by Leigh Duncan
There were other photographs—younger versions of the rancher with friends or cousins. One of Ty with a man in uniform. Sarah smiled at the silly grins both men wore as they mugged for the camera, their arms draped about each other’s shoulders.
She scanned the hall, but there were no pictures of Millie. Would Ty dig some out once the paternity tests proved he was Jimmy’s dad? The single, crumpled photo in the boy’s backpack was the only picture he had of his mom. He deserved so much more. Determined to get it for him, Sarah squared her shoulders.
At the end of the hall, she gaped at a kitchen where stainless steel counters and sinks provided enough prep space for a small army of cooks. An enormous stove—the largest she’d ever seen—dominated the far end of the room and she blinked, wondering how one would brew a cup of tea on such a monstrosity. Wanting to help out, she aimed a friendly smile toward the plump, matronly looking woman who was busy taking dishes from one of two Sub-Zeros and stacking them into coolers.
“Hi,” she called from the safety of the doorway. “You must be Doris. Ty—um—Mr. Parker, said you’d be here. I’m Sarah. Can I help you with anything?”
Two pies balanced in her age-spotted hands, Doris slowly straightened. The woman’s eyes swept Sarah with a sharp, appraising look.
“Ty mentioned you. And that little boy. Millie’s son.”
“Ty’s son,” Sarah corrected. They’d agreed to keep the news from Jimmy until the test results came back, but she knew Ty had confided in Doris and her husband, Seth, the foreman.
The older woman flipped a long white braid over one shoulder. “That remains to be seen, doesn’t it?”
“From all the pictures—” she gestured over her shoulder “—I’d say there wasn’t much doubt. Jimmy looks just like Ty did when he was a boy.”
“Huh.” Doris’s mouth twisted. “That Millie was a piece of work. Always pushin’ Ty to move into town. Take a real job. Like running the Circle P wasn’t good enough for her. She never did make a lick of sense. But to run off without telling anyone she was pregnant…”
Sensing the opportunity to learn more about Jimmy’s mother, Sarah edged close enough to lean against a counter. “So, six years ago, no one even guessed?”
“Has it been that long?” Doris lowered the two pecan pies into the waiting cooler before answering her own question with a nod. “That sounds about right. She split the same day we got the news about the Dalton boy, so I reckon it was.” Her hands rested atop one of the steel tables. “That was a bad day,” she whispered. “A very bad day.”
“An accident?”
Doris shook herself. Her head tipped until she looked Sarah square in the face.
“Nah, J.D. was in the army. He hadn’t been in Afghanistan but a few days when he lost his life to a roadside bomb.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Sarah stopped, thinking about the young soldier in the photograph. “Is that his picture in the hallway?”
Another nod. “His family didn’t come from nothin’ so he mostly grew up here on the ranch, alongside Ty.” A faint smile played on Doris’s lips. “Them two was thick as thieves. More like brothers than friends. J.D., he even listed Ty as his next of kin.” She shook her head, the sound of her deep sighs filling the kitchen. “The day that black sedan pulled up out front and those two uniformed officers stepped out, that was a rough one. By nightfall, Millie, she’d run off, too.”
Sarah sucked in a breath. Ty had certainly suffered more than his share of loss in his thirty-two years. To lose his best friend and his wife on the same day, well…no wonder the man felt bitter. She raised her head, suddenly aware that Doris had continued talking.
“By then, things had been bad between Ty and Millie for a while. Everybody knew it was just a matter of time before she split.” Doris folded her arms across her chest. Her voice took on a defensive tone. “I don’t care if she is dead, I’ll never forgive that child for running off the way she did. She should have at least seen Ty through J.D.’s funeral.”
Sarah closed her eyes, trying to imagine herself in Millie’s situation. Pregnant and trapped in a marriage that wasn’t working. The house in an uproar over the news about J.D. It seemed coldhearted, mean even, for Millie to choose that particular day to leave, but it certainly wasn’t the oddest tale she’d heard in seven years with the DCF. As a social worker, all too often she saw the worst side of people. Mothers who hit their children. Husbands who abused their wives. Foster parents who exploited the system and the innocent lives entrusted to them.
“I guess we’ll never know why she did what she did, but at least Millie kept the baby. She did her best to create a home for Jimmy. And now Ty has the chance to do the same thing. What do you think—is he good father material?”
Sarah fought the urge to squirm beneath Doris’s laser-sharp stare.
“If Jimmy’s his, Ty’ll do right by his child.” She closed the lid on the cooler, hefted it into her arms and headed for the door. Her parting shot drifted over one shoulder. “If not…my guess is he’ll be your problem.”
Sarah ground her back teeth. Though the thought of leaving the little five-year-old in The Glades made her sick to her stomach, the alternative wasn’t much better. Even if Jimmy started out with good foster parents, the situation wouldn’t last—it never did. By the time he aged out of the system at eighteen, he’d have spent time in half a dozen homes. Maybe more.
