Cowgirl Under The Mistletoe

A Colorado Christmas Courtship

Deputy Grace Eberly can outshoot and outride most men in Esperanza, Colorado...but lassoing a husband is an impossible task. At least she has her good friend Reverend Micah Thomas to keep her company. When outlaws threaten their community, the two join forces to stop them, and Grace’s feelings for the reverend deepen. But she’s sure he’d never love a too-tall cowgirl in trousers and boots.

Micah believes that it’s time to find himself a wife—someone sweet and ladylike who can help him better serve the town. So why do none of the elegant young women of his acquaintance stir his heart like the feisty tomboy deputy? As they work to bring peace to the community, will Grace and Micah finally see that they make the perfect team?

“I’m thinking of changing my style.”

Micah looked at Grace. “What do you think?” He indicated the bowler he sported, so different from his Stetson. Although both were black, the bowler changed his look from that of a man who belonged in the West to a citified dandy.

Grace coughed out a little laugh, unable to subdue a slightly derisive edge to her tone. “You goin’ courtin’ or something, Rev?”

He turned his attention back to the mirror. “I’ve been thinking about it.” He spoke absently, as if talking to himself.

Grace’s heart plummeted to her stomach. Now she’d lose his friendship for sure. Then what would she do? One thing was sure. She wanted the best for her friend, so maybe she should help him look for a young lady who was worthy of him. That idea didn’t sit too well with her, though she couldn’t imagine why.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for choosing Cowgirl Under the Mistletoe, the fourth book in my Four Stones Ranch series. I always love to read a Christmas story during the holiday season, so I’m pleased that this one is coming out this month. I hope you enjoyed the adventures of my heroine, Grace Eberly, and my hero, Reverend Micah Thomas. When I began writing this series, I had no idea that Micah, the wise, steady young minister who advised my three previous heroes in matters of the heart, would find an unlikely love match of his own with one of the feisty Eberly girls. My heroine also grew naturally from the previous stories. After Grace courageously saved the town of Esperanza in Cowboy Seeks a Bride, I knew I wanted to reward her with her own story.

My setting for this series is the beautiful San Luis Valley of Colorado, where I lived as a teenager, graduated from Alamosa High School, and attended Adams State College. Later my husband, David, and I settled in Monte Vista, where my parents owned and operated a photography business, Stanger Studios. Three of our children were born in Monte Vista, and one was born in Alamosa. Even though we moved to Florida in 1980, my heart remained attached to my former home in Colorado. Writing this series has been a sweet, nostalgic trip for me.

Those familiar with the history of this area of Colorado may recognize a little bit of Monte Vista in my fictional town, Esperanza. I could have used the real town, but then I would have shortchanged the true pioneers of Monte Vista, who deserve accolades for their courage and foresight in building such a fine community. In addition, I wanted the freedom of artistic license necessary to create an interesting story without offending the residents of my former home. Any resemblance between my characters and those who actually settled in this area is strictly coincidental.

If you enjoyed Grace and Micah’s story, be on the lookout for more stories set in my fictional town of Esperanza.

I love to hear from my readers, so if you have a comment, please contact me through my website: blog.louisemgouge.com.

Blessings,

Louise M. Gouge

Florida author LOUISE M. GOUGE writes historical fiction for Harlequin’s Love Inspired Historical line. She received the prestigious Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award in 2005 and placed in 2011 and 2015; she also placed in the Laurel Wreath contest in 2012. When she isn’t writing, she and her husband, David, enjoy visiting historical sites and museums. Please visit her website at blog.louisemgouge.com.

