"The ranch would be perfect."
He pushed his hands into the pockets of his trousers and stepped outside the barn where the land dipped and flowed until it grew into rocky peaks. "There's plenty of land for expansion. Trails could be made and therapy pools built." He gestured toward the land outside the barn. "Not to mention the healthy atmosphere away from the brown cloud of Denver.”
A cold wave of apprehension swept through her. What was she going to do? Determined not to let Mitch sense her panic, Lexie lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. She would do what she'd always done. Fight like the devil. Dani depended on her.
She rolled her head from side to side to relieve the clawing tension in her neck. She inhaled a deep breath and prepared for battle.
"I've been working damn hard to save this place. But I love the hard work because I love this ranch. I'm not a quitter, Mitch. I never have been. I won't give up this land. Tell them I won't sell." You’re a fool, Lexie Dare.
Mitch threw her a knife edged smile and stroked a finger over the bridge of her nose. Lexie jerked away and he nodded in acquiescence. "You won't have a choice, Kitten.”
The use of her old nickname made yearning for what had been lost rise lightly in her chest, but she fought the emotion.
Lexie stared into his eyes. "I do have a choice. What can I do to make you go away?"
He grinned. "Is that a challenge?” The rich timbre of his voice and his arresting smile made her knees turn to water. He wanted to take the ranch. How could she be attracted to him? "You won't win, Lex."
"How do you know?" She reached for the strength that had sustained her the past several years.
"Your debt load is breaking your back, the IRS is breathing down your neck, the bank is ready to foreclose and you can't run this place much longer with the number of hands you have working for you. Besides, I like challenges," he finished with the confidence of a man who never accepted failure.
"So do I." And saving Dare Ranch would be her biggest challenge yet.
He smiled grimly and shook his head. "The tax man doesn't give a hang how much you love this ranch, neither does the bank."
Did he? Does he care at all? He's been gone for seven years.
"They just want to be paid. The foundation has the means to do just that.” A steely determination edged his voice.
Lexie breathed a heavy sigh. A crazy mix of hope that she could save the ranch and fear that Mitch and his foundation would take it from her warred inside her chest. Mitch was right. This foundation could pay the back taxes, settle her debts and there would be nothing she could do about it. She was grateful they hadn't. "Why are you doing this?"
A squeal of brakes snagged Lexie's attention. A green station wagon skidded to a halt in the ranch's driveway with a rooster tail of dust whipping out behind it.
Oh God, Dani's home.
The passenger door flew open and Dani bounded out.
Her yellow dress flapped around her skinny legs, a Barbie knapsack jostled against her back. She ran to Lexie and wrapped her arms around her waist.
"Mommy!"
Chapter Two
Shock clouded Mitch's brain. Mommy?
"Mom, I got all my spelling words on the test today." Excitement and pride rang in the little girl’s voice.
He watched Lexie cradle her daughter's face and smile down at her. The love in her face and eyes reached out and stroked the loneliness in his soul, a loneliness he'd only become aware of in recent years.
"That's great, honey."
The little girl turned and looked at Mitch with curious gray-green eyes. A breeze blew a lock of her dark brown hair across her cheek and she brushed it away. "Who're you?" Her voice was soft.
"This is an old friend of mine," Lexie said. Her voice shook. Anxiety gleamed in her eyes. Why was she so nervous? "He's Mr. Quinn's son. Mitch, this is my daughter, Dani.”
He still couldn’t believe Lexie had a daughter. Who was the father? His father had never mentioned a word about Lexie being married or having a child.
Dani smiled at Mitch. A smile of open innocence. Something familiar tugged at the corners of his mind. For a moment, she looked a little like his father. No that couldn’t be. "Hi, Dani. Call me Mitch."
Her smile melted and her face grew serious. "Mommy doesn't like it when I call adults by their first name." Her voice was a loud whisper. "She says it's presume..."
"Presumptuous?"
"Yes, sir."
