Her Billionaire Christmas Secret (Texas Ranch Romance Book 4)

by Sophia Summers

  “Well, okay. You’ll be back though, right?”

  Peter took a deep breath and regained some of his composure. “Of course, how else will I keep the story straight?” He laughed halfheartedly.

  She recognized his efforts to lighten things up, but she wasn’t fooled. “Whatever, Peter. Your memory is a bit faded. I never forced you to hike down that rockslide. That was your idea.” The banter seemed to be cheering him up.

  “My knee was about to come out of its socket, and you insisted, as you always did, that I go that way.” Peter smirked.

  “Well, then why didn’t you listen to me and head back the way we came when we were hunting for raspberries? We could have avoided that rockslide.”

  “The bears?” He raised his eyebrows in question.

  “Oh, those!” They both laughed, remembering the terror they felt as they ran away from that angry mother bear. Dani knew he had won that argument, and she let him glory in it. “So, when can we have another writing session?”

  He avoided her eyes. “I’ll let you know once I take a look at my schedule.” The joy drained from his face again.

  They walked up to the ranch house. Neither Dani or Peter said a word. Dani felt the less they spoke, the better chance there was that he would come back. She could sense him trying to make a decision that might take her out of his life. And she felt powerless against a thick wall of darkness she couldn’t understand.

  Her mother went over to the barn to get Sam and put him to bed.

  There was music playing softly in the lobby. Peter jingled something in his pocket and then stood up.

  Henry walked in from the kitchen. “Hello, you two.” Henry said. “I am off to bed. It’s so nice to have you here, Peter.”

  Peter took his hand. “Thank you so much, Henry. My whole life I’ve been thanking the Dugan family for your kindness to me. This is a wonderful home you have. A wonderful family.”

  Peter helped Dani up from the sofa. “I think we should all get to bed. See you tomorrow.” He gave Dani a hug and walked up the stairs to his room.

  Peter went to his room and tore into himself. How could he have placed them all in this position, knowing what he did about his potential? He accused himself of taking advantage of Dani’s revealed need for him. What was he thinking? A picture of his mother passed before his mind’s eye. She was sitting in a ratty, old kick back chair, exhausted from working two jobs and trying to get a moments rest. Her premature grey hair falling out of her carefully styled French twist. Her eyes circled with dark rings, with wrinkles from years of stress and worry. He could never do that to Dani.

  He was intelligent enough to realize that even if he had the propensity to become an alcoholic like his father, he’d taken every step he could to avoid that possibility. But at the very center of his core, was that young boy’s fear of destroying the person he most loved. That risk had always been there, tormenting him. His father’s coin, a constant reminder of the terror he felt for his mother. The terror he must keep from Dani.

  James was a good man. A recovered alcoholic. Peter had no idea what had come over him to be drinking again, and driving. Twenty years had gone by without alcohol. It was partly James’ strength and continued sobriety that had given Peter hope.

  When James stopped to pick up his youngest son no one realized he’d been drinking. He hadn’t the strength to manage his condition on his own. No one realized the danger he was to his son until it was too late. He plowed into a semi in oncoming traffic killing them both. What happened? Why did he start?

  Peter could make a difficult choice now and never put Dani or Sam in danger.

  The next morning, he carried his luggage down to the lobby. Sam was there, waiting for him to appear. “Hi, Peter, do you want to have breakfast with me?”

  Peter was caught up short. Sam’s wide eyes delayed the plan to sneak out before anyone else would see him. “Sure, Sam, I would love to. What’s your favorite breakfast here?”

  They both walked into the dining room together, and Peter had to admit the table was spread with some very tantalizing options. He smiled and filled a plate. “You know, when I was a little boy your age, your grandmother made me breakfast all the time. I bet I ate breakfast nearly every day at her house, so I know how good this food is already.”

  Sam smiled and got a plate and ran over to his favorite. “I love Granny’s pancakes the best.” He smothered them with raspberry syrup and tons of whipped cream.

