The Cowboy's Christmas Plan Page 6

  “Oh, okay,” Cadence said. She had a few weeks to come up with something fun and festive for the cowboys on the ranch to celebrate the holiday. Quietly sitting for a few moments, she looked to Trent again. “Are you and Trey going to The Dalles tomorrow?”

  “Yep. It’s our Sunday to visit Mom,” Trent said, flipping channels. “You’re welcome to come with us, if you like.”

  “I think I’ll go to church with Aunt Viv and spend the afternoon with her tomorrow, if that meets with your approval?”

  “That’s fine.” Absently, Trent responded, watching the start of a movie with interest. “You don’t need to cook tomorrow. The hands know Sundays are the cook’s day off so they won’t expect breakfast or dinner. Don’t worry about cooking for Trey or me. We can make do.”

  “Are you sure? It’s no trouble to make something,” Cadence offered, while part of her relished the idea of sleeping in and enjoying a quiet breakfast.

  “It won’t kill Trey to eat cereal for breakfast one day a week,” Trent said with a cheeky grin.

  “Okay. That’s good to know, but I already made cinnamon rolls for breakfast tomorrow. You think that will tide you over?”

  Trent shot her a smile of pure appreciation. “I think we can make do.”

  “Great. I’m going to head to bed.” Cadence rose from the rocking chair. “Thanks, Trent.”

  “Thank you, Cadence. That was a great meal. I look forward to more of your creative menu selections.” Trent offered her a teasing grin before she left the room.

  ><><

  Trey spent the evening in his office. After calling Denni and promising to be there in time to take her and Nana to church in the morning, he finished a stack of paper work, turned on his computer and sent a few emails then lost the ability to focus. Staring out the window at the darkness, Trey couldn’t keep his thoughts from circling around to their new cook.

  When Danny stepped close to Cadence and gave her a look he’d seen the cowboy give women a hundred times before, he wanted nothing more than to punch him in the nose. A self-proclaimed ladies man, Danny was one of the best hands they had, but Trey wouldn’t tolerate any of his nonsense with Cadence.

  He’d promised Viv she wouldn’t suffer any heartbreak out at the Triple T and he intended to keep his word. Nevertheless, it was going to be hard to hold himself to the same expectations he had of his men.

  Something about the uptight, proper housekeeper made Trey’s heart pound and his palms get all sweaty just thinking about her.

  If he were seventeen, he would have said he had a bad case of puppy love. But a thirty-year-old weathered rancher? Nah, it couldn’t be.

  He really needed to think about getting back into the dating circle. It had obviously been way too long since he’d spent time around females who weren’t part of his mother’s or grandmother’s age group. That was probably what caused such an unsettled feeling every time he came close to Cadence or thoughts of her started dancing around in his head.

  Quiet descended from the gathering room. He assumed Trent and Cadence had gone to bed.

  After turning off the computer and the desk light, he walked into the gathering room and grinned. Trent slept on the couch with the television on mute. He nudged his brother’s leg, but Trent didn’t move. Reaching out, Trey gave him a gentle shake.

  “Come on, Sleeping Beauty, time for bed,” Trey said, giving Trent a more forceful shake.

  “You don’t have to rattle my teeth loose,” Trent mumbled as he slowly opened one eye and yawned. Slowly rising to his feet, he staggered down the hall still half asleep and tripped over one of the baskets of clothes Cadence left by the bathroom door. Loudly, he banged against the wall as he fell to the floor.

  Concerned, Trey flipped on a hall then laughed at Trent sprawled on the floor covered in jeans and shirts.

  “What are these doing here?” Trent asked, eyeing the baskets with irritation.

  “I’m guessing our new housekeeper didn’t know what belonged to whom or where to put things away,” Trey said, picking up a basket full of neatly folded socks and underwear. He felt his own cheeks heat thinking of Cadence carefully folding his briefs. Lois always left their underclothes clean but unfolded in a basket on their beds.

  “Is everything okay? I heard a big thump,” Cadence asked as she rushed around the corner. Her gaze swept over Trent on the floor with clean clothes piled around him and Trey holding the other basket. She was smart enough to connect the dots.