Lexie wrapped an arm around Dani's shoulders and pulled her close. Dani hugged her back then scooted out of her mother's arms and over to Morning Star. She fished her small hand into her pocket and retrieved a cube of sugar. The horse nibbled the treat from her flat, open palm.
"Morning Star, I'll go change and be right back." She gave the horse a kiss on her soft muzzle. "I'll bring you an apple.” She hefted her backpack and jogged toward the door of the barn.
Mitch shifted his attention back to Lexie. Nervous tension flickered over her face. She fidgeted and her lower lip trembled. Her bright blue gaze darted everywhere, but she refused to look at him. What the hell was going on?
"Dani," Lexie called.
She stopped in mid-stride and kicked up dust from a sneaker clad foot. Dani turned and gave Mitch a smile. "I forgot. Nice to meet you, Mr. Quinn.” She darted off before Lexie's voice stopped her again.
"Aren't you forgetting something else, young lady?"
Dani's small shoulders slumped. She breathed a gusty sigh. She swiveled her head and looked at Lexie over her shoulder. "Just this once, couldn't I go riding first?" If that plea was directed at him he’d be a goner.
"You know the rules. On a school night it's homework first.” Lexie was gentle but firm. "Go on up to the house. I'll be there in a few minutes to help you.”
"Okay," Dani said with resignation before she disappeared around the corner of the barn.
"Well, it's been nice seeing you again, Mitch." Lexie’s voice was high pitched. "I hope you'll drop by before you leave town.”
"Why are you so skittish?"
Lexie threw him a weak smile. Her gaze lit on his face then flew away. "I have a lot on my mind, that's all."
"I didn't know you had gotten married.”
Her skin blanched. She lowered her head and glanced at the ground before lifting her chin. Lexie gave him a cool stare, but anxiety shimmered in her eyes. "I didn't get married, but I don't regret having her. I love her and she loves me. Unconditionally."
Why did he feel relief at not finding her married? He and Lexie hadn't seen one another in years. Surprise at his own reaction to Lexie's situation reeled through him. He knew about her finances so why didn't he know she had a child? And why was she being so evasive? "Of course you love her. She's your daughter. We've known each other a long time, Lex. You can tell me who her father is."
She hesitated and remained silent. He shoved a hand through his hair. Her silence annoyed the hell out of him. "Is what’s his name her father?" He tried to hide the bitterness in his voice and failed.
She shook her head and turned away.
"Okay, where's Dani’s father now?"
Dani’s face flickered through his mind. She had a stubborn chin. Just like his. A startling thought ripped into his brain. No, she couldn’t be. Lexie would have told him if she’d had his child or at the very least his own father. It had to be somebody else. Mitch reached out, clasped her shoulders and turned her around to face him. "Did the bastard knock you up then skip town?”
She glared at him. "No, it wasn't like that."
"What was it like?"
She tilted her head and looked at him. "Give me some time to collect my thoughts then come up to the house and we’ll talk."
# # #
Twenty minutes after Lexie stepped inside the house, the doorbell rang. All she'd had time for was to get Dani settled down with her homework and start dinner. She'd had no chance to freshen up. Lexie swiped a hand over her wind-blown hair, strode out of the kitchen and
down the hallway to the front door. She stopped beside the door, looked through the sidelight and saw Mitch standing on the front porch.
Her heart hammered like a foal being separated from its mother for the first time. A cold knot formed in the pit of her stomach. Thank goodness Dani was upstairs doing her homework.
She flicked the lock on the door and swung the panel open. Lexie squared her shoulders. His tie was gone, his eyes clear and focused. His feathers smooth and unruffled. She'd been churned up since the moment she laid eyes on him in the barn earlier.
"Can I come in?"
"Sure, I'm making dinner. Come into the kitchen.” She moved to the side so he could enter. He followed her down the hall, close on her heels. His footsteps echoed on the wood floor like a death knell. Her nerve endings burned. Oh God, time to tell him the truth.
She walked into the kitchen and headed for the stove. "Have a seat. Would you like something to drink?"
"No, thanks."
