Judith Stacy - All a Cowboy Wants for Christmas - Waiting for Christmas / His Christmas Wish / Once Upon a Frontier Christmas

Carson drew in a long, heavy breath as he studied Marlee. Her slender hands, the sway of her skirt, the little glimpse of her ankle he’d caught, the bodice of her dress that swelled to—

“You okay, Mr. Tate?”

Carson snapped back to attention as Drew Giles, his office helper, walked through the door, staring as if he’d suddenly lost his mind. Not that he blamed him. Carson wasn’t given to long moments of gazing idly out the window.

Barely twenty years old, Drew was a tall, slim young man with a shock of thick blond hair. He’d helped out at Carson’s office for several months now and seemed to have a good head on his shoulders.

Drew walked closer, then glanced out the window. A knowing grin spread over his face. “I see you’re admiring the town’s Christmas decorations.”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” Carson told him.

“Bigger things to come,” Drew said. He nodded out the window. “The whole idea of running the trains was Marlee’s idea.”

Carson frowned—both because he didn’t like that his feelings were so obvious, and that he had no clue what the “train idea” was.

“Seems some of the ladies were worried about enough folks coming to the festival,” Drew said. “The way I hear it, Marlee had the idea to run trains to all the nearby towns and bring them in for the day. Hundreds of people will be coming to Harmony.”

Carson glanced out the window again. Marlee had thought of that? It was a damn good idea—yet fraught with problems.

“We’ll get all kinds. Pickpockets, scam artists, thieves. The sheriff will have his hands full, that’s for sure,” Carson said. “But at least my investors aren’t coming until next month. I sure as hell don’t want them here deciding on whether to invest in my weaving mill with a town full of criminals.”

“They changed their plans,” Drew said. “They’ll be here during the festival.”

Carson’s head snapped around. “What the hell?”

Drew pulled a telegram from his back pocket and presented it to Carson.

“I just picked this up,” he said.

Carson scanned the telegram, then crushed it into his fist. “Damn it. This is going to play hell with getting my mill going. I can’t have those men here with scalawags and riff-raff running loose in our streets.”

He grabbed his Stetson and headed out the door.

Carson spotted Chord Barrett outside the jailhouse nailing Wanted posters beside the door as he made his way down the boardwalk. He’d left his office in such a hurry he hadn’t picked up his coat, but he was still so fired up about trainloads of strangers coming to town that the cold barely registered.

“Hell …” he muttered as he saw that Sheriff Thompson’s horse wasn’t tethered to the hitching post in front of the jail. He’d wanted to speak to the man personally. Not that he had anything against Chord. He’d proved himself a good deputy, despite the fact that he had the voice of a lark and toured the country doing musical performances with that family of his.

A man couldn’t pick his family—as Carson well knew—and he doubted Chord would have selected those peculiar parents of his who’d given their children musical names. He doubted, too, that Chord would otherwise have been part of the family in which all the kids—sons and daughter alike—favored each other so strongly, all of them tall, with light brown hair and cool blue eyes.

“Afternoon, Carson,” Chord called. “How you doing?”

“Not so good,” he replied.

Chord turned away from the Wanted posters and laid the hammer aside. “Sheriff’s out at the Dawson ranch. What’s on your mind?”

“What the hell is the town thinking, bringing in trainloads of strangers?”

Chord threw up his hands in surrender. “I’ll be damned if I know. Those ladies on the festival committee should have talked to the sheriff before doing all of this. It’ll be nothing but trouble, that’s for sure.”

“More than you think,” Carson told him. “Those investors who’re interested in the weaving mill are coming smack in the middle of the festival.”

The deal for the construction of a weaving mill on the outskirts of Harmony had been in the works for months. Carson had arranged for investors from back east to come take a look at the place and hear the details of his plan. He wouldn’t be the only one to benefit from the mill, of course. It would bring new jobs and new wealth to Harmony.

Chord muttered a curse under his breath, then opened the door to the jailhouse. “Ian, get out here, will you?”

Harmony’s other deputy, Ian Caldwell, strode outside. He was a tall man, solid, and knew how to take care of himself. Carson had seen him drag drunk cowboys out of the Gold Garter Saloon and toss them into jail with little effort.

Carson told him what he’d just explained to Chord, and Ian shook his head. A quiet moment passed, then he muttered, “Women.”

As one, they all turned to gaze down the street.

Marlee, Audrey and Becky stood outside Flora’s Bake Shop. Lucy Hubbard had joined them. Moments dragged by in silence, until finally Ian spoke.

“Why won’t a woman just do what you tell her to do?” he mumbled.

There was no hostility in his words, no anger, not even any confusion or wonderment, only a longing and a hurt that seemed to roll from him in waves.

Everyone in town had speculated that something had gone on between Ian and Lucy back in Marlow, Colorado. Nobody knew for sure, one way or the other, because neither of them spoke of it.

“I’ll talk to the sheriff when he gets back in town,” Chord said. “He could order the musical performances canceled—which would suit me just fine—but that’s what’s bringing everybody to town.”

Ian shook his head. “I don’t see the sheriff doing that.”

“He may not care so much about disappointing folks who want to hear Christmas music,” Chord said. “But he sure as hell doesn’t want to hurt the merchants who’ve spent so much money to get ready for this festival. I’ll let you know what the sheriff says when he gets back.”

“Appreciate it,” Carson said, and headed back down the boardwalk.

Marlee and the others were still outside Flora’s. Carson intended to give Marlee a piece of his mind, even though he understood that she was new in town and didn’t know everything that was going on. A great deal was at stake for Harmony with the weaving mill he was trying to get built, and he didn’t need any more surprises where the investors’ visit was concerned.

This would be a business discussion, he told himself. Just business. Nothing more. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to end up kissing Marlee again.

“Afternoon, ladies,” Carson said. He touched the brim of his hat and managed a smile as he joined them on the boardwalk.

“We were just going inside Flora’s for a bit to eat,” Audrey said. “Would you care to join us?”

“No, thank you,” he said, then turned to Marlee. “I wonder if I might have a word with you, Miss Carrington?”

Audrey and Becky threw her a concerned look, but Marlee said, “I’ll be inside in just a minute.”

Carson grasped Marlee’s elbow and steered her to the corner of the building, then stepped off the boardwalk into the alley, bringing her with him.

She smelled delightful.

The thought slammed through Carson, chasing away the good intentions he’d had of educating Miss Marlee Carrington about the error of her ways, as well as life in Harmony, Texas.

He refocused his thoughts on the task at hand, and reminded himself again that, no matter what, he would not kiss her.

Marlee stared up at him, her eye wide, her lips pursed. Though she was covered up with that large cloak, he knew how shapely she was beneath it. He imagined what it would feel like if he slipped his hand—