  “I’m sorry. I forgot to ask about where to put your laundry. I meant to tell you I left the baskets in the hall.”

  “Not a big deal, Cadence,” Trent said, standing up and tossing the clothes into the basket at his feet. Picking it up, he stepped into his room and shut the door.

  Trey held a basket of tidy whities, staring at Cadence. She wore a chenille robe in a shade of deep green that brought out green and gold flecks in her hazel eyes while her long hair hung loose around her in cascading waves. Grateful his hands were occupied with a basket full of clothes, or he might have given in to the urge to run his hands through all that silky hair.

  “I was going to tell you to just leave our clothes in baskets on our beds. We can fold them and put them away.” Trey gaped at the vision Cadence created.

  “Nonsense.” Cadence forced herself to look Trey in the eye. “I’m perfectly capable of doing your laundry. Just tell me where it goes. I could tell your pants and shirts from Trent’s by the length but I wasn’t sure on the, um, other things.”

  Cadence could feel her cheeks heat with embarrassment as she studied the toe of her slipper.

  Trey tried to keep from smiling at Cadence’s flushed face.

  “My shirts all have a black dot on the tag, Trent’s all have a blue dot, and when Travis gets home, his have red. My socks have the gray heels, Trent’s have the gold stitching on the toes and if they don’t match either of those, they belong to Travis. The, um, other things in the basket…” Trey felt his own cheeks grow warm. “Trent wears boxers, mine are briefs, and we’ll worry about Travis’ later.”

  Cadence looked back up at him and offered a shy smile.

  “Miss Greer, if you insist on folding our clothes, leave them on our beds. We can put them away. This is my room,” Trey said, pointing to a door directly behind her. “We’ll strip our own beds and leave the sheets in the laundry room once a week. Is there a day you prefer to wash them?”

  “No,” Cadence said, slowly backing toward the kitchen. “Any day is fine. I’m glad Trent’s fine. Good night.”

  “Good night, Miss Greer,” Trey said, stepping into the doorway of his room. “I’m sorry we disturbed you.”

  When Cadence disappeared back around the corner, Trey turned off the hall light and toed his bedroom door closed behind him. After setting the basket of clothes down, he sank onto his bed and shook his head.

  A glance at his hands revealed his fingers trembled from the longing to touch Cadence and hold her close.

  How could this be?

  It had been so long since he’d been on a date, he wasn’t sure he could even remember when it had happened. Since his father passed away, women had been at the bottom of his list of important things to pursue. Even if he had the time or inclination, he couldn’t remember anyone in the past ever having an effect on him like this fancy-pants housekeeper.

  When they sat down for dinner, he had expected a disaster with her beautifully plated meal. The seven men that regularly sat around the table were used to meat and potatoes. It came as a real surprise when they not only liked her chicken but also nearly licked their plates clean.

  It was almost as big a surprise as seeing Cadence with all that lovely hair down.

  Trey gave himself another mental lecture about how meat and potatoes and that gourmet cheese he couldn’t even pronounce did not belong together. Just like he and Cadence didn’t belong together - two different things from two different worlds.

  It would serve him well to remember that.
r />   Chapter Five

  Always be planning something.

  John A. Schindler

  Cadence smiled as she finished preparations for their Halloween dinner. The Thompson men didn’t seem to have any Halloween decorations and she hadn’t found time to ask them if there were any in storage, so she carved a few pumpkins, placed battery-operated candles inside and lined them up on the steps outside the mudroom door. She didn’t want to worry about catching anything on fire or one of the dogs sniffing too close and burning its nose with real candles.

  In the time she’d been at the ranch, she had deep cleaned every room, swept down the outside of the house and porch as high up as she could reach, worked to winterize the flowerbeds that appeared to have been neglected for the last few months, and familiarized herself with the sprawling ranch house.

  She made the men big, hearty breakfasts then fixed them hot, filling dinners. In between, she had plenty of time for playing the piano, enjoying the outdoors, and searching for Denni’s old sewing machine. Trey and Trent sometimes came in to join her for lunch, but more often than not, took a sack lunch with them. They used to toss a sandwich in a bag with chips for their mid-day meal. Once Cadence started making them cookies and special treats for their lunches they could hardly wait until noon to discover what goodies she’d packed for them each day.

