Her Billionaire Christmas Secret (Texas Ranch Romance Book 4)

by Sophia Summers

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  Taming Scrooge

  Her Billionaire Royals Series:

  The Heir

  The Crown

  The Duke

  The Duke’s Brother

  The Prince

  The American

  The Spy

  The Princess

  Her Billionaire Cowboys Series:

  Her Billionaire Cowboy

  Her Billionaire Protector

  Her Billionaire in Hiding

  Her Billionaire Christmas Secret

  Her Billionaire to Remember

  Her Billionaire Christmas Secret

  Sophia Summers

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  The snow fluttered down onto Peter’s windshield, the flakes getting larger the longer he waited. He sat in his Jaguar, with the motor running, a few houses away from the Woodlock home. He watched until all the lights went out. As the flakes started to clump together, it looked like there might be a white Christmas in Kentucky this year. Their home was in an older, but well-kept, neighborhood. Large trees graced the small front yards. Each house was decorated with Christmas lights of every color, and the porches were adorned with garlands and red bows. But the Woodlock home stood out. Lights wrapped the whole house, not just the front porch, and the trees were glistening with bright color.

  He waited an hour and then quietly opened the trunk and took out a bright red Mongoose 20-inch Outerlimit BMX bike. He rolled it over to their house and placed it on the front porch. The bike lock that he pulled from his pocket secured the bike to the porch railing. As he walked back down the sidewalk, he placed an envelope in their mailbox with the combination.

  Peter drove off, another anonymous Christmas present for Dani and her son Sam delivered. He turned up the Christmas music on the radio and sang along. As he drove through the countryside to the airport, he thought back to the days when he’d been on the receiving end of the Dugan family’s love. He had lived next door to them from the time he was four years old.

  Whenever his father had too much to drink, his mother always said, “Dad is sick Peter, he needs his rest.” But he knew from his schoolmates that his father was an alcoholic. His mother was so busy working to support the family that he rarely saw her, and when he did, she was too exhausted to speak with him. He remembered laying his head on her lap while she watched TV and slept in her ratty, old kick back chair. “Mom, I did well in school today.” She would reach her hand down and pat his head and fall back asleep. These moments would have been the only comforting memories of his childhood if not for the Dugans.

  The day they moved in next door to the Dugans, Danielle came over to watch his father carry furniture into the house. “What’s your name, boy? I’m Dani.” He smiled as he pictured that little Dani with hair so curly it was constantly escaping the pigtails she wore each day. The frizz created a halo around those rosy-red cheeks. Her deep green eyes sparkled with excitement, and her dark brown hair stayed sun-kissed all year long.

  She stood on his front porch, all smiles and confidence. He was so shocked that she spoke to him he turned around and ran back into the house. She followed him inside and found him in an upstairs bedroom, sitting in the corner. She pulled a Tootsie Pop out of her pocket and gave it to him, then she unwrapped one for herself. “Come on, do you want to see our kitties?” He’d followed her, just like he had every day since. Dani became his best friend.

  As he got older, he realized fully the shame of having a father who was the town drunk. Kids made fun of him at school. Peter still cringed as he remembered a day when the neighborhood kids were outside playing softball at the corner. Gary, the boy on second base, was making catcalls to Peter as he came up to bat. “He’s a loser just like his Dad. We can strike him out.” Peter hung his head in shame, trying not to cry. Then Dani ran up behind Peter, grabbed the bat, and took off after Gary. Gary tried to back up but not soon enough. Dani slammed the bat into his shins, and he fell over, crying.

  “Dani, what’s your problem?” Gary cried. The other kids who had been laughing, moved away from Dani, wary.

  “Don’t make fun of my friend!” Dani yelled. She marched back to the plate and gave him back the bat. “Okay, let’s play now.” He had been amazed.

  As time passed, he spent more and more of his waking hours at the Dugans’ home. He ate dinner there most days, and every day, Dani’s mom, Mary, packed him a lunch. She often pushed his hair out of his eyes. “Peter, I swear, your hair is as curly as Dani’s.”

  His mother worked two jobs and also did the darning and some simple alterations for the Dugan family. He knew his mother appreciated the meals and lunches they gave him while she was away at work. She would often say, “You mind your p’s and q’s at the Dugans.”

  Dani and Peter spent their summers in the tree fort out back. They played that they were astronomers in a space ship. They played that they were explorers in the jungle. They played that they were a crocodile family living in the swamp. He wondered if they were ever simply going to pretend to be in a house. They never did. One day out of the blue, she said, “I love you, Peter. When we grow up, we are going to be married.” She pushed him into the dad position of their make believe games. “You are the dad, Peter, you are the protector.” Play became more fun for Peter after that. He fought the black knights. He chased the voracious dragons away. He returned with the treasure.

  Peter chuckled now, thinking about her all these years later. He stretched in his car. Driving was slow with the snow. However, it gave him time to think and to remember. His Christmas deliveries were the one time of year he allowed himself to sink deep into his memories. They were full of might-have-been’s and could-never-be’s, but once a year, he let himself relive some of his happiest and saddest days.

