Discovered by Her Billionaire

by Sophia Summers

  “Timber isn’t sure you’re a safe person, and neither am I, so the wolf will stay right where he is if you don’t mind.” Although, it probably didn’t matter whether he minded or not. At least he now knew the wolfdog was an actual wolf.

  “Can you tell me where I am and how I got here then?”

  As she talked, he watched her full mouth. His brain was fuzzy. He wasn’t actually listening to what she said. She had a tiny freckle to the right of her right eye. Her eyes looked very intelligent; she was wary but seemed confident at the same time. As if she could take care of herself if necessary. Then again, who wouldn’t be confident with a wolf ready to rip a throat out?

  “I heard the avalanche and went out to check the fence lines, and Timber found you. I assume you were helicopter skiing as no one in their right mind would otherwise come out here to ski. And I have serious doubts about the rightness of your mind seeing as you came amid this storm.”

  Jack raised his eyebrows in pain, and lowered them again. He was trying to be charming, but his face hurt enough to cause him to gasp. The effect must have been grotesque judging by the look she gave him.

  She seemed angry. “Never mind you don’t seem to care about your safety, but what about all those who are put in harm’s way to save thrill-seekers like yourself?” She got up and left the room. He raised his head, testing Timber. But the wolf was still very much on duty as his very sharp-looking teeth attested.

  She came back in with a bowl of something that smelled wonderful. Jack tried to sit up, but Timber would have none of it.

  “Timber, back.” The wolf backed up two steps and sat down again, staring at him. He sat up, and she handed him a tray with a bowl of stew and hot bread. “Do you think you can eat? Your face is pretty banged up.”

  “Thank you, this smells wonderful. My jaw and my forehead are very sore, but I see you creamed it all so no chewing will be involved. That was very considerate of you.”

  She sat and watched him eat. It made him nervous. “Wouldn’t you like to eat as well?”

  “No, I will eat later. I want to make sure Timber lets you eat. Are you having much pain?”

  “Yes, but I don’t think I broke my jaw. I have done that before and know how it feels.”

  She looked incredulous. “Skiing?”

  He swallowed and tried smiling again. It wasn’t working for him. “No, that was from a kick in the jaw by a new colt.”

  She brightened up at that. “I think it’s best to keep oneself on the safe side of those hoofs. I happen to have some first aid that the rangers left for me for search and rescue assignments, and there are some painkillers in there if you would like one. You should at least take some Ibuprofen to reduce some of that swelling.” Maggie turned to go but stopped. “Were you trying to separate the colt from its mother?” She smiled, and it took his breath away.

  “I was, and that day, I learned something about the mother-offspring bond that I will not soon forget.” He chuckled, and the pain shot from his jaw to the back of his neck. His face twisted in agony.

  “I’ll get you that medicine.” Maggie left the room, not at all worried about him since Timber was on duty. Jack set the tray on the table next to his bed and offered a piece of crust to Timber. In response, Timber merely raised his lips again. Just a little warning not to get cute, I guess. The wolf was truly a beautiful animal. When would he ever have a chance to be this close to one of them again? He had read an article in a wilderness magazine about the Silver wolf and the fortune poachers were making selling their coats.

  He couldn’t help but wonder again, what was this woman doing out here in the middle of nowhere? Somebody had money, if this cabin was any indication. He also noticed she didn’t wear a wedding ring. So far, it looked like she lived in this cabin alone. Well, she had the wolf, but no other humans around. Just who was this woman? She seemed independent and happy. He compared that to his life. He had anything he wanted, anyone he wanted, but being at peace was not one of his qualities. He couldn’t even remember the last time he was at peace with his life.

  Maggie walked back in with a glass of juice and some pills. All I have is some Advil, but it should help you with the pain and the swelling. You should probably rest for today. I called the rangers, and no one can get back in here until the storm stops.”

  “When will that be?” Jack looked down at his watch. Did he want to be rescued yet?

  “The outlook is not good. We are expecting another storm right after this one, so maybe one or two weeks. But it’s possible someone could get in and out of here in between the two storms. Let’s push for that.”