Cowgirl Under the Mistletoe

Louise M. Gouge

www.millsandboon.co.uk

All things work together for the good of those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

—Romans 8:28

This book and series are dedicated to the intrepid pioneers who settled the San Luis Valley of Colorado in the mid to late 1800s. They could not have found a more beautiful place to make their homes than in this vast 7500-foot-deep valley situated between the majestic Sangre de Cristo and San Juan Mountain ranges. It has been many years since I lived in the San Luis Valley, so my thanks go to Pam Williams of Hooper, Colorado, for her extensive on-site research on my behalf. With their permission, I named two of my characters after her and her husband, Charlie. These dear old friends are every bit as kind and wise as their namesakes. I also want to thank my beloved husband of fifty-one years, David Gouge, for his loving support as I pursue my dream of writing love stories to honor the Lord.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

October 1884

Esperanza, Colorado

The Denver & Rio Grande train pulled out of the Esperanza station, sending last night’s dusting of early snow into small flurries. They rose up to meet the white smoke streaming from the engine and leaving behind the smell of burning coal. As Deputy Grace Eberly watched the departure, she swiped away an unexpected tear and then glanced around. It wouldn’t do to have folks see their deputy sheriff crying like some silly girl. Fortunately, the only person left on the platform was good ol’ Reverend Thomas, who really wasn’t all that old, just friendly. He smiled and touched the wide brim of his well-worn black Stetson.

“You’re going to miss your sister, aren’t you?”

She stepped over to him and gave him her best deputy scowl. “You’d better not tell anybody you saw me cry.” Tall as she was, she could stare down on most men but stood eye to eye with the reverend when she wore her boots.

“You? Cry?” He grinned in that annoying way of his that showed he wasn’t in the least bit intimidated by her badge, her gun or her height. “Not at all. I assumed you had some grit in your eyes.”

She chuckled. He could always be counted on to cover for folks, especially her. Of all the people in town who might want to condemn her for being a trouser-wearing female peace officer, this man of God would seem the most likely. Instead, he appeared to understand her abiding need to hold outlaws accountable for their evil activities. When her next-younger sister, Beryl, had been shot by that no-account Dathan Hardison and his slimy partner, Deke Smith, the minister had been a great source of comfort to the family. Never once did he condemn Grace for crippling Deke with a well-aimed bullet. She could almost allow that his prayers above all others had kept Beryl from dying.

Thoughts of her closest sister brought another annoying swell of emotion. Beryl had survived the shooting, went off to boarding school for a spell and then came home only to fall in love with an English dandy who’d come to town for a holiday. Now she and Percy lived in England, and the family would probably never see them again.

To make matters worse, Grace’s next-to-youngest sister, Laurie, now rode on the train speeding eastward along the tracks. Once it crossed La Veta Pass through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, it would head north, taking her back to music school in Denver. Her short visit home had ended far too soon. Grace would miss her something terrible.

With Maisie, the oldest of the five sisters, busy with her doctor husband and their new baby boy, Grace considered looking to their youngest sister for companionship. But Georgia walked around with her head in the clouds reading books all the time. Grace didn’t care much for books. Besides, at fifteen, Georgia was a bit young to depend on for a close, womanly friendship. With Beryl and Laurie gone, Grace had never felt so alone in all of her twenty-three years.

Sure as shooting, none of the other unattached younger women in the area wanted to pal around with her. And, like Maisie, her married friends had husbands and children to tend to. But, also sure as shooting, Grace never expected to marry. What man wanted a wife who stood half a head taller than he did and could likely outride and outshoot him?

Grace had watched the dainty behavior of her friends Susanna and Marybeth, who’d married the two oldest Northam brothers and lived at the next ranch over. She’d admired the gals’ fancy manners and pretty speech. Even Grace’s younger sisters had begun to copy those female ways, although they still worked the family ranch like men, as all of them had since childhood. But Grace couldn’t bring herself to act all silly and helpless around men. The cowhands on their family ranch would laugh themselves blue in the face if a giant of a woman like her ever put on such airs.

Being tall and broad-shouldered did give her some advantages on her days off when she did her share of helping her folks keep the ranch going. She could buck hay bales all day long and had never seen a mustang she couldn’t wrangle, another reason men steered clear of her. What did she care? Weren’t a single one she cared to take up with.

