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  “Washing up and changing their clothes. I figured you would want them occupied for this. What’s up?”

  “Phil did steal that silver SUV in town the night he escaped. And...it apparently was him parked out on the highway on Thanksgiving when the gate was opened.”

  “None of this is a surprise. We figured as much.”

  He nodded. “Well...when we got that call from a passerby about the loose cattle he must’ve realized he’d been spotted, because he took off. He passed a patrol car in the next county doing ninety, so the deputy went after him. Then Phil went around a corner and disappeared.”

  Abby felt a queasy sensation in her stomach. “So he could still be in the area?”

  “The snow was falling heavily enough to hide his tracks on the side of the road. Some cross-country skiers called 911 this morning to report a car in a ravine, the driver deceased. Phil must have skidded, hit a guardrail and gone airborne.”

  Abby dropped into a chair in front of the desk. “I...don’t know what to say. If I hadn’t—”

  “None of us would have wished him harm. But he chose his actions. He escaped. He chose to come back here for a little revenge, and he chose to run from the law.”

  “Do...do you have anything on his job application about his family? Someone to contact?” Abby closed her eyes briefly, imagining the family that would mourn him.

  “That’s where it gets interesting. A deputy told me that Phil’s name didn’t match his fingerprints. Apparently he had quite a rap sheet and was wanted for theft, so he was using a stolen identity. That’s why he tried so hard to escape.”

  “But what about his references?”

  “Faked. The phone number I called probably belonged to a buddy who vouched for him.”

  “I’m just sorry this happened.”

  “You did the right thing, Abby, and I’m grateful. The thought of him so much as looking at you and the girls makes me angry. And I’m even more angry at myself for not realizing what kind of man he was.”

  Jess had always been a protector—the kind of man who cared about family more than himself and did what was right. That he’d immediately believed her words about Phil and now shouldered the blame for the man’s presence was just one more facet of Jess that she would never forget.

  The woman who won him over would be the most fortunate woman on earth. Abby just wished it could be her.

  Chapter Twenty

  The house phone rang minutes after Jess left with the girls for the Christmas-program rehearsal. After checking the caller ID, Abby picked up the receiver. “Darla! It’s so nice to hear from you.”

  “Don thought we should come over to tell you, but I thought maybe calling was better. Are you busy? I can call tomorrow or later this week.”

  From the tentative tone in her voice, Abby guessed this call hadn’t been easy to make. “Now is good. What’s up?”

  A long pause.

  “We had a wonderful time on Thanksgiving. Thanks so much for the invitation. I’ve never had such a great meal. And...um...it was so nice of y’all to pick up Don and me for church this morning. It was much easier than walking in alone, and...”

  In the background, Abby heard a gentle warning in Dad’s voice. “Darla, go ahead. Tell her.”

  “Um, anyway—Don got a phone call an hour ago, but he was out doing chores, and the caller said I could help him just fine.”

  Even over the phone, Abby could hear Darla swallow hard.

  “He said he was your ex and that he was calling Don because he needed to find you. I wouldn’t have told him anything except he seemed to know both of you really well, so I figured he was telling the truth about who he was.”

  “Alan called?”

  “Yeah. I told him you were at the Langford ranch. Then he said you were going to be really happy because things were gonna change. And that he looked forward to seeing you real soon, and then he asked for the Langford phone number and I gave it to him. I just didn’t think. Afterward I realized that surely he would have your cell number, right? And if you wanted him to have the ranch number, you would’ve already given it to him. I am so sorry.”

  This news hit Abby with the force of a straight-line wind—too fast to really catch. Abby blinked. “You’re right. Alan should have my cell number. This doesn’t make sense.”

  “When I told Don, he said Alan was the last guy you’d ever want to hear from.”

  The poor woman sounded so rattled that Abby wished they had come in person, so she could give Darla a reassuring hug.

  “Don said...” There was a long pause, and Abby heard her father’s voice in the background again. “He doesn’t want me to repeat it. But I don’t think he likes Alan very much.”

  “Believe me, I know that’s an understatement,” Abby said dryly. The puppy pawed at her leg and she bent down to pick him up and snuggle her cheek against his soft, fluffy fur. “But for what it’s worth, tell Dad that he was right about Alan all along.”

  “We just wanted you to know in case Alan does call. Or turns up at the ranch or something.”

  “That’s all right. No worries,” Abby said quietly. “I’m not upset, just confused. He’s the one who filed for divorce. What little we had together was divided up largely in his favor. And the last time I saw him, he was boasting about moving in with the woman he fell love with. Why would he call me now?”

  “I don’t know. I just hope you aren’t mad at me,” Darla said softly.

  “Of course I’m not. And now we’re related, so don’t give this a second thought. Don’t forget—we all hope you’ll join us for Christmas.”

  “We’d love that. Lanna will be at her dad’s, and it would be so quiet with just the two of us.”

  Abby chuckled. “Hopefully we won’t have another cattle roundup in the middle of the food preparations, but you never know.”

  After setting the table for dinner, Abby poured a mug of coffee, put some cookies on a plate and took it out to the living room for Betty. “Need a little something to tide you over until supper?”

