Delivering His Gifts: A Mountain Man's Baby Christmas Romance(18)

I kept praying the truck would turn off and not go all the way down Lick Creek Road, but at every chance, the truck just kept going straight. Thankfully, I was coming up to my turn off, and unless the truck was headed to my place, it was very unlikely to turn with me.

“Thank God,” I sighed with relief as I turned off the road and the truck continued on its way.

I sped up, but I was already late. It was two minutes after five, and he’d asked us to meet him at exactly five p.m. I knew calling would just waste more time, so I did my best to drive as fast as I safely could.

I pulled up outside the house around 5:10. My brother’s trucks were lined out front, and I was the last one to join. Great, I thought. Graham and Sam often had reasons to be late, and they were still here before me.

I took the porch steps two at a time, and I flung open the front door to find my three brothers sitting around the coffee table in the living room. Eli was standing, and from the look on his face, it was clear he wasn’t amused by my late entrance.

“Sorry, I got stuck behind a truck driving slower than molasses.”

“Shit happens,” Graham said with a shrug.

Sam pulled out his phone and tapped away at it, clearly not concerned with my late arrival or my interruption.

But Eli was another story. “Thanks for gracing us with your presence. It’s a good thing we aren’t meeting with a client today, or we’d likely lose another one. Speaking of which, business has really slowed down lately. We really need to be on top of this shit, guys. That includes you, Mason, since last time I checked, you were part of this business too.”

“Yeah, sorry,” I grumbled, taking a seat close to Graham. “I’ve just got a lot going on.”

“As do we all,” Eli said. “It’s no excuse to keep showing up late and missing meetings. In fact, that’s why I called this meeting. There’s been too much of that shit from all three of you lately, and it’s seriously hurting our business.”

Eli was the youngest of the four of us, but with the furrowed brow and the frown lines, he appeared older than he was. It didn’t help that his arms were crossed in front of his chest and he stared down at the three of us like a disappointed father scolding his rowdy teens who’d gotten caught past curfew with booze.

But we were all grown men, and I wasn’t putting up with this shit

However, it was Graham who spoke. “Listen, I know we could use a boost to the business, but I have to admit, with a baby on the way, I really need to take a step back.”

“Yeah, me too,” Sam chimed in. “I have four of them coming. With multiples, there’s a lot of extra concerns. And we need to get the house finished or find a place big enough for the six of us very soon.”

It was perfect timing for me. “I need to take a step back too. For personal reasons.”

Graham and Sam turned toward me, but unlike Eli, their looks were more curious than angry.

“Oh yeah? What’s going on, Doc?” Graham asked, calling me by the nickname he’d given me after he’d found out I chose the medic path in the military. “I know I’ve been busy, but I really need to catch up with you guys.”

“Stop it,” Eli said, holding his hands up. His voice was thunderously loud and mostly a growl. “I didn’t call this meeting to discuss our personal lives. We really need to focus on work. I understand that Graham and Sam might need to step aside for a bit, but Mason, you don’t have a kid on the way. There’s no excuse.”

I swallowed hard, not wanting to say something I’d regret. I didn’t want to break the news to my brothers like this – in anger and frustration. “I have my own reasons.”

Eli growled and lunged toward where I was sitting. I stood up, topping him by only a couple inches. “Listen, I’m doing everything these days, with little to no help from any of you,” he said. “This was supposed to be our business, but lately I feel like my own family is abandoning me, leaving me out to dry, and it isn’t right.”

“Stand down, Eli,” Graham said, standing up and stepping between the two of us. “I’m sure Mason has legitimate reasons. Don’t you, Doc?”

“I do.”

“What reasons? What could be more important than family?” Eli asked, glowering at me.

“Nothing is more important than family. I just have more going on than this security firm, and you act like this needs to be my entire fucking life.”

“It would be nice if it was even a small part of your life, but you can’t be bothered to come to meetings, help with clients or even work gigs right now. And from where I’m standing, you’re leaving it all up to me since you know our brothers have shit going on.”