“Grace.” The minister still stood by the yellow clapboard train station. He’d been mighty nice to join the family in seeing Laurie off, but for some reason he’d hung around. Maybe waiting for a telegram. She could hear the clickety-click of Charlie Williams’s telegraph just inside the open window.

“Yeah? You need something, Rev?”

“Indeed, I do.” His waved a hand toward Main Street. “Mrs. Winsted’s daughter-in-law opened that new ice cream parlor last week. Have you been there?”

“Nope, sure haven’t. Seems sort of disloyal to Miss Pam.” Never mind that Grace loved ice cream. She’d keep taking her noon meals at Williams’s Café.

“Not at all.” His Southern drawl rolled out pleasantly on his baritone voice, just like when he preached his heartwarming sermons every Sunday. “In fact, Miss Pam can’t say enough nice things about Nelly Winsted’s desserts.”

“That a fact?” She pondered the idea for a moment. “You don’t think it’s too cold for ice cream?” The October wind hadn’t picked up for the day, but there was still a bite in the air.

“It’s never too cold for ice cream.” He chuckled in that kindly way of his, and her heart felt an odd little kick. Oh, no. She would not let herself grow feelings for the unmarried preacher. Every unattached girl for miles around wanted to lasso this handsome man and drag him to the altar. She would not line up and make a fool of herself like the rest of them did. Nothing would ruin her reputation as a competent, dependable, levelheaded deputy faster than her acting like a moon-eyed heifer.

“Would you like to give it a try?” From the way he asked the question, Grace guessed the minister was looking for companionship, too, if only for this morning. Safe companionship, with no worries she’d try to hogtie him. She’d proved that to him ever since that time several years ago when he’d bought her box dinner during the church fund-raiser, disappointing a whole passel of girls who’d hoped he’d choose theirs.

While they’d eaten, the two of them had discussed Bible verses she’d been wondering about, a safe subject for any two folks, and she’d learned a whole heap of important stuff about the Good Book, the only book she considered worth reading. Since then, they’d had several more chin-wags about the scriptures, and they’d grown comfortable around each other. That day at the fund-raiser, she’d figured he’d bid on her box to keep her from being left out. He was kind that way, and she admired him for it. Admired, nothing more. She wouldn’t ruin a good friendship by thinking on useless feelings.

“Come on, Grace. Let’s try out Nelly’s place.”

Right about now, a big dish of ice cream sounded like the perfect way to console herself over Laurie’s departure. Food could comfort a body that way, especially sweet food. “If you insist.”

“I do.” He offered his arm.

She stared at it like it was a long-tailed jackrabbit.

“Um...” More of those foolish feelings wound around her heart, so she stepped back. “Don’t mean to be rude, Rev, but as deputy sheriff, I’m gonna decline your gentlemanly offer, if it’s all the same to you.” She offered a crooked smile. “Appearances, y’know.”

“Ah, yes.” His eyes revealed no offense at her refusal. “I understand.”

Good thing he did, because she didn’t. She didn’t like this brand-new giddy response to an old friend. Must be all the weddings that had happened in recent months. But she’d locked away her hopes of marriage as securely as most girls locked up their hope chests. No sense at all in dreaming about things that would never be. She’d leave that to her dreamy-eyed youngest sister, Georgia.

* * *

Micah Thomas liked keeping company with Grace Eberly. Unlike most other unmarried girls in his congregation, she never behaved in that giddy, flirtatious manner that made him uncomfortable. She had a level head and an honest way of looking people straight in the eye. Her friendship was the perfect antidote to this strange depression he’d felt lately. Until last Friday, when he’d joined two more local couples in holy wedlock, he’d been able to conduct weddings without a single thought of marriage for himself. Like the Apostle Paul, he’d always felt called to remain single so he could do the Lord’s work without the encumbrance and expense of a wife and children.

