by Barb Han
Seeing him standing there, all six feet three inches of male glory, sent Cheyenne’s pulse racing. Sweaty palms. Butterflies in stomach. The feeling like she’d just dived off the face of a mountain with nothing more than a bungee cord around her ankles engulfed her. He was excitement and sexual chemistry times a hundred. All of which explained how fast she’d fallen for him and how far down the rabbit hole she’d gone once she did.
As much as she wanted to blame stress for her body’s reaction to him, she couldn’t. Riggs had always had that effect on her.
Ozzy was going crazy at her heels, barking rapid-fire, and that wasn’t helping her headache one bit.
“Cheyenne,” he said in the low timbre that had a way of reverberating through her and disarming her defenses. “What is all this about?”
Since that was a loaded question, Cheyenne decided to take a step back without answering. She cracked the door open a little bit more. “You can come in and wait for her.”
Without waiting for a response, she opened the door a little more before turning around and walking away. Seeing him again was doing a number on her senses.
Besides, her coffee was getting cold in the kitchen and she figured half the reason for her headache was a complete lack of caffeine. She brought her hands up to her temples and tried to massage some of the tension out.
No sound came from behind her except for Ozzy. No way would Riggs be afraid of that little yapper.
Cheyenne turned around, despite wondering why she hadn’t heard the screen door open yet. In the sliver, Riggs stood there like he was debating whether or not he should come inside. His cell phone was out and he was staring at the screen like his life depended on him memorizing the contents.
Her heart surged. It would be so easy to get caught up in the man standing on the other side of the screen. It had been so easy to forget how cursed her life was before she met him. Too easy? The whole fling had felt like the fairy-tale version of life. Girl meets down-to-earth and ridiculously gorgeous and almost obscenely wealthy rancher. Falls in love instantly—something she never once believed was possible for anyone before. But this guy is different. He’s tall and muscled with rough hands from working outside. He’s grounded. So much so that it became too easy to forget he was one of the wealthiest bachelors in Texas, and that was saying something in this state.
Not only that, but he had the kind of billboard-model good looks that made her pinch herself when he’d asked her out. And that was just the outward appearance. The physical attributes that got noticed when she first met someone. An initial appraisal that ticked all the boxes.
Talking to him had rocketed the attraction into a whole new stratosphere. He was quick-witted. He was funny. He was compassionate despite a tough exterior. He lived by a cowboy code that set him apart from other guys she’d dated. Combine all those qualities, wrap them up with his devilish charm, and he was irresistible.
Reality was settling in now, and it was a hard, cold one. He deserved so much more than she would be able to give. She could see that clearly now. Looking at him as he stood there, she knew without a doubt that shortchanging him wasn’t an option. Not once in the past year had she stopped long enough to think about what being in a relationship with her might do to him. How the dark cloud following her would rain on him, too. She’d been caught up in a whirlwind fantasy and wanted to blindly trust that everything would magically work out.
Life had handed her a different reality. One she must’ve known she had coming, because fairy tales weren’t real and men like Riggs didn’t exist. And the rare few who did? They deserved something better than the bad luck that stalked her.
She’d also neglected to assess how devastating the consequences might be for her when she left after giving away her heart.
He glanced up before reaching for the handle. Her heart skipped a couple of beats when he stepped inside the living room. And all she could think to say was, “There’s coffee if you want some.”
An awkward silence filled the room before he finally said, “Yes, please.”
His manners had always been spot-on, but she knew him well enough to realize anger brimmed under the polite surface.
“You can come on in and find a seat,” she said, motioning toward the bar stools and then the kitchen table. “Sit wherever you like.”
“I can’t stay long,” he said, and her chest deflated. She had no right to be disappointed. In fact, she should celebrate because her resolve to keep him at arm’s length wouldn’t last long if he tried to get close to her.
Rather than dwell on it, she fixed him a cup of coffee and walked it over to the counter in between the living room and kitchen.
“I got a text from her, too. She said she had news and to be ready, but she didn’t explain. She said we’d talk about it when she got home and the news would blow my mind.” Cheyenne palmed her own cup.
Riggs thanked her and then stared at the cup in her hand for a long moment before finally asking, “Since when did you start drinking coffee?”
“Recently.” She shrugged, not ready to admit the real reason.
Riggs eyed her suspiciously before picking up the cup, and took a sip. He set his phone down presumably where he could keep an eye on it in case Ally called or sent another text.
“When did she contact you?” Cheyenne asked.
“About an hour ago.” He confirmed what she already suspected.
“Same here,” she said.
“You don’t think she would be trying to get us to...” His voice trailed off when he seemed to think better of finishing the sentence.
“No. I don’t.” Cheyenne was clear on that point. Her best friend would never pull a stunt like this to shock her out of her funk. “Something is wrong. I can feel it.”
The last time she said those words, she’d ended up in the ER and then in labor and delivery. An icy chill raced down her spine at the memory. She shrugged in an attempt to shake it off.