  Peter came over and took a look at his plate. “That does look very good!” He added pancakes to the pile and decided to mimic Sam.

  When Peter’s plate was adequately piled with pancakes, syrup, and whipped cream, Sam came over with more whipped cream and said, “No no, you have to put this much cream on there.” He added a huge pile of whipped cream on top of the mound that was already there. Peter laughed, a little embarrassed by the amount on his plate. They sat down together to eat.

  Dani walked in. “Hey, Sam, I didn’t know you were coming over here this morning.” She took one look at Peter’s plate. “So, I see you are having some pancakes with your whipped cream.”

  Peter blushed a little. It really was a ridiculous amount of whipped cream. “Sam helped me.”

  “And blaming a child for your total lack of dietary control.” Dani laughed.

  He winked at Sam. “I have no defense. We can only feel sorry you have yet to discover the best way to eat pancakes.”

  Dani sat at their table with a plate of fruit and yogurt. “We’ve really enjoyed you being here. It’s meant a lot. To both of us.” Peter looked away from her almost-pleading eyes.

  Sam piped up, mouth full of food. “You aren’t leaving?”

  He swallowed a lump in his throat that he nothing to do with food. “Hey now, I do have to go. But thanks for sharing Flash with me. He’s one special horse. And you are one amazing kid.” He ruffled his hair, but Sam dipped his head.

  His eyes found Dani’s and their hurt expression tore at him. “I loved my time here. I know how you hate leaving things unfinished.” Trying to lighten things up. “We can finish by email of course.”

  “And Sam, maybe you will send me pictures?”

  Sam nodded with his mouth full, whipping cream on both cheeks. Peter handed him his napkin. He could imagine the joy it would be to help raise such a fine boy. After breakfast, he carried his suitcase to the car and turned to wave. But Dani was right behind him and pushed herself into his arms. He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head, lingering for a moment longer in the life he knew he could never have.

  She pulled away and raised her eyebrows in accusation. Her eyes were full of tears. “Come back, Peter. Whatever this is, it will be okay.”

  Peter shook his head, his eyes teared as he turned to get into his car. He couldn’t wave as he drove down the winding driveway and out of her life amid shouts of “Come back!” from Sam. His eyes checked the rearview mirror, and he choked. Sam had grabbed his red Mongoose bike with the black trim and was tearing down the driveway after, waving goodbye.

  Chapter 13

  Dani walked back with Sam. “Let’s go see Flash.” She could barely choke out the words in a normal voice. But she was hoping to shield Sam from the worry she was feeling. She had once again fallen in love with Peter, but her newfound joy was slipping through her fingers as Peter drove down the driveway and out of her life.

  “Mom, do you think he will come back?”

  “I don’t know Sam, I don’t think so.” Her lips lowered and quivered. Then she took a deep breath.

  When they got to the stables, Carson came out looking concerned. “Hey, Sam, Flash has been looking for you.” Sam ran into the stables and Carson sat down at the picnic table under the live oak tree in front of the stables.

  Dani walked over and sat across from him. Carson leaned back and took a long look at her. “You okay?”

  She put her hands on the table in front of her. “I’ll be fine; I have to be, for Sam.”


  Carson fiddled with his keys, not quite meeting her eyes.

  “What is it?”

  “Well now, I know the timing isn’t great to tell you this, but I’ve been keeping an eye on that Dr. Ryan and doing a bit more investigating.” Carson looked over toward the stables and then patted her hand. This wasn’t good. It took a lot to rattle him. “He’s a very bad character and has been getting away with some pretty evil behavior.”

  Dani’s anxiety level went up. “Well, he went home, right?”

  “Someone who looks like him was spotted a couple towns over.” Carson’s look was severe and angry. Dani had seen him upset before, but this was not the Carson she knew. She wondered yet again what he’d done before he became ranch manager at the Rio Lago Ranch.

  “What should we do?” Dani shivered, thinking of his swaying form, gripping her arm.

