Her Forever Cowboy (Harland County Series Book 4)

by Donna Michaels

  Kade swallowed and nodded. “No response.”

  Muttering a curse, he willed the pounding in his head to cease until he realized his pulse was thundering, making the racket. “That son-of-a-bitch is in town.”

  “You don’t know for sure,” Cole tried to reassure, but his gaze was full of the apprehension prickling Kevin’s spine.

  “He’s here. And Shayla’s in danger.” Because of him. Dammit. “I shouldn’t have been such an idiot. She would’ve been here if I hadn’t—”

  “Cut it. You have no control over her dad,” Kade barked. “Thoughts like that will not help you right now.”

  Connor stepped close. “What will?”

  “Yeah, name it,” Cole stated.

  “I need you both to stay here and guard Amelia. At the first sign of trouble get her out of here.”

  “What about everyone else?” Connor asked.

  “I’m going to take care of that now,” Kade said and rushed to his guard buddies working near the old stable.

  Through all of it, Kevin kept texting. No response.

  Once again, he screwed up. Let someone he loved down. But dammit, Shayla was not going to die as a result. He couldn’t stand…air funneled into his lungs as he inhaled deep.

  “It’ll be all right, buddy. Jordan and Kade know what they’re doing,” his friend reassured, and Kevin marveled at how calm Cole was considered his wife might have to put herself in harm’s way in order to help Shayla.

  He had a new appreciation for the hell Brandi and Cole went through whenever their significant other was on duty, or the phone rang, or a siren went off.

  Growing impatient by the second, Kevin watched his cousin, willing him to hurry the hell up so they could leave. He needed to get to Shayla. To find her. Make sure she was safe.

  The designer walked out of the stable, brow creasing as she headed for the workers gathered around Kade. Kevin noted how the crowd broke apart and his cousin stepped to Brandi and said something before opening his arms and holding the frightened woman tight.

  That’s all he wanted to do. He just wanted to hold Shayla. Wanted another chance. Please God let her be safe…

  Kevin’s insides were already so knotted it was a miracle he wasn’t stooped over. He needed to go. Time was wasting. He had to find Shayla. Help her. His stomach pitched. If anything happened to her… Grimacing, he sucked in a mouthful of air and fought off the bout of nausea.

  Kade approached at a fast clip with Brandi following with equal speed. She stopped to stand with the McCalls, face pale and worried. Cole draped an arm around her and gave Kevin a reassuring nod.

  “Ready, Kev?” his cousin asked.

  “Yes.” He fell into step. “I was just about to leave without you.”

  Kade stopped and turned to face him. “If you’re going to go off half-cocked then stay here. You’ll do Shayla more harm than good.” Two hands clamped on Kevin’s shoulders as a set of steel gray eyes held his gaze. “What’s it going to be?”

  “Let’s go.”

  “My vehicle,” Kade stated, motioning to his SUV.

  Muttering a curse, he turned and rushed around to the passenger side then climbed in. “This isn’t the time to play who’s the better driver.”

  “It’s not that,” his cousin stated, starting the car, nodding toward the glove compartment. “My gun’s not in your truck.”

  Kevin’s already nauseous stomach lurched at the thought of guns involved anywhere near Shayla.

  Kade glanced at him before racing down the drive. “How you holding up?”

  “I’m good,” he lied through his teeth, willing the five mile drive to be over in ten seconds.

  His cousin nodded, then reached into his pocket to pull out his ringing phone. “What’d you find?”

  Breathing through a tight chest, while not impossible, wasn’t easy. Kevin found if he took short breathes the tightness loosened a little. And the ringing in his ears subsided enough for him to hear the rest of his cousin’s conversation.

  “Wait for me. Okay.” Kade ended the call and glanced at him again. “That was Jordan. Shayla wasn’t home.”

  “And?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Look, I might be freaking out over the fact the woman I love is in harm’s way, but I’m not stupid, Kade. Your tone dropped several octaves and your grip is a lot whiter on the wheel.”

  His cousin studied him a second, then nodded. “The apartment was ransacked.”