Mitch's gaze bored into her back. She removed the chicken from the pan and laid it on a platter. Her hand shook when she reached for the green beans to give the pot a stir. The kitchen clock ticked, refrigerator hummed. Everyday normal sounds. Only today was far from normal.
A chair scraped over the kitchen floor. Her heart leaped into her throat and she spun at the noise. Mitch lowered his tall, very male frame into the chair. His gaze observed her every move. His mouth curved, but it wasn’t a smile.
"Ready to talk?"
How will I ever make him understand?
Lexie turned down the flame under the beans and walked to the table. She sat down and rubbed her sweaty palms over the top of her jean covered thighs. There was only one way for her to say it. "Dani's your daughter." She heaved a heavy sigh. The truth was out. She’d finally said the words out loud to Mitch.
She waited a few seconds then shifted her gaze up to his. Mitch slumped back in his chair and nodded as understanding dawned on his face. "I thought she looked a little like my dad. How could I not have recognized my own child?”
A frown creased his brow. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"
Shudders of apprehension quaked through her body. Her nerves sparked. Lexie laid her hand on his arm. He moved his arm away and she let her hand settle on the table’s surface. "I didn't want you to feel trapped into coming home to Chimney Rock.”
She stared at the stubborn set of his jaw and the grim line of his mouth. "We didn't love each other, Mitch. That night we were just two people reaching out to one another. When I asked you to marry me, I was desperate," she said with a slight lift of her hand. "Nothing more. I realized later it wouldn't have been fair to you. Or to me. And certainly not to Dani.” She prayed with all her might that he would understand.
He stared at her. "Fair? That's a lousy excuse." He spit the words out like chunks of ice.
Lexie straightened and refused to let him make her question her decision. "I did what I thought was right."
"You think it was right to keep my child from me?"
Lexie’s heart panted in her chest. I did the right thing. She rose from her chair and walked to the kitchen window. She stared at the rose bushes in the back yard, their once bright yellow petals turning brown. She turned her head and looked at Mitch. "I know you're mad, but please try to understand."
He laughed, a cold, mirthless sound that chilled her to the bone. "Understand? I'm Dani's father for Christ's sake and I never knew about her until today."
His scathing words clawed over her already frayed nerves. He exhaled in frustration. "Tell me what happened. Tell me everything."
Lexie walked back to the table and sat down. She put her palms together and clasped her hands between her knees to keep them from trembling. She hated confrontation. Her stomach churned. "Eight weeks after you left I started getting sick to my stomach first thing in the morning. I went to the doctor and discovered I was pregnant."
She looked at Mitch. The lines around his eyes had softened, the anger had faded. "How did you feel about it?"
Lexie massaged the muscles in the back of her neck. "I was terrified, excited, happy. I told Vivian right away since she was my best friend and swore her to secrecy. When I knew I could no longer hide my pregnancy I told your father.
"They both wanted me to tell you and tell my father. I refused both. They threatened to tell you if I didn’t, but I begged them not to. I knew in my heart you didn’t want to be caught in a loveless marriage."
"How did you know what I wanted? You never asked me.” His words were brittle and dry like fallen leaves.
"I wanted you to get an education and to succeed. If you had been saddled with a wife and child you would have ended up resenting us both.” Lexie paused to restore her composure. Her voice broke with emotions she’d kept bottled up for years. Didn't he understand the she had cared enough about all three of them to let him go? "We both would have suffered, but Dani would have suffered the most." Her voice was steadier now. "I didn't tell you because I knew you didn't want a commitment and I wasn't sure about my feelings for you. I was sure of only one thing: I wanted to have the baby."
Mitch shifted in his chair. His jaw locked. A tiny muscle twitched beneath his right eye. A sure sign he was about to explode. She understood why. He’d just found out he was a father.
Lexie looked down at her jeans and molded her fingers over her knees. "Dad blew a gasket." She’d longed for him to fold her in his big arms and tell her everything was going to be okay. But no, that was too much to ask of Mason Dare. "He got raging drunk and called me a whore.” The hurt in that long ago moment still stung like a needle pricking her skin. She swallowed against the anguish and blinked back her tears. "He couldn't bear the thought of his daughter bearing your child, the son of the man he blamed for killing Parker, his only son.” Her voice was fragile to her own ears. She inhaled a deep breath to help ease the hurt.
