by Barb Han
The baby had had a bottle, which seemed to be enough to keep her satisfied. She was back to sucking on her fist. So, Amber hopped up, settled Brooklyn in her arms and followed.
The sun was starting its descent. This time of year, that meant it was a little after five o’clock. The yard was visible as they searched.
“This is where it happened.” She pointed to the spot, and thinking about what had happened gave her a chill. So much could’ve gone wrong. Brooklyn could be in the hands of that man, who couldn’t want her for good reasons. An honest man with good intentions would’ve knocked on the door and explained the situation calmly. Only someone with something to hide would try to rip a child out of a stranger’s arms.
She knew to stay back and let Zach do his job. Trampling all over his crime scene wouldn’t help. Rylan seemed to realize it, too. He stayed with her, and she could see the anger on his face. She figured the anger was for what had almost happened to Brooklyn even though a little piece of her wanted the anger to be for her, too.
It was a silly notion and one best left alone.
Amber tucked that idea away with all the other up-to-no-good thoughts racing in her head whenever he was near. He’d always had that effect on her. Well, not always. She’d thought him to be pretty darn annoying in middle school. High school had turned around her feelings toward him. But then his mother had died and he’d gone inside himself. He shut out all his old friends, and rumor had it that he’d gotten involved with a bad crowd in Collinsville.
She’d kept busy with the ranch and with school over the years. And then her mother had gotten sick. She and her brothers became orphans when her dad died a few years later. Granted, they’d been adults when that had happened. But none of them had truly ever gotten over losing their parents. Did anyone ever?
Coming from a tight-knit family had made them feel the losses that much more. And then everyone had scattered like buckshot in order to handle family business. She’d always known their family had each other’s backs; that was a given. But no one ever talked about losing their parents or how that had changed everything. How that had changed the family’s dynamic.
“Got something.” Zach put on a pair of rubber gloves and retrieved a paper bag from his SUV. He returned to the spot he’d zeroed in on, careful as he stepped so as not to trample on evidence, and then squatted. Metal glinted in the sunlight as he picked up what looked like a piece of sunglass frame. He held it up toward the sun like he was examining a prize. “Between this and the DNA under your fingernails, we might have the break we need.”
Amber had been around law enforcement long enough to realize this was too early to expect good news and that the evidence would have to be sent to a crime lab. Getting results could take weeks if not months depending on how busy the lab was.
After examining the area, Zach motioned for them to go inside. He was a few steps behind them because he put the evidence bag into his locked SUV for safekeeping.
Zach spun around on her the minute the door was closed. His gaze flew to Rylan. “Do you mind giving us a minute to talk?”
Rylan locked gazes with Amber like he was checking to make sure that’s what she wanted before he complied.
She nodded.
“I’ll be in the kitchen if anyone needs me.” Rylan winked and she smiled as he left the room.
“I don’t like you being anywhere near this case.” Zach cornered Amber. She sidestepped him and moved to the couch.
The minute she turned on him, ready to put up an argument, he brought his hand up to stop her.
“I do realize that I have no authority in which to make that request, and I also know that you aren’t the type to be told what to do under any circumstances. But hear me out because I’m only saying this because I care about you.”
“Fine. What do you want to say to me, Zach?”
His gaze moved from her to the baby and back. “She hasn’t left your side since the last time I was here, has she?”
“Nope.” Amber had no plans to abandon this little angel, either. She also had no plans to defend herself or try to convince him this was different.
Before she could respond, Zach blew out a sharp breath.
“I figured that would be the case.” He sounded resigned to that end.
“So, what’s next?” There was no use going down the road of him trying to talk her out of staying.
“I’m not finished,” he said.
“Really? Because you know as well as I do that I’m not leaving this house until this girl is in safe hands. She’s been through a lot already, and I don’t want to traumatize her further by abandoning her.” Those last words nearly caught in her throat. She coughed to clear them. “I know this situation stinks and none of us realized how dangerous it was going to be, but none of this is her fault. She’s taken to me, and I have no plans to leave Rylan alone overnight with a child when he has no experience caring for one.”
Brooklyn had leaned into Amber, and she was rubbing the little girl’s back.
“What if that guy comes back? What if he brings others with him? We have no idea what we’re dealing with here.”
“All good points. I was thinking that maybe I could ask Rylan to stay over at the ranch tonight—”
“I’m not going where I’m not wanted.” Rylan appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, and she’d known he was listening.
“I just invited you,” she countered.
“You’re not the problem.” Rylan positioned his feet in an athletic stance and folded muscled arms over his broad chest.
“Then who is?” she asked.
“That’s between me and your brother. Trust me when I say that door is closed.” Rylan’s voice was steady, even. She wondered if it took much effort to come off that way. He and her brother had been close. It made no sense that they were still at odds.
“I can speak to my brother—”
“Like I already said, not an option. Can we just leave it at that?” Rylan’s granite features gave away nothing, and he was a bull when he wanted to be. “You didn’t leave when I told you to. I respect that. Now, you need to return the favor.”
