“I’ll miss you, too.” Mira pulled back, her own eyes rimmed with tears. After a couple weeks of staying low key after her surgery, she was starting to get mobile, which Taylor knew was her signal that it was time to leave. “I don’t understand why you’re taking this job. You don’t want to do it. I can tell. You’re even missing my wedding for it.”
“I know, but it’s not your real wedding.” When Mira’s eyes widened, Taylor rolled her eyes. “Of course I know you secretly got married in the hospital. Why else would you be willing to move your wedding out for a couple months until you’re fully recovered and all Chase’s brothers can come? I know you too well, my friend, so don’t even bother denying it.”
Mira gave her a sheepish smile. “You’re not mad I didn’t tell you? I was worried that you’d feel I didn’t love you if you knew I’d gotten married without you. I know that it’s been hard for you, adjusting to sharing me.”
“I’m fine with it.” Taylor smiled through her tears. “I’ve finally learned that life and friendship are so much more complicated than things like that. I know you wanted to be married before John was born, and I get it. It’s okay.” She took a deep breath. “But, despite the fact that I would love to hang around and see you in your lacy white dress, I need to take this job, at least for a little while.”
Mira bit her lip. “You’re sure?”
“Yes.” She was proud of how certain she sounded. She’d thought so much over the last two weeks about staying in Wyoming and trying to find a teaching job. She’d dreamed about it. She’d fantasized about it. She’d even driven by a few schools just to see how she felt, but she’d felt like she was just trying to use teaching to fill the gap left by Zane. She had to heal herself first, and then see where she wanted to be. Staying around for another few weeks with Zane and the baby was just too hard. In addition, with all the Stockton brothers descending upon the ranch for the upcoming wedding, it just wasn’t where she could be right now. “I’m not ready to make a career change. I want to see this job through.”
Mira wrinkled her nose. “Okay, but you have to stop by here regularly, okay? Sell your house and buy one here, so at least this becomes your home base.”
Taylor smiled through her tears. “Maybe.”
Erin walked up and wrapped her arms around both of them. The genuineness of her hug made Taylor feel even more desolate. She’d gotten close with Erin quickly, and she felt the real loss of leaving town just as the friendship had begun to solidify.
“I feel like I just got a new friend,” Erin said, “And I have to lose you before we’ve even had a chance to cause enough trouble together.”
Taylor laughed and hugged Erin. “I was so scared of you when I first got here. I thought there was no room for me with you and Mira.”
Erin’s eyebrows went up. “And now?”
“And now I know you’re cool. The second sister I never had.”
“Because I’m the first sister,” Mira declared, tucking her arm through Taylor’s. “You know, Erin, if we delay Taylor for another ten minutes, she might miss her flight. Should we do it?”
“Don’t,” Taylor laughed as she pulled her arm free from Mira’s. “I have to go. I get to fly first class now. I’m really looking forward to those hot towels.”
“I can make hot towels,” Mira said, frowning. “Seriously.”
“Stop.” Tears threatened again as Taylor picked up her purse. Her bags were already on the front porch. “You guys stay here. I’ll cry if I have to say good-bye again.” Her heart felt like it was breaking, but it was a good break. She had found a home here, and she would be back. She’d arrived without roots, and she had some now. “Love you both.”
The three women hugged again, a fierce, desperate hug that promised a friendship that would last forever. Tears were streaming down her cheeks again as she stepped back. “Okay, no more of that. I’ll call you guys.” She then turned and hurried out the door, not looking back.
When she got to the porch, her bags were gone. She looked up, and saw Zane loading them into the trunk of her rental car for her. Her heart seemed to freeze when she saw him. He’d come to say good-bye? God, how could she do this? Why hadn’t he just let her go?
Chase walked up. “Good luck with your job, Taylor. You know you’re welcome here anytime.”
“Thanks.” She hugged him, and then gave a bit of extra love to little John, snuggled in his daddy’s arms. “Don’t forget your Auntie Taylor while I’m gone,” she told him. “I’m the best, and you need to always remember that.”
