Her Billionaire Christmas Secret (Texas Ranch Romance Book 4)

by Sophia Summers

  When they landed, he saw his aunt’s limo waiting on the tarmac. James laughed as he opened the door. “Looks like Aunt Meredith wants a meeting.”

  Peter packed up his briefcase and headed down the stairs. “She’s keeps life interesting, James. I enjoy talking with her.” He gripped his old friend’s hand and thanked him again. “Merry Christmas James.”

  He stepped off the plane and the new driver, Clark, opened the door. “Welcome back, sir.”

  “Thanks, Clark.” Peter climbed in. “Hello, Aunt Meredith.” He leaned over to kiss her cheek.

  “Hello, Peter, I do miss you on Christmas day. I have ordered it for tomorrow instead.” She laughed and patted his arm affectionately.

  “That is a marvelous idea.” He loved this hard, sophisticated woman. She had softened toward him over the years. After his graduation from Harvard, she told him, “I am proud to be your aunt.” This compliment was akin to being anointed at Westminster Abby. After his graduation, she had regular business meetings with him, and he was expected for every Sunday dinner. Three years later she had asked him to move into the east wing of the estate.

  ”Aunt, how are you feeling today.” The lines on her face had softened, but she was getting more of them and looked tired most days.

  His aunt put her hand on his cheek. “Don’t worry about me, Peter, I’m fine.” Even at this age, she was a very beautiful woman. She carried herself like a queen and had kept herself looking young and trim.

  As they drove into the estate, Peter marveled that all this was his. “Aunt, do you intend to keep these hunting acres wild and natural?”

  His aunt became flustered. “I am not going to have a cavalcade of horses and hounds hunting the place like the last occupant.” The estate possessed 20 acres of hunting grounds. But his aunt had turned it into an animal refuge during the hunting season to the chagrin of her neighbors.

  The rest of the estate was manicured gardens with appropriately placed ponds and waterfalls. There was an inside and an outside pool, with tennis courts behind the pool. And the estate sat north of New London on the Atlantic shore. Peter helped his aunt out of the limo once they arrived home. “Christmas begins at 11 am sharp Peter.” She chuckled but meant it.

  Aunt Meredith’s Christmas day did begin at 11 a.m. sharp. She had asked for a painting of him for Christmas, and he had sat patiently while her choice of artist captured his portrait. Each year she told him exactly what she wanted from him as a gift, which he greatly appreciated.

  They sat down to brunch. “Merry Christmas, Aunt. You look lovely this morning.” He had the painting set out and asked Edgar to remove the sheeting.

  “Oh, Peter, it’s wonderful! He captured your brilliance. You have your mother’s eyes.”

  A sadness came over her face then. She dabbed her eyes with her napkin. “Edgar, leave it here for now, but I would like that hung in my sitting room.”

  “Of course, ma’am.”

  “Come follow me, Peter. I have your present this way.”

  Aunt Meredith walked him to the west wing and opened the door to the library.

  “This is fabulous! How did you have this done without me knowing?”

  “I have a sneaky contractor.” She grinned. “And let me tell you, he moaned about the restrictions I put on his workers. But he didn’t mind the Christmas bonus I gave him.”

  Peter looked around the room. A large desk was situated back by new French doors that opened onto a patio and garden. The far wall was floor-to-ceiling glass, three remaining walls held bookshelves already full of books he was sure his aunt expected him to read. “Aunt, I love this. You couldn’t have surprised me more.”

  He and his aunt spent the rest of the evening playing Parcheesi, one of her favorite games.

  Two days after their Christmas dinner his aunt met him at breakfast with a command. “You will now take a trip to visit all the estates. Bradley and Beck will go with you so you can meet the staff and get to know your holdings.” He knew better than to argue with her when her mind was made up.

  “I will go in to work today to settle some things and clear my schedule. I could probably leave the end of the week. Would you want to accompany me?” Peter remembered how often she had traveled to the continent while he was growing up.

  “No dear boy, my traveling days are over. I am most content to stay here now. However, I will be anxious to hear what you think of the European estates when you get back.”