  “Oh, my. That looks so good.” Betty set aside a lapful of pink knitting yarn. “Can you join me for a bit?”

  Abby went back to the kitchen for a cup of coffee and settled onto one of the sofas with a sigh of pleasure.

  Betty nodded approvingly. “You should sit down more often. You don’t need to be bustling around all the time. The house will always wait.”

  “And get worse and worse...”

  “But with two little girls it’s never going to be tidy all the time. Just wait till Jess gets out all of our boxes of Christmas decorations. Twelve of them, I think.”

  “What little I have is in storage back in Chicago. I didn’t ever have much, though. Alan wasn’t really into the holidays.”

  Betty pursed her lips. “Speaking of him, I couldn’t help but overhear that phone call. Didn’t mean to, of course, but I have ears like a bat when my hearing aids are in. Sounds like he’s quite a doozy.”

  “He had his good points,” Abby said carefully.

  “I sure hope he was good-looking, because it sounds like he’s lacking on the things that count.”

  Abby tried and failed to suppress a laugh. “You do know how to cut to the chase.”

  Betty shook a forefinger at her. “You aren’t thinking of going back to him, I hope. You’re a much smarter girl than that.”

  “Smart enough to never even consider it, I promise.” Abby thought about Jess and Maura, who were at the church right now. Wrangling small children on stage for the nativity play, or trying to teach them to sing “Away in a Manger.” Perhaps Maura was even trying to patch up their old relationship in the process.

  “That one mistake of yours doesn’t mean there can’t be a perfectly good match elsewhere.” Betty gave Abby a stern look. “Here, for instance.”

  “I�
�m finding that being single is far better than a bad marriage. And since I wasn’t a good judge the last time around, I think I’ll enjoy unwedded bliss for the rest of my days.”

  “Hmm. You just haven’t been married to the right man yet. Now Jess, for instance—”

  “I think he’ll be well occupied when I leave, Betty.”

  Betty pulled a face. “And who in the world would that be?”

  Abby gave a little shrug. How Betty could have missed Maura’s determined efforts at church was hard to fathom. “Now that you’re done with your PT appointments, how are you feeling? You seem to get around well with your cane.”

  “Changing subjects won’t change the facts, young lady.” Betty harrumphed again, and pulled her knitting back into her lap. “You and Jess belong together, yet you’re determined to waste a wonderful opportunity. Mark my words, you’ll have only yourselves to blame.”

  * * *

  After supper Jess hauled two more boxes of decorations from the attic. When Abby brought the last box down, they could all get to work decorating.

  This would be the girls’ first Christmas here. Maybe their last. And Abby would be gone well before next Christmas.

  He forced himself to think about this Christmas. The one he would remember forever.

  He’d already resolved to do everything in his power to make it special, though he wasn’t sure what that entailed exactly, beyond what he’d seen on TV. A fairyland of Christmas lights in the yard covering every tree and every angle of the house? An explosion of presents under the tree?

  The last truly joyous Christmas Jess remembered at the ranch had been the year before four-year-old Heather died. She’d been killed just months before Christmas, and that year there had been only tears and sorrow. Less than a year later Mom died. After that, Dad had never again looked at the holidays as a time for joy, and Grandma Betty had tried to pick up the pieces as best she could, bless her heart.

  The sound of Betty thumping across the floor with her cane brought Jess out of his thoughts. She tapped one of the boxes. “Christmas tree lights in that one,” she announced. “And the one next to it is filled with ornaments. If you can bring those two down to the twins’ room, we’ll get started.”

  Abby appeared with the last storage box. “This one says Christmas Linens. Should I put it in the dining room?”

  Betty nodded again. “That one has the big Christmas-angel tree topper in it, so be careful.”

  Down in the girls’ bedroom, Bella and Sophie were playing with the puppy as they waited impatiently. Abby turned on Christmas music on her iPod, then joined Betty and the girls to watch Jess wind the light strands around and around the tree.

  When he plugged them in, the tree lit up with bright multicolored lights.

  “Okay girls, here are some ornaments,” Jess said as he pried open the other storage box. “Use whatever you want.”

  “All of them?” Sophie asked with a shy smile.

  Jess nodded. He stepped back and let the girls do it all except for the very highest branches. His heart expanded as he watched them, their faces shining in the warm light of the tree and their eyes sparkling with joy. The innocence of childhood. The trust that dreams would always come true.

  Bella tugged on his sleeve. “Are you sad, Uncle Jess? Christmas is ’sposed to be happy.”

  He swung her up in his arms. “Of course it is, punkin. I was just thinking about how much I want this to be a very, very merry Christmas for everyone.”

  “Abby says we’re making Christmas cookies after school tomorrow.”

  He tapped her nose lightly with his forefinger. “Well, that makes me happy, because you girls are the very best cookie bakers in the whole world.”

  She beamed at him proudly, then flung her slender arms around his neck. “I love you, Uncle Jess. With my whole heart.”

  “I love you, too, sweetie, both of you,” he murmured. He scooped Sophie up into his arms, too. “You’ll never know how much.”

  Her eyes rounded. “Hundreds and thousands?”

