Embattled Home (Lost & Found Series #3)

by J. M. Madden

  “You’re so lucky to have grown up here.”

  “I was,” he admitted. “But it’s been kind of a love hate thing. When I was a kid, the chores were not fun. It’s a lot of hard work running a ranch this size. But once I left home and went overseas, I realized how much I missed it. Where did you grow up?”

  She looked off toward the east. “A little town outside of Baltimore. Pretty industrial. My dad worked on the railroad as an engineer. He was killed on the job when I was little. It was just Mom and I then. She died when I was in college, before I met Derek.”

  “Wow. I’m sorry.” He touched her shoulder for just a second. “You’ve been on your own a long time.”

  Lora glanced at him and shrugged.

  “I just talked to Duncan.”

  She looked at him, brows raised over her dark green eyes.

  “I don’t know how you’re going to take this, but Rosalind was found in her pool two days ago, drowned. She appeared to be intoxicated when she died.”

  Lora’s mouth dropped open in shock, but there were no tears. “Are you serious?”

  He nodded. “Duncan isn’t sure where Derek is.”

  She turned back to the sunrise, more pensive than when he’d arrived, but he didn’t push her. It was hard losing people, even if they were enemies sometimes.

  Mercy came out onto the porch then, rubbing her eyes and dragging Handsome by one leg. “I’m hungry, Mommy.”

  Lora turned to her with a bright smile. “Well, let’s go get you something then.”

  Before she disappeared into the house, she looked over her shoulder and gave Chad a headshake. Message received. Don’t tell the kid.

  It was a strange day. Sometimes Lora seemed sad, her eyes tearing up as if the death had affected her, then at other times she seemed satisfied, joyous even. And he could understand both sides of the coin. If Rosalind had been pushing for custody as much as Lora thought, it would stand to reason that she would be hopeful Derek would drop the whole thing.

  Their day went a little more to hell when Harper radioed down that there was a red truck, driver unidentified, coming up the hill. Rachel guided Lora and Mercy into the house while Chad waited in the drive for whomever was coming. When the red, jacked-up, chromed out Ford pulled into the drive and he caught sight of the driver, Chad cursed a blue streak. What the fuck!

  Resigned, he opened the truck door, forcing a smile. “Tara Johnson! How the heck are you?”

  The woman oozed out of the driver’s side door, leading with her long slim thighs and enhanced breasts. “Chad,” she drawled, “I can’t believe you came home for a visit and didn’t call me.”

  Chad forced himself not to cringe as her cloud of perfume wafted over him. “I’m not really here for pleasure, Tara. I brought a few buddies with me for kind of a guy thing, you know?”

  Her bright blue, heavily lashed eyes widened. “Then who was the blond woman I saw driving your truck yesterday in town?”

  Cursing internally, Chad shook his head. “She’s one of the investigators that works at the company. She’s brand new and we brought her out for some firearms training.”

  Eyes narrowing only slightly, Tara slipped her arm through his good one. “Then she won’t mind if we get away then, hm? Let’s go in and sit down for a little while.”

  Standing firm, he shook his head. “It’s not convenient right now, Tara. I’m sorry.”

  Her pink-slicked lips pouted. “I drove all this way out here, honey, and I was hoping we could catch up. I have so much to talk to you about.”

  Tears filled her bright eyes, meant to make him capitulate, but he was unmoved.

  “Mama told me about your divorce and I feel so bad for you, but I just can’t spare the time right now.”

  Hell. If she made it into the house and saw him with Lora, there’d be no end to the acrimony.

  Wait a minute. Why the hell was he being so polite to her? Because she’s a genuinely sweet person. She was just too much for me.

  Tara clutched at his arm as a tear slipped down her cheek. “It was terrible, Chad. I mean, not as bad as the incredible sacrifice you made for your country, losing your leg and all, but it was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced.”

