Delivering His Gifts: A Mountain Man's Baby Christmas Romance(29)

Skyler seemed to ponder this question before saying. “I don’t think so. I’ve never seen them before. Except for one.”

“One of the men? You knew him?”

“Mmmhmm. He was at our house the other night. Remember? When I woke up and came out of my room.”

A chill ran down my spine. Jim King. It had to be.

I knew Jim and Greg knew each other, but even Greg said they weren’t close friends. So who were they? Why were they hanging out at his house after Greg ran off with Skyler? None of it made any sense to me.

I heard a sound and turned to find Mason and his brothers standing in the foyer. Mason had cleared his throat to let us know they were there.

“Eli and I are ready to head over and grab the pets. Sam and Graham are here in case you need them,” Mason said.

God, now I had security detail? When did my life get so out of hand?

“Thank you,” I said softly.

It went without saying that Mason and Eli were also going to remove the cameras at the house while they were there. Hopefully, we could return home soon, but if not, at least the place they had found for us was nice. Very nice, in fact. It might be safer to be somewhere Greg couldn’t find us until I dealt with all the legal issues. And there would be legal issues. If Greg thought he could continue treating me the way he was, he had another think coming. I knew it might take time to build a case against him, and until then, he would likely have legal rights to see Skyler. I didn’t really think he would hurt her or take her away - he just wanted to make my life hell for leaving him.

“Can we look around the house, Mommy?” Skyler asked, her voice cheery.

It brought me out of my dark haze. “Of course, honey. Want to check out the bedrooms?”

“Yes!” Skyler squealed, hopping up from the couch.

After introductions were made all around, we followed Mason and Eli to the front part of the house, where the spiral staircase led to a second floor. Graham and Sam were behind us.

“We’ll be back soon,” Mason said. “If needed, we may make a few trips. Can you prepare an area for the guinea pigs and the rabbit while we’re gone?”

I met his eyes, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. I couldn’t believe he was going through all this trouble for me. Well, me, my daughter, his baby, and all our critters. Calvin was right - Mason was a good man.

He turned to leave, but I grabbed his arm. He turned around with a curious look on his face. “What is it?”

“Just be careful, Mason. Greg will likely know what you’re doing, and I worry he might show up or something.”

“We can handle him,” Eli said reassuringly. “And if things get out of hand, I have the sheriff on speed dial. Teddy’s a friend of ours.”

I thanked Eli, but I still couldn’t let go of Mason’s arm. I didn’t really have much else to say, but there was a part of me that didn’t want him to leave. But eventually, I let go.

“We’ll be back soon,” he assured me.

I felt a tug at my other arm and looked down. “Come on, Mommy. I want to see my room.”

“Alright, let’s go see the bedrooms, but then we have to figure out where the piggies and Jellybean go.”

Skyler took off toward the steps, taking them quicker than I was comfortable with.

“Slow down,” I said, following her. “And hold onto the railing.”

“Yes, Mommy,” she said impatiently.

“Do you want us to come up with you?”

I’d almost forgotten about my security detail, and the very idea of having them watch over our every move exhausted me. I stopped walking and glanced back.

“If it’s okay, I’d like some time alone with my daughter,” I said.

“Of course. Just holler if you need anything,” one of them said.

I had a hard time telling them apart. Mason had mentioned they were twins, though not identical. As far as I could tell, they were, though, just with different hair and one had a slightly longer beard. Then again, all the Harveys looks alike. No doubt they were brothers.

At the top of the stairs, there was a hallway with several doors.

“Think we can have a house this big one day, Mommy?” Skyler asked as she tried the first door. It opened to a large bedroom with a twin bed. The walls were pink with delicate, white furniture. It was clearly a little girl’s room at some point, and Skyler squealed with delight.

She ran over to the bed, which had a Princess Peach stuffed doll on it. We had named our guinea pigs after the princesses from Super Smash Bros. She was far too young to remember the old-school games I had grown up with, but she always loved playing as Peach in the game. I watched as she played with the doll, exploring the large room with it.

