Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

LUNA

“ A rggggh.” Hours later, I groaned as I woke, like I always did, and Drake’s arm wrapped around my middle, pulling me tight against his hard, muscular frame. Of course, that meant my ass touched his groin and I stifled a scream at the blazing fire that was still there.

He leaned up over me, propped on one elbow, and grinned. “Still sore, babygirl?” His voice was light but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes and I knew he was struggling. I wished I could do something, anything to take his pain from him, but I knew the only thing I could do was be there, support him, and not get in my head and try to run away again.

“In the best way,” I responded, smiling and pushing his hair out of his eyes. “We should probably get up though. It’s the middle of the day, and…” I sat up like a shot, nearly smacking his nose with my head as I did. “Your mom! Is she napping? We need to get up and make her food!”

“She’s not here, baby.” Drake chuckled deeply, wrapping his arms around me, trapping me back in place and I twisted around to look at him the best I could.

My nose scrunched and my brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean, she’s not here? Where did she go? Are you sure she’s not back yet? We’ve been in here… a while…”

“She’s not coming back. She went home.”

His voice sounded off. Flat. I could tell from the way he sounded that his mother going home had not been his idea. “She went home?” My stomach knotted, thinking of Hettie all alone in the house she’d only ever shared with Harold. “I… are you sure she's ready for that?”

I twisted again and this time, Drake eased his tight hold, allowing me to sit up and face him. He shook his head. “I’m not. At all. I hate the idea of her being there alone. I hate knowing how painful it must be for her. But what’s she going to do, sleep on my couch for the rest of her life?”

“I mean…” I ran my fingers through the soft curls of hair on his chest. “No, not for the rest of her life, but it seems so soon.”

“Yeah.” He grabbed my hand and clasped it in his, twining our fingers together. “I told her not to go, but she seemed so determined.” He sighed. “I don’t think she wants to be there, but I also don’t think she wants to be here. She said a lot of things about how happy my dad was that the two of us were together and how he’d want us to celebrate all our firsts, and make new traditions, and…” He sighed again. “Celebrate our first Christmas together. All those things. I told her they weren’t important, and that I didn't even want to think about the holidays this year, but she insisted. And she left. I don’t know, baby. I’m kind of worried that after all this, she’ll move back home to be close to her sisters. I loved having them so close, but I don’t think she’ll stay. Not with us, and not alone. It’s too painful and she is too set on not intruding.”

My heart hurt from listening to the heaviness in Drake’s words and tone. I could tell how badly my Daddy was hurting, and it killed me. The hopeless helpless feelings started to come back, and I quickly tried to push them away with a choked laugh.

“God. How is Christmas only ten days away? I forgot all about it.”

“You love Christmas.” Drake forced another smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and raised our hands to his lips, kissing my knuckles. “I know my mom is right, and I know I can’t just pause life, but thinking about Christmas at all just feels so overwhelming. The thought of getting a tree, of decorating it, of trying to figure out our special traditions…” He trailed off for a moment and met my eyes before continuing. “It just sounds so… tiring to even think about. I’ll probably figure it out though. For my mom. As a way to honor my dad and to let her know I’m going to be okay however she decides to move forward but…” He swallowed hard and I could tell he was getting choked up. “I just can’t think about that right now.”

I looked at my sad, broken Daddy, trying to hold it together and be strong for the women in his life, and instead of the gut-wrenching hopelessness I’d been feeling, I felt the whispers of a plan forming. I smiled, a smile that was a little bit forced, but that I hoped looked genuine. “Well, luckily for you, we don’t have to. In fact…” I trailed my hand down his chest. “We don’t have to do anything right now. We could just… stay in bed.”

This time, his grin was wicked and genuine. “You’re right. We absolutely could. We could order delivery and just stay in bed… all day.”

“Delivery?” I scoffed. “Who needs food? I have something you could eat.”

“Oh yeah?” He smiled. And the next thing I knew, he had twisted his body, covering me, and his lips found mine, taking what was his. Just the way I liked it.

The next morning, I popped out of bed before Drake was even awake, after tossing and turning through the night, working on my plan. I was now far too excited to sleep, and anxious to get started, and see if I could pull it off the way I was envisioning it or if it was going to be back to the drawing board. Pulling on a fresh plaid skirt and black tee along with my stockings and combat boots, I ran a brush through my hair, brushed my teeth, and left a note for Drake, telling him I was going to go talk to Erika about the work I’d missed. It wasn’t a lie. I was going to be doing that too. Just… later.

