Page 2 of A Heart Falls Cowboy Christmas

Caleb slowed as he passed the site where the Heart Falls community hall used to stand. After the fire in September, the site had been cleared to the ground until even the safety fence had been removed. A fresh stretch of snow remained, like a blank canvas waiting for a new image to appear.

That hall had been there for all of Caleb’s life, and seeing the empty spot put a strange sensation into his gut. Something missing. Not only the building, but the familiarity, with good memories of times there with his parents and his siblings.

Josiah was right. They couldn’t stop the passage of time. Caleb didn’t really want to, because good things would happen in the future as well, yet that odd sensation lingered. Like a warning shot across his bow that said not all changes were going to be as welcome as the new hall going up.

He parked next to Tamara’s SUV outside Josiah and Lisa’s place, marching up to the door and letting himself into the warmth and chaos that was the Ryder household. “Hello?”

Happy children’s music played softly in the background while a little girl sang along. A younger boy whined, and Lisa and Tamara both responded.

Caleb toed off his boots to follow the noises into the kitchen.

Tamara cradled a sleeping five-month-old Nathan against her chest, his thick black hair sticking up in every direction as he slumbered quietly. She smiled as she met Caleb’s gaze, brown eyes dancing behind glasses that today were the tortoiseshell-coloured ones he really liked. “Hi there, handsome. You’re too late for tea. I was just about to head out.”

He held the file folder in the air, glancing at Lisa. “Brought you the file you need.”

“Lifesaver. I would have remembered—for the third time—that I still needed it somewhere around midnight.” Lisa tilted her head to the shelf beside the fridge as she adjusted a very clingy eighteen-month-old Mason on her hip. “Drop it there and I’ll deal with it in my free time.”

“Which you have so much of?” Tamara teased.

The faint dark shadows under Lisa’s eyes seemed to vanish as her smile appeared. “Life is good,” she insisted, watching her oldest dance across the room to hug Caleb’s legs enthusiastically,

“Unca Caleb, I have a book and a kitty and come see.” Dark-haired Zoë caught his fingers. “Come see.”

“Sorry, Sunshine,” Lisa warned. “But Uncle Caleb and Auntie Tamara have to go. We need to get Mason to stop doing his octopus imitation so we can have lunch and do some fun stuff together.”

Zoë considered this, her fingers still tight around Caleb’s.

Tamara eyed her sister. “You sure you don’t need a hand for a bit longer?”

“Nah, I’m great.” Lisa covered a yawn then snorted. “Truly. We’ll all have an afternoon nap and life will be golden again.”

“Okay, but if you need anything, call.” Tamara lowered Nathan carefully into the crib in the kitchen. She waggled her fingers at Mason, who instantly re-buried his face in Lisa’s shoulder. “Ah well, kiddo. Someday you’ll be into auntie hugs.”

Zoë, on the other hand, was already there. She imperiously demanded a hug and a dozen kisses from Tamara.

A firm tug on his pant leg a moment after Tamara put Zoë down was Caleb’s cue to offer the little princess homage. He knelt to accept a kiss from Zoë as well.

“Love you, Unca Caleb.”

“Love you, too, Sunny Girl.”

He and Tamara were out the door a moment later, the icy-cold January wind brushing against them as they made their way down the walkway to their vehicles.

“Lisa has more energy than I do, that’s for sure.” Tamara sighed happily as she slipped her hand around his elbow. “What a gorgeous day.”

“It is, just like you.” Caleb squeezed her fingers. “Can I take my favourite girl out for lunch?”

She brightened more than the shine on the snow. “Why, Mr. Stone, that’s a mighty sweet offer.”

Caleb tugged her into him, the cold vanishing with the blanket of warmth between them. “Meet you at Buns and Roses?”

“Best place in town,” she agreed, lifting her lips for a kiss.

Sweet memories, sweet moments in the here and now. More to look forward to in the future?

Caleb had every intention of enjoying every second of what he had.

Strange premonitions be damned.