  When he was fourteen years old, the Dugans were planning a month-long vacation to Washington State. They asked his parents if he could come with them. The idea of actually going on a vacation was too much of a thrill to even think about for Peter. When his parents said yes—as long as he got a sub for his paper route—he was beside himself with joy. He didn’t even mind that his clothes were old and stained. “Where are we going, Dani?”

  “To Snoqualmie, Washington on the Skykomish River for a whole month. Look, I even have the travel guide that Mom bought.”

  This was a dream come true. Play with Dani was always exciting, but being with her in the forest left no limits for his imagination. And he had a goal. Even though Dani had told him she loved him, he had never returned the sentiment. But he loved her more than any person in his life. He was getting older, and he wanted to express his feelings toward her. Every time he planned to do it, he just couldn’t get the words out. He was hoping on this trip he would find the courage to do it.

  The first day there they went out to see the river. It was roaring with rapids from the spring runoff. They could see snow on the mountain peaks in the distance. Henry and Mary Dugan came out with them. “Okay, kids, this river is going to be a temptation. But you do not want to fall in. These rapids will carry you fast downstr
eam to a huge waterfall. Even though you are good swimmers, the currents are too strong.” Henry threw a stick in, and they all watched how fast it was swept by.

  Dani backed away. “Let’s hike up to the logger’s swing they told us about.” Mary gave Peter a small backpack with lunches and drinks inside. Dani rushed ahead as they followed the road deeper into the forest. Wild raspberries lined the road. “Hey, Dani, come back!” Peter called after her.

  Dani returned looking peeved. Peter knew she didn’t like to be distracted when she was on a mission. “What is it?” she asked. When she saw the berries, she took off her hat and used it as a bowl for collecting the berries. “Come on; let’s find enough for a pie.”

  She ducked under the barbed-wire fencing and walked further into the woods, following the berries. They climbed up the mountain, going from one raspberry patch to the other. It was about 20 minutes later that they turned around with hats full of berries and realized they had no clue how to get back to the road. They tried one direction and stopped. Right in front of them was a baby bear. As soon as the bear saw them, he started hollering. That’s when they heard a large animal rushing through the woods toward them.

  Dani grabbed his hand. “Run!” They dropped their hats and ran as fast as they could, jumping over some fallen logs and tripping over others. Puffing and out of breath, Peter stopped first. “That bear is eating our berries.”

  Dani stopped next to Peter, hanging on his arm for support as she sucked in air. “She can have them. That was a close one. We could have been eaten ourselves.”

  Peter tentatively touched her arm. “I would have jumped in front of you, Dani. Then you could have gotten away.”

  Dani looked dumbfounded. “While the bear ate you? No, we could have both jumped on her back.”

  Peter started laughing. “It’s not a horse, Dani.”

  Dani laughed harder and slapped her hip. “Ride ‘em, cowboy!”

  They both went into hysterics and fell back into a pile of pine needles under a large Ponderosa pine. Peter looked up into the tree, searching for bits of sky. He knew he would never forget this. “What are we going to say to your parents? They will not think it’s one bit funny.”

  Peter was strictly obedient to the Dugans’ rules. He did not want to do anything that would make them sorry they knew him.

  “Well,” Dani began, ”we were minding our own business, picking raspberries for my mom to make raspberry pie, my dad’s favorite, and this cute little baby bear came over and starting hollering for his mother. We knew that was bad news and started running for our lives. When we turned around, no one was chasing us.”

  Peter nodded. “That sounds good. But you left out the part where we got off the road and went into the woods.”

  Dani gave him one of those “Oh, brother!” looks.

  Peter was still looking for ways to tell Dani he loved her, but figured being lost in the forest was not a good time.

  Dani stood up and looked around. “Well, it’s not going to matter what we say if we can’t find our way back to tell the story.”

  “Let’s eat our lunch here and then find the river.” Peter took off his backpack, he was starving. They ate quickly and started walking downhill toward the sound of the river.

  “Look, I can see the road from here.” Dani pointed down the hill.

  Looking down that hill made him a little dizzy; he wasn’t good with heights. “I don’t think I can go this way, Dani.”

  She shrugged and pointed the other direction. “We’re not lost if we can see the road. Come on!” Dani led the way, and, as he always did in those days, Peter followed along. A large eagle swooped close over their heads and then dove toward the river. They lost sight of it behind some trees but then it rose back up, its powerful wings pumping hard to carry the weight of the large fish in its talons.

  As they watched it glide to the other side of the canyon, Peter lost his footing and started to fall. His foot caught between two rocks, twisting his knee. It hurt like nothing he had ever felt before. Peter clenched his teeth and held in a scream.

  “Peter!” Dani hurried down to him and helped him stand up. “Come on, that scared me.” She had him lean on her while they half slid, half walked their way down to the bottom of the rockslide.

