Rich Rancher for Christmas

by Sarah M. Anderson

  She should just get in her car and drive off—but she couldn’t. “CJ?” she called out after him.

  “What, Natalie?” He turned, his hands on his hips, and glared at her.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Something in his face changed, but at this distance, she couldn’t make out what it was. Without another word, he turned and climbed into the backhoe.

  She stood there and watched until he’d rumbled around a curve in the drive.

  He didn’t look back.

  * * *

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” his mom asked for the thirtieth time. “We can come home. We can get through this together, sweetie.”

  CJ stifled a groan. He’d finally bitten the bullet and video-called to tell his parents that the cat was out of the bag. He loved his parents—he did—but he just wanted to brood in peace and quiet while he still could. Being fussed over by his mother wouldn’t make anything better.

  “I’m fine,” he repeated. “Daniel Lee—remember him? One of my half brothers? He wrote the press release and he’s handling it. I talked it over with him and we agreed it would be better if you guys stayed in Arizona until this blew over. If you come home now, it will only add fuel to the fire and everyone’s going to want an interview.”

  He could see his mother physically recoil at the idea of doing interviews about Hardwick Beaumont and what had happened thirty-four years ago. She had lived as Bell Wesley for so long that everything that had come before Pat had happened to someone else, it seemed to CJ. And he couldn’t blame her. Who the hell wanted to have to explain what they were doing when they’d had an affair decades ago? Hell, he shuddered at the thought of his college girlfriend—up until now, the only other person who knew about his connection with the Beaumonts—coming out of the woodwork and dishing on their relationship.

  But he knew that his mother was hurting for him. And he hadn’t even told his folks about how deep he’d gotten with Natalie—or how much he was paying for that mistake.

  “Well...” she said hesitantly.

  “Son,” Dad said, crowding into the camera’s window. “We’ll do what you want. We trust your judgment on this and if you say that you and your half brothers have the situation under control, then we’re going to take you at your word.” His mother looked doubtful, but she didn’t disagree. “In fact,” Dad went on diplomatically, “we were talking about pulling up stakes with the motorhome and driving over to New Mexico for a little while. Your mother would like to see Santa Fe.”

  “That would be great,” CJ said, hoping he hadn’t forced the enthusiasm past the point of believability. His parents mostly wintered in Arizona, but every now and then they did make side trips. Everyone in Firestone had a general idea of where they were in Arizona—but if they were in New Mexico, they would be even more insulated from any fallout. “You guys go and have fun, okay?”

  They said their goodbyes and CJ ended the call. Then he sat there in the silence of his big, empty house and brooded. He put the odds of his parents showing up at fifty percent. Sooner or later, his mother would demand that they come home and check on him.

  He’d deal with that when he had to—there were more pressing concerns. Now that the road was clear into town, he needed to make a supply run. But he didn’t want to. Because there would be questions and maybe even reporters. For a half second, CJ wondered if Natalie would still be in Firestone, digging up dirt and wielding her charms like a weapon.

  He had been such an idiot. That was the only logical conclusion. He had known what she was. She had been right—she had warned him. But he had let himself get swept up in the holidays and in her big eyes and her soft body. He had let himself be convinced that Natalie the woman was distinctly separate from Natalie Baker, morning television host. He had always trusted his gut in these sorts of things—but this was the second time that his gut had let him down when it came to women.

  All he’d ever wanted was to be a Wesley and the world simply wouldn’t let him. It didn’t matter that his dad was a good man or that CJ had done his best to follow his father’s example. All that would ever matter was that once upon a time his mother had conceived him with Hardwick Beaumont.

  He had even had a phone call from the patriarch of the Beaumont family, such as it was—Chadwick Beaumont himself, welcoming CJ to the family and reassuring him that, no matter what level of involvement he wanted, he had the full support of the Beaumonts. CJ had honestly told his oldest half brother that he still wasn’t sure what he wanted from any of them.

  What had happened next still had CJ’s head spinning. Chadwick had apologized for not contacting CJ when he’d located him three years ago.

  Chadwick had known where he was—who he was—for three years. The news had rocked CJ. He had lived his entire life under the impression that he was unfindable. Yes, his mother had prepared him for the day one of the Beaumonts might locate him and do apparently nefarious things—but he’d never actually believed that would happen.

  But he’d been wrong. Because Chadwick and Zeb had located him—and so had Natalie. And if it hadn’t been her...

  Someone else would have come for him. It was clear now—his parentage had been a ticking time bomb. He was still trying to get his head around it.

  And failing. He looked at his Christmas tree—the one he had gone out and cut for Natalie. He hadn’t plugged in the lights and the whole thing looked sad and forlorn. Tomorrow, he’d take off all the decorations and carefully pack them away in the bins. Then he would take the tree outside and burn it.

  And that would be the end of him and Natalie Baker.

  * * *

  “And stay tuned for A Good Morning, where there will be some shocking new revelations about the Beaumont family,” the morning news lady said with a smile at the camera.

