Chapter Twelve
“What the hell is going on, Colter!” his partner bellowed, sinking into the chair across from him. “I haven’t seen this many domestic disturbances in my entire twenty-year career,”
Adrian shook his head and stared at the blank computer screen. No one knew. Every precinct was reporting the same things —domestic disturbances, public disturbances, assaults, small riots. The list went on and on. They were swamped by phone calls. It was as if no one had any impulse control left.
He found himself struggling with slamming his fist through his computer screen or throwing his coffee mug across the room in frustration. Plenty of the officers in the bullpen had already lost their tempers more than once. Apologies had been offered, and everyone had moved on, but it was reoccurring at an alarmingly increasing rate. Two windows had been broken, and three officers had been sent to the hospital with deep lacerations.
Even through all the craziness, Addison was the only thought at the forefront of his mind. He was pissed that he had let her leave the way she had. He’d managed to be an ass yet again, letting her get on that plane thinking he didn’t care about her. Or the fact that he might have gotten her pregnant.
I’m such a fucking idiot.
He’d called her once, but she’d been busy and hadn’t been able to talk. She’d said her gramps wasn’t out of the woods yet, but was stable for now. A quick promise to call him back ended the conversation.
She’d never called back, and it had been a month. Of course, he hadn’t called her either. He was terrible with relationships and always managed to screw them up. She was probably better off without him, but he just couldn’t let her go. Those three days at the resort with her had been heaven. Now she was gone, and it was his fault. He wasn’t sure if he could fix the situation, but he wanted to try.
He picked up the phone on his desk, started to dial Tom, and then dropped it back into the cradle. They were still on their honeymoon, weren’t they? What was he even going to say? But he had to talk to someone.
He picked up the phone again and dialed the Wentworths’.
“Hello?” The voice on the other end of the line was Missy’s mother. Thank God.
“It’s Adrian.”
“How are you?” Her voice was soft and kind. It soothed the ache in his soul just a little, reminding him of his mother’s voice.
“Things are a bit chaotic now, but I’m sure it will pass. Stay out of the city, would you?”
“Yes, I’ve been watching the news. It’s as if something… I don’t know what to call it. But I can feel…unrest.”
“It’s very strange,” he added. “But, I need to ask you—”
“She misses you, Adrian.”
He raised an eyebrow in surprise. How did she know?
“Missy talked to Addi and then to her foreman, Roger, earlier this morning. He’s been running the ranch while she stays with her grandfather.”
“Is she okay?”
“No. Her grandfather hasn’t improved, and they won’t let him out of the hospital. She spends every waking hour there, and Roger told Missy that Addi barely eats or speaks. He says when she does come home to shower and change clothes.”
“I feel terrible about the way things were left between us. I called her once, but she was busy…I didn’t want to intrude.” Adrian ran his hand over the stubble on his chin.
Why didn’t I try to call her again? What am I afraid of? Loving her? Being a father? Both?
“I think some intrusion may be exactly what Addi needs.” He could hear the smile on the other end of the line. “Wolfe Point, Montana. Hope Valley Ranch. You better get there soon, Adrian, or you’ll have lost your chance with her. That girl rarely let’s anyone get close, and you managed it in a week.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Take care of her, Adrian. When her grandfather passes…I’m afraid—” Her voice caught, and she paused for a moment. “Roger said a cattle company from Texas has been approaching her about selling the ranch.”
“I’ll be on the next flight out.”
“Good. That’s good.”
***
Adrian stepped onto the tarmac at OLF Airport, five miles outside of Wolfe Point, Montana. Damn it’s cold. The wind bit at his face like he’d dunked himself into a bucket of shaved ice. His hands tingled even through his gloves, and his breath fogged his sunglasses. He hurried into the terminal office.
After picking up the keys to his reserved rental car, sent over from the larger neighboring town of Glasgow, he grabbed his luggage from the cart that brought it from the plane to the door. The news channel playing in the office warned a storm was coming. He needed to get on the road quickly before he got stranded at this godforsaken airstrip.
An hour later he reached the center of the small town of Wolfe Point. The sign he’d noticed as he’d driven in had read Population 2038. In five minutes, he’d passed a McDonald’s, a place called the Silver Wolf Casino that looked more like a bar and grill, and a high school. After passing the high school, he realized there wasn’t anything else, and turned around. The McDonalds seemed like the logical place to start. He needed a cup of coffee.
An older couple stared at him as he parked his blue rental. The sedan looked like a toy car next to the lineup of dually pickup trucks populating the fast-food restaurant parking lot. Thank God they kept the roads salted and clear, or he never would have made it from the airport down Highway 25. Late December in Montana apparently included lots of snow. No wonder the freak storm in Nashville hadn’t fazed Addison in the least.
At least his boots, jeans, flannel shirt, and tan leather coat helped him blend in a little. Still though, the second he stepped into the restaurant all eyes were glued to him. It was worse than being a stand-in for a police lineup.
“Afternoon, ma’am,” he greeted the middle-aged woman working behind the register. She was wearing a cheery Santa’s cap and jingle bell earrings. Her nametag read Polly. “Afternoon. Can I take your order?” She smiled and waited.