  The end of the week he took the family jet to each of the European estates. He was amazed at the luxury that sat empty most of the time. The staffs had been most reliable and very happy to meet him. Of all the estates the one in England impressed him the most even though it was the most modest of the three.

  The England estate was located on the Thames River. The home originally belonged to the head of Gayhurst School and was named Little Gayhurst. It was located between the towns of Bourne End and Cookham. The property had its own boat launch and seemed to be in good shape. As he walked out back to see the one-hundred-year-old red maple tree, he asked, “Is that golf course across the river popular among the residents?” His lawyers assured him it was and offered to take him golfing the next day.

  The grounds were surrounded with a large twelve-foot-high wall. To discourage anyone from trying to climb over, sharp broken glass had been embedded year ago into the concrete on top. The caretaker, who was living in the apartment over the garage, was not looking after the property as well as Peter would have liked. He was getting on in age and could use help. “Mr. Wright,” he said to the caretaker, “I am planning to hire a couple gardeners for you to manage. I would expect them to do all the garden work and keep the shoreline clean and presentable. It will be good for you to have a small staff to take care of issues you may not want to do yourself.”

  Mr. Wright sighed in relief. He was a stout, shorter man with silver-grey hair and a jolly, weathered face. His wife stood next to him. They were the picture of a devoted pair. Peter liked them immediately and was happy to have such high-caliber people tending to his estate.

  “Thank you, sir, I was worried I might be losing my position.”

  “No, sir. Mr. Beck will sit down with you today and discuss your salary increase. And he has a retirement plan for you as well that he will go over. You may have the use of the apartment for as long as you need it.”

  The Wrights both smiled through teary eyes. “Thank you so much. We will do our best.”

  Peter shook Mr. Wright’s hand. “I can see that you already are.”

  Before they left the estate, Peter took one more walk out to the river’s edge. The Thames was wide at this point, and he could see a father and son jogging along a path on the other side. He wondered if he would ever be so fortunate as to have a son. Peter spent the flight home working.

  He felt good about the trip he had taken with the lawyers. He was very attached to his aunt and happy their relationship had grown close over the years. She was the closest person he had to his mother, and watching his aunt gave him a glimpse of what his mother could have been had she not ended up with his father.

  Peter considered all he has seen on each estate. “Mr. Beck how often are these estates visited now?”

  “Well, Mr. Jacobs, this is the first visit in two years.” Peter wondered how his aunt would feel about selling at least one of them.

  Peter was quiet the rest of the trip. He kept thinking about James’ suggestion that he try to visit Dani. Of course he would never do that while she was married. He knew his fear of destroying her life was not all together rational. He hadn’t taken a drink his entire life. The chances of him ever doing so were slim yet he couldn’t rid himself of the pit in his stomach every time he even thought about a life with her. And who was to say whether she would even be interested in him. Maybe he needed a therapist.

  Chapter 4

  Someone delivered a goose to Dani’s home on Christmas Eve. She smiled. This was the second Christmas goose that had mysterious
ly been delivered to her doorstep. Her mother had sent a Martha Stewart recipe for goose with rice stuffing. She loved the smell of it cooking. Mitch had fallen asleep in his chair, and Dani sat down in the window seat to watch Sam ride his bike outside. She chuckled, thinking of how anxious he’d been for the snow to melt. He had tried to take her hair dryer outside to speed up the process. “Sam, I promise the snow will be melted by noon. This is Kentucky after all.”

  Her home was lovely. She had very nice western-style furniture. Much of it came from her parents’ ranch resort. Each year they remodeled some of the hotel rooms and sent her a truckload of furnishings. Furnishings from a five-star dude ranch made her home the best furnished in the neighborhood. She’d complained the first year at how much furniture they sent. “Mom, what am I supposed to do with all of this?”

  “Why, Dani, have a garage sale of course.”

  After that first year, she just gave up and gladly accepted the truck’s contents. Her living room had big leather sofas. There was a large coffee table sitting on gnarled cedar legs with a large glass shadow box top filled with western paraphernalia; arrowheads, small Native American artwork, old gold coins and spurs. Sam could sit for hours, imagining stories for each piece.

