The Texan's Christmas

“Nicole?” he called.

She looked up, startled. He felt a twinge of guilt for disrupting her moment of peace. “Daniel.” Her voice was breathier than he remembered.

“Did you have an appointment here?” He circled his finger, indicating the horseshoe cluster of buildings that housed medical professionals ranging from orthodontists to podiatrists. Didn’t Nicole live in San Antonio? It seemed odd she would have a doctor in Dallas. Not that it was any of his business.

“Oh.” She blinked. “I, um...”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to pry. I was just surprised to run into you. I was meeting with my physical therapist for the first time.”

Nicole cocked her head, studying him. “Chris mentioned you were hurt bull riding. Was it bad?” Her dark eyes were still roving over his body, ostensibly checking for injury, but his hormones didn’t seem to care about the platonic reason for her scrutiny. Awareness simmered through him, clouding his thoughts to the point where he could barely remember her question.

“Whoops.” She dropped her gaze. “Guess I’m the one prying now.”

“No, that’s okay. I...” Got distracted. By her eyes. Maybe best not to say that to a near stranger. “My injury was bad enough to need outpatient surgery. I consider myself lucky. Could have been a lot worse. Brock’s living proof of that.” It was ironic, given their many differences, that he and his stepfather had this one thing in common—being knocked on their butts by an ornery bull.

“When I visited Dallas in April, he was in a wheelchair. He’s better now?”

“He’s back on his feet, but I don’t think Julieta’s going to let him enter any more senior rodeos.”

“What about you? Do you plan to get back in the saddle?”

“I haven’t made up my mind, but...probably not.” It was easier to admit that to a virtual stranger than his rodeo-centric family. “I enjoyed competing. I love winning. But I’m ready for something new. I’ve been thinking a lot about my future lately, trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up,” he joked. “Sometimes you reach a point when it’s time to take the next step in your life, you know?”

“I do.” Something flickered in her eyes, and she took a deep breath, as if trying to steady herself.

“Are you okay?” He wouldn’t be surprised if the idea of facing all the Barons this weekend was giving the poor woman an ulcer.

“Absolutely. But I should be getting back to my office.”

“Right. See you Sunday.” He lifted his hand in a brief wave, but it quickly became apparent that, although they’d been coming from opposite directions, they were both headed to the same section of the parking lot. The silence between them as they fell in step frayed his nerves.

He couldn’t help feeling as if Nicole was headed into the lion’s den on Sunday. Growing up on the ranch, he’d had Jacob as an ally. He wanted Nicole to feel she had someone in her corner, too.

“I realize it’s not my place to say this,” he began, “but there’s some history between your employer and the Barons. I don’t want you to be caught in the middle. Adele Black, she...” Now what, genius? The rest of his unfinished sentence was a Pandora’s box he shouldn’t open.

“Adele is their mother,” Nicole said quietly.

His shoulders slumped in relief. “You know.” If it was information she already possessed, then he hadn’t crossed any lines by addressing the subject.

She nodded. “And now you’ve answered my question about whether or not Lizzie and the others know. I was already planning on having a very candid conversation with them, but it’s nice to have an idea of what I’m walking into.” She was back to studying him—this time, searching his gaze with naked curiosity. “I’m surprised you brought it up, though.”

So am I. He’d made it a policy to stay out of discussions about Brock’s first wife. But he hadn’t wanted Nicole to show up at the ranch unprepared. Did that make him disloyal to his stepsiblings? “Well, the Barons can be intense. They—”

“They? Not ‘we’?” She gave him a teasing smile. “Aren’t you a Baron, too?”

“On paper.” Daniel had wondered more than once if his mom had asked Brock to adopt her boys to provide another layer of insulation between them and convicted felon Oscar Burke. No one at their new school would dare bully a Baron. “I mean, my brother, Jacob, and I are technically Barons, but we weren’t born into it. Lizzie and Carly and the others are great. But as kids, with immature sibling rivalry and the awkwardness of meshing two households...”

“I get it. I was a foster kid and lived with some nice families through the years. But even with the ones I felt closest to, they weren’t really my family.”

Hearing about her upbringing made him feel ungrateful. At least he and Jacob had always had a home, always had each other. Who did Nicole Bennett have?