“I have shit going on too,” I growled. “Just because I don’t tell you guys everything doesn’t mean I don’t have things other than this business to think about.”

Graham placed a hand on my shoulder, moving me backward. Sam was standing and talking to Eli, trying to calm him down.

“Mason, man,” Graham said. “What’s going on? Talk to me.”

“I will. I’ll tell everyone when I’m ready, and on my own terms.”

Blood was rushing through my veins, and my fists were balled at my sides. I was angry. Not at Eli, but myself. He was right. I was letting everything fall on him. But what choice did I have? My heart wasn’t fully in the business anymore. I wanted something more.

And there was the baby…

My head was spinning as I thought about Danielle and our child.

Suddenly it felt like the large living room was caving in around me. Sam walked over to us, and that made me feel claustrophobic. I took a step back and found myself up against the wall.

“I need some air,” I said. I pushed myself away from them and hurried toward the door.

“Where the fuck is he going now? You know what, I don’t care anymore,” Eli called out after me. “Keep running away from your family if that’s what you want to do.”

I got in my truck and started the engine. I backed out of the driveway and hit the road with no real destination in mind. I just knew that I didn’t want to go home and deal with Eli’s questions. I wasn’t ready to tell them about Danielle and the baby because I was still processing what it meant for us. I knew they’d have questions I didn’t have the answers to just yet.

I drove mindlessly, or so I thought, until I saw the sign for Danielle’s rescue.

Dammit.

She’d said she wanted her space, and I needed to respect that. I couldn’t keep showing up and expecting answers she also didn’t have. It was unfair to her.

I parked on the other side of the road. From where I was sitting, I could see the front of her house in the distance. I had only intended to park for a second before turning around and going God knows where. But a car pulled into the driveway and drove all the way to the front of her house. I sat up in my seat to get a better look. It wasn’t her ex’s vehicle. It could be another customer, but as far as I knew, she wasn’t really open for business. And it was getting late into the evening.

Not that it was any of my business… I should have driven off and left her to her affairs. But something stopped me from leaving.

A man got out of the car, and I knew him from his advertisements around town. My stomach churned.

Jim King. Loan shark.

Sure, he advertised himself as a lender for those with bad credit, but the interest rates written in the small prints should have been illegal. It was like selling your soul to the devil.

I didn’t like what this meant for Danielle. After all, loan sharks didn’t just pop in for friendly visits.





Danielle





“Mr. King? What are you doing here at this time of night?” I asked, my voice low so as to not wake up Skyler. Seeing him at this time of night made me wish the dogs were inside, but they’d all gone out one last time before bed.

The burly man pushed his way into my house, or else I wouldn’t have let him in the door. “I’m here to tell you that you missed your first payment due date, Ms. Baker,” the man said dryly.

“What? No, the first payment is the first of the month,” I stated. “There must be some mistake.”

“No, there’s no mistake. Here, let me show you,” he said. He pulled out the contract I had signed.

My eyes skimmed it and I found where it said that a payment equaling one third of the loan amount would be due on the first of the month and pointed at it. “See? Right here.”

Jim shot me a grin that sent a shiver down my spine, as if he knew something I didn’t. He flipped to the very last page.

“Here, Ms. Baker,” he said, handing it to me.

I took the contract in my hands and frowned. The print was so tiny and contained a lot of legalese that I likely skipped over. I was about to question him on where it said anything about a payment being due within a day of the loan, when I saw it.

A good faith deposit of 1% of the loan value will be paid within 24 hours of the contract to lock in the interest rate of 15%. If this payment is not met, the lender reserves the right to raise the interest rate to 30%

“A deposit? You never mentioned needing to put money down for the loan,” I stammered, dropping the contract on the coffee table. “Hell, I’m pretty sure this isn’t even legal. I’d have to look at usury laws, but—”