The Secret Truth at Dare Ranch (5 page)

Dani’s
mouth popped open. Her eyes blinked like a baby owl. Lexie’s chair was a board
full of nails while she waited for her reaction.

"You
are?" A mixture of confusion and wonder blanketed her face.

"Yeah.
How do you feel about that?"

Dani
took a bite of her pork chop, chewed then swallowed. "I don’t know. Does
this mean you and my mommy will get married?"

She
should have seen this question coming but it hit Lexie broadside. Of course
Dani would think this. How could she not?

Mitch
cleared his throat and shifted in his chair. Dani’s eyes stayed glued to Mitch’s
face waiting for him to answer. "Your mom and I are just friends. Two
people usually get married when--"

When
they're in love, Lexie thought as regret racked her insides. She wanted to
bundle Dani in cotton wool to protect her from the disappointment of not seeing
her parents get married.

Dani
jerked up straight in her chair. "When people have children they’re ‘sposed
to be married. It’s the law," she said staring him in the eye.

Mitch’s
mouth eased into a brief smile then faded. He looked spooked, ready to bolt like
a horse shying away from something unexpected.
Uncomfortable with the idea
of marriage and family, Mitch? I’ll bet.
 

Despite
her perverse enjoyment at watching Mitch squirm, Lexie couldn't leave him
twisting in the wind. Besides, Dani's feelings were at stake and she needed to
make her understand. "Grownups like to think about things first,"
Lexie added.

Dani’s
little brow furrowed in concentration, her lips pursed. She dropped her chin,
batted her lashes and looked up at Mitch, a hopeful glint in her gray-green
eyes. Her mouth curved in a smile. "Will you get me a baby sister?"

# # #

An
hour later, with the dishes cleared away and Dani settled up in her room, Mitch
sat on the back porch. Cool evening air washed clean by the afternoon rainstorm
wafted through the screens surrounding the porch.

He
rubbed his palms over his thighs. He was a father. A chill swept through him.
His gut twisted. A cold sweat popped out on his brow. He was glad he knew about
Dani, but at the same time he knew having a family brought a major risk that he
never planned to take.

Lexie
strolled onto the porch and sat down on a rocker beside him.

"I
still can't believe she's mine," he said. Mitch glanced at Lexie. "I’d
like Dani to have my name."

"I'm
sure she’ll have no objection.” Her voice was cool.

She
stared straight ahead not looking at him. With her right foot she pushed
against the light gray floor and rocked back and forth.

"Do
you
have an objection?"

Lexie
stopped rocking, turned her head. Her eyes were full of uncertainty. "You’re
thinking only about yourself, Mitch. What about Dani? One day her name is Dare
and the next it’s Quinn. How will she explain that to her friends and the kids
at school? Children can be very cruel. It’s obvious you know nothing about them."
She bolted from her chair.

He
gritted his teeth and clenched his jaw. When she'd allowed him to tell Dani he
was her father, Lexie's acquiescence had been unexpected. He was grateful to
her for that but if she'd told him about her pregnancy in the beginning, he
wouldn't have had to introduce himself to his own daughter. "I know
nothing about kids because you didn’t bother to tell me about Dani."

Lexie
whirled and glared at him. "I couldn't tell you. My father threatened to
ruin you and Judson and disown me," she shouted. "I cared about you,
Mitch.” The harsh tone in her voice softened. "I still do."

Mitch
pushed out of his chair and walked over to her. He didn't believe her for a
minute. "Is that why I found you in Jake Ellis's arms less than two days
after we made love? Because you cared so much?"

Even
as her face blanched, Lexie threw her hands up in the air then let them fall to
her sides. "Fine, believe whatever you want. You don’t deserve to know the
truth.” Her words grated through the air.

"I
know what I saw.”

"You
know nothing," Lexie snapped. She crossed her arms over her chest. "But
let’s put that aside for the moment. How do you feel about being a father?"

Terrified.
He had no idea how to be a father or if he would make a good one. But he wanted
a chance to try. "I never thought about having a family. I was never sure
I wanted the responsibility."

He
looked at Lexie's tight face, rigid body and the doubts gleaming in her eyes. He’d
convinced himself all he needed was his work. Until he saw Lexie again and
found out he had a daughter. Then in the span of a few days, his life had
changed from simple to complicated.

"And
now?"

He
couldn't lie to her. She deserved to know his true feelings. "I don't know.
I'm used to dealing with clients not kids. I’ve enjoyed living a totally
independent life with only myself to consider.”

Mitch
rubbed a hand over his forehead. "To be honest, I never thought about
being a father and what that means.” He turned his head and fixed his gaze on
her. His hurt over Lexie keeping Dani a secret receded for the moment and his
pride at being a father took its place. "I do know that I want a
relationship with my daughter and make sure she has everything she needs."

Lexie
paused and studied him. "She needs love and a stable environment. And if
you're going to be her father, she needs someone who will be around. You said
yourself you aren't sure about being a father. Why don't you wait until you
decide how you feel?"

Hurt
at Lexie's deception reared again in his chest. "I already know how I feel.
I want to be a father to my daughter. As far as Dani is concerned, she needs a
loving home and
you’ve
given her that...
not
this ranch.”

"It’s
because of this ranch that she has a nurturing environment.” She glanced
outside where a few stars winked out in the twilight sky. "Without the
land, the horses and this house we'd be living in a dirty city full of
strangers. Chimney Rock is a close knit community where neighbors pitch in and
help one another. I don't know what I would have done without them.” She turned
and looked at him with a solemn expression on her face. "You have no idea
how hard it is to be a parent much less a
single
parent." Her voice
was low and firm.

"You
never allowed me the chance.” It wasn't his fault he was clueless when it came
to kids.   