She stopped next to a compact car that sported a decal logo for a well-known rental company. “This is mine, temporarily anyway. Thank you for looking out for me.” She surprised him by reaching out, squeezing his forearm gently. At her touch, a rush of endorphins replaced his earlier soreness. He didn’t know which he was enjoying more—the contact between them or the way she was looking at him. Her admiring expression did more to make him feel like a badass than any rodeo buckle he’d ever won. “I’m glad you’ll be there this weekend, Daniel.”

Something shorted in his brain when she said his name, and he heard himself ask, “Would you like a ride? Sunday, obviously. Not now.” What are you doing? He lived five miles from the ranch and had been trying to stay out of his siblings’ investigation of their mom. So why was he volunteering to go completely out of his way to pick up Adele’s second-in-command?

She chuckled. “Is this because you feel sorry for me?”

“No, ma’am.” If she thought pity was the only reason a man would want to spend time with her, she clearly didn’t own a mirror. “I, uh, wasn’t supposed to drive much after my fall, so I’ve been having to rely on volunteer chauffeurs. It feels so good to be in the driver’s seat again, I’m looking for excuses to get behind the wheel.” Thank God Jacob couldn’t hear him now. He’d never let Daniel live down such a lame excuse.

“Plus, GPS isn’t always reliable out in rural areas,” he continued, powering through the embarrassment. Rodeo taught a man to hang on tight and keep going. “If you ride with me, there’s no chance of getting lost, with the added bonus that you know there’ll be a friendly face as soon as you arrive.”

“I’d like that.” She met his eyes, and color tinged her cheeks. “I’d like that a lot.”

They exchanged phone numbers and she typed the address where she was staying into his contact list. Daniel climbed into his truck, whistling under his breath and unable to remember the last time he’d been so eager for one of the weekly family gatherings.

* * *

“YOU ARE A bad influence,” Nicole chided, leaning back in her chair. “We should be at the office.”

Adele grinned. “I notice you didn’t let guilt stop you from enjoying that giant cinnamon roll.” It had been Adele’s idea to sneak away from work early and window-shop at the extravagant Galleria. They’d covered much of the first two floors before Adele’s energy began to flag. Nicole had suggested they get a snack and watch the ice skaters on the rink below. Amateurs wobbled around the edge of the oval while a few standouts in sparkly leotards and skirts executed athletic spins in the center.

Truthfully, Nicole probably should feel guiltier about leaving the office. She’d already missed an hour that morning when she’d interviewed the new OB. Thinking about how Adele had gotten a second medical opinion here in Dallas, Nicole had realized she should probably get a backup obstetrician. Since traveling wasn’t generally prohibited until the last trimester, she might spend a good chunk of her pregnancy here. It would be smart to have someone local who knew her history. She’d liked Dr. Davis and had scheduled an ultrasound with him for next week. She couldn’t wait to see the first sonogram photograph, even though she knew the earliest pictures weren’t discernible as babies.

“Thinking about the baby?” Adele asked.

“How’d you know?”

Adele looked pointedly at Nicole’s stomach, where her hand rested. “A lot of pregnant women fall into the unconscious habit of doing that. As if we need some way to commune with the babies before we can feel them moving, as if it makes them more real somehow.”

Even knowing Adele’s history, it was still difficult to remember sometimes that she’d gone through four pregnancies.

“So everything went all right at the doctor’s?” Adele asked.

“Fine. He didn’t examine me today. This was more of a quick meet and greet to fill out all the paperwork and make sure I was comfortable with him. You’ll never believe who I ran into—Daniel Baron.”

Adele blinked. “At the OB-GYN’s?”

“No. Outside. It’s the same health-care complex where he has physical therapy. He mentioned you, confirmed that the Barons know you’re their mother.”

Adele nodded, unsurprised. After Nicole’s suspicions earlier in the week, Adele had discovered her children had definitely been searching for her. She’d even touched base with an old friend, Genevieve Lewis in Lubbock, who said Carly Baron came to visit, asking questions about her long-lost mother.

Swirling her straw around in what was left of her lemonade, Nicole recalled the unexpectedly protective tone in Daniel’s voice. I don’t want you to be caught in the middle. She was touched that he cared. Since Nicole had learned young that people in her life were temporary, she’d spent a lot of years looking out for herself. She wasn’t used to feeling as if someone had her back—especially someone she hardly knew.

