Her Billionaire in Hiding (Texas Ranch Romance Book 3)

by Sophia Summers

  Jessie sang every song she had ever written, but when she got to the one she wrote about Coop, it filled her heart with longing. Would she ever have a love like the one in the song? Would anyone ever be able to love her after reading those horrible articles? It bothered her that she hadn’t fought back, that she’d just given in to their scheming. She got out her cellphone and called her mother.

  “Hey, Mom, how are you doing?”

  “Fine, dear, things are quieting down a little here. How are you?”

  “I am having a good time. I’m actually driving a tractor, mowing a pasture.” She laughed. “Mom, I called to ask if you have that folder with all the paperwork from the record company. Can you look through it for me?”

  “Okay, I have it.”

  “Is the contract in there? I need you to send me a pic of the page where it says I have to have relations with the A&R director.”

  Some of her spunk was coming back. These people had crushed her spirit, and for days she had just cowered and let them. But right now, for the first time since it happened, she wanted to fight back. What they had done just wasn’t right. She would talk to a lawyer and see what she could do.

  She drove the tractor back up to the barn and walked quickly over to the ranch house. She felt like her freedom was just around the corner. She was a woman of value and worth, and she was going to stand up for herself. She held her head high and took off her sunglasses.

  Jessie showered and kept her hair down, letting it fall around her shoulders. She put on her cutest outfit and headed to town to visit Coop. At the hospital, her confidence wavered a little, but she took a deep breath and opened his hospital room door.

  His mother was not in the room, so she sat by the bed and started talking. “Hello, Coop.” Jessie touched his hand. “Chase is doing great. We’re taking care of him for you.” She felt a bit strange, but she gathered her courage. “I just wanted to say that knowing you has helped give me the courage to do something really hard. I heard the nurses say that maybe you don’t want to wake up. I hope you haven’t had reasons in your life to feel that way.” She stared into his pale and unresponsive face. “Please wake up.”

  Jessie brushed her hair back and sat up a little straighter. “And don’t worry, Chase is fine, but he needs you. He whimpers a little at night, but he sticks with me and my dog Patch and the Dugan’s dog, Freckles. They have become quite the threesome.”

  She stood up. “I have to go now, but I’ll be back.” She stood up and kissed his forehead. Then she quietly slipped past the slightly open bathroom door and whispered, “Please wake up.”

  Chapter 12

  Jessie got a text from her mom as she was driving back to the ranch. She hoped it was the proof she needed to go after the record company. She pulled over so she could check her phone. There it was in black and white, signed by Mr. Decker. Now she just needed to find a lawyer

  It was so great to be back to an almost-normal emotional state. She was happy and had energy and determination. She sang a new song as it came to her, driving along. “I won’t let you drag me down.” She laughed and sang louder; music was her therapy. She wondered how many other women had been crushed by powerful men who thought they could do whatever they wanted and get away with it. She wondered how many had gone along with their demands.

  Back at the ranch, Jessie grabbed a sandwich and a drink and took the dogs for a walk back by the river. She ran into Carson on the way. “Hey, Carson, is Curly back there today?”

  “No, the vet took Curly to town. He needs surgery for a hernia.”

  It was obvious Carson was worried about the bull. But Jessie couldn’t find even a tiny bit of compassion for that animal. “Well, it will be safe back there, then, I guess.” Jessie took a drink from her soda and continued on her walk. The dogs were anxious to get going.

  Carson wiped his forehead with his bandana. “Do keep a lookout, ma’am. We have been known to have wild pigs back there from time to time. I shot one last night, but there could be more.”

  They had wild pigs back home, so Jessie knew what to expect if she ran into one. The dogs kept prancing around her, urging her to go faster. Finally, she motioned for them to go ahead. “Go on, y’all. I will be along soon enough.”

  She was deep in thought when she heard the dogs barking. She picked up her pace and followed the sound. When she came up to them, they were barking and lunging at something under the bridge. She called them back and walked over slowly to look. It was a tiny baby pig. When she looked closer, it was more like ten tiny baby pigs.

