by Kate Pearce
“All day.” Maria ate fast and then wiped her mouth with the paper towel Ruth had given her. “I had money to get food.”
“How did you know when to get off?” Blue asked casually.
“My dad . . . asked the driver to let me off in Morgantown.” She swallowed hard. “He said someone would be meeting me here.”
Ruth came to sit by Maria. “You did the right thing going into the shop and asking Maureen for help. That was very sensible of you.”
“I kind of knew there wouldn’t be anyone waiting for me.” Maria’s tentative smile faded. “He just wanted me gone.”
Ruth wrapped her arm around Maria’s shoulders. “You’re safe with us now. We’ll sort everything out in the morning.”
She picked up Maria’s backpack. “Say good night to BB.”
Maria faced him, her expression solemn. “Good night.”
Her eyes were exactly the same shade of blue as Ruth’s.
“Night, Maria.” He nodded and started to sit back down just as January and Chase came into the kitchen. January excused herself and went upstairs, leaving the two brothers alone in the kitchen. The comforting smell of grilled cheese and the soft lighting failed to soothe Blue’s agitated nerves, and by the look on his face, Chase wasn’t much happier either.
Chase poured himself a cup of coffee and took the seat Maria had vacated right opposite Blue. He looked all business.
“So are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“Is she your daughter?”
“Hell, no! I haven’t been hiding some dark secret for years—if that’s what you’re implying. Have a little faith, bro.”
“Then how did she turn up here? She does have our blue eyes.”
“So do a million other people.” Blue scrubbed an unsteady hand over his unshaven jaw. “I have no idea who she is or where she came from. You’ve got to believe me.”
Chase leaned back in his chair stretching out his long legs. “There’s an easy way of proving you’re not her father.”
“DNA testing? Sure. I’m up for that. She said her mom’s name was Angelina. I don’t recall ever dating someone with that name, let alone creating a child with her.”
“Is it possible Angelina didn’t tell you about the child?”
Blue sat forward. “Chase, I haven’t the faintest idea who Angelina is, so how do you expect me to answer that?”
“There’s no need to get in my face. Let’s approach this logically. Maria said she was almost eleven, so where were you twelve years ago?”
“Completing basic training and moving on to my first post.”
“And did you have any sexual relationships around that time?”
“TC, I was eighteen and a cocky Marine, what do you think?”
“I think you might have slipped up.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Blue muttered.
“Can you put your hand on your heart and swear that you didn’t have sex with some woman who might have had the ability to get pregnant?”
Blue sighed. “I suppose you have a point. I always tried to be careful and use protection. I’m not that dumb.”
“I never said you were.” Chase reached across the table and awkwardly patted Blue’s hand. “It’s okay. We’ll sort this out.”
“We’d better. I’m tired of everyone looking at me as if I’m something they need to scrape off their shoe.”
Chase got up. “How about you make a list of all the women you did sleep with twelve years ago, and start working out how to contact them?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Blue looked up at his brother. “I was eighteen and I screwed around like an idiot.”
“Yeah, and now you might have a daughter.” Chase pointed up the stairs. “Do your best, okay? Do it for her.”
Blue shoved both hands in his hair and stared down at the table until Chase left. He’d gone to clubs and bars, gotten drunk and picked up women who liked a man in uniform. Sure, he’d heard the rumors about guys who’d gotten caught out by a pregnancy and ended up either married or supporting a kid. That’s why he’d always tried to be careful.
But if he was going to be 100 percent honest with himself, there might have been a time or two when he’d been too damned drunk to know what the hell he was doing . . .
“BB.”
He looked up as Ruth sat opposite him. He hated the fact that her face was creased with worry.
“She went straight to sleep. Poor girl doesn’t know what’s going to happen to her next. Fancy her father throwing her out like that.”
“Do you think she’s telling the truth?”
Ruth’s blue gaze was steady on his. “Yes.”
“I swear to you that I never knowingly left a child of mine behind, but I did some stupid stuff in my teens.”
“I know you, BB.” She took his hand between both of hers and held it tight. “That means I also know you’d never abandon your own child. If Maria is yours? Then we’ll find out what happened and take it from there, okay?”
Blue nodded, which was about all he could manage. Ruth’s calm acceptance of the predicament he found himself in was balm to his soul. If she’d started in on him, he didn’t know what he would’ve done. Hightailed it out and left the mess behind him, maybe. But he was a better man than he’d been at eighteen. At least he was sure of that.
Whatever was going on, he would find a solution.
He had no choice.
Chapter Eight
“The bus driver said he picked her up in Sacramento and kept an eye on her for the whole journey.” Nate checked his notes. “A dark-haired man in his mid thirties put her on the bus and asked the driver to let her off at Morgantown. Apparently he said there was a family emergency and that he couldn’t accompany the girl as planned, but that she would be met at the bus stop.”
The house was quiet. It was still early in the morning, and January had taken Maria down to the barn to meet the horses while Nate brought Blue, Chase, and Ruth up to speed.
Chase sipped his coffee. “Is it legal to put a kid on a long-distance bus without an adult?”
