Forest grunted.
That wasn’t like him. “What’s going on?”
“Mom got a call this morning. There’s been an all-points bulletin put out for a missing reindeer. Trevor has already been out to the ranch to ask for help to find him. Windy Plains is claiming finders keepers—which won’t hold up in any court, but it will slow us down from getting Felix here and—depending on where he’s confiscated, they may send him back to Windy Plains.”
“What?!” Drake yelled, startling everyone in the workshop. He waved them off and stepped outside.
“The good news is that Mom used the bulletin—and all the attention it’s gotten-–”
Drake snorted. “A missing reindeer at Christmas? Yeah, I bet that’s all over the news.” Nutcrackers! Felix was probably the most famous reindeer of all.
“Natasha is on it. She’s campaigning on social media to have the reindeer brought to our ranch. Mom filed all the paperwork to make Felix one of ours. Legally, she shouldn’t have a problem. But you know how these things work.”
“Like pouring caramel on the front porch in January.”
“Yep. And it’s the holidays, so people are out of the office. We’ve talked about worst-case scenarios. Do you want to hear?”
“Let me guess . . . You’ll call in the North Pole and Felix will go to their stables.”
Forest paused. “It's the worst-worst-case for a reason.”
“Yeah, because it means we’ll never get a calf from him if he goes north—that would devastate not only our last hope of raising flying reindeer but Christmas, too. We need to keep him with us.”
“Drake, we’d never make it across several states without being spotted. Even if we traveled at night.”
“Can we block out the trailer windows?” He paced. And paced.
“That’s like hanging a sign on the back that saysplease pull me over and search me.”
Drake pulled his phone away and silently screamed. “Okay, stay there. Help Mom. I’ll think of something.” Unfortunately, Felix’s plan of dog sledding through the back country to the ranch. “Did you get the picture?”
“Hang on.” It was silent for a beat and then Forest’s laugh sounded. “Well, I guess there’s always Plan B.”
“I can’t believe I’m even considering this.” He went to run his hand through his hair and knocked his hat off. He bent to pick it up. “I don’t even know how long it would take to travel by reindeer-dog-sled through the woods.”
“If you can buy us a week—we should have all the paperwork in place.”
“A week is Christmas Eve.” He hated the idea of not getting home until then. Being on the road wore on him. This little town, with its crooked sheriff and meddlesome mayor, made him want to stay home for the rest of his life.
“Yeah—” Forest continued, “and I sayshouldhave the paperwork because—.”
“Politics. I know.” Something bothered him. “How can a mayor from the middle of nowhere make so much trouble?”
“It does seem strange, doesn’t it? I’ll look into it.”
“Thanks, bro.”
“Anytime. We’re all praying for you and rooting for you. If you have coverage, check in, okay? Mom worries about you.”
Drake smiled. His brothers were so protective. “Just Mom, huh?”
The line filled with unsaid words that were thick with the kind of feelings men didn’t like to say out loud. Forest finally cleared his throat. “You probably don’t know, but when you were born, Dad sat the rest of us down and told us to protect you when he wasn’t around, to include you in ourbrothers’ club—he called it—and to love you strong. We all promised we would—but, Drake, it never felt like a chore. We love you and we miss you.” He swallowed and then said gruffly, “Get your butt home for Christmas.”
Drake looked up at the overcast sky, his eyes blurring. “Love you, Forest. Give Mom a huge hug and tell her I’ll be home for Christmas—and,” he paused because this was yet another level of promise, “I’m bringing someone special.”
“We know. Half the family is already in love with her—and that’s just from phone calls and texts.”
Drake was lighter and happier than he’d ever been. “All I have to do is convince her to go on a week-long camping trip in the middle of winter with a flying reindeer.”