“We can take a ride up to the hospital to see if she’s still there and got sucked into working another shift,” he offered without meeting her gaze. Riggs O’Connor wasn’t afraid a day in his life, so she doubted he was scared to make eye contact. Was he trying to shield himself from the disappointment their relationship must represent to him now? She wouldn’t blame him one bit. She also took note that he hadn’t so much as looked at her stomach. Was it too painful a reminder?
“I don’t know,” she hedged, not wanting to be in close quarters with the one man who caused a dozen butterflies to release in her chest without doing much more than glancing at her.
“I’m fresh out of ideas, then.” His frustration came through in his tone. “We can sit here as long as you like but she might be on the side of the road somewhere.”
“Okay,” she said without thinking it through. If Ally was stranded, she would call. If she had access to a phone, she would return a text. If she was going to be stranded at work, she would let them know. Plus, the two of them were struggling to talk as it was, despite a growing piece of her that was comforted by his presence. Riggs was like that. He was the sun, and everything else orbited around him, drawn to his warmth.
“Ready?” He cocked an eyebrow.
“Yes.” These one-word conversations ranked right up there as the worst. They were a stark contrast to all the nights they’d missed sleep while lying in each other’s arms and talking about the future they were going to build together. A future that died alongside their daughter.
“I’ll wait in the truck.”
She nodded. At least they were up to five words now. It was her fault. She’d been the one to tell him she was going ahead with a divorce, breaking the promises they’d made to each other. This might be best for Riggs, but it sure left a hole in her heart the size of Texas.
She would learn to get by. Hadn’t she always picked herself up by her bootstraps and forged ahead
? Hadn’t she always found a way to keep going even when it felt like the world was crashing down around her, grabbing hold of the rope, tying the knot and then holding on for dear life?
She instinctively reached for the ladybug bracelet that was her mother’s favorite piece of jewelry. Fingering the delicate lines and jewels brought her heart rate down to a decent level after panic caused her pulse to jump.
Reminding herself to breathe always helped in these situations. She watched, unable to move, as Riggs walked right out the front door.
Breathe.
Ozzy ran to the door and back. He ran circles around her feet. It took a second, but she finally caught on to what he was trying to tell her. He wanted to go outside.
“You’re a smart doggo.” She reached down and picked up all six pounds of him and brought him nose to face. “Okay. You’re in. Only because Ally will be so happy to see you and not because you’re starting to break down my resolve to not get too attached to you.”
She realized she’d just had a longer conversation with a dog than with the man she’d promised to spend the rest of her life with. That pretty much summed up how her life was going these days.
Setting him down, she fed him before letting him out in the small backyard. She took another sip of coffee before moving down the hallway. She threw on her favorite yoga pants and cotton shirt, and then pulled her hair up in a ponytail. Socks and tennis shoes were next. So, basically, the most nondescript clothes she could find. The dark colors matched her mood.
She grabbed the leash on the way out the door before shouldering her purse and locking up.
Riggs sat in the driver’s seat, engine running, as another dark-cloud-hanging-over-her-head feeling nailed her. She held Ozzy a little closer to her chest, and then hopped off the porch, figuring this was going to be the longest drive of her life despite the hospital being less than half an hour away.
* * *
RIGGS WAS USED to being with folks who didn’t feel the need to fill empty air with meaningless words. But the chilly twenty-plus-minute ride to the hospital with no conversation ranked right up there with one of the most awkward moments of his life.
What was he supposed to say to someone who was hurting so much she couldn’t speak? It was impossible not to feel like he’d let her down in some way. Then there was his own anger to consider. Anger that had him chomping at the bit to release all the fury he held inside. At least they hadn’t found Ally in a ditch somewhere unconscious and therefore unable to call.
“She usually parks on the east side of the lot,” Cheyenne finally chimed in as the hospital building came into view.
“It’s the closest to the road leading home.” His voice came out a little gruffer than he’d intended. His finger itched to reach over and touch Cheyenne again. But what would he say to her? There were no words that could cover their loss, and the divorce he knew was coming was nothing more than insult to injury.
Even so, he couldn’t rightly walk away without knowing there was no chance of a reconciliation. Anger or not, he’d made a commitment he didn’t take lightly. Based on the look on her face and her closed-up body language, she’d rather move on.
As much as he wished things had turned out differently, he wouldn’t try to convince her to stay with him when she so clearly couldn’t wait to be as far away from him as possible. As it was, she sat so far on the opposite side of the bench seat that her right shoulder pressed against the door.
“Do you see her car?” The parking lot was less than half-full, about thirty cars and trucks mostly huddled up toward the entrance. He drove up and down each aisle, searching for the cherry red Mustang Ally drove. He’d met her a few times and had been threatened to within an inch of his life if he ever hurt Cheyenne.
