Читать книгу: «Her Christmas Family Wish»

Chapter One

“That little boy would be a good brother, wouldn’t he, Mommy?”

Wyatt Wright stifled his groan. Not another one. He’d been in this grocery story almost twenty minutes, and he’d put only three things from his list into his basket, thanks to his son’s many female admirers. At least, that’s how he preferred to think of the women who used Cade to open a conversation with him.

Only this time Cade’s fan sounded like a little kid.

“He’s a cutie all ri—” A woman’s light, cheery voice paused. “Uh-oh.”

Intrigued by the way warning overtook her amusement, Wyatt did something he’d vowed not to. He looked directly at the stranger and spoke to her.

“Is something wrong?”

She peered at Cade. “Your son is about to be sick.”

Clear gray eyes set in a heart-shaped face met his, empty of the coy look he often saw in the ladies who were—how did he say it without sounding conceited?—looking to make his acquaintance. And yet Wyatt didn’t get the impression that he was the attraction here, given the coolly polite smile that lifted this woman’s pink lips. Still, he couldn’t help but admire her flaxen hair as it tumbled to her shoulders in an attractive disarray of curls. She wore a pale blue sundress, probably in deference to the heat of a late-October evening in Tucson, that flirted around her tanned legs.

Cade was sick? That was an opening gambit he hadn’t heard before. Of course she was wrong. Wyatt had been eighteen-month-old Cade’s sole parent for over a year. He knew all about—

“Look out!” the pretty stranger warned.

Wyatt turned in time to see his usually grinning boy grimace before spewing a sour mouthful all over his daddy’s favorite T-shirt.

“Sorry. I tried to warn you.” The slender stranger was quite tall, only a few inches shorter than Wyatt’s own six-foot height. She dug into her large shoulder bag, pulled out a packet of wipes and extracted several. “Poor baby. But your tummy feels better now, doesn’t it?”

Wyatt blinked twice before realizing her tender tone was for Cade. Gently she wiped the disgusting mess from his son’s face and shirtfront, then tucked the used wipes into a plastic bag which she grabbed from a roll at the nearby produce stand. After removing more clean wipes, she reached toward Wyatt. He stepped back just in time to stop her from cleaning him up, too.

“Oh. Sorry.” She blushed very prettily, then stuffed the wipes into his hand. “I guess you can do that yourself. Moms get used to cleaning up spills. But I suppose dads do, too, right?”

Entranced by the melodic sound of her light laugh, Wyatt couldn’t find his voice. After a minute her smile faded. She shrugged, then bent to look at Cade.

“Hope you feel better, sweet boy.” Cade grinned at her, his feet churning. She glanced at Wyatt. “You’ve got a real charmer here.” Then she turned and reached for her daughter’s hand. “Come on, Gracie.”

Wyatt hid his smile when the little girl planted her feet and stubbornly refused to move.

“This man would make a good daddy for us, Mommy,” the blue-eyed sprite mused, her silvery-gold head tilted as she assessed Wyatt.

That was so not funny. Wyatt suppressed his overwhelming desire to bolt.

“Then he—” Gracie continued jerking a thumb at Cade “—could be my brother. I’d really like to have a brother,” she added, her head tilted to one side thoughtfully. Then she frowned. “’Cept I don’t want him to spit on me.”

Wyatt cleared his throat, intending to voice a firm yet delicate refusal that would end the child’s ludicrous notion real fast, before her mother latched on to it. Instead he got sidetracked by the lady’s burst of laughter.

“You used to spit up exactly the same way, Gracie.” The mom chuckled when her daughter wrinkled her nose in disgust. “But we don’t need a daddy,” she said in a firm voice. “We’re fine just the way we are, you and me. Don’t you like our family?”

Instead of rushing her child away from a touchy subject, as Wyatt had seen other parents do, the mother waited for a response. He admired her serenity and total focus on her child and made a mental note to practice the same kind of patience with Cade when he got older so he’d be the best father a kid could have. He’d do whatever it took to be a better father to his son than his own father had ever been.

“Our family’s nice,” Gracie agreed. “But I want a daddy. And a brother. Melissa and Courtney have brothers and daddies,” she said, her chin thrust up.

“So you’ve told me, many times.” A resigned sigh colored the mother’s response. “But I’m sure there are other kids in your kindergarten class who don’t. Each family is different, Gracie. One isn’t better or worse than another, just different.” She smoothed the child’s rumpled curls. “We need to get our ice cream now so we can go to Wranglers Ranch.”

