Free True-Blue Cowboy Christmas by Nicole Helm

best of both worlds. Thack tried to absorb that friendly offer, although it landed like a blow. He hadn’t been giving Kate any of Michaela lately. Not her joy or her fun. He’d been so wrapped up in his promise to Michaela, keeping Kate safe, that he’d forgotten all about giving her fun and laughter.
    He tipped his hat at Rose and then escaped the dimly lit bar. The late-afternoon sunlight was jarring after the dark of Pioneer Spirit, and the brisk winter air was quite a contrast to the hot burn of grief in his chest.
    He hadn’t found what he’d been looking for. He’d hoped to hear a clear-cut reason to get this odd woman out of his life, not reminders of Michaela and his past. Not a painful memory of what he’d been forgetting.
    But he couldn’t get over the feeling that Summer was… Trouble wasn’t the right word. But he wasn’t sure what was . Cheerful, colorful, loved-by-everyone Summer Shaw was something like a threat.
    He got into his truck and laughed. Everyone thought this girl was unthreatening. Everyone spoke the world of her. Everyone was willing to trust her and bring her into their homes, their businesses. And he thought she was a threat.
    Maybe he was the problem. Wouldn’t that be…well, fitting.

Chapter 7
    Summer returned to her caravan after an afternoon of working with Caleb and Delia at Shaw.
    Eventually she’d left them to sort out Delia’s…concerns. While she was happy—happy for them and happy, period—something about seeing both Mel and Caleb happily married, settled, and stumbling toward families of their own left her with an odd sense of longing.
    Summer didn’t know what to do about that, any more than she knew what to do about the dot of red sitting next to the caravan on her yoga platform.
    Oh, Kate.
    She didn’t want to be in the middle of this. This…whatever it was with the Lanes. She’d pressed this morning, but secrets and lies ran through Shaw and her place there. Why would she want to enter another house just like it?
    But when Kate saw her, her whole face lighting up as she jumped off the platform like Summer was the answer to all her problems, that little niggling emptiness disappeared. It was replaced by something Summer wasn’t sure she understood, or would ever be able to.
    She remembered what it had been like to squeeze Delia’s hand and give her advice and make a difference, and she so wanted to do the same for this little girl.
    Maybe secrets and hidden selves were just a part of life.
    â€œIf you’re down here without permission again, I have a feeling you’re in for a pretty serious punishment.”
    Kate’s smile didn’t fade, but something in her expression changed.
    â€œKate, you can’t keep doing this.” She walked to the girl, trying to find the right words. “It isn’t because I don’t like you, I hope you know. But your father is concerned about—”
    â€œDaddy is concerned about everything .”
    â€œI suppose he has his reasons.” Summer thought about reaching out and touching the girl’s flyaway hair, but…well, boundaries. There had to be some boundaries. As much as she thought this girl’s father was far too controlling for anyone’s good, she couldn’t help but wonder if it was a different kind of controlling than her mother’s.
    Mom had made a good show of making everything about Summer’s future, or their hopes and dreams, but it had become abundantly clear in those last weeks that her mother’s behavior had been a lie. Mom didn’t care at all. Not about Summer . Not her well-being, not her hopes or dreams, not about much of anything except what Summer could do for her . And if Summer wouldn’t do that, the consequences would be dire .
    While Summer sometimes wondered whether she had the ability to discern honest feeling from manipulation, she had learned to trust her