In fact, she wasn’t sure which she found more charming, that he’d gone out of his way to prepare her for a meeting with his family or how he’d stumbled over asking if she wanted to ride with him. Daniel was very tall, with a chiseled jawline and natural swagger. The man routinely dealt with two-thousand-pound bulls, yet she had the power to fluster him? Heady thought. It made her feel as if they were even for that moment when they’d first shook hands last spring and she’d barely been able to remember the word hi.

Adele stared across the table, her expression shrewd. “Maybe you should tell me more about this Daniel.”

“With the way you’ve tried to keep up with the Barons over the years? You probably know more about him than I do.” Even though Daniel wasn’t related to the others by blood, Nicole was sure her employer would have wanted at least some data on the guy who’d grown up with her children. “I’ve only seen him on a handful of occasions.”

“Still, I’ve always respected your instincts. First impression?”

He has incredible green eyes. “I think he has a strong sense of justice, a desire for things to be fair. When Lizzie invited me to the ranch, he objected that they were ganging up on me.” Integrity was a good quality, but she wondered how he coped when life was so often unfair. She knew his mother had died when he was still relatively young. And now his rodeo career may be ending right when he was in his prime.

She also knew, from the way he talked about the Barons as “they,” that he felt a little like an outsider, but she kept that observation to herself. It was a feeling she’d experienced far too often in her own life. Her first real sense of belonging had come from her promotions at AB Windpower and the connection that had grown between her and Adele.

“I so appreciate the chances you’ve given me,” she said. “Obviously we still have tons of time before I’ll need maternity leave, but I want you to know I plan to come back as dedicated as ever.”

“First of all, I never gave you anything you didn’t earn. As for as the other part... Your job’s not going anywhere, and I hope you stay on in a full-time position for years to come. But having a child changes you.” Adele glanced out across the skaters, as if she were trying to hide the sadness in her expression. She couldn’t disguise the regret in her voice. “Sometimes in ways you never could have predicted or would have believed of yourself.”

* * *

THE LONGHORN SALOON was doing a thriving business on Friday night. Daniel stepped inside with his brother, wondering if they’d be able to find seats. Jacob waved to someone in the crowd then turned to tell Daniel, “Jet’s got us a table already.”

Daniel tried not to let his surprise show on his face. He hadn’t realized Jet would be joining them.

Jacob paused midstride. “You don’t mind that I invited him along, do you?”

Mind? No. But it was a sign of how things were changing, of Jacob’s growing ease with their stepsiblings. Good for him. Jacob was a hell of a big brother, and he’d fought hard to reach his current state of acceptance and happiness.

“I mentioned it to him before we left the exhibition,” Jacob said. They’d passed Jet at the rodeo fund-raiser earlier in the evening.

“It makes sense to get Jet’s input,” Daniel said casually. “Luke will be his brother-in-law, too.”

As the best man for Luke and Carly’s fast-approaching wedding, Jacob was supposed to plan the bachelor party. Carly had made laughing threats about what she would do to them if there were strippers involved. Jacob had been thinking in terms of an upscale gambling night with pretty card dealers at the poker and blackjack tables. They were here tonight to brainstorm specifics.

They passed the long bar, with its mirrored wall reflecting the usual crowd on the dance floor and people gathered around the mechanical bull in the corner. One of George Strait’s slower songs played on the jukebox, and Daniel found himself randomly wondering if Nicole Bennett liked to dance. It wasn’t the first time she’d drifted through his mind since their encounter yesterday.

In fact, he was finding it difficult not to think about her. The executive was beautiful in a different way than most of the women he knew—he couldn’t quite picture her in boots and jeans—but her allure went beyond physical. She was smart, sharp enough to work her way to an impressive position for a woman under thirty. Daniel knew that Jacob and Lizzie had busted their respective asses to get Brock to increase their responsibility at Baron Energies, but that kind of success had to be even more difficult when you didn’t have a powerful name or family business.

