A Christmas Miracle Read online

  “A Christmas Miracle” by Phyliss Miranda

  Mattie Jo Ashley has lost too many people she loves. First, her outlaw father then her mother. She is determined not to lose her baby sister to a mysterious disease.

  Because she feels shamed by the problems her father forced upon the townspeople of Carroll Creek, Texas, and now suffers their disdain, Mattie Jo cannot turn to her community for help. She has no choice but to seek aid from the shy, but skilled local doctor.

  Dr. Grant Spencer has every confidence in his abilities as a third generation doctor, but is sorely in need of self worth in other areas of his life.

  When Mattie Jo unleashes havoc in the community and takes Grant to the brink of testing his courage and fortitude as both a doctor and a man, all discover the true Christmas spirit and the power of genuine love and acceptance.

  A Christmas Miracle

  Phyliss Miranda

  A Christmas Miracle by Phyliss Miranda

  Smashwords Edition

  A Christmas Miracle Copyright © 2013 by Phyliss Miranda

  Originally published in Wishing for a Cowboy

  Cover Design Livia Reasoner

  Prairie Rose Publications

  All rights reserved.

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  A Christmas Miracle is a work of fiction.

  Though actual locations may be mentioned, they are used in a fictitious manner and the events and occurrences were invented in the mind and imagination of the author except for the inclusion of actual historical facts. Similarities of characters or names used within to any person – past, present, or future – are coincidental except where actual historical characters are purposely interwoven.

  Acceptance comes not through frosty eyes, but from the warmth of loving hearts.

  Chapter 1

  Christmas 1899

  Texas Panhandle

  Children should not suffer for the sins of their fathers, Mattie Jo Ashley thought, as she put two mugs of beer on the table for a couple of regulars of the Longhorn Saloon.

  Lucas Jones had posted the House Rules on each wall. Although the watering hole was one of only two in the temperance colony known as Carroll Creek, Texas, its owner wanted to make sure everyone understood what he expected. He wouldn’t stand for a rowdy crowd that might run away his patrons who never missed three opportunities. A good tent meeting. A good church sermon. And, a good drink with a quiet game of cards.

  Mattie Jo looked up at the rules posted prominently at eye level.

  Rule 1: Check your weapons at the door.

  Rule 2: No cussing allowed.

  Rule 3: Rowdy behavior will not be tolerated.

  Rule 4: No touching my ladies.

  Rule 5: Only women are allowed upstairs.

  The swinging doors flew open and her friend and fellow saloon girl Violet hurried in. Not bothering to acknowledge anyone around, she screamed, “Mattie Jo!” She rushed on without taking a breath. “The baby’s taken a turn for the worse.”

  Blood ran like cold well water through Mattie Jo’s veins. “Slow down, Violet, and tell me what’s going on with her.” Her heart beat out of control. She couldn’t lose another family member. “Who’s watching Katie?”

  “Brady is.” Violet grabbed the edge of the bar. “I caught your brother right before he left to milk the Garners’ cows, so he stayed because I needed to come tell you your baby sister’s really bad.”

  “Tell me exactly what’s going on.” Mattie Jo asked again. With each word, her legs got weaker. It wasn’t typical of Violet to get so upset, even though it involved Mattie Jo’s baby sister, Katie.

  “She won’t eat. Her eyes are more matted than ever. One is completely shut.”

  “Is Brady keeping warm towels on her eyes?” Mattie Jo bit her lip. “And washing her face frequently? He’s only thirteen.”

  “Yes, he’s taking good care of her. Her fever has gone up. Wrapping her in cool towels hasn’t helped, so I gave her a cold bath. By the time I left, it still hadn’t brought down her fever. I don’t want to upset you, but it’s a whole bunch higher. She’s even more listless, refusing her bottle and coughing more. I think she’s having a little trouble breathing.”

