Her Billionaire Christmas Secret (Texas Ranch Romance Book 4)

by Sophia Summers

  Dani and Peter came downstairs to sit on the sofa and hold their kittens while Henry called the Skykomish rangers. They named the kittens Oscar and Louella. Then the rangers arrived with a reporter from the town newspaper.

  The rangers asked them a lot of questions, and they gave descriptions of the hunters. Then one of the rangers reached for a kitten. “We will take them to a wildlife shelter where they will be raised until they can go back out into the wild.” The rangers each took one kitten by the back of the neck and headed for the door. The kittens started yowling again.

  Peter and Dani continued sitting in silence, just taking in everything that had happened. The Dugans didn’t say anything to them about their choices that day. It was pretty clear now that they were on their own and were expected to make wise decisions. It was a lot of pressure. That next Saturday, their pictures were on the front page of the Snoqualmie Valley Record.

  Chapter 7

  After the dinner with Jessica, Peter stopped by the boys club to see James. “How’s it going here?”

  “Great! I’m glad you stopped by. I haven’t had a chance to talk to you since you went to the funeral. How was it seeing Dani again?” James handed Peter a soda.

  “She is amazing. She has had a hard time of it, but her spark is still there. I got chewed out for not writing her back.” He chuckled. “I know I made the right choice there, but she was not happy about it.” He had no idea Dani would become such a beautiful woman.

  “You know, James, she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and that is saying something.” If James could take the time to talk, he wanted to bounce some ideas off of him.

  James was excited. “This is the beginning of a new life for you.”

  “James, who’s to say if she will even be interested in me now? Besides, it’s indecent to even try to see her right away.”

  “Yeah, yeah, but you could make contact now and then, just to keep your name in the picture. You know, send her a copy of one of those pictures you scoured up from your trip to Washington with her family.”

  James continued, “Maybe get on her Facebook and email; eventually you could start texting.”

  “These are all good ideas, James. Thanks.”

  Peter headed home. It was a long drive, but he appreciated the time to think and unwind in the limo.

  Even though there was actually a possibility that they could one day be together, he still felt that nagging voice in his head, You will ruin her life. He was afraid to go forward. But he was also so drawn toward her, he didn’t know if he could stay away.

  He carried the arrowhead and the coin in his pocket. They represented both the joy he had as he thought of being with Dani and the fear of ruining her life. He flipped them over and over in one hand. It had become a nervous habit. The turmoil in his heart was real. He sighed and put them back in his pocket. He was tired and needed to rest his mind.

  He took off his shoes and kicked back. He never could look at a pair of shoes without thinking of the Dugan’s and Christmas.

  Every year they had a couple presents for him under their tree. One was always a pair of new shoes. They always bought the most popular shoes that year for him.

  Peter drifted back to the day it all started. He was seven years old. He was in coed gym class and was putting on his gym shoes to play volleyball. One of the kids in the class reached over and grabbed one of his shoes. “Look at Peter’s holey shoes. Are you going to be a preacher?” He ran all over the gym, showing everyone his shoe. Everybody laughed except Dani. She turned red as her temper grew hot. When the kid finally came back, she took the shoe out of his hand and hit him over the head with it as hard as she could. He fell down crying, and she was sent to the principal’s office. Dani told him later that her parents had to come over to the school and convince the principal she wasn’t going to be any further trouble.

  The Christmas after he turned seven stood out in his mind. He didn’t think much about his parents’ finances at that age. He just knew he didn’t have the clothes or toys that other children in the neighborhood had.

  On Christmas morning, Dani showed up at his door. “Merry Christmas! Mrs. Jacobs, can Peter come over to play?” Before Dani could step in the house, Peter ran to the door to stand in her way. His father had passed out on the living room floor the night before. His mother smiled at Dani and nodded.

  “I have a big surprise for you,” Dani said. “I picked them out myself.” They walked through the mud around the back of her house and came up the back steps. After they came in the back door, they sat down and took off their shoes. In stocking feet, they padded through the kitchen.