The table Jet had secured was tall and narrow. It was awkward for three men to try to fit around, but Daniel was grateful to have any spot on such a popular night. They ordered a pitcher of beer and chatted about the event they’d just left. From the curious looks both men cast in his direction, he guessed they were silently speculating on whether he’d be returning to rodeo. It was only part of how he made a living, of course. He had also invested in a friend’s stock contracting, breeding animals for rodeo, and Daniel stayed busy on the side training horses, although his injury had temporarily limited him to more of a consulting position. He liked everything he did well enough, but there was still a niggling sense of disquiet. As if he hadn’t yet found the right fit.

Eventually, the subject turned to Luke and Carly’s wedding. “Luke warned me from the start that there would be a lot of details,” Jacob said. “This is Carly’s big day, and she’s nothing if not strong-minded.”

Jet and Daniel both grinned at that. When the Burke boys had first moved to the ranch, Daniel had gone through an ill-advised period of getting into trouble. While Brock’s aloofness had made Jacob work all the harder to be the best at everything, Daniel had taken the juvenile approach that if the old man wasn’t going to like him anyway, Daniel might as well live down to his low expectations. Whereas Savannah was likely to shake her head at his transgressions and turn a blind eye—as long as he wasn’t physically endangering himself—and Lizzie, always more responsible than her years, would scold like a miniadult, Carly was busy getting into her own scrapes.

She was a different woman now. He wasn’t sure if it was solely the result of mellowing with age or the contentment that came from her relationship with Luke.

“I think all the wedding talk is making Mariana even more anxious for the spring,” Jacob added, looking eager himself. He and Mariana were planning a longer engagement than Luke and Carly, but no one could doubt that they were every bit as much in love. “Although, it’s hard for her, knowing Leah won’t be there to see it.”

Mariana’s sister—Cody’s mother—had died tragically young. Daniel thought his siblings were brave, rushing headlong into new commitments when family so often equaled loss. Who should know that better than the Barons, after they’d been abandoned by Delia and then lost their stepmother?

Jacob clapped Daniel on the back. “I know it wouldn’t be the same for me if you couldn’t be there.”

Naturally, Daniel had agreed to be the best man, but he felt like a bit of a fraud. Maybe the job should go to someone like Jet or Luke, someone who genuinely believed in marriage. Or maybe Daniel should warn Jacob that he was thinking of relocating. Obviously, Daniel would travel from any corner of the earth to be at his brother’s wedding, but it might be easier for someone local to handle the wedding-related tasks. Then again, nothing was definite yet, and when the time came to tell Jacob he might be leaving, it should be a one-on-one conversation, not something shared in a noisy bar.

They discussed where and when they could hold the bachelor party and the potential head count. The bride and groom definitely didn’t want the festivities to be the night before the wedding; Carly said she wanted guests to have plenty of time to recover from any hangovers. Jacob made some notes on his phone about equipment they’d need to rent and staff they’d need to hire and said he’d talk to Luke about getting a guest list on Sunday.

“About Sunday.” Jet tilted his cowboy hat back on his head. “I understand Lizzie and Carly invited Nicole Bennett to join us.”

“The woman who works for Adele?” Jacob asked.

“Right, the one who took Lizzie to the hospital that time,” Jet said. “Cute, from what I recall.” He said the words matter-of-factly with no personal interest. These days, he had eyes only for Jasmine Marks.

“Cute?” Daniel echoed in disbelief.

“You don’t think she’s attractive?” Jacob asked.

On the contrary. Daniel thought cute was far too girlish and tepid to describe her. “I...”

“Do you realize,” Jet said, suddenly solemn, “that Nicole has spent more time with my own mother than I have? I’m torn between resenting her and wanting to ask her a hundred dumb questions, like what’s Delia—um, Adele’s—favorite movie or country singer.”

“It’s not dumb to want to know more about your mom,” Daniel said. The holiday season intensified how much he missed his own mother, and he couldn’t help empathizing with the ache in Jet’s tone. “But as far as the resentment goes, I hope you won’t take Adele’s mistakes out on Nicole.”

Jacob’s eyebrows shot up, and the questioning look he gave Daniel over his mug of beer made Daniel realize how protective he’d sounded.