  All of the worsening conditions Violet described balled up and hit Mattie Jo between the eyes. She swallowed hard and looked over the crowded saloon at her boss, Lucas Jones, who was delivering a tray of drinks to another table of card-playing cowboys. Tears brimmed in her eyes, just thinking about the possibility that she might lose her precious sister. She needed to go home and take care of her, but also had to work her shift because the jar in the kitchen out at her place had only three pennies and a dime in it. Not enough to pay for the doctor to make a house call, especially three miles outside of town.

  “I tried to get some willow bark tea down her. She wouldn’t even suck on a bottle. I even put some in a spoon and she just let it drool out of her mouth.” She lowered her voice, as if ashamed. “Mattie Jo, I’ve done all I know how to do. She needs the doctor.”

  “I have to work my shift, so I can have enough money to pay the doctor.”

  Over her shoulder, she heard footsteps that stopped behind her.

  Touching her arm, the old owner of the Longhorn said, “Don’t worry about money.” He turned her around to face him. He took her hand and placed some coins in it. “Go find Doc Spencer.”

  “I’ll work for her,” Violet offered. “I’ve got clothes upstairs and it won’t take long to change.” She rushed toward the stairs, then turned back to Lucas. “Give Mattie Jo the money for the whole shift. I don’t need it.”

  “No.” Lucas furrowed his brows into a frown and gruffly said, “I won’t stand for it. I can handle the shift. Violet, get back to Mattie Jo’s place and take care of the baby while she goes and finds Doc Spencer.”

  To Mattie Jo’s surprise, two tough-as-boot-strop cowboys got up from their card game, gathered up some coins, and dropped them in her pocket.

  The shorter of the two said, “We’ll help Lucas out. You get along, little lady.”

  With a heart filled with apprehension, yet overflowing with love, Mattie Jo grabbed her coat and rushed out the door on her way to locate Dr. Grant Spencer.

  Hurrying down the dirt street that separated the saloons from the rest of the town, she finally reached the dusty boardwalk along the business fronts. All the way, thoughts of the loss of her other loved ones flooded through her like an overflowing river.

  First, it was her outlaw father, who always kept his family one step ahead of the law, until he robbed the bank of Carroll Creek. In order to heal somewhat, she had finally come to the conclusion that because he was so ashamed of himself, he’d disappeared under the cloak of darkness without so much as a goodbye. He left his family penniless but he had left something precious behind ... a wife with a new life growing inside her.

  It had been nearly three years and they had heard neither hide nor hair from him; although, at the saloon every now and again, she would get wind of rumors about him. She vacillated between wanting the man whose blood ran through her veins back in her life and never seeing him again.

  Those feelings changed when Mattie Jo’s mother died giving birth to Katie, leaving a newborn babe for a seventeen-year-old girl and her ten-year-old brother to take care of.

  Mat
tie Jo never wanted to lay eyes on the spawn of the devil again.

  Now nearing her twentieth birthday, she vividly remembered the day they laid her mother to rest in a casket crafted by Lucas Jones who offered Mattie Jo employment at his saloon. She had little choice but to accept the job as one of his saloon girls, because thanks to her father, the community had ostracized her whole family from the town.

  Mattie Jo, with the help of her brother, had grown a small garden and had a few chickens. Since the townsfolk shunned her, nobody would buy anything from her, so she learned to can the vegetables and to make bread to feed the family. A goat provided milk for Katie.

  Few in the town seemed obliged to offer redemption. Working at the Longhorn didn’t help either, but she had no choice because she had to have money to feed the family.

  Finally, Mattie Jo came to the doctor’s office, and it brought her back to the crisis at hand. She halted in front of the door only to find a note posted that read Gone for the Day.

  Mattie Jo rested her forehead against the cold wooden door and closed her eyes. Light snow flakes fell on her shoulders, but they felt as heavy as iron.