  She called Mary on her cell. “Mary, I am back at the bridge, and there is a litter of baby pigs under here.”

  “I will send Carson back.” Mary laughed. “Don’t pick one up, even the little ones can be mean.”

  Soon Carson arrived with the truck. He was wearing thick gloves and carrying a big burlap sack. One by one he took the piglets and put them in the sack. “I must have killed the sow last night.”

  “Are you going to kill these little guys?” Jessie asked tentatively.

  “No, if you get them young enough, there is a guy on the other side of town that raises them. I will drop them off over there. Eventually, they are going to be bacon.”

  To change that sad subject, Jessie asked. “Carson, is there another job I could do on the ranch? You know, to help with Coop’s responsibilities?”

  “Let me think about it. Come see me tomorrow morning.”

  The doctor was standing by Coop’s bed, talking to his mother, when Coop started to stir. He opened his eyes and groaned a little. White walls, low voices, his mom. He slit one eye open. “Where am I? Mom, what are you doing here?”

  “Oh, Cooper, we’ve been so worried.” His mom’s usually sculpted face cracked, her lips turning down and trembling. She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it. “I am so glad you have returned to us. We’re at the hospital.”

  “In Brisbane?”

  His mother brushed hair from his forehead. “No, Cooper, you are in Texas.”

  His brain was a little fuzzy, but he did remember the bunkhouse at the ranch. It all started coming back, and then the face of that sheila flashed in front of his eyes. “Is Chase okay?”

  “He’s back at the ranch resort where you were staying. They are taking good care of him.”

  The doctor was pleased and said this was very good news. “The only thing keeping him in the hospital was the need to wake up. He can probably go home tomorrow.” The doctor left on his rounds.

  “Mom, the paparazzi, did they follow you here?”

  “I can be as sneaky as you, my dear. They think I am in Sweden at a spa.” She grinned.

  “Good job, Mom.” He tried to sit up and groaned. “Man, my ribs are killing me.”

  “Are you ready to come home, Cooper?”

  “No, not yet; I can’t face all the familiar places, and I really can’t deal with the media frenzy.”

  His mother patted his hand. “You know I loved Clara, she was a daughter to me. But you deserve the joy life has in store for you. Clara would want you to move on. Life is too precious to let it pass you by while you hide out here.”

  “I know. I just need to be here for a while longer. There is something here for me. I’m just not sure what, yet.”

  “Okay, then I am going to leave you. Maybe I’ll stop in Sweden at that spa after all.” She leaned over and kissed his forehead. “I think you’re going to be fine.”

  Chapter 13

  The next morning Coop was anxious to get back to the bunkhouse and his normal routine. He missed Chase, and he missed the country, but he did not miss that bull, Curly. When the doctor told him what had happened, he knew it had been Curly. That bull had it in for him. He’d been stupid to work out there with his radio blasting so loud he couldn’t hear anything.

  Henry arrived to wheel Coop out of the hospital. His mother had arranged to keep his name private and had paid the bills. “I was impressed to hear how your good mother had that hosp
ital in tip-top shape, at least where you were concerned.”

  “Yes, Mom has a way of getting things done.” He winced as he stepped up into the truck. “I’m looking forward to getting back to work. My ribs are wrapped and feel much better.” The bump on his head had gone down, and a couple pills would take care of the pain. Henry insisted he take it easy for a day at least.

  “How’s old Curly doing?”

  Henry sighed and apologized yet again for Curly’s behavior. “That boy just had surgery for a hernia on both sides. He’ll be meaner than poked wasp nest once we get him home, but after he heals, he should be much calmer.”

  Cooper laughed. “I’m starting to have sympathy for him.”

  When they got back to the ranch, Cooper climbed out of the truck and looked around for Chase. Carson came over to shake his hand and welcome him home. “Good to see you on your feet again. Chase is back by the river. All the dogs follow one of our guests around these days.”