  Dani’s mother was busy cooking and looked up with a smile when she saw them. “Merry Christmas, Peter! How are your parents doing this morning?”

  “Merry Christmas, ma’am. They are okay; Dad is still sleeping.”

  “I am going to give them a call a little later today. Why don’t you and Dani go see what’s under the Christmas tree?”

  The kitchen was painted a cheery yellow with white trim. There was a cookie jar that looked like a big red apple sitting on the counter, which always seemed to have cookies inside. The kitchen window was over the sink and had colorful curtains with pink and yellow flowers. The pantry door was open, and Peter was amazed to see how much food was in there. The top two shelves were full of jars of peaches, pears, and tomatoes. The lower shelves were full of canned goods of every kind: soups, beans, peas, corn, beets, pineapple and little jars of jelly. Sometimes at his house, there was nothing but soda crackers to eat. The Dugans would never go hungry.

  As they opened the door to the living room, the strong scent of pine filled his nostrils. Dani ran over to the tree and picked up a clumsily wrapped box and handed it to Peter. “Sit down and open this. I’m so excited.”

  Peter was nervous opening the box, trying to save the beautiful paper. Finally Dani started tearing the paper off to help him. When she opened the lid and he saw the shoes, he just stared and couldn’t say a word. They were the coolest and most expensive shoes you could buy.

  “Well, put them on!” Between him and Dani, he got the shoes on. They were wonderful. He walked around feeling a bounce to his step. He’d had no idea what a good shoe felt like.

  “We have to go run, Dani.”

  She squealed her approval and got her jacket. “Mom, we are taking a test run! Be right back.”

  Dani ran as fast as she could to keep up with Peter. He smiled—he had never felt so good.

  That was the end of anyone teasing him about his shoes. From that year on, the Dugans made a point of buying him the best, most expensive tennis shoes on the market for Christmas.

  He pulled himself out of his reverie as the limo came to a stop at his front door. His aunt would ask him about his business meeting when he saw her. She wanted to know and love her posterity before she left this earth. This woman normally got what she wanted. He’d have breakfast with her and report then. Peter smiled as he went up to his room.

  He changed his clothes and sat in his office. Peter leaned back and wondered how he could contact Dani without breaking any social mores. It made him happy to think of her living with her parents on the Texas ranch they owned. Sam would love being on the ranch, and Henry was a perfect father figure. They had a thriving business and were the perfect hosts. From his own experience with the Dugans, he felt sure that everyone who was a guest at the ranch would leave a better person.

  But they also had a reputation that worried him. In his later years, Henry had apparently decided he was a good matchmaker. What if he tries to set Dani up with one of their guests? Peter’s emotions went back and forth. He wanted to spend his life with her. On the other hand, that voice from his youth told him he had to protect her from himself.

  Chapter 8

  Dani woke up to Sam squealing with delight. She pulled on her bathrobe and wandered out into the kitchen to see what was up.

  “Look, Mom, a puppy!” A darling, little, fuzzy
puppy was hobbling along the carpet toward her.

  She quickly picked it up and walked to the front porch. “Sam, where did you get this puppy?” She didn’t want to look at it too closely because she knew she would fall in love with it. As soon as she set it down in the grass, it peed. “Good puppy!”

  “Carson said he wanted me to babysit his puppy during the day until he gets bigger.”

  “Oh, he did, did he?” She would need to have a talk with Carson. The last thing she wanted was puppy messes on her new carpet. And that bear rug was likely to be a prime location. Although now that she thought about it, that was not such a bad idea.

  “He’s going to grow up to be a cow dog. I am going to help train him. I’m a cowboy now, Mom, and this is one of my first jobs.”

  Well, that did it. Carson was a smooth operator. How could she deny Sam now? He looked so happy. Psychologically this was a good idea for Sam. It gave him something to care for and train, taking his mind off of how desperately he missed his father.