  Glancing toward the gathering room from the kitchen, Cadence admired the beautiful, well-built home. She thoroughly enjoyed living at the Triple T Ranch, even if the house was inhabited by two hunky guys. She knew Trent was her age, but he was like a brother to her, just like all the hands.

  Trey was the one who made her thoughts jumble, butterflies flutter frantically in her stomach, and her toes tingle.

  Despite her best intentions to never fall for another man, Cadence had a hard time denying her attraction to Trey. What girl in her right mind wouldn’t be attracted to the hard-working, good-looking cowboy?

  Still uncertain if she was in her right mind, after agreeing to marry Bill then running off to Grass Valley to lick her wounds, Cadence needed to keep things with Trey on a strictly professional level.

  That was the rational thing to do.

  Planning to be rational was easy. However, getting the job done proved to be a challenge.

  As she pulled biscuits out of the oven for dinner, she heard the familiar clomp of boots and jingle of spurs at the back door. The biscuits were on the table when the kitchen door opened to a chorus of “Trick or Treat,” as Trey and Trent led the hands into the warm kitchen.

  “The pumpkins are great, Cadence,” Trent said, giving her an approving nod. “Thanks for thinking of them.”

  “Very festive,” Trey said as he washed his hands then stood at his place at the head of the table. The scents coming from the kitchen were enough to make a grown man weak-kneed. When he opened the door, the smell of apples and cinnamon, yeasty dough, and rich beef hit him in the face and made his mouth water in anticipation.

  Cadence seemed to know the men preferred plain old comfort food, so she alternated fixing things like potpie and meatloaf with veal parmesan and chicken entrées they couldn’t pronounce. They were all learning to like new dishes they hadn’t tried before because no matter what she fixed, it was always good.

  After Cadence sat down at the table, the men took their seats and eagerly passed around bowls of thick beef and vegetable stew, fluffy biscuits, and warm honey butter. When they had eaten their fill, some of them told stories of things they had done as “tricks” for Halloween that had them all laughing.

  The doorbell rang as Cadence prepared to serve dessert.

  Trey got up and went to the door where a little redheaded girl holding a plastic grocery bag greeted him.

  “Trick or Treat,” she said, holding out the bag.

  Not one usually given to sentimental whims, Trey felt his heart go out to the little girl. Wrapped like a mummy, her toilet paper costume was quickly unraveling, trailing behind her. He assumed it was her mother that leaned against a beaten up old car, smoking a cigarette.

  “Well, who do we have here?” Trey hunkered down to her level. He thought he knew the child’s name, but wanted to make sure he was correct in his assumption. “Before I can give you a treat, you have to at least tell me your name.”

  “I’m Cass,” the little mummy said, pulling a drooping piece of toilet paper from across her face. Her springy red curls shot up between the wraps across her head, making her look marginally deranged.

  “Nice to meet you, Cass.” Trey stood up and motioned to the mother. The little girl was the daughter of Grass Valley’s resident drunk and bad girl. “Would you like to come in and get a treat? I’m pretty sure Miss Cadence has something for you.”

  “Sure!” Trustingly, Cass put her tiny hand in his big one. “Who’s Miss Dense?”

  Trey laughed, sure his prim and proper housekeeper wouldn’t appreciate that version of her name. “Miss Kay-dence,” he over-pronounced the name, “is my housekeeper and cook.”

  As he walked toward the kitchen, the mother stood at the front door, holding her cigarette outside. “Hurry up, Cass. I ain’t got all night to drive you around. I’ve got my own plans, you know.”

  “Yes, Mommy,” Cass said over her shoulder, still gripping Trey’s hand tightly. Her little eyes grew wide in wonder as she entered the kitchen, filled with a group of curious cowboys and delicious smells.

  Cadence poured mugs of steaming apple cider as Trey introduced their costumed visitor.

  “Hey, everyone, this is Cass. She came to get a treat.” Trey looked at Cadence with a raised eyebrow.

