Long, Tall Cowboy Christmas by Carolyn Brown

Author:Carolyn Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2017-09-26T04:00:00+00:00

The Christmas tree lights mesmerized Kasey that afternoon as she attempted to take a nap on the sofa. The children were all down for at least an hour, and Nash had gone to his room. A whole hour with nothing to do was a luxury she didn’t get often, but her mind wouldn’t shut down. She kept replaying every word and nuance at the dinner table. Had Gracie and Valerie been nicer or were they just planning a new attack strategy? Did anyone else notice those long looks that she and Nash exchanged? Was Brody done trying to control her life?

She heard a whimpering noise and sat up. She was halfway up the stairs when she realized it was coming from Nash’s room and not from the baby monitor on the end table beside her. She eased back down the steps and pressed her ear against Nash’s bedroom door.

“No, no!” he growled. “No, God, please, no!”

“Nash, are you all right?” she asked through the door.

“Please don’t let them be dead…” he whimpered.

She eased the door open to find him sitting up in bed, his eyes wide open and his hands held out as if they were wrapped around a steering wheel. Fearing that he’d had a relapse, she sat down on the edge of the bed and touched him on the shoulder.

“Nash, it’s just a nightmare. Wake up,” she said gently.

He blinked twice and grabbed her in a fierce, tight hug. “Oh, Kasey, they’re dead. Three of them are dead and it should have been me, not them. How can I ever tell their families?”

“It’s okay.” She gently rubbed his back.

“I don’t give a damn if it’s classified. Their families deserve to know what happened and that they were heroes. They need to know. Oh, Kasey, they’re blown up.”

“That was a long time ago, Nash. It’s over and done with,” she said soothingly.

“I hear a chopper. Maybe some of them are alive. I’ve got to get to them to help, but we’ve got to get this man to base…oh, God…that’s not a rescue chopper, it’s one of the enemies firing on us. I have to drive faster.”

She wiggled free of his embrace and clapped her hands several times. “Wake up right now, Nash Lamont.”

He blinked rapidly, his eyes taking in the room. “Where am I?”

“At the Texas Star in Happy. You were having a nightmare.”

“Kasey? What are you doin’ here?”

“I’m staying here, remember.”

“It was another bad dream. I hadn’t had one that vivid in a long time.” The words came out in short bursts between deep breaths. “I’m sorry. Did I wake you? What time is it?”

“It’s three fifteen, December third. We had Sunday dinner here on the ranch and when everyone went home, we put the kids down for a nap and decided that we’d take one, also—remember?”

He nodded slowly. “Sometimes the past and the present get tangled up together.”

“Let’s get a glass of sweet tea and talk about it in the living room,” she said.

“I’d rather have a beer.

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