Delivering His Gifts: A Mountain Man's Baby Christmas Romance(33)

“I hope so. It’s just—“ He stopped and pressed his lips together.

“What?” I urged.

He closed his eyes, and at first, I thought he might be shutting me out. But the words spilled out of his mouth. He told me about his ex, how she died and blamed himself for it. How he didn’t trust himself to be there when I or his children needed him.

My heart ached as he told me his secrets, but I was also grateful. It was clear this man hadn’t talked to many people about this, that he was confiding in me in ways he hadn’t anyone else. And when he opened his eyes, I swear I saw tears in them.

“You won’t let us down, Mason,” I told him, clenching his hand tightly. “I know you won’t. What happened with Katie was tragic, but it was not your fault.”

“That’s what Calvin tells me too.”

“Calvin is a smart man. He’s been to war too; he knows more than most of us will ever know. Trust him, Mason. Believe him.”

“I’m trying,” he said softly.





Mason





Every day, Danielle checked the mail for the insurance check. She let me make the first payment to Jim, though it took some fighting. Now with the balance coming due, she was still fighting me - insisting the check would arrive any day.

She was very pregnant, and I tried not to stress her out too much. We were coming up on five months, and according to doctors, multiples were often born early. We were doing everything we could to keep the babies in her belly for as long as possible,

“I can’t believe I have to let her stay with him for an entire week,” Danielle griped, nibbling on her fingernail. She was laying on the couch, her round belly poking out from her maternity shirt.

Skyler was in bed, so she could talk freely after the call with Greg. She hid her emotions so well around her daughter, but now she could reveal her true feelings. Pregnancy hormones likely didn’t make it easier on her.

I sat beside her, with her feet in my lap. I rubbed them, trying to help with the aching and swelling.

“But at least we will get her for Christmas,” I attempted.

“Yeah, I guess. Just an entire week without her,” she said, her voice sad. “It’s going to kill me, especially after what he tried.”

I agreed with her. We had talked about taking it to court, to try and fight him for custody, but every lawyer we spoke to said that as of right now, with no proof of the cameras or abuse, it would be unlikely that they’d revoke his rights to see his daughter. We weren’t giving up, but our latest lawyer said it would make us look bad to go against the custody agreement that allowed Greg to have Skyler for a week at Thanksgiving in return for not seeing her at Christmas. They alternated holidays, and everything was fair, according to our lawyer. I thought it was bullshit, but I didn’t want to hurt Danielle’s chances at custody, so I did my best to stay out of it. Last time I got involved, it could have caused problems. Greg hadn’t pressed charges for me punching him - likely because it would have led to a lot more questions - but I could have messed things up.

The front door opened, and Graham entered. “Good news,” he said. “I stopped by your place, Danielle, and checked the mail. You got something from the insurance company, and it looks like it might be a check.”

“Oh, thank God,” Danielle gushed, trying to sit up. Her round belly made it hard, but I helped her.

Graham handed the check to her, and Danielle ripped open the envelope. “Yes, finally,” she said, pushing herself up to her feet with a little groan.

“Where are you going?” I stood up as well.

“To pay that asshole so he can stop sending me notices. I’ll be free from him, finally. Stay with Skyler, please?” She slipped her feet into her flats.

I looked at Graham as Danielle headed for the door.

“I can stay with her, go on,” my brother said, waving for me to follow Danielle.

“Thanks, man.”

I didn’t want her going over to that man’s place alone. It was eight in the evening, so she would likely have to find him at home. I would have argued it could wait until the morning, but she was already getting into her car.

No talking her out of this. She had waited too long for this day. And as much as I hated her not letting me help her, at least now we could be free of him and I could help her rebuild her home and business.

I knocked on her car window, and she gave me a look as if she expected me to argue. She lowered the window and a blast of heat from inside the car felt nice compared to freezing temperatures outside.

