《A Stockingful of Joy - Justine Dare - A Light in the Window》.doc

? A Light in the Window by JUSTINE DARE Wyoming Territory, 1878 ? It was night, it was a stable, and hed followed a light, but that was definitely where the similarities to another Christmas season ended. Stupid thought, Morgan Blaine told himself as he shivered slightly, and pulled his bedroll blanket tighter around him. The movement made his rifle slide down the bed of hay, and he risked the chill to pull it within reach. Not that he was expecting any trouble, not in this quiet out-of-the-way place, but he was trespassing, and if the owner of this small homestead took it in mind to protest, he might have need of the weapon. It was a tidy, well-built place; hed noticed metal hinges on the doors instead of the easier rawhide, and the barn at least was in decent repair. And that oddly bright light in the window had seemed warm and welcoming, even to a homeless stranger. It was the kind of place a man protected. He closed his eyes in determination. Hed thought he would be asleep as soon as he found a place to lay his head, but somehow the rest he so badly needed eluded him. His mind was restless, although he wasnt sure why. It wasnt like he cared, and anyway, hed known it was December. It was hard not to when the briskness of the air here in the Wyoming Territory had long since given way to the crisp cold of winter. Storms had already whitened the mountains, and each week saw the snow line creep lower toward the high plains. Tonight even the lower elevations were getting a taste of what was to come. Soon the thick blanket of white would be here to stay. But until he had walked into that saloon a couple of miles back and been met with a drunken and off-key rendition of a song about one-horse sleighs, and had seen the small, crooked tree in one corner, decorated rather ludicrously with empty shot glasses and a length of yellowed lace he didnt want to speculate about, he hadnt realized just how close two more days, the bartender told him Christmas was. Hed lasted long en