But even before last week’s ceremony, he’d begun to sense that something was missing in his life. It didn’t help that Genesis 2:18 kept coming to mind. If the verse was true—and he believed every verse in the Holy Bible was God-breathed truth—that “it is not good that the man should be alone,” then the Lord would have to bring him a “helpmeet” from someplace, because he certainly had no plans to court any of the young ladies in the congregation. That would stir up all sorts of hornets’ nests, namely among certain mothers, each of whom thought her daughter would make a perfect preacher’s wife.

Micah knew better. It took a special woman to marry a minister, one with her eyes wide open, knowing her husband’s congregation would hold her to a higher standard than anyone else, higher even than the preacher. Such a woman would have to be especially strong both spiritually and emotionally, and more than a little sure of herself as a person. Some ministers’ wives he knew of had faded into sad little shadows under such demanding scrutiny. He would have to make sure it never happened to the woman he married.

If he married. He still had a hard time reconciling marriage and his God-given ministry, which took all of his waking time and then some. Then there was the matter of the small salary he earned as the minister of a small-town church. Folks gave what they could, but it wasn’t enough to support a wife. If the Lord wanted him to marry, He’d have to bless a particular enterprise Micah had undertaken a while back, one that no one in the congregation knew about, or needed to know about, even though it was perfectly honest and aboveboard. But the chances were slim it would be successful.

“What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?” Grace shot him a glance without missing a step, her stride as long as his, yet as graceful as that of a mountain lioness.

“Back home we had blackberries growing wild on our land, so I’m partial to blackberry syrup over vanilla.” He pictured his family’s Virginia home, tragically broken by the war. Because of his uncle’s stand against slavery and Micah’s agreement with his uncle, only one friend had ever kept contact with Micah’s branch of the family after the war. Recently that friend, Joel Sutton, had written to say some folks were coming around to mend fences and renew old friendships. Micah would have to think about asking him to send him a bride, just as Rand Northam’s family had done for him. After three years of marriage, Rand and Marybeth were still as happy a couple as Micah had ever seen.

The more he thought about it, the more the idea appealed to him. After all, in the Bible, Abraham had sent a trusted servant to choose a wife for his son Isaac, and Isaac had loved Rebecca from the moment he laid eyes on her. Not every couple had to know each other for a long while before they fell in love and married. Arranged marriages could turn out just as well. If Micah decided to go on a quest for a wife, he might do well to seek Joel’s help.

“Maybe,” Grace said, “we ought to get a group together and go up to Raspberry Gulch next summer so you can get your fill of berries.” Her blue eyes, no longer tear-filled, sparkled in the midmorning sunshine, as though she were ready for the excursion today.

“Sounds like a fine idea.” Anything to keep her spirits up. Micah had noticed her drooping shoulders at church yesterday, the way she used to carry herself before she earned everyone’s respect for stopping an attempted bank robbery. On Sunday, he’d figured she was missing her younger sister even before Laurie left. Today he could see how right he’d been.

Grace really was a pretty girl, despite her tomboy ways, with a sweet face and ready smile. She and her sisters all had the same fiery red hair. But where the others had masses of fuzzy curls, Grace’s thick waist-length hair was straight, except where the ends curled up in a thick cluster. She usually wore it tucked up under the wide-brimmed cowboy hat that now hung down her back on its leather strings. For some reason, today she’d let her hair blow in the autumn breeze. He liked the look on her. He’d tell her that, but she didn’t receive compliments too well.

They arrived at Nelly’s Ice Cream Parlor, and Grace opened the door to usher Micah in. He wouldn’t chide her for it. It was just her way, as when she refused to take his arm. Many other girls in town would have grabbed onto him as though he were a prized bull to be shown off.

“Thank you.” He stepped over the threshold into the warm, bright room and removed his hat. Right away, the aromas of cinnamon, coffee and sugar filled his nostrils and whetted his appetite for something sweet.