“This room is perfect for me,” Skyler said.

It was much larger than her room at our house. I walked over to a door and found a walk-in closet. Another door led to a bathroom that connected to the room next door. I walked through and opened the door, finding another room that seemed to be decorated for a boy with blue walls and dark wood furniture. I rubbed my expanding belly and wondered - was the child inside me be a boy this time? Or another girl? And where would they go once they were born?

Skyler had followed me into this room and said, “I like the other room better. This could be the baby’s room.”

“Sky, we aren’t staying here that long,” I laughed.

“How much longer until the baby gets here?” she asked, her impatience charming.

“Months from now, honey. We’ll be home way before then.”

“And where will the baby sleep at home?”

“Good question.”

Our home was nice, though it never could compare to her dad’s. We had plenty of space for the two of us, but I had to admit that adding a baby would make things tough. It was only a two-bedroom house.

But no matter what, I would figure it out.

If I could pay off Jim.

Thinking of Jim, a knot formed in my belly. With everything going on, I hadn’t had much time to contact the insurance company. Last Mason had talked to them, they said the check would be sent out within a few weeks. That was a few weeks ago.

“I’m going to call Mason really quick, honey,” I said, stepping back into the hallway. Skyler went back to the pink room, and I heard her talking to the Peach doll.

I reached for my cell phone and called Mason. He answered on the first ring. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine. I just wanted to ask if you could check the mail for me? I hope to get the insurance check any day now,” I said.

“Yeah, I can do that. We’re just walking up to the house now,” he said. There was a muffled sound, and I heard him talking to Eli, “You can start on the outside. There are cameras all over the front and sides of the house. I know you can find them.”

“Sorry,” he said, coming back on the line. “I’m checking now. No, it looks like just an electric bill and some junk.”

My heart dropped. “Damn.”

“You know I can help you, Danielle.”

“The check will come,” I said. “Thanks for checking.”

There was a muffled sound, and then a loud crunch.

“Mason?” He didn’t answer, so I spoke even louder. “Mason? What’s going on?”

My heart raced as I waited. No answer. But I could hear sounds in the background.

Voices. Eli and Mason were screaming, but I couldn’t understand them.

“Mason!” I screamed into the phone, feeling my knees go weak. “What’s going on? Mason!”

He still wasn’t answering me. I heard the words that made my blood run cold. “We have to put the fire out,” one of them said.

“Get the animals out now!”

Fire.

There was a fire at our house.

I managed to pull myself together and make it down the stairs, holding firmly on to the railing so I didn’t slip. Graham and Sam were standing where I’d left them, near the front door.

“What’s wrong?” One of the twins rushed up to meet me on the stairs

My face must have given it away.

“Fire. There’s a fire,” I said, my voice barely working at this point. “They need help.”

“Call 9-1-1,” the man still at the doorway said. “I’m heading over to help.”

My knees finally gave out and I sat down on the steps, feeling dizzy from all the thoughts swirling through my head.

“I’ll go with you,” I said.

“No, you can’t. You need to protect the baby,” the brother with me said, sitting down beside me. He was already dialing 9-1-1.

“Stay with Graham. I’ve got this,” Sam said.

I wanted to fight, felt like I needed to be there. I couldn’t let anything happen to Mason. Oh God, if I lost Mason now…my heart felt like it stopped and there was a dark hole in my chest. I couldn’t breathe for a second.

“But Mason…”

Sam was already gone, so Graham responded. “Mason will be just fine, don’t you worry.”

“He has to be,” I said, speaking softly. My cheeks were soaked with tears, though I didn’t recall crying. I wiped them away, and still more fell. “Mason has to be okay.”





Mason





“Fire!” Eli’s voice cut right to my soul. I dropped the phone without even realizing it and rushed toward the back of the house, where Eli was calling me from.