  She nodded her head and turned to look at Cass. It wasn’t hard to see the child was hungry, poor, and quite likely neglected. Cadence made her a biscuit sandwich with some cold ham. Quickly grabbing a brown lunch bag, she added two apples and a handful of chocolate chip cookies she’d made the previous afternoon.

  After folding the top of the bag, she walked over to Cass and put it in her empty grocery sack.

  “There is a treat for later,” Cadence said, turning back to the stove before handing the little girl a warm doughnut covered in cinnamon and sugar. “And here’s a treat for right now.”

  “Oh, thank you,” Cass said, holding her doughnut like it was a golden treasure.

  “Go ahead and take a bite, Cass,” Trey urged her. “We haven’t had ours yet. Is it any good?”

  Cass took a big bite, cinnamon and sugar clinging to her little chin. She nodded her head, her eyes bright with pleasure, and quickly gobbled it down. When Cadence handed her another one, her mother stormed into the kitchen and pinched the child’s shoulder. Cass winced in pain.

  “Don’t be a pig, Cass. Time to go. Right now!”

  “Would you like one?” Cadence asked, holding a treat out toward the mother.

  Looking at the doughnut like it was diseased, the young woman scoffed and sneered at Cadence. “I don’t think so.” She marched Cass back down the hall, she slammed the door on her way out.

  “Did I say or do something wrong?” Cadence glanced at Trey with tears in her eyes. “I didn’t mean to offend anyone.”

  “You didn’t darlin’. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Trey reassured her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She felt heat radiate from his hand through her entire upper body. Slowly, he pulled his hand away and the warmth settled in his vibrant blue eyes. “That poor little girl has got a hard life. I’m glad you snuck in a little something for her to eat later.”

  “She looked half-starved,” Cadence said, returning to the task of pouring mugs of apple cider.

  “What kind of costume was that?” Tommy asked as he helped set the mugs on the table. “She looked like she wrestled with a roll of toilet paper and it got the upper hand.”

  “She probably had to create her own costume and that is the best she could do,” Cadence said, worry etching lines across her forehead. “Do you know anything about their family, Trey?

  Glad she had cal
led him Trey instead of Mr. Thompson, Trey picked up a platter of doughnuts and set it on the table then resumed his seat while Cadence carried a second platter to the table. It had been ages since they had eaten homemade doughnuts and if he didn’t snag a few, he’d miss out entirely.

  Glazed with maple frosting, he bit into one and nodded his head.

  “The mother’s name is Micki. Her boyfriend joined the military and got sent to Afghanistan about the time she figured out she was pregnant. He was only gone a couple of months when word came back that he had died over there, leaving Micki to raise the baby alone. Micki grew up in foster care and goodness only knows how she landed here in Grass Valley. She worked for your aunt for a while but with her temper, her stint as a waitress was short-lived. She pumped gas, worked in the antique store, and even spent time out at the raceway, but I haven’t seen her working anywhere lately.”

  “Is there anything we can do to help her?” Cadence asked, sipping her cider and counting her blessings. As bad as things seemed for her a few weeks ago, she was fortunate to have never experienced anything like little Cass or her mother.

  “Micki doesn’t take too kindly to help of any kind, as you may have witnessed. I’m surprised she would drive all the way out here for Cass get a treat,” Trent said, joining the conversation. “Rumor is she spends most of her time drunk. No one ever sees the little girl. I think she must stay at home alone. Poor kiddo must be about five or so.”

  Cadence gasped and set her mug down on the table. “That’s horrible! Cass is too little to be left to her own defenses.” She stared at Trent and then Trey. “Surely there is something we could do, someone who could help?”

  “I don’t think so,” Trey said, biting into another doughnut. “Viv has tried talking to Micki until she is blue in the face, but it doesn’t do any good. This is one thing you can’t fix or make better, Miss Greer.”

  Cadence sat back in her chair, frowning.

  All was quiet around the table except for the sounds of contented eating. Even though she made a double batch of doughnuts, the three left on the platter were about to disappear. Good thing she left a few hidden for later. She lost her appetite when she watched Micki push Cass out the door.