by Barb Han
Riggs’s mother must be inside. Margaret O’Connor was about the nicest woman Cheyenne had ever had the pleasure of meeting. The thought of hurting someone who had already experienced the worst possible pain didn’t sit well.
If Margaret gave Cheyenne a chilly reception, she wouldn’t be surprised or place any blame. It would be nothing more than just desert for hurting Riggs and letting the family down.
With a heavy heart, she marched to the front door. As she arrived, it burst open and Margaret stood on the other side, arms wide open.
“It’s so good to see you,” Margaret said as she brought Cheyenne into an embrace.
Shock robbed her voice. This warmth was so unexpected and, to be honest, felt undeserved. All Cheyenne could say in response was, “I’m sorry.”
Margaret pulled back and shooed the comment away. “There’s no reason for apologies. You’re here now and I don’t want to waste a minute.”
Cheyenne couldn’t stop the smile from curling the corners of her lips.
“Who do you have here?” Margaret motioned toward the handbag.
“This is Ozzy.” He popped his head out as though he knew he was being talked about.
“Oh my goodness. What a sweetheart.” Margaret cooed at the little dog and Cheyenne could have sworn he made the same noises back.
“Do you still like to drink that chai tea?” Margaret asked, returning her gaze to meet Cheyenne’s.
“Coffee is my drink of choice now,” Cheyenne admitted.
“How about a cup?” Margaret asked. “I can figure out how to work the machine while Riggs gets our new houseguests set up in one of the guest rooms.”
“Sounds good to me.” Everything about being back at the ranch felt right. A couple of weeks away suddenly felt like an eternity.
Arm in arm, she walked with Margaret into the expansive kitchen. She’d rarely come to the main house during her pregnancy and yet the place felt like home. Her house with Riggs was the same. She’d moved around a lot as a kid, so it surprised her how much she fit at the ranch the minute she arrived.
Ozzy whimpered inside the handbag.
“What’s wrong, little guy?” Cheyenne freed him.
He wiggled like a baby who didn’t want to be held.
“Okay if he runs free for a few minutes?” Cheyenne asked Margaret.
“Fine by me,” came the response as the older woman went to fix the brew.
Cheyenne set Ozzy down on the tile floor. She squatted next to him. “Is that better? Do you need to stretch your legs?”
Ozzy half ran, half hopped over to Margaret, and then lay down by her feet.
* * *
RIGGS CLOSED THE door to the guest suite where Loriann and Zachary were settling in. The little boy was still asleep and Loriann was unpacking their suitcase when he left. Riggs would be lying if he didn’t admit to taking a hit at seeing the mother and son together. Loriann’s love for her son made him wonder what it would be like to hold his own child in his arms.
As it was, he could only imagine how powerful a moment that might be. He had yet to meet his daughter and he already knew he’d move heaven and earth to make her comfortable.
They had to find her. Period. There was no other outcome in his mind.
Riggs had learned a long time ago to shut out all other possibilities when he went after something. Whether it applied to work or a personal goal, the same tactic came into play. Singular vision gave him clarity.
Whoa. He thought about that for a moment and applied it to his relationship with Cheyenne. When she’d told him about the pregnancy, he’d set his sights on becoming a family. Technically, that wasn’t the same as becoming a good husband. A strong relationship required communication. And what had he done when she’d seemed stressed? Given her space. He figured everything would magically work out once the baby came. That was as realistic as cooking an egg on a December sidewalk in Texas.
He could say the same for when she tried to talk to him in the cab of his truck. He’d decided telling her the whole truth would cause more harm than good. Part of his thinking was meant to protect her. But she needed to know what was on his mind. Otherwise, they’d never get to know each other on a real level. He’d lost some of her trust when he didn’t communicate. He’d seen the change in her eyes the minute he lost her. The eyes never lied. He had some work to do to gain her trust again. His mistakes were racking up.
Riggs veered into the kitchen. The smell of fresh coffee quickened his pace.
When he stepped onto the tile, his heart squeezed. There his mother stood nuzzling Ozzy, chatting easily with his wife. His two favorite people in the world looked like they were old friends. A growing part of him wanted to fight for his marriage no matter what else happened with the investigation.
The annoying voice in the back of his mind picked that time to point out she’d pushed him away when they needed each other most. What would stop her from doing it again?
Again, the concept of communication came to mind. Looking back, he could have done a better job.
“Are either of you hungry?” his mother asked. She had a special radar for when one of her boys walked into a room. There was no hiding from Margaret O’Connor. Maybe that was the by-product of bringing up six rowdy boys. He smirked, figuring he owed her a couple of apologies for some of their antics as kids.
Cheyenne turned toward him, and it was like the sun breaking through the clouds after weeks of rain.
“We should do what we can to up our strength,” he said, figuring he needed to catch his mother up to date with all the new information.
“Take a seat at the table and I’ll whip up something,” she said like it was nothing.
“Why don’t the two of you grab chairs and let me stumble around in the pantry for a change,” he offered.