“Over the age of eight, yeah.” Nate nodded. “The adult is supposed to fill out a form in advance with information about the child and the destination and all that stuff so the bus company knows who’ll be picking up the kid.”
“So we should be able to get all that information from the bus company, right?” Blue asked.
“Nope, because in this instance, the guy claimed it was an emergency situation and showed the driver he’d originally purchased two tickets. The driver felt sorry for him and let the girl on the bus. He shouldn’t have done that.”
“And he let her get off the bus without checking whether there was anyone to collect her?” Blue shook his head. “That’s fucking criminal.”
“BB, I know you are upset, but please don’t use that language.” Ruth frowned at him. “I guess I should mention that Maria told the driver she could see her aunt and just waved good-bye and went into the store.”
“Why didn’t she stay put and make a fuss?” Chase asked.
“Probably because she believed that son of a bitch who put her on the bus didn’t want her anymore,” Blue muttered.
“BB, that’s enough.” Ruth stuck a finger right in his face. “If you can’t keep a civil tongue in your head, get out of my kitchen and go cool your heels in the barn with the other animals until you’re ready to apologize.”
“I’m sorry, Ruth.” Blue rubbed an agitated hand over his short hair. “It’s just what kind of father does that to his kid?”
“The kind who doesn’t think he’s her father anymore. Maria said he’d been drinking a lot since his wife died. Maybe he didn’t know what he was doing.”
Blue forced himself to calm down. “Okay, so what next, Nate?”
“I’d like to talk to Maria again.” Nate looked at Ruth. “You can stay with her. Did she tell you her last name?”
“Wow, that’s more than I got out of her. And what about her dad’s first name?”
“Daniel, I think.”
Lester . . .
Blue looked up. “I knew a Marine with that last name.”
Nate turned to Blue. “Yeah?”
“Well, not exactly knew him well, but we were on the same base at the same time and I met his wife a couple of times . . .” Blue stopped speaking. “Her name wasn’t Angelina, though, but it was something similar.”
“Did you sleep with her?”
The question came from Chase, who never shied away from asking what no one else would dare.
“No.” Blue met his brother’s gaze. “I did not.”
“But it might be a lead.” Chase finished his coffee. “Are you still in contact with the guy?”
“I could probably find him if I tried.”
“Then try.” Chase nodded. “If you can’t find him, let me know and I can have a look at it from my end.” He stood up. “I have to get some work done. Thanks for everything, Nate. We really appreciate it.”
Chase went out and Ruth took the opportunity to fill up Blue and Nate’s coffee mugs and put a plate of cookies on the table.
“Can we keep Maria here until everything is sorted out?” Ruth handed Nate the sugar bowl and a spoon.
Nate dunked his cookie in his coffee. “I’ll have to check in with CPS.”
“I know Rebecca Smith, who manages this area. I’ll give her a call so she knows we are more than willing to hold on to Maria.”
“There might be paperwork involved,” Nate warned.
“I’m good at that.” Blue grimaced. “We can’t in all conscience send her back to Sacramento and expect her to find her way home to a man who basically disowned her.”
“We wouldn’t do that, Blue. CPS would just find her a temporary home around here until we had everything sorted.”
“Which might as well be here,” Ruth declared. “I’ll go and call Rebecca right now and ask her what I need to do to meet their requirements. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve taken a child in on the ranch. Of course, back in the day no one remarked on it. It was just seen as doing the right thing.”
“Thanks, Ruth.” Nate closed his notebook and turned to Blue. “Do you think you could find Maria so that I can talk to her?”
“Sure.” Blue pushed away from the table, put on his boots, and went down to the barn, where he found January, Maria, and Billy petting Nolly, who was loving all the attention.
“Hey,” Blue called out to the little group. Billy was holding Maria up so that she could see into the stall and was nodding gravely at something she was telling him. Blue remembered being held by his father like that. The way Billy had really paid attention when any of his kids had spoken to him and had given his considered and thoughtful replies to the most outlandish of questions.
That had all gone south when the booze claimed him and he’d eventually just disappeared.
“What’s up, January?”
January turned and smiled at Blue while Maria pressed closer against Billy’s shoulder. Had he sounded too loud? She was probably hypersensitive to everything at the moment, especially if her dad was a drunk. Blue knew all about walking on eggshells around his dad’s hangovers.
“Hey, Maria.” He tried to sound nonthreatening and approachable. Difficult for a Marine. “Ruth’s looking for you, so do you want to come back to the house?”
Billy lowered Maria to the ground, but kept a hand on her shoulder. She turned her face away from Blue.
“I’ll walk her up there if you like, BB,” Billy offered. “I see Nate’s here as well.”
Blue met his father’s steady gaze. “Sure. Why don’t you do that? Tell Ruth I’ll be up in a minute.”
He stayed beside January as Maria took Billy’s hand and walked back up to the ranch.
“I think I scared her.”
“You are a bit of a forceful personality.” January gave him a sympathetic glance. “Don’t worry, she’ll come around.”
“I doubt she’ll be here long enough for that.”