  Realization hit her. She had no idea what the new doctor looked like. All she’d heard was that he had come to town from back East, smoked a pipe and wore spectacles. That could be half of the middle-aged men in Carroll Creek, Texas.

  With that description, she was sure he was as old as Methuselah and probably just as ugly. Yet, she couldn’t care less about his looks; it was his background that told her he knew what he was doing as a doctor. She’d heard all about Dr. Grant Spencer except for one vital thing ... what he looked like.

  But if she did find him, would he help her? Or would he be like the rest of the temperance community who thought she, and what remained of her family, should pay for the sins of their father?

  Chapter 2

  Dr. Grant Spencer studied the assortment of children’s toys lined up on the counter by the owner of the Carroll Creek Mercantile.

  “Emmett, I’ll take this one.” He picked up a stuffed doll with an embroidered cherub face. “Just put it on my account and I’ll be on my way.”

  Emmett Matthews silently folded light-weight paper around the item and handed it to the doctor.

  “Thanks. As soon as I have time, I’ll take it over to the orphanage for the Christmas festivities.” He tucked the doll in his black doctor’s bag. “On second thought, put the other two on my account. There’s more than one little girl who will enjoy a doll.”

  Sometimes Dr. Spencer had to remind himself of the reason he’d selected such a small, out-of-the-way town to start up his practice. Hundreds of bigger and more prosperous cities between here and Philadelphia offered him a place to hang his shingle; however, he’d deliberately chosen Carroll Creek because the townspeople were in desperate need of someone to take care of their medical needs. He also knew he could be a better doctor if he got out from under the shadows of his family. Being the grandson of a war hero and the son of a renowned physician had its drawbacks. He wanted to make his place in society based on his ability—not his family’s name. There was a lot he’d hoped for by coming out West, but trying to learn not only the names of the citizens, but the ways of the new frontier, offered the biggest challenge yet.

  His point was proven when two middle-aged women, both dressed in navy blue and cream colored dresses with matching bonnets, came through the door and disturbed his musing. He didn’t know their names and wasn’t sure he wanted to from the sour puss expressions they had on their faces.

  He could not help but overhear their conversation. It’d be easier to ignore two bawling calves than to drown out the women’s voices.

  The smaller one, in a shrill tone, said, “I can’t believe that trollop had the nerve to stop us on the street and ask a question.”

  “And, just think that she has the audacity to even show her face in our part of town. She needs to stay down the street where she and all of the other riff-raff like her belongs.” The other woman's eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips into a frown that shrouded her whole face. “I’ve never ... simply never...”

  Apparently noticing Grant, she lowered her voice. Both women turned their backs and the mercantile owner’s wife, Polly, rounded the counter to join them. Like three magpies selecting the day’s gossip, they huddled together. All three seemed to talk at one time.

  “Doc Spencer, I’ve got the gifts wrapped.” Emmett slid the extra dolls toward Grant.

  “Thanks.” He didn’t have room in his medical bag, so he tucked the cherubs under his arm. “Will you be at the orphanage’s Christmas party, Emmett?”

  “Nope. Got work to do, but you all have fun.”

  The bell over the door tinkled. A young and exceptionally attractive woman who Grant had never seen before entered. With her head held high, she looked straight ahead ignoring the other women, and marched with purpose up to the counter.

  The mercantile owner either suddenly remembered he had something urgent waiting on him in the back room or purposely ignored his customer. Either one, in Grant’s opinion, were unacceptable reasons not to pay attention to a patron, especially a woman.

  Polly Matthews and the other two women stopped talking and turned in the direction of the new arrival. None of them acknowledged her existence.

  The lady who had just entered stopped within an arm’s length of Grant, so close that he could smell the sweet scent of lavender. She said a pleasant hello to him then took her stance waiting on assistance, but to no avail.

  Grant realized that obviously neither Polly nor Emmett were going to help the lady, so he rounded the corner of the counter and called out to the owner. “Emmett, you have a customer waiting.”

