Page 96 of A Heart Falls Cowboy Christmas

She looked so much like Tamara in that instant. Not her looks, of course, but in the tilt of her head and a dozen other small mannerisms. In the way she was confident in her abilities yet trying to be accommodating.

Caleb wanted to take a picture so he could show his wife. Show her the magic that she’d brought into their lives when she’d come to rescue a lonely single dad so many years ago.

“It’ll be good to have Frank here more often,” Caleb shared honestly. “I’ve always liked the man. Didn’t always like what he was doing, but his failures were more about pride or misunderstanding than ill intent.”

Sasha looked at him with surprise.

Yeah, he’d never thought this was a conversation he’d have with his daughter, either, but here they were.

If things had gone differently, he’d have shared this with Dustin. So it made sense to offer the same advice and observations to Sasha.

“If you’re going to work with a man, you need to know his heart. Someone who acts foolishly can hurt you. Someone who acts out of maliciousness can break you.”

“Uncle Frank is a good man.” Sasha said the words slowly, as if weighing what conversations under this new paradigm should include. “He’s old school at times, but then…” she paused to smile at him. “Sometimes so are you.”

“Sometimes the old way is best.”

“If it ain’t broken…” Sasha quipped.

They sat in silence for a moment, the quiet December morning stealing in to surround them with peace.

Finally, she nodded. “I think at the core of it, Uncle Frank is lonely. But I’m not going to Crooked Creek to fix anything, and certainly not to fix Uncle Frank.” She met Caleb’s gaze straight on. “I do think growing the connections between the ranches can make all of us stronger. We’ll see new ways to help each other. We’ll see gaps in our training. We’re going to step up our game across the board, and that’s got to be a good thing. No matter how hard the changes might be.”

Caleb tried to listen the way he would have to Ashton or Tucker. To push aside the fact she was young. His daughter. Part of his heart.

He dipped his chin slowly. “It’s a very good thing,” he agreed.

She smiled then put aside her cup. She curled up against him, and as he wrapped his arm around her and held her, he had to agree.

It would be hard, but it would also be good. Only one thing left to be done.

The morning chaos of breakfast and presents eased into the pre-chaos of the afternoon Stone family gathering. Tamara, Emma, and Sasha were joined by the other ladies. A second round of presents were piled up under the tree before the guys grabbed all the kids older than a year and took them outside to burn off energy.

It took less than five seconds for Dustin to hit Caleb smack in the face with a snowball. “Oops. Sorry, that one misfired,” Dustin claimed.

Caleb raised a brow. “Itchy snowball trigger finger?” he asked.

Dustin grinned. Caleb pounced.

A minute later they were scuffling, Caleb rubbing his youngest brother’s face in the snow.

“Uncle Dustin. Uncle Caleb.” Small bodies threw themselves on top of him.

Demi somehow landed on Caleb’s head, smashing his face into the snowbank.

Moving carefully so as not to squish their miniature attackers, Caleb and Dustin rolled apart, pulling kids off like burrs.

Walker stood nearby. “Careful, Demi,” he warned far too late.

“You’re a terrible supervisor,” Caleb complained.

“Not supervising, I’m here to deliver a message,” Walker offered with a grin. “Carter says you have five minutes to prepare before the horde attacks.”

Caleb and Dustin glanced at each other, going from adversaries to teammates in the blink of an eye. “Damn. How fast can you build a fort wall?” Caleb asked his brother.

A convenient snowdrift, a bunch of quick digging, and a stockpile of snowballs allowed them to last against the older children until the dinner bell rang out. The clear sweet tone carried over the entire ranch with the call to come home.

Dinner. Conversation. The house full of the scent of delicious food and hot drinks and all the comforts of the holiday.