Wranglers Ranch? That was the place that sponsored camps for troubled kids. Months earlier the owner, Tanner Johns, had left a message on Wyatt’s answering machine asking him if he was interested in taking on a full-time vet position there. Wyatt, his hands full caring for Cade, hadn’t responded. Though he kept running into Tanner at church, the rancher had never pressed him for a reply, simply offered friendship. Wyatt figured Wranglers’ ministry must be growing because of a mention at last week’s church service about a youth group outing to the ranch.

“And—” Gracie dragged out the word, giving him and Cade another once-over before blowing out a heartfelt sigh. “Now that Beth and Davy live at Wranglers Ranch, they have a daddy, too. I’m the only one who doesn’t.”

The pathos in her mournful words reached in and squeezed Wyatt’s heart, until he caught the mother’s grimace as she rolled her eyes at him.

“Oh, that’s not the worst of my shortcomings,” she explained with a teasing chuckle. “Last week Gracie was the only one in her kindergarten class not allowed to stay up late to watch a TV show.” She raised her eyebrows in a pseudo-severe look. “As you must know, single parenthood isn’t for the faint of heart.” She fluttered her fingers. “We have to go. Bye.”

Wyatt nodded bemusedly until her gaze dropped to his shirt.

“You, uh, might want to get that off before it dries,” she advised quietly. Then she took Gracie’s hand and firmly drew her toward the freezer section.

Wyatt grimaced and used the wad of wipes she’d handed him to clean up the mess as best he could.

“Thanks a lot,” he said to his son who was now happily blowing bubbles.

Wyatt quickly gathered the rest of the items on his list and hurried through the checkout determined to avoid another encounter with more of Cade’s admirers. But in the parking lot he noticed the same woman buckling her little girl into a car seat. Pure impulse and an innate curiosity he should have suppressed sent Wyatt walking briskly toward them.

“How did you know?” he asked abruptly.

The woman jerked in surprise, bumping her head on the car before she ducked out.

“Ow!” She raised a slim arm to rub the top of her head. “Sorry?” Her eyebrows drew together as she frowned at him.

“How did you know Cade was going to be sick?” Wyatt repeated.

“Years of pediatric nursing and a child of my own,” she explained with a shrug. “It’s the kind of look I learned to interpret fast and clean up faster.” She checked out his shirt. “Good job. Did you feed him something new for lunch?”

“A couple of brussels sprouts,” he admitted. “He seemed okay with them.”

“Ew! I’m afraid I’d have the same reaction as he did. Not my favorite vegetable.” She shrugged at Wyatt’s frown. “Well, sorry, but it’s not.”

“Rounded nutrition is the best thing for kids,” he repeated, quoting verbatim from the baby book he used as his parenting mentor.

The woman opened her lips to say something but was interrupted.

“What’s that boy’s name?” Gracie asked, poking her head forward.

“He’s Cade. I’m Wyatt. Wyatt Wright,” he said, shocked that he was voluntarily giving his name to a child and her mother—a single woman, to boot. But there was something about this woman that drew him. Because she was attractive? Compelling? Intriguing?

All of the above.

“We’re Ellie and Gracie Grant. But I already know who you are, Wyatt.” Ellie laughed at his surprise. “I’ve seen you at church. In fact, you’re the current hot topic.”

“I am?” He frowned at her. “Why?”

“Mmm.” She tapped her forefinger against her lips. “How can I put this delicately? Let’s just say there are a lot of single ladies at our church who feel you’ve been a widower too long, that you need a good woman to help you with this little guy.”

Aghast, Wyatt stood frozen as Ellie chucked Cade under the chin. Cade’s giggle was Wyatt’s favorite sound because it made him feel like he wasn’t the awful failure his own father had been.

He wasn’t sure how to reply, though he wanted to ask Ellie if she was one of those ladies from church. Not that it mattered. Wyatt doubted that even knowing she was would end the zip of electricity curling up his spine.

“Don’t worry, Wyatt.” That thread of laughter lilted through Ellie’s voice. She winked at him. “You’re safe with me.”

“I am?” Wyatt gulped down a rush of disappointment. Hey! Shouldn’t he be feeling relief?

“Yep, very safe.” Ellie checked that Gracie was secure, then carefully closed the car door, maybe so her daughter couldn’t overhear? “Despite Gracie’s comments, I am not on the hunt for a husband. Raising Gracie takes all my focus. I’m not interested in romance,” she said airily, though he heard a bit of an edge to the words.

Wyatt didn’t have time to ask why a gorgeous woman like her wouldn’t want love in her life because she walked around the car and pulled open the front door. She tossed him a funny, almost sad smile, then climbed inside and drove away.