“Let’s take the truck. The snow is coming down hard and I’d feel safer with four-wheel drive,” I said.

She smiled and turned off the engine. “Thanks, Mason. I appreciate you agreeing that it’s a good idea to do this now.”

I scoffed. “I don’t know about agree. I figured there was no talking you out of it. You’d do what you want, might as well make sure you’re not doing it alone.”

She got out of the car, and I helped her walk along the slippery driveway to my truck. I also helped lift her up into the seat before hurrying to the driver’s side.

“What’s the plan?” I asked as I got in the truck. “Are we going to deposit the check first?”

“No need to,” she sighed, staring down at the check in her hands. “I’m just going to sign it over to him. He and I discussed that, and I owe more than the amount here anyway. I won’t be totally free. Stupid interest.”

“Let me pay the rest then.”

“No, Mason.”

“I need to make sure you, Skyler, and my babies have a roof over your head, so yes, I’m going to do this. You can’t stop me from doing this one little thing.”

She sighed but stopped arguing with me.

We pulled up to Jim’s place, and I parked out front. I’d wanted to tell her to let me handle it, but he wouldn’t accept payment from me before. I helped her from the truck and we walked up to the house.

She rang the doorbell and we waited. Of course, Frank answered the door. When he saw me, he almost closed the door without a word, but I stopped him by putting my foot in the way.

“She’s here to pay off her debt to Mr. King. I’m only accompanying her.”

“She can pay in the morning at his office.”

“No, she’s paying now,” I said, unwavering.

Frank met my gaze, and there must have been something in my eyes, because he stood down. “Let me talk to Mr. King. Wait here.”

I didn’t let him close the door. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Frank sighed and seemed torn, but eventually stepped away from the door. He didn’t go far. He pushed a button on an intercom and spoke into it. “Mr. King? Danielle Baker and Mason Harvey are here to see you. They say they’re ready to pay off her debt.”

Frank never took his eyes off us.

“Bring them to my office.”

“You’re lucky he’s being gracious enough to see you at this hour,” Frank sniffed snootily. He let us enter and walked us to the office I’d been in before.

Danielle took my hand in hers for support. I gave it a firm squeeze as we stepped into the office. Frank left, closing the door behind us. Jim was sitting at the desk, typing at his computer, acting as if he didn’t even see us enter.

Danielle cleared her throat. “Mr. King, I got the insurance check, and I can pay—”

“It’s too late, Ms. Baker,” Jim said, swiveling in his chair to finally look at us.

“Too late? What do you mean? I have until December first to pay everything off.”

“The collateral is gone. The building where you housed the rescue was already destroyed, and now the house too. As per our agreement, if something were to happen to the collateral before the loan is paid off, I am fully within my rights to foreclose on the property, and I’ve already started the process.”

“What? No!” Danielle started toward the desk. I went with her.

“I would have reached out to you, but your friend here made it very clear that I was not to come near you, so I’m handling this through the legal channels. You should be getting the notice in the mail any day now.”

My blood pressure had already been through the roof, but that put me over the edge. I walked to the desk, closing the distance, and slammed my fists down on it.

“You can’t do this. It’s not legal.”

“Watch me,” Jim said, his lips pulling back in a smirk that I wanted to slap right off his smug face. “Unless you want to lose everything in a court battle that I will surely win, I would sign over the papers and move on with your life. Good news is, you can keep the insurance check to settle elsewhere, Ms. Baker.”

“You’re not going to get away with this.”

“Oh no? Do you think you and your brothers are any match for the people who work for me? Because I wouldn’t poke the bear if I were you.”

“You son of a—” I was on my way around the desk, hands clenched into fists when Danelle placed a hand on my arm. She centered me, pulled me back to reality.

“Mason, don’t.”

I stopped.

“This isn’t legal. No court of law will allow him to take the property,” she said, somehow remaining calm. “The last thing we need is for you to go to jail for assault. You know everything that’s at stake.”