She
straightened her shoulders. "It’s about walking the floor all night when
they have colic or when they’re sick with a high fever and their ear is
throbbing." Her voice rang with frustration. "It’s about trying to
comfort them while you’re waiting for the medicine to kick in even though they
won’t stop crying.” She shrugged. "Then you end up crying yourself because
you can’t stand seeing your child in pain," she concluded in a ragged
whisper.

She
thought he was an idiot. "Okay, so I’ve never had those experiences. Thanks
to you. But, I’m here now."

Lexie
lips thinned and she shook her head. "You just don’t get it, do you?”  Her
voice rang with sarcasm. "It’s about being there when they call for you in
the wee hours after awakening from a bad dream. Never mind that you have to get
up at five to run a business.” Her voice rose in volume. "Or holding them
when they’ve had a bad day at school or they’ve fallen and scraped up their
knee," she finished in a gritty tone.

She
knew just which buttons to push. Mitch widened his stance and shoved his hands
into his pockets. "I put together million dollar deals on a daily basis. I
could handle one little girl."

Lexie
burst out laughing. His temper rose.

"You
wouldn’t stand a chance. Dani would bring you to your knees at the first sign
of tears.”

His
annoyance at her attitude increased. "You don’t have much faith in me, do
you?"

She
looked at him with questions shining in her eyes. "No," she said with
assurance, "because in the middle of all that you have to try and teach
them how to be a decent human being. How do you plan to do that while”—she
curved the second and third fingers of each hand into mock quotation marks—”‘enjoying
your independent life’"? Are you sure you want to change your life for a
six year old?" she asked in a polite but patronizing tone. "Think
about it. Being a parent means making sacrifices, Mitch, and I don’t think
you’re ready to make those sacrifices."

"How
do you know?"

"Because
you’d have to sacrifice your goal of taking the ranch."

Mitch
stepped forward and grasped her chin. "You’ve got one thick skull. Now,
listen. I know how much you love this place. Dani too. I care about how you
both feel believe it or not. I'll find Dani a better home, one without a dark
history and mounds of debt hanging over it. The land has been in your family
for generations. Wouldn't you rather the ranch went to me instead of strangers?” 

She
jerked her chin out of his hold. "I want the ranch to belong to me and
Dani. Period."

Mitch
raked a hand through his hair in frustration. "Building the hospital will
make up for Parker's death. By the time he was air-lifted to Denver to a well
equipped hospital, he had died. If there had been a facility close by, he might
have survived, Lex.”

Grief
over losing Parker assailed him. "He may have needed extensive rehab, but
he would have at least had the chance to live and...maybe everything would have
been different.”

Mitch
thought for a moment about what could have been. Parker may have lived and he
would have been a part of Dani's life from the beginning. "If you sell the
ranch to the foundation," Mitch continued, "Parker's memory will live
on. Besides, it would benefit countless people."

Anger
glittered in the depths of her eyes. "You're wrong. The ranch is my last
tie to Parker. Without the land, his memory will fade and his death will be
meaningless."

She
stiffened and pressed her mouth into a tight line. "You're just doing this
to hurt me aren't you?" she accused. "Because you think I never tried
to tell you I was pregnant and because my father took back the land. I would
have given you and Judson back your ranch if I could have after Mason's death,
but he put a clause in his will." She clenched her hands into fists. "If
I deeded the land back to you the ranch's assets had to be sold and the land
donated to the state."

Mitch
exhaled a deep breath. Son of a bitch. "Your old man thought of
everything, didn't he?”  He looked at the rigid set of her shoulders, the
expression on her face, a mix of contempt and a plea for his understanding.

He
had to make her see his side of things. "I wanted to do more and be more
than my father. He worked damn hard on those few acres we had. When Mason gifted
my parents the land, dad was over the moon.” Mitch remembered his mother's reaction
to the gift. She had seemed pleased but considering why she left Chimney Rock,
the land must have meant more to his father than to her. "Then in a flash
it was gone. Dad crawled away with his tail between his legs.” He fixed her
with a look he hoped was the one he used on reluctant clients. "I won't do
the same, Lexie."

He
held out his hand to her. "Come over here. I want to show you something."

When
her warm palm rested in his, Mitch sucked in a deep breath and tried to ease
the terrible ache inside him. "What do you see?"

His
eye couldn't help wandering to the canyon where Parker had died. Sadness and
yearning for his best friend filled him and chased away his frustration at
Lexie's lack of understanding.

"I
see the ranch," she said in a quiet voice. "And even knowing it's
where Parker died I can't stop loving the land."

He
pulled all the strength inside him in preparation for what he had to say. "I
need to tell you again what happened that day, Lexie, and I need you to listen.
Will you do that?"

When
she nodded, Mitch began. "Parker and I had been helping dad up at the barn
all day, mucking out stalls, working the horses. About three o'clock, dad told
us to knock off for the day. So, we jumped on our dirt bikes and headed for the
canyon. We'd been riding about thirty minutes when Parker dug up the side of
the canyon."

The
pain of that day scalded him. "Dad's truck, without a driver, appeared out
of nowhere at the edge of the canyon. Parker had just reached the rim. I can
still hear the whine of his bike. The only thing I could do was move out of the
way.” His voice broke.

He
had to make up for what happened. He just had to. Lexie laid a comforting hand
on his shoulder.

"In
a few seconds," he continued, "it was over. The truck swallowed
Parker up, slid to the bottom and crashed against a boulder."

Mitch
heaved a deep breath and walked over to his chair. He sat down and propped his
hands on his knees. "Dad accepted the blame though I didn't understand why.
I never believed he was responsible. The whole thing was a terrible accident. Nothing
more.” Old resentments rose to the surface. "I had to stand there and
watch while he took Mason’s verbal abuse and the beating--"