  Nothing except silence hung in the air for a long time. Eventually, Emmett came out of the backroom. He offered no excuse for his rude behavior.

  “What’cha need?” Emmett addressed the lady in one of the rudest tones of voice Grant believed he’d ever heard from a man to a woman. Or for that matter, between two outlaws about to have a gunfight.

  “I need a bottle of Dr. Townsend’s tonic, please.”

  “I don’t have any.” Emmett stepped back blocking the view of two bottles of the medicine on the shelf.

  “My sister needs it really bad, sir.” She squared her shoulders and stared at the man straight in the eyes. “I saw it on the shelf when I came in,” she softened her voice, “I believe if you’ll turn around, you’ll find two bottles.”

  Polly Matthews appeared and grabbed the expectorant syrup from the shelf and nonchalantly said, “They are sold.” She walked back to the women standing at the far end of the counter.

  Grant suspected if there was a hole in the wall, they’d crawl in it so they wouldn’t be forced to remain in the presence of the woman who asked for the medicine.

  “Please, Mr. Matthews, I need the syrup terribly. Please.”

  Before Matthews could answer, the bell jingled again. A dozen people entered the store and walked directly over to the three women in the corner.

  “I have money to pay for it.” She laid a handful of coins on the counter.

  “They’re all sold and there ain’t nothin’ I can do about it.” Emmett Matthews turned back to Grant. “Is there anything else I can do for you today, sir?”

  Liquid fire ran though Grant’s veins at the treatment of the woman. Obviously, she had a loved one in need of medical assistance. If the mercantile owner couldn’t or wouldn’t help, he damn sure would.

  Just as he opened his mouth to take a stand, he heard the woman next to him say, “If you can’t sell me the medicine, can you at least tell me where I can find the town’s doctor?”

  Emmett Matthews looked over to the crowd of people gathered in the corner and avoided Grant’s stare. “If the doc wanted to be found by the likes of you, he could be found.”

  Grant heard all he could stomach. He didn’t know why they treated the lady worse than a case of Yellow Fever, but he wasn’t rai
sed to treat anybody in such a rude and disrespectful way.

  “Ma’am, I’m Doctor Spencer. May I be of service to you?”

  “Oh yes—yes, sir. My baby sister is really sick.” With a panicked expression, she looked up at the store owner, then over to the growing crowd. “Since all of Dr. Townsend’s syrup appears to have been spoken for, would it be possible for you to make a house call to see if you can help her?” Her gold-green eyes were full of pleading. “We’ve done all we know to do and she’s getting sicker. She’s only two.”

  Before Grant could answer, a pot-bellied pig of a man stepped out from the crowd and said, “Doctor Spencer, do you know who this woman is?”

  “No, sir, I don’t, but if she needs help, I took an oath to help anybody in need.”

  “She ain’t the type of woman you wanna be seen with,” another sniped.

  “She’s a soiled dove at the Longhorn Saloon and doesn’t have the money to pay you. We don’t want the likes of someone like her coming up to our part of the town,” spouted a woman could make a grizzly bear shudder.

  The whole crowd reminded Grant of a den of hungry wolves surrounding a foal and coming in for the kill. Whatever reason they may have for disliking the woman, a tiny child should not be blamed.

  Although Grant was unsure of himself with women, he didn’t lack confidence in his abilities as a doctor. He liked to think of himself as ‘the calm in the midst of a storm’ type man, although the anger boiling within him had caused his temper to rise and dangerous thoughts raced through his head.

  He clenched his fist, and no doubt if the handmade dolls in his arms were human, they would have no life left in them. Grant laid the package on the counter.

  The last man to come in, well behind the others, turned to the crowd and with a voice as calm as a spring day, yet as determined as a warrior said, “For those who don’t know me, I’m Lucas Jones and I own the Longhorn Saloon. Miss Ashley works for me, as a waitress ... not a woman of ill-repute.”