My stomach seemed to swim with excited butterflies as I made my way across the grounds in the crisp December air, hugging myself as I walked, cursing myself for forgetting to grab a jacket or even a hoodie.

Warm air seemed to blast me like a heater as I walked through the front doors of the main Ranch building. Yasmin’s eyes narrowed as I made my way up to the front reception desk. “It’s too cold to not be wearing a coat. Did you come up from the apartments?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I was in a rush, and I wasn’t thinking. I’ll go up to my suite and grab one before I head back.”

Yasmin clicked her tongue. “Bet Drake won’t be too happy to hear about that.”

“Probably not.” I feigned sheepishness, but the truth was, Drake probably would never know, and if he did, well, it wasn’t like he didn’t have far more important things on his mind. I changed the subject quickly. “Do you know if Master Derek is in his office yet? I was hoping to catch him before he got too busy.”

She looked suspicious, but said nothing, and just nodded. “He just got in like five minutes ago. I don’t even think Erika’s in yet. If you go now, you should be able to catch him before he has any meetings or anything.”

“Great. Thanks.” I shot her a grateful smile as I pulled my shoulders back and headed toward Master Derek’s office.

As Yasmin had predicted, Erika wasn’t yet in her usual spot, so I passed her desk, straight up to his door, drew a deep breath and knocked.

“Ah… come in!” his gruff, yet kind voice called.

He smiled as I poked my head in. “Ah, Luna! Come in, darlin’, come in. Have a seat.” He motioned from behind his desk, and I did as told, closing the door behind me, and taking a seat on the other side of his massive desk.

His warm, welcoming smile seemed to ward off the chill of the morning, and my nerves about what I was about to ask.

Folding his hands in his lap, he leaned back in his chair. “I’m so glad to see you. I hope it’s something good that’s brought you here. Tell me, how is everything going? How’s Drake? And Hettie? And you? How are you holding up?”

His kindness bolstering my courage, I drew in a deep breath and smiled, matching his energy. “Well, Sir, that’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about, and what I was hoping you could help me with.”

His brows rose, and his expression changed to one of genuine interest and helpfulness. “I’ll do whatever I can.”

I leaned forward, suddenly less nervous and very hopeful. “Well, Sir, I’m happy to hear you say that. But I’m aware it’s a big ask. Here’s what I’m thinking.” I spent several minutes laying out my plans and motivation, not quite ready to look at his face while I spoke, half afraid that if I did, I’d see my worst fears relayed there. It was too much. It wasn’t feasible, and there just plain wasn’t enough time. Christmas was nine days away.

When I finally finished speaking, I let myself look up at Master Derek to see him scratching his beard and nodding thoughtfully. “It certainly is a lot…”

“I know.” I sighed, feeling discouraged and already racking my brain for a plan B. “I don’t know what I was thinking. It would practically take a miracle at this point. I’d need actual magic to pull it off.”

And then, in a move I wasn’t expecting, Master Derek threw back his head with a jolly laugh. “Some magic indeed.” His face changed, and he leaned forward, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Lucky for you, Miss Luna, and for Master Drake, and his mother Miss Hettie, this is Rawhide Ranch, a place where magic and miracles are kind of our jam.”

“Are you saying…” I gasped, then held my breath, not quite ready to believe it. “Do you think we could do it?”

Derek grinned. “Well, I’m not ready to make any promises yet, but if you’ll let me make some calls to a couple Christmas-crazy, miracle-making Littles, and give me till the end of the day to see what I can do…”

“Oh! Yes, yes! Yes! Thank you, Sir!” I was so excited, I jumped out of my seat and nearly leaped around his desk, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Thank you, Sir! Thank you so much!” I gave one big squeeze before letting go, and when I did he was laughing and nodding.

“Well, now, don’t go thanking me yet. And don’t get too excited. Remember, I haven’t said yes yet. I said I’d see what I could do.”

“Right.” I nodded, trying my best to keep my expression neutral and not let my happiness show all over my face. But the truth was, Master Derek was right. Rawhide Ranch was a place for magic and miracles. Especially Christmas miracles. And there was a certain group of merry Littles who could truly pull off just about anything they put their minds to. I had no doubt that at least some of my plan would be happening.

Derek smiled again, and straightened his bolo tie, his cheeks as rosy as Santa’s himself, giving me an added layer of confidence in his magic-making abilities. “Right, I’ll make some calls and see what I can do on my end. You go ahead and get started on the stuff you can control, and I’ll give you a call in a few hours.”

“Perfect! Thank you again, Sir!” Anxious to get started, I spun on my heel, and turned toward the door. My brain was already racing with ideas.