Jolene Navarro - Lone Star Christmas

Her father had made sure that had been the last time she saw him. That was a long time ago. They had been kids, and he obviously had gotten over her. If she wanted to have access to the original settlement, she would have to bury the past.

The buildings. From the records and her mother’s letters, there was an old church, school and general mercantile, along with several other buildings. She needed his permission to move them off the ranch to the land the city had granted for the project. What would be the best angle to get Max on board with her plan?

One step ahead of her, he went to open the door. A short gust of wind pushed it out of Max’s hand as they hurried inside. “The weather’s getting worse.” His voice was muffled in the zipped-up Carhartt jacket.

“Too cold to stay out at your place without heat.” The air burned her throat with each breath. “You might need to make plans to stay somewhere else tonight. The Pecan Farm has cabins. I could call Maggie for you.”

“A cabin?” Ethan sounded suspicious.

“We’ve always wanted to go camping. Are there bears by the cabin?” Isaac hopped around. “That would be so cool. Right, Tomas?”

Jackie laughed as she moved past him. “No. No bears, but there are deer, raccoons and a river where you could fish. If this weather keeps up, we might have ice fishing for the first time in Texas.” She pointed out the bathrooms before leading them to her favorite booth in front of the large window.

A young waitress with a huge smile brought a basket of tortilla chips and a bowl of salsa. The boys attacked the food like they hadn’t eaten in a week.

“How are you, Kelsey?” Jackie was looking at the girl, but Kelsey was glancing at Ethan from under her lashes.

“Hi, Ms. Bergmann. Is it cold enough for you?” She never took her gaze off the teen. He didn’t seem to notice. He was frowning at his dead phone.

Rubbing her hands together before tucking them in her jacket, Jackie smiled up at her. “I don’t remember it ever being this cold in November.”

“Yeah, it’s a record breaker. What a cute crew you have with you today. What can I get for you to drink? Coffee and hot chocolate?”

Jackie leaned closer to the young brothers. “I recommend the hot chocolate. That’s what I’m getting.”

The little ones looked at Max. He nodded. “Three hot chocolates and one coffee.”

Ethan looked up from plugging in his charger, and when his eyes widened, Max raised a brow.

The teen’s expression took Jackie right back to the summer with Max. Ethan looked so much like him. The Delgados definitely had a look.

He pushed his hair back and grinned at the waitress. “Hi, I’m Ethan. I’d give anything for a Mocha Frappuccino with organic, unsweetened almond milk.”

“Hi. I would love to have one, too, but all my mom serves is plain coffee. Plain cream and sugar are the only options. I could put some Cool Whip from the desserts on top.”

“We want whipped cream on our hot chocolates!” Isaac pointed to his brother. Tomas nodded in agreement.

“Sure.” She looked back at Ethan. “I make the hot chocolate myself with real ingredients. It’s my favorite.”

Max’s brother blushed. “I’ll take one of those.”

“Good. So, are y’all visiting or moving to town?” It seemed as if everyone else at the table had disappeared as the two teens stared at each other. “Are you gonna go to school here? Everyone’s out for Thanksgiving break, but Monday we start again.”

Jackie cleared her throat. “Kelsey, this is Max Delgado and his brothers—Tomas, Isaac and of course Ethan. They’re in town for a short break, and right now they’re hungry. Could you give us the menus?”

A red flush covered Kelsey’s face as she tucked her chin. “Sorry. I’ll get the drinks.” She laid laminated menus on the table and hurried away.

A short time later, the owner of the café sat chips and salsa on the table. She didn’t look happy, but then again Sally Pryce was famous for good food. Friendliness? Not so much.

“Hi, Sally. Max, this is Sally Pryce, the owner and Kelsey’s mother and my cousin. Sally, this is—”

“Yes, I heard a Delgado was back in town. I’ll be serving your table while you’re here.” She narrowed her eyes at Ethan. “Kelsey is my only daughter, and she has five older brothers. And since you’re just going to be here a short time, I recommend you take care of the ranch. I hear the thistle is out of control. I’ll have your drinks out soon.”

As soon as she had her back to them, Ethan narrowed his eyes at Max. “What was that about? Did Dad or Uncle Rigo do something to make the people here hate us?”

Max looked at Jackie. “It’s complicated, and it’s the reason I wanted to go to Uvalde. No one hates us there.” Max leaned in and looked straight at Ethan. “Our father and uncle made some decisions that weren’t popular here, along with a few other issues.” He looked at Jackie, but quickly glanced away.

Jackie folded her hands in front of her. “It’s not just your father and uncle. It goes way back before anyone here was even alive. There’s been bad blood between the Delgado family and Clear Water for as long as anyone can remember. It has to do with the old land charter for the town. Most recently, everyone blames y’all for the thistle outbreak.”

“Thistle outbreak? Is that some sort of disease?” Ethan stared at her.

“No, it’s a plant that is prickly and large. It has a thousand little seeds that will take over a pasture and kill off the grass.” She looked at Max. “Rumor is that your mother had over a hundred bird feeders around the house and barns. The birdseed she ordered from Kerrville had it in the mix. With the land not being tended, it’s become a battle on the other ranches.”

Max’s mouth fell open. “You’re serious? They blame my mother? She’s been gone for twenty years.”

Jackie didn’t know how to answer that. The guilt she already felt over his mother’s death didn’t help. “Small towns have long memories.”

“That’s not fair.” Ethan leaned back and looked out the window. “Not that it’s a big surprise they hate us. We don’t even like each other.”

“We like you.” Isaac smiled at his brother. Tomas nodded, but his heartbreakingly sad expression tore at her heart.

Ethan glared at the younger boys. “You don’t even know me.”

“You’re our brother.” They both looked confused. To them it was simple. They were family.

“You’re too young to understand anything. This is so lame.” The teenager threw himself against the cushioned back of the booth and crossed his arms.

Max pinched the bridge of his nose.

Jackie wanted to reach out and hug all the boys close to her. To tell them that God loved them and that was all that mattered, but she didn’t even know where they were in their faith. Maybe she could help by refocusing them. “You’re right, Ethan. It’s not fair. This is one of the reasons I came out to the ranch. I have a plan that might help restore goodwill for the Delgados here in town.”

Ethan and Max made an identical grunting noise at the exact same time.

Biting her tongue to stop the laugh, she had to smile at their matching sullen expressions. She leaned closer to Max. “The original town church and school are on your property. I would love to move them into town and restore the buildings. The city has land set aside. I don’t need anything from you other than permission. It’s what our mothers were working on when—”

“Sorry.” Max cut her off. “My uncle asked me to get the ranch ready for sale, and I have orders to clear out the pastures and tear down any old buildings. He wants the old wood sent to him.”