Her Billionaire Christmas Secret (Texas Ranch Romance Book 4)

by Sophia Summers

  The foal’s head and front feet came out first. Carson pulled some of the birth sack off of the foal and cleared its nose. A couple more pushes, and the back legs were almost all the way out. Carson again gave them a little pull, and the back legs came out with the rest of the after birth.

  Sam looked up at his mother. His face was white. “This is kind of gross, Mom.”

  Dani laughed. “Yes it is, Sam. But it is also beautiful.” Joy and peace settled on everyone. New life came with peace. She looked around at everyone. She could see it on their faces, they all felt it.

  The mare stood up, and Carson motioned to Sam to come over. “Now, Sam, pet the foal all over. Just rub gently and talk to him.”

  Sam tentatively rubbed the foal’s back. “Hi, I am your new friend. I am going to call you, Flash. I know you will be fast, so that is a good name. I will take good care of you.”

  The foal started trying to stand up, and Sam backed away. He looked pretty wobbly, but he made it up.

  Dani looked worried. “Carson, the legs are too big. Is that a problem?”

  “Well, for a while. He just has to grow into them.” He led the foal to his mother’s milk. When they left, the foal was nursing hungrily.

  Sam yawned as they walked back to the ranch house. Dani held his hand all the way over, thinking of the day he was born.

  At their room, they both climbed into Dani’s bed and fell soundly asleep.

  Chapter 11

  The days passed as Dani waited for Peter to arrive. She spent her time running to the barn and back, as Sam insisted on staying with Flash. Aussie stood vigil as well. Every chance he got, Sam went in to pet and talk with his new foal. On the third day, they opened the back of the stall to the pasture. Flash followed his mother out and ate his first grass. Carson stayed close by, monitoring to make sure Sam was safe.

  On the day Peter was to arrive, her father found her in the barn. “So, Dani, I hear Peter is coming this afternoon. Are you wanting to shower before he gets here?”

  “Dad, what in the world?” Dani laughed. “Of course I plan to shower. I have basically been living in the barn the last three days.”

  “Well, now is a good time. He should be here soon. I’ll stay with Sam.” Henry put his arms around her. “We love you, Dani, it will be nice to see Peter again.”

  Dani smiled. “Okay, okay, I can take a hint.” She left and walked over to her house. So, her Dad was happy that Peter was coming after all.

  Dani was humming a tune as she walked back to her home. After her scare with Dr. Ryan, she was careful to keep her house locked at all times, even when she was home. Dani took a minute to straighten up the living room. Then she went to her closet, looking for something to wear. She settled on jeans and a cute shirt. After showering, she pulled her curly hair back into a ponytail and decided that was good enough.

  As she was walking back up the path toward the ranch house, she looked up and saw Peter coming down. She gasped, and her heart started beating erratically. She realized she was scared of what might happen, what she might have started with those text messages. Peter kept coming slowly, looking intently at her with a questioning smile. She relaxed. That tentative smile was one she recognized. It’s just Peter, my friend.

  “Peter, you’re here!” She increased her gait toward him, confident now. As she reached him, she took both of his hands. “You’re really here.”

  He smiled, a more relaxed big smile, and they both laughed with relief as the awkward moment passed. “I’m here, ready to work. I think this will be fun,” Peter said.

  “Well, you know how I love a project. I have notebooks and pens ready for our first workday.” Dani took his hand and led him to the ranch house.

  “Have you had lunch?” she asked with a wide smile.

  Peter stopped and looked at her. “What?”

  “I was just thinking, we might not take many breaks…there’s at least time for one of my mom’s cookies.” They both laughed, and the lingering worry and stress melted away.

  Dani pulled him in through the backdoor of the ranch house and into the kitchen, where she knew she would find her mother baking cookies for the evening. The smell of the cookies was intoxicating. It brought back memories to all of the guests that graced their halls. The lucky ones remembered cookies their own moms used to bake.

