A Cowboy for Christmas Read Free Page A

them.
    “Why did you come back?” Tommy asked. “You got adopted.”
    Nick looked miserable. “I ran away. I had to. The Millers were nice enough, but Danny’s my family, and he always will be. It’s Christmas—I want to be with my brother. Where is he?”
    “When Danny found out you were gone, he ran away. He snuck off that first night after you were adopted, and we haven’t seen him since. I’m sure he was going after you. Miss Helen even had some people searching the streets for him, but they never found him. Nobody knows where he went.”
    Nick stared at his friend in complete misery. The home he’d been taken to was a good one. The couple who’d adopted him were kind, God-fearing people who’d treated him well, but he needed his brother. He was lost without Danny. He didn’t know what to do now. It had taken him three days to make it back to the orphanage. And now to find Danny gone . . .
    “What is going on out here?” Miss Helen demanded as she came out of the building with several of the older boys who’d gone to get her.
    Nick and Tommy were scared, but they knew better than to try to run away.
    Nick spoke up. “It’s my fault.” With shoulders slumped, he went to face the headmistress. “Tommy didn’t do anything, Miss Helen. It’s me, Nick.”
    “Nick?” She was shocked to find the young boy standing there before her in the middle of the night. “What are you doing here? You should be with the Millers.”
    “I ran away.”
    “But your family . . .” She could only imaginewhat his adoptive parents were going through right then, worrying about him.
    “Danny is my family, Miss Helen.“
    Miss Helen ordered Tommy and all the other boys to go back inside to bed. Then she took Nick to her office and forced him to sit in the chair before her desk. This was Christmas Eve. Things were supposed to be quiet and peaceful, and now she had to deal with this.
    “What do you think you’re doing, running away like this?”
    “I can’t go back to the Millers without my brother.” Nick knew she was furious, but right then he didn’t care. Nothing mattered but being with Danny.
    “You have to,” she said. “As I’m sure Tommy told you, Danny is gone. He ran away the same day you left for your new home.”
    “Where did he go?” He looked up at her in agony, worrying about his brother. “Didn’t he leave a note or something?”
    “No. We have no idea where he disappeared to. We looked for him for several days, but found no trace of him.”
    “Danny’s got to be here somewhere.” All he could think about was his poor brother alone, hungry, and cold on the dark, scary city streets.
    “He’s gone, Nick, and I don’t believe he’s coming back.”
    “He’s probably still out there looking for me.”
    “Whatever the case, I need to return you to your new parents. I’m sure they’re worried sick about you. They love you so much. Why, they’re probably on their way back here, looking for you right now.”
    Nick wanted to just get up right then and run away from the orphanage. He wanted to take off and search for his brother, but there was little hope that he would ever find Danny on his own, not after so many days had already passed. A great and heavy sorrow filled his heart, but he knew he couldn’t give up. To satisfy Miss Helen, he answered, “Yes, ma’am.”
    Miss Helen was glad he hadn’t tried to cause any more trouble. She couldn’t wait for morning to get there, so she could take the necessary steps to reunite him with his adoptive family. At least, the Millers would have a blessed Christmas, getting Nick back.

Chapter One
    Sagebrush, Texas
    Eleven years later
    Hank Moran was filled with rage as he sat at a back table in the Gold Dust Saloon, drinking heavily. The day before, Jack Anderson had fired him from his job as foreman on the Lazy Ace. He’d known Jack had a reputation as being a hard man to work for when he hired on, but he never thought Jack would turn out to be