The Sheikh's Christmas Baby (Shadid Sheikhs 3)

With Arella resting on her hip, Kristy carefully managed the steps in the dark. As she turned on the light in the kitchen, it flickered for a few seconds before going dark.

A certain four-letter word was right on the tip of her tongue, but she was trying to be more careful about what she said around Arella these days. Crossing the kitchen and praying that she didn’t trip over any of Arella’s toys, she fumbled for the lamp and sighed in relief when light flooded the room.

So now, she just needed to change the light bulb. That wasn’t so hard. She’d just add it to her very, very, very long list of things to do.

Setting Arella down, she opened the cabinet and reached for the cereal. Arella quickly scrambled for the door and cried out, “Pups. Pups!”

Immediately, three Huskies scrambled

in and quickly started licking and nosing the toddler. Kristy looked down and frowned. The two oldest dogs, Dusty and Jane, were allowed to be there, but what was Shadow doing in the house? Abandoning the cereal, she went to check on the dog door only to find it smashed. Rather than panic, she put her hands on her hips.

“Tripod,” she hissed. “Get in here!”

It didn’t take long before she heard the unmistakable sounds of hoof beats on the floor. The goat looked at her innocently, as if to say that there was no way he could have kicked in the dog door. After all, he only had three legs.

And there was one more thing to add to her list. “Out,” she ordered. The goat bleated in response and stood his ground. It didn’t help when Arella came running over and put her arms around the scruffy animal.

“No. Stay!”

Too tired to put up a fight, Kristy shook her head. “Fine, but if he eats anything, you have to pay for it,” she said halfheartedly as her daughter nodded her head solemnly.

Thirty minutes later, she had Arella fed and in her own bed. The three dogs curled around her, and the goat settled on top of Arella’s collection of stuffed animals. Kissing her daughter on the forehead, she whispered good-night and headed back to her own room.

She could get a few more hours of sleep, or she could start on the things that she needed to do around the farm.

The to-do list won out.

Exchanging her pajamas for a pair of jeans and a form-fitting red flannel shirt, she pulled her hair back in a ponytail and headed downstairs.

It was just before six in the morning when Kristy collapsed at the front desk. There was a new lightbulb in the kitchen, and she’d dragged out all the Christmas decorations. She couldn’t repair the dog door without picking up supplies in town, but she did manage to cover it to keep some of the night chill, and any other wandering animals, from creeping in.

She stared at the books and tried not to cry. There were three lodging cancellations in the past month. So close to the dog-sledding race, she couldn’t believe that people were actually cancelling their reservations.

She knew why, though. Paradise Frost was the new farm about twenty miles south of them. Closer to the city, it boasted brand new accommodations and a state of the art practice track. It didn’t matter that they didn’t have any dogs of their own. These days, most racers brought their own dog teams anyway.

What the hell was she going to do? If she didn’t find a way to book every room for the racing season, she was going to lose the farm. She’d have to sell it, and then what would her father think? After spending years in Alaska’s brutal winters, he’d taken to warmer climates. If he came back, he’d start to stress again, and his doctor had already warned about his high blood pressure and the strain on his heart. No, it was better for him to relax under the sun and not worry about the stress of running the farm.

Too bad he hadn’t stuck around. The winters grew warmer each year. By the time Arella went to school, Alaskan winters would take on a whole new meaning.

“Damn, damn, damn,” she muttered.

Closing her eyes, she pressed her fingers to her temples in an effort to come up with some new ideas for saving the farm. The bell sounded over the door of the lodge, and her eyes flew open. Who the hell was coming in this early?

The bundled up figure dragged in two duffel bags and dropped them on the floor. Pulling his hood back, he ran his hand through his hair and dusted off the light layer of mist. She got a good look at his face and felt her blood freeze.

“Hello, Kristy.”

4

A million things swirled around in her head.

Looking at him, he didn’t seem to have changed much; he was still as handsome as the day she met him. Possibly more. Was that even possible? The laughter that used to be evident in his eyes was gone and for a moment, Kristy wished she could see it again. If only to commit it to memory.

She suddenly worried that he’d somehow figured out that Arella was his daughter and came to take her away. That was followed by all the horrible things that she wanted to say to him. Finally, she settled on being professional.

“Sheikh Shadid, right? It’s been awhile.” She was proud of how even she kept her tone as she walked behind the desk. “How can I help you?”

He eyed her cautiously. “You look good.”