was so still, it didn’t even look as if she were breathing. “Well, naturally. I figured you would.”
Although Adele had refused to contact her children directly during her chemotherapy, she’d sent Nicole to Dallas with a merger proposal between AB Windpower and Baron Energies. Nicole had never believed the industry giant would link themselves with the much smaller alternative energy company, but it had given her the opportunity to meet Lizzie Baron in person, to report back to Adele that her daughter was savvy and kind and on the verge of motherhood herself. During one of Lizzie and Nicole’s meetings, Lizzie had begun cramping and bleeding; it was Nicole who’d driven her to the hospital. Although the women didn’t know each other well, Nicole considered Lizzie a friend.
“And you figured I’d let you in on how they’re doing? Maybe take a few pictures of the baby?” Nicole asked. Despite her loyalty and affection for her boss, she didn’t enjoy feeling like a spy. And she didn’t enjoy lying by omission. “I have a better idea. You should make plans to see them for yourself.”
Reaching blindly behind her, Adele groped for the cream leather sofa and sank onto it. “Surely you don’t think I should call my grown daughter out of the blue and say, ‘Hey, can we grab coffee?’”
“Nothing that glib.” Nicole sat next to her. “Now that your health is better, you should get in touch with them. Adele, you have a second chance. Don’t waste it. I can’t keep stalking them. It’s creepy.”
“It’s not as if I asked you to hide in the shrubbery and watch them through binoculars.” Adele tried to joke about the situation, but her light tone didn’t last long. “What if my reaching out only upsets them? I don’t want to intrude where I’m not welcome. Can you...can you ask Lizzie about me, about whether she’d want to hear from her estranged mother after all this time? I know she doesn’t necessarily speak for all of them, but she’s the oldest. When they were little, her sisters looked up to her. Lizzie might be a good barometer of how they feel.”
Now that Lizzie’s baby was born, conversation about motherhood would be natural. Nicole could ask gentle questions about whether Lizzie missed her own mom. She hoped she’d handle the situation delicately enough; Chris and Lizzie probably weren’t getting a lot of sleep these days. Their emotions could be on edge—to say nothing of Nicole’s own pregnancy mood swings. She’d been a bit of a tomboy growing up and had almost never cried when she fell off a bike or when her foster brothers teased her about being “too short” to play basketball. Yet for the past week, she’d constantly felt on the edge of tears. Was now really the best time to play mediator?
It’s Christmas—the season of miracles. And a miracle may be exactly what Adele and her children needed.
* * *
EVERY TELEVISION CHANNEL seemed intent on reminding the viewer that Christmas was around the corner—classic animated movies, Christmas episodes of popular sitcoms, commercials promising “perfect gifts” for loved ones. Daniel Burke Baron punched the power button on the remote with an internal bah, humbug. Pain made him cranky. While Texas wasn’t known for cold weather, the low temperature tonight was frosty enough to aggravate the lingering ache in his bruised ribs and make his recovering shoulder feel stiffer than normal.
Last month, he’d had surgery after being thrown from a bull in the rodeo ring, and he was damned impatient to get started with physical therapy. He wanted to feel like himself again.
With the television turned off, silence pressed in around him. But it lasted only a moment before a knock resounded through the one-room, remodeled bunkhouse. This building had once been part of a ranch that sold off its acreage to neighboring spreads decades ago. Daniel had wanted something simple, just a comfortable, low-maintenance place to crash when he wasn’t out on the rodeo circuit. It was a few miles from the practice ring and livestock on the Roughneck, his stepfather’s ranch, but lately Daniel had been wondering if he should have struck farther out on his own.
Annoyed with the fresh throbbing in his side when he stood, he answered the door, unsurprised to find his older brother, Jacob.
In lieu of a greeting, Jacob stated the obvious. “You missed Sunday dinner.”
It was traditional for the Baron siblings and step siblings to gather at the ranch on Sunday evenings for a family meal. Those meals had become increasingly crowded lately. Two of his stepsisters had married within the past year. Jet, Carly and Jacob were all engaged. And it wasn’t just spouses or fiancés who’d been added to the mix. Until a few months ago, the only kid under the roof had been Alex, the son of Brock Baron’s third wife. Now the five-year-old was surrounded by new cousins. Daniel had been as stunned as his brother when Jacob discovered in October that he had a toddler son, but in a very short time, Cody had become the center of Jacob’s world.
“Sorry,” Daniel said. “Didn’t quite feel up to it tonight.” If he were being honest with himself, it wasn’t just the shoulder pain that had made him reluctant to go. This was the time of year he always missed his mother the most, and his seasonal melancholy seemed like an ill fit for all the nuptial bliss around the dining room table. Why dampen everyone else’s festive mood?
“Well, Anna sent leftovers.” Jacob held out two Tupperware containers.
Daniel’s mouth lifted in a half grin. He’d always been fond of the housekeeper. She was like him, a member of the household, but not exactly a Baron. Although Brock had adopted Daniel and Jacob after marrying Peggy Burke, he’d never treated them as entirely equal to his real children.
“Thanks. I haven’t actually eaten yet.”
Jacob followed Daniel to the kitchen. “The other reason I stopped by was to let you know I found you a replacement chauffeur for tomorrow.” Ever since Daniel’s accident, Jacob had been driving him to his medical appointments.
“I could drive myself.”
“In downtown traffic? That sling on your arm limits your reflexes and range of motion.”
They might be adults now, but Jacob was still the same protective big brother who’d tried to look after Daniel when their biological father was arrested for embezzlement and sent to prison.
“I feel bad that I can’t reschedule my meeting,” Jacob said.
“Don’t even consider that, not when you worked so hard to get where you are.” After years of Jacob busting his ass to earn their stepfather’s respect, Brock had finally deigned to give Jacob a position at Baron Energies. “Seriously, I’ll survive without the moral support.”
Jacob knew better than anyone how much Daniel disliked doctors’ offices and hospitals, nearly to the point of phobia, but Daniel was almost looking forward to this visit. If all went well, he’d leave the appointment sling-free and cleared to begin therapy.
After sticking one of the containers in the microwave, Daniel went to the refrigerator for a beer. He offered one to his brother. “You have a few minutes to stick around, or does Mariana need your help wrangling Cody into bed?”
Grinning, Jacob reached for the bottle. “The nice thing about time at the ranch is that Cody wears himself out. Lots of space to run around, lots of kids to play with. He was asleep when I dropped off him and Mariana at the house. And speaking of being dropped off...Carly’s going to drive you to your orthopedic appointment. She has a dress fitting four blocks away, so it just makes sense. She’ll come back and get you afterward.”
Carly