The kid deserved better. Every child did. They deserved to grow up in stable environments. In homes with people who loved them. She had tried without much success to make that happen for the kids under her care in the DCF. But she’d sworn to make a difference one life at a time. Right now, she had the opportunity to do that with Jimmy. If things didn’t work out with Ty, she’d find somebody to love the little boy who’d lost his mother and might never find his father.
Somebody like her?
She flicked a stray crumb from the countertop. There was bending the rules, and then there was breaking them outright. Getting approval to keep Jimmy, raise him as her own, yeah, that would do more than break the rules. It would smash them to bits. And it was never going to happen. Not as long as she worked for the DCF.
She paused, a fresh understanding of just how broken the system was washing over her. She’d gone into social work vowing to make some changes. So far, the only thing changing was her…and she didn’t like having to harden her heart because there were too many kids and too few good parents. Every time well-intentioned people like Ty and his fraternity brothers gushed about new plans but gave up when the first thing went wrong, she lost a little more faith.
She took a breath. There was no use fretting needlessly. The photos in the hallway had shown exactly what she’d expected—Jimmy was the spitting image of Ty as a child. The blood tests would prove he was Jimmy’s father. Of that, she had no doubt.
Emerging from the ranch house minutes later, Sarah spied Ty’s long, lean form striding swiftly across the crowded yard. The man moved with an easy grace, his loping gait sensuous and at the same time purposeful. Sarah swallowed and wrenched her gaze away, sweeping the busy yard where horses and people milled about before her focus circled back to Ty. This time, she studied the empty spot at his side. Her boots were in motion almost before her mind registered the child missing from the picture.
Trying to mask her fear, she waited until she reached the rancher before she demanded, “Where’s Jimmy?”
Ty looked down at his feet as if he expected the ch
ild to materialize there.
“Where is he?” she repeated. “I left him with you for fifteen minutes. You were supposed to watch him.”
“Relax. He’s fine.”
The easy drawl made it sound as if the man didn’t have a care in the world, but he couldn’t hide the flicker of unease in his eyes. Ty wasn’t as certain as he sounded.
“Yeah, well, where is he?”
“He’s in the barn. He wanted to spend more time with Ocita and her colt.”
“You left him alone? With horses?” Sarah hated the way her voice shrilled, but seriously, the man was clueless. And she’d been just as dumb, trusting him to take care of a child. She brushed past him and raced for the barn, the sound of the rancher’s heavier footsteps close on her heels.
Chapter Four
Ty stared at the patch of bare floor where he’d left Jimmy five, maybe ten, minutes earlier. A sinking feeling in his stomach descended so low his toes threatened to curl.
Where was the kid?
He hadn’t intended to let the boy out of his sight, had kept one eye on the child while he replaced the saddle on Sad Sack. Then…then, one of the businessmen had asked for his help. And someone else after that.
His head pounded as he brushed past Sarah. Reaching Ocita’s stall, Ty grabbed the rough wood of the first slat hard enough to feel splinters gouge his palms. He threw a look over the Dutch door. At the far wall, Niceta nursed while his mother calmly munched strands from the hay bin. She stopped chewing long enough to glance his way, her expression practically demanding an explanation for the rude interruption. Ty ignored her as he probed every inch of the stall.
No child lay on the hay-strewn floor. No small figure huddled in a corner.
Relief whispered through him. It lasted just long enough for him to draw a breath before dread sent icy tentacles down his spine. There were a million ways for a little boy to get hurt on a ranch like the Circle P. Had the kid moved farther into the barn? Climbed into the hayloft? He scanned the wide aisle where doors opened onto twenty empty stalls. No matter how hard he stared, the only motion came from the dust motes glinting in the occasional shaft of sunlight.
“Where is he?”
The voice at his elbow rose perilously. He spared Sarah a quick look. Fear and anger rose off the redhead like smoke from a campfire on a windy day. A sudden desire to take her in his arms and murmur reassuring words swept over him. He shoved the impulse aside. Chances were, she wouldn’t appreciate the effort. Not if the sparks in her hazel eyes were any indication.
Thick with accusation, her voice filled the space between them. “What kind of father loses track of his son?”
“I told you, he’s not mine.” The sharp retort rolled off his tongue before Ty had a chance to marshal enough defenses to hide his own fear.
Sarah reeled as if stunned. “And that means you won’t take care of him?” A vigorous shake of her head sent loose curls flying. “I should never have brought him here. Connie was right. I should have put him in The Glades.”
“That’s no place for a child.” Steel bands wrapped around Ty’s chest at the thought of such a little tyke having to hold his own against much bigger boys.
“It might not be the best place for him, but at least he’d be safe.”
“He’s safe here. You’ll see. He’s around here…somewhere.” Ty feigned indifference to cover his own concern. Truth was, he was more aware of the potential dangers on the ranch than Sarah could ever be. But losing his cool wouldn’t help find the boy and, right now, that was the only thing that mattered.
“Jimmy!” He recalled his dad’s no-nonsense tone and mustered a similar one. “Jimmy, where are you?”
“Mister Ty?”