  CJ groaned. He was torturing himself by watching Natalie’s station. Yes, part of it was self-preservation. He needed to know what was being said about him. Was his sex life about to become common knowledge? Had she taken more pictures of him or of his house? Would she display the star he’d given her like a hunting trophy? Would his friends and neighbors show up on TV, talking about how they never would’ve guessed there was a Beaumont lurking in their midst?

  Forewarned was forearmed. But it was also the highest form of masochism he could imagine.

  It had been six days since he had literally dragged Natalie off of his property. Six long days that had been filled with a barrage of emails and phone calls. After he’d gotten her back to the county road, the temperatures had dropped and everything had iced over so, at the very least, he hadn’t had visitors. The roads were still too tricky for a bunch of city slickers to make it out this far. But that would change soon, he knew.

  God, look at that—he had his own damn graphic now. The Missing Beaumont Bastard flashed in gray and red—the brewery colors.

  Jesus. This was beyond him, which really only left him one option. He picked up his phone and dialed Daniel Lee.

  “I take it you saw the teaser?” Daniel said without any other introduction.

  It didn’t matter what time CJ called, Daniel always answered on the first ring and always seemed to be watching the exact same thing.

  “It’s never going to end, is it?” Natalie had enough on him to stretch this out for months if she wanted to.

  True, she hadn’t exactly been forthcoming with the information on all the episodes he’d watched so far. But it was only a matter of time.

  “It will, eventually,” Daniel added. “You’ve only been in the public eye for less than a week. It’s New Year’s Eve—I guarantee that tonight, someone, somewhere will do something more interesting than you.”

  “You think?”

  “I know. Personally? I’ve never met a man as boring as you are.”

  CJ had to laugh at that. “Thanks, I think.”

  “It’s a good thing,” Daniel reassured him. “You’re not just the most boring Beaumont, you’re boring, period. There’s not a
single exciting thing about you and the public craves excitement. You’ll see. Another week or two and who knows.”

  CJ desperately wanted to believe that—but he couldn’t. Natalie knew him too well. He was tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop. “You really think I should go public?” That was what Daniel had been arguing for the last week—if they trotted CJ out and demonstrated to the world exactly how boring he was, people would lose interest faster. The mystery would be gone and without that, there was nothing to tease.

  “Absolutely. Why? You change your mind?”

  “Yeah.” It felt like a defeat—but he had been beaten the moment Natalie Baker and walked into the Firestone Grain and Feed. “What are the options?”

  There was a pause. “There are three viable options—although I’m open to suggestions. First, we hold a press conference.”

  “Like Zeb did on the steps of the Beaumont Brewery? No.” He had absolutely no desire to parade himself before a pack of bloodthirsty reporters and wait for the body blows.

  Daniel chuckled. “I didn’t say it was the best idea. You can also come into town tonight and put in an appearance at a New Year’s Eve party. I can think of three venues that would provide an appropriate amount of press coverage without leaving you exposed.”

  CJ scowled at the phone. “That doesn’t seem like my style.” Better than a press conference, but not by much. “What’s the third option?”

  “The Beaumont family is going to be hosting an Epiphany party—that’s January sixth.” CJ rolled his eyes. He knew when Epiphany was. “It will be mostly family along with close friends. We could invite one or two reporters, give them exclusive access. I would expect you to do a short interview and smile for a few pictures. The angle would be that we were all one big happy family, of course.”

  “I wouldn’t be the focus?” Because he had no interest in being the center of a news story where the Beaumont family welcomed their long-lost half brothers into the fold.

  “I believe there would be some other announcements at this party as well. So I don’t believe you would be the focus for long.”

  CJ thought about it. Assuming the roads were clear, he could do that. Finally, after all these years, he wouldn’t run away from the idea of being a Beaumont. Instead, he was going to walk toward them. And hopefully be immediately overshadowed by some “other announcements.” “All right.”

  There was another long pause before Daniel said, “Any idea what the shocking new revelation is going to be in ten minutes?”

  CJ tried very hard not to groan out loud. His idea of hell was having his sex life discussed on TV. “No idea,” he lied. But even as he did, he felt the muscle in his jaw twitch. And that made him think of Natalie all over again. Even his own mother had never figured out he had a tell. Natalie had seen him more than anyone else ever had. “Have you been able to contact her?”

  That was one of the things Daniel was doing—talking to the media people and trying to, as Natalie had put it, redirect the attention. And Natalie was a media person.

  “She’s not taking my calls.” That couldn’t be good. “I tell you what, though—she’s a hell of an investigative reporter.”

  “Yeah? Well, I guess so—she found me, after all.” Although that wasn’t quite as hard as CJ had once thought it would be, apparently.

  “She didn’t just find you,” Daniel said. “She didn’t start with you. She was digging in to me long before she tracked you down.”

  CJ frowned. She hadn’t said anything about that to him. But then, she hadn’t told him everything, had she? “Yeah? Did she find anything on you?”

  “No. I’ve got too many firewalls. But she got close and she tripped some of my early warning systems.” He whistled in low appreciation.

  “What—are you in to her?”

  His brother just chuckled. “No. Blondes aren’t my type. But there’s a lot of political wisdom in keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. I’d hire her if I could. Her brains plus her looks—and her dedication? She could rob banks and get away with it scot-free.”

