Delivering His Gifts: A Mountain Man's Baby Christmas Romance(12)

Danielle still didn’t look too pleased with me, but her daughter hugging my legs caused her to sigh, her face softening.

“Can I show you something?” she asked.

“Sure, but let’s make it quick. Your mom’s right. We’re here for business.”

Skyler nodded, her pigtails bouncing wildly. She took my big hand in her tiny one and led me down the hallway.

“Skyler, where are you going?” Danielle asked a little grumpily.

“In the kitchen.” She pulled me over to the refrigerator and pointed to a photo held there with a magnet. “I drew this.”

The colorful scribbles were hard to make out at first - there were three stick figures and a bunch of blobs in varying colors.

“That’s Mommy,” she said, pointing to a stick figure wearing purple. “That’s me in pink, my favorite color, and that’s you.” She pointed at a tall stick figure colored blue.

I had never been speechless in all my life, not like I was in that moment. A lump formed in my throat as I realized that she had drawn me beside her family. She hardly knew me, but somehow, I had made a connection with her. I didn’t know what to say.

Thankfully, Danielle interrupted us. “Come on, honey,” she said softly. “Mason needs to come into the living room.”

“Can I be there too?”

“If you promise to be good.”

“I do!” Skyler made a beeline for the living room.

“I’m sorry if I did something wrong. I really just wanted to say hi.”

Danielle’s face was blank, as if she was intentionally trying to mask her emotions. “It’s fine. I would just prefer if we kept things more professional from now on, that’s all. And that includes with my daughter. I don’t want her getting any ideas about us.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it.”

“It’s okay. We’ll just need to be better from now on.”

She turned on her heels, and I followed her to the living room. Already, we could hear Skyler in the living room talking to Calvin. I’d never asked the man about his feelings on kids, so I hoped she wasn’t bothering him. But as we turned the corner, it was clear he wasn’t bothered at all. He was actually smiling as she listed off all the pets they owned.

“And of course, Oscar, but Mommy says you’re taking him.” Her voice held a hint of sadness. “But Mommy says he’ll be able to help someone. And we can bring another dog into our home.”

Danielle sat down beside her on the sofa, wrapping an arm over her shoulder.

“It doesn’t make you too sad to be giving away Oscar?” Calvin asked softly.

“I’m a little sad, but it’s the right thing to do.”

Danielle interjected. “We rescue dogs and cats all the time and provide temporary homes for them. Skyler knows the drill, that sometimes these animals move to other homes - we’re just an in-between for them until they can find their forever place.”

Calvin looked a little sad as he stared at Skyler. I thought he might even say they could keep the dog, but little Skyler spoke before he could say anything.

“You’ll take good care of him, won’t you?”

“Of course I will.” His voice cracked.

“And maybe I can visit him?” Her eyes grew wide with hope.

“Skyler, we—” Danielle started to say.

Calvin spoke over her. “Of course you can, sweetie. Anytime you want. In fact, I’d love the company. Hardly anyone visits me anymore, besides Mason.”

Skyler’s face brightened with a smile so bright it lit the room. “We’ll visit you, won’t we, Mommy?”

Danielle looked as if she were caught between a rock and a boulder, but she eventually said, “As long as Mr. Forester approves. We can talk about this later, honey. Right now, let’s see how Oscar and Mr. Forester gets along, alright?”

“Can I let him in?” Skyler said.

“Sure,” Danielle said, standing up with her daughter. “But I’ll be right behind you.”

Skyler and Danielle hurried to the back door. I noticed Calvin watching me, a bemused look on his face.

“What?”

“They seem like a sweet family,” he commented slyly.

“Yes, they do,” I agreed warily, eyeing him.

“And you and Danielle - you’re just, friends?” Calvin raised an eyebrow.

“We are. We met when I was looking for a dog for you.”

“I see the way you look at her, son,” he said with a little chuckle. “And she looks at you the same way.”

“What do you mean?”