“I’ll take you up on that after fixing a cup of tea.” His mother beamed. She’d brought up all of her boys to be able to fend for themselves in the kitchen when necessary. Her guidance had come in handy all those times he had nothing but a skillet and a campfire as tools and a small bag of groceries to sustain himself when tracking poachers.
“Let me get the tea. You have your hands full already.” He motioned toward Ozzy and one word came to mind...traitor. The little dog was as happy as a lark. He’d come alive. Cheyenne didn’t seem to mind the slight despite becoming closer with the little yapper after Ally’s death.
Speaking of which, Riggs went over the basics in his mind as he heated the stove and grabbed enough ingredients to make breakfast tacos. Eggs were basically his staple and he hoped Cheyenne wasn’t tired of them yet.
Cheyenne had finally rested. Before coming home, he doubted she’d slept more than a few hours. Based on what she’d said so far, he didn’t get the impression she was getting a whole lot of quality rest for the past couple of weeks. He could attest to the fact she hadn’t been sleeping well in the last month of her pregnancy. The middle-of-the-night trips to the bathroom had multiplied. So had the back pain and cramps. Pregnancy didn’t seem to be for the faint of heart.
And yet, every time she talked about the baby, she brought her hand down to gently rub the bump. Was that her subconscious at work? He figured so. Long before the child would come into the world her mother had bonded with her.
Riggs didn’t have that same instant connection, but he would be ready to love the child once he met her. She was still an idea in his mind. Not real until he held her in his arms, a move he’d been anticipating more and more the closer the due date got.
Breakfast was served and eaten in a matter of minutes. Cheyenne bit back three yawns while praising his cooking, despite having conked out for almost twelve hours at the house before he woke her at three o’clock this morning. Almost four hours later, he wondered if he could get her to rest while Colton did his job.
“What do you think about grabbing o
ne of the guest rooms here at the main house and taking a quick nap?” he asked, clearing the table.
She stood up and joined him before glancing down at Ozzy.
“My father and stepmother are coming, and I doubt I’d be able to sleep while waiting for them,” she said. “They did say something about finding an RV park first, so I’m not sure when they’ll be here.”
Riggs wouldn’t mind meeting his in-laws for the first time.
“I’d be happy to take care of this guy to give you a break,” his mother said before cooing at Ozzy again. The dog practically purred. “You could relax at the very least.”
“I’ll take you up on the offer for Ozzy,” Cheyenne said with a half smile.
“Good,” his mother said.
“I’ll get you settled and then come back for the dishes.” Riggs prided himself on his self-sufficiency. Had he gotten too used to living alone? Taking care of himself and letting no one else in?
“You’ll do no such thing,” his mother said. “You fed me. And quite well if I do say so. Dishes are the least I can do.”
He opened his mouth to argue but Margaret O’Connor was having none of it. She shooed him out of her space like he was a fly buzzing in her ear.
“Okay, I’m going,” he said, appreciating a little levity in what had been some of the heaviest days of his life. He’d given his mother the two-cent version of what had happened, and she’d told him Colton had been sending updates. Thankfully, Riggs didn’t have to go into it in detail.
Mentally, he was whipped, and he could use some down time to process. He also wanted to think about his next move. He knew full well investigations took time. His brother was working this case on steroids, throwing as many resources as he could toward it. There would be a breakthrough. There had to be one. Progress was being made.
The thought of Riggs’s daughter, if she’d lived, sleeping one more night away from her parents, from her home, caused anger to rip through him. Did the family who had her know the adoption was illegal? He shook those questions out of his thoughts as he walked Cheyenne to his old bedroom on the second floor.
“This is it. I think you’ll be comfortable.” He stopped at the door. “Use anything you want. The bathroom is attached. I’ll be in the room across the hall if you need anything else.”
She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and tugged him toward her. Those pale blue eyes of hers locked onto his, sending heat swirling through him in places he knew better than to think about with her standing so close.
“Will you stay?” Her voice was steady. And yet he realized she wasn’t trying to hit on him. There was a lost quality to her, too, and he figured she didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts.
He wrapped his hand around the doorknob and twisted. “I’m right behind you.”
Chapter Nineteen
“Thank you for sticking around.” Cheyenne meant it. “Everything you’re doing for me is above and beyond and I wanted you to know that it’s not going unnoticed or unappreciated.”
“You deserve it.” He waved her off like it was nothing.
Her cell buzzed in her purse. The call was from her dad. She fished her phone from her purse and answered. “Everything all right?”
“Yes, honey. It’s fine. You told me to call you when we get close. We found a nice little park where we can hook up the RV. We’ve been driving a long time and I thought it might be best if we rest and come to you refreshed,” her father said. Was he avoiding facing her?
The thought sent a dagger into the pit of her stomach. From all accounts, he hadn’t been identified as her relative, so a park should be safe. And honestly, she could use a couple of hours to gather herself.
“If you think you’ll be more comfortable,” she said, figuring arguing wouldn’t do any good.
