Her Cowboy Billionaire Birthday Wish

by Liz Isaacson

  Finally, the parents of children in the group said, “Time for bed. If you don’t go to bed, Santa Claus won’t come.”

  Bedtime was easier that night than any other Colton had witnessed, and he anticipated a relaxing evening, perhaps in front of the fireplace, his hand in Annie’s as they shared stories of Christmases past. Maybe some midnight kissing....

  That all evaporated when Beau and Lily started bringing out gifts. Some were already wrapped, and some weren’t. The living room became almost like a factory, with scissors, and tape, and wrapping paper. Bows, and boxes, and bags.

  Colton had no gifts to prepare for a small person, but he couldn’t look away from the chaos in the living room.

  Annie was helping Liam and Rose, as they had three two-year-olds to prepare for, and he wondered why they hadn’t done it before Christmas Eve.

  Someone stepped to his side, and he looked at Elise. “Is this what they do every year?”

  “It’s only been a couple,” she said. “But yes. It’s a tradition to put the kids to bed and then wrap the gifts and put everything under the tree.”

  “There’s no way that’s all fitting under the tree.” It was big, but there was literally stuff everywhere.

  “It kind of expands out,” Elise admitted.

  “I’ll say.” Colton had never seen anything like it. He’d grown up wealthy, but his parents had never spoiled their sons. They were expected to work, and yes, they got presents on their birthdays and for Christmas. Every one of them had gotten a car or truck for his sixteenth birthday, and Colton knew plenty of his friends growing up hadn’t gotten that.

  “Did you have big Christmases like this?” he asked Elise.

  “No.” She looked at him, pure nerves in her eyes. “I have to go.”

  “Oh-kay.” Colton watched her bolt from the living room, and when he faced the fray again, Annie stood in front of him.

  She was not happy. In fact, she planted both hands on her hips and glared at him.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Annie felt like a mother hen, constantly chasing wolves away from her chicks. Of course, Colton was not her child, and she didn’t need to chase Elise and Bree away from him.

  She just felt like she did.

  “What?” he asked, and Annie’s annoyance soared. “Do you need help?”

  “No,” she said. “What were you and Elise talking about?”

  “Christmas,” he said, his eyebrows drawing down. His expression glittered dangerously, and Annie hated this darkness inside her.

  She didn’t know what to say next, and Colton gave her glare right back to her.

  “Let me get something straight,” he said. “You don’t want me to talk to anyone but you, is that right?”

  “Of course not,” she said, an instant reaction to what he’d said. Because what he’d said sounded ridiculous. “You can talk to whoever you want.”

  “You just ran Elise from the room,” he said, his voice low, almost a growl.

  She glanced around, but there was no way anyone would overhear them among the taping, cutting, ripping, and talking.

  “I’m going to bed,” Colton said. “Good-night, Annie.” He didn’t touch her. Didn’t lean down and kiss her. He simply side-stepped away from the fireplace, where he’d been standing and watching the Christmas Eve wrapping party, and slipped through the same doorway Elise had gone though. Was he going to talk to her again?

  Stop it, Annie told herself. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t want Colton talking to anyone but her, just like she didn’t understand the almost debilitating worry she’d experienced watching him mount that giant black horse and ride into the forest. Ryan hadn’t gone horseback riding when he’d died. Hardly anyone died from walking through a forest very close to a lodge.

  And yet, Annie hadn’t been able to breathe properly until Colton and Bree had come stomping into the lodge again, laughing about something.

  Then her worry had morphed to jealous annoyance, and Annie had been simmering there for hours now.

  Sighing, she turned back to the wrapping party, knowing she should go back and help Rose finish wrapping the dolls she’d bought for her daughter.

  She didn’t. Instead, she went downstairs to the bedroom, hoping Emily and Kelly would stay up late helping with the gifts. The thought of planning a wedding was overwhelming for Annie right now.

  Eden lay in her half of the bed, her phone only a few inches from her face. “Hey, Mom,” she said when Annie entered.

