The Mechanics of Mistletoe - Liz Isaacson Page 0,54

the east wing, where Ranger lived, knocking as he did. “Ranger?” He entered to a living room that looked like Ranger never used it.

He didn’t; he hung out downstairs with Bear, Lincoln, Sammy, and Bishop in the evenings. They ate together in the kitchen down there, so as Bear went through the kitchenette, he wasn’t surprised to find everything as still and as clean as a rental. Down the hall sat three bedrooms and two baths, with an additional room that didn’t have a closet. Since it couldn’t technically be called a bedroom, Micah had labeled it an office.

Bear and Ranger owned the ranch together, both of them the oldest sons of their fathers, who had been brothers and co-owners. Bear thought that eventually, he and Ranger would find wives and families, and with two wings in the new homestead, they could continue to live together, manage the ranch, and have personal space.

“Ranger,” Bear said again, moving down the hall. He passed the door to the office and glanced inside. His step stuttered, and he stopped. “What in the world?”

He backed up and went into the office, which Ranger definitely used. His desk was covered with papers and files, as his brother had an accounting degree and they took care of most of the finances on the ranch. He had an affinity for lamps too, and three sat on his desk, including a blue lava lamp. Among all of that sat a bright blue envelope, again the size of a greeting card.

It had been propped against a stack of books, and it bore his name. He frowned as he picked it up, because this was Ranger’s handwriting. His heart spun the same way his mind did, and this time the card depicted a cartoon polar bear on the front. He held a birthday cake in his giant paws and said Happy birthday, baby brother!

The word baby had been struck out with a thick, black marker.

Bear looked up without opening the card, because this didn’t feel like Ranger at all. His cousin was his best friend and had been for many years. Bear had celebrated many, many birthdays with him, and he’d never gotten a card once, especially not one with a cartoon bear on it.

“This is Sammy,” he whispered.

Looking back at the card, he flipped it open to find a child’s handwriting on the inside. Happy birthday, Bear! Thank you for letting me come to work with you on the ranch. Link.

Bear grinned and chuckled, wondering how many more of these cards she’d hidden around the ranch. Had she gotten all of his brothers to put them somewhere he’d find them? What if he didn’t find them all and he missed something she wanted him to have?

He’d left his phone downstairs in his room, so he turned and headed into Ranger’s room with, “Ranger, time to get up, cousin. The power’s out, which means your alarms didn’t go off.” His cousin barely moved, and Bear went to the side of his bed.

“Ranger,” he said, his voice loud. “Time to get up.”

“What?” Ranger said, his eyes flying open. “What time is it?” He looked to his alarm clock which flashed with the time 3:13. No wonder it was so hot; the power had been out for hours.

“The power went out,” Bear repeated. “Time to get up.” He waved the card in his face, because it was even hotter up here on the second level. “Bishop is starting the generator, and—” He cut off as the air started blowing through the vents, adding some noise to the space. “There it is. He’ll be making coffee soon enough.”

Ranger picked up his phone and muttered under his breath. “It’s almost eight.”

“Yeah,” Bear said. “We’re late.” He turned to leave, because he usually picked up Lincoln about nine, and he’d have to hustle to make that without texting Sammy.

Bear ran behind all day, but he managed to take it in stride. At least he thought he did. Through the cleaning of stalls, the monitoring of fields, the fixing of one fence that refused to stay straight, eating lunch, and helping Lincoln make a bracelet for his grandmother’s birthday, Bear found seven more greeting cards.

They’d each come in a different colored envelope, each with handwriting from one of his family members. They’d all wished him happy birthday, and Bear wondered how long it had taken Sammy to get around to everyone in the family.

He had a feeling he hadn’t found all the cards yet, because he