He made a good point. One she knew better than to argue.
“It might not be safe to stay here, Rylan. Have you considered that?” Those words seemed to sink in as he nodded.
“What are we dealing with here?” he asked Zach.
“The worst-case scenario is an illegal baby adoption ring. These groups are high stakes, and there’s a lot on the line since they work outside the law. People who don’t want their name in the press or who can’t adopt a baby by legal means turn to folks like these.” Zach wasn’t trying to scare them. Amber knew that. He was putting his cards on the table. “There’s generally a lot of money at stake, and that tends to draw very good criminals to the business.”
“One of which I was able to stop because of the training you and my brothers gave me growing up,” Amber pointed out.
“Once they know who and what they’re dealing with, they’ll come back more prepared next time.” Zach’s jaw set.
“They aren’t the only ones,” she started to say, but her cousin interrupted with a hand in the surrender position.
“Granted, what you did a little while ago might’ve saved the baby’s life. Hell, I’m proud of you. The problem is that we don’t know who she belongs to. We haven’t established paternity, and technically have no rights to keep her.” Zach’s words hit harder than Amber had thought possible.
Being with Brooklyn was always going to be a temporary situation. So, why was Amber letting herself get so attached to the little bean?
She decided it was nothing more than protective instincts kicking in. Who wouldn’t want to ensure this kid was okay? And maybe there was something motherly inside Amber after all. She’d doubted it after losing her own child within hours of his birth. Pr
ior to getting pregnant, she’d never considered herself the marriage and kids type. But, hey, there was nothing wrong with being a fabulous aunt. Those were in short supply from what she’d heard.
And she loved the land, working on the ranch, being part of something bigger than just herself. She was helping build her family’s legacy. How would she leave all that behind? She’d become a mom and then what? Scale back her work? Feel exhausted all the time? Not this pony.
“Something’s off here. Doesn’t this sort of thing usually happen with newborns?” Amber asked.
“I agree with the first part of what you said. But, no, this is a problem for the first year, to year and a half. Generally, kids older than that are safe from these kinds of people because couples want babies.” Zach tucked his notebook inside his front shirt pocket and his eyes zeroed in on Amber. “If you insist on being here, I’ll put extra security on the block just in case.”
“Thank you, Zach.” That should deter the jerk from making a return trip.
“Trust me when I say you don’t want your brother finding out about this from someone other than the two of you,” Zach said.
“Honestly, this situation might right itself by morning. We’ll get Rylan’s test results back and go from there.” What were the chances he was the father anyway? They had to be slim, right? He couldn’t remember being with anyone during the time in question.
And, besides, she’d make the call to Will.
Enough time had passed. Whatever had happened between her brother and Rylan would surely have blown over by now. How bad could it have been?
Chapter Seven
Zach was gone. The baby was fed, washed and asleep. Amber had washed her own face and borrowed a toothbrush in order to brush her teeth. Thankfully, Rylan had an unopened spare. They’d dined on leftover pizza earlier, and the day’s events had left her beyond tired, considering days on the ranch started at four o’clock in the morning.
“Got any clothes I can change into?” she asked Rylan, who stood at the bathroom door holding Brooklyn.
It was probably just the day Brooklyn had had, but trying to put her down to sleep on a makeshift bed on the floor was totally out of the question. That little girl’s eyes had shot open the second there was no more human contact. At least she hadn’t been so disturbed that she couldn’t go back to sleep right away the minute she’d been picked up and cuddled.
Rylan had Brooklyn, and Amber was almost amused at how uncomfortable he looked. This was the first break from holding Brooklyn that Amber had had since meeting the little bean. Her arms burned and literally felt like they might fall off. Amber also tried to ignore how right it felt to spend the day with Brooklyn.
She was a good baby. That was the extent to which Amber would allow herself to examine her feelings. And it was most likely the marriage and family boom at the ranch that had her comfortable with a child in the first place. If this had been a few years ago… Amber stopped right there. This never would’ve been a thing.
The family cattle business had never been so successful, and her innovation with organics had heralded the ranch into the future and was a large part of the reason for the success.
Of course, she could admit to feeling like she was missing out on something lately. But that something couldn’t possibly be a baby. Amber had spent a long time convincing herself of that. Even so, being with Brooklyn fulfilled a need Amber didn’t realize she had. It was probably just the growing Kent brood that had her questioning her stance on no longer wanting children of her own. Besides, she’d never survive that heartache again if something went wrong.
“I can take her back once I’m settled,” she said as he stood there looking at the two of them.
An emotion passed behind Rylan’s dark eyes that under different circumstances she’d recognize as desire. But that was probably just her mind playing tricks on her, seeing what it wanted to see. Rylan had never seen her as more than a little pain in the rear who’d followed him and Will around like a lost puppy. Okay, the lost puppy bit was probably being dramatic.
“Follow me,” he finally said. She did and tried not to notice how cute his backside was. It was, no doubt about it, but that wasn’t what she liked about Rylan.