  The son-of-a-bitch does have her.

  Chapter Twenty

  It was taking all of Shayla’s control to keep from running. She knew that would not help. Her priorities were clear. Keep everyone safe. Her daughter, her sister, friends, strangers, everyone. She eyed her father. He’d lost weight since their last encounter a year ago. Actually, he hadn’t looked too good then either. But he was worse now. Gaunt features, sunken eyes. Hard living had caught up to him. Or karma. But probably cancer. He’d always been a chain-smoker. Yeah, he would be easy to outrun. As long as he wasn’t packin. But the brick wall with legs, striped suit, dark glasses? Paid muscle. She did not need to be body-checked by that guy.

  Instead of panicking, Shayla was going to do this smart. Amelia was safe. From what she could tell by her father’s chatter the past ten minutes as they sat at an outdoor table at The Creamery and ate ice cream as if everything was normal, he had no clue where Caitlin was either. Two huge weights off her shoulders. If it was just herself she needed to worry about, this was a no-brainer.

  There were several people at the window ordering ice cream, three tables were taken, plus theirs, leaving two empty as well as several benches. A few families sat on blankets under the trees at the small park to her right and the boardwalk behind her was busy with foot traffic from people enjoying the warm spring morning.

  For now, her father was playing nice, throwing the bull, trying to blend in and not draw attention to himself, but what he didn’t realize was the brick wall in a suit with dark glasses stood out like a sore thumb. Several people were giving their table some strange looks.

  God, she hoped someone dialed 911.

  The owner’s niece, Holly, kept glancing her way as she waited on customers, but with the two men constantly watching Shayla’s every move, she had yet to signal for help. She was also trying to figure how to get her hand on her phone in her jeans without Lyle or the Wall noticing. It was on silent, but kept vibrating. In her heart, she knew it was Kevin. Oh, how she wished she was with him now. She wanted so bad to answer, but knew her phone would end up in the trash if it saw daylight. Hopefully, whoever it was figured out something was wrong and called Kade. And Caitlin. And would alert Jen to keep Amelia safe.

  “That was some dancing you did with that cowboy for charity, Shannon. It made the news,” her father said between spoonfuls of ice cream. “Shame you couldn’t do that for a living.”

  “Go to hell.”

  From her right, a large hand clamped around her wrist and squeezed. “Show your father some respect,” The Wall threatened.

  The longer she remained silent, the harder he squeezed. Pain shot out in all directions, but she clenched her jaw and refused to give either of them the satisfaction of crying out.

  “I’d do what Bruno says, or he’s liable to snap your arm like a twig,” her father warned between mouthfuls.

  “Hi, Shayla. How is everything?” Holly asked, stopping at the table, polite expression on her face.

  Bruno immediately released her wrist, and she casually dropped her hands to her lap. The pain lessened to a dull throbbing, enough for her to fish out her phone and redial the last caller. She hoped. With luck, whoever it had been would hear the conversation and call the sheriff.

  “Everything is fine, thanks,” she finally replied, bringing her hands back up to the table.

  “I noticed you haven’t touched much of your ice cream. Was there something wrong with it?”

  She shook her head. “No. Just busy talking,” she said,
noticing the woman glance at her red wrist. The one she usually ate with, that was starting to really throb. Using her left hand, she grabbed the spoon and managed to get some ice cream in her mouth without dripping any. “Mmm…delicious as always.”

  Holly smiled, then bounced her gaze between the men. “How about you gentlemen, is everything all right?”

  “Yes, very good. Thank you,” her father replied, cordial smile on his face, the one right before he did something awful.

  “All right, well if there’s anything else I can get for you, just let me know,” Holly said before walking back inside the building.

  Shayla released a silent sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted was to bring Holly into the mess. She had no doubt, if it had been less crowded, that’s exactly what would’ve happened.

  “Glad to see you play that smart, Shannon.” Lyle nodded. “I would hate to see anyone get hurt because of you.”