Ty whipped his head in the direction of the yard. Ranch hands and guests mingled just beyond the barn door. Matt Henson and John Padgett walked their horses in circles around their friends. Beyond them, the Garrisons were helping Kelly adjust the stirrups on her new saddle. One of the hands led a horse past the door, blocking Ty’s view of the controlled chaos. His fingers clenched. The chances of an accident rose out there where no one would be watching for a mere wisp of a child.
Five of the longest strides he’d ever taken took him to the barn entrance while the bands around his chest tightened until breathing took real effort. He swept the yard with his gaze, his attention zeroing in on a flash of red.
Jimmy’s shirt.
The boy, completely safe and apparently unconcerned about the fuss he’d raised, waved from the open front seat of the chuck wagon.
Ty blinked and looked again, needing to be sure his eyes hadn’t deceived him. They hadn’t.
“See. I told ya everything’d be okay.” He glanced down expecting to see his own relief mirrored in Sarah’s face. It wasn’t, and he braced for her anger.
She spoke through thin lips. “This isn’t working. You weren’t supposed to let him out of your sight.”
“Funny. I must have missed that in the instruction manual.” Ty patted his pockets as if he was looking for something. “Oh, that’s right. I don’t have one. Maybe you should be a little more specific next time you leave him with me.”
Sarah’s hand found purchase on one slim hip. “Maybe it’d be better for all of us if I took Jimmy back to Fort Pierce. I could probably salvage a few days of my vacation if I tried hard enough.”
“You’d do that? Break this kid’s heart after you promised he could go on a cattle drive? That’s cold, even for a social worker.”
The smoke he’d seen rising off her ignited a fire in Sarah’s eyes. Whatever. He’d deal with her later. For the moment, he had a more immediate problem. He headed for the five-year-old, determined to impress him with the need for following orders.
“Jimmy, what the— I thought I told you to stay put in the barn. What are you doing out here?”
The boy’s wide grin faded. His bottom lip trembled. “I—I…” Jimmy’s gaze slid from Ty to the woman at his side.
Sarah’s fingers dug into his forearm, and Ty skidded to a halt.
“Don’t you dare use that tone with him,” she hissed.
Ty got rid of the angry burn, but kept his feet in motion until Seth stepped into his path.
“My fault, boss. I was watchin’ him like you said. Didn’t mean to cause no trouble.”
“Say, what?” Ty hauled up on his hustle, confused by an expression he’d never seen before on his ranch foreman’s face.
“Jimmy. The kid.”
Seth was clearly trying to convey some secret. What it was, Ty didn’t have a clue, but, deciding to play along, he kept his mouth shut.
“You said I should watch out for him while you dealt with Sad Sack’s saddle. I knew you’d be right back, but then Elliot asked about his horse. I just thought Jimmy and me could wait here at the chuck wagon till Doris was ready.” He glanced toward the rear of the vehicle where his wife and several ranch hands loaded the last of the supplies and the final two ice chests. “Looks like she’s about done.”
Ty was willing to bet that however Jimmy had wound up on the buckboard, it didn’t have anything to do with Seth. His gaze shifted to the little boy who stared up at him.
“Mr. Ty, did I do something wrong? Are you gonna make me go back?”
Beside him, Ty heard Sarah gasp. Deliberately, he stepped in front of her.
“Back where, little man?”
“Back to Miss Candy.” Jimmy’s big brown eyes fille
d with worry far beyond his years. “I don’t think she wants me.”
Damn it, Millie.
Ty blew out a heavy breath of his own. No sense blaming the dead. He’d probably never know why his ex-wife had named him as this boy’s father, but until they found his real dad, it was up to him to fill the breach. To make this kid feel wanted and loved.
“I was just a mite concerned when I couldn’t find you, Jimmy, that’s all. I’m not sending you anywhere. As long as Miss Sarah here’s okay with it, I think we ought to hit the trail. What do you say, Miss Sarah?”
The angry look faded from the petite redhead’s face as her focus shifted away from Ty and landed on the boy. Indecision played across her features for long seconds while Ty held his breath and waited. The list of people who had let this kid down was already too long. Would she add to it?
“Let’s ride,” she said at last. Her lips curved briefly into a warm smile.
Ty caught the look she’d intended for the little boy. As Sarah’s features settled back into their normal expression, he realized he’d never really seen her let her guard down. Not completely. Not that she frowned all the time. Her usual expression was just a little bit… He searched for the right word. Stern. She usually looked stern. He wondered how her face would transform if she ever relaxed long enough to enjoy herself.
He rubbed one hand over his chest, glad to feel a slight lessening of the pressure he’d been carrying since he’d caught a glimpse of Sarah as she marched into the house. Her fuming retreat should have irritated him. It probably would have, if she hadn’t made wading through deep sand look so sexy.
He let his gaze drift further south. The woman had hidden some serious curves beneath those awful, loose suits he’d dubbed her work uniform. She certainly filled out a pair of jeans better than he’d anticipated. Yes, the sleeveless top exposed too much skin to the sun and the bugs, but he couldn’t help but admire her slim arms. As for the way the soft fabric molded her breasts, well…