Her high school crush had that mysterious troubled quality. He was a bad boy who was good deep down. Seriously hot. Wasn’t that what every girl wanted? Finding a good bad boy was like owning a sweet horse that ran fast. Or meeting a unicorn.
Amber pushed those unproductive thoughts aside when she nearly bumped into said cute backside when Rylan abruptly stopped in front of her. It was probably her overwrought emotions that had her thinking about such silly things, like high school crushes.
First and foremost, she and Rylan had been friends. He’d been two years ahead of her in school.
And as long as she was admitting things to herself, she’d go ahead and say that he was a good guy. Sure, he’d started down a bad path but going into the military seemed to straighten him out.
A lesser man would’ve pushed this baby on the first person he could. He would’ve insisted Zach take her or allowed Child Protective Services to whisk the little girl away with a random family. No matter what Rylan said or thought of himself, he was a decent person.
“There are boxers in that drawer and T-shirts in the one below it.” He motioned toward the dresser. She had to remind herself to breathe for seeing that baby sleeping so comfortably on his shoulder. A lightning bolt struck, like she needed to be more attracted to the man. What was it about a tough guy who could be so tender when handling something so vulnerable? A man like that was far more tempting than ice cream. And Amber liked ice cream.
Rylan walked to the door. He stopped at the threshold and hesitated for just a few seconds. Heat flushed through Amber, warming her in places she didn’t want to think about with the baby in the room. With a sharp breath he left the room and closed the door behind him.
By the time Amber changed and walked into the living room, Rylan was studying his phone. He didn’t look up, but he nodded toward the couch.
“You sure you don’t want to sleep in the other room?” he asked.
“Definitely.” She didn’t want to sleep in sheets that had his masculine outdoorsy and campfire scent. She was no idiot. She wasn’t doing that to herself on purpose. It was silly that she felt this strong of an attraction to Rylan after all these years. And embarrassing. Especially since he clearly still saw her as a friend. Even if he didn’t, what would that mean? The two of them would never make it in the long run. They were about as opposite as two people could be. She loved the stability of the ranch and having family around, while staying in one place seemed to suffocate Rylan once he’d turned eighteen. As soon as he fixed up the Parker place, he’d get the itch to move on. Amber had no plans to get remarried. She’d shut that possibility off years ago when she’d married at eighteen, gotten pregnant almost immediately and lost both husband and child in less than six months. She’d begun her adult life as a divorcée, and that wasn’t exactly a title she’d wanted to keep on her résumé.
She’d been young and infatuated. Amber had never been the type to sit around and dream about her wedding day. If she did get married again and, honestly, she couldn’t see that as a possibility, then she’d go down to the courthouse and not make a big to-do over it.
Thinking back, her marriage had been the unhappiest time in her life. Before that, she’d felt free and full of possibilities. When she was little, her brothers used to tease her that she and Amy were like wild horses. Amber especially because she used to sneak into the barn and open the pens to let out the stock. Pop used to round them up and put them back in the stable. Amber would get in a whole mess of trouble, but she’d argue right back. When she was right, she was determined. When she thought she was right, she was unstoppable. She could hear her argument, her words to her father now. Wild horses had to be broken in order to
be tamed. Not loved, broken. She couldn’t think of a worse fate.
Being married had felt a lot like being shoved into a pen. Amber had accepted the proposal on impulse. The pregnancy came six weeks later, and she’d already realized being married wasn’t for her. She’d kept quiet for the pregnancy’s sake, figuring it was meant to be. That was the last time she second-guessed her instincts. They rarely failed her.
Amy and Isaac, from ranch security, had been on and off for the past couple of years. They were doing a terrible job of keeping their relationship a secret. Apparently, they were on again. What did it say about Amber that she was the Lone Ranger now?
There was a makeshift bed on the sofa. Rylan had pulled the back cushions off the couch and placed a rolled up blanket to soften the edge.
“You’ll wear a hole in that carpet if you don’t stop.” Amber watched Rylan take another lap around the room.
“I was afraid if I stopped she’d wake up and cry again. I didn’t want you up all night because of my rookie mistake,” Rylan said.
“You want me to take her now?” Amber held out her arms because one look in his desperate eyes gave her the answer. “Looks like you’ve finally met your match, Rylan Anderson.”
He gave her a resigned look.
“What do you need?” Relief brightened his stressed-out features when he handed over the baby successfully.
“Nothing I can think of. We’ll be good.” She lowered her voice to church-quiet as she balanced the baby and positioned herself in a somewhat comfortable position on the sofa. “Other than maybe the lights.”
Rylan shut off all lights but one, a side table lamp with a soft glow.
“You going to sleep?” Amber bit back a yawn.
“Doubt if I can.” He settled into a side chair.
“Deputy Perry is parked out front. Zach will most likely patrol the area all night. It’s probably never been safer to grab some sleep. But if it would make you feel better, we could go in shifts.” Her cousin wouldn’t risk anything happening to her. He’d always been protective just like her brothers. Things had gotten even more tense with the crimes that had seemed to follow the Jacobstown Hacker and that first heifer discovery weeks ago.