  She had a bearskin rug in the office that startled her when she entered the room more often than not. The memory of her and Peter being chased by a bear popped up now and then when she went in there. Thinking of those long claws and sharp teeth made her cringe at what could have happened. They were so carefree and clueless in those days. She determined not to be so cavalier with Sam’s safety.

  Sam came running into the house. “Mom, I’m starved, I need a cookie.”

  “This isn’t Grandma’s house, Sam. You can have a deviled egg while we wait for the goose to finish cooking.”

  “Yuck! That’s disgusting.”

  Dani laughed and ruffled his hair. “I think we’ll eat in about 15 minutes. Can you wait that long?”

  Dani sat in the recliner at the side of her work desk. She loved the glass-encased bookshelves that came with the desk. Her dad had included many of the latest New York Times bestsellers and classics they liked to stock for guests.

  A cowboy and horse set decorated Sam’s room. The chair in his room was a saddle on a carved wooden horse. It was huge, and was another gift they had found on the front porch one Christmas morning. Sam’s room had a large llama rug with pictures of wolves, cows, and coyotes on the wall. The matching pottery, artwork, lamps, draperies and area rugs for each room were all from her parents.

  When the truck came each year, she would take what she wanted and have a huge garage sale for everything else. Last week, she had opened her front door to find three women standing on her porch. “Hello, Dani, we have a suggestion we would like you to consider.” The whole town looked forward to the truck’s arrival, and they asked if they could set up a bazaar along the street next year. These shipments were officially becoming a town event.

  Mitch interrupted her thoughts and called to her from the other room. “Dani, we need to talk. You have been avoiding this long enough.” Dani dreaded the conversation she knew he wanted to have.

  She walked over to him, her heart in pain, and sat on the arm of the chair next to him. “I know, Mitch, I just keep thinking something will happen and all this bad news will change for the better.”

  “I’m stage five, Dani, you know what that means.”

  “I’ve been studying up, and I think I can take care of you.” She smiled encouragingly.

  “Dani, how are you going to get me out of bed and into the chair? There was a reason I played football.”

  “A crane!” she answered. Mitch rolled his eyes in exasperation.

  “No, seriously, I have looked into it. They have cranes for situations like this.” She had to smile a little; it was a bit outrageous sounding.

  Mitch started laughing. “Well, who operates this crane? I’m envisioning you lifting me up, swinging me over and dropping me on the floor.”

  They both laughed. He had a point.

  “And then who will pick me up?” he asked.

  “Well, you would still have the sling around you; we would just try again.” She raised her eyebrows hopefully.

  Mitch shook his head.

  “So, we talked. Are you happy now, honey?” Dani stood up.

  “Not too much.” Mitch had a wry smile. “But at least you’re back to being the determined and stubborn woman I married.”

  Dani leaned down behind him and put her arms around his neck. “We will think of something.”

  Dani called Sam in for Christmas dinner. He brought his bike into the house and to his bedroom after he dried it with one of her nice towels from the ranch.

  The goose was wonderful. There wasn’t much of it, but it was perfect for her small family. Sam was getting better at trying new foods. He actually loved the sweet potatoes—better described as brown sugar with a dollop of sweet potato smothered in marshmallows.

  Dani cleaned up after dinner storing away left overs. Sam complained, “Will I have to eat this again?”

  “Well, the day after Christmas is special for moms. I make a big dinner on Christmas so there are lots of yummy leftovers. Then I don’t have to cook again the next day, and we’ll have more time to play with all of your Christmas presents.”

  Sam loved to just sit, snuggled up with his Mom, and listen to her tell stories. Sometimes she told him stories of her exploits with Peter. He said they were his favorite.

  Dani waited a couple weeks after Christmas to call her parents. She missed them so much, she almost hated to call. Every year it was the same thing. She always felt such a loss when she hung up.

  But now most of the winter rush was over at the resort and she could have a leisurely conversation with them. They were always swamped with guests over the holidays. “Hi, Mom, merry Christmas!”

