Chapter 25
Chapter twenty-five
Connor
NO MORE RUNNING
I feed the minis while Hayden joins the other guests for the buffet breakfast Sally-May has cooked for them. It’s the start of the Christmas Eve activities the brothers have planned for them. After breakfast, they’ll bake cookies with Poppy’s grandmother, and then it’s photo time with these cuties.
I’ve got to get seven mini Highlands brushed and happy in their reindeer headdresses and Christmas scarves. Winnie pulls the scarf off her brother, Tigger, and I move her into a separate section while I work on the others.
“Can you give us a hand?” Denver asks as he carries in a large wooden panel.
“Wow, they turned out great,” I say when he sets it down.
“You should see the white one,” Denver says as Atlas follows him in carrying another panel.
I help maneuver them into place against the wall in one of the separated sections for photos.
It’s one of the best parts about this mini barn.
I’ve set it up so that the sections inside can be made bigger or smaller or removed altogether, depending on what we need.
Right now, I have the minis in a fenced-off area on the right while the rest of the barn is set up for the photos today.
I did a really thorough spot clean yesterday and have added loads more straw today to help keep the cows and guests warm.
The hanging mint lanterns are still working well, and Sally-May had the idea to add cinnamon sticks to them, so now it really smells like Christmas in here.
“Atlas has outdone himself, hasn’t he?” Denver says, and I have to agree.
He’s painted all the scenes for the backdrops of the photo sessions today.
This one is a large blue door, with a round white-framed window at the top, and through it, you see what looks like the elves’ workshop.
The door is surrounded by red wood paneling, and a painted Christmas wreath hangs in the middle.
He’s even painted a large gold door handle with shadows to make the whole thing look super realistic.
“When you said you’d take care of the backdrops, I had no idea you could do this. ”
“What? You think my only interest is horses?” he asks as he moves the next piece off the back of the truck. I steady it as it slides to the ground.
“That and being naked,” I say, and Denver and I laugh, but Atlas just rolls his eyes.
“I can have other interests.”
“I never said you couldn’t. I’m just surprised you do.
” I chuckle, and Denver and I move this piece inside.
I hook up some string lights, and Sally-May brings in wreaths and vines to decorate the railings, and by the end, we’ve transformed the mini barn into a collection of magical Christmas scenes.
“Wow,” Hayden says from the doorway.
“Oh, hey, what do you think?” I ask, quickly jogging to meet him and wrap him in my arms, not caring that Atlas, Denver and Sally-May are right there behind me. He passes me a thermos and a cookie in the shape of a Christmas tree covered in green icing and tiny sugar balls.
“It’s amazing. How do you guys have time to do all this stuff on top of running the ranch?” he asks.
Denver makes his way toward the door.
“Free labor.” He chuckles, and Atlas shakes his head.
“You got paid in education and goats, if I remember correctly,” Atlas replies.
“Fine, goats and free labor,” he says as he walks backwards, but then he turns and runs right into Nial, who comes barreling through the door.
It’s like watching a train wreck; you see it happening, but there is no time to do anything about it.
Denver’s head clashes with Nial’s, and as he stumbles, he grabs instinctively for anything to stop him from falling.
Only that thing is Nial, and then he grabs Denver’s arms, as they spin together, Nial landing on top of him on the straw-covered ground.
“Shit, sorry,” Nial says, trying to climb off the top of Denver, but his leg has somehow gotten twisted in the string lights that were waiting to be hung around the doorway, and he falls back down on top of him.
“I should be videoing this shit.” Atlas laughs, but Hayden walks over and crouches beside him, untangling his foot, and Nial stands looking anywhere but at Denver, his cheeks glowing bright red.
“Sorry, man. I should go get the guests. You’re ready for them, right?” he asks, and then he’s out the door in a flash before I can even answer.
Denver takes Hayden’s hand to help pull him to his feet.
“Thanks, umm, I should get going, too. Let me know if you need any more help.”
“Sure, thanks again, Denver. We’ll see you later for the scavenger hunt, right?” I ask.
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
Hayden snuggles up to my side.
“So that was weird, right?” he asks, eyes wide with an excited grin on his lips.
“Nial isn’t exactly known for his sure-footedness,” I reply, and he laughs, shaking his head.
“Not the fall, the way those two were afterward, like, do you think there is something there?”
I laugh.
“Nial’s got a girlfriend.”
“Oh,” Hayden replies with a confused frown in place. “I was sure I saw something. I guess it was just regular embarrassment then.”
“Probably. So, do you want to be the first one to get a photo with Winnie? She’ll probably be the first to get tired of all this and want to be left alone,” I ask, and his expression becomes an even brighter, excited smile.
I love the way he lights up around the animals now.
The nerves of his first visits with them are long gone; now he’s at home with them as any of us.
As Hayden poses, cuddled up with Winnie, her reindeer horn headband already starting to slip, but looking somehow even more adorable falling off her head than it did when it was on properly, the reality of this being the second last night of the Christmas Experience hits.
Two more nights and it will all be over.
