Home on the Ranch: Colorado Cowboy SEAL

by Laura Marie Altom

  “That’s great,” Laredo said. He still held her hand. She wasn’t sure what she’d do if he ever let go.

  Sure. The situation couldn’t be more perfect. How magnanimous of the Pierponts to rip her still-breastfeeding infant from her arms. “H-how long will it take for a judge to hear my case?”

  “You need to find a lawyer,” Kyle said. “From there, I’m guessing this can be resolved with mediation. Considering your daughter’s age, I’m sure a judge will want this resolved as soon as possible.”

  “Then I’ll have to return to California?” Robin couldn’t bear returning to her ransacked apartment—especially not without her daughter.

  “Yes.” Kyle shuffled papers on his desk. “Also, after the hit-and-run, a concerned neighbor entered your apartment.” He consulted his file. “She said she had a key and was worried about your well-being. She told police the place was in pretty bad shape—busted furniture. A whole lot of personal property damage. A little blood. I’m presuming yours?”

  Trying so incredibly hard not to cry, Robin nodded.

  “For what it’s worth, that fact should work in your favor.”

  “I would damn well hope so,” Laredo mumbled under his breath.

  “Look, guys...” Kyle sighed. “None of this is making my day. I’m just glad charges have been dropped. As soon as the Pierponts take custody, Robin, you’re free to go.”

  A strangled laugh bubbled from deep in her throat. “Great.”

  Laredo squeezed her hand. “We’ll follow them back to their bat cave. Where do they live?”

  “Malibu. Their horses have sweeping Pacific views. My apartment is twenty minutes from their house. But like I said before, this has nothing to do with you.”

  A handheld radio on Kyle’s desk squawked. He snatched it before standing. “I’ve got to handle this. You two stay put.”

  Once he was gone, shutting the door behind him, Robin lost her resolve not to break down.

  “W-why are they doing this?” she asked on the heels of a sob. “If they truly love their granddaughter, this is hardly the way to show it.”

  “Grief does strange things to people. If they didn’t know their son repeatedly hurt you, they’ve probably made you the villain. Once they see your evidence, they’ll have no option but to recognize their son for what he was—a monster.” He bowed his head. “I hate even bringing this up, but do you have a lawyer?”

  She nodded. “Marjorie. After handling my divorce, we became friends. I should probably call right away?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Chapter 12

  Robin talked to her attorney for an hour. An emergency custody mediation session was already in the works.

  While she now nursed Lark in the station break room, Laredo paced the hall. One of the fluorescent bulbs flickered. Two more were burned out, lending the place a nerve-racking psych-ward vibe.

  Kyle emerged from his office. “Just got off the phone with the Pierponts’ lawyer. They’re about fifteen minutes out.”

  “Lord...” Laredo raked his hand through his too-long hair.

  “Back when Robin said this has nothing to do with you, she was right. I’ll get her a room at Sarah’s for tonight. Jimmy will fix her car in the morning, then she can be on her way to California to find a lawyer and regain custody of her daughter.”

  “You know this is BS.” Arms crossed, Laredo stared out the window at the hall’s end. They’d been at the station long enough that twilight had crept in. He used to enjoy sunsets. Now, they reminded him how useless he was in the dark. He wanted to drive Robin to her California home but couldn’t. The fact made him feel like half a man. “You have no business separating a mother from her child.”

  “For the last time—” Kyle slapped his hand against the nearest wall “—I’m doing my job. Nothing more. As for what you’re doing, charging in like this woman’s protector after knowing her only a few days?” He shook his head. “It’s not normal. Even Lulu thinks—”

  “You want to know why I’m up to my neck in this? Because it feels damned good being needed.”

  “From where I’m standing, looks more like you’re being used. If you’re seriously considering riding this train all the way to its last stop, you could be looking at a year or more. Are you honestly prepared to waste the next year of your life on a woman you barely know?”

  Laredo squeezed his hands into fists. “God, I’d love to punch that pompous look right off your ugly face.”

  “Go for it. I won’t even charge you for assaulting an officer. All I’m asking is that you take a step back to truly think about the ramifications of following this woman to California. You’ve already had one woman destroy your life with lies. Why would you want another?”

  “You’ve got this all wrong. Robin’s a good person. The only reason she lied about her name and situation was to protect her daughter. Can you fault her for that?”

  “If it hurts you, yes.” The sheriff turned his back on Laredo to return to his office. “Mark my words, friend, might not be today or tomorrow, but eventually, this woman and her issues will annihilate you.”

  Laredo fought his every inner demon not to chase after Kyle to give him that punch he’d been itching to land. But what good would that do? The last thing Robin needed was to find him settling a score with violence—especially, since logically, Kyle’s speech made sense. Where his words didn’t compute was in that tight spot centered in his chest. The place he’d forgotten he even had—where his compassion and need for purpose had gone to hide.

  Bottom line—Robin needed him, and Laredo had unknowingly craved being needed. Where was the harm in both helping each other fulfill those needs?