  CJ started to laugh.

  “What?”

  “I told her the same thing. I don’t think she would take a job working for you, though. That show’s the most important thing in the world to her.” More important than he had been.

  “Well, if you talk to her again, tell her I pay well.” There was an ominous undertone to that statement, and CJ was reminded again that he did not know very much about Daniel. But then again, apparently neither did anyone else—what with all the firewalls and safety features and stuff.

  He was probably overthinking it. Daniel was also the executive vice president at the Beaumont Brewery now. Having someone as high-profile as Natalie work for him would probably be a coup or something.

  “Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to see each other again. But,” he added, “if I do, I’ll mention it.”

  “Thanks,” Daniel said. “I’ll get you the invitation to the party.”

  They ended the call just as the morning news anchor cut over to Natalie’s show. The theme music and graphics played out over the screen and there she was, smiling at the camera just like she did every day. If CJ hadn’t spent so much time with her, he wouldn’t have noticed any difference—but now, he could.

  Even though she was smiling and perky, her eyes had a dead look to them. Was that how she’d always looked on television? He was pretty sure—but it wasn’t who she was. Because now he knew what she looked like when she was happy or upset or—God help him—aroused. He hated that he could tell the difference, but more than that, he hated that he cared. It wasn’t his fault she had that look in her eyes. She had brought this upon both of them.

  He didn’t want to hear what she had to say but he couldn’t look away.

  “Good morning, Denver.” She batted her eyelashes at the camera like she did every day, but something seemed off. She looked tense. Oh, God—was this it? Was his sex life about to become a lead story?

  “This is going to be my last morning with you here on A Good Morning. I’ve decided to step away from television. Recently, I compromised not only my journalistic credibility, but also my personal code of honor. I took a picture of someone I care for and uploaded it to the internet without his permission. Here at A Good Morning, we pride ourselves on a higher standard of behavior. I wanted to take this time to thank each and every one of you for tuning in and for following me on social media. I’m going to be pulling back my online presence as well, but when I’m ready for something new—” she swallowed “—I will be sure and let my fans know.”

  “Liar,” he muttered at the TV. She was seriously doing this? Was she seriously quitting live on the air? Because...of what? Because of him?

  His heart began to pound wildly in his chest. She was. He was afraid that he might be hallucinating this—it was all wishful thinking after his conversation with Daniel. But then she looked at the camera and said, “To CJ Wesley and the people of Firestone, I apologize. I confused ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ with hope and happiness. My mistake was valuing comments and reach more than I did family and friends. So, as the station moves forward into the New Year, this program will be moving forward with the new host, a man you’ll all enjoy spending time with, Kevin Durante and—” he saw her swallow again “—I think you’re going to like it. Starting January first—tomorrow—I hope you tune in for A Great Morning with Kevin Durante. Thank you for making me a part of your lives for the last seven years. And I hope each and every one of you have a happy New Year.”

  The show cut to commercial, but CJ barely noticed. That was it? That was the shocking announcement? Not a discussion of his prowess in bed or interviews with his old girlfriends?

  Natalie had quit. Because of him. He hadn’t asked her to—he was sure about that.

  His cell phone lit up. Good or bad? Daniel texted.

  Good, I think, he texted back.

  You sure you’re not going to see her anymore?
/>   I have no idea, CJ replied honestly. But he was thinking that maybe...

  He just might be seeing her sooner than he had planned.

  Like now. Like right now. He could get his truck and, assuming he didn’t skate into a ditch in the next fifteen miles, be in Denver within an hour. He ought to be able to find directions to the studio online, right? It would take her at least that long to get off the air and pack up her desk, right?

  If you do, my offer of a job for her stands. Put a good word in for me.

  CJ didn’t even bother to reply. He was already up and shoving his arms into his sheepskin coat. Keys. He needed the truck’s keys. And dammit, it was supposed to start snowing anytime—but he didn’t care. He had to get to downtown Denver now.

  He threw open the front door and hit the porch at a dead run—only to come to a skidding halt. For there, coming down the driveway, was a red Mustang.

  Thirteen

  Natalie felt so weird right now. Seeing this place again—it was almost too much. It’d only been a week since she’d left but it felt like a lifetime ago.

  She had no idea if she was doing the right thing. Part of her was nearly paralyzed with fear. She had quit. And by now, the show had aired and there would be no going back. No doubt people were going to rake her over the coals. Only this time, she wouldn’t be there to watch it unfold in real time.

  But the other part? She rounded the bend and CJ’s house came into view. The rest of her was anything but panicked. She didn’t care what anyone thought. She really only cared what one person thought—CJ. She had hurt him and she was hoping that she could make it right—but she didn’t know if that was possible. Still, knowing that she was here for him, instead of for ratings or reach, was freeing.

  As she got closer to the house, she saw the front door fly open and CJ come running out. He looked half-crazed and for a second, she considered putting the car in Reverse and bailing. This was not a good idea in a long string of bad ideas. She shouldn’t have come. She was crazy to think that he might accept her apology. She was crazy to think that he might want her back.