Saving the Cowboy’s Christmas (Rowdy Ranch #12)

Chapter 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

R ance sat on a hay bale on the opposite side of the flatbed from Lani. She’d buddied up with Sara, Keiran and Beau, which was good. Originally he’d planned to fake a sore throat to get out of this caroling gig entirely, but he’d made the mistake of telling Granny.

She’d reacted in typical Granny fashion — Shame on ya, boyo! Ya promised never ta lie ta her again.

Technically he would have been lying to his mother, but Granny had pointed out that his mom would tell everyone, including Lani, that he had a sore throat, which would result in Lani being lied to, after all.

So here he was, and to make the event extra special, Irving chose to occupy his hay bale. Might have been smart to wait until the guy had taken a seat. Instead he’d prioritized grabbing one the minute Lani had settled on her spot next to Beau. Staying far away from both Lani and Irving had proved to be a tactical impossibility.

“She’s stunning.”

Rance almost responded with an innocent-sounding who . He thought better of it. Irving was a waste of space, but he was also a writer, and writers paid attention. Living with his mother had taught him that.

The crowd was too small and the rift between him and Lani too obvious. Clint had already asked him what the hell was wrong. He’d brushed off the question. Several others had given him funny looks. His mom and Andy, for instance.

Conversation buzzed all around him as Buck put the truck in gear and pulled the flatbed slowly out of the yard. Sky rode with him to help with the tricky logistics of this caper. They’d decided to back the trailer down each narrow lane to put the carolers in range of the folks they were serenading.

They’d lucked out weather-wise, with a crisp clear night and a sky spangled with millions of fairy lights. He’d told Lani a sky like this would renew her belief in Santa. Now he was struggling with his faith in the jolly old elf.

“I’ve slowly pieced it together.” Irving kept his voice down, and the chatter around them provided cover. “You two have a geographical conflict. I doubt you’ll be the one and only child to leave Rowdy Ranch and East Coast literary types believe they’ll shrivel and die in the wilds of Montana. So I think?—”

“With all due respect, I don’t give a damn what you think. Please shut the feck up.”

“Feck?”

“It’s Irish.”

“I like it.”

“I don’t care.”

“That’s fine. I’ll shut the feck up right after I say this one thing. You and your mother should create an indie press.”

“Brilliant. Thanks.”

“I’m not done. Between the Wenches, two bookstores, Lucky’s marketing guy Trent and your mom’s experience in the business, she’ll do very well and so will you.”

“Great. Now would you please?—”

“Here’s the good part. You need to hire someone to head it up, someone with publishing know-how who would enjoy running her own show.”

What the hell? Rance slowly turned his head and looked into eyes exactly like his but with more crinkles around the edges. It was a dumb idea. His mom had only shown vague interest in publishing her own books, Lani wouldn’t go for it and he didn’t envision starting out that way.

“Like it?”

“Not really. Even if I decided to change my mind about how I’ll publish, I doubt my mom’s ready to invest time and money in that and Lani doesn’t want to change jobs. She loves her co-workers. They have a stimulating environment there.”

“Have you been to a Wenches meeting?”

“I snuck in once when I was a kid. Saw most of it before they discovered me and shooed me out. They’ll probably want to have me there when they—” Yikes. Irving had fried his brain with this concept. He’d forgotten who he was talking to.

“You’ve given them your draft, haven’t you?”

“None of your business.”

“Take her to the meeting. Let her?—”

“Listen up, gang,” Clint called out. ‘’We’re starting with Granny. Rance told me earlier she wants Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer . She heard the Irish Rovers sing it one Christmas when Kieran took her to Dublin for a concert.”

“That I did,” Kieran said. “She laughed till she was like to fall over. I’m not surprised she asked for it.”

Andy chuckled. “We’re not exactly the Irish Rovers. I hope she knows that.”

“I told her,” Rance said, “and here’s her reply. Yer what I’ve got and tis glad ta have ya, I am.” That got a laugh.

“Then I guess we’re doing it!” Clint said. “Hang tight until Buck and Sky get us in position. When we stop moving, we’ll stand up. Faye’s gonna start us off.”

Rance heard the instructions but nothing registered. Would anybody notice if he got off here so he could have a heart-to-heart with Granny? Because that’s what he needed.

Irving’s idea was outrageous and likely self-serving. His mom would laugh at the audacity of it and Lani would just reject it out of hand. He shouldn’t even give it space in his head.

Then again, he was desperate. His dream had been jacked from the get-go because he hadn’t understood how much Lani cherished her connection to Square Glasses.

Good thing he’d never told her his secret grand plan — that if he moved to a larger publishing house, he’d take her with him. Talk about arrogant. What a deal. She could hitch her wagon to his star. He’d deserved to crash and burn.

This indie concept was also designed to coax her away from a job she loved. Was he despicable because he couldn’t stop thinking about it?

She’d told him brainstorming with his mom and Andy had reminded her of discussions at Square Glasses. He had a hunch a Wenches meeting would, too. And her family was here….

Damn it! He’d made a big enough mess as it was. He should probably forget everything Irving had said and?—

“Stand up. We’re gonna sing.”

Irving’s soft murmur penetrated the battle being fought in his head. Why was that so? Because Irving’s voice was his voice. They sounded the same.

He stood and looked over at his front porch. Granny came out wearing her wool coat and knit hat. She’d found a piece of cardboard somewhere and some markers to make a sign that said Happy Christmas to My Grand Family! As she held it up, the smile on her cherubic face was brighter than the lights on the railing.

His throat tightened. Moving to the ranch had been so good for her and life-changing for him. He loved being part of this large brood, but there was a downside, especially since he and Lucky had come as a matched set. He’d had very few one-on-one experiences with someone older and wiser than him. Until Granny.

Faye hummed a note and he did his best to clear his throat and sing. He still sounded like a frog as he launched into the irreverent tune Granny had requested.

She cracked up as Kieran had predicted she would, which cheered him up enough to think that maybe he should at least mention this concept to his mom. If she thought it was crazy, that would be the end of it. But what if she was intrigued?

Irving was no angel come to save Christmas, but his idea had provided a tiny glimmer of hope just when all seemed lost. If it worked — for Lani, her family, his mom, the Wenches — Irving might earn his forgiveness, after all.