The Secret Truth at Dare Ranch (10 page)

     "Fine," he said quietly. He lay on
the bed beside Dani and held her close in his arms. She’d snuggled her head
beneath his chin and her soft breath wafted against his chest. He'd missed so
much. Why hadn’t he returned to Chimney Rock sooner? He had no one to blame but
himself.

"Did she throw up
anymore after I left?" Lexie asked.

"A couple of times then
it was over.” Thank God. He didn’t know if he could have stood much more. Watching
his little girl heave and not being able to stop it had made him feel helpless.
He considered himself anything but helpless and never wanted to feel that way
again.   

Mitch slid Dani gently out
of his arms then tucked her under the covers. With just the tip of his index
finger he brushed her bangs from her forehead and laid a gentle kiss on her
brow. "I love you, Dani," he said in a whisper.

Her eyes fluttered open for
a moment and her mouth lifted in a brief smile before she fell back to sleep. Mitch
gazed at his daughter with wonder and love nearly bursting from his heart. How
could he
not
love her?

Lexie placed a scarf over
Dani’s bedside lamp to soften the light. She looked at Dani, her eyes awash
with love then leaned over and gave her a kiss. Dani shifted slightly under the
covers and sighed. Lexie smiled then straightened and motioned for Mitch to
follow. He shook his head and whispered, "I want to show you something.”

As if it were the most
natural thing in the world, he took Lexie’s hand in his. She tried to pull away
but he held on and led her to a small cork board hanging on the wall in Dani’s
room. A crayon drawing of a family was tacked to the board.

Beside the stick figure that
represented Mitch she’d written, "My new daddy.” On the figure for Lexie
she’d dressed her in a wedding gown complete with veil and a bouquet. Mitch
looked at Lexie.

She gave him a slanted look
and pulled her hand from his. "Let’s go downstairs where we can talk."

When they stepped out into
the hall, Lexie closed the door to Dani’s bedroom but left it slightly ajar. Without
looking at Mitch, she turned and headed down the stairs.

Mitch followed her into the
kitchen where she washed her hands in the sink. He walked up beside her and
leaned the small of his back against the counter with his arms crossed over his
chest. She balled up the dish towel in one hand then glanced at him, her mouth
set in a grim line, her eyes brimming with irritation.

"If you’ve got something
to say, Lexie, go ahead and say it."

She threw the towel into the
dish rack, straightened her shoulders and looked at him. "Fine. I hope you
didn't give her any unnecessary encouragement where that drawing is concerned."

His temper flared but he held
it in check. "For the last time, I’m not here to hurt my daughter."

She paced to the breakfast
table, turned and glared at him. "She thinks we’re going to get married,"
she said in a cool voice tinged with exasperation. "You saw the picture."

To be honest, he'd barely
glanced at the stick figure bride. His focus had zeroed in on the words
my
new daddy
. "You’re making too much out of this. I think she
hopes
we
might get married. When she sees that isn’t going to happen she’ll accept it."

"How do you know?”  Contempt
radiated through her voice.   "You just got here. You know nothing about
Dani.” She jabbed a finger into the middle of her chest. "But I do. When
she sets her mind on something she doesn’t let up."

Her cold criticism irked the
hell out of him. "Why don’t you just kick me in the balls and be done with
it?"

Lexie rolled her eyes and walked
over to him. "You don’t get it do you?"

"Oh, I get it all right.
You think I’m an unfeeling bastard who wants to crush his little girl’s heart
under my boot heel."

A cynical smile trembled
over her lips. "You have no idea what it’s like to try and make up for
your child’s disappointments.

He gripped her upper arms
and stared into her eyes. "Give me a chance to try."

She shrugged out of his hold.
"Dani holds on to her disappointments. When she realizes there isn’t going
to be a happily ever after family between the three of us, her heart will break.”
Anxiety roughened her tone of voice. "After you leave and go back to your
jet set, deal making life, I’ll be the one who has to put the pieces back
together again.” She lifted her chin. "What am I supposed to say? ‘It’s
okay, baby, having a daddy isn’t what it’s cracked up to be anyway.’"

Lexie shook her head and smirked.
"I know that better than anyone. But it won’t help Dani’s feelings when
the time comes."

Her blue eyes glistened with
anger and unshed tears. All of Mitch’s indignation faded and his heart softened.
She’d been through hell and back and it was going to take some doing to get her
to trust him. He brushed a lock of hair away that clung to her dirt smeared
cheek. "Mason was a mean spirited jerk but not all men are like him."

She looked away. "I
know that," she said with a tremor in her voice, "but growing up with
him is all I have to go on."

He wished the old man were
still alive so he could cheerfully beat him to a pulp for what he had done to
her. Mitch placed a finger on the side of her chin and shifted her gaze back to
his. The glaze of tears was gone only to be replaced with resignation. "Give
me the chance to convince you I don’t have plans to walk out of Dani’s life
once the situation with the ranch is settled."

She studied him for a
moment, her blue gaze staring deeply into his. "Why should I?"

"Because if you don’t,
you’ll not only be cheating Dani out of the chance to know her father but
you’ll be cheating yourself as well."

Suspicion glinted in her
eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You need to witness
first hand that I can be a real father to Dani.” He hoped to hell that he could.
"Until you see it and believe it with your own eyes and heart, you’ll
never get past what Mason did to you."

She raised a brow. "What
are you a psychologist?"

Mitch shook his head. "No,
I’m just a man who knows you very well."

She exhaled a long sigh. "You
used to. I’ve changed."

With the tip of his finger he
tilted her face upward toward his. "Everybody changes, Lex, but some
things never do.” Mitch let his gaze sweep over her face. "You look tired.”
And beautiful.