  * * *

  “I love you so much,” Robin whispered to her baby girl who stared up at her while nursing. “We’re going to be apart for a little while, but I promise it won’t be long. Once we’re back together, we’ll go to your great-grandma and grandpa’s house in Arkansas.” A pang tightened Robin’s belly at the thought of leaving Laredo. He’d been sweet and kind and supportive during a time when she’d believed herself alone.

  A knock sounded on the break room door.

  She glanced up to find Laredo leaning through the partially open entry.

  “They’re here.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  A few minutes later when Lark finished, Robin refastened her nursing bra and pulled down her blouse. Nerves brought on a sudden, violent round of shivers. This couldn’t be happening. But it was. She had no choice but to pull herself together.

  “How are you holding up?” Laredo asked when she exited the break room, cradling Lark.

  “About as well as can be expected.”

  “Yeah. Anyway...” He tapped the metal door frame. “If you’re ready, everyone’s waiting.”

  She nodded.

  Tears stung her eyes. A knot the size of Lark’s favorite teething pig lurked at the back of her throat. This couldn’t be happening. How had she gotten to this place?

  Cowardice.

  The first time Chuck kicked her awake that chilly October morning to drill her as to why they’d run out of coffee, she should have told her friends and grandparents and his parents—anyone who’d listen. She should have insisted on counseling.

  Why had she helped Chuck hide the monster inside?

  If only there was an easy answer.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered to her wide-eyed child. “So very sorry. Mommy thought she could fix Daddy—make him nice for you. But all she did was end up making a bigger mess of both of our lives.” She breathed in her daughter’s precious scent. The lotion. The baby shampoo. A faint trace of the detergent Laredo favored. Not knowing how long she and Lark would be apart, she had to make this memory last a good long while.

  Drawing on a long-buried source of strength, she forced a deep breath in prepar
ation for her life’s biggest battle.

  Raised voices greeted her at the end of the short hall.

  In response, Robin tightened her hold on Lark.

  “I demand to see my granddaughter.” She recognized the voice. Chuck’s father—William. “I’ve already lost my son to this monster. I refuse to lose my granddaughter, as well.” How odd that he thought her to be the monster when all along it had been his son. How would he take that news? How long after learning the truth would it take him to realize the gravity of the horrible mistake he was making in separating a mother from her child?

  “William...” Chuck’s mom. Charlotte. She and Robin used to lunch. Before the forced isolation, Robin considered her mother-in-law to be a friend. “There’s no need to make this situation any more volatile. Robin brought the baby of her own free will. That must mean something. That she’s willing to cooperate.”

  “I am.” Having squared her shoulders, holding on to Lark for dear life, Robin exited the hall to enter the station’s bullpen. Her ex in-laws stood alongside two suit-wearing men she assumed to be their legal team. A third man also wore a suit, but rather than study documents, he stood to the side, seeming to take it all in. Security?

  Judging by the way Laredo had adopted much the same pose, Robin assumed she was right.

  “Robin...” Charlotte held out her arms as if looking for a hug, but then noticed her daughter-in-law’s dark expression and opted to instead step back. “I realize this must seem extreme, but please try seeing this from our point of view.”

  “Your point of view?” Laredo snorted. “Are you aware your son repeatedly beat her? She wasn’t running to take your grandchild from you, but to save her life. Another thing—Lark is still breastfeeding. What kind of grandparents tear a child away from her loving mother at such a tender stage?”

  “Who are you?” William stepped forward, hands fisted. Did he hit, too? Had he been the one who Chuck learned it from?

  “I’m the man who stepped up for your daughter-in-law as opposed to your son who drove her away.”

  “Take Lark.” After releasing an exasperated sigh, William nodded to his wife. “I can’t handle one more second of this blasphemy against our dead son.”

  “Please don’t do this.” Robin would have rather withstood another fifty years of Chuck’s beatings than this one impossible separation.

  “Try to understand...” Charlotte reached for Robin’s daughter. “We’ve already lost our son. We can’t lose our granddaughter, too.”

  “But until William threatened to take her, I never would have kept her from you. You’ve always been free to visit as often as you’d like. I’m sorry. I was scared. I made a mistake. Please, at least give me the chance to make this right.”

  Charlotte looked to her husband. “Robin does raise valid points. And she is still breastfeeding.”

  “Take the baby and let’s go.” William nodded toward his legal team and security thug. “Is the paperwork in order?”

  “Yessir,” said the lawyer wearing a red power tie.

  “Give her to me.” Robin’s father-in-law held out his arms.

  “I—I can’t...” Robin’s eyes welled to the point that her world blurred. Had anyone else found it odd that neither of Chuck’s parents rebuked her allegations of their son’s abuse?

  “Robin...” The sheriff approached. “Let’s not make this worse than it already is. You’ll have your day in court.”

  Sniffing back tears, Robin nodded, then turned to her mother-in-law. “I—If I follow you home, will you at least feed her my milk?”

  Charlotte nodded.

  Robin reluctantly passed her daughter into her mother-in-law’s waiting arms. As alert as Lark was, Robin expected a fuss, but the infant settled into her grandmother’s gentle hold. Small consolation, but better than if she’d have given her to William and she’d started screaming.

  “Are we good to go?” the attorney with the red tie asked Kyle.