He’d promised not to and that was the second promise he broke. The first was to love and protect her. Not being able to protect her from the kind of pain that would cause most to curl up in a fetal position and give up had his hands tightening around the steering wheel.
Guilt racked him for not being in the room with his wife when she’d had their child. He’d been called out onto the property after someone spotted poachers. She’d gone into early labor. He was in an area without cell coverage, none the wiser. So yeah, he felt like a jerk for not being there for his...for her.
“It’s not here,” she finally said after studying each vehicle like she was going to be tested on it later.
“Does she ever park anywhere else?” he asked. Being back at the hospital where she’d lost their child two weeks ago caused stress lines to crease her forehead.
“I suppose it’s possible.” She frowned.
“We can take a lap around the hospital. Check the other lots.” He navigated around the white-and-glass building, not ready to leave empty-handed. There were four lots and he drove each aisle as concern mounted for Ally with every minute that ticked by.
Cheyenne had been right earlier. Her friend wouldn’t call them together and then ditch.
“I can call my brother and ask if there have been any accidents in the area,” he offered. They would have seen something on their way over, though. There was only one main road from Ally’s house to the hospital and a couple of side streets, so it wasn’t like there were a lot of options.
“Okay.” There was a lost quality to Cheyenne’s voice that nearly ripped his heart out. She was holding Ozzy close to her chest with one arm while chewing her thumbnail to bits on her right hand.
He pulled out to the edge of the lot and parked, leaving the engine running. Colton’s number was programmed into the truck, so all Riggs had to do was press the screen on his dashboard to call.
“Hey, what’s up?” Colton answered on the first ring, barely covering the concern in his voice. It came as no shock that everyone was worried about Riggs and he appreciated his brothers for their concern. The O’Connor family was a tight-knit bunch. Always had been and always would be. Even their rogue brother Garrett had come around recently after their father and family patriarch’s death.
“You’re on speaker. I’m with Cheyenne and we were supposed to meet her best friend after work. You remember Ally?”
The line was dead quiet for more than a few uncomfortable beats.
“Yes,” Colton finally said, not masking the confusion in his tone as well as he probably thought he was.
“She requested a meetup. Gave us the impression it was important and that she had news to deliver that had to be kept hush-hush,” he said to his brother, the sheriff.
“And you believe this information is related to your daughter.” Colton was sharp. There was no doubt in Riggs’s mind his brother would catch on to the implication without spelling it out for him.
“I do.” He didn’t want to speak for Cheyenne. Although she was nodding, hunkered over in the corner. “She didn’t show up at her residence. We’re at her place of employment and her vehicle is nowhere to be found. We didn’t observe any accidents between her home and usual route to work.”
“Which is?” Colton was all business now. This was his territory, and he was good at his job.
Riggs rattled off street names after giving both her address and the name of the hospital.
“I can be there personally in—”
“No need.” Riggs appreciated his brother for wanting to show up for him. But he really did just want to know if any accidents had been reported.
The click-clack of a keyboard sounded.
“Hold on a second,” Colton said in a distracted voice. He was no doubt staring at the screen, waiting for results.
“Nothing in your area has come up on the radio and I’m not getting anything in the system, either,” Colton reported. “Have you spoken to anyone inside the hospital yet?”
“No.”
“Someone might have needed to borrow her car last-minute.” Colton’s suggestion was a reach. Ally wo
uld have her cell phone on her and would have contacted either Riggs or Cheyenne.
“I can ask around, but it doesn’t seem like she’d leave us hanging like this,” Riggs said.
“Hold on for a second.” Colton must’ve muted the call because he went radio silent.
After a few tense moments, his brother returned to the line.
“No accidents reported. I’m sending a deputy over to make the drive and I’ve contacted a group that volunteers to use drones in searches.” He exhaled. “With the information we have right now, I’d say she probably stopped off somewhere along the way for a drink to force the two of you in a room together. Or it’s possible she ran into the grocery store and happened into an old chatty friend.”
Riggs compressed his lips to stop from refuting his brother’s ideas. Colton was coming at this from a seasoned law enforcement officer’s point of view. In many cases, he was probably right. He also probably wouldn’t even send a deputy or dredge up drones if he wasn’t talking to a trusted source. Riggs needed to keep perspective and hold his frustration in check. He was already ticking through possible stop-offs along the route home. If they had to visit every business to find her or convince his brother she was missing, so be it.
“I appreciate your help,” he finally said.
“This is just a starting point. There are other things I can do if she doesn’t turn up from these efforts,” Colton assured him. His wheels were turning, apparently.
Riggs thanked his brother and ended the call.
“She wouldn’t do this on purpose.” Cheyenne tapped her fingers on the armrest. “She’s in some kind of trouble and it’s somehow related to us. Ally would never just disappear like this without contacting us first.”
The thought was sobering.
“Where do you want to start?” he asked, figuring they could backtrack but also needed to check out any of her favorite haunts.