Mitch’s gaze cut to hers. "Go on," he demanded in a rigid voice.
She licked her lips and swallowed. "He kicked me out. I had no place to go except to Vivian. I lived with her until Dani was born. The night she was born a snowstorm blew in. We barely made it to Doc Grant’s clinic." She smiled remembering the most joyful and frightening moment of her life.
"Vivian stayed with me the whole time. She even helped me with the baby after the birth.” Lexie chuckled as the memories of caring for a newborn came flooding back. "We knew next to nothing about babies, but boy did we learn fast."
He leaned forward his hands resting on his thighs. "So everybody knew about Dani but me." Scorn seethed in his voice.
Compassion for him at her deception nudged against her heart. She needed to finish this, to tell him everything. "My father came to see me at Vivian’s house. He said tongues were wagging about him abandoning his daughter and he wanted me to come home. Since he'd been on the city council and even served one term as mayor, he was worried about his precious reputation."
I don’t care what you want, girl. You and that brat are coming home with me. Now.
Mitch rose from his chair, placed his palms on the table and leaned close to Lexie. She pressed against her back into the chair. She’d never seen him so furious.
"How could you hurt me like this? And my father was in on it too?” His voice rang with pain.
How could she hurt him? She was tired of shouldering the guilt about keeping Dani a secret. Lexie straightened her shoulders and leaned forward until they were eye to eye. "You didn't come back to Chimney Rock for seven years, not even to visit your father. He always visited you. You didn't call or even write me a letter. For all I knew you were never coming back. When during that time of not receiving even one token communication from you was I supposed to tell you about Dani?"
He turned his back and started toward the door. "I’ve got to get out of here before I say something I’ll regret."
# # #
Mitch stood at the edge of the yard, inside the back gate and watched his father, Judson, tamp rich, black eart
h around a clutch of golden mums. Overhead, dark clouds bunched and thunder rumbled.
He was a father. He had a little girl. Shock whirled through him along with deep layers of unanswered questions. All of them beginning with why.
Fragrant smoke drifted from a pipe Judson had clamped in his teeth. His chestnut hair was a bit grayer, but his build was the same, solid and muscular with maybe just a little extra padding around the middle. Aggie, his chocolate brown Labrador, lay at his feet. Mitch listened to her muffled snore as rain began to fall.
"Pop."
Aggie woke, jumped to her feet and barked, while her tail wagged in a lazy circle. Judson's head whipped around. He snatched the pipe from between his teeth and started to smile but the expression faded. In a slow movement, he stood up. Mitch watched his father's gaze, a brilliant, piercing blue, move over him, reading his mood. Love unfolded in his heart despite knowing his father had betrayed him.
"You've been to see Lexie." He stepped forward and gripped Mitch’s upper arms. The scents of tobacco, aftershave and a light whiff of sweat surrounded him.
Mitch wanted to slap a hand down on his father's shoulder and feel the soft, red flannel of his shirt. For a moment, he remembered them back on their land, working side by side, tending a colicky horse, and laughing with Parker over some stupid joke. His heart burned at the memory.
"Let's go sit on the porch,” Justin said.
Mitch settled onto the oak glider on the large, screened porch, sucked down a gulp of iced tea he didn’t want and eyed his father.
He set his glass on a small table, leaned forward and rested his elbows on his legs. "Why didn't you tell me Lexie had a daughter?"
A frown swept his father's face. He raised his feet and rested them on the ottoman in front of his chair. "She asked me not to.”
"That’s not good enough.” Mitch didn’t try to temper the bitterness in his voice. His father hurt him. Lexie hurt him and damn it they both deserved a boat load of attitude.
Judson toyed with a picture of Mitch's mother on the table beside his chair and stared at her face. "Lexie was adamant. She told me she wanted you to succeed and—”
The Secret Truth at Dare Ranch Page 2