Before I could get an answer from him, Oscar and Skyler came barrelling into the room together. Danielle was behind them. As soon as Oscar reached the living room, he sat down directly in front of where Skyler sat. His eyes looked at Calvin curiously, but he didn’t make a move or even a sound toward him. His tail was flopping around on the floor.

“Oh, what a beauty,” Calvin said, leaning forward. “May I pet him?”

“Of course,” Danielle said from nearby. “He’s a very friendly boy. He’ll come to you if you call him.”

“Oscar, come here,” Calvin said, patting his lap.

Oscar looked at Danielle for permission, then stood up and walked over to Calvin’s side. His tail was wagging even more than usual. He sat down and rested his head in the old man’s lap. Calvin stroked the dog’s fur gently, a relaxed smile on his face. He seemed to be at peace, something I hadn’t seen from him before.

Danielle grinned at me, and for a second, I forgot all the awkwardness between us. She seemed to as well as we watched Calvin and Oscar bond.

“I think we’ve found a match,” Danielle said, wiping away the tears from her eyes. She was smiling brightly, however, so I assumed they were happy tears. Or at least mixed with happiness at seeing one of her dogs comfort a person in need. It had to be a very rewarding job.

Calvin looked up, and for a moment, I thought I saw tears in the old man’s eyes too. He quickly wiped them away with his sleeve.

“He’s a special dog. I can see that,” Calvin said, his voice a bit hoarse.

“He is. I knew it from the moment I met him that he was special.” The two of them shared a smile, and Danielle cleared her throat. “So this seems like a good match, and if you’re interested, we can move forward with more specialized training. I can bring him over to your house, Mr. Forester, and we can work on exactly what you need.”

“Oh, I’m definitely interested,” the old man said. “I haven’t felt this relaxed or happy in years.”

“I’m glad to hear we’re able to help. This is why I do what I do,” Danielle said proudly.

“Are you sure you won’t accept payment?” Calvin asked.

Danielle shot me a look. We’d already talked about this. She bit her lip and said softly, “No, no, it’s all covered through non-profit donations.”

She averted her gaze. I hated making her lie; it was clear she wasn’t comfortable with it. But it was also the only way to get Calvin to accept the dog and to accept me paying for it. His fixed income was barely enough to live off of, much less pay for very specialized dog training like this.

“Well thank your donors for me, then.”

Danielle looked at me again, as if to make sure I got the message. Which I did.

“Alright, well, when should we get started?”

I let Danielle and Calvin work out the details of the training, and when it came time to leave, I pulled Danielle to the side.

“What?” she asked, as we stepped into the kitchen.

I handed her a wad of bills. She stared at it, a confused look on her face. “Payment for the training.”

“I usually only collect half up-front,” she said, looking through the pile of bills with wide eyes.

“I’m paying in advance. If it costs more than that, I’ll give you more. But for now, I wanted to make sure you had everything you needed.”

“No, it won’t cost more than this. I’m sure of it. It’ll probably cost less, so if you’d like me to return the rest, I—”

“No,” I said, holding my hands up to stop her. “No need to. I figure you’re going to spend a lot of time on this, and a lot of gas going back and forth to Calvin. This should cover it plus some. Consider the rest a donation if you have to.”

“Mason, I…”

I turned and walked out of the kitchen before she could give me the money back. I knew she was worried about me wanting something from her; we’d had this talk already. Nothing I could say would convince her otherwise, but I wanted to make sure she was paid fairly. More than fairly, in fact.

I knew it likely wouldn’t cover all the repairs and everything she needed, and God, how I wish she’d accept more. But I was already pushing it with the wad of cash. Hopefully she’d see that I wanted nothing from her in return, and she’d allow me to help her in the future.

“Want to grab a bite to eat on the way home?” I asked Calvin. Not only did I want to make sure the old man ate, I dreaded going home. I knew Eli was still pissed at me for prioritizing this over another client meeting, but my priorities had shifted lately.

“Sure, as long as you let me pay this time,” Calvin said with a frown.