“Well,” he said to Cade as he pushed the grocery cart toward his car. “That was interesting. But don’t do the sick part again, okay? It makes us both smell bad. Got it?”

Cade crowed his agreement as if he knew that the encounter with that remarkable woman and her daughter had made his daddy’s day brighter.

While Wyatt fastened Cade in his seat, then loaded the groceries, his thoughts replayed his interaction with the mother-daughter duo. He’d liked them both, but he especially liked Ellie’s forthrightness.

Wait a minute!

“Focus on parenthood,” he ordered his wayward brain. “You’re a single dad with a veterinarian practice that barely supports you and a ranch that needs tons of work and money.”

It’s up to you, Wyatt, to use your business to follow in my footsteps and make the Wright name stand out in this town. His father’s last words brought the same rush of irritation and burst of inferiority that they had the day Bernard Wright had said them ten years ago.

Wyatt glanced in the mirror at his son.

“Can’t focus on that right now, Dad,” he muttered as he drove home. “Taryn’s gone. I’m the only one Cade has. I have to be here for him.” The way I wasn’t there for Taryn.

A tinder of unforgiveness flamed anew at the memory of his wife’s needless death. Yes, the underage teens who hit her were guilty. But so was Wyatt. Taryn shouldn’t have been driving that night. Wyatt had promised her that morning that he’d pick up diapers and formula for Cade by lunchtime, but he’d forgotten. Later he’d promised Taryn he’d do it on his way home from a call, but he’d forgotten again. After dinner and another promise that he’d make a run to the grocery store when he’d finished his coffee, he’d fallen asleep with Cade on his chest, failing to remember his promise. So Taryn had let him sleep and gone herself.

His wife had been killed. Because of him.

Familiar guilt gnawed at Wyatt as he pulled into his driveway. He’d made promises he hadn’t kept, disappointed his wife and, worse, left her alone day after day to fulfill dreams for the ranch they’d planned to restore together while he pursued the goal of making his veterinary business number one in Tucson. Wyatt had failed his wife miserably.

And why? Because he couldn’t forget that deathbed promise to his father. He’d worked eighteen hours a day, taken on every client who called, hoping he could somehow prove himself worthy of the prestigious Wright name. But that time had been stolen from Taryn. Wasn’t it silly that even now, alone, a single parent and almost thirty years old, Wyatt still couldn’t shed his long-buried need to prove himself worthy of his father’s love?

Losing Taryn had taught him one hard lesson. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. His father had taught him the other. Never make Cade feel he had to earn his daddy’s love.

Wyatt carried his now-sleeping child into the house and settled him before retrieving his groceries and storing them. He would still make his father proud; it was just going to take a little longer. Because now Cade came first, before his practice, before the ranch, before the promise to his father, before anything.

Ellie’s sweet laugh filled Wyatt’s head, and for a moment he wished—No! He ruthlessly pushed her lovely face from his mind and started on the laundry. There was no way he’d let another woman in his life and risk failing her the way he had Taryn.

No way at all.

* * *

“He was a nice daddy, wasn’t he, Mommy?” Gracie chirped from the backseat. “I liked Cade, too.” She paused. Ellie saw her wrinkle her nose. “’Cept when he got sick. That was gross.”

“Gross? Where did you hear that?” Ellie asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Melissa. Can I play with the horses at Wranglers Ranch?” Gracie asked in a quick change of topic.

“I don’t think so, honey. The horses are probably ready to sleep now.” Ellie hoped so, because she was too tired to deal with a wiggling, shrieking Gracie astride a horse.

She drove toward Wranglers Ranch, smiling as she remembered Wranglers’ slogan. You’re always welcome here. She did feel at home there, and she loved her job as camp nurse.

“I thought you wanted to play with Beth and Davy?” she reminded Gracie, lest her daughter get fixated on dreams of horse riding.

“I do want to play with them. And invite them to my birthday party.” Gracie’s forehead furrowed as she fell into thought. “How many days is it until my birthday, Mommy?”

“You’ll be six in about three more weeks, right after Thanksgiving.” Ellie bit her lip as worry about that birthday party built inside her. “Did you think of something you’d specially like for your birthday, honey?”

After Gracie’s birth, Ellie had started a day care to enable her to stay home with her child. But outgoing, curious Gracie now needed more, and so did her mother. So late in the summer Ellie had closed the day care and enrolled Gracie in kindergarten. That’s why she’d taken the job at Wranglers Ranch—so she could still be with kids. Ellie loved kids.

