Cowboy Unwrapped Read online

  Finally the carolers extricated themselves from the very nice couple, their sweet baby and a woman Jake had not expected to deal with tonight. They all crossed the street to Mrs. Gentry’s, the lady Stan had said was going deaf.

  Jake had never had a grandparent in his life and he thought that was sad because he’d be an excellent grandson. He’d check on them to see if they needed anything and be tolerant of their infirmities. Maybe being a foster kid without the normal advantages had contributed to his tenderness toward older people. When a person had experienced being at a disadvantage, they understood how it felt.

  Because of that, he suggested ringing the doorbell before they started singing. Rosie had once told him that people who lived alone and were hard of hearing often increased the volume on their doorbell chime and their telephone ring. Jake had taken a personal interest in providing Mrs. Gentry with a Christmas carol tonight.

  In fact, he stayed at the door until she came in response to the doorbell. He glanced down at a plump little lady with wispy white curls framing her round, pink-cheeked face. She wore a Frosty the Snowman sweatshirt, gray sweatpants and bunny slippers.

  He smiled and touched the brim of his hat. “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Gentry!”

  She shouted right back at him. “Merry Christmas to you, cutie-pie! Looks like you’re here with the Fergusons! What can I do for you?”

  “We want to sing you a Christmas carol!”

  “Wonderful!” She clapped her hands.

  “Want to bundle up so you can come out and enjoy it?”

  “Of course! Whatcha gonna sing?”

  “What’s your favorite?” He hoped Stan had included it in the mix.

  “‘Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.’ I’ll get my wrap!”

  Jake turned back to Stan, who was cracking up. “Do you know it?”

  “Not all of it. You had to ask, didn’t you?”

  “No worries.” Jake grinned as he returned to the group. “I know it. We used to drive Herb and Rosie crazy with that song. I’ll bet even Grady knows most of the words.”

  Grady nodded. “Yep, sure do.”

  “So do we.” Amethyst exchanged a smile with her sister.

  “Then you four take the lead.” Stan glanced at his wife. “The old folks will mumble along.”

  “You can mumble if you want,” Jane said. “I know the words. Sapphire and Amethyst drove me crazy singing it.”

  Stan looked confused. “I don’t remember that. Where was I?”

  “Traveling the state doing Christmas shows,” she said gently. “We needed the money a lot more back then.”

  “Guess I’ve sort of blocked those years.”

  “Here I am!” Mrs. Gentry came out to the porch and closed the door behind her. She was still wearing her bunny slippers but she’d added a bright red parka and a Santa hat. “Sing away!”

  Jake turned to Amethyst. “You’re the professional. You’d better start us off.”

  “Okay.” She hummed the opening note. “On three. One, two...”

  And they were off, everybody except Stan belting out a song about poor Grandma’s fatal encounter. Stan jumped in each time they reached the chorus, and Mrs. Gentry sang it all at the top of her lungs while she danced a jig on her porch. Hysterical as that was to watch, Jake hoped she didn’t slip on an icy patch and fall down.

  Fortunately she didn’t. When they were finished she insisted everyone had to come in for a mug of hard cider that she guaranteed would put hair on their chests. Jake immediately accepted, which meant everyone else had to go along, but judging from the laughter and smiles, he didn’t think they minded.

  Mrs. Gentry’s artificial tree was loaded with delicate-looking ornaments and large clumps of tinsel. Jake steered clear of it but even so the tinsel shivered as he went by. Christmas-themed knickknacks covered every available surface and Jake moved carefully as he helped Amethyst with her coat and took off his own. One wrong move and he could take out an entire nativity scene.

  Jane offered to help with the cider but Mrs. Gentry told her to find a seat and get comfortable. The men hung the coats on a wooden coat tree that already held Mrs. Gentry’s red parka although she’d left on the Santa hat. Keeping the coat tree from falling under the load took some balancing, but they managed it while they waited for the women to sit.

  When Jake turned around, all three ladies were in a row on the sofa. That left a recliner, probably Mrs. Gentry’s spot since it faced the TV, and two dainty armchairs with seats that had flowers stitched on the seat cushions.

