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Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most.
– Ruth Carter Stapleton
Jordyn made her way back to the house, hoping she would run into Chad. The ranch was a beehive of activity now with everyone having a job to do—either making sure the guests were having a good time, or preparing for the Gala that was set to kick off in mere hours.
It wasn’t until much later in the morning that Jordyn caught a glimpse of the man she’d been wishing to find. She’d just finished giving the private tour to the couple in the cabin and was walking back toward the barn. With a smile on her face, she walked over to the small corral and leaned her arms on the top rail of the fence.
“Howdy, cowboy,” she said to the young boy who sat in the saddle in front of Chad as they walked by her.
“I’m riding! I’m riding!” The boy’s smile was so big and his face was so bright, she wished her father could be here to witness the scene. Yet, in a way, he was. She could feel his spirit taking part in the Christmas magic he’d helped create.
Jordyn knew there was no such ride on the schedule, and that Chad had a thousand other things to get done today. But he must have noticed the wishful look in the young boy’s eyes and offered him a ride. That was Chad. Fearless and charming. Gentle and tough. Kind and charismatic.
Turning her head, Jordyn noticed the boy’s parents standing near the gate beside an empty wheelchair. Their faces were beaming almost as brightly as their son’s, although they both seemed to be brushing away tears. “I’ll open the gate if you want to get some pictures,” Jordyn said to the parents.
“Yes. Please! We can’t believe he’s riding a horse. We didn’t even think he would touch one.”
Jordyn led them into the center of the ring, as Chad asked, “Ready to go a little faster?”
When the boy nodded enthusiastically, he urged the horse into a slow trot and then a gentle lope. The boy squealed with pure delight as Chad held him firmly in the saddle with one strong arm, while the other hand guided the horse around the enclosure.
Finally, Chad handed the reins to the boy and let him pull the horse to a stop. “Good job,” Chad told him. “You’ll be a regular cowboy in no time.”
In that moment, Jordyn understood what the Grinch felt when his heart grew three sizes that day—only hers seemed to be melting. To see the robust, muscular man in the saddle put everything aside to give this family a few minutes of joy, almost brought her to tears as well. Chad wasn’t the type of man to show emotion, yet his gentle and generous spirit was too strong to be hidden.
As the parents went up to greet their son, Jordyn offered to take family pictures in front of the horse, which they enthusiastically accepted. Chad was the only one who disagreed.
“I’ll dismount and stand on the other side.”
“No. We want you in the picture,” the boy’s mother insisted.
Jordyn snapped picture after picture, until at last the father walked back to the gate to get the wheelchair. Jordyn held the boy in the saddle as Chad dismounted, then he effortlessly lifted the boy and placed him back in his chair.
“I don’t know how to thank you for this.” The mother threw her arms around Chad with tears flowing down her cheek.
“It was my pleasure, ma’am. Merry Christmas.” He tipped his hat courteously, but looked extremely uncomfortable.
The father stood beside Jordyn and leaned close. “You probably don’t know this, but he’s never talked before.”
Jordyn’s gaze darted over to his as she recalled the boy telling her that he was riding. “But he—”
The man nodded, and now he had tears in his eyes too. “If I had known that all I had to do was take him to Painted Sky Ranch, I would have done it years ago.”
Jordyn swiped a tear from her own eye as she thought once again about her father. His dreams really had turned to reality. Thanks to Chad, this ranch had truly conveyed something tangible and perceptible. Some might even call it Christmas magic. She wished everyone could experience this heartwarming feeling and understand how a simple act of kindness could change someone’s life so drastically.
Jordyn watched Chad walk away, his head bent down against a strong north wind, his leather chaps making a familiar flapping sound that had once been so familiar to her. His figure exemplified power, fortitude, an innate inner calm, causing her to realize how gentle and kind a truly strong man could be.
Memories and recollections of her earlier years with Chad came flooding back, along with a new revelation.
Chad had not only been her first love.
He was her only love.