Tanner Johns had told her that the government had awarded him a big new contract to work with troubled youth, with one caveat—Wranglers Ranch must have a nurse on the premises when their youth groups attended. Tanner had offered Ellie the job one day after church, and since she was eager to return to the profession she’d originally left to care for her sick sister, Ellie gladly accepted. She’d started working at Wranglers in mid-September and never regretted her choice.

“I already told you what I want for my birthday, ’member?” A glance in the rearview mirror revealed Gracie’s arms firmly crossed over her small chest. “I want a daddy.”

“Honey, I can’t give you a daddy for your birthday. Or at all,” Ellie said for what seemed the hundredth time. “I’ve told you that before.”

“But why?” Gracie’s bottom lip jutted out.

“Because.” Ellie stifled her exasperation. How long would the child keep constantly asking for a father? What was she doing wrong that Gracie wasn’t happy with her? “Nobody can give daddies for birthdays, sweetheart.”

“For Christmas, then? That’s far away. That’s lots of time to get him,” Gracie wheedled.

“I can’t get you a daddy for Christmas either,” Ellie replied in her firmest voice.

“But I need one!” Gracie burst into tears.

Ellie heaved a sigh, wishing there was some way to meet and marry the perfect man who would give her daughter her dream.

You tried love. Look how that turned out. Gracie would have been left out in the cold.

Gracie sniffed and Ellie winced. Never did she feel more helpless, less capable of being a parent than when her daughter wept.

God? I’m new at this praying stuff. Will You help me? I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to break Gracie’s heart, but I know now that marriage isn’t part of Your plan for me.

“Honey, things like daddies and mommies and baby brothers or sisters are up to God.” Ellie didn’t know how else to put it. “I guess He thinks that we’re doing okay together, just the two of us.”

“I’m gonna keep praying.” Gracie’s chin thrust out. “Because we need a daddy.”

“Gracie, you know I love you very much,” Ellie said helplessly, “that I couldn’t love you more.”

“I know.” Gracie watched as they drove through the gates on to Wranglers Ranch. “But I want a daddy to love me, too.”

“But, honey—”

“I’m going to ask God to give us Cade and his daddy,” Gracie said with resolute firmness.

“You can’t!” Aghast, Ellie braked in front of the ranch house a little too hard as she scoured her brain for some way to dissuade Gracie. Only her daughter wasn’t listening.

“I can, too, pray, Mommy. I can pray to God for anything. That’s what Pastor Jeff said.” Gracie’s chin thrust out in unyielding determination. “And I’m going to pray for that.”

“But—but—” Exasperated, Ellie fell silent. After all, hadn’t she taken Gracie to church hoping she’d start learning more about her Father? Oh, dear.

“Hey, there’s Beth, and she’s holding a baby bunny.” In a flash Gracie forgot about daddies, snapped off her seat belt and bolted out of the car. She was running across the yard before Ellie could stop her. “When did they come, Beth?” she shouted in her most excited voice. “Can I hold one?”

“You don’t look happy.” Tanner Johns, her boss, pulled open her car door, waiting until Ellie had climbed out before he asked, “What’s the matter?”

“What else? Gracie. She won’t give up on getting a father. And now she’s found a candidate.” Ellie grimaced, though she couldn’t deny Gracie’s choice was very handsome.

“Who’s the chosen guy?” Tanner took the ice cream from her as they strolled to his front door.

“Someone we met at the grocery store tonight. You probably know him.” Ellie preceded Tanner into the house and waited for that speculative glint to appear in her friend Sophie’s eyes as Tanner explained the gist of the conversation to his wife.

“Yes, who is Gracie’s choice for a daddy?” Sophie asked with a smile as she turned from speaking to their friend Moses.

“Wyatt Wright.” Ellie sighed. “Gracie says she’s going to pray God will give her Wyatt for a dad and his son, Cade, for her brother.”

“We all know Wyatt,” Tanner said. “He’s the veterinarian I’ve been hoping would take on Wranglers Ranch as a client. But I get the impression he doesn’t feel he can handle our business right now.”

“He seems like a great parent, though he missed the signs that Cade was about to be sick.” Ellie made a face. “Wyatt fed him brussels sprouts,” she told Sophie, who laughed.

“Maybe he’s still learning about kids,” Tanner defended. “But Wyatt is an expert on horses. The man has a first-rate reputation. About two years ago his practice was the most sought after in Tucson, but then his wife died shortly after Cade was born.” He shook his head. “Whenever we talk at church Wyatt’s totally focused on being a dad.”

Moses was an elderly Native American who’d cared for and nurtured the abused horses that Wranglers Ranch took in and had lived here long before Tanner had taken over. Now he nodded his head in agreement.