  He tried to put more weight on his leg. It killed, but he tried not to show her. “Thanks, Dani, I can walk now.” Deeper in the forest now, the trees blocked the sun, but here and there were tiny spots of sunlight that had managed to sneak through.

  Peter remembered how grown up they felt as they opened the cabin door. They had been gone all day, avoided peril, and made it back in time for dinner. Dani’s parents barely looked up as they welcomed them back. Dani looked at Peter conspiratorially. “They will start asking questions soon. Be ready.”

  No questions came. All night while playing Monopoly, Dani and Peter kept giving each other sneaky looks with raised eyebrows. Dani had a habit of talking with her hands, so every once in a while she would raise her hand palm up in question.

  A semi whizzed past Peter on his way back to the airport, going at least seventy miles per hour, bringing him immediately back to the present. Peter shook his head. They gave us way too much freedom in those days. He and Dani could have gotten themselves killed a few times that month.

  Peter thought back to the Washington trip. The very next day, they packed up their lunches and said they were going out exploring. They waited for some kind of response or advice or even a concerned look from her parents as they stepped out into the wild woods. But they just gave a slight wave and said, “Have a nice day.”

  As they walked back up the road, this time determined to make it to the logger’s swing, Dani said, “Did you see my parents? I mean they could have at least warned us, like, ‘Be careful, you could get eaten by a bear.’ That would have been appropriate. Or maybe, ‘Don’t get lost in the woods. You could fall down a cliff!’ ”

  “I guess they trust us.” Peter knew not to say too much when Dani got on one of her rants.

  “I don’t want them to trust us; it’s too much responsibility. They are supposed to know if it’s safe here or not. They’re parents. Now, I’m going to have to get the travel guide out and waste my vacation reading up on this place. We could be dead right now, or worse—we could be bear poop.”

  Peter followed, listening to her gripe. She was funny, and he needed to concentrate on something to avoid thinking about the pain in his knee. So he just nodded his head and agreed with everything she said as he silently dealt with the pain.

  Peter slowed down as his jaguar slid a little to the side, going around a corner. A sports car was not the best idea for snow driving. The road curved through a tunnel of trees. The snow-covered branches looked like a winter wonderland in the reflection of his headlights.

  It brought him back to the tunnel of trees they’d hiked through on their way to the logger’s swing. It had been magical for a boy from the city. The smells were wonderful, and the fresh mountain air was invigorating. They found the logger’s swing at the top of a hillside. A rope was connected to a swing that was hanging out over the canyon. They had to pull the swing back to the hill so they could get on and sail out over the tops of the trees.

  He remembered Dani encouraging him to get on the swing. “You be first, Peter.” Dani held the swing firm while he climbed on and then pushed him out over the canyon. The swing was attached high in the branches of a pine tree. He flew high over the tops of the other trees, and for the first time, he felt grateful for the pain in his knee—it kept his mind off of his terror from being up so high. “Get off after the first swing, or you will be stuck out there,” Dani called.

  His knee was killing him, but he dared not mention it in case the Dugans felt they should take him home. They played for hours and ate their lunch, looking out over the valley.

  When Dani took her turn, she lay on her stomach as she sailed out over the tops of the trees. “I am Superwoman!” she screamed, the sound ec
hoing over the canyon.

  On their way home, they passed another cabin. Peter got the canteen out of the backpack. “I’m thirsty. Let’s get some water at the river.” They walked toward the water, where children were playing on rocks at the river’s edge. Peter looked around for any adults as he bent down to fill his canteen.

  Dani walked over to the kids. “Hi there, we’re in the cabin down the way.” The children waved and continued jumping from one rock to the other. Peter was just going to tell them to be careful when a little boy slipped, fell into the river, and was swept away. Peter dove in right behind him, reaching out to grab him. Dani ran as fast as she could downriver to an outcropping of rocks. Finally Peter got ahold of the boy, who was about four years old. He was choking and struggling to climb higher up Peter’s body. “I’ve got you. Hold still.”

  He saw Dani wading out from the shore. She had her hand stretched out toward him. He kicked off one of the rocks and grabbed her hand. She pulled while he got a foothold, and they carried the boy to shore.

  As soon as they put him down he ran to his cabin. Peter looked at Dani. They were both soaking wet. Her teeth were chattering. “You-you saved my life.” He tried to show how sincere he was, how much he meant what he was about to say. “I love you.”

  He could still remember her wide, beautiful eyes staring up at him, partly amused and partly pleased. “I know you do, Peter. I love you too.”

  Now, all these years later, Peter knew he would always love Dani. His windshield wipers whipped as fast as they could, brushing snow aside so he could see. That summer he had had no idea how much his life was about to change.

  Soon after that trip, his father was admitted to the hospital and died of liver failure. His mother just seemed to give up after that. It wasn’t even a week later when she collapsed at work from a stroke. Peter stayed with the Dugans until his family from Connecticut sent someone to pick him up. The day he was to leave, the whole household was depressed. Henry told him he would have better advantages in life with his aunt but that they would sure miss him.