Jet frowned. “Of course not. I have three sisters. They’d hog-tie me and have me beaten if I was rude to a woman. Jasmine wouldn’t stand for it either. Speaking of which...” He checked the time and threw a five-dollar bill on the table. “I have someone waiting for me at home who’s a lot prettier than either of you two.”

As their stepbrother blended into the crowd, Jacob returned to the topic of Nicole. “How well do you know Nicole Bennett?”

“She’s practically a stranger.” It was the truth. There was no rational reason for him to have been so concerned about her when he’d found her upset in Lizzie’s kitchen. And there was just as little reason for him to have been so happy to see her yesterday.

“Uh-huh.”

For the slightest second, it was on the tip of Daniel’s tongue to ask what it had been like when Jacob met Mariana, what his first impressions had been, if he’d had any inkling of what she might come to mean to him. Then again, on the day they’d met, Jacob had just been hit with the bombshell that he was a father. So that had probably been uppermost in his thoughts at the time. Plus, Mariana—whose own father had used the rodeo as an excuse to be a deadbeat dad—hadn’t exactly approved of Jacob’s lifestyle.

And yet somehow they worked through all of that.

Maybe the trick was wanting it enough to make it work, but Daniel was still surprised by their optimism. Both Mariana and Jacob were children of divorced parents, both had experienced the various ways people who mattered could be ripped from your life.

Jacob pulled out his wallet. “We should probably head out, too. I’m sure other people would appreciate the table.” He grinned. “And Jet’s not the only one with someone pretty waiting up for him.”

* * *

NICOLE FROWNED AT her reflection. Was it her imagination, or was her cleavage a lot more noticeable than it should have been in the V-necked sweater? She was tempted to pick another outfit—which she’d already done twice. She was going to have an emotional conversation with Adele’s children today, and Nicole felt most self-assured in her suit jackets and skirts. But those seemed like ridiculous attire for a family afternoon at the ranch.

She’d shimmied into her favorite pair of jeans, wondering how much longer they’d still fit, and pulled her hair into a ponytail that gave her a more casual appearance. She didn’t want to look stiff or as if she were trying too hard. Then again, a little makeup couldn’t hurt...

Adele knocked on the bathroom door. “You okay? I can bring you some ginger ale or crackers if your stomach’s bothering you.”

“My stomach’s fine.” Nicole cracked the door open and gestured toward the discarded tops on the bathroom counter. “I’ve been in here so long because I keep changing my mind about which shirt to wear. It’s early enough in the pregnancy that changes to my body are probably mostly in my head, but nothing feels entirely comfortable right now.”

“And you think that’s because of the pregnancy?” Adele looked upward with feigned innocence. “Not, say, because of a certain rodeo cowboy with a ‘strong sense of justice’?”

Nicole scowled. “You’re mocking me at a time like this? Do you know how nervous I am about facing your family?” The weight of the responsibility, to paint her mentor in a sympathetic light, was crushing. “I really wish you were coming with me.”

“I’m not the one they invited.” There was a hollowness to her words, and Nicole heard the echo of fear, the worry that Adele would never be welcome.

There was a buzz as Nicole’s phone vibrated on the counter, making her stomach pitch and seize. Maybe she should have taken Adele up on those crackers.

“That’s Daniel.” Nicole picked up her phone, scanning his message that he’d parked and was waiting downstairs. “I told him to text me when he got to the building and I’d meet him in the lobby.” It seemed plain wrong for him to meet Adele before her own children were given the chance.

Emotion shone in Adele’s damp eyes. “I shouldn’t be putting you through this. Especially in your condition. I—”

“You didn’t know I was pregnant when you asked me to go to the ranch today. Now, suck it up.” Nicole gave her a tremulous smile. “Only one of us can be a wreck at a time.”

“I suppose it would be pointless to tell you to have fun?”

“Probably.” Nicole tossed her cell phone and lipstick into her purse, checking to make sure she had plenty of peppermints. Sometimes sucking on them helped quell the nausea. Talking to Lizzie and the others would be awkward enough without Nicole having to bolt for the restroom midsentence.

“You have a bit of a drive between here and the ranch,” Adele reminded her. “At least try to enjoy Daniel’s company on the way.”

At the mention of Daniel’s name, Nicole’s stomach somersaulted again. But this time the sensation wasn’t unpleasant at all.