Two nights until it’s the end of my time with him, of him brightening my days with his kind eyes and easy smiles, and warming my nights, cuddled in my arms. I take the shots with his phone and then more with my camera, all the while wondering how the hell I am ever going to say goodbye to this guy.
The rest of the guests arrive shortly after, and thanks to the coffee and cookie Hayden brought me, I get through the two-hour-long session, but now my stomach is seriously grumbling, so while the guests make a start on their scavenger hunt, I head up to the house to make a sandwich.
I’m halfway through smearing on the peanut butter when I hear voices growing louder, one of them is Dean, the other I don’t recognize.
“This is private property. I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” Dean says, piquing my interest, and I shove the peanut butter knife into the open jar and go to check it out.
“You’re sign out front says all welcome,” the stranger bites back, but Dean is done with it.
“I own the land. I say who is welcome and who’s not, and you are not. So get off before I call the sheriff.”
“Just tell me, is he here?” the stranger asks, and I am about to step out to give Dean a hand with escorting whoever this is off the property when he speaks again. “Are you hiding the missing millionaire?”
Fuck. I jolt back just before stepping out, pressing myself hard against the wall, hoping they didn’t see me.
“I have no idea who you are talking about.”
“A trucker reported seeing him a town over.”
“Did the trucker say he was here?”
“No, but he said he left with a bunch of people who were talking about a llama. You’re the only farm around here with one of those.”
“We’ve got three, but that still doesn’t mean I know what the hell you’re talking about.
Now this is your last warning,” Dean says, and the screen door clamors closed.
A moment later, I hear the skid of tires as whoever it was drives away.
I step out from my hiding spot, startling Dean on his way to the kitchen.
“Shit, sorry, didn’t see you there, Connor,” he says, checking over his shoulder for who knows what. Probably judging how far away I was from the conversation he just had.
“Everything okay?” I ask, and he nods with a nonchalant grin.
“Sure, nothing I can’t handle.”
“Dean.”
“Connor.”
“It’s only going to get worse if I stay,” I say, the words stinging as much as the thought of leaving this place.
But maybe I should. I thought I could claim the inheritance to give this place a sure future.
But what if it brings the end of it? What if the good in this place is eaten up by the toxicity of the life I ran from?
The media were all over my former life, and they’re chomping at the bit to find me and claim their fifteen minutes of fame, revealing it to the world.
“We can handle whatever happens. What we can’t handle is you leaving, brother,” Dean says, and though he’s called me that before, never has it meant as much as it does in this moment. “How did our photo shoot go then?”
We move into the kitchen, and I finish making my sandwich while I tell him all about it, and for a few minutes, I forget. Then Poppy calls out.
“Dean!” she yells as she stomps down the stairs, bringing the tap tap of Cuddles’ and Lulu’s tiny hooves as they follow behind her. “Dean, there are people here with cameras. Are we going to be on TV?”
Dean goes to deal with them, but I grab my sandwich, take a bite, and step into his path.
“I’ll go,” I say.
“You don’t have to. Don’t let these vultures force you to do anything.”
“They’ll just keep coming. If I am going to stay, it’s time I stopped running and faced the truth of who I am.”
“If you’re sure?”
I’m not sure. My stomach is doing somersaults and my pulse is beating so loud that it’s echoing in my ears, but I need to do this.
I take another bite of my sandwich, hoping that with something in my gut, I’ll feel less nervous about what comes next.
I used to be in front of cameras all the time.
I was the star of a fucking reality show, though there was so little reality in it, I’m not sure they can really call it that.
But this is different. This time, it’s the real me stepping in front of the camera. Well, here goes nothing.
I pull open the screen door and step outside, there are two men, one from Channel Seventeen, with one of those big cameras on stands that they are setting up framing the ranch in the background, and the other, a blond guy wearing a dark blue suit that is clearly too thin for the cold weather we’re having, standing by a black Mercedes, talking on a cell phone and not really paying much attention to the other guy or to me.
The second the Channel Seventeen reporter spots me, though, he turns the camera on the stand my way and rushes over.
I tip my hat to him.
“Welcome to the Beaker Brothers Ranch,” I say, and it gains the attention of the other guy, and he squints my way as if he’s trying to see through the deep tan, facial scruff, and cowboy hat.
“Theodore, what are your plans for the company?” the Channel Seventeen reporter asks immediately, throwing questions at me without even giving me time to answer if I could. “Why are you hiding on a ranch? Are the rumors you were disowned true?”
The other guy calmly steps between us.
“Mr. Richmont will have a statement for you shortly. Please give me a moment to confer with my client,” he tells him, passing the reporter a business card, and for some reason, he actually listens and returns to his camera.
This guy looks way too young to be a lawyer?
“If we could talk inside for a few minutes?” he asks as he hands me his card, too. Richmont Group is embossed on the front in gold foil, and on the back, it reads, Executive Assistant, Matthew Wilson. I knew he looked too young to be a lawyer. “Please, Mr. Richmont.”
I nod, and he follows me up to the house.
“I should have expected that if the reporters were starting to show up, the suits wouldn’t be far behind. So, how did you know I was here?” I ask as we step through the door.
“We’ve always known your whereabouts, Mr. Richmont.”