  Jake wasn’t going to take the recliner and he was afraid he’d break those chairs, plus, there were only two. “You guys go ahead.” He gestured toward the chairs. “I’ll stand.”

  Grady shook his head. “I’m not taking a chance on one of those.”

  “Oh, for goodness’ sake.” Jane moved over to one of the chairs. “Stan, you take the other one. It’ll hold you. Your mother had some just like this.”

  Sapphire scooted to one end of the sofa. “We can fit both of you guys on here with us.”

  “Definitely.” Amethyst moved to the other end.

  Grady and Jake looked at each other, shrugged and wedged themselves in between the women.

  “I won’t be able to drink cider.” Grady began to chuckle.

  “Why not?” Sapphire glanced at him. “You’re not driving anywhere.”

  “I can’t move my arms.”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake. Put your arm around me. That’ll give you more room.”

  “Now there’s a concept.” Grady looked over at Jake. “I’ll go first and then you. If we tried to do it at the same time, odds are we’d tip this sofa backward into the teeny, tiny snow village.”

  “Understood.”

  Moments after they’d finished the maneuver, Mrs. Gentry wheeled in a tea cart loaded down with mugs of cider and a huge plate of decorated sugar cookies.

  Stan got up and Jake started to do the same because that was his training when a lady entered the room.

  “Don’t try it,” Grady warned in an undertone. “You’ll throw off the equilibrium and make a mess.”

  “Right.” Jake raised his voice a couple of notches above normal conversational level. “Don’t mean to be impolite, Mrs. Gentry, but Grady and I will disrupt everything if we stand.”

  “Heavens, don’t do that.” She handed Stan two mugs and the plate of cookies before turning toward the sofa. “One of you big boys could have had my chair.”

  “Thank you, ma’am,” Jake said. “But we’re fine right here.”

  “You look mighty squished up to me, but when you’re courtin’, that’s probably how you like it.” She gave Sapphire a mug of cider. “Is that an engagement ring on your finger, Sapphire Ferguson?”

  “Yes, Mrs. Gentry, it is. I’d like you to meet my fiancé, Grady Magee.”

  “Pleased to make your acquaintance, young man.” She beamed at Grady. “Well done. Sapphire’s a catch.”

  “Yes, ma’am, she is.”

  “When’s the big day?”

  “We’re working on that,” Sapphire said. “We have tight schedules.”

  “Tight saddles? Then you need Ben Radcliffe to loosen them up. He’s—”

  “No, schedules.”

  “Oh, schedules. I see that problem a lot with young people these days. I hope you find the time, but at least you’ve found each other. That’s the important part.”

  When the older woman turned her attention to the other half of the sofa’s residents, Jake could guess what was coming. He wondered how Amethyst would handle it. After all, he had his arm around her and he was out caroling with the family. He must look suspiciously like a significant person in Amethyst’s life.

  Apparently, Amethyst decided to take the initiative.
She had such amazing voice control that she could subtly turn up the volume without shouting. “Mrs. Gentry, this is Jake Ramsey. Remember I dated him in high school? He lives in Jackson Hole now, but he came over for a couple of days so we invited him to go caroling with us for old time’s sake.”

  “That’s nice.” Mrs. Gentry handed him a mug of cider. “Enjoying yourself, Jake Ramsey?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Thought so.” She gave him a wink before taking the plate of cookies from Stan and offering them to the couch sitters. At last everyone had been served, so she took her cider over to the recliner.

  Once she was settled in, she lifted her mug. “To love!” When everyone echoed her toast, she smiled. “Nothing else matters, you know. Now, drink up. I have plenty more where this came from.”

  The cider turned out to be delicious and sneakily potent. Two mugs of the stuff and Jake could feel the effects, so he wondered if Amethyst, being much lighter, might be getting smashed. That would explain why her conversation had become more animated and she’d allowed her free hand to rest lightly on his thigh. Fine with him.

