Page 5 of The Sheikh’s Christmas Baby

“Momma, momma, momma, momma.”

The chant continued softly in her ear until it was followed by a giggle and a series of coughs. Kristy bolted upright and immediately reached for her daughter.

Her daughter had been battling a cold for the past couple of days, and apparently, they’d fallen asleep together. Kristy’s back hurt from sleeping at a strange angle, but she wasn’t about to complain. It was hard enough getting a full night’s sleep while owning the farm and raising a little girl. It was next to impossible when said little girl had a cold.

Blinking drowsily, she glanced at the clock. It was still the middle of the night. “Hey, baby.”

“Hey, baby.” Arella had taken to repeating everything she heard, but she still stumbled over her words at times. More so, these last few days while she wasn’t feeling well. Kristy had worried that her language development wasn’t progressing as it should but the doctor had merely smiled and reminded her that children progress at different rates. Before she knew it, Arella would be speaking in full sentences. Kristy hoped that would be the case. Leaning over, she kissed her daughter on the forehead. “Do you feel better?”

The toddler nodded and made a few babbling noises as she rubbed her belly. “Hungry.”

“Who’s hungry?”

“Me, hungry.”

“I’m hungry,” Kristy corrected her automatically. It was no wonder that the little girl was hungry. She hadn’t eaten much in the past few days. “Okay, let’s see if we can rustle up a snack for you, and then we’ll go back to bed. How does that sound? Maybe cuddle with the pups?”

Arella clapped her hands excitedly. She loved the farm. She had a special connection with all the animals, and Kristy had a feeling that they loved seeing the child as much as they loved seeing their food.

Mistywood Farms wasn’t all that big. It had mostly started out with dogs and horses, but because they had the space, her father had taken in some animals in need. They now had three cows that had been rescued from an abusive farm, two pigs that were previously looking at a dire future, and a three-legged goat that managed to get into everything. Children and adults would come out for their riding lessons and stay to visit with the animals. She occasionally sold some fresh milk, and she was thinking of getting a few chickens to add to the mix.

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,verylong 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 her. 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 hoofbeats 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 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.ParadiseFrostwas the new farm about twenty miles south of them. Closer to the city, it boasted brand-new accommodations with all the bells and whistles, along with 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, and then what would her father think? After spending years in Alaska’s brutal winters, he’d taken to warmer climates, but knowing him, he’d insist on coming back to help if he thought the farm was on the verge of folding. If he came back, he’d start to stress again, and his doctor had already warned him 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.

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