  “I have some plans. I’m also going to put a man by your home, just in case he tries to come this way.” Carson stood to leave. “I have friends who will help if necessary.” The look of steel in his otherwise kind eyes assured Dani that he was on it. She knew Carson loved Sam and her family. Some of the tension seeped away.

  “Thank you, Carson, I will stay alert and try to be more careful as well.” Dani headed toward the ranch house, leaving Sam in the stables for Carson’s horse training lessons.

  Peter’s flight back to the east coast was miserable. He had tasted just how wonderful life could be at last with Dani at his side. He had been vacillating between staying completely away and just going for it, regardless of the danger to Dani. But since James’ fall off the wagon that would be impossible. He considered again of just being friends, but what was he going to do if she married again, which was highly likely. Then on top of his concern for Dani, his heart ached at the loss of a friend. James had been almost like another father figure to him from the moment he picked him up at the Dugan’s.

  Once he got home to Connecticut, he threw himself into his work. At night, he tossed and turned, waking up even more distraught than the day before. This went on for weeks. Instead of getting any better, time away from Dani only made his unhappiness worse. And they hadn’t kept up with the stories. They hadn’t communicated at all. Peter didn’t have it in him, and Dani…he could only guess her reasons, but she hadn’t reached out either.

  One morning, his aunt requested he join her for breakfast. “Peter, I’ve been hearing some complaints.”

  Peter brought himself out of his reverie. “Complaints?”

  “Yes, now mind you, I never did have a reputation of being kind or helpful to my employees, so your behavior seems perfectly fine to me and more efficient than normal. But your employees are saying you’re being a little, I believe the word they used was, uptight.”

  Peter thought back over the last couple weeks. He’d been miserable and had not paid much attention to those around him. He’d been too focused on wrestling with his loss of Dani.

  “What is bothering you, son?” Aunt Meredith’s eyes softened as she reached for his hand.

  Her use of the word, son, made his chest tighten with love for this dear woman. “I’ve been thinking about my mother and how her life turned out compared to the life she could have had.” He could not reveal the totality of his feelings.

  “I see.” Aunt Meredith folded her napkin and set it beside her plate. “Peter, I have a gift for you that I have been saving for Christmas. But I think you need to have it today. Let’s have dinner together this evening.”

  That evening, Peter joined his aunt in the dining room for dinner. “Aunt Meredith, this is a Christmas dinner! What in the world?”

  He walked over to the sideboard. The table was full of every kind of delicacy. He particularly loved the pomegranate salad. The goose rice stuffing was wonderful. He wasn’t fond of the bean casserole, but his aunt loved it so he ate it each year.

  “Peter, you know I’m not confined by conventions or dates. I decided to move Christmas for the purposes of my gift giving this evening.” She laughed. “And truly, why must we limit ourselves to these traditional dishes just once per year. I want to enjoy them more often.”

  Peter smiled. He loved this woman who, in every important way, had become his mother. He felt her love, even though given in a rather independent, reluctant way.

  “This is great. I could use a little Christmas spirit in my life right now.”

  After dinner, his aunt invited him to sit with her on the sofa. “Sit here and I will give you your gifts.” His aunt looked excited.

  Edgar brought a leather-bound notebook and set it in Peter’s lap. His aunt smiled through tears. “Peter, these are all the pictures I have of your mother growing up. I would like to share it with you and answer any questions you might have.”

  This was the first Peter knew of the existence of these pictures. He was a little afraid of what he might see.

  The first picture was of Meredith and his mother as little girls, sitting on a horse. As his aunt turned the pages, she weaved the story of his mother’s life from picture to picture. When she was done, he sat silent. “I never really knew my mother. She had so much potential.”

  “Yes, she did, Peter. And she gave all that to Derrek, who she loved with all her heart. Your father was a kind man. He suffered many things in the war that he would never talk about. Those horrors drove him to drink to help him forget. He was never the same after he came back.”

  Edgar set another notebook in his lap.

  “Peter, these are pictures of your father. He grew up close to us. I have had a time gathering all of these.” The first one was of his father and mother in their early teens.

