Judy Christenberry - Christmas Gifts - Cinderella and the Cowboy / The Boss's Christmas Baby / Their Little Christmas Miracle

Jack nodded his head, and Elizabeth went along. She turned to the young woman. “My name is Elizabeth Ransom.”

“Tom’s your father? I didn’t know Reggie had a sister.”

“He didn’t.”

“But you have to be his sister if your last name is Ransom.”

“He was my husband.”

The woman dropped her fork. “Don’t be ridiculous!”

“I don’t think I am,” Elizabeth said with more calm than she felt. “He was my husband.”

“When did he divorce you?”

“He didn’t.”

“He had to have. I mean, he went out with every woman who lifted her skirt!” She sized up Elizabeth with a glance. “Any woman with pride wouldn’t have anything to do with him.”

“So when did you marry him?” Jack asked the stranger.

Marry him? Elizabeth could feel her head spinning.

Beside her, Jack put his hand on her thigh under the table and patted her. What was he trying to tell her?

“A while ago,” the woman replied.

“Before he married me?” Elizabeth asked.

“Well, I—”

Tom took over the questioning. “You weren’t with him when he died, were you? But someone was with him. Another woman. That’s a pretty short time to marry you and already have dumped you.”

“He liked his freedom.”

Tom nodded. “So I’ve heard.” A few moments went by before he asked, “So why’d you marry him, then?”

“I hoped he’d settle down.”

Elizabeth could understand that. Hadn’t she fallen into the same trap?

The woman sounded almost pathetic when she added, “He even gave me a key to his apartment.”

“Why?” Elizabeth asked.

“We were—we were in love.”

Jack finally spoke up. “And did the key do you any good?” Jack asked.

“No, but maybe in time he would realize what—In time he would come around. I could feel him changing.”

Elizabeth just stared at her, feeling sorry for her.

Jack apparently didn’t share her emotion. She could detect a faint note of sarcasm in his tone when he told the woman, “Say, your car is nice.”

The stranger obviously didn’t pick up on it. “Thank you. Reggie gave it to me.”

“He’s got good taste. When did you get it?”

“I picked it up a week ago today. They had to verify that Reggie’s check was good.”

“Good to know you’re not left broke,” Jack said casually.

“Yes, it is,” she said with a smile.

“How nice. But I guess the payments are high.”

“Oh, no. Reggie bought it outright. He wouldn’t want me to have to pay it out.”

Jack nodded as he took in the information. “Say, Elizabeth, what car do you have?”

Elizabeth stared at him. “I didn’t have a car.”

“You mean Reggie left you with no car? How did you take Brady to the doctor?”

“We took a bus.”

“Is Brady Reggie’s kid?” the woman asked.

“Yes. And Jenny—the baby—is his, too.”

The blonde’s eyes widened. “So you have two children?”

Elizabeth answered, “Yes.” Then she stood up and began clearing the table.

“Elizabeth, are you okay?” Tom asked.

“Yes, I’m fine, Tom. I’m going to go check on my kids.”

“I think you made Elizabeth feel bad,” Tom said to the woman after Elizabeth left.

A haughty look retook her face. “That wasn’t my intention, but when you don’t have any skills, you shouldn’t have kids.”

“Interesting observation.” He looked up at the clock on the wall. “I’m getting tired, but I would like to talk more with you. Won’t you spend the night, Miss…? I don’t think I caught your name.”

“Kim Hall.”

“Wouldn’t your name be Ransom?” Jack asked.

“I…I’m using my maiden name.” Her cheeks flamed as she came up with a reason not to bear the name of her so-called husband.

“I hear that’s popular.”

Tom said, “I’m going to rest for a while, Jack. Can you entertain Kim for the afternoon?”

“Sure. Just wait until I go tell Elizabeth we’ll have a guest for dinner.”

Jack excused himself to trot upstairs. He found Elizabeth in her room.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, of course.”

“We’ll be one more for dinner. I’m going to take our guest out to see the ranch. Then we’ll come back and all have dinner.”

“The kids and I will eat before you three. That way we won’t interfere with your conversation.”

“Elizabeth, you’re not taking her seriously, are you?”

“Well, Reggie does—did have a reputation.”

“Honey, you can’t believe her. I’ll stake my life on it that Reggie didn’t buy that car for her. I suspect she signed one of his checks and took it to the Mercedes dealer after he died.”

“Maybe Tom would rather have her here than me. She’s very attractive.”

“Nonsense. I know Tom. It took a while for me to figure out what he’s doing. But it’s that old adage ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’ Tom’s getting the information he needs, then he’ll bring a lawsuit against her. You’ll see.”

He leaned in close and kissed her on the cheek. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, Elizabeth.”

When he left the room, Elizabeth knew that wasn’t true.

The innocent kiss had left a blazing imprint on her skin. She touched her cheek and could still feel his lips there.

She had a lot to worry about.

At six-thirty, Elizabeth had just put the finishing touches to a very good meal and called her son to the table.

“You’ll sit by me, sweetheart. And don’t worry about the stranger. I don’t think she’ll pay any attention to you.”

“Who is she?”

“A friend of your daddy’s.”

“Jack said my daddy was bad.”

“No! He shouldn’t have said that.” She’d have to talk to Jack about that. “Your daddy was—Well, he didn’t grow up, that’s all.”

“Will I grow up?”

She smiled at her son. “Of course you will, sweetie. You’ve already grown a lot. You always help when I need help, and you never complain.”

“I’ll help you anytime, Mommy.” He threw his arms around her neck and squeezed her tight.

How she loved these spontaneous little-boy hugs. “Thank you, sweetheart. I always count on you.”

“I’m hungry. When are they going to come?”

“I don’t know. If you want to go out on the porch and look for them, you can. But don’t get off the porch.”

“I won’t, Mommy.”

Brady went out to the porch. After he went, Elizabeth thought about what she was going to tell Jack. She didn’t want Brady to feel that there was something wrong with him. He was a good boy and he would be a good man.

By the time she had the roast on the table, Jack came in the door. “Sorry. Brady said we were late. Did we keep you waiting?”

“No, of course not.”

“I intended to be in earlier but she—” he nodded toward the door and rolled his eyes “—wanted to spend some time with me.” He snickered. “Yeah, right!”

“You didn’t believe her?”

“No. She’s only looking for a new fish to hook now that Reggie’s gone.”

“But surely she—” Elizabeth stopped talking as Kim came in the door. “Kim, will you knock on Tom’s door, please?”

Kim frowned at her. “You want me to knock on his door?”

She looked at the woman, then she shook her head and walked past her to knock on Tom’s door. “Dinner’s ready, Tom.”

Tom came out at once. “Glad to hear it. I was getting kind of peckish.” He took a seat at the table. “This looks good, Elizabeth. This is what I’m talking about, Kim. Elizabeth here does a fine job of cooking and taking care of us.”

“So she wouldn’t get to eat if she didn’t work?”