  After sorting through a pile of signed documents—Robin had already completed her share—Kyle nodded.

  “Good.” William clapped to signal to his three-man crew.

  The sudden noise jolted Lark from exploration of Charlotte’s pearls. As if realizing she wasn’t sure who held her, Lark pitched a full-blown tantrum.

  Despite Charlotte’s best attempts to calm her screaming granddaughter, Lark spotted Robin and reached for her, pinching her tiny chubby fingers.

  “I-if you’ll wait,” Robin said, “I have all of her gear. Her favorite toys and fuzzy blanket and diaper bag. Her portable playpen and—”

  “We have everything she may need and more.” William turned his back on Robin, seemingly oblivious to her and his terrified granddaughter.

  Lark’s every wail tore at Robin’s heart.

  More than anything, she wanted to drag her child from Charlotte’s hold, but according to her lawyer that would only compound her already complex legal issues. And so she used every shred of willpower to keep her feet rooted to the linoleum floor. Days from now, this awful night would be behind her. Lark would once again be her own.

  Laredo slipped his arm around her trembling shoulders, drawing her close.

  “I’ll be right behind you,” Robin said above her daughter’s wails as her in-laws and their entourage veered toward the station door. “M-Mommy loves you, my little chicken. I love you so very much...”

  That last part didn’t matter. Her beloved daughter had already been carried out the door.

  * * *

  “We have to go after them. Hurry. Now.”

  “Babe...” Laredo would have given anything to be capable of driving all night and into the next morning for the heartbroken single mom, but they both knew his situation with the dark and she was in no shape to safely drive. “For tonight, let’s grab a room at Sarah’s. First thing in the morning, we’ll head out.”

  “No. Now.” Desperation laced her voice with high-pitched hysteria. “I’ll drive. I’m good.” After using the backs of her hands to swipe tears from her cheeks, she took a tissue from the desk she stood beside to blow her nose. “See? All better...”

  Her tears began anew.

  “Head on over to the motel,” Kyle said. “I’ll call Sarah and give her a heads-up you’re coming.”

  “Thanks, man.” Laredo shook Kyle’s hand.

  “No problem.”

  Since the city streets were well lit, Laredo felt comfortable driving Robin to the motel. Unsure where the afternoon would take them, they’d packed bags with all of Robin’s and Lark’s belongings. Even Laredo had packed a duffel bag in case Robin wanted him to come with her.

  Laredo helped still-crying Robin into the passenger side of his truck, then climbed in beside her. Darkness had long since fallen and he’d be lying if he said his nerves weren’t firing terror at the thought of even the short trek across town. Logically, he knew it was no big deal, but try telling that to the demons living deep inside him.

  Ignoring the voices telling him he couldn’t do it, he helped Robin fasten her seat belt, hating how Lark’s safety seat still had them seated with their thighs plastered together.

  “You think they have an infant carrier for Lark?”

  “Of course.” He started the engine. “I also think that once the initial shocks wears off, Lark will realize she’s safe with her grandma and grandpa.”

  “Is she?” Robin took a fast-food napkin from the dash to once again blow her nose. “Not sure if you noticed, but when you mentioned Chuck having abused me, they didn’t flinch. It was as if their son’s abhorrent behavior didn’t come as a surprise.”

  “I suppose it’s possible.” He took it easy backing out of the parking spot, then took a longer way to the motel, skipping shortcuts down side streets to stick to the main, well-lit route. “If they did know the extent of their son’s violence, how could they live
with themselves? Especially knowing their granddaughter was also in danger?”

  She arched her head back and sighed. “I don’t know. Nothing makes sense. This is all a nightmare from which I can’t seem to wake.”

  “You will.” He took her hand, gliding his fingers between hers. The sudden intimacy of her palm pressed to his calmed him. The connection. The knowing he was no longer alone. Not that they were dating or anything. But they were solid.

  Really? His conscience butted in. How many days have you known her? And in those days, how many times has she lied and disappointed you?

  He ignored the nagging doubt to stroke her palm with the pad of his thumb.

  “Thank you.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m always thanking you. But back at the station—if I hadn’t had you with me—I’m not sure what I would have done. Honestly?” She forced a deep breath. “I’m afraid I would have found a rear exit, stolen a cop car and driven as far and fast as I could.”

  “Even knowing you’d surely get caught?”

  “Maybe I would have ditched the squad car in favor of a less obvious ride. The desperation to keep my baby shocked even me.”

  “I thought your lawyer said she’d have Lark back in your arms as soon as she arranged the emergency hearing?”

  “She did. But there’s such a backlog of cases that she also warned it could take a week or more for the mediation to be scheduled.” She yawned. “You made the right call. I’m in no shape for an all-night drive to Malibu. I don’t believe Chuck’s parents would hurt Lark. And once she wakes in her nursery at their house, she’ll no doubt believe she’s there for a nice visit. I’m the one who’s a basket case.”

  “With good cause.”

  They’d almost made it to the motel when Robin said, “You do know I don’t expect you to go with me. Jimmy should have my car done tomorrow. You have your goats and chickens and the garden to look after.”