A Cowboy for Christmas: A Contemporary Christian Romance NOVELLA Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Other Books by Debra Ullrick

  A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS

  By

  Debra Ullrick

  www.debraullrick.com

  A Cowboy for Christmas

  Copyright © 2014 by Debra Ullrick

  Kindle Edition

  All rights reserved. Copyright under Berne, Universal and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or by any other information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Published by: Sweet Impressions Publishing

  Cover Design by Lynnette Bonner

  Cover images © BigStock- 24647663 - 51982042

  © PeopleImages.com - ID60316

  Registered Trademarks mentioned in the book:

  Stetson

  Tony Llama

  Justin

  Schnee

  Roper

  Thinsulate

  Irish Spring

  Carhartt

  eBook Edition License Notes

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook my not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Amazon Kindle Store and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  Publisher's Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Dedication

  To all you ranchers out there who work long, endless hours, day after day, with very little pay and very little thanks. I know what that’s like. My husband and I lived and worked on cow/calf ranches in the Colorado Rocky Mountains for over 28 years. And even though it was extremely hard work, we loved it. When it comes to ranching, my husband said it best…

  “Ranching isn’t just a job, it’s a lifestyle.”

  Thank you for all that you do to put food on our tables.

  God bless you all always.

  Debra Ullrick

  A Cowboy for Christmas

  Chapter One

  “God, please send me some help,” Callie Gentry prayed as she struggled to get the lug nuts off the rim of her flat tire. “Whoever tightened these had to have bands of steel, Lord.” She stood from her squatting position, tugged, and pulled on the lug wrench, but the lug nut wouldn’t even budge so much as a centimeter.

  The wind picked up, and a few snow flurries floated around her. Oh great. Just what she needed, more snow. For the past two weeks, it had snowed several inches a day, and with the freezing cold weather, none of it had melted.

  She glanced across the snow-packed meadow at the cows huddled together in the corner pasture, a sure sign that the weather was about to take a turn for the worse. Not good. Not good at all. Especially since she was stranded a mile away from the main ranch house with a flat.

  With a heavy sigh, Callie dropped back down to a squatting position and stared at the lug nuts, trying to figure out how she was going to change the flat so she could get out of this biting wind. “Of all the times for this to happen. When Tripp is on vacation.” With no one around, her words drifted on the wind and into the void. “I could sure use some help here, Lord.” She clutched the lug wrench and gave it another good yank, but again, the thing wouldn’t even budge. “Tripp said he found someone who could come help me out, but they must’ve gotten lost or changed their mind or something,” she mumbled.

  “Do you always talk to yourself, Callie?”

  Callie’s heart stopped right along with her breath. She pivoted on the balls of her feet and tilted her head back far enough to see under the rim of her wool Scotch cap.

  That grin could be no one else’s.

  “Bet you didn’t expect to see me again, did you?”

  Or anyone else. She’d been so busy concentrating on fixing the flat she hadn’t even heard the vehicle pull up. Not only that, with her diesel engine truck making a loud crrrr crrrr crrrr, noise there was no way she would have heard anyone else coming.

  Still, she couldn’t believe her eyes. There, a mere two feet away from her, dressed in a brown Carhartt outback style winter coat, black silk scarf, brown Stetson cowboy hat, black denim winter pants, and winter boots stood none other than Dustin Lockwood. A man her heart had never forgotten though it had tried something fierce.

  “Dustin!” Callie shot to her feet, closed the gap between them, and threw her arms around his waist.

  His arms wrapped around her and held her tight. With her head resting against his broad chest, she relished the feel of his arms around her and the masculine scent of a forest floor after a rainstorm that he never seemed to leave home without.

  Reluctantly, she stepped out of his arms and looked up at him. “Man, it’s so good to see you.” She tipped her head sideways. “But what are you doing here?”

  He gazed down at her with those piercing gray eyes and crooked grin of his. “Tripp said you needed help. So here I am.”

  “Oh.” Was all she managed to say.

  Dustin chuckled. Something she had sorely missed hearing.

  “You’re staring.”

  She blinked. “So I am. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, I can’t help but stare. I keep thinking I’ve been out in the cold too long and that I’m hallucinating or you’re a vision or something.”

  “Well, you aren’t hallucinating. I’m here. And you can stare later. Right now, I need to get that tire changed so we can get out of here.” He crouched down and with one yank of the lug wrench, the lug nut loosened. He spun the wrench around until the nut was completely off.

  Callie squatted down beside him and opened her hand toward him. With a glance at her hand, he dropped the nut onto her insulated leather gloves and went back to work on another one. She couldn’t get over the fact that Dustin Lockwood was the man Tripp Baker, her hired hand and friend, had gotten to replace him. How was that even possible?

  Callie sighed. This was going to be the longest two weeks of her life. Being this close to him again after all those years of him being gone from her life, all those feelings she’d tried so hard to bury rose to the surface in a gush, landing directly into her heart.

