Free A Cowboy for Christmas by Bobbi Smith Page A

that.”
    “You’re lucky to have a brother,” Steve said.
    “I know, but I haven’t seen him since then.”
    “He never came back? He never found you?”
    “No.”
    “What do you think happened to him?”
    “I don’t know, and that’s why I was so worried about you. It’s dangerous being on the streets alone.” Nick met his gaze. “Where did you think you were going?”
    The boy looked shamed. “I don’t know. I just didn’t want to be here. I wanted to go home.” His eyes widened as if the truth just came to him. “But I don’t have a home anymore.”
    Nick saw the change in him and knew the boy had taken a big and painful step toward manhood right then. “Yes, you do, Steve. Your home is right here with us now.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “If you need help with anything, you come find me.”
    Steve didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he asked, “Do you think you’ll ever find your brother?”
    “It’s interesting you should ask that.”
    “Why?”
    “When I was following you, I saw a man who looked a little like what Danny probably would have looked like as a grown-up, getting on the train down at the train station.”
    “You did?” The boy’s eyes widened in amazement at his words. “What did you do? Did you go talk to him?”
    “No, no. There was no time. I had to find you, and, besides, he was about a block away from me and the train was getting ready to pull out. I was probably just thinking about Danny because I was worrying about finding you.”
    “Reverend Miller—”
    Nick looked at him questioningly.
    “I’m sorry I ran off today. It won’t happen again—I promise.”
    “Good, and thank you, Steve. You can go on and get ready for dinner.”
    Steve got up and started to leave the office, but he paused at the door to look back at him. “Reverend Miller?”
    “Yes, Steve?”
    “You ought to go see if you can find out who was riding on that train today. What if it really was your brother? What if he was there and you didn’t try to find him again? It’s not too late. You could go bring him back. He’s probably still worrying about you, too.”
    Nick didn’t want to even think about the possibility. It had been so long, and there had been so much pain involved in losing Danny the way he had. He’d always feared that something terrible had happened to him, and that was why he’d become so serious about helping the homeless, abandoned children he found on the city streets. “I’ll have to see.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    With that, Steve left the office and closed the door behind him.
    Alone, Nick turned to stare out the window, wondering if there was any hope at all that the cowboy could have been his brother.

Chapter Eight
    Nick finished the work in his office for the evening and decided to stop by the small chapel to pray for a while before retiring for the night. He was lost in deep meditation when he heard the chapel door open and someone else come into the room. He didn’t look up, but continued to offer up his prayers until the person slipped into the pew right beside him. Only then did he glance over, and he was surprised to see that it was Miss Lawson.
    “Is something wrong?” he asked, knowing it was unusual for her to come to the chapel at this time of night.
    “That’s why I’m here,” she replied. “You tell me.”
    He frowned as he faced her. “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, Steve just came to find me. He wanted to talk to me about what happened today.”
    “He did?” Nick was surprised that the youth had managed to sneak out of the sleeping room without being caught. He was one resourceful young man. “What did he say?”
    “It was quite interesting, actually,” she began, and then hesitated. “Do you want to talk in here or go out in the hall?”
    “This is fine,” he told her. Since there was no one else in the chapel with them, they wouldn’t be disturbing anyone.
    “Well, Steve told me about the conversation the two of you had in your