Lois Richer - Her Christmas Family Wish

“Of course.” Ellie smiled, her eyes lighting up as she glanced at the little boy. “He wore himself out yelling, I guess. Gracie used to do that. Drove me bonkers sometimes. She’d get so tired out that she couldn’t seem to relax and let sleep come. I was usually so exhausted that when she finally crashed I did, too.”

“Except when you had to open your day care,” he added. “Tanner said you had a long client list.”

“I did. It was fun if exhausting. I was ready for a change. Especially after—” She checked herself as a fleeting frown washed over her face, then regrouped and shrugged. “I was pretty nervous about letting Gracie start school.”

“Why?” He sipped the coffee she’d poured.

“Until then I’d been in total control of Gracie’s world.” Her lips tilted in a wry smile. “The thought of allowing someone else to take over and not be there to see she was all right caused me some sleepless nights.”

“So how did you handle it?” he asked.

“With Sophie’s help.” Ellie grinned. “I’d consulted her about some catering, she led me to the Lord, and she’s been mentoring me ever since. She suggested I needed to start trusting that God cares as much and even more about Gracie than I do, so now I’m trying to trust Him. Since I’m a control freak where Gracie’s concerned it’s not easy, but I’m learning.”

“Was Sophie catering something for your day care?” he asked as he selected one of Sophie’s homemade cookies from the plate Ellie held out.

“Uh, no.” Ellie hesitated. To Wyatt she looked sort of embarrassed. “Something personal, but it turned out that I didn’t need her services after all.” Her diffidence surprised him.

“She sure has a good reputation as a caterer. Well deserved, judging by these cookies.” He savored the lemon flavor. “I’ve heard about her success all over Tucson.” Wyatt glanced around. “Just like I’ve heard about Tanner’s success with this place.”

“Sophie’s amazing, and Wranglers Ranch is a fantastic ministry. I am so happy to be part of it,” Ellie enthused. “And Gracie loves school, so God took care of that worry, too.” She studied him, her head tilted to one side. “How do you manage work and Cade?”

“Mostly I don’t,” Wyatt admitted. “My wife died about a year ago. Since then work has come a distant second.”

“I’m sure.” She touched his hand fleetingly. “I’m sorry, Wyatt.”

“Thanks. Anyway, I’m Cade’s only parent now, so I’ve been trying to be sure I’m there when he needs me.” He made a face. “Only thing is, toddlers don’t have much downtime. And that makes it hard to build up my veterinarian practice.”

“And you must do that—build it up?” Ellie’s eyebrows lifted as she waited.

“Yes. It’s very important to me.” He wasn’t going to tell her why, though he could see the question lurking in her eyes. “But it’s difficult. Just yesterday I agreed to be at a client’s place in the morning, but then Cade bumped his head on the coffee table. After that he wouldn’t settle down, so I had to cancel.” He made a face. “Doesn’t make for a good working relationship with your clients or help your reputation when you have to withdraw from a call.”

“No, I don’t suppose it does.” Ellie frowned. “Couldn’t you hire a caregiver to come in?”

“I do sometimes,” he said, feeling defensive. “But she wasn’t available yesterday morning when I called.”

“I can see that would be a problem. What about scheduling specific work hours? You could hire a caregiver from, say, eight to noon. While they watched Cade you could work, knowing you’d be available for him later.”

“Actually I did try that once when Cade was younger. It didn’t work.” Wyatt reconsidered. “Maybe it’s time to try it again. Thanks.” The agency would be relieved if he had regular hours to offer their nannies instead of always calling at the last minute.

“Now, since I’ve helped you, would you be willing to help me out?” she asked with a cheeky grin.

“Uh, with what?” he asked. Depending on what she wanted, he might have to refuse her. He wasn’t getting involved.

“I had this idea that Wranglers should sponsor a Thanksgiving Day dinner for kids who don’t have any place to go.” Ellie huffed out a sigh that lifted the spiky bangs across her forehead. “Of course Sophie will do the food, but she and Tanner asked me to set up some kind of decorations and, well...” She made a face. “I’m not exactly artistic. The most art I’ve ever done is kids’ crafts at my day care.”

“Why not go with that?” Wyatt shrugged. “Wranglers is a kids’ camp, after all.”

“How exactly would that work?” Ellie stared at him as if he had all the answers.

And that was so far from the truth that Wyatt wanted to laugh. He had the answers to exactly nothing in his own life. How could he possibly help anyone else?

“Come on, tell me what you were thinking,” she pressed.

He tried to vocalize the vision that had fluttered inside his head. “I guess I always associate Thanksgiving with harvest, you know, a time to count your blessings like the Pilgrims did. So maybe bales of hay scattered around, a few pumpkins on top, a sheaf of wheat if you could find anyone to make it—that kind of thing.”

“Sounds good,” she said with a nod. “And easy. Sophie wants to have an evening meal outside so we’d need lights of some kind. I’d thought candles on the tables, but I suspect that’s out because of the fire risk.”

“There are lots of solar lanterns available. Or battery lights. You could even put some inside hollowed-out gourds and set those inside tipped-over bushel baskets. I’ve seen that done before.” Wyatt felt silly throwing out these ideas about decorating, especially given the state of his ramshackle ranch. “Or you could string some lights in the trees. Maybe even leave them up for Christmas?”

“I love lights at Christmas.” Ellie’s eyes sparkled, her excitement obvious. “So, will you help me do it?”

“Uh, no. I mean, I can’t. I, er, I’m busy with Cade,” he stammered. Though he liked Ellie’s enthusiasm, admired the way she threw herself into things, he pulled out the excuse he always used to escape involvement. He wasn’t ever getting involved again anyway, so it was better to maintain his distance.

“Cade can sleep here while we work, as well as he can sleep at home.” As Ellie called him out her face got a shrewd look. “In exchange for helping me with the decorating I could babysit for you once or twice. Gracie would love that.”

This man would make a good daddy for us, Mommy.

Gracie’s words reverberated in his head, and he knew he had to get out of this arrangement.

“I appreciate the offer, Ellie, but I don’t think it would work.” he said quickly and swallowed his coffee in a gulp. “I’d better get going. I’ve got chores to do at my ranch.”

“You have a ranch?” Ellie’s face had lost some of its excitement as she rose gracefully and walked with him toward Cade.

“It hardly deserves the term ranch, but I’m working on improving that,” Wyatt told her, then grinned. “In my spare time.”

Ellie smiled back before glancing at Cade. “He’ll probably wake soon.”

“Which is why I need to get home. He always wakes up hungry.” Wyatt gently scooped the sleeping boy into his arms, relishing the baby powder smell of his son and the warm weight of him against his chest. “Thank you, Ellie. I appreciate all your help.”

“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.” She brushed one fingertip against Cade’s cheek. “Bye, sweetie. I hope I see you again soon. You, too,” she added, glancing at Wyatt.