“Just a medium coffee please.” He handed her the money.
She rang up his order and glanced back at him.
“Would you be able to direct me to Hope Valley Ranch?”
She frowned before picking up a cup and filling it with steaming coffee. After clicking the plastic lid into place, she handed it over the counter to him.
“That depends, young man. What business do you have with the Connellys?”
“I’m trying to find Addison Connelly. We’re friends from Nashville.”
“Friends, huh?” She gave him an appraising once-over.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He sipped the piping hot coffee and sighed. The caffeinated liquid warmed him all the way down to his frozen toes. Damn it’s cold.
“It means a friend would know that Addi is planning a funeral for her grandfather tomorrow morning.”
A sick feeling crept into his gut. He set the coffee down on the counter.
“Please tell me where her ranch is.”
“Take Route 13 south until you see the entrance. You can’t miss it… or you could ask Roger over there to take you back with him when he heads out.” She pointed to a scruffy man, probably in his late forties or early fifties, sitting by the window reading a paper. “Probably safer, seeing as how you drove into town in a tin can.”
“Thanks.” He nodded and walked toward the man she’d pointed out. He had turned in his chair and was watching Adrian silently.
Adrian met the older man’s hard gaze.
“I’m so sorry for your loss. I haven’t spoken to Addison in nearly a month. I didn’t know her grandfather had passed. When I spoke to Mrs. Wentworth yesterday, she didn’t say anything.”
The words fell out before he could think them through.
“Wentworths, huh? Well…he passed from a stroke only a few hours after I spoke with Missy. So I suppose they probably wouldn’t know unless Addi called them again.” He motioned for Adri
an to have a seat opposite him.
“How is Addison?”
“I don’t know. She won’t really talk to anyone. How do you know her?”
“We met at Missy’s wedding.”
“So you haven’t known her long?” Roger’s voice was thick with suspicion.
The icy glare reminded him of the way Sara Martin’s father had grilled him the night of his senior prom. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. It had not been a pleasant experience, and he somehow felt this was going to be worse.
“Sir, I need to—”
“Listen here, son. Addi is like my own daughter. She’s been at Hope Valley since she was sixteen, and she graduated high school with my second daughter. I don’t know what happened between you two at the wedding, but Addi hasn’t gone on a date in over three years. She hasn’t once mentioned you to me since she got back in town.”
Slime. That’s what he felt like. Slime on the bottom of someone’s shoe.
Yep, this conversation definitely ranks worse than senior prom night.
“You said she hasn’t been talking at all,” Adrian ventured.
“If I know anything about girls, and I do, because I have four of them, they talk about boys. Doesn’t matter how old they get, they always talk about boys.”
Adrian swallowed. “Look, I’m not proud of the way I left things between the two of us in Nashville, and I’m here to fix that. If there’s any way I can make it up to her, I want to try. I know she just lost her grandfather, and I just want to show her that I’m here for her, no matter what.”
Roger stared at him. The silence made his skin crawl. Nervous, he rubbed his hand across the stubble on his chin.
“Well, Pamela said if you came around, it might be good for Addi.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You just said—”
“I said she hadn’t told me. I didn’t say she hadn’t talked to my daughters.” He chuckled and stood up from his seat. “You did hear me say I had four girls?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Come on, let’s get you out to the ranch. I suspect she doesn’t know you’re here.”
“No, sir, I…”
The foreman laughed again. “I have the overprotective father attitude down pat, don’t I?”
Adrian sighed. “Yes, sir.”
He followed Roger out of the McDonald’s, grabbed his suitcase from the rental, and climbed into a large red dually pickup truck.
“We’ll leave your car here for now. Polly won’t care. I’ll call her later and tell her.”
“Okay.”
Roger grunted something indecipherable under his breath and pulled out onto the main road.
***
Addison lay nestled in the oversized loveseat next to the large stone fireplace in the living room. The flames danced and jumped, hypnotizing her thoughts and sending them far from her present sorrows. She pulled a bright yellow afghan up around her shoulders and closed her eyes. The problem with allowing her mind to wander was that it always found Adrian Colter.
She’d had such a strong connection to him in Tennessee. She’d tried to fight it, but her heart had still opened up and let him inside.
Then she’d come home. She ached to be near him, but Hope Valley was home. She had Gramps…correction, she used to have Gramps. She’d grown up here. Her veterinarian practice was in Wolfe Point. This was where she was supposed to be. Wasn’t it?
The front door creaked, and the deadbolt turned. She sat up and peeked over the back of the loveseat. Roger was the only other person with a key to the house.
“Addi,” Roger called out, opening the door. “I found a guy looking for you in town. Says he knows you.”
“What?” She sat up straighter. “Why didn’t you—” Her breath caught in her chest. Adrian trailed quietly into her living room behind Roger.
Oh my God! He came! But…why would he come all the way to Montana, unless…
“Addison, you’re thinking too much, sweetheart.”
“A-adrian,” she choked out. A single tear slid down her cheek.
