A Cowboy For Christmas (A Copper Mountain Christmas) by Katherine Garbera Read Free Book Online

up his jacket and his Stetson and walking to the door after giving Rumple a rub behind the ears. “See you Saturday?”
    “ Yes. Thanks for the heads up about Marilyn.”
    He nodded at her. “Want to have dinner one night?”
    “ Like a date?”
    “ Maybe.”
    “ Maybe.”
     

     
    She felt foolish staking out the parking lot at the Scott Christmas Tree lot but there was Marilyn with her two oldest kids, Josie who was thirteen and a barrel racer, and Jake who was eleven. The kids had her sister ’s deep auburn hair and but Joe’s stocky build. Josie and Jake hugged their mom and then went off with a group of kids their age.
    Marilyn stood by her Jeep Cherokee looking over at Annie where she still sat in her car. She turned away from her sister to button up the old jacket she’d found in a closet at the ranch house and put on her gloves.
    Annie put the leash on Rumple and leaned down for a wet doggy kiss. Then she opened her door and got out. Marilyn walked over to her.
    “ I can’t believe my eyes,” she said not a welcoming note in her tone or body language. Her sister wore a black duster over a pair of faded blue jeans and a pair of mountain boots. “What the hell are you doing here?”
    “ I moved back,” she said trying not to sound defensive. Why was it she always was acutely aware that Marilyn was her older sister? She always sounded like she was defending herself.
    “ I guess you had no choice once Davis took everyone’s money,” Marilyn said sarcastically.
    Her older sister had always been the pretty one with her big green eyes like Momma ’s and her thick reddish brown hair. Life hadn’t been unkind to her and she still looked pretty and young for her age. She was thirty-five and had four kids.
    “ You’re right about that,” Annie said. “I… I’ve done my best to make up for everything.”
    “ You can’t make it right with me,” Marilyn said. “Or with dad. It’s too late for that.”
    “ I know that,” she said, then stop herself from saying any more. She wanted to defend herself, but really what could she say?
    “ I was hoping we could get together for the holidays.
    “ I can’t.”
    “ Oh, why not. I’d like to see the kids. I think they sort of like me,” Annie said.
    “ They do, but we’re going to Joe’s family for the holidays. We will be at the Christmas Stroll next week. You going to be there?”
    “ I’ll be working in the diner,” Annie said.
    Marilyn shook her head. “Dad was right about you after all.”
    “ He wasn’t right about me,” Annie said. Her father had said she was running away to nothing but Annie had always had her eye on where she’d wanted to be. “I didn’t fall on my face, I trusted the wrong man with my fortune. But I made a fortune. And I’m not running home with my tail between my legs. I’m back because when you lose everything it kind of makes you realize what’s important. And a fifteen-year-old grudge isn’t.”
    Marilyn just looked at her for a long minute and Rumple tugged on his lead. Moving forward to nudge her sister’s legs.
    “ You’re right. I’m sorry. Let’s go grab some hot chocolate and chat,” Marilyn said, reaching down to pet Rumple.
    “ Okay,” Annie said. She’d missed her sister more than she’d ever admit to Marilyn. Being two years older than Annie, Marilyn often thought she knew best and it still irritated Annie that most times her sister did.
    “ The kids are here to meet up with friends and ride on that sleigh the Scotts have. Do you remember it from when we were young?”
    “ I do. Carson and I kissed for the first time on the Halloween hay ride in it,” Annie admitted.
    “ I never could figure out why you dated him. You knew you were leaving,” Marilyn said.
    “ He was hard to say no to,” she admitted. “Even harder once he kissed me.”
    Marilyn laughed and led the way to some pinewood picnic tables that were set up next to a small stand selling hot chocolate. Annie recognized