  Peter looked at their happy faces. It reminded him so much of Dani and himself at that age. “They were friends as they grew up?”

  “Yes, all three of us played together at times. He was always the peacemaker of the group. Derrek was talented and well-educated. My father was planning to hire him into the family business after the war. Your father came back from the war a hero. Here’s a picture that shows him with his metals.”

  Peter took the coin out of his pocket and looked at it thoughtfully. His aunt reached for it. “That is your father’s medal for valor Peter. He would never talk about it and became very upset if anyone asked. But his fellow soldiers told my father that they would not be here today if it wasn’t for Derrek.” She gripped his hand around the coin. “He saved each of their lives, their families.”

  A medal for valor. The coin that had brought such terror to his heart now represented his father’s sacrifice for his country, for his friends. A father whose heart was wounded by the horrors of war.

  Page by page, she weaved another story. His tears fell to his chest. Here was the true story of his father. My father was a good man.

  Aunt Meredith handed him her handkerchief and asked him to come with her. “Edgar, get Clark. We are going for a drive.”

  They drove down the highway just a few miles and stopped at an elegant cemetery. The grave stones were carved and ornate. He helped his aunt walk over to the graves. She stopped at one of the new ones. There on the grave stone was written “Derrek Jacobs and Adelaide Walker Jacobs. Devoted in life, together in death.”

  He looked at his aunt in utter disbelief.

  “I had them exhumed and brought them back home. I will be buried over there by George.”

  He kneeled down at his father’s grave, traced his parents’ names with one finger. His father a hero, his mother, giving all to stand by him as he tried to endure his own trauma. As he fought his own demons of memory. “I’m sorry I didn’t understand.” He knew it didn’t excuse his behavior, but it sure helped him understand better and understanding made all the difference.

  They drove home in silence. Peter was thinking of all he had learned from this most dear aunt sitting beside him. He could never repay her for all she had done for him.

  “Of all the things you have graciously given me, Aunt, this is the most cherished.”

  Freedom
. The dark veil of unworthiness fell away. What she had given him was his freedom; freedom from the insecurities of his youth. He did not come from trash. He did not inherit a genetic predisposition to alcoholism. There were no road blocks now to his happiness.

  “My father is a man I can be proud of. He gave his life for his country.” He suffered from the horrors of war at a time when he couldn’t get the help he needed. He was self-medicating with the alcohol. Post-traumatic stress disorder was understood the way it is now.

  His aunt would never fully realize the gift she had bestowed. It was a rebirth for Peter. He could look back on his life and realize he was worthy of life’s blessings. “Thank you, dear Aunt.”

  “Now don’t get mushy on me, Peter. Let’s get home and have our pie and maybe play a little Parcheesi. It’s Christmas!”

  “Are you sure? You know how mad you get when I beat you.” Peter laughed. He knew these specially scheduled Christmas days with his aunt would be cherished memories throughout his life.

  “Not as mad as I will be if I ever catch you trying to let me win.”

  Peter laughed even harder; it was the carefree laugh of a free man.

  That night in his room, he texted Dani. “Hey, Dani, would it be possible to work on the book again this weekend? I know it’s short notice, but tomorrow would work great for me.”

  He set his phone down and went into the living room to put on some music. As he grabbed a glass of milk, wishing he had a good cookie to go with it, he heard his phone beep.

  “Sure, Peter, we have been hoping you would get back here soon.”

  His heart hummed with happiness. “Okay, great, I’ll be there about 4 p.m. tomorrow. I’m coming with my thesaurus as usual. Also, I have some photo albums I’d like to share.”

  “Hmm, sounds great. See you then.”

  Chapter 14

  Dani grabbed her phone and headed over to the ranch house. Carson had his men setting up a security system that would rival the one at the White House. He told her it would be up and running in three days. She felt safer already. As a young child, she was sometimes scared of dark shadows and a boogie man in the closet. She had talked herself out of those fears but when you come across a real evil intended monster, it changes your perspective about your own safety forever. Having Carson there calmed her fears.