  “Okay, Sam, I guess the first thing we need to teach him is to do his business outside.”

  Sam ran into his mother’s arms. “Yeah! Thank you, Mom.”

  “You are going to be a great cowboy, Sam. You are already a great son. I love you so much!” She wanted to squeeze him so hard, but he squirmed away and went out in the yard to begin puppy training.

  “Have you had breakfast?”

  “I ate over at Grandma’s.” Well, I did sleep in late. She knew she would never be the cook that her mother was—that was a given. She had tried, all those years with Mitch. It was just no use. Some people have the knack and some do not.

  The phone rang. “Hi, Mom. Yes, I’m fine. I just couldn’t get to sleep last night.” She kept thinking about Peter and the man he had turned into. There was something reassuring about having made contact with him after all these years. Just knowing he was there gave her peace. All night, she kept seeing him as the young boy she had befriended. She got out her phone and looked at his picture. He still had the same kind eyes, but he had changed in other amazing ways. “Mitch hit the nail on the head,” she said to herself as she headed for her morning shower. “Peter has definitely revived.”

  Once she was dressed, she called Sam in to get his walking shoes. “Come on, Sam. We have to go walk around so I can show you the safe places on the ranch and where you need to be careful.”

  “Can I bring the puppy?” Sam was holding the puppy loosely, and it slipped through his arms until he had him around the neck.

  “Here, hand me that puppy.” She took him and supported his lower body with one hand and balanced his upper body with the other. “This is a better way to hold him so he doesn’t slide down and get choked.”

  She handed the puppy back to Sam. “Now you try it.”

  He held him up, but the puppy started squirming to get down.

  “Okay, set him down to see what he wants.” The puppy walked over and did his business. “Now say ‘good puppy.’ ”

  Sam stooped down and praised the puppy.

  “Okay, let’s walk around the lake first. What’s this guy’s name?”

  “Carson said his friend Cooper sent him all the way from Australia on an airplane. He wants to call him Aussie.”

  “Okay, Aussie, come!”

  Dani loved it here. She sighed and breathed in good, fresh, humid air. Dani burst out laughing at her own thoughts. Well she didn’t need to get carried away. The humidity was a little hard to get used to.

  They headed across the bridge. “Sam, your grandparents made this covered bridge.”

  He was looking over the edge for fish. Dani sat down for a minute on the bench that extended the full length of the bridge. This must have been a lot of work. The bridge had white posts supporting a country-blue roof. It was color coordinated with the house and stables. Sam threw a stick over one side and ran to the other to see it float by. Dani took his hand. “I have more to show you, come on.”

  Along the road, Aussie stopped here and there to sniff but kept pace right behind Sam. Dani was impressed; this little dog looked like he was excited to learn whatever Sam wanted to teach him. “I think Aussie is tired, Sam. Let’s rest a while.”

  When they got to the bench, Dani sat down to enjoy the view while Sam and Aussie checked out the water’s edge. She loved the shade the trees provided on this side of the lake.

  The river bottom behind her was left wild. The other side of the lake was well manicured forest and pasture.

  “Do you want to see the tree fort?” Dani pointed to it, and Sam took off running. She was left to carry Aussie.

  Sam is going to have so much fun on this ranch.

  She loved watching the horses in the pasture. It had been years since she had ridden, but she had to admit, the horses her parents had recently purchased were pretty tempting. The palomino that was leaning over the white board fencing seemed to be calling to her. She needed to talk to Carson about the puppy, but it would also be fun to have him share the history of each of the horses. I am going to have fun too.

  She watched Sam jumping up to a knot on the rope swing. He pushed off of the tree, and the swing carried him over the water and back again. She smiled as her mind jumped back to the loggers swing and the hours she and Peter had spent swinging out over the forest. She wasn’t sure she would ever allow Sam to try that one.

  Sam’s scream jerked her back to the present. He had fallen off the rope swing and wasn’t moving. Dani started running at the same time one of the guests came running over from the barn.