  Another tear slipped down her cheek and when she walked into his arms, he softened enough to wrap them around her. Chad called himself a fool for giving in to her, but she’d been a friend for a long time. They’d gone out years ago and had fun. It was only when he came back from Iraq, missing his leg and scarred, that her solicitous behavior became too much. If she could have looked past the injuries and still been able to connect with him like they had before, everything would have been fine. Hell, maybe he would have married her rather than whatever his name was.

  Her sobbing started to recede, so he relaxed his hold. Her gaze landed on his damaged arm and she shuddered.

  Nice.

  Chad let her go completely. “I’m sorry you wasted your time coming up here.”

  She tipped up her chin. “It wasn’t a waste, dear. You’ll come see me again.”

  The thought of having to deal with this all over again set his teeth on edge. “Well, Tara, I’m kind of involved with somebody now.”

  Her eyes narrowed and she scoffed. “You mean like, serious?”

  He nodded.

  “She knows about your leg and everything?”

  Chad knew his expression cooled. “Yes, she does and it doesn’t bother her. At all. I’m in love with her.”

  Tara’s mouth dropped open in shock and she shook her head. “But we…”

  “…used to be friends. But we’ve both moved on.”

  Fresh tears filled her eyes. This time he felt they were more sincere. But he wasn’t going to retract his words.

  The Texas beauty rallied, tipping up her chin and giving him a smile. “Well, then. I guess I’ll be movin’ on. It was nice seeing you, Chad.”

  He lifted a hand. “And it was nice seeing you again too, Tara. Take care.”

  The truck rattled down the dusty drive and he felt like he’d gotten a load off his shoulders. Her overblown, syrupy concern had driven him nuts for a long time.

  Flynn came around the side of the barn, laughing. It struck Chad a little rough. “What?” he snapped.

  Flynn shook his dark head, stopping beside him. “She wanted to save you, didn’t she? Thought you needed fixed.”

  “Yeah,” he sighed. “She didn’t used to be like that before I went over. She used to be a nice girl.”

  “I’m sure she is a nice girl, just not for you. Lora’s been watching the entire time. You should go talk to her.”

  Chad glanced up at the house but couldn’t see anything behind the shine of the glass windows. “Yeah.”

  Flynn walked away without another word and Chad stared off after him. If he didn’t know better, he’d think Flynn had been trying to be nice.

  It took him a minute for his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the house. Mercy watched TV quietly, bouncing a little with the characters on the screen. Rachel gave him a nod when he relieved her and headed for her rest.

  Crossing to the kitchen, Chad poured half a cup of coffee from the coffee maker and ladled in a couple tablespoons of sugar, then milk.

  “Do you even taste the coffee?”

  He grinned at Lora over his shoulder. “Course I do. Mama says the Easter Bunny left me in a basket when I was born. And that it’s her fault I have such a sweet tooth, because when she was pregnant with me, she couldn’t get enough of those jelly beans they put out at Easter time.”

  Lora laughed and sat at the kitchen table. Chad pulled another cup from the cupboard and poured her some coffee, with just a touch of sugar like she preferred. When he set it in front of her, she stared at it for a long minute before raising it to her mouth.

  “Was that an old girlfriend?”

  Chad sat down just to her left at the table. She didn’t seem to mind the proximity.

  “Not exactly. We grew up together. Her daddy
’s spread is to the north of us, so we’ve always helped each other out at roundup and hay time. We hung out.” He shrugged, sipping his coffee.

  “She seemed to think it was more.”

  Chad glanced at her, a little surprised and pleased to hear a bit of jealousy in her voice. “She would have made it more if I’d let her, but when I came back from Iraq, things changed between us. She wanted to take care of me. Which, in a certain context, I’m all for,” he tossed her a grin, “but Tara made it sound like a sacrifice. It’s hard to explain but when you come back injured, you’re not the same man. Your perspective changes and things become more clear. I don’t know, you kind of learn to wade through all the bullshit quicker or something.”

  Leaning back against the chair, he rested his coffee cup between his folded hands. “I was on the verge of taking off because of all the overblown concern. They had a parade for me when I got home and my name is on the stone in the square, but even after all that I couldn’t walk down the sidewalk without somebody racing ahead to sweep it clean. More than once people opened my damn truck door for me. Usually women. I was wounded, yes, but not critically. They acted like I couldn’t do anything for myself anymore.”