  Jane was the one who finally got them all moving toward the door. Mrs. Gentry insisted they take a Tupperware container of cookies and Jane accepted it with a smile and a loud thank-you. Miraculously they all donned coats, hats and scarfs without dumping the cookies or breaking any of the fragile items crowding the room. But the coat tree would have fallen into the Christmas tree if Jake hadn’t grabbed the top at the last minute.

  “Yay, Jake!” Amethyst blew him a kiss. “My hero!”

  Yeah, she was definitely toasted. That meant they’d hang out at her folks’ house longer than he might have planned because he didn’t want her driving until the cider had worn off. Food would help a lot, though.

  At last they were all standing on the sidewalk and, once again, Jane took charge. “I propose we end this caroling gig and go fix some dinner.”

  “Good idea.” Stan wrapped an arm around her shoulders and headed down the sidewalk toward home. “That cider packed a punch.”

  Sapphire and Grady followed, arms around each other’s waists. Sapphire started giggling. “But it sure beats the heck out of surstromming! I’ll carol at Mrs. Gentry’s any old day.”

  “Me, too.” Stan called back to her. “But next year we’re reversing the order and ending with her house.”

  “Works for me.” Amethyst gazed up at Jake. “How ’bout you?”

  “I’d go along with that.” He’d had his arm over her shoulder the whole time they’d been on the sofa and he saw no reason to hesitate now. He tucked her against his side as they followed Grady and Sapphire.

  Amethyst slid her arm around his waist as naturally as if they’d picked up where they’d left off when they’d dated in high school. “Although I might not be able to come home for Christmas next year.” She didn’t sound very tipsy now.

  “I know.” He wondered if the cold air had sobered her up. Or it could be the realization that she couldn’t blithely make plans with her family if she intended to follow through on her move.

  “Because I’ve kept my overhead low by living here, I’ve had the luxury of turning down any gigs that would take me away over Christmas. My parents could have avoided having my dad work through the holiday if they hadn’t had kids.”

  “I’m sure neither of them regrets that.”

  “I’m sure they don’t, either. I probably won’t regret giving up Christmas with my family if it means I’ll get my big break.”

  “Probably not.” But he was glad she was taking the necessary sacrifices into consideration.

  “I just happened to think of something. Do you stand to make more money if you stay in Jackson Hole?”

  “Quite likely. It’s been a vacation playground for the rich and famous for a while, and chances are the area will grow faster and bigger than Sheridan because it’s so close to Yellowstone. I considered that a plus when I got the job, but money isn’t everything.”

  Amethyst chuckled. “So I’ve heard. I hope you know I’m not into this music thing for the money.”

  “I’ve never thought that. But I may not be clear on what you do want out of this career.”

  “To fulfill my potential.”

  That sounded like something a teacher might have said to her. “And what does that mean, exactly?”

  “I’ve been told I have the voice to be a major recording star, so, obviously, since I’m not a major recording star, I haven’t fulfilled my potential.”

  He didn’t know how to respond without risking the fight Chelsea had warned him about. Amethyst must not value the contribution she was making now or she wouldn’t say something like that. He thought what she was doing, entertaining locally and teaching kids, had great value, but he hesitated to tell her. She might take it the wrong way, as if he wanted to keep her here for his own selfish purposes.

  “So what’s the deal with Marla?”

  He almost said Marla who? He’d forgotten about her already, which wasn’t fair to Marla. He made a mental note that he couldn’t let his old flame think he was interested when he clearly wasn’t. If and when they communicated again, he’d make sure she understood that he was...what? Unable to focus on anyone but Amethyst? No, he couldn’t say that even if it turned out to be true.

  “You don’t have to tell me. It’s none of my business.”

  “It is while you and I are still involved. Marla and I dated for a while. It didn’t go anywhere.”

  “In case you didn’t pick up on it, she’s ready to revisit the idea.”

  “I picked up on it. I didn’t want to be rude on Christmas night with everyone standing around listening. I’ll handle it later.”

  She was quiet for a while, but finally she spoke. “I’m a bad person.”