  Jack started feeling very drowsy, and thankfully, the pain was subsiding. The events of the day coupled with his lack of sleep the night before were catching up to him, and he found his eyes drooping. He wanted to say something else, but he couldn’t seem to keep his eyes open.

  Chapter 2

  “Okay, Timber, he’s going to be sleeping for a while.” She leaned over and touched his forehead as he licked her hand. He seemed reluctant to leave his post. “Let’s go get some firewood just in case we lose power. Come on!”

  Maggie looked out the window as she put on her jumpsuit. She could not see a thing. It was a total whiteout. When she opened the back door, two feet of freshly fallen snow fell into the mudroom. Timber jumped out into the snow. He was excited; it wasn’t often he found something during his perimeter race around the property. She had to laugh. I guess it’s boring when you’re a wolf and everything is calm and peaceful. He had a purpose now, and he loved it. She watched him jumping around, rushing her to hurry and get out there. She would gladly let him roam outside the property fences if there weren’t hunters out there looking for silver wolves. She couldn’t risk his safety, knowing she had probably damaged what wolf instinct he may have had by her coddling.

  “Okay, okay, I’m coming.” Maggie pulled the sled behind her to the barn. After loading the sled with wood, she tied it up to the snowmobile and pulled it back to the cabin. It took her a while to stack the wood on the back porch, safely out of the weather. Timber was begging her to follow him by running back and forth up the road and turning with cocked ears like he was asking, Are you coming?

  Maggie sighed. “Let’s run the property lines Timber. You need the exercise, and I can use some time out as well.” Strangers didn’t worry Maggie anymore as it had been two years now and her father assured her all was safe. She could even visit him as his daughter without setting off alarms somewhere in the world. She smiled, thinking about her Dad. Each year her father continued the tradition of a trip to see the Texas wildflowers. They would find a hill and sit and tell stories about her mother. She knew this was painful for her Dad, but it was his effort to try to keep her mom’s influence alive in her mind. He was still a good-looking man at his age, but he had avoided any of the women that would have liked to claim him as their own. She wondered if a love like that was even possible anymore in today’s world. At the same time, she wished he could find happiness again with someone.

  Once on the snowmobile with her fog lights on, she carefully followed the well-used path around the property. The main problem was the road was under at least seven feet of snow now. Timber was leaping through the snow, well plowing through the snow was more like it. She had to stop and laugh. “Timber, come here.” She put him on the sled and slowly maneuvered around the property. Amazingly, Timber stayed put on the sled, sniffing the area, alert as always.

  Even though she made a point of leaving the main gates opened at least monthly so the wild animals could come and go, some stayed within the fencing. Those she ended up feeding regularly. Timber had learned to leave them alone as well. They were all one big happy family. Maggie chuckled as she drove the snowmobile back into the barn. Timber jumped off and raced to the cabin. There was work to do there.

  As soon as she opened the door, Timber raced across the room and into the spare bedroom to check on their visitor. When she found him he had shook snow all
over the room.. “Oh Timber, seriously, now I have to wipe up that whole room.”

  As she peaked in, she saw that her guest was still out cold. With a bucket and towel, she managed to get most of the snow before it melted. As she left the room, she looked back. He was on guard once again, this time with his face just 10 inches away from the man. I guess it could be alarming to wake up to a wolf staring you in the eyes. She laughed and took the back pack and also the wet towels to the laundry room.

  The man’s backpack was wet , so she unloaded it intending to dry that off with the rest of the winter gear. The satellite phone rang. Only one person could call her on that. “Hey, Dad, what’s up?”

  “Howdy Maggie, how’s that storm treating you?”

  She could not help smiling. Her father was amazing. She was pretty sure he had access to her security cameras, so he probably already knew something was going on here. Maggie smiled, her Dad truly was awesome.