“We will.” The emphasis her father placed on the word we made her think this might be his wife’s idea.
Either way, Cheyenne could use some rest of her own, so she wouldn’t argue.
“Call me when you feel up to it,” she said before ending the call and then staring at Riggs.
“What was that all about?” he asked.
“He’s not coming,” she said.
Riggs took a step toward her, closing the gap between them. He cupped her face in his hands before pressing a tender kiss to her lips. “I’m sorry.”
Those two words spoken with conviction eased so much of the hurt inside her.
“He was an amazing dad at one time,” she said by way of defense.
“What do you think happened?” Riggs asked, taking her by the hand and leading her to the bottom of the bed where he sat down and tugged her onto his lap. He encircled his arms around her waist and then waited.
“My mom died, and it shattered him.” She’d never said those words aloud. Some of the pressure that had been weighing on her shoulders lifted. “She was the glue that kept our family together.”
“He still had you,” Riggs said.
She sat there for a long moment without speaking. How could she make him understand? Show him.
“Have I ever shown you a picture of my mother?” she asked.
“No, I don’t believe you have.” His dark brow arched.
Phone still in hand, she pulled up a photo of the three of them.
“You’re the spitting image of her,” he said. “She was a beautiful woman.”
“Inside and out,” she said.
And then it seemed to dawn on him.
“Every time your father looks at you, he sees her,” Riggs said, catching on.
“It’s the only reason I can think of for him to take off with his new wife and leave me behind,” she admitted. A rogue tear welled in her eye. “We talk on the phone, but it’s not the same as being face-to-face. I don’t doubt that he loves me. Or, at least I didn’t until recently.”
The tear escaped and Riggs thumbed it away.
“I can tell you that he’s missing out on an amazing person,” he said, his voice low and gravelly.
The air grew charged around them. Their chemistry had always been off the charts.
“He doesn’t seem to be too bothered,” she said. And that was the last time she was going to feel sorry for herself. “But it is what it is. I can’t change other people no matter how much I wish I could.” She paused and waited for Riggs to respond. Part of her expected him to judge her.
He didn’t.
“I just miss having a family sometimes. You know?” she said.
“You have a family,” he responded, sounding a little hurt. “Me. My brothers. My mother. We’re your family now.”
“Until—”
“There’s no expiration date, Cheyenne. I’m not wired that way. The two of us had a child together. One I very much hope to bring home and raise together. I respect your wishes to do that from separate residences but that doesn’t change the fact I’m your family now.”
Those words spoken with such reverence literally raised goose bumps on her arms. She hadn’t known that kind of unconditional love in far too long. Then again, it had been right under her nose with Riggs and she hadn’t even realized the depths of it.
“I don’t know what to say, Riggs. But I’ll start with thank you.” She could only pray their daughter was alive and well, and somewhere they could find her. “And I want very much to find her and bring her home. This child will be so loved between the two of us and your family.”
“She will,” he agreed. His belief was so strong that it gave Cheyenne hope. “Right now I need you to rest. This might be a long game, and you should know there is no length to which I won’t go to find her and bring her home. At the very least, I will find out what happened to her if she didn’t survive. Either way, we’ll know. That much I promise you.”
Cheyenne had no idea how she would sleep under the circumstances. He was right, t
hough. They might be in this for the long haul. The first step of the journey was figuring out who killed Ally. That would lead them to the person who took their child. Was it Dr. Fortner? All signs pointed in his direction.
It felt almost too easy.
But then, sometimes solving a crime was as plain as the nose on a face. What had Colton said? Follow the evidence.
Would a wealthy traveling doctor drive a gray sedan? Surely he could afford a much more expensive vehicle? It was probably just her being naive, but she believed doctors made a whole lot more money than that. Of course, he could also use this cheaper car to mislead people.
Those thoughts needed to be tabled for now. Rest.
Riggs toed off his boots and she followed suit, kicking off her tennis shoes. He pulled back the covers and slipped out of his shirt and jeans. Ripples of muscles on his stomach provided plenty of eye candy. She’d mapped every line, every ridge. Fear she would lose him and everything good that had happened to her was a pit bull constantly nipping at her heels.
It was an exhausting way to live her life. Could she set it aside and just be in the moment? Not constantly figure out an exit plan or a way to deal with the disappointment when he realized his mistake and took off?
She made a promise to herself right then and there to get out of her head and into the present. More of the weight lifted and, for the first time, she didn’t feel like the world would crumble at the snap of a finger.
Cheyenne decided to keep her clothes on but she curled her body around Riggs’s the way she did when they used to sleep together. It was strange not having a huge belly in between them and also kind of nice for a change.
He wrapped his arm around her and closed his eyes.
The next thing she knew, there was movement beside her. She sat straight up, disoriented. A night-light emanated from the adjacent room.
“Hey, it’s just me.” Riggs’s husky voice radiated calm in a storm.
“What time is it?” She rubbed blurry eyes.
“Noon,” he said quietly.