  She got there just as the man was lifting Sam up and sitting him on the tree stump.

  “Let me look at that arm, young man.” He turned to Dani. “I’m Doctor Ryan, I’m a guest here.” He looked to be in his early thirties and was pretty cute. But when he looked up at her and grinned, his eyes went to her cleavage.

  Dani raised her hand to adjust her blouse. “Do you think it’s broken?” He seemed to know what he was doing, but she would feel much better if she saw some credentials. And after his behavior, he was already on her bad side.

  “His shoulder is slightly distended.” He pulled Sam’s arm straight out and then took a bandana from around his neck and fashioned a little sling. “You may have to wear that for a couple days. Can you do that?”

  Through tears, Sam nodded.

  “It’s probably a good idea to have his arm X-rayed. I don’t think it’s broken, but you can’t know for sure until you do the tests.”

  “Thank you, I am Dani Woodlock.” Dani shook his hand.

  “Will I see you and your husband at dinner?”

  “No, I’m not a guest. Thanks for helping.” Dani was not in the habit of telling strangers her personal business, and she was not at a point where she could even talk about Mitch’s death, so she left it at that and took Sam home.

  On the way she walked through the ranch house to the kitchen looking for her mom. “Hey, Mom, Sam fell off the rope swing and hurt his arm. I am going to run him over to Doc Beckers.”

  “Oh, Sam, come over here.” Her mom wrapped him up in her arms and her love. “Here, you better eat one of these.” She handed him one of her famous cookies, hot out of the oven. Dani smiled. In her mother’s mind, cookies solved all problems—particularly her cookies. She might deny it, but every time she saw a problem, she gave a cookie. She loved that about her mom.

  “Thanks, Mom. Do you need anything in town while I am out?” She shook her head, no.

  As she looked back, her mother had given Peter a cookie every time he came into the house. Back then he was a little boy with a big problem. Her mother had befriended Adelaide, Peter’s mother, soon after they moved in. Mary never shared confidences, so Dani didn’t really know anything about their situation other than Peter’s dad was ill and his mother was very busy and tired. She heard this many times over the years when she had asked to go to Peter’s house to play. Eventually she quit asking.

  She remembered that when it was cannin
g time, though, Adelaide was there helping, and she always went home with a couple dozen jars of each thing they canned. Consequently, Dani got out of having to help and sadly never learned how to can. She regretted this now, but she was sure she would be conscripted as soon as the harvest was in this year. This time she actually looked forward to helping her mom.

  Sitting in the doctor’s office gave Dani some time to think. She wondered if Peter needed a cookie anymore. He surely didn’t look like it. She gave Sam a National Geographic magazine about alligators. “Here, Sam, read about these. Sometimes they visit the ranch.”

  “Whoa, really?” He started thumbing through the pages.

  As she thought about Peter, she realized seeing him again had changed things. He was different.

  Peter was confident, and there seemed to be an inner strength that had been missing completely when he was younger. She was intrigued. What had happened in his life? She’d missed so much of it that he was almost like a totally different person. She was impressed with how he’d dressed at the funeral too. His clothes shouted money, and his hair was a surprise—he wore it in the latest style. A man needed a healthy salon budget to keep a longer style looking that great.

  Dani laughed as she pictured his face as a little boy. His dark, curly hair was always sticking out everywhere until his mother gave him his semiannual buzz cut. She had to admit, he was looking really good now. She considered his request that they get together and talk. She wanted to hear about everything.

  The nurse came in to announce it was Sam’s turn to be seen. “Come on, Sam, all he’ll do is take a picture of your arm. No worries.”

  “Can I bring the magazine with me?”

  “Sure.”

  The doctor came in with a wheelchair. Dani cringed as the last month came crashing in on her.

  “Mom, look, it’s Dad’s chair.”

  She took a deep breath. “Yes, Sam, Dad had a wheelchair to help him get around when he was sick.”