  Mary stopped shaping the cookies and took Peter into her arms. “We hope you will enjoy your time here, Peter.”

  “I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.” He took a bite. “MMM. I have missed these cookies!” Peter drank the milk Mary had given him.

  “Mom, you know Peter is here to work on our book project,” Dani interrupted.

  “Well, Dani, at least show him around before you crack the whip.” Mary laughed and patted Dani on the arm.

  “Yes, Mom, of course.” Dani got up and headed out of the kitchen and through the lobby. She turned to Peter. “Did you check in yet?”

  “Yes, that is all taken care of. Now, let’s see this place. I have only seen it in my mind’s eye. And where is Sam? I have been anxious to meet him.” Peter held the door for Dani as they walked out onto the porch. He stopped and looked at the lake again.

  “This place is remarkable, Dani. I can just imagine the adventures we could have cooked up at a place like this.” Peter took a deep breath. “Ah, clean country air.”

  Dani laughed. “Peppered with some horse and cow smell. If you follow your nose, you’ll find Sam over with his new colt. He’s busy training; we’ll stop in later.”

  Once they reached the covered bridge, they stopped a minute to look over the side into the water. Peter stepped closer, and she felt the warmth between them. “Dani, I’ve missed you. Those early years were so lonely. Everything that happened I wanted to tell you, to see you, all of it. And then as we both got older, you’ve just been this amazing memory for me.”

  She turned to him and stepped into a hug as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Flashes of many other hugs moved through her memory, some wonderful, some painful. Peter put his arms around her waist and pulled her toward him. “Dani, thank you. I need a hug, one friend to another, if that’s alright.”

  Dani looked up at him and agreed. “Sure, I should have hugged you before.”

  She didn’t expect the thrill that surged through her. Peter pulled her closer, and she held him tight and melted into his body. She never wanted to let go.

  His hoarse voice whispered, “Oh, Dani.” He kissed the top of her head as he pushed back from the embrace.

  Dani raised her eyebrows and sighed. That hug had given her something to think about. She loved Mitch, but this felt different. This was a power she had not experienced before. As they walked around the lake, she turned back to study his face.

  He raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

  She just shook her head, confused. If he had feelings for her, why hadn’t he answered her letters?

  Peter was having a hard time controlling the beating of his heart. He just wanted to grab Dani again and never let go. His dreams of being with her hadn’t even come close to what he was feeling now.

  Thoughts tumbled through him one after the other. He still had this deep fear for Dani. What if he took up drinking? If he went forward in the face of his genetic flaws but having the strength to give up the love of his life was going to cause some mental battles. In the end maybe they could just be friends. He felt like he was walking a tightrope. Falling off either way was going to be bad.

  “Come on, there is a river back here that floods every once in a while. There’s fish in this lake, but the fishing is better back there. Do you like to ride horses?” Dani was walking fast and talking faster and leading the way, like always. He had to chuckle. In the beautiful woman walking before him, he could see the little girl with unruly curls falling out everywhere.

  The sparkle in her eye showed the excitement she had about their book project. And knowing Dani, they would definitely begin workin
g today. There was no dawdling when there was a goal to accomplish. He had already talked to a friend of his, who happened to be a publisher. He knew she would be on that immediately.

  When they reached the far side of the lake, Dani sat on a bench and patted the seat beside her. “Tell me what has happened to you since you left our neighborhood.”

  “From the beginning?” He felt such love for this woman. To finally be here together—it was a gift. “My mother’s sister, Meredith, enrolled me in a military boarding school. I actually liked it and found I could succeed if I applied myself. I graduated with honors and went on to receive an MBA at Harvard.”

  “Harvard?” Dani spread her arms wide like she used to when they were kids. “That is amazing! I can’t even begin to express how great that is.” Dani grabbed his arm and squeezed it.

  Peter knew education was a part of Dani’s life plan. “Do you plan to continue your schooling?” He thought of her online courses he had paid for.