  “I think I’ll take a walk then.” Coop carefully started toward the bridge, and Mary met him there with a cookie.

  “Welcome home, Coop” She gave him a careful hug.

  “A woman after my own heart. I’ve been missing these, Mary, thank you!”

  Coop felt better as his body got moving again. By the time he was close to the river, he was walking with his normal gait. He heard someone singing and stopped, breathless. “It’s that song.”

  He couldn’t move, the song once again drawing him into that safe place in his heart. When he could get his feet moving, he walked toward the sound and found a beautiful woman lying on a blanket, playing with the dogs.

  “Go get it, boys!” She threw two sticks, and Chase and another dog raced after them. Freckles just lay on the blanket with her.

  With all that long, strawberry-blond hair strewn over the blanket, she looked like a forest fairy. She was laughing with the dogs and singing to them. She looked familiar. He shifted so he could get a better look at her face, and then he remembered. The bus station. How could this be? He was dumbfounded.

  Just then, Chase picked up his scent and raced over, jumping into his arms. “Oh, Chase, you’re killing me. My ribs, buddy.” A moment later, Patch and Freckles ran over to say hi. When he was finally done loving on the dogs, he looked up.

  He walked gingerly over to the woman. “It’s you. We met at the bus station. I never got your name—I really wanted to.”

  She walked closer and offered her hand. “I’m Jessie Forester.”

  “Cooper Smith, nice to meet you, finally.” He didn’t release her hand; new and powerful emotions flooded through him. They both stood there, staring into each other’s eyes. She really did have lavender eyes. He almost thought he’d imagined it.

  Jessie smiled. “Would you like to sit down and rest? I’m pretty surprised to see you up and walking around.”

  “Sure, we can sit.” He settled down on the blanket, gritting his teeth so he didn’t grunt. “But I’m fine. They were just waiting for me to wake up. Everything else is healing nicely.”

  “Well, you were lucky. When I saw Curly slam you into that tree, I thought you might be dead.” Jessie sat down next to him.

  “Wait, you were there? No one could tell me the details.” Cooper was anxious to hear what she had to say. Why didn’t he remember her being there?

  “It happened right over there.” Jessie pointed over to the fence. “Your radio was playing pretty loud, and Curly just charged you. He was about to trample you, but I diverted him with a stick.”

  He was worried. The doctors said it was likely he could lose pieces of his memory. “I don’t remember you being there, were you walking down the road?”

  “No, actually, I was in that tree.”

  Cooper was confused. “In the tree?”

  “I was bird watching.” She blushed.

  “Oh.” Then all the pieces started falling together. “The tree fort and the lake? That was you?” He took a second look at her; she didn’t seem like the same woman.

  “If you’ve been here all the time, why didn’t you say anything?” Then it dawned on him, maybe she hadn’t wanted him to know.

  “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you,” he said, moving to leave.

  She reached for his hand, stopping him. “Please don’t go.” She met his gaze. “At the bus station, when you were pulling Chase toward your bus, I didn’t want you to leave then, either. The truth is I kept thinking about you, and when I saw that you were working here, I just had a hard time processing my feelings. Things have happened to me, in my life, since we met in the bus station.”

  Coop settled back down on the blanket and nodded. “I understand not wanting to be known.”

  “You do?”

  He nodded. “I do.” He hesitated, unsure of his next request. “It’s a lot to ask, but I heard you singing on my way over here. Do you think you could sing that song for me? I heard it on the radio once, and I have had trouble finding it again.” He scratched the back of his neck. “That’s why I had the radio going when Curly got his revenge.”

  Her cheeks turned a charming pink, but she sang the song again—it was that same sweet, clear voice. He watched her as she sang. Her face was full of compassion. Her voice carried the feelings of the song into his heart. He felt drawn to her with a power he could barely contain. This was peace. His soul was at home. At that moment, he knew he was falling in love.

