The Christmas Journey by Winnie Griggs

a city girl—she’d never lived on a ranch before.”
    “So you took her under your wing?” Seems he’d had that hero streak even then.
    “It wasn’t my idea.” His voice sounded defensive. Then he gave a sheepish smile. “I was a twelve-year-old boy, after all.”
    He pushed around the last bit of egg on his plate. “Belle spent a lot of time in the kitchen with Inez at first, but Mother thought it would be good for her to have someone her own age to spend time with. So she suggested I give Belle riding lessons.”
    “And y’all became friends.” Jo tried to imagine what twelve-year-old Ry had been like and felt a little stab of jealousy toward Belle.
    He nodded. “Before long she was like a sister to me.”
    A sister, huh? Jo perked up a bit. “Thought you already had a sister.”
    “Sadie’s five years younger than me.” He pointed his fork at her. “When you’re twelve, that’s a big difference. Belle was my age.”
    He leaned back, his expression turning inward. “Once Belle was comfortable in the saddle, whenever I wasn’t busy with chores, we took long rides all around the ranch. I showed her all of my favorite places. Taught her how to do birdcalls and how to fish. And I listened to her talk about what her life had been like before her folks died.”
    Yep, definitely a hero in the making. “I’m sure that meant a lot to her.”
    “It wasn’t all one-sided. Her father had been a whip maker and had taught her how to use one. And she taught me.” His expression turned sober. “It was about a year after she arrived that my mother died. Belle…well, Belle had been through that before. It was good to have her to talk to.”
    Jo placed a hand on his arm before she’d consciously formed the thought to do so.
    He stared at her hand for a long moment, an unreadable expression on his face. Just as she started to pull away, he met hergaze, his eyes filled with something that looked suspiciously like gratitude.
    A second later the expression was gone and he reached for his glass as she pulled her arm back. “So, is this Freddie you mentioned yesterday the only help you have at the livery?”
    Ready to change the subject, was he? “He watches the place at night. Actually, he sleeps mostly. But it means someone is there to keep an eye on things.”
    “What about someone to help during the day?”
    “Not necessary. I can handle most of the business that comes my way, and Danny helps out after school if I need him to.” She gave him a dry smile. “And there’s always Uncle Grover to help out in a pinch.”
    “Did I hear my name?” Uncle Grover stood in the doorway, smiling jovially at the two of them. He set his focus on Josie. “Cora Beth wanted me to remind you to stop at Mrs. Potter’s and see how many pumpkin pies she wants for the Thanksgiving baskets this year.”
    “Will do. And you’re just in time to keep Mr. Lassiter company. I need to head off to the livery.”
    Jo left the room, her mind rolling the conversation over in her thoughts like a river stone between her fingers. She’d learned a lot about the kind of man Ry was just by reading between the lines of what he’d said. And she’d give a pretty penny to know just what it was that had shone in his eyes when he stared into hers a few minutes ago.
    Remembering that look, something warm and soft seemed to unfurl inside her.
     
    For once, Ry didn’t mind seeing Josie go. It was high time he got out of bed, and accomplishing that would be a lot easier without her around to admonish him for trying to do too much.
    Uncle Grover, on the other hand, was easily recruited to help him clean up a bit and shave.
    With that taken care of Ry felt almost civilized again.
    Uncle Grover stayed around afterward, apparently taking Josie’s words to entertain him to heart. Ry was treated to a surprisingly interesting discussion on the various species of grasshoppers in the area and their feeding and migratory habits. At one point, the older