  Her expression was wistful. “Yes, I have always wished I could, actually. I do read a lot, and I’m taking online courses.” Dani smiled. “So, what do you do now?”

  “I work in New York at a hedge fund. My aunt’s been very good to me.”

  That’s great.” Dani brushed off her hands and stood back up. “Now, I have everything set up for our first writing session. Let’s get to it.”

  Peter stood up and followed Dani around the lake until she stopped at the big oak tree and pointed up. When he saw the tree fort, he couldn’t stop laughing. “We’re working in there?”

  “What?” Dani asked. “We did our best thinking in the tree fort.” But she too burst into laughter as they climbed up the ladder. She had stowed a plastic storage box up there full of paper and pens and some sodas and crackers.

  They stayed up in the fort until it started getting dark. Peter was on cloud nine and the sun set way too soon. They talked about their adventures and argued about who said what and when. They laughed as they relived some of the outrageous things they’d done.

  Dani said, “I still believe my parents gave us way too much freedom. There is no way I would let Sam do any of this stuff.”

  Peter nodded in agreement. “We could have been killed on several occasions.”

  Eventually it was getting too dark to see, and they were forced to climb down. Peter went first and caught Dani in his arms as she came down through the hatch. She turned around to face him, and although Peter was trying to control his emotions, to keep things slow between them, when she stood on tiptoe and reached for his lips he couldn’t resist. All the years on the sideline, loving her from far filled him with an urgency that surprised him. “Oh Dani.” He mumbled against her mouth and then dipped her to the side, cradling her in his arms, exploring her mouth with his own.

  Peter took a breath and sighed but did not let her go. His eyes searched her own, and she stared back full of happiness. He wanted to hold onto this moment as long as he could. He stood her back upright. She smiled shyly and straightened her shirt.

  “I think it’s time you met Sam. He’s probably still at the barn.”

  He could hear the coin in his pocket clink as he walked next to Dani.

  Chapter 12

  They walked over to the barn. Dani was worried about how Sam would handle meeting Peter. As they got to the door, Dani took a deep breath and called out, “Sam, are you in there?”

  “Over here, Mom. Flash is letting me brush him.”

  She came around the corner and looked upon the sweetest scene. Flash nuzzled him while he reached to move the brush along his back and down his legs. “Oh, Sam, you are such a good trainer for Flash. You two are going to be great friends.”

  Sam grinned, face full of pride. When he noticed Peter, his eyes dimmed but he raised his eyebrows in question.

  “Oh, Sam, remember my friend who helped me find the baby cougars? Well, this is Peter.”

  Sam smiled and stood up to walk over and shake his hand. “Wow, that was the coolest story ever.”

  Relief warmed some of her worry knots. Things just might turn out okay.

  Peter pointed towards Flash. “That is one beautiful animal. Can I pet him? How should I do it?”

  Sam went over and sat on the hay close to Flash. He motioned for Peter to come join him.

  Peter walked over and stooped down to sit by Sam, waiting for his next instructions. “Is this okay? He’s a beauty for sure.”

  Sam took his hand and showed him how to rub Flash’s neck. Peter looked up at Dani with misty eyes and a tentative smile.

  Dani came over and sat on the other side of Sam. She looked over the top of Sam’s head and into Peter’s eyes. This was the man she had loved all of her life. This was the man she had chosen at a very young age to be her partner in life, to raise a family with. They had played out this scenario over and over as they grew up.

  When Dani looked down at Sam, his eyes were turned up to her, watching, a hint of unease. He looked from Dani to Peter and back.

  “So how did Peter do, Sam?”

  Sam scowled and stood up. “Dad would have been much better, Mom.”

  Peter’s countenance fell a little. “Thank you, Sam that was really special for me. I am sure your father would have done it much better.”

  Sam ran out of the barn toward the ranch house. Dani looked over to Peter. “He hasn’t had much sleep the last three days since the colt was born. I’m sure he will be okay.”