“Then you don’t think she’s your child?”
“I don’t know, January. I’m still struggling to get my head round any of it.” Blue took off his Stetson and slapped it against his thigh. “I feel like someone just threw a grenade in my face.”
His acute hearing picked up the sound of an approaching truck, and he stayed where he was as Jenna pulled into the yard and parked alongside Nate. She wore her usual jeans, boots, and T-shirt combo but her smile was missing. She looked over toward the barn and went still when she saw him.
January patted his forearm. “I’m just going to find Chase, okay?”
“You do that, and ask him about getting that DNA sample going.”
“Will do.”
* * *
Jenna saw January going up to the house and spoke a few words to her before moving toward Blue, who didn’t look particularly welcoming.
“Hey.” He replaced his hat on his head, shading his expression. “Did you come to see Roy?”
“No. You and I were supposed to be going over to the Membler spread to see some horses today. I tried to call you, but your cell’s been off.”
He patted the back pocket of his jeans. “Damn, I must’ve forgotten to charge my phone last night.”
“Not surprising considering what’s been going on.” Jenna cleared her throat. “How’s Maria doing this morning?”
“She’s fine. Ruth is taking good care of her.” Blue leaned back against the wall, his relaxed posture at odds with the storm in his eyes. “You might as well let it out.”
“What?”
“Your question, or shall I just answer it for you? I haven’t been concealing a daughter for the last eleven years.”
“I didn’t think you had, and anyway it’s none of my business, is it?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Then why did you give me the stink eye yesterday night?”
“Because I felt sorry for Maria.” She shifted her grip on her bag.
“Hell, I feel sorry for her, but I didn’t create this mess.”
“So you’re one hundred percent certain that she couldn’t be your daughter?”
“No, I’m not.”
Unsurprised by his honesty, she waited him out until he exhaled and continued talking.
“I did some crazy things when I was a teenager. I’m not making any excuses for myself because there’s no one else to blame but me. I was newly enlisted, away from the ranch for the first time in my life, and thought I was fricking invincible.” His mouth twisted. “So, yeah, I can’t say that I might not have made a mistake. All I can tell you is that I didn’t walk away knowing I’d made a mistake.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Jenna took an equally deep breath. “I have a hard time sympathizing with men who walk away from their kids.”
“Like my dad?”
“At least from what you told me, you had him for a few good years. I didn’t even get that.”
His blue gaze narrowed and focused entirely on her. “I thought you came from one of those well-to-do middle-class high-achieving families.”
“Well, I do and I don’t. I was adopted. Which probably explains why I got a bit defensive last night when I heard Maria’s story. I was kind of reliving part of my own childhood.” She half turned toward the house. “I assume we aren’t going anywhere today? Is it okay if I just check in with Ruth to see if she has anything that needs looking at while I’m here?”
Blue moved to stand in front of her. “Jenna, you must know I’d never abandon my own kid.”
She looked up into his clear eyes. “As I said, it’s got nothing to do with me, but—”
“I’d never do what Billy did.” Blue snatched a quick breath. “If she is my kid, I’ll take care of her.”
She couldn’t help cupping his cheek and rubbing her thumb over his taut jawline. “You’re a good man, Blue Morgan.”
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“I’m certainly more responsible than I was at eighteen, but what the hell am I supposed to do with a ten-year-old?”
“Ruth will help you.” Her smile died as his hand closed gently around her wrist, keeping her palm against his face.
“How about you? If anyone knows how an abandoned kid might feel, it has to be you.”
She shivered. “You have no idea.”
His hand fell away and he opened his mouth, probably to ask even more questions, but she was done talking about her childhood. “Shall we go and see Ruth?”
“Okay.” He held her gaze. “I know I have no right to ask for your help, but I’m still counting on it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Instead of Boy, your middle name should really be Bossy.”
He stiffened. “Who told you my real name?”
“Like I’d tell you. I hear you beat people up who call you Blue Boy.”
“Not anymore, which means it must’ve been Dave, because I did thump him a couple of times back in elementary school when he tried it on.”
“Which TV show?”
The look Blue gave her was resigned. “The High Chaparral. I checked it out once, and that character Blue Boy was a complete wuss.”
“So, just like you, then.”
He glanced down at her as they went up the steps into the house. “Is this your idea of cheering me up or something?”
“It might be.”
He held the screen door open for her, but when she tried to duck under his arm, he trapped her against the door frame.
“Thank you, Jenna.”
“For what?”
“For believing me and for trying to make me laugh. I needed that.” He hesitated. “I just hate things being out of my control, you know?”
“I would never have guessed,” she said solemnly. “You are normally such a free spirit—almost a hipster.”
This time he actually did smile. While she watched that transform his face, he leaned in and kissed her mouth before letting her go.
She stumbled into the kitchen, her fingers on her lips, and sat down heavily on the nearest chair. God, he smelled so good up close, and the feel of his mouth on hers was way too exciting. For once she was glad that Ruth wasn’t actually in the kitchen because she would’ve had a hard time explaining why she looked like a complete idiot.
