Christmas at Blue Moon Ranch by Lynnette Kent

close the door now. We’ve let out
enough of the cool air.” When Daniel followed her into the kitchen, he found
Rosa unpacking pots and pans.
    “We weren’t sure
whether you had kitchen supplies,” she told him. “And I gather, looking at your
boxes, that you don’t.”
    “Um…no.” Daniel
ran a hand through his hair. “I haven’t cooked much, over the years.”
    “That’s quite
all right. We have plenty to spare.”
    “And dishware?”
Lili lifted a stack of plates out of a box. “Do you have your own?”
    He shook his
head. “You really shouldn’t have—”
    Lili waved away
his objections. “We didn’t expect a bachelor to have much in the way of
provisions. So we brought some basics. And some frozen meals, to get you
started. Those are already in the freezer.”
    The freezer,
Daniel saw when he opened the door, was filled with neatly labeled packages. “Your
lasagna,” he said weakly. “That was really good.” He’d been eating peanut
butter sandwiches since that one great lunch at Willa’s house.
    “And, of course,
you’re welcome to any meal at our house,” Lili said. “Even breakfast, if you
want to drive down that early. You don’t have to call—just arrive and we’ll
feed you.”
    “Thanks.” Daniel
could just imagine Willa’s face if he showed up for breakfast, or any other
meal, unannounced and uninvited by her.
    “Now, we’ll get the
sheets on your bed.” Rosa headed for the bedroom. “And some towels in the
bath.”
    “Ladies…” Daniel
trailed after them. “I can make the bed. You really don’t have to do all this
work.”
    Again, his
protests fell on deaf ears. The sisters set up his bed and bath to their
satisfaction, all the way down to unwrapping the bars of soap for sink and
shower. When they started eyeing the boxes, however, Daniel took charge.
    “No,” he said
firmly, “you aren’t going to unpack for me. I couldn’t live with myself if I let
you work so hard. You’ve already done too much.”
    “Nonsense.” Lili
allowed him to escort her back to the living room. “You’ve saved Toby twice,
now—we couldn’t possibly do too much.”
    “Then we’ll call
it even.” Daniel surveyed them both. “But it’s getting late and you’ll want to
be back home before dark.”
    He was able to
help them into the wagon one-handed, and then stepped back. “Thank you for
everything. You’re welcome to visit anytime—come empty-handed, though!”
    They laughed and
beeped the horn. Daniel watched them out of sight down the road before going
back into his house.
    His well-provisioned house, now that the Mercado sisters had been there. Between the luxury of
choosing whether to enjoy beef stew or meat loaf for dinner, the prospect of a
good night’s sleep on cool, smooth sheets and a swig from one of the beers Rosa
had stowed in his refrigerator, Daniel felt as if he’d finally come home.
    He raised his
bottle in a toast. “To the New Moon Ranch,” he said aloud. “Willa, my dear,
you’ll just have to learn to like losing!”
     
    T OBY WANTED HIS MOM
NEARBY while the
doctors examined him, but Robbie and Susannah were told to remain in the
waiting room.
    “I hope he’s not
really hurt.” Susannah hunched her shoulders and hugged her arms around her
waist.
    Robbie propped
his elbows on his knees and stared at his hands. “Yeah, well, he deserves it,
pulling a stunt like that.”
    “What stunt?”
    “You are so
gullible.” He threw his sister an impatient look. “He made Patches rear, then
deliberately fell off.”
    “Oh.” She was quiet
for a few seconds. “Why would he do that?”
    “’Cause he’s all
excited about Major Daniel Trent from the U.S. Army. He wanted that Trent dude
to come to the rescue.” He used a sissy voice to make the title sound as silly
as possible.
    “He’s a nice
man, Robbie. I like his smile.”
    “You would.”
    She punched him
in the shoulder. “I’m not stupid.”
    “Sure you are,”
he said, just to make her