A Christmas Miracle: Cameron: The Burnett Brides, #11

By Sylvia McDaniel

Can she save the legacy of a hundred years from slipping away?

Samantha Miller fights to save her family's century-old ranch from financial ruin by launching a wedding business, unaware that her brother is secretly plotting to sell the land to his billionaire friend, Cameron Burnett. 

 

When Cameron arrives for the Inn's Christmas wedding, Samantha must resist her growing attraction to the wealthy cowboy or risk losing her heart in this heartwarming holiday romance that celebrates love, secrets, and the enduring spirit of family. 

 

Will love or loyalty win in this captivating contemporary Western romance?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Virtual Bookseller, LlC
• Release date: May 20, 2024
• ISBN: 9781959689744

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Cameron Burnett came from a privileged family, but he did his best not to exude entitlement so his mother and grandmother wouldn’t come back from the dead to punish him. The family members were billionaires, but they were not to show off their wealth or they were punished as a child.

He’d borne the feel of the strap against his legs more than once for being too uppity as his mother called it. Bragging or even reveling in their wealth would have her bringing out the belt.

Already his great-great-great-great-grandmother was matchmaking his cousins and she’d set her sights on him. And that ghost had a success rate of one hundred percent, with his never-getting-married cousins now living in wedded bliss.

Christmas was two weeks away, and he’d been glancing at travel brochures for places he could escape to before the marital noose settled against his throat. Not that he didn’t want to get married, but there was no one who interested him.

What did his grandmother expect him to do? Go on a dating website? Oh, hell no.

His focus was on getting his start-up business off the ground. Right now, he was working seven days a week on his little company – an adult playground where couples went for destiny weddings and vacations. A place that didn’t cater to families like the Burnett Dude Ranch. Nothing explicitly sexual, just a place that pandered to adult couples. Not families.

Near the end of every summer, he was sick of dealing with crying kids, whiny parents, and wanna-be cowboys, leaving him longing to create his own retreat. And that was what he was doing. With one property already making money, he was searching for a second to invest in.

Today, he’d received an email from an old college buddy who was in a bind. Someone who needed to dump a ranch property quickly.

Picking up the phone, he dialed the number.

Edward, how are you, he said, leaning back in his chair. A year ago, he’d built an office onto his home at the Burnett Ranch where he conducted his business when he wasn’t working on the dude ranch.

Someday working on the ranch would all come to an end and he was ready.

As much as he loved the Burnett family, the dude ranch was a pain he could live without.

While he was grateful for the money it made the family, he wanted to run his own business. Be his own success.

Cameron, I’m great. So good to hear from you, Edward replied. Are you calling about my email?

Yes, he said, not wanting to say too much.

In college, Edward had always been the one to get into trouble. While everyone else was studying, he was out partying, and at the last moment, he would ask for help to save himself from flunking.

A nice guy, but he barely graduated. And he was the type of person Cameron would never put in charge of anything unless you wanted to lose it. Apparently his parents didn’t realize their son was not a businessman or even a good rancher.

In college, Edward was the one who knew where the poker gatherings were or where you could find a frat party or even girls who ran with the wild crowd. If you wanted trouble, all you had to do was contact Edward.

Cameron learned quickly he wanted no part of Edward’s adventures.

So tell me what’s going on, Cameron said.

For the next twenty minutes, Edward told Cameron all about his ranch in Montana and how long it had been in the family. Shame to lose a family business because of poor management.

What are you doing now? he asked, wanting to know if they were doing anything to try to save the family land.

There was a moment of silence. My sister has started a wedding destination business. She and her friend Tara, a wedding planner, are holding weddings at the ranch. This is her first year. The business has been slow getting started, and well, I can’t wait any longer. We’ve got to sell.

Does she know the ranch is in trouble, he asked.

Oh yes, that’s why she started the wedding business. Right now, she’s so busy with this first wedding that we haven’t had time to talk much. But she knows we needed her business to succeed or we’d lose the ranch.

Then why would she start a business that would take a while to get going? Warning bells went off in Cameron’s mind and he reminded himself of what he knew about Edward.

You know I don’t play dirty, Cameron said.

I’m not asking you to, he said. It’s just that I don’t want to tell her until the deal is done. In ten days, this wedding will be over and then I’ll sit her down and explain to her that this is not going to get us out of the financial trouble we’re in.

If she was busy, that seemed fair enough. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to take a look at the property. He never bought anything without first seeing it and going over the numbers. It would be a working ranch like the Burnett Ranch only with a place for couples or even weddings.

He even liked what the sister was doing to help make money. Maybe he’d buy her out as well.