  Chad realized he’d begun to raise his voice. Lora watched him with a gentle smile.

  “Sorry. Can you tell it bothered me?”

  She held up her pinched thumb and forefinger. “Just a bit.”

  Laughing, he shook his head. “Anyway, I think the women in town took it upon themselves to get me married. Almost every day I had visitors. And at the time my mother was all for it. My parents were almost as bad as the townspeople. Their baby had been hurt. It took them a long time to be okay with me being out of their sight. I don’t think they really realized how okay I was until Duncan offered me the job and I moved to Colorado.”

  “How long had you been home?”

  “Hm, a few months. About six. I was on the verge of bolting, just going somewhere and getting lost. Then Duncan threw me that lifeline. I’ve been there ever since. But,” he continued, “sometimes when I come home I have this to contend with.” Again, he waved his hand toward the main ranch.

  “Everybody is concerned about you.”

  “I know,” he sighed. “And I really do appreciate it. But I feel like I can’t breathe here.”

  “You need to set some limits.” Lora laughed. “Although it’s hard to tell if they’ll abide by those limits.”

  Chad knew she referred to Derek.

  “I’m sorry I’m bitching about my life. It’s not that bad, really.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t, please. I enjoy listening to you talk. I’ve learned a lot about you in the past ten minutes.”

  He snorted. “Good and bad, huh?”

  “Nah. All good.”

  “Well, hopefully John and Duncan will figure something out to tie up this situation.”

  Not even three minutes later, Chad’s cell phone rang. Glancing at the screen, he swiped his thumb to answer. “Hey, Palmer. How the fuck are you?”

  Chad cringed and glanced guiltily at the living room, but Mercy was absorbed in her cartoons.

  “I’m fine. Lora and the girl have problems coming their way, though.”

  Lora’s gaze sharpened on him. She’d obviously heard.

  “Why? What’s up?”

  “I have a feeling Mr. Malone is going to be out for blood. We sent Roger in as a flower delivery man and he chatted up one of the maids. Apparently things have been in a tizzy over the past couple of weeks. Lots of fighting.”

  “Since we’ve been gone?”

  “Yeah, I think that’s part of it. But there’s a shake-up with the business too. The maid said it sounded like Derek’s mother was changing her will to leave everything to the little girl because Derek’s been such a fuck-up.”

  “Oh, hell,” he breathed.

  Lora had paled and was shaking her head. “We don’t want it.”

  “Wait,” Chad focused on the phone. “Has this actually been done legally, or is this just chatter right now?”

  “It has not been confirmed,” John told him. “But, if she were about to switch beneficiaries, that’s a heck of a reason to off somebody before they actually do it.”

  “Yeah, it really is,” Chad sighed. “Do you know where he is right now?”

  “Nope. Haven’t seen hide or hair of him for a week. I think you guys are secure, but stay tight. Duncan called in a favor and the FBI is checking things out. We found some interesting exchanges in their financial histories, so we’re trying to run those down too. I think it’s only a matter of time before reality catches up to Derek Malone.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Gunny. Keep us updated.”

  “Will do.”

  Lora looked shell-shocked. “Do you seriously think Derek would hurt his own mother?”

  Chad frowned. “I don’t know. Probably not. I have a feeling he wouldn’t dirty his hands that way. He’d hire somebody to do it. That way he’d have a convenient alibi.”

  She gulped the rest of her coffee, blinking and suddenly pale. “So, if she has appointed Mercy her beneficiary, Derek is going to be after us even more. If he has custody of Mercy he has control of the money.”

  Chad reached out to rest his hand on hers. “Let’s not borrow trouble. We just need to sit tight for a while till we have more details.”

  Tears filled Lora’s eyes. Chad wanted to pull her into his arms, but didn’t think she would accept that. But then she looked at him, and that need was there that he had seen in the gazebo. Opening his arms, Lora leaned into him and he cradled her gently. Lora sighed into his neck and relaxed, her arms creeping around his neck. He held her like that for several long moments.