“Please don’t cry. I’m so sorry.” He was kneeling next to the couch before she could move. “I should have called again, but I wasn’t sure you wanted me to. And I’m so sorry about your grandfather.”
“Adrian.” She sobbed his name and threw her arms around his neck. He smelled so good —mint and pine. Just how she remembered. She was glad he was there.
The front door opened and closed softly. She glanced over her shoulder. Roger had left them alone.
Adrian situated himself on the loveseat with her sprawled across his lap. She loosened her grip around his neck and met his gaze, waiting for him to speak.
What does he expect? What is he thinking?
“I’ve missed you, Addison.” He brushed his knuckles across her cheek and then played with a strand of her blonde hair. “I have three weeks of vacation saved up, and I turned in for all of it.”
“You didn’t need to do that.”
“I did.”
“What happens when those three weeks are over, Adrian?”
He glanced away for a second and took a deep breath. When he turned and met her gaze again, his blue eyes were soft. “I don’t know, but right now, I’m here.”
Addison took a deep breath and closed her eyes. A few more tears trailed down her face. He tenderly wiped them away.
“Please, let me be here with you.”
She nodded and nuzzled against his chest, settling comfortably into his lap. This is what she’d wanted —to be with him. The flames dimmed, and her eyelids drooped. The warmth from his body relaxed her stressed one, and sleep came quickly.
***
It was dark when Addison opened her eyes again. She wasn’t on Adrian’s lap either. The familiar scent of lavender drifted to senses. It was the oil she used to perfume her pillow. He’d put her into bed. Soft jersey sheets were tucked tight around her body, shielding her from the bite of cold in the air.
She reached out and switched on her bedside lamp.
“Can I get you something?” Adrian’s gravelly voice rumbled from the high-back chair in the corner of her room. The low light from the lamp illuminated the room just enough to see the reflection of light in his eyes.
“What time is it?”
“A little past eight.”
“Oh no.”
I forgot to call the funeral home and confirm everything for tomorrow.
“The funeral home called. George said not to worry. Everything is ready. I asked if he needed to speak with you, and he said no.”
Addison released a long sigh. One less thing left to manage.
“Thank you.”
“You seemed like you needed to rest.”
She nodded and swung her feet to the floor and stood. The cold hardwood floor sent a chill through her thick socks and a shiver up her spine.
This past month had been so cold. But, Christmastime in Montana always was. There wouldn’t be much celebrating this year. She hadn’t even gotten the tree out of the attic.
He rose from the chair and moved toward her. His presence enveloped her, sending a feeling of security and warmth to her frazzled nerves. The aroma of pine and mint filled her bedroom. Their scents blended in a perfect complement.
“Would you care for some hot cocoa?” she asked before he reached the bedside.
“Absolutely,” he answered softly.
He followed her to the semi-dark kitchen. She flipped on the main switch, and bright light flooded the big room. Everything sparkled and smelled of lemon.
“You cleaned?” she asked in astonishment.
“I needed something to do,” he answered and shrugged. “It seemed like the least I could do around here. I brought in more firewood, too, if you want another fire in the living room.”
“Thank you.”
She didn’t know what to think. A man had never cleaned anything for her, besides her gramps…but that didn’t really count.
Addison fumbled thr
ough the cabinet and pulled out two large mugs. She readied everything to start the hot chocolate before she turned and met Adrian’s focused gaze.
“Why are you here?”
The question slipped out before she could stop it. She didn’t want to know yet. What if he was here just to find out if she was pregnant —a fact she wasn’t even sure about yet? The fantasy that he was here because he couldn’t stand to be away from her was so pleasant. She didn’t want reality to come crashing in on her again yet.
“I’m glad you are here. It’s just that…”
“Addison!” His voice showed his hurt. He sat down on a barstool and clasped his hands together on the counter, frustration evident on his face. “I know I haven’t been the most spectacular specimen of male chivalry, but I want a chance with you. A real chance. I’m sorry I didn’t call. I was…”
Tears welled in her eyes, but she blinked them back. God, she wanted a chance with him too. Everything was just so…
“Right now, I’m just here for you. Whatever you need.”
The whistle of the teakettle broke the moment. She whirled, switched off the stove, and pulled the kettle from the hot burner. After filling the mugs with the steaming water, she scooped out cocoa mix and mixed it into the water. The rich chocolate aroma was soothing. She pushed one of the mugs across the counter until it was close enough for him to reach.
“I don’t know what I need right now, but if you are only here because I might be preg—”
The door rattled roughly. It opened, and Roger shuffled in, stomping snow from his boots.
“Addi,” he started, “I need you in the barn right away. Lily sliced her leg open on the trail. She might need some stitches.”
Addison put down her cup and dashed toward the door.
“Who was riding Lily?”
The question came out more like a snarl, but she didn’t care. Nobody should have been riding her horse. She slipped her feet into waiting rubber boots and pulled the heavy parka from its hook.
“I’m sorry. I told Carl to take her out. She’s been stuck in the barn—”
“Lily was fine.”
Finding Hope Page 11