When’s a good time for me to come visit? I’d like to spend several days going over the property, looking at the accounting and even riding the range. Then if I’m interested, I’ll give you a proposal, he told the man, gazing out the window at the pastures filled with cattle.

Yes, they were college friends, but that didn’t mean an automatic yes as far as Cameron was concerned. Especially for Edward.

Like I said, we’ve got this wedding and it’s right before Christmas. Why don’t you come in the next few days? I’ll make you a reservation and you will be a member of the wedding party, Edward said. That way, I won’t upset my mother or my sister until we know if this is a property you’re interested in.

Cameron’s brows drew together. Your family knows the ranch is in trouble, but they don’t know you’re thinking of selling?

There was a moment of silence on the phone.

My sister, Samantha, wants this wedding business to save us, but so far, we’ve only had one wedding and it’s just not going to make us the cash we need, he said.

What did he believe? Was the man protecting his family or was he lying to them? He wouldn’t know until he arrived there.

All right, give me a few days. I’ll be out there on the twelfth. I’ll stay a week at the most and then I’ll be home before Christmas, he said. Or on a lovely beach somewhere avoiding his grandmother’s wedding noose.

Or maybe he’d fly straight to Cancun and avoid the annual Burnett Christmas party, where someone was always announcing they were pregnant or they were getting married or some other kind of nonsense.

Thank you, Cameron, Edward said. There’s no one else I would rather have my family’s ranch.

That still wasn’t going to be the closing factor. It would be whether he saw potential in the property.

See you soon, Cameron said, hanging up. How many others had Edward offered the property to?

He sat back in his chair and sighed. He needed a land appraisal done and on his desk before he left for Montana.

CHAPTER 2

Samantha Anderson stood behind the counter nervous as a mouse being chased by a kitten. The first and biggest wedding of the Mistletoe Inn was this Saturday night and the success of this event would determine whether the inn survived or if they were in even more financial trouble.

She’d put her life savings into doing everything she could to save the family home. Since her father’s death a year ago, it was like the financial gain of their ranch had died along with him.

Her mother Betty strolled through the front entrance after setting out arrangements in the barn. They were all working together to keep the place alive. Even with everyone helping, terror gripped her at the thought of losing the home and land that had been in their family since before Montana became a state.

What do you think? her mother said as she turned to face her.

It’s lovely, Mama. Our guests should be arriving just any time. Are the bedrooms all prepared?

Anna Finlayson came whirling through the room with her arms loaded with towels. As soon as I put the towels in the bathrooms, we’re ready.

Thank you, Anna, she said as she opened the computer files to go over the guest list of who were arriving and the rooms she had assigned to them.

This was such a big day for the Mistletoe Inn. Everything had to be perfect.

Staring at the screen, she noticed a new name on the list Edward had entered.

Edward, she called.

Her tall, lanky blonde brother came around the corner, his clothes impeccable. His jeans were creased down the middle. Edward liked to be a beacon of fashion and in many ways that made Samantha worry. Clothes often made the man, but not Edward.

Though he was older than her, he still acted like he was a college kid and she often wondered if he would ever grow up. Since the death of their father, he’d acted even stranger. More remote and less thrilled to be here.

It felt like he wanted to be anywhere but here at the ranch and yet they needed him.

She worried if taking over the responsibility of their property was too much for him. He’d never been that interested in being the head of the Mistletoe Ranch and now he had no choice unless he wanted to turn it over to her. And their father wanted his son in charge of the ranch.

I’m helping Conor make certain the drive looks great, he said. Did you know the groom and the best man have already arrived?

No, she said, wondering where they were. I’m sure Tara knows they’re here.

They were blowing the snow off the circular drive in front of the big barn they’d turned into a reception area. She doubted very seriously that Edward was helping wearing those clothes.

After all, he wouldn’t want those designer jeans to get dirty.

Why wasn’t he outside when she called him?

All right, but do you know anything about a Cameron Burnett’s reservation?

Oh yeah, he called in late last night and I happened to pick up the phone and add him to the reservation list, he said.

That was odd, she’d been around until after ten p.m., and she’d never heard the phone ring.

He’s with the wedding party, right?

Yes, he said. Gotta go. We want that driveway to look perfect when they pull up to the barn.

And just like that, he disappeared out the door.

With a sigh, she looked at the rooms she’d assigned and gave Mr. Burnett the last one. There had better not be any other last-minute changes to the wedding or they would be out of rooms. In a way, it was a good thing they were completely sold out.

Is everything all right? her mother asked, her wrinkled face expressing worry.

Yes, we are now officially sold out. There are no more rooms at the inn, she said.

That’s great news, her mother said.

Tara came out of her office, her dark hair curling around her face. Our first event.

Yes, Samantha said. Are you as nervous as I am?

Absolutely, she