  He couldn’t help but smile. To Bella, that meant any number beyond how high she could count. “Hundred and thousands,” he repeated solemnly. “And forever and ever.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  With Christmas Eve less than two weeks away, every day seemed to be filled with wonder. What had his life been like before two little girls appeared and turned it upside down?

  Jess didn’t want to remember.

  Now they were bringing home art projects from school that Abby taped all over the kitchen: lacy cutout snowflakes. Construction-paper reindeer with red noses. Chalky drawings of snowy winter scenes. Tipsy-looking cotton-ball snowmen.

  And the baking continued every day, filling the house with tempting aromas. Sometimes Darla came over and helped Betty, Abby and the girls make Christmas cookies he’d never seen before, each more colorful and delicious than the last. All meant to give the girls more memories of a warm and happy kitchen where they were loved and treasured.

  It had been six weeks since Lindsey’s call and her promise to come by Christmas, and it felt as if a clock was ticking away the hours and days way too fast.

  Jess had left church early that morning—right after the sermon and offering—to meet an out-of-state horse-training client traveling through Montana who wanted to see the progress Jess was making with a three-year-old mare.

  After the man left, Jess went back to the chores he’d started at dawn. If only he could find a good, decent ranch hand.

  A few minutes later his cell phone chimed.

  The screen showed an unfamiliar number from out of state. Probably not my perfect ranch hand, he sighed as he answered the call. “Broken Aspen Ranch, Jess Langford speaking.”

  “Good. This is Alan Halliday.”

  Jess had never met the guy, but the cloying, smug tone in the man’s voice and his arrogant manner set Jess’s teeth on edge. “Can I help you?”

  “I understand Abby is at your ranch. Just like old times?” The innuendo in his voice came through loud and clear.

  Did he imagine Abby had come to Montana to pick right back up where things had ended twelve years ago? “She’s working here, yes.”

  Alan laughed. “She’s quite a gal, as long as you watch your back. You know, she dumped me when my health got rough. Pretty shallow, really. But maybe you’ll have better luck.”

  Jess bit back a sharp response and counted to ten. “I’m not sure why you’ve called. But—”

  “She had second thoughts after she left, and begged me to take her back. But of course I wouldn’t,” Alan said. “At least not then. Just tell her something for me.”

  “And that is...?”

  “I’ve learned that our divorce wasn’t actually finalized after all...thanks to my stupid lawyer, who didn’t properly file the papers. But tell her that I’ve been thinking that maybe this was a message from above, and I’ve been considering giving her another chance. Tell her to call me.”

  He rattled off a phone number and hung up.

  Aghast that this man would share so much personal information with a stranger, Jess stood staring down the barn aisle, his hands shaking. If Alan had been telling him these things about Abby in person, it would’ve been hard to keep from throttling him.

  Jess had known Abby throughout grade school, high school and college. He’d loved her then and he loved her still. How could Alan be so totally wrong?

  And how on earth had Abby stayed with someone like him for so long?

  At the sound of a familiar vehicle pulling to a stop, Jess went outside. “Abby—can I talk to you a minute?”

  Betty and the girls waved to him and went on to the house. Abby waited, her long blond hair waving down the back of her red jacket like a waterfall. “What’s up? Is anything wrong?”

  “You had a phone call from Alan.
He wants you to call him.” He held out a piece of paper. “Here’s the number, if you need it.”

  She eyed it like it might be a rattler ready to strike. “Thanks, but no.”

  “He claims his lawyer botched something with your divorce paperwork, and says it isn’t final.”

  She looked at him with horror. “What? But that’s not possible.” She bit her lower lip. “At least I don’t think so.”

  “I don’t know him,” Jess said, carefully choosing his words. “But after talking to him for a few minutes, I think you might want to check with your lawyer first.”

  “If there’s really a problem with the divorce, my lawyer can handle it. She can also remind Alan’s lawyer that I want no further contact. Period.”

  Jess hesitated, debating about how much to say. “Well, just so you’re prepared, I don’t think he was joking when he told me that the paperwork problem might be a sign. He said that he might give you another chance.”

  She stared at Jess for a moment, then laughed. “Over my dead body. Honestly, what is he thinking? He’s the one who demanded the divorce, not me.”

  “One other thing. He seemed happy that I was the one who answered the landline phone, and then he proceeded to share some negative things about you.”

  “Something must have happened between him and his new girlfriend. And now he’s trying to make sure that he gets his breadwinner back. Me.” She turned her gaze to the sky, as if looking for answers. “It will never happen. Have you ever wondered how you could have been so incredibly blind about someone?”

  “Yes, I have.” He’d been blind to the treasure in his life, the girl he’d lost, who was now standing before him. “I want you to know that I don’t believe a word of what Alan said. He doesn’t deserve someone like you.”

  She rested a hand against his cheek. “Thank you, Jess,” she whispered softly. “I’d honestly forgotten what it’s like to have someone believe in me.”

  * * *

  Every day after school, the twins helped decorate the house until every surface seemed to be adorned with wreaths, Christmas figurines, snow globes and Betty’s collection of nativity sets. Christmas stockings hung by the fire.