  “Well, Dad, it brought me a surprise. He’s about 6’3” and pretty banged up.” She spent the next ten minutes, answering all of her father’s questions. She picked up the man’s wallet and gave her father the information in it that he wanted. She knew he would be checking all his sources, and in 20 minutes, she would know what the man had for breakfast three years ago. Of course, this was a joke she had. Growing up in her household and bringing home someone to date was a very revealing process. If men knew her father, she would never have dates, which for now was perfectly okay with her.

  “Oh, Dad, thanks for calling. I will be glad to know if Timber has to stand guard all night.” She sat down at the bar in the kitchen. Her father had said he would send out a crew once the storm was over, to get the snow off the cabin roof. They would also plow the roads to get in here. She didn’t know what she would do without her Dad. Maggie went in and checked on the man she now knew as Jack. His face was pretty beaten up, but the picture on his ID was pretty impressive. You’d never know it, looking at him now, but he was a very handsome man. But handsome is as handsome does, her mother always reminded her, and as rude as it was to look into his wallet, she would be glad to learn more about him once her father called back. After all, she was here alone in the middle of a forest with a strange person in her cabin. She felt justified.

  Once she finished the laundry, she put everything away, including the man’s belongings back into his backpack. He didn’t have any spare clothing, but she had washed and dried everything he had been wearing, other than his thermals.

  Timber growled from the other room, and she hurried in there. “It’s okay Timber.” The man, Jack, was leaning back on his raised pillow. He seemed to be moving closer to the wall and away from Timber. He ran his hand through his hair, and it was clearly a mistake if he was trying to tame it. She tried not to smirk, but she had rarely seen a worse case of bedhead. “You are back to the living. Do you think you could get up?” She sat down in the chair by his bed. “I don’t think you have any broken bones. Maybe you would like to shower and dress?” Jack looked at her with raised eyebrows, and she was sure the action must have hurt his forehead. She figured he just realized she had undressed him.

  “I took the liberty of washing your clothes for you.”

  Jack nodded and reached out his hand to the wolf. This time he did not raise his lips. “This is such a beautiful animal. It’s remarkable to be so close to one when they are known to be so elusive.” He sat up and put his feet on the floor. Timber growled a low growl even as Maggie held his collar.

  “Yes, I would like a shower, which sounds great.” He tried to stand up, lost his balance, and sat back down.

  “Here, let me help you. You’ve had a head injury, so you better take it easy.” She let him rest his arm on her shoulder, and she walked him over to the bathroom that was just off of the spare bedroom. As he reached the counter, he looked down at her before he . Their eyes met for a long time, but she broke the connection by handing him his clothing. As she shut the door, she had to admit her heart was beating faster. That man had charisma or something because she was definitely affected.

  That evening, he managed to walk out to the living room as Maggie was heating the stew again. He was very tall and broad-shouldered, and she sensed a sort of power emanating from him. He seemed like the type of person who always got his way. Pushing thoughts of him from her mind, she focused her attention on the stew. When she made stew, she always made a large pot and then ate it for a few days. If she got tired of it, she would freeze single portions that were lovely to find when she was hungry and did not want to cook. She had planned to freeze some of this batch, but now that she had a guest, she might not.

  After they ate, she asked him if he wanted to move to the sofa and play gin rummy. She planned to ask him all the questions she had during the game. When they sat down, Maggie reached her hand over and said, “I’m Maggie Colby. My father taught me never to play gin rummy with strangers.” She smiled at him.

  “Jack Sellers. I think I was thirteen the last time I played.”

  “Oh good, then we’ll play for money.” Maggie laughed and raised her eyebrows in challenge. She opened a drawer and got out some poker chips. “We can decide how much these will be worth later.”

  She noticed a shrewd look as he looked down at his cards. So, playing for money made it more challenging for Jack. That’s interesting. “So, Jack, did this jaw-breaking colt come from a ranch you own?”

  “No, I was just working there one summer.”

  Hmmm, so maybe not a ranch owner, although the picture of him she had found in his wallet showed him wearing a nice cowboy hat with a horse in the background.

  “What do you do, if you don’t mind my asking?” She hated to be so direct, but he didn’t seem too forthcoming.

  “I work in gas and oil.”