  “Dani, dear, merry Christmas. We are finally getting a break here. Did Sam like the toys we sent?”

  “Yes, he loved the toys, Mom. But you were outdone again by Santa. There was a beautiful, red BMX bicycle on the front porch this morning.”

  “Have you ever figured out who’s doing this? It’s not us, although I wish it was.”

  “I have no idea. I honestly have stopped thinking about it. Sam said it was Santa. I am going to have to go with that.”

  Her mother paused dramatically. “You will never guess who we ran into on our trip to New York. It was Peter! We were so happy to see him.”

  “Peter? Really? How is he doing?” Dani’s heart jumped. She was surprised by the empty feeling in the pit of her stomach. He had dropped out of her life when he left to live with his aunt. She remembered sitting in her tree fort, writing letter after letter. It hurt each time the mail came and there were no letters from Peter. Eventually she pushed memories of him to the back of her mind, deciding it was childish to hold on to a friendship that was not returned.

  “We invited him to join us, so he sat down and spent about an hour with us. He looks great. He has turned into a very handsome man, a lot like his father. There is an air of confidence about him. He seemed happy and talked fondly of his aunt Meredith.”

  “Does he have a family now? I assume he’s married.”

  “We asked him that. He said he wasn’t, but he had someone special in mind.”

  “I am very happy for him.” Dani’s ire was up a little at hearing this. Her whole life she had a hard time when things didn’t turn out like she had planned. Peter had been supposed to write when he went away. For years they had sat in that tree fort and made plans for their future. She had had it all worked out. And then he just dropped out of her life. She had scolded him in her letters for his unfaithful behavior. She laughed. It was all pretty childish, but she couldn’t help feeling thwarted anyway.

  “We all took a selfie together. I will text it to you.”

  “Thanks, Mom. Is Dad there?”

  “He’s out at the barn. I’ll have him ca
ll you later tonight.”

  Dani’s phone dinged, and she looked at the picture of her parents and Peter.

  Whoa! Her mom wasn’t kidding. He was gorgeous. She couldn’t believe he wasn’t married. How could any woman let him pass by? Dani looked closer and those same kind eyes stared back at her.

  Mitch rolled in next to her. “How are your parents doing?”

  “They’re great. Look at this picture of them in New York.” She handed him the phone.

  “They are certainly aging gracefully. Something about ranch work keeps you young, I guess. Who’s the guy?”

  “That’s Peter.”

  “Hmm. You never once mentioned his looks.”

  “No, he was different then. His whole countenance has changed. He seems more in control somehow. I don’t know. But whatever changed, it was for the good. The last time I saw him, he was a scared, beaten-down kid.”

  “Well he has had quite the revival.”

  Dani smiled at her husband’s reaction. She took her phone back and pinched his cheek playfully. Mitch had always been pretty territorial when it came to her.

  Sam had one more day left of his school holiday and it was Friday movie night. Mitch promised him they could watch the movie Cars together. Dani had seen it at least 20 times while Sam was growing up. So she went to the office and shut the door.

  She sat back in the recliner and looked at the picture of Peter again. A happy peace settled on her heart. He was doing fine. All these years, she had worried about him. Before he left she had made it her job to see that he was okay. She smirked. She had even beaten up a couple boys who had been bullying him. She didn’t tell Sam those stories. Who wants a mom who beats up boys?

  It felt really good to sit and look into Peter’s confident, happy face. He didn’t need her help now.

  Chapter 5

  Dani liked to leave the Christmas decorations up at least until after New Year’s Day. Christmas was such a wonderful happy time, and with Mitch’s continued decline, they needed whatever happiness they could squeeze out of the holidays this year. The doctor told them it would be his last. But Dani just couldn’t bring herself to give up. Surely there would be a new medicine they could try. She constantly researched new therapies. She made a point of preparing the freshest healthy food she could find. Her parents had sent a high powered blender so she could blend up his food now that it was so hard for him to eat. It was her nature to fight back, but no matter what she did, he still continued to decline.