One Tough Christmas Cookie - Lucy McConnell Page 0,26

that meant a growth spurt of some kind was coming on. Rudy was coming up on two, so he should be done growing, but stranger things had happened around here—in the last three days alone—than an animal having a late growth spurt. Caleb wasn’t going to rule anything out.

Next was Galen, whose eyes were always just a little too wide and his flight pattern unrecognizable. He was an easy animal to care for, not causing problems in the barn like some reindeer he could name. If only he’d been able to learn the basics of flying a sleigh.

Flash pawed at the door. He was a bundle of energy and too fast of a flier to manage. He got a double scoop of food because his metabolism was so high. When he exercised, they had to clear the other reindeers out of the indoor arena for their own safety.

Caleb dished up quickly with Sparkle and headed into Dunder’s stall, where he checked to make sure the automatic watering trough worked. Dunder was curled up in the corner, his chin resting on his front legs and his lids heavy with exhaustion. He’d had that look since he’d gotten back. He wasn’t getting better, but he wasn’t getting worse either.

Caleb settled into the hay next to him with his back to the wall. “Hey, champ.” He reached out and rubbed Dunder’s neck. “Faith figured out what’s going on. She’d going to bring you some meds tomorrow.”

Dunder breathed out slowly, as if he was saying finally.

“I know. Sorry it’s taken so long. If Doc wasn’t sick, we’d have you fixed up by now. You don’t mind if I talk your antlers off for a few minutes, do ya?” Caleb asked.

Dunder rested his chin on Caleb’s knee, the weight of it comforting.

“I’ll take that as permission to speak.” He absently rubbed behind Dunder’s ear as he talked about Faith. “She doesn’t believe in Christmas.”

Dunder’s back leg twitched.

“I know. It’s unthinkable, champ. I think she was hurt, and I’m not sure how to help her heal. Do I stick my nose in where it’s not wanted, or do I stand back and pray for a miracle?”

Dunder cocked his head, asking why it mattered.

“Because I think she can help us here, but only if we can tell her our secret. If she doesn’t believe in Christmas, then …”

Dunder huffed.

“I know—it’s a conundrum.”

They sat there for a moment in silence, no answers appearing. Eventually, Dunder fell asleep. Caleb carefully slid out from beneath him and locked the stall door to keep the other reindeer out.

He stopped at the doorway, not quite ready to give up the peace that had come while sitting with the patriarch. Lifting his face, he spoke to God. “I just need a sign. Something that points me in the right direction.”

The only answer was the soft snoring from Flash, who sounded like he was racing in his sleep. But he knew his prayer had been heard, because even as he stepped out into the North Dakota cold, the spirit of peace went with him.

Chapter 9

Faith

Faith glanced down at the pair of skinny jeans and flannel shirt she’d picked up at the Feed Emporium that morning. Between visiting Dad and caring for his patients that didn’t have antlers, she was too busy to run back home and pack up some clothes. She’d worn the same scrubs for days on end, washing them each night. By the time she’d pulled into the feed store, she was ready to burn what she had on, she was so sick of seeing it.

There wasn’t much to choose from in the one circular rack of women’s clothing, but beggars couldn’t be choosers and all that. Besides, the clothes were warm and soft, so she wasn’t going to complain.

She bit her lip, wondering what Caleb would think of her new look. Gone was the city vet, and in her places was a country girl. She giggled. The lace-up winter boots did great things for her legs—not. Today wasn’t about fashion anyway, she scolded herself. It was about making sure Dunder got healthy.

She pulled up outside the barn and left the motor running to keep the heater warm. Dad’s truck was old, with a horse blanket thrown across the worn seat to keep the springs from poking her in the butt. She was just pulling out her phone to send Caleb a message that she’d arrived when she saw his tall form coming from the house. She tucked the reindeer medicine inside