  “Hey, baby.” Annie put a smile on her face, but it shook. Eden looked back at her phone, and Annie hoped she could climb beneath the covers and turn away from her daughter so she wouldn’t see the turmoil in Annie’s soul.

  But in the next moment, Eden put her phone on the nightstand and sat up. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” Annie turned her back to Eden and bent over her suitcase. “I think I’m going to go down to the house tomorrow,” she said, just now deciding. “See how it’s fared in the storms. Make sure the furnace is working.” It wasn’t that odd of a thing. Sometimes, when furnaces had to work hard to keep the house warm, the pilot light would go out. Heck, the furnace here at the lodge had malfunctioned during a storm.

  “Is it Colton?”

  Annie straightened, her pajamas in her hand. She kept her back to Eden for another moment, trying to draw strength into her body when she breathed. That didn’t really work, and she turned to her daughter.

  “It’s Colton,” Eden said. “Come tell me what’s going on.”

  Annie hated that their roles had been reversed, but she went and sat beside Eden. “I have this...jealousy inside me. And when he went riding today, all I could think about was the day your dad died.” Her voice trailed into a whisper by the last word.

  Eden didn’t tell her it would be okay. That she had nothing to be jealous about. She just reached over and laced her fingers through Annie’s.

  “That was a bad day,” Eden said. “I remember it too.”

  “Do you?” Annie asked. “What do you remember?”

  Eden drew in a big breath and let it out slowly. “I went to school. Everything was fine. Then, sometime after lunch, I got called to the office to get checked out. And I never got checked out, and I was confused.” She spoke in a monotone now, staring at the carpet at her feet. “I left my math homework, and I remember being so mad about it. That night. The next day. All through the funeral. All I could think about was that math homework, and how I wouldn’t have it done when I finally went back to school.”

  Tears gathered in Annie’s eyes, and she squeezed Eden’s hand.

  “I didn’t even bring my backpack with me,” Eden said. “Mrs. Daniels had this worried look on her face, and she hugged me when I left the room. I didn’t get why. And then, you were in the office, and you were crying, and Grandma took me, and things were just a blur.”

  A blur summed up that day for Annie too. The next several days, even into weeks, created a haze in her mind too.

  “I did the best I could,” Annie said. “No one really knows how to react when they find out someone’s died.”

  “Of course,” Eden said, lifting her head to look at Annie. “Mom, I know that. I don’t think you did anything wrong.”

  Annie nodded, trying to cage the emotions streaming through her. “Maybe I’m not meant to have another man in my life.”

  “Colton’s a great guy, Mom,” Eden said. “You just need to work through some things.”

  “I feel like I’m pressuring him to do something. Or to not do something.”

  “Maybe you are.”

  Annie leaned her head against Eden’s. “I understand how you feel about Em now,” she said. “The jealousy. It’s horrible. I don’t know how you’ve dealt with it all this time.”

  “I tell myself that just because Em is happy, or has a boyfriend, or another date, or whatever it was, doesn’t mean there isn’t enough for me.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah, like, j
ust because Em is engaged doesn’t mean I won’t be able to find someone and get engaged too. There’s not a cap on the number of people who can be engaged. You know?”

  “Yeah,” Annie said slowly. Just because Colton talked to Bree or Elise didn’t mean he wouldn’t want to talk to her too. He could have friends and a girlfriend.

  Eden’s phone lit up, and they both looked at it. “You talk to your guy,” Annie said. “I feel much better. Thank you.” She pressed a kiss to her daughter’s forehead, and while Eden went back to texting Mitchell, Annie changed into her pajamas and got beneath the covers, like she wanted to.

  She closed her eyes, prayers streaming through her mind so quickly, she could hardly think the words before they were gone. She just needed help, and she had nowhere else to go to get it.

  Finally, God allowed her to fall asleep, a merciful blessing for Annie.