  She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Her heart had never forgotten him. But after seeing how much her mother suffered when Callie’s dad took off, Callie had no desire to get involved with any man.

  Even Dustin.

  Love was just too painful. Nothing but a fantasy in a romance novel.

  Her mom was living proof of that. Callie’s heart broke every time her mom cried when she thought no one was listening. Callie herself had cried buckets of tears. She missed her dad. If only he’d call, but that wasn’t likely to happen. Ever.

  Flinging those painful thoughts far from her mind, Callie turned her focus to getting the flat changed.

  Dustin loosened the remaining seven lug nuts on her one-ton Dodge dually pickup. He handed her each one as he did. When he finished, he yanked the wheel off.

 
; “I can’t believe it’s been five years since you and your family left the county.” Five years and three months to be exact. He left right after his junior year of high school. And her dad left the year after that.

  “Me neither.” He put the spare tire on and replaced the lugs she handed back to him one-by-one.

  “Why aren’t you down in Longmont helping your dad, instead of coming up here to help us?” she asked, brushing off the snowflakes that were now building up on her arms and shoulders.

  He stopped for a moment and glanced over at her. His gorgeous gray eyes drove right into her like they always used to. “The owner of the cow/calf ranch Dad managed down there sold the place.”

  “Oh wow, sorry to hear that.” She tossed her braid over her shoulder. “Couldn’t you stay on with the new owners?”

  “No. He bought the place for his sons, and they took it over.”

  “I see.” She handed Dustin the lug wrench. “So, what’s your dad doing now?”

  “Dad got tired of ranching and losing his home with his job, so they bought an old farm house on a few acres outside of Longmont and he’s driving a semi now.”

  “Really? I can’t picture your dad driving a truck.” Callie tried to wrap her mind around that fact, but couldn’t. “He was so good at what he did and had so much knowledge about running a ranch.”

  “Me neither. Dad wanted me to hire on with the same trucking outfit as him, but ranching’s in my blood. I was born on a ranch, and I’ll die on a ranch. So, right now, I’m in between jobs. That’s why when Tripp called me and said you needed help, since I was free, I decided to come and help you and to look for work up here while I’m at it. But to be real honest, Callie, I would’ve come either way.”

  She brushed away the look in his eyes about as easily as she did the snowflakes piling up around her. “Tripp said he saw you down at the sale barn last month when he took our cull cows there.”

  “Yeah, I was sure surprised to see him. And glad too. Otherwise, I might not be here right now, and I’m so glad I am.” He smiled at her, and her own lips curled upward.

  “I am too.”

  Seconds later, Dustin stood, tightened all the lugs, and lowered the hydraulic jack.

  Even though she was tall, Dustin still towered over her by a good six inches. She dipped her head back and looked into the handsome cowboy’s face that had matured since he’d left the county. His diamond-shaped face had filled out considerable. Dark stubble now dotted his chin. His lips were firmer, yet had a soft look to them, and his long dark lashes and brown eyebrows remained the same.

  “You’re staring again.”

  “So are you,” she shot back, tearing her eyes away from him.

  “Guilty as charged. I have no wish to hide that fact.”

  Those words gave her heart a ginormous hug.

  He leaned over and picked up the spare tire. “You want this in the back of the bed for now?”

  “Yeah.” She nodded.

  As if it weighed no more than a snowflake, with one swing, he tossed it into the back of her truck bed and faced her.

  “Hey, I just thought of something. How’d you know I was out here in the meadow?”

  He rested his elbow on the top side of the truck bed. “I went to the house and your mom said you went to check on the cows over an hour ago. She asked if I’d come check on you and told me what direction to head.”

  “Oh. Well, I’m sure glad you showed up when you did. You’re a lifesaver. Normally, I can change a tire myself, but whoever tightened the lugs last time made sure they were never coming off.”

  Dustin shrugged as if they were no big deal. His attention shifted toward the west. “From the looks of things, we’d better hurry. That heavy snow is about to dump on us any minute now. And I haven’t forgotten just how bad the snow can get up here.” He moved away from her truck.

  “You’re right.”

  “By the way, do I have the job?”

  “Job?” She tilted her head.

  “Yeah. Until Tripp gets back.”

  She tapped her forehead. “Duh. Boy do I feel stupid. You bet your sweet bippy you do. I need the help. But, I have to warn you, the pay’s not the best. I’ll make it worth your while though. I promise.”

  He gazed down at her with a seriousness she’d only seen a few times before. “You don’t have to pay me, Callie. I want to help.”