  Relief flooded her body when she saw the woman dialing a phone. She had no idea of knowing if her redial attempt had worked. This way, she just doubled the odds of finding help. Now she just needed to keep the men from noticing, and pray Holly had dialed the sheriff.

  “Look, Lyle,” she said, pushing her barely touched, triple chocolate delight out of the way with her left hand. “Let’s cut the crap. Why are you here?”

  “What? Can’t a father see his daughter and granddaughter?”

  “Sure, but you’re no father.”

  He held a hand over his heart and grimaced. “Oh, you wound me.”

  She’d liked to wound him. Up over the head with a chair, grab her baby girl and her sister and never look back. Her heart lurched at the image of a certain blue-eyed cowboy. She couldn’t leave him.

  “What do you want?”

  “What I always want, money.”

  “Then get a job like everyone else.”

  She didn’t see the backhand coming, but she felt it, teeth rattling from the forceful blow to the side of her face. A hot stinging spread out above her left eye, from his stupid gold pinky ring, no doubt.

  Bastard.

  He pushed a napkin in her hand. “Take care of that. Can’t have you bleeding and drawing attention to yourself.”

  Yeah, because hitting her in public certainly hadn’t.

  Shayla dabbed at her eye, telling herself to hang in there a few more minutes. The sheriff was coming. Someone was coming. She could feel it.

  “I don’t have money.”

  “Sure you do,” he replied, pointing his spoon at her. “You’ve been holding out on me.”

  “The death benefit is paying for my sister’s college and eventually for my daughter’s, too.”

  A sly smile slicked across his mouth. “Oh, I’m not talking about that, honey. That’s nothing. Why settle for a tomato when you can have the whole vine.”

  Her heart slammed in her throat. “What are you talking about?”

  But she knew. She knew by the devious glint in his eyes.

  “Your billionaire boyfriend, of course.”

  She forced her features to remain calm and her voice to remain cool. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  Which was sort of true. After yesterday, she wasn’t sure. She just hoped, after today, she had the chance to find out.

  “Don’t lie to me,” he hissed. “You’re no better than your bitch of a mother.”

  Before her mind had the chance to tell her it was a bad idea, Shayla hauled off and kicked him square in the shin. He cried out, and several people glanced in their direction. The Wall grabbed her sore arm again, and this time she couldn’t stop the painful gasp from escaping her throat.

  Things were getting out of hand. Her family might not directly be in harm’s way, but she still didn’t want to see anyone else get hurt. Lyle knew this, the bastard, and would definitely use one of the innocent people of Harland County as leverage to make her do what he wanted. That’s why he’d chosen this spot.

  “Now, behave and we might return you to your boyfriend in one piece,” her father threatened, bending down to rub his leg. “After he pays a hefty sum, of course.”

  Shayla wrenched her arm free and shook her head, disgust souring her stomach. “Was I adopted?”

  It made no sense. The man had no heart. How could they be related?

  His gaze hardened to a cold, hard stare and she shivered despite the hot sun beating down.

  “Not exactly,” he said, lips twisting into an ugly expression. “You’re the product of an affair your slut mother had with my cousin when I was away on business.”

  “What?”

  Shock rang down her body in uncontrollable waves. Lyle wasn’t her father?

  “You heard me. You’re not my daughter, but I raised you, so you’ll show me some respect or you will end up like your parents. Dead.”

  Between her stinging head and throbbing arm, she had trouble trying to comprehend the bomb Lyle just dropped. The bastard wasn’t really her dad. It was starting to make sense. All the beatings and snide comments. The stark hatred she’d seen in his eyes when he looked at her. Yeah, it made a lot of sense.

  Going on the assumption she’d actually redialed someone and they were listening, Shayla decided to play the hand Lyle just dealt. “You killed your own cousin?”

  The sly smile returned. “He got what was coming to him, and now I want mine. What do you say we give your boyfriend, Kevin Dalton a call?”

  “No.”

  Despite her efforts to move her hand out of the way, Bruno caught it, pulling it under the table so others couldn’t see and squeezed.

  “He’s not…my…boyfriend,” she said between clenched teeth. “We…had a…fight.”

