there something you need?”

He grinned and winked. “A back rub would be good. Are you offering?”

“Do you ever stop?”

His smile faded. “Yeah, I do. I’m sorry for saying that. You might have to give me a few days to get the old Jackson under control.”

“Right, of course.”

“Do you think you’ll be going to town today?” Jackson reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.

“I had planned on picking up Christmas decorations in Grove. Why?”

“Because I thought I’d give you money for groceries since you’ve got another mouth to feed. And she might need some clothes and a warmer coat.”

“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me.” Jade moved to stand next to Madeline, her shoulders squared and stiff. “I’m good at taking care of myself.”

“I’m sure you are, Jade, but that isn’t necessary. You came looking for a family and this is what family does.” Jackson handed Madeline several bills and she folded the money and put it in her pocket.

“I can take her.” Madeline smiled at the girl standing next to her. “We can have fun shopping.”

Jade shrugged slim shoulders. “Okay, sure. So I’m leaving and I won’t see you until tomorrow?”

After a long pause, Jackson eased closer, taking stiff steps that Madeline hadn’t noticed earlier. She wondered if he was even supposed to be up, let alone doing chores.

“Jade, I want to spend time with you. We’re going to figure this whole mess out and I’m going to do my best to help you…”

“I don’t need help. I need a dad.”

His features softened. “I know, and I’m going to do my best to help you with that. But honestly, kid, I need to crash. I think my ribs are about to snap in two and my back kind of feels like a truck is sitting on it. Now that isn’t the toughest ‘dad’ kind of thing to admit. Especially in front of two women.” He smiled a tight smile. “But that’s the way it is.”

“Fine.” Jade stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.

And something about him changed. Madeline watched his eyes and face shift and suddenly, Jackson Cooper became a dad. Or at least what she always imagined a dad would be if she’d had a real one.

“We should go.” Madeline reached for Jade. “What time tomorrow? And are you sure you don’t want me to bring something over for dinner tonight?”

“I think by nine in the morning.” Jackson winked at Jade before turning to smile at Madeline. “And don’t worry about me. I’m going to crash, and food is the last thing I want.”

They walked back to the house together, slowly. Jackson watched them get in the car and then he eased his way up the steps of the front porch and into the house. Madeline waited until he stepped through the door before she shifted into Reverse.

“You think he’s cute, don’t you?”

Madeline blinked a few times at the crazy question the teenager sitting next to her had asked. Jade smiled at what Madeline had hoped would be a warning look. Maybe she needed to work on that.

“Jackson doesn’t need for anyone to think he’s cute. He thinks it enough about himself.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

Let it go, her wise inner voice said. Let it go. She drove on down the road, back to her house. When they reached her place she pulled up to the mailbox.

“Could you reach in and get my mail?” She pulled close and rolled the window down for Jade.

“Sure.” Jade reached into the box and pulled out a few pieces of mail. Rather than handing it over she sifted through it. “Hey, a Christmas card from Marjorie Patton. Is that your sister or your mom?”

Madeline grabbed the mail and shoved it in her purse. “It’s no one.”

Jackson woke up in a dark living room, the dog at his feet growling. He groaned and tossed the pillow across the room. Twice in one day. In one long, long day. The doorbell chimed again and he pushed himself off the couch, groaning as he straightened, stretching the muscles in his back.

Things to do tonight: sleep in own bed.

“I’m coming, already.”

He threw the door open and immediately backed down. “Sir.”

His dad stood in the doorway, the look on his face a familiar one. At almost thirty-four, Jackson should be long past that look from anyone. But there it was, the “buddy, you’re in big trouble” look.

“Come in, I’ll put on a pot of coffee.”

Tim Cooper stomped the mud off his boots and stepped inside the house. “Smells like dog in here.”

“Yeah, the stupid dog refuses to sleep outside. Either he’s worried about me, or he just doesn’t like the cold. I’m going with the cold.”

“Probably. You’re walking like you’re eighty years old.”

“Yeah, well, I feel older than that.”

“What spooked that horse? Did you ever figure it out?”

They reached the kitchen and Jackson motioned for his dad to sit down while he filled the water reservoir on the coffeemaker and pushed the power button.

“I think it was a loose door banging in the wind. We both know that isn’t why you’re here.”

“I can be here for more than one reason. Your mom is worried because she tried to call and you didn’t answer.”

“I was dog-tired.”

“I told her you were probably asleep.”

Jackson reached for the bottle of painkillers on the counter and then he put them back. It wasn’t so bad he couldn’t walk it off. “And the other reason you’re here?”

“Travis has a big mouth.”

“Right, I figured as much. Something about the words ‘Travis, keep your mouth shut’ tends to loosen his mouth like an oiled hinge.”

His dad kind of laughed. He took his hat off and sat it on the table. “She isn’t yours?”

“Probably not.” Jackson sat down next to his dad. He fiddled with the stack of mail he’d left on the table earlier that day. “But my name is on her birth certificate.”

“Where’s her mom?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Jackson got up to make the coffee. He put a cup under the nozzle. “Black?”

“Yeah. Oh, your mom sent dinner. It’s in the truck and I’ll bring it in before I leave.”

“Thanks. You know, I’ll never learn to cook if she keeps feeding me.”

“She isn’t going to stop. I’ve tried. And she’s itching to fix this situation for you, too.”

Jackson set the two cups of coffee on the table. “I’ll fix this myself. The fewer people involved the better.”

“I don’t think your mom thinks that she’s one of the people who shouldn’t be involved. She said to tell you she’ll expect to see you tomorrow.”

“Give me a few days. I’m trying to figure this out without hurting Jade.”

“Is that her name?”

He nodded and took a sip of coffee. “Yeah, Jade Baker. I knew her mom. But you know…”

“Yeah. Might need to head to the doctor just to make sure.”

“I will. I’m not turning her out in the cold. I’m not going to call the state yet. I’m not going to have her in the system at Christmas.”

“Where is she?”

This is where it got tricky. He sipped his coffee and gave himself a minute. His dad answered his own question.

“Travis said Madeline Patton was up here today.”

“She was.”

“Madeline, huh?” Tim grinned kind of big, the way a man did when he’d raised a bunch of sons. “Not your normal cup of tea.”

“I’ve never been a tea person.”

“No, you haven’t.” Tim lifted his cup and finished off his coffee. “Don’t hurt her. If you don’t want big trouble with your mother, remember that people think of lot of Madeline.”

“I’m not chasing the schoolteacher, if that’s what you think.” He shook his head. “And I’m not eighteen years old. So thanks for the advice.”

Tim stood. He put a hand on Jackson’s shoulder. “She’s the kind of woman a guy marries.”

Yeah, that said it all. Put him in his place. Jackson, who had done his running around and then settled down on this farm with a dog and some livestock, had yet to outrun his reputation. It sure felt like he couldn’t do enough good deeds to undo what the people around here thought of him.

He stood to follow his dad out of the kitchen, and he couldn’t stop one last attempt at denial. “I’m not planning to marry Madeline Patton.”

His dad laughed. “When do things ever go the way we plan?”

“This is different. She’s helping with Jade.”

“Right, of course.” He slapped Jackson on the back. “Careful, son, the word never usually leads right where you never thought you’d go.”

Jackson stood on the front porch, thinking of all the times he’d said never. It wasn’t until his dad’s taillights disappeared that he remembered his dinner in that truck.

Fortunately he’d lost his appetite.

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