Several customers waved or called out a greeting as they sat at small round tables dotting the room. The backs of the white wrought iron chairs were shaped like hearts, and more than one person seemed to be eyeing his or her companion with a hint of romance. Micah could see he would be conducting more weddings in the near future. Once again, that odd melancholy crept into his chest, this time even stronger. Yes, he needed to look for a wife. It truly was not good for a man to be alone.

* * *

“Welcome, Reverend Thomas, Deputy Eberly.” Nelly Winsted came out from behind the serving counter, drying her hands on a white towel with red stripes. “Have a seat wherever you like.” When the Rev responded to her greeting in his usual friendly way, she gave him a sugary smile that reminded Grace the woman was an unattached widow.

An odd protectiveness sprang up in her chest. The last thing the Rev needed was another female chasing after him. Best to charge right in and head her off in a different direction. “Howdy, Nelly. How’s business?” Silly question. The room was near to full of customers, so anybody could see she was doing well.

Nelly turned a dimmer smile her way. “Why, just fine, Deputy, thank you. My mother-in-law was right when she invited me out here to open my store. Everybody likes ice cream, don’t they? Now, what may I bring you?” Her gaze returned to the Rev, and her smile lit up again.

Honestly, the woman was thirty-six if she was a day, way too old for the Rev, who was just shy of thirty. She had a thirteen-year-old son and an eight-year-old daughter, to boot. Maybe that explained her flirty ways. She wanted a pa for her children and figured the handsome preacher would be the best influence on them. Grace couldn’t fault her for that.

“Let’s sit over here.” The Rev waved a hand toward a table by the window, which did Grace’s heart good. He wasn’t ashamed to sit where every passing citizen of the town could see them together. That was a long sight different from some other unmarried men in town who only spoke to her when they had a crime to report. Not that she saw the Rev’s actions as favoritism. He treated everybody in his flock with the same kindly regard. Weren’t nary a person in these parts he wouldn’t chat with till the cows came home, if that person had a spiritual need or just a listening ear.

As they took their seats, he said, “Miss Nelly, I’ll have some vanilla ice cream, if you please. Would you happen to have any blackberry syrup to go on top?”

“Why, yes, I do. I’ll bring it right out. And you, Deputy Eberly?”

“Same. No syrup.”

The little woman bustled away like she was on important business. Grace supposed she was, especially with supporting two children all by herself. When she brought their glass bowls of ice cream, she’d added a touch of whipped cream and some pecans to the Rev’s two large blackberry-topped scoops. Grace’s bowl held one small plain scoop. She could barely hold in a laugh at the widow’s obvious ploy.

“Will there be anything else?”

The Rev ordered coffee, and Grace gave a nod that she’d have some, too.

After Nelly brought their coffee, she focused on Grace. “By the by, Deputy, did my mother-in-law happen to tell you about her stolen items?”

Grace sat up straight. “No, ma’am, she didn’t.” She hated to leave her ice cream unfinished, but such was the nature of her job. “I’ll check into it right away.” She shoved back from the table.

“No need to hurry, Deputy.” The Rev set a hand on hers, sending a bothersome tingle up her arm. She quickly dismissed it. “If the matter were urgent, Mrs. Winsted would have contacted you right away.”

Grace didn’t want anybody to think she shirked her duty, but what he said made sense. She glanced at Nelly, who seemed less than pleased by the Rev’s words. “Did Mrs. Winsted report the thefts to Sheriff Lawson?”

“Could be.”

“I sure would regret letting this fine ice cream of yours go to waste, Nelly.” She gave her a crooked grin. “Mind if I finish it before I check into those thefts?”

Nelly blinked and sputtered, offering a strange combination of smile for the compliment and a huff of annoyance, probably because Grace wanted to stick around. “Of course not.”

Grace scooted her chair back up to the table and dug in, taking small bites like her dainty friend Rosamond would instead of filling her spoon and shoveling it all into her mouth like she wanted to do. “Mmm-mmm. Mighty good.”

The Rev also took small bites like he wasn’t in any hurry to finish either. “Now, Deputy, which Bible passage shall we discuss today?”