“The Double M tried to hire him, too.” Moses had a soft spot for anyone who loved horses as much as he did. “Heard Wyatt told them no, said he had to focus on his son and that work came second.”

“Nice if you can afford it,” Ellie murmured, thinking of her own years when Gracie was a baby and how she’d struggled to manage on her shoestring budget.

“Wyatt’s a good-looking man, don’t you think, Ellie?” Sophie’s gaze trapped her.

“Yes, he’s very handsome,” Ellie managed to say while her brain mocked her tepid appreciation of that very attractive man. “But I’m not interested.”

“Why not? He certainly seems to be the focus of the ladies’ groups at church.” Sophie scooped the ice cream Ellie had brought onto steaming slices of her fresh peach pie. “Moses, didn’t you tell me Lucy Marten asked Wyatt to dinner last week?” She glanced at the old man, one eyebrow arched. “What’s the news on that?”

“Heard he turned her down like he does all those females. Anyone can see they’re just itching to get their hands on him. Prize catch, a guy like that.” Moses grinned as he held out a hand to take his pie. “Thank you, Sophie.” He lifted a forkful to his lips, then closed his eyes as he savored the dessert. “Excellent,” he proclaimed a moment later. “No wonder we always have kids showing up here to eat. With cooking like this on offer, why wouldn’t they?”

“You’re very sweet, Moses.” When Sophie patted his cheek Ellie could almost hear the crusty old man’s gruff demeanor crumble. Then the children arrived and demanded some pie. As they devoured it, Sophie asked Ellie if Gracie could play with her kids, Beth and Davy, for a while longer.

“Yeah, why don’t you stay, Ellie?” Tanner offered. He winked. “We can talk about Wyatt some more if you like.”

“No need. I told you I’m not interested.” Ellie pretended an airiness she didn’t feel. “But since it’s Friday and there’s no school tomorrow, I guess we could stay awhile.” She chuckled at Gracie’s whoop of excitement as all three kids scampered into Beth’s room to play with the amazing dollhouse Tanner had given her last Christmas.

“Hard to believe it will soon be that time again,” he marveled with a fond look at Sophie. “What do you want this Christmas?” he asked as her hand slid into his.

“I have everything I want,” she murmured.

“Good answer.” Tanner leaned over to press a kiss against her cheek. “This has been a wonderful year for Wranglers Ranch and us.”

“Your dream that this ranch would be a haven for homeless and needy kids is coming true with every child we reach.” Sophie hugged his side. “We’re blessed to have such wonderful helpers like Moses and Ellie and all the hands.”

“Now if I could just find a way to persuade Wyatt to come on staff,” Tanner murmured before he held out his plate for seconds.

Sophie dished up another piece of pie then turned to Ellie. “Maybe you could talk to Wyatt for us, tell him how much we’d love to have him working here on the ranch.”

“Me?” Ellie shook her head. “I barely know the man.”

“That’s easily rectified,” Sophie pointed out.

“Don’t go there, Sophie,” Ellie warned. “I’m glad you and Tanner found each other and that you’re happy together. But I learned the hard way that romance isn’t for me.”

“But—” Sophie stopped when Ellie shook her head.

“I made a bad mistake when I let myself fall in love with Eddie. If I’d known him as well as I thought, I’d have known he’d change after he inherited that money, that he wouldn’t want to be saddled with being a father to Gracie.” A wiggle of pain still festered inside. “But I didn’t really know him because I was too busy thinking that my silly dream of a big, happy family was finally coming true.”

“Nothing silly about that dream, girlie,” Moses piped up. “God gave us families.”

“I know. And I have Gracie. That’s enough.” She saw Sophie was about to speak and shook her head. “Listen, when I got involved with Eddie I took my focus off parenting Gracie, and she almost paid for it. We were only a few weeks away from getting married when he suggested I put her in boarding school.” The memory still made her flinch. “I don’t need to repeat my mistakes. God’s given me the job of raising my daughter and I’ll focus on that. I guess I’m like Wyatt in that way. My child comes first.”

Later, as Ellie drove home with Gracie sleeping in the backseat, her brain revived a mental image of Wyatt Wright. He was good-looking, interesting and seemed to be a great parent, but he wasn’t for her.

Gracie was just going to have to ask God for something else, because Ellie had no intention of including Wyatt, or his very cute son, in their lives. Her broken engagement had proven that being a single mom had to be her number-one priority. Maybe someday, when Gracie was grown up and on her own, maybe then Ellie could consider a relationship.

Maybe.

But not now.