John, however, seemed unimpressed. Instead of cooing, he wailed at her, his face red and contorted. Chase grinned. “He needs Mira. Travel safe, Taylor.”
“I will.”
She watched as Chase carried the baby into the house, calling for Mira. Her friend and Chase had come together in the most extraordinary of circumstances, but they’d turned it into something so beautiful. That was what she wanted: a relationship so full of love that the world became a more beautiful place simply by its existence.
“You ready?”
Her heart leapt at the sound of Zane’s voice, and she turned toward him. He was standing by her car, his hands on his hips, watching her. His cowboy hat was tipped back, his jeans and cowboy boots were well-worn and sexy, and his shoulders were broad beneath his cotton shirt. He looked every bit the cowboy, and none of the biker, and he was gorgeous.
God, she’d missed him.
Tears tried to come again, but this time, she refused to let them. Instead, she put her sunglasses on, lifted her chin, and marched down the stairs toward her car. He didn’t move out of the way, and she finally stopped right in front of him, craning her head back to meet his gaze.
For a long moment, neither of them moved. She felt like her world had come to a standstill, hovering in suspended animation, waiting for him to ask her to stay. She would. In a heartbeat. Just one word. That was all he had to say. One word. She knew he’d be okay with what she had to offer, and in this moment, she felt like foregoing her own dream of being a mother was worth it to never have to say good-bye to him. Just ask me to stay, Zane. Just ask.
He raised his hand and brushed his fingers over her jaw. His eyes were dark and inscrutable, a mask she couldn’t penetrate. Two weeks ago, he’d cried in her arms over a boy who’d died, and now he had so many walls up, she couldn’t see a single whisper of his humanity…but she knew it was there. “I love you, Zane.”
Crud. She hadn’t meant to say that. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t beg for his attention. She was more than that. She deserved someone who would chase her down and offer everything he had to keep her.
“I know you do.”
She blinked. “I know? That’s how you respond? I know you do?” Sudden anger rushed through her, anger that she’d wasted so much emotion on him over the last two weeks, wondering if there was a way to make it work. “Forget it, Zane. I have to leave.”
He dropped his hand and stepped back from her without argument. “Be safe.”
“Of course.” She climbed into the driver’s seat and tossed her purse down. Her hands were shaking, and she wasn’t sure if it was from anger or the fact her heart was shattering into a thousand pieces. “You, too.” She gripped the steering wheel as he shut her door. It closed with a soft thud, and then he stepped back.
She glanced out the window at him. He met her gaze, and in that moment, she saw the depth of his pain, the agony of what he was enduring. Her heart seemed to stop, and she flung the door open. “Zane!” She threw herself into his arms, and he caught her, holding her tight against him.
He kissed her, hard and fierce, his fingers tangling in her hair as if to trap her. She melted into the heat of his body, into the fire of his kiss, losing herself to him on every level. She’d missed him so much, and being in his arms was the only place in the world she wanted to be. “Make love to me, Zane. Take me to the bunkhouse and make love to me.”
His arms tightened around her, but he
broke the kiss, resting his forehead against hers. “I can’t break your soul, Taylor. I love you too much to do that to you.”
Her heart seemed to stop. “What?”
He pulled back, his gaze searching hers. “If I didn’t love you so much, I would keep you. I’d be willing to take your dreams away so I could have you for myself. But I can’t do that, because hurting you would destroy me.”
He loved her. She’d known he did, but hearing him say it was different. It was beautiful. Perfect. The most amazing words she’d ever heard in her life. “Maybe being an aunt would be enough—”
“No.” He kissed the argument away. “You know it wouldn’t. I know it wouldn’t.”
“Zane!” Chase walked out on the porch, and Zane grimaced at the interruption.
“Later,” he said, not taking his gaze off Taylor, and not loosening his grip on her.