  She stopped and looked over at him, smiling. “How are you feeling now?” Jessie brushed some of the grass off the blanket.

  “I’m good.” He was having trouble containing his emotions. Everything overflowed all at once.

  Coop changed his focus to the dogs to give himself time to think. “I was mainly just worried about my dog.” He winked at her. “Now I understand his determination to hang out at the ranch house.” He shook his head. All three of the dogs were trying to sit on Jessie’s side of the blanket. “Look at them.”

  Jessie laughed. “I have to admit, I’ve been spoiling them while you were gone. They all three have been sleeping in my bed, even Freckles.”

  “That explains a lot.” He ruffled his dog’s ear. “I have Chase to thank for meeting you. He won’t be getting on my bad side for quite some time now.” He leaned toward her. “I know I don’t know you at all, but I feel close to you. Sitting here with you, I’m happier than I’ve been for a long time.”

  He looked into her eyes, asking. She smiled and leaned in. They kissed. The kissing escalated until it became a hunger for more. He pulled her down with him on the blanket, and then sharp pain shot up his center. “My dang ribs!”

  Jessie giggled and sat upright. “Thank heavens for those ribs, Coop.”

  Coop stood up, and Jessie folded the blanket. Then she nestled into his arms, and he just held her. They stood there a long time. Cooper knew his life was changing in this moment. He had found something he’d never felt would be his. And he never wanted to let it go.

  They walked up to the ranch house, hand in hand. Jessie looked up at him. “I had a rather short career in the recording business,” she admitted. Then she explained that she was in the process of fixing some problems with that.

  “Your music speaks to my soul. It brings me peace. The world just seems right when I listen to it.”

  “That makes me happy. I may never get to hear my music on the radio again, but knowing I touched people, knowing I touched you, that means everything. I’ll send you a copy of it, if you want.”

  They stopped to sit on the bench overlooking the lake. He wasn’t ready to talk about Clara with Jessie, though, and that bothered him. How could he say he had loved Clara his whole life when, a short time after her death, he felt this way about another woman?

  Coop stretched his arms back over his head and winced in pain. Those ribs were becoming a major problem. He thought back to his times with Clara. She was part of his whole life—they’d grown up together. How does a person move on from something like that? He shook his head
, facing the truth. The love I had for Clara was nothing like this.

  “Are you okay? I was just thinking about all that has happened. I still can’t believe how big of a coincidence it is meeting you here.” Jessie touched his shirt softly.

  “If it hadn’t been for Chase, I may not have seen you at all.”

  Chase came over to Coop and ducked his head under his hand, begging him to scratch his ears. Freckles and Patch had been lying at their feet, but their ears perked up and they came right over as well.

  Jessie laughed. “These dogs are all in when anyone gets some love.”

  Coop grinned. “Are you really a birdwatcher?”

  Jessie turned bright red. “I was hoping that wouldn’t come up. I’m not, really. I just…I was shocked to find you here. I was trying to understand my feelings before approaching you. I also wasn’t sure how you would react to finding me here—this is a pretty bizarre turn of events.”

  “So, when you fell out of the tree into the lake, you were hiding from me?” Cooper was having a hard time not bursting out laughing as he pictured her climbing out of the lake, drenched and covered in mud.

  “I’m so embarrassed. My spot was perfect though, until Chase gave me away.” They both laughed. “It’s moments like this that may make you wonder if you really want to know me better.”

  “No, I’m not going to let this go. I’ve never felt so close to anyone in my life.” Coop took her hand in his and kissed her palm. He did have real concerns, however. Everyone was still mourning Clara—including himself.

  They walked back to the ranch house in a comfortable silence. Coop was deep in thought, and Jessie was humming one of her songs. The dogs ran ahead to the barn.

  Henry walked up to them. “Well, Coop, you remember we have a policy of not fraternizing with the guests.” He winked at them. “So I had Carson move your belongings back over to the ranch house.” Henry smiled from ear to ear.