  “I really appreciate it, Dustin.” She lowered her eyes and ran her snow boot across the fresh skiff of snow that was starting to accumulate over the eight to ten inches that was already on the ground. Her eyes came up to his. “Thanks.” The flakes started coming down heavier. She glanced up at the low, white clouds. “We’d better get going. Follow me down to the house, and we’ll get you settled. I’d put you up in the bunkhouse, but a family of skunks moved in underneath the floorboards and the place reeks.” She wrinkled her nose just thinking about the overpowering stench.

  “Having trouble with skunks, huh?”

  “They’re really bad this year.”

  “If you want, I’ll help you get rid of them.”

  “That’d be great.” She headed toward the door of her pickup.

  “Thanks, Callie.”

  Her hand stilled on the truck door handle, and she turned questioning eyes up at him. “For what?”

  “For letting me help you.”

  “It’s me who should be thanking you. You do realize we only need help until Tripp gets back from vacation, right?”

  “Yeah, I do.” His brown Bailey cowboy hat moved with the nod.

  “Great. Let’s go.” Callie climbed inside the warm cab of her pickup, turned the windshield wipers on, and cranked the heater on high. As soon as Dustin fired his truck up, off she drove across the snowy meadow and through the irrigation ditches toward the house, checking her rearview mirror every so often to make sure Dustin was behind her. It was so nice seeing him again. And scary too.

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  Dustin Lockwood couldn’t believe how much Callie had changed. She’d always been a real looker, but she was even more so now. Her rosy cheeks from the biting wind added to her appeal. She had that outdoorsy look he loved.

  For years, he’d secretly had it bad for her. He hated that his family had moved. And long distant relationships never seemed to work. He learned that after Callie had stopped writing to him. That hadn’t stopped him from loving her though. And now, that he knew the truth, he had a chance to see if she felt the same way he did. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but he had to try.

  Snow swirled around his truck as Dustin reached over and cranked up the wipers and the heater. Since his arrival in the meadow, the snowfall had already increased. He wondered how long Callie would have been out there if he hadn’t come along when he did.

  The further they drove, keeping an eye on the tailgate lights of Callie’s Dodge became increasingly difficult. Over the last few minutes, the visibility had gone from poor to almost nonexistent. At the rate they were moving, even a turtle could overtake them.

  Ten minutes later, they pulled up in front of the Lazy G Quarter Circle main ranch house. Through the hazy, blowing snow, barely visible blinking Christmas lights and lawn decorations flashed like faint, tiny neon signs. Dustin shut his truck off, grabbed his duffle bag from off the back seat of his Dodge, and opened the door.

  Callie stood in front of his truck, waiting for him, with her head titled sideways into the wind, holding the lapels of her fleece-lined coat tight around her neck. “C’mon.” She yanked her head toward the house.

  Side-by-side, they ducked into the wind and shuffled their way to the house.

  The instant they reached the mudroom, the door opened.

  Dressed in blue jeans, a yellow and gold-checkered flannel shirt and brown Roper cowboy boots, Mrs. Gentry stood there in the doorway, waving them inside. Wrinkles of concern lined her forehead and her sky-blue eyes. “Get in. Get in. It’s freezing out there.” She stepped out of the way to let them inside, l
ooping her long blonde hair over her ear as she did.

  Callie and Dustin stepped past Mrs. Gentry into the heated mudroom, stomping their feet and brushing the snow off of their arms and shoulders.

  Roast beef, pine and spiced apples filled the air.

  “I see Dustin found you.” Mrs. Gentry’s voice wobbled as she closed the door and eyed Callie with the same blue eyes as her daughters. “What happened?”

  “Flat,” Callie answered, removing her Scotch cap and coat, shaking off the remaining snow, and hanging them up on one of the wooden pegs on the wall.

  Mrs. Gentry sighed and shook her head. “What else could possibly go wrong?”

  “Mom.” Callie laid her hand on Mrs. Gentry’s wrist. “Everything will be fine. You’ll see. God’ll take care of it. He always has.”

  Dustin’s attention swerved down to Callie. The confidence on her face sucked the air from his lungs. It was as if she truly believed what she had just said. Since when had she become so religious? In high school, she loved to drink and party with her friends. So had he. But things were different for him now.

  “You two must be cold and hungry.” Mrs. Gentry’s voice broke through his thoughts. “I’ve got the woodstove stoked nice and hot and a roast in the oven. So hurry up and get your boots off and get in here where it’s warm. As soon as we get you settled in your room, Dustin…” Mrs. Gentry paused and looked up at him. “Callie did tell you that you’ll be staying here in the main house with us instead of the bunkhouse, right?”

  “Yes she did, Mrs. Gentry,” he answered.

  “My mother, Mrs. Gentry lives in Florida. Call me, Barb, like you used to.” Barb smiled up at him before she turned and stepped through the mudroom doorway into the kitchen.

  “I can’t wait to get some of my mom’s homemade hot apple cider,” Callie said from beside him. “Nothing like it on a day like this.” She leaned over and unlaced her Schnee winter boots.