“Some guy is on my landline from a garage. He said that Luke and his little brother ran away. He thinks they’re headed toward the ranch. Wants to know if they’re here. You know what he’s talking about?”
Zane’s face paled and he spun away from Taylor. He raced over to the house and grabbed the phone from Chase. Taylor hurried after him, but by the time she reached him, he’d already hung up. He turned toward her, his face stricken with fear. “Luke took off in the middle of the night, apparently taking Toby with him. According to one of the other boys at their foster home, Luke’s planning to hitchhike all the way here. Do you know what can happen to kids who hitchhike? We have to find them.”
“I’ll help.” She didn’t hesitate. She knew she’d miss her flight, but she didn’t care. She’d seen him cry over the guilt of Brad’s death. There was no way she was leaving him to face this on his own. “We can take my car.”
“Okay.” He shoved the phone at Chase. “I need to get my cell. Get the car started,” he ordered Taylor. He vaulted down the steps and sprinted toward the barn, while she ran for her car. He was back within a minute and a half, and dove into the passenger side of the car as she peeled out.
As she sped down the driveway, he leaned forward, searching through the windshield, scanning the road and the fields. “They could be anywhere along the route,” he said, his voice rough and stark. “They’d had enough time to make it here if they got a ride immediately, but they could be two miles from their home if they didn’t. Hundreds of miles that could swallow them up. Oh, God.” He groaned and dragged his forearm across his brow. “They’re just kids.”
“Luke’s a tough kid,” she said. “I’m sure they’re okay.”
“Don’t lie,” Zane snapped. “We have no idea if they’re safe. Toby is four. Four! Luke took his four-year-old brother!” He was gripping the dashboard, his knuckles white as he searched the road ahead. “They’ve been in foster care for the last year. I knew their situation was bad, but hell. It can’t be bad enough to risk this. The ranch is more than two hundred miles away from the Garage. Why would he come after me?”
“Because you’re all he has,” she said softly, scanning the fields for two boys as she drove. “He’s picked you, Zane. He’s picked you to save him.”
Zane glanced at her, his eyes panicked. “He’s made the wrong choice. His brother’s already dead. I can’t save anyone.”
“No, you’re wrong.” She shook her head. “You couldn’t save Brad, but Luke and Toby are still alive. Kids are smart, Zane. They know how to survive, and it looks like Luke has realized you’re his best bet.”
“Jesus.” Zane bowed his head, and his shoulders shuddered. “What if something happens to them? What if they die coming after me?” He sat back and ran his hands through his hair, his fingers shaking. “I should have realized this was going to happen. I should have seen it. A couple months ago, Luke asked me where the ranch was. He made me show him on a map, and asked me to point out what roads I took when I came here. I should have realized. I should have talked him out of it before I left—”
“Stop it!” She slammed on the brakes, and the car skidded to a stop.
Zane gripped the dashboard, glaring at her. “What are you doing? Drive!”
“I am so damned tired of you blaming yourself for things that aren’t your fault! People are responsible for their own choices. You did your best to help Brad, and he still went with his friends to rob that store. His choice, not yours. You’re a great man, and a born protector, and Luke knows that. He’s willing to do anything to save his little brother, and you’re their only chance. Brad’s death probably made Luke realize exactly how dire their situation is if he doesn’t change it. Their life is probably like yours was, or your brothers. When you were fourteen, if you’d had someone counting on you, you would have done whatever it took to protect them, right? Even if it meant hitchhiking two hundred miles to find the one person in the world you trusted?”
“Of course. I would have travelled a thousand miles if that would have helped.” He stared at her, his face ashen. “You think it’s as bad as it was with my dad?”
“If it wasn’t, would he be dragging his brother down two hundred miles of highway searching for you?”
Zane seemed to pale even more. “I can’t—”
“Yes, you can! God, Zane, stop being an idiot! Those boys need you, and you better pull yourself together by the time we find them!” She smacked his shoulder. “They need you, Zane Stockton, and no one else. Just you!”