  “Don’t worry about me. We’ll take this at Sam’s pace.”

  Dani stood up. “I will see you tomorrow morning. Thanks for coming, Peter. I think we made progress on the book.” She walked out of the barn to find Sam. He’d picked up on something between her and Peter and it was obviously too soon for Sam to think of any one replacing his father. He hadn’t even mourned for his Dad yet she had kept him so busy. What was she thinking starting something up with Peter? She hurried faster. If she knew her mother; he would be eating cookies again. But cookies weren’t going to solve this problem.

  Peter wondered if he should just leave. Upsetting Sam was the last thing he wanted to do. Maybe he was kidding himself. How did he think he could possibly replace a young boy’s beloved father? He slowly walked over to the ranch house and up to his room.

  He had four calls from New York waiting for him. He sat down at his computer and answered the calls one by one. But his mind troubled and mulled over Sam’s first reaction to him.

  That night he slept fitfully. He dreamed that he saw Dani in his mother’s ratty chair and little Sam kneeling on the floor beside her crying. He woke up sweating profusely and got up early to shower. He came down to breakfast half ready to check out and leave.

  Mary greeted him happily and gave him a flyer. The rodeo’s in town today! “Sam has signed up for Mutton Busting, you won’t want to miss that.” She put some orange juice in front of him . “I’m sure we can get Dani to stop writing her book for an afternoon of rodeo.” She laughed.

  “I don’t know. It might be a hard sell. Mary do you mind my asking; what is mutton busting?” He filled his plate with eggs, bacon and toast and sat down at the big table.

  “It’s rodeo for kids. They ride sheep. Sam has been practicing at the neighbors with Carson. Dani doesn’t know anything about it. He’s really excited about the surprise.” Mary walked back into the kitchen.

  Peter recognized a familiar lack of concern for safety in Mary’s plan. He wasn’t sure Dani would be too thrilled to have Sam out riding sheep. He was interested however to see how she handled it and decided if he was going to leave, he’s go after the Rodeo.

  Dani didn’t join them for breakfast but found Peter on the front porch later that morning. “Hi Peter, I am sorry I wasn’t over sooner. Sam was troubled last night and woke up crying this morning until Carson stopped by and then he jumped out of bed happy as a lark and ran off to the barn. I don’t know what to think.”

  Peter had a good idea but didn’t mention it. “I’m so sorry that I ups
et him last evening. That was the last thing I wanted to happen.”

  “Oh I know Peter. It was my fault really. I can’t be thinking of myself until I know that Sam is going to be okay. You would know better than I how it feels as a young boy to lose your parents.”

  “Yes,” Peter thought back to that day he drove off in the limo. “It was a dark time for me but I do think Sam will adjust. He has your parents and Carson and you to love and support him.”

  Peter thought maybe Dani really did want him to leave. “Do you think we should put off the book for awhile until you feel better about Sam?”

  Dani thought about it. “No I would hate to put off the book, I really think it’s going to be great.”

  Peter laughed. “That was a loaded question of course you would not ever want to put off a project.”

  Dani laughed. “That’s right, I’ll watch Sam today and see how he does, then we can talk about it.”

  Mary came out and gave Dani some tickets to the rodeo. “Carson got us front row seats, I know Sam is excited to go.”

  “Mom I didn’t know anything about this, you know we’re working on the book project.” Dani got that very familiar look on her face that Peter recognized. Being thwarted. She had a special battle-ready look for the possibility of being thwarted. He had to chuckle.

  She turned to him. “What?”

  “It’s just that thwarted look. I am very familiar with it.” Peter kept chuckling as he shook his head.

  “Well if we are ever going to get anything accomplished someone has to keep to the project.”

  “Yes for sure.” He wondered if she was going to go into a rant. He watched her, amused.

  “Well I am glad you seem to be entertained. But there is no way we are finishing these books in the time we have if we don’t get moving on them. I hope I am not going to have to pull you along this whole time.” That did it and he broke into hysterics.