  No way in hell was she getting him involved, risking his life. No way. Bruno could break all her fingers, she wasn’t going to do it.

  “You stupid bitch. Fix it.” Her father pushed his phone at her. “Now.”

  “No.”

  The pain was so bad her whole arm was going numb. Her mind registered stark concern on Holly’s face and Shayla hoped the woman didn’t act on it.

  “I’d die before…calling him…for you.”

  The throbbing stole her breath and she struggled for air.

  “Call him!”

  Lyle was an idiot, and she longed to tell him, that thanks to Bruno, she couldn’t yell or scream, let alone talk on a damn phone.

  Fighting to remain conscious, she picked up the phone with her left hand, and right in front of the jerk, she dialed 911. He cursed and tried to grab it. Surely, out of her three attempts to call for help, one of them worked.

  Then things got a little fuzzy. She saw a flash of movement behind The Wall, then heard Jordan’s voice.

  “No need to get up,” the deputy said, a second before Bruno’s head connected with the table.

  Three times.

  His hold slackened, and Shayla fought the pain-induced dizziness to scramble to her feet, cradling her throbbing arm.

  A second later, Lyle rounded the table, fury adding color to his gaunt face. “You bitch!”

  He raised his hand and Shayla braced for the blow she knew all too well.

  It never came.

  A hand caught the wrist, quickly twisted it behind Lyle’s back and slammed him into the table across from Bruno. “You ever lay a hand on her again, and I swear I’ll kill you,” a familiar voice boomed, rough and full of so much venom even she flinched.

  Kevin?

  Shayla blinked, her fuzzy gaze clearing enough to see the man she loved handing Lyle off to Kade. When had they gotten there? She stumbled and would’ve fallen but for two strong arms coming around her. Soon, she was cradled against a warm, hard chest.

  “It’s okay, now, darlin’. I’ve got you. I’ve got you,” Kevin repeated, kissing her head.

  “Amelia? Caitlin?”

  “Both safe and sound,” he reassured, stroking her hair, his heart pounding a steady beat in her ear. “He won’t hurt you again.”

  And because Shayla k
new this to be true, and she was where she longed to be most in the whole world, she drew in a shuddering breath, burrowed into him and let go of her control.

  A flurry of activity went on around her, but she closed her eyes and clung to Kevin. Completely drained and in pain, she let him take over. He sat down on the bench with her on his lap and held her tight.

  Only he mattered. He was there.

  After a few minutes, she recovered enough to draw back and manage a smile. “You came for me. H-how d-did…?”

  A wide, proud smile claimed his face. “You called me.”

  Tears of relief filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “It worked. I wasn’t even sure what I was hitting.”

  “God, Shayla, I’m so sorry,” he said, voice raw with emotion. “I should never have let you go yesterday. I love you. I was just scared. I’ve been burned before, and I guess my inner safety mechanism kicked in. Please forgive me for being such an idiot.”

  Throat too hot and swollen to speak, she nodded as a lone tear spilled down her face. He caught it with his thumb and brushed her cheek.

  “I won’t ever let anyone hurt you again.” He leaned in to kiss her forehead, gently moving hair away from her stinging temple. His tone matched his gaze, full of fire and conviction. “I swear it.”

  “I love you, Kevin,” she choked out, heart bursting at the seams, full of love and hope and happiness.

  No more running. Or hiding. Or living in fear.

  Lyle was done.

  She was free to let herself care. Free to let herself feel. Free to let herself love. And she did. A gorgeous, fun-loving, kind-hearted man.

  “I love you, too. So damn much.” He pulled her close again, careful of her injuries, cradling her face against his chest as if she was the most precious thing in the world. He was to her. Kevin Dalton was her world. She held tight, the thundering of his heart a soothing sound she heard clear to her soul. It sounded like home.

  No more running or longing. She finally found it.

  Found home.

  Home was her forever cowboy.

  Epilogue

  “We set a date.”

  Brandi’s face was radiant as she made the announcement with Kade at Jordan’s celebratory party for winning the Harland County Sheriff election.