  “Do you like my mom?” Mercy’s little voice chirped at his shoulder.

  Chad forced himself to ease back slowly as he looked at the little girl. Her eyes were bright with curiosity. “I like your mother very much. Is that okay?”

  She nodded her head up and down like a little bobble-head. “I told ‘ansom you liked her.”

  Grinning, he tugged on a chunk of her hair. “You think you’re a smarty-pants, huh?”

  She took off at a run, giggling. Lora watched her with a smile, her cheeks a little pink, before she turned back to Chad. He felt the drag of her eyes over his face, coming to rest on his lips. Lifting his eyebrows expectantly, he waited to see what she would do.

  Lora didn’t disappoint him. Lifting her chin, she pressed her lush mouth to his, moving softly. At one point she pulled away, her lips a hairsbreadth from his, just breathing the same air. Chad felt his blood head south, unable to help himself. She was using her proximity against him. “Are you trying to get me excited?” he drawled.

  Lora smiled against his mouth, nibbling. “Maybe.”

  “You don’t have to. I’ve needed you for a long time.”

  She drew back and looked up into his eyes, frowning. “Really?”

  “Of course. A very long time. I told you that.”

  “I know, but it just seems so strange to me.”

  “You need to get used to it,” he told her softly.

  Chapter Twelve

  CHAD UPDATED THE other guards. Harper gave no reaction, but Flynn cursed roundly. Rachel shook her head.

  “This sounds like trouble,” she murmured softly.

  “We’ll stick to our shifts, but be ready to be flexible. Harper, I like you up on that plateau. You can see more than anyone up there. Just watch your back. Flynn, I want you to stick around the house. Rachel, you are on Mercy. I want you to modify your shift so that you’re up when she’s up.”

  The former pilot gave him a salute, though they’d never been in service together.

  “Stay sharp, people, and I want your side arms on.”

  So their schedule modified. Lora sat Mercy down to explain about her grandmother and she cried a little bit, but not a great deal. Mercy’s bright little personality dimmed a bit afterwards. Lora tried to keep things as upbeat as p
ossible, but when that kind of worry moved in it was bound to affect everything.

  They went out for Mercy’s morning ride on Taco, but even he seemed tense and uncooperative. Chad explained that was because of Mercy’s emotions. They cut the ride short and headed back to the house.

  Lora distracted herself by baking a cake. She’d left her bandage off today and her wrist was holding up well. The bruising was mostly gone from around her eye and cheek and Rachel had snipped out the stitches on her hairline the day before. Overall, she’d recovered. Just in time for the asshole to come back and harass them some more.

  Chad did his best to keep them upbeat. They played board games, and at one point he attacked Mercy with tickles. Giggles rang through the house, making Lora smile at the sound, and she was struck with the perfection of the moment. She wanted this to last, more than just a few days or weeks, but forever. When she’d married the first time, this is what she’d expected, this contentment and satisfaction with life.

  Chad had created this, she realized, just by being the man he was. He’d made her aware that she was more than a protector, that she was still a vibrant woman who needed to be recognized as such.

  The thought of the kiss she had started warmed her from the inside out. Almost immediately, she had known she was in trouble. It didn’t ease her need though. It had only made it worse.

  And she felt like time was running out. Derek always managed to come out ahead of her. She wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t win this situation either.

  No! I won’t let him win. I won’t let him have Mercy.

  And I won’t let him dictate my life anymore.

  That night after she’d put Mercy to bed, Lora drew herself a hot bath. As she sank down into the water, she gasped, then moaned in delight. The sensual feel of the sloshing water against her skin tightened her nipples. Running her hands over them critically, she wondered if Chad would mind that she wasn’t perfect. Or that she had stretch marks from pregnancy. Lora lathered her hair and tried to shove the worry aside.

  As she walked down the hallway a half an hour later the nerves in her belly were almost enough to make her call everything off. Chad didn’t know anything about her plans, so she could turn right around and he would be none the wiser. But in the end she felt like that was the coward’s way out.