  The next morning, she nursed a cup of coffee on the couch while everyone opened gifts. For how many people and children there were, the tearing off of paper actually happened in an orderly fashion, organized and controlled by Amanda Whittaker, the mother of the brothers that had all returned to Coral Canyon with their families.

  Annie loved watching the joy light the faces of the children, and she felt the love of their parents floating on the air.

  Colton had come into the room before the first present had been opened, but he didn’t come to sit by her. She didn’t have room on the couch anyway, but the fact that he didn’t even glance her way stung.

  He sipped coffee too, and laughed when Averie opened an Easy-Bake Oven and shrieked as if she’d just been given a box full of cash.

  “Celia!” she said, balancing the box as she hurried over to the woman. “I can cook with you. I can cook with you!”

  “That’s right,” Celia said, smiling. “You sure can.”

  Averie started crying, and everyone ahh’ed at her as she ran over to Eli and Meg, who accepted her right into their arms. They’d adopted Averie when she was two or three years old, and they’d adopted Isaiah as a baby. He simply watched with wide two-year-old eyes as his parents comforted Averie.

  The present-opening went on, and finally, it was time for brunch. Annie got up and went into the kitchen with Celia, noting that Colton got out of the way real quick when she went his way.

  She tried not to let it bother her that he didn’t wait for her before he ate. Or that he sat next to Bree and Elise.

  She felt all alone in this huge house, surrounded by literally thirty or forty people. She kept the smile on her face until brunch ended and both dishwashers hummed to get the dirty plates clean.

  People started to disperse then, some going back into the living room to play with their new toys or take their presents back to their rooms. The Whittaker brothers, along with Todd and Liam, went out the back door, talking about something at the energy company they owned as they headed out to ride horses.

  “I’m taking kids over six to my house,” Laney announced. “We’ll have crafts and snacks.” That group left, and Annie hugged Emily as she came into the living room wearing her coat and carrying her purse.

  “We’re going down to Kelly’s parents’ for a while.”

  “Of course.” Annie watched them go, a hint of sadness seeping through her. She’d have to share Emily with another family now, something she hadn’t thought of.

  The same jealousy that infected her when she thought of sharing Colton didn’t come, and she wondered why she only saw green with him but felt a sad acceptance with her daughter.

  She turned when more voices came into the room. Colton’s voice. He didn’t break stride when he saw her, and he seemed his normal, strong, sexy self as he came to stand in front of her.

  “Hey,” he said, a small smile gracing his mouth. He reached for her hand, and squeezed the tips of her fingers. “Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas to you too,” she whispered, looking at Bree, who’d come into the room with Colton.

  “We’re going to a movie,” he said. “Why don’t you come with us?”

  Her first instinct was to say no. She didn’t want to intrude on them. But that didn’t make sense. She was friends with Bree. She was Colton’s girlfriend. They could all go to a movie together.

  “Ready,” Patsy said, joining the group. “Where’s Elise?”

  “She’s taking her meds,” Bree said. “She’s coming.”

  “Colton’s driving?” Patsy asked.

  He still hadn’t looked away from Annie, because she still hadn’t said yes.

  “What are you seeing?” she asked.

  “I have no idea,” he said. “But it gets us out of the lodge, and Bree mentioned something about extra butter on my popcorn.” He grinned, and a flash of joy blipped through Annie because of it.

  “All right,” she said. “Let me go get my purse and see if Eden wants to come with us.”

  “You don’t need your purse,” he said. “I got you.” He put his arm around her and faced the others. “Let’s go load up. Someone’s going to have to climb in the way back.”

  Eden entered the room, already wearing her coat. “Elise is right behind me.” Sure enough, Elise entered the room too, and Annie looked around at the five women...and Colton.

  “All right, cowboy,” Bree said. “I hope you’re ready for this.”

  “For what?”

  “Driving five women to a romantic comedy.” She patted him on the chest as she stepped past him to move toward the front door. “Buckle up.”