  That is a very broad category. So, this man doesn’t want to talk about what he does, fine. Dad will give me everything I could possibly want to know and much more. He seemed to her a little self-absorbed and definitely pompous. And she knew men who worked in gas and oil like her last boyfriend, Rodger, and that was a big, sour, black mark against her ever being friends with this guy.

  “We don’t have to talk about what you do. Gin Rummy.” She laid down her cards and marked the score pad.

  She saw the lines form between his eyes. He obviously did not like losing. She had to smirk. For some reason, it was very gratifying to win, particularly because he didn’t like it.

  He sat up straighter. “Okay, let’s make this more interesting. For every point I’m ahead in each game, I can ask you one question, and if you win, you can ask the questions.” He shuffled the cards and started to deal.

  Maggie had to think about that one. Did she want to answer questions? She was actually probably more of a private person than he was. But she felt confident she could stay in the lead.

  “Okay, I agree. It will be better not to play for money if you don’t have money to lose.”

  “Do you have money to lose?” Jack was looking intently at her. Those eyes were messing with her heart.

  Maggie frowned. “That can be one of your questions.” Jack laughed a little then grimaced in pain.

  They finished the next game, and Maggie was ahead. “So, my question is, what made you willing to risk your life and ski in this storm?”

  He stopped and paused for a minute before answering. “My life needed a change.”

  So he’s not happy doing whatever it is he does. They played another hand, and this time, Jack won. He looked over at her and asked, “Where did you get those blue eyes?”

  Maggie felt her face heat which was ridiculous. She hadn’t blushed in years.

  He seemed earnest, so she answered. “My mother had blue eyes.” Maggie missed her mother every day. There was so much in her life that would be better right now if her mother was still alive.

  “You miss your mother. I‘m sorry, how long has she been gone?

  “It’s been years.””It was Jack’s turn to shuffle.
She noticed he did not wear a wedding ring. What was it about this man that made her blush anyway?

  The phone rang, so she excused herself and went into the other room. “Hi, Dad, whatcha got?”

  “Jack Sellers owns a big oil and gas company. The good news is he’s a Texan; he has a few ranches around Texas that he keeps managers on. He has properties around the world in various vacation spots. He’s not married, has no legal problems, and is a playboy extraordinaire.”

  “So I guess Timber will be on duty tonight.”

  Her Dad agreed. “I can send my friends in to rescue him if you want. Storm or no storm.”

  “Well, Dad, I hate to have them do that. I think it will be fine. So far, he is gentlemanly.”

  “Well, he did get his Eagle Scout award. I find that to be in his favor. The press could be messing with him. I’ll call tomorrow to check in.”

  “Thanks, Dad. Love you.”

  She came back into the room to see Jack sitting next to Timber. “I think I need to make friends with this guy.” He looked away a minute, and Timber took the opportunity to give him a very wet lick across his face.

  Maggie laughed and handed him a towel. He wiped his face carefully. “Would you mind if I used your satellite phone? My cell isn’t working here.”

  “Sure, go ahead. I’ll be in the kitchen. How do you feel about a root beer float?” She handed Jack the phone.

  “That sounds good.”

  She went into the kitchen to make the floats. She had to admit it was a nice change to have someone to talk to. She was missing a night’s work on her paper, but she had time to make it up later.

  Jack walked in and handed her the phone. “Thanks, I just needed to notify someone that I’m fine.” He stood a little too close to her to hand her the phone. Did he expect her to fall into his arms just because he was close and giving her the opportunity? She had to admit the thought did enter her mind. She scoffed and turned away from him to the sink to rinse out the bowls. She assumed that with his resume, women did fall into his arms at every chance, but that wasn’t going to happen here. She wasn’t impressed with her father’s report. Money was not an issue. Her father had plenty stored away for her. So, other than that, what did he have that might be impressive to her? Not much, as far as she could tell. She didn’t plan to give him a chance; she’d had way too many run-ins with the playboy crowd. And she definitely didn’t like the oil and gas crowd. Too many Dallas parties with people who had no sense of down to earth realities.