The Rancher's Christmas Princess by Christine Rimmer Read Free Book Online

sooner—and she should have done a
better job of it. So far, she’d mucked everything up, taking forever to get to
the point, finding endless excuses to put off the inevitable.
    And kissing him . What had possessed
her to think that it would be all right to kiss him? It wasn’t. It was
wrong.
    So very wrong. She’d...completely misled him. Indulged herself
in an impossible romantic fantasy when she should have kept her focus on the
important information Anne had trusted her to deliver with a certain delicacy
and tact.
    Of course he was angry. With Anne. And with her.
    “Please go.” He wasn’t even looking at her. He had his elbows
on his knees and his head in his hands. “Go now.”
    She thought again of all the things she still had to say to
him. And then she reminded herself that none of those things had to be said that
night. The least she could do after botching her first task here so completely
was to leave the poor man alone to deal privately with the life-altering
information she’d finally managed to deliver to him.
    She turned for the foyer, where she took her coat off the hall
tree and put it on. She pulled her gloves from the pocket and put them on, too.
Then, quietly, she left through the front door, closing it gently behind
her.
    Out in the snow-dusted driveway, Marcus was waiting. He had the
SUV’s engine idling, ready to go. He got out when he saw her emerge from the
house and opened the door to the backseat for her.
    She ran down the front steps, pausing only for one brief second
to glance up at the star-thick indigo bowl of the sky, hoping to see a last echo
of the northern lights.
    But there was nothing and that made her sad, made her feel as
though the magic had never been.
    * * *
    Pounding sounds invaded her dreams.
    Belle struggled up through dragging layers of sleep, groaning.
The room was dark. The time glowed at her from the bedside clock: 6:14 a.m.
    More pounding—on the door that led out to the landing. What in
the...
    In the crib across the room, Ben woke with a startled cry. He
began calling for Anne. “Mama! Mama!”
    Belle flicked on the lamp, threw back the covers, pulled on her
robe and went to him. The pounding continued.
    “Mama!” Ben cried.
    She scooped his warm, plump body up into her arms and hugged
him close.
    Ben pushed at her with his little fists and kept crying. “Mama!
Mama...”
    Outside, she heard Preston’s voice, followed by another that
sounded like Silas. She held on to Ben, stroking his back, rocking him from side
to side, kissing his forehead, whispering, “Shh, shh, now. It’s all right,
sweetheart. It’s all right...” as he continued to wail and push her away.
Outside, there were scuffling noises. Someone fell heavily against the door.
    The startling sound brought another frightened cry from Ben.
Then he grabbed on to her, buried his face against her neck and sobbed, “Mama,
Mama...” The words broke her heart. And his plaintive, lonely little cries made
her feel powerless and useless and somehow cruel—to deny this perfect, beautiful
child what he needed most of all. He shook his head against her neck, his hot
tears smearing on her skin at the same time as he pressed himself so close
against her, needing comfort so desperately, he grabbed for her even as he cried
for the one he really wanted.
    “Darling, shh. It’s all right. You’re all right....” She
pressed her lips to his fine blond hair, breathed in the baby smell of him,
milky and warm, a scent like fresh bread and baby lotion enchantingly
combined.
    “Mama, Mama...” He let out a garbled string of sad little
nonsense words.
    “Shh, Mama loves you. She loves you so much. But she can’t
come,” she whispered against skin. “I’m here, though. I have you. You’re safe,
you’re all right....”
    Outside, the scuffling sounds continued. Again, something heavy
bounced against the door.
    And then she heard her cousin Charlotte’s sharp voice. “Stop
this. Stop it this instant.”
    A