Christmas Gifts. Trish Morey

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      Cinderella and the Cowboy

      By

      About the Author

      JUDY CHRISTENBERRY has been writing romances for fifteen years, because she loves happy endings as much as her readers do. A former French teacher, Judy now devotes herself to writing full-time. She hopes readers have as much fun reading her stories as she does writing them.

      She spends her spare time reading, watching her favourite sports teams and keeping track of her two daughters. Judy’s a native Texan and lives in Dallas.

      Chapter One

      ELIZABETH Ransom struggled off the bus, carefully leading her toddler son down the stairs while carrying her baby in a pouch across her chest.

      “This is his driveway, ma’am,” the gentlemanly bus driver said as he held out her luggage. “You can’t miss the house. It’s the only one on this road.”

      Finding the house wasn’t the part she was worried about. It was what would happen when she got there. “Thank you for your help. You’ve been very kind.”

      “Mommy?”

      She looked down at her three-year-old. “Yes, Brady?”

      “Where is my grandpa?”

      “Just a little farther and we’ll meet him.” As the bus pulled away, she looked around at the tall weeds growing alongside the drive. “First we’re going to stow our luggage here where no one can see them.” She put the two suitcases behind the weeds, hoping that her son wouldn’t ask why. She didn’t have the heart to tell him they might not be staying.

      She said a private prayer that her father-in-law would at least offer hospitality for a few days. She prayed too that Tom Ransom had heard of his son’s death; she didn’t want to break the news that his son had recently been killed in a car accident.

      Forcing a smile at her child, she took his hand. “Let’s walk to Grandpa’s house, okay, Brady?”

      “Is it very far, Mommy?”

      “I don’t know, honey, but the bus driver said it was at the end of this road.”

      “I’m cold, Mommy.”

      Early December in Oklahoma could be a lot worse, she knew; still, there was a biting wind. “If we walk faster, we’ll get warm.” She led her son down the road. After a few minutes he noticeably tired. “Keep walking, sweetheart.”

      As they picked up the pace, she heard the baby awakening and soothed her with her voice. Poor Jenny. She would never know her daddy.

      On second thought, perhaps that was for the best, seeing as how Reggie Ransom was far from a model father. He’d walked out on them one afternoon, and she hadn’t seen him since. Only when she managed to reach him and remind him of their existence did he bother sending any money for rent and food.

      She always knew Reggie wasn’t the type to be tied down by a wife and kids. He wanted a carefree life, wining and dining on the rodeo circuit where he was a star.

      But Elizabeth had wanted a family to belong to so badly that she ignored her intuition and married him anyway, right after college. Especially after she found herself pregnant. She remembered thinking she was going to have everything she’d ever wanted.

      Too bad Reggie hadn’t felt the same.

      As soon as they were married he told her he had to go back on the circuit.

      Elizabeth kept them afloat with her teaching job, paying the rent and Brady’s day care bills. But when she got pregnant with Jenny and took ill, she couldn’t work. Money was tight. Now Jenny was six weeks old, but with the school year started, Elizabeth had to wait for the next semester to be hired.

      She needed help now.

      Tom Ransom was her only hope. She hoped her father-in-law could offer just a little to help them along.

      “Mommy?” Brady grabbed her hand and tugged on it. “Mommy? Is that his house?”

      She looked up, surprised to see a white clapboard house and several outbuildings in front of her. “Yes, I think so, Brady. It’s very nice, isn’t it?”

      “Yeah!” After a moment Brady asked, “Do you think Grandpa will like me?”

      “I’m sure he will. You look a lot like your daddy.”

      “Is that good?”

      “Your daddy was a handsome man.” She didn’t mention her husband’s deficits, his abandonment of his family, spending all the money he made on other women and booze. No child needed to hear that.

      “Mommy, I see Grandpa! Can I go tell him it’s us coming to visit?”

      She shaded her eyes and looked up at a tall, rugged man standing by a pickup. “Honey, I don’t think that’s your grandpa. That man’s too young. You’d better stay with me.”

      She refused to give credence to the fear that clawed at her throat. Had this man bought the land from her husband’s father?

      The man must have seen them, because he got in the pickup and drove down the drive to them.

      “Are you coming to the ranch?”

      The man looked to be in his early thirties, with dark-brown hair under a Stetson. A typical rancher, she thought. But was he an owner? “Yes, if…if it still belongs to Tom Ransom.”

      “It does.”

      Her sigh of relief was audible. “If you don’t mind, we’d appreciate a ride to the house.”

      He nodded toward the passenger seat. “Get in.”

      She helped Brady climb into the truck and then pulled herself and her baby up, feeling old beyond her years.

      “I’m Elizabeth Ransom. I’ve come to visit my father-in-law.”

      “You’re Reggie Ransom’s wife?” There was shock in his voice.

      “He told his father about us?” she asked, feeling pleased.

      “No, ma’am. If Tom had known you’d existed, he’d have brought you out here a long time ago.”

      So