How could he find a woman
who was dirty and smelled faintly of cow attractive? But she wasn’t just any
woman. She was Lexie, the mother of his child.

"I am tired. In fact, I’m
beat.” She looked up at him and her mouth curved in a weary smile. "I do want
to thank you for taking such good care of Dani."

He didn't want her gratitude.
He wanted her trust. "You don’t have to thank me. I’m her father."

"Yes, but you’ve only
known about her for a short time. One thing’s for sure you were thrown in head
first and it was either sink or swim. I’m glad you decided to swim."

Lexie started to step away. He
laid his hands on her shoulders and nudged her closer.

"What are you doing?"
she asked with a hint of alarm in her voice.

"I just want to hold
you for a minute," he murmured.

She tried to pull away. "I
don’t think that’s a good idea."

Ignoring her protest, Mitch wrapped
his arms around her, pressing her warm, female body next to his. "I need
it and so do you.” He felt the curve of her hips, the firmness of her thighs
and the softness of her breasts, but she held herself stiffly in his arms. Closing
his eyes he rubbed his hands slowly over her back until he felt her muscles relax.

She ran her palms up to his
shoulders, turned her head and rested her cheek over his heart. It seemed so
right to have her here, but there were still so many barriers that stood
between them. After a few precious moments passed, Mitch pulled from her
embrace and smiled down into her pretty face. He stroked a finger over her nose.
"Time for bed, Kitten."

Chapter Six

Lexie
sat next to Dani on the tractor seat and moved slowly across the hayfield
pulling a rake hitched to the rear. The sun beamed warm and bright, the air
crisp and the sky an intense blue that almost hurt the eyes to look at it. God,
she loved the fall.

She
turned to Dani, put her arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to her
side. "You’re the one who wanted to come along instead of spending the
afternoon with Hattie.”

Hattie
Anderson had worked for her father since Lexie was six. She helped Lexie out
two days a week and kept an eye on Dani whenever she asked. Lexie didn’t know
what she would do without her.

Dani
shrugged her shoulders. "I know. But she doesn’t like to play Barbie or
dress up or anything like that."

Lexie
laughed. "We’ll go riding when I’m finished if it isn’t too late. I
promise.” She wanted to go home, take a hot bath and fall into bed. Her body
cried for rest, but she’d been so busy the last couple of days she and Dani had
spent very little time together. The horses needed a good workout. All she’d
had time for was to turn them out for some exercise in the enclosed round
paddock.

"Can Dad
come over?"

Lexie
wasn’t surprised by the question. Mitch was all Dani talked about these days
and all Lexie had thought about. She smiled at Dani. "Maybe."

She
knew that Dani needed a father, and not just any father--
her
father. She’d
tried to make herself believe she could be both, but she knew in her heart she
couldn’t.

The
memory of his warmth, the strength of his arms around her, made her yearn for
more, a deeper caress and the feel of his mouth on hers. But most of all she
ached for someone to lean on through the hard times and help her with raising
Dani.

Time
for bed, Kitten.

The
tender sound of his voice echoed through her mind. Every time he said it, a
little more of the protective armor she’d erected around her emotions chipped
away. Mitch could be gentle, loving, and yes, ruthless. She needed to rid
herself of this romantic haze and remember why he was here.

Two
weeks had passed since he'd strolled back into her life. She’d tossed and
turned in her bed at night, feeling restless and needy. This was so unlike her.
She was always so exhausted at the end of each day as soon as her head hit the
pillow she slept and didn’t awaken until morning.

"He
can ride with me on Aspen," Dani said bringing her thoughts back to the
present. "Aspen won’t mind. He likes riding double."

She
tugged on the bill of the pink cap on Dani's head. "We’ll see."

Dani
sighed. "When you say that what you really mean is no.” She laid her small
hand on Lexie’s shoulder and tilted her face up to hers. Sunlight illuminated
her eyes, the same as her father’s and hope filled her sweet face. "Please,
Mom, I want to see my dad."

Her
cheeks were flushed from the chilly breeze, her hair tousled. The front of her
shirt stained with mustard from the ham sandwich she’d eaten for lunch.

Lexie's
heart simply melted. "How can I say no to such a face?"

Dani’s
mouth broke into a wide grin and she grabbed Lexie in a quick, tight hug. "Thanks,
Mom."

Lexie
nodded. "You’re welcome, sweet pea.” She glanced back at the rake to make
sure the hay was being gathered into long piles called windrows. When she
finished the raking, she would bring out the baler and gather the raked hay
into bales. She needed to finish soon. If she waited much longer, the first
snow might slide in over the mountains and ruin the crop. That she couldn’t
afford.

There
was no money to buy hay. The cows needed to be brought in and corralled so they
could be fed and fattened up for market. She had corn, sorghum silage and
soybean meal to buy. Not to mention more vitamins and minerals. She didn’t feel
like dealing with Mitch and the dormant emotions he’d begun to stir up inside
her.

She
turned back to gaze out over the field and the mountains beyond. The land was
what she needed because she knew it would always be here like the sun dipping
lower in the sky and the breeze turning cooler.

She
needed it for Dani and for herself. Too many memories had tied her heart
strings to these gentle rolling hills and pine scented air. Giving up the place
she had called home for twenty-three years was not an option. "I promise
to call when we--"

Dani
swiveled in the seat smiling. "Look, Mama!  It’s Daddy!  It’s Daddy!"

Lexie
whipped her head around to see Mitch’s truck cruising down the road, dust
flowing out behind in a dense, white cloud. She saw him wave at them through
the windscreen.