Book 3: A Cowboy Christmas Carol
The Cowboy Academy Series
On this page, you’ll find the story blurb, an excerpt, the story behind the story, and bonus content.
Christmas will come to even the most reluctant cowboy!
Rodeo roper Ryan Oakley may hate Christmas, but he still needs a miracle. Unfortunately, the only person who sells top-notch competition horses is Jo Pierce, his former high school nemesis. Now Ryan’s making the single mom a bargain: he’ll set her up with his twin brother, her longtime crush. It’s the perfect holiday plan…until the no-nonsense working cowgirl ends up lassoing his heart instead.
Excerpt:
Jo stood at the counter talking to Izzy Adams, who was working the cash register. Jo wore what was typical for winter ranch wear in Oklahoma—a gray hoodie underneath a maroon puffed vest, cowboy boots and hat, blue jeans. Except the hat that sat on her short brown hair was the wide-brimmed style few favored, and her jeans were tucked into her plain brown boots, also not a popular style. She’d always been…well…old-school. And she’d always been stubbornly proud of it.
Jo was accompanied by two miniature cowboys who were manhandling the gingerbread ornaments hung on the Christmas tree next to the counter.
The boy with the green jacket plucked a gingerbread man from the tree and took a bite, chewing open-mouthed as he laughed at his sibling. “I told you I’d do it!” Crumbs spewed from his mouth.
“Eww.” The boy with the blue jacket shoved his brother back. “Mom! Max ate a dog cookie!”
And then both boys started to laugh.
And Ryan, being a twin who’d experienced his share of moments just like this one—although not the dog-biscuit-eating kind—chuckled along with them.
“Boys, behave.” Jo spared them a stern glance that silenced all laughter in the feed store before turning back to Izzy to say, “Add a dog treat to my tab.”
Jo was one of those no-nonsense, working cowgirls. Rough and tumble. Full of try and talk as a kid. And when she got older, as touchy as a spring bee. She’d done well at several sports in school and during their senior year, she spoke her mind to the point she’d had a desk on reserve in detention, right next to Ryan’s. Something of a rebel, she’d eloped with her high school boyfriend on graduation night.
Several months later, Jo had given birth to those two twin boys. Once she’d become a mother, she’d changed. Straightened out her life. Ditched Bobby and his last name. Took over her family’s ranch operations and horse training, buying the small spread from her dad, making it into something. She became known around Clementine as a hard worker and someone who didn’t put up with any guff.
For the life of him, Ryan couldn’t remember how their high school rivalry had begun. The last few months of their senior year had been filled with pranks on each other, escalating until one final act before graduation—Jo had taken Ryan’s motorcycle and put it in the old oak tree in front of the high school.
He’d been livid. She’d been expelled.
And that was the end of that.
Suddenly, a wave of doubt washed over Ryan. He and Jo weren’t friendly nowadays. She might still hold a grudge. If she did, buying mounts from Jo wasn’t going to be easy. It might, in fact, be nigh on impossible without some serious apologizing.
How badly do I want to win?
He didn’t need to think twice: To the nth degree. Ryan wanted a place he and his twin Tate could call home. He wanted to make sure they wouldn’t just quit.
Jo’s cell phone rang. She dug it out of her vest pocket and hit a button. “Ma, why are you doing a video call?” Jo held her phone at eye height.
From where Ryan stood behind Jo, her phone display was filled with a side view of someone’s cheek and lips. There wasn’t enough of a face to identify the caller, even if he knew it was Jo’s mother.
“I didn’t call you on video,” Lois Pierce said, still holding the phone and its camera next to her cheek.
“You did call using video, Ma.” Jo showed her boys the screen. “Can you see Grandma?”
“Yes!” Her kids chortled.
“You hit the video button. Again.” Jo turned the phone screen back to herself. “At least, hold the phone in front of your face.”
Ryan smiled. His foster father, who he endearingly called Dad, was similarly challenged by technology.
Mrs. Pierce’s features came into view on Jo’s screen—short brown hair, age-spotted face. “I was trying to do the loudspeaker thing. Can I help it if my little phone buttons are…little?”
The boys continued to laugh. The gingerbread dog biscuit Max had bitten into was handed over to the boy with the blue jacket, who took a bite. A gagging noise followed immediately.
“Dean! Boys! There will be no more dog-biscuit eating.” Jo snatched the remains of the gingerbread man from her precocious son, tucking it in a vest pocket. “What do you need, Ma?”
“Replacement bulbs for the outdoor lights. The big, colorful ones.” Mrs. Pierce craned her neck, as if looking for someone. Perhaps Ryan, since she appeared to be peering at him. “And a cowboy. Bring yourself one home.”
“Ma…” Jo said in a tone that implied eye rolls were being made. “They don’t sell cowboys at the feed store.”
“But I see one,” Mrs. Pierce sing-songed, waving.
Jo turned and spotted Ryan, who was the only cowboy in the store besides the boys. She quickly spun back around but not before he registered a Christmas wreath on that sweatshirt of hers. “I’ll see you at home, Ma.” Jo ended the call and tucked her phone back in her pocket. The way Jo was hunching her shoulders made Ryan suspect that Tate was right—Jo still held a grudge against him.
The Story Behind the Story
I enjoy writing romances between characters with a rocky past. Ryan is a twin but he’s not “the nice twin.” Why? Because he’s always looking out for his brother Tate to keep him from making a mess of his life. That involves securing the best trained horses for team roping. And Jo is the best roping horse trainer around. If only she’d agree to sell him a horse.
When Ryan learns that Jo would like a date with the nice twin, his brother Tate, he immediately tries to set Jo up by helping her with what to wear, what to say, and how to act around his twin. But there’s a funny thing about wanting something - you might not want it the more you learn about it.
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