He bowed his head, and laced his fingers behind his head, his elbows resting on his knees. His shoulders were shaking, and she could hear his ragged breathing.
Her anger dissipated, and she leaned over, putting her hand on his back. “Zane,” she said softly, leaning her head against his.
“What?” He didn’t look up, his voice hoarse.
“You can do this. You can be what they need. I know you can.”
He looked over at her, and she saw that his eyes were bloodshot. “Brad died,” he whispered. “He died.”
“I know he did. It was tragic and terrible. You can let that destroy you, or you can learn from it. He died because he had no one to hold his hand and guide him. These boys are coming to you, Zane. There’s no one else in their lives who can help. Without you, they have nothing. Aren’t you better than nothing?”
He stared at her for what seemed like an eternity, then he nodded once. “I’m better than nothing,” he admitted in a barely audible whisper, his voice raw and agonized.
“There you go.” She knew he was far better than that, but at least it was progress. “Let’s go find them, okay?”
He nodded. “Okay. Drive fast.”
“Don’t worry. I will.”
Chapter 18
The miles crawled by with agonizing slowness as Taylor raced down the winding, two-lane back road. Zane told Luke he took this road because he liked the curves, but it wasn’t the fastest way. Which way would Luke select? Was he wrong that Luke would go as Zane went? What if the kid decided the highway was faster? What if he and Taylor were searching on the wrong road?
No, he was sure Luke would follow his path, both to stay off the main road where the cops might pick him up, and because he’d want to be like Zane.
Shit. Luke would want to be like him. How the hell had this happened?
No. It didn’t matter how it happened.
All that mattered was that they found them.
They’d been driving for two hours already. Two hours. Still more to go. What if they didn’t find them on the road? What if they made it all the way to his foster home and the Garage and didn’t find them?
Then they’d go back over it again. And again. Until they found them. He thought of the funeral, and he felt sick. “What if they’re dead? What if—”
“Stay focused, Zane. Keep looking.” Taylor was steady and calm, as she had been since they’d left the ranch. Without her, he knew he’d have lost his shit by now.
He let out his breath and nodded, his gaze relentlessly sweeping the roadside as they hurtled past the endless fields—
<
br /> He suddenly saw a dark shadow in the field to his left. He whipped around in his seat, searching the fields, but he didn’t see anything.
“What is it?” Taylor eased off the gas.
“Nothing. I don’t see anything. Mind tricks.”
She looked over at him. “Zane. Do you think you saw something?”
Her unwillingness to dismiss his initial reaction made him think again. Had it been mind tricks, or had he seen something real? He looked at her, then looked back at the field. His gut said it had been them. “Turn around.”
She immediately slowed down, then hung a U-turn across the road. He leaned forward in his seat, scanning the grasses. He saw something dark again, and his heart started to speed up. Something was running through the grasses. “Do you see that?”
“Yes. I can’t tell what it is.” She sped up the car, flying down the highway, closer and closer until—
“It’s them!” He could see the two boys racing through the grasses, rushing away from the highway as fast as they could. He shoved open his door, leaping out of the car before Taylor had come to a complete stop. “Luke! Toby! It’s me! It’s Zane!”
They kept running, frantic and terrified, running away just like he’d done so many times.
“Luke!” He bellowed his name, and broke into a sprint, racing across the field, his heart hammering. “Luke! It’s me! It’s Zane!”
Suddenly, the taller boy stopped. He whirled around, looking back at Zane, then he screamed Zane’s name, picked up his brother, and started running toward Zane, stumbling on the uneven field.
Zane ran faster, his heart pounding when he saw Luke stumble and fall, Toby tumbling out of his skinny arms onto the dirt. “I’m coming! Just wait!”
Luke tried to pick up his brother, dragging himself to his feet as he tried to run toward Zane again. He was so exhausted, he fell again, but again, he grabbed his brother and surged to his feet, refusing to give up.
A Real Cowboy Rides a Motorcycle Page 18