  Several others laughed, and Annie looked at Colton. He wore a horrified expression now, and Annie giggled at him. “Didn’t think this through, did you?”

  He blinked and looked at her. “Maybe I didn’t.” He sighed and drew her toward the door. “But I can’t back out now.”

  Annie smiled all the way out to his SUV, because she felt like things between them were back to normal, despite her accusations and outbursts. She squeezed his hand, hoping he got the message of her gratitude for his forgiving heart.

  He squeezed back, and Annie took that as an acknowledgement that he did.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Colton sat on the end of the row, Annie right next to him. He figured that was the safest spot for him, and one that would put her mind at ease as well. He didn’t like that he had to work so hard to make sure she was reassured, because he’d seen other relationships like that, and they rarely worked out.

  What would happen if he couldn’t reassure her one day?

  Colton had plenty of his own worries, and he spent the movie holding Annie’s hand thinking about her, then Wes and what he was dealing with in Ivory Peaks, and then the meeting on December thirtieth.

  He was only a day’s drive from Denver, and he hadn’t planned on leaving until the twenty-eighth, but something in his gut told him to leave tomorrow. He could go to the farm and see his parents beforehand. Gray was there with his son, Hunter, and Wes would be at the farmhouse in Ivory Peaks until the twenty-ninth. They could have a few days together before the twins returned for the family New Year’s Eve party Wes had texted about that morning.

  And honestly, Colton needed some time to himself. He liked Annie a whole lot, and he wondered if maybe he could get a hotel and just get some space from everything at Whiskey Mountain Lodge. Then he could ask Annie out on real dates and take her to breakfast or dinner. He wouldn’t be expected to be around her for every meal, every event, every everything. He could have other relationships she didn’t have her eyes on.

  He went round and round, hardly watching a moment of the movie. When it ended, Annie sighed happily. “That was great, wasn’t it?”

  “Sure,” he said, hoping she wouldn’t ask any deep questions.

  “You just came for the popcorn,” she said as the lights came up slowly.

  “It was great popcorn,” he said. “And I had my doubts when we got here and all that smoke was pouring out of the machine.” His heart had dropped to his cowboy boots, but he’d been rea
ssured they’d get a new batch going, and it would be fine. And it had been.

  The movie had been fine, and the best part was that it had killed a couple of hours. Colton left the theater first, followed by all the women, and he let them talk about the film all the way back to the lodge, their voices high and chirping in his SUV.

  He went downstairs while they all went into the kitchen to get coffee, and Colton started going through his bag, pulling out the jeans and shirts he’d worn already and folding them to lay on the bed. He needed to repack, and he needed to decide if he was going to leave in the morning or that afternoon.

  No matter what, he couldn’t leave without talking to Annie. So he finished with his clothes and zipped his toiletries into his waterproof bag and sat down.

  “What should I do?” he asked, tipping his head back. He felt somewhat removed from his body, almost like he could see himself sitting on the bed in a bedroom in the basement of a magnificent lodge in the wilds of Wyoming.

  How had his life come to be this? Reduced to a bag of clothing and deodorant, miles from anyone he was related to, and wondering what to do with his life.

  His mind flowed easily through the years of his life he could remember, and he’d been happiest working in the lab on the Human Genome Project. Science ran in the Hammond blood, and he’d gotten the most of it out of all the brothers.

  So he was done with marketing. He could still work at the family company, as they had six full floors of laboratories, employing hundreds of scientists. His degree was in biology, and HMC did a lot of chemistry and technology, but he could probably do something.

  “Or find another job,” he said, suddenly remembering that Annie had mentioned the Whittaker brothers owning and running an energy company. Perhaps Colton should talk to Graham.

  Satisfied with that plan, he went to find Annie so they could have a conversation about where they went from here. His heart pounded in his chest, because the last time he’d had a conversation like this, he’d ended up engaged. He hadn’t wanted to break up with Priscilla, and while he hadn’t shown up at her apartment to propose, that had been what had happened.