  “You’re absolutely not, so why are you saying it?”

  “Because I’m happy that you have no plans to get it on with Marla once I’m out of the picture. But that’s completely unfair. We both know that if I achieve what I’m going for in LA, it will be the end of anything between us. If I care about you, and I do, I should want you to find someone else!”

  Sapphire turned around. “Everything okay back there?”

  “Yeah, fine,” Jake said. “Just having a deep discussion.”

  “Okay.” Sapphire smiled and hooked her arm around Grady again.

  Jake envied the hell out of them. He wanted to be like Grady, who was walking down the street knowing that he had a future with the woman nestled against his hip. Instead Amethyst wanted to discuss his plan to replace her after she’d moved away.

  He sucked in a lungful of cold air. “Let’s take one thing at a time, shall we? You haven’t even left yet. I’m not going to troll for a new girlfriend while you’re still in Wyoming. As for Marla, when I saw her tonight I had the fleeting thought I should probably stay in touch in order to hedge my bets.”

  “Aha! See, I knew—”

  “But then the evening continued, and we had a great time with Mrs. Gentry, and you sat on her sofa with your hand on my thigh and—”

  “Hang on. I did no such thing!”

  “Sorry, but you did.”

  “I put my hand on your thigh in front of everybody?”

  “Yes, but it’s possible nobody else noticed. I couldn’t very well miss it. My thigh is extremely sensitive, especially when you’re stroking it.”

  Her voice rose. “I was stroking it?”

  Sapphire glanced over her shoulder again. “Just so you know, I’m getting little snippets and my imagination’s going wild up here.”

  “Mine, too,” Grady said. “I must’ve been drunker than I thought if I missed stroking action going on.”

  “Calm yourselves,” Jake said. “It’s not what you’re thinking.”

&nb
sp; “Then what is it?” Sapphire asked.

  “Nothing,” Amethyst said. “Absolutely nothing.”

  Sapphire laughed. “Yeah, okay. We’ll talk later.”

  “Good idea, sis.”

  In the silence that followed, Jake hoped she’d forgotten all about his ex-girlfriend.

  She cleared her throat. “So. Back to Marla.”

  No such luck. “What about her?”

  This time she kept her voice low. “Look, it’s fine and perfectly logical for you to keep her number in case you might want to call her later. Why wouldn’t you do that?”

  “Because she’s not an option, regardless. Taking up with her after being with you would be like dealing with a brush fire in somebody’s backyard after battling a two-thousand-acre forest fire in Yellowstone.”

  “I’m a two-thousand-acre forest fire? That doesn’t sound like a good thing.”

  “In terms of firefighting, it’s not.” He hugged her close. “But in terms of passionate loving, it’s a very good thing.”

  15

  AMETHYST HAD MORE fun at her parents’ dinner table that night than she’d had in ages. She’d always enjoyed hanging with her folks, but having Grady and Jake there changed the dynamic in ways she couldn’t have imagined. The foster brothers couldn’t help teasing each other, which fit right in with her dad’s sense of humor.

  He’d held his own in a house full of women for years, but tonight he clearly got a charge out of having male allies. She had a rare glimpse of what he must have been like when he’d been a single guy traveling with a band. Yet when he’d had a chance to make that his life, he’d chosen a different path.

  She was at that same crossroads, and her parents and her sister and Grady provided a live demonstration of what she would be giving up. Dedication to her art, especially when it involved popular music, required sacrifice. Professor Edenbury had drummed that into her. But sitting at the dinner table surrounded by love, she felt a twinge of doubt that such a sacrifice would make her happy.

  Then again, Mrs. Gentry’s cider might be making her more nostalgic than usual. It definitely had been a factor in loosening everybody up. As Amethyst wiped away tears of laughter while Jake and Grady danced around the table singing “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” she knew she’d remember the moment for the rest of her life. She wanted to be alone with Jake, but when the hour grew late and it was past time to leave, she lingered. Given her plans, this kind of evening might never happen again and she hated to see it end.