by Joanna Wayne
It was the only sensible and considerate thing to do.
Yet, it was all she could do not to run after Sean and take him up on the offer of one of his broad, muscular shoulders to cry on, as she watched him walk away.
SEAN SOAKED UP HIS remaining cream gravy with the last bite of his second biscuit. “Eggs, steak, hash browns, gravy and biscuits. Now, that’s what I call a breakfast.”
“Takes a hearty breakfast to keep a cowboy going,” Dylan said.
“You’ve definitely synced into this ranching lifestyle,” Sean said.
“Does that surprise you?”
Sean nodded. “Yeah. Lost my bet with Wyatt. I said you’d never last a week back in Mustang Run.”
“So you and our older brother were betting on my falling out of the saddle. Too bad I didn’t get in on any of that money.”
“I’d have changed my bet if I’d known you’d luck into meeting a gorgeous woman who makes heavenly biscuits.” Sean tipped his coffee mug toward Collette.
She smiled and tossed her head, so that her wild halo of red hair resettled around her shoulders. “Thank you. You are now officially my favorite brother-in-law.”
“Only because you’ve never met the others,” Sean assured her.
Sean wiped his mouth on the plaid napkin and leaned back in his chair. The others were through eating, though all five of them continued to linger at the marred kitchen table. Everyone’s plates except Eve’s and Joey’s were empty. Joey had eaten half a biscuit and a few bites of scrambled egg. Eve’s food was practically untouched.
She seemed distracted, troubled. He was still certain she was running scared, but she clearly didn’t want his help. Fine, she wasn’t his problem. He should just let it go at that.
“I’m heading into the hospital as soon as we finish here,” Dylan said. “Why don’t you ride in with me, Sean? I want to be there to see the look on Dad’s face when he sees you for the first time in seventeen years.”
Sean dreaded the moment. The last time he’d seen his father, the judge had just issued the sentence of life in prison. Sean had been sitting in the courtroom with his brothers and his grandparents. His grandfather had lifted a fist a victory. His grandmother had cried and proclaimed justice had been served, but it wouldn’t bring back her beautiful Helene.
The heartbreaking disappointment of that day was firmly implanted in Sean’s mind. Until then, he’d prayed for a miracle that would prove his dad hadn’t killed his mother.
His prayers had died along with a large part of his heart that day. All he’d gotten in answer was an almost blank stare from his father before the security officer led him away.
Not once in all the years since had his father reached out to him; so why the hell would Troy Ledger give a damn about seeing him now?
He drained the last of his coffee. “I’m not sure that the shock of seeing me would be the best medicine for Troy in his condition. Maybe I should just postpone the reunion for a few days.”
“I think having you there is exactly what Dad needs,” Dylan protested. “Besides, I don’t trust you to stick around long before the neigh of a distant horse lures you away.”
“I haven’t even checked out the neighs on this ranch yet. I could stay around here and do that this morning.”
“Where is the hospital?” Eve asked.
“It’s Carlton-Hayes Regional Hospital, near Austin.”
“Not my favorite place,” Collette threw in.
“Collette had a life-and-death experience of her own there,” Dylan said.
Eve ceased the restless worrying of her coffee mug’s handle. “What happened?”
“Explanation not fit for childhood consumption,” Collette said, nodding toward Joey. “But the bottom line is, Dylan saved my life.”
“Then she had to marry me,” Dylan teased. “Collette’s driving into the hospital a little later. You can wait and follow her in, Eve. That way Collette can introduce Joey to her favorite horses before you leave.”
Eve hesitated before responding to the suggestion, but not long enough to convince Sean that she’d ever considered accepting his invitation to stay on at the ranch.
“Great idea,” Eve said. “I’ll follow Collette to the hospital and then be on my way. I’ll get my things together as soon as I help clean up the kitchen.”
Sean stared at Eve. Her shoulders were straight, her face and eyes showing only minimal signs of the emotional upheaval that had her quaking in the hallway mere hours ago. Only the tight muscles in her neck and her nervous fidgeting gave her away.
“Sean and I will clean the kitchen,” Dylan said. “You three go out and enjoy the morning on the ranch. Joey, if you ask just right, Collette might even take you for a ride on Starlight.”
Sean should let it go at that. Troubled horses were his forte, not stubborn, scared women.
He stood and gathered a few dishes to carry to the sink. Eve gathered the serving platters. When she left to go back to her bedroom, Joey, as always, tagged along beside her. The two of them on their own, about to go on the run again.
Sean waited until she was out of earshot. He could kick himself for what he was about to do, but he did it anyway. “I hate to disappoint you, bro, but I’m driving Eve to the hospital. Not to fear, though. I’ll be certain you’re there for the father/prodigal son moment.”
Dylan looked puzzled. “Am I missing something here? Eve just said she would follow Collette in.”
“She still will. I’ll just be with her.”
Dylan rubbed his freshly shaved chin. “Something tells me that knife removal routine must have been even more intriguing than it sounded.”
“Let’s just say it was eye-opening. It’s mere suspicion at this point, but I think the shapely angel who came to our father’s rescue last night might be in some trouble of her own.”
“That would explain Dad’s reaction to her visit,” Dylan said.
“Interesting that Dad would know of her trouble, since it sounds like they haven’t been in touch in years,” Sean commented.
“Perhaps they have a mutual friend.”
“Could be.”
Dylan squirted some liquid detergent into the sink and turned on the water. “Just be careful. Good-looking women and trouble are a recipe for disaster.”
Sean gave his brother a playful punch to the arm. “Who would know that better than you?”
“Exactly. So, on second thought, forget everything I said and go with your instincts.”
Sean left his brother with the dishes and went off in search of Eve. He found her in the bedroom, zipping the overnight bag she’d thrown onto the bed and engrossed in conversation with Collette and Joey.
“Can my momma go with us?” the boy asked Collette.
“You don’t need me to go see the horses,” Eve encouraged. “You could go with Collette and I could pack, load the car and be ready to go when you get back. And, Collette, I’d rather he not ride one of the horses this trip. He’s had no experience.”
“Whatever you say,” Collette said, “but Starlight’s extremely gentle, and I would have let him ride with me. I’d never let him do something dangerous.”
Joey climbed onto the bed and scooted close to Eve. “What if we get lost and Momma can’t find us?”
Collette sat down on the edge of the bed next to Joey. “I promise we won’t get lost. I live here and I take care of the horses every day. That’s my job on the ranch.”
“Do horses bite?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll only introduce you to the friendly horses. I’ll make certain they don’t bite you,” Collette assured him.
“You’re such a big boy that you don’t need me to have fun,” Eve urged her son.
Joey looked as if he was being forced to choose between a stomachache and a smashed toe.
The kid reminded Sean of himself years ago. After his mother died and Troy went to prison, he’d suffered severe anxiety attacks. It had taken him years to get beyond them. And there really was
no reason Eve had to be in that big a hurry to leave the ranch.
“I’d like to see those horses, too,” Sean said. “Why don’t the four of us just march down to that barn together?”
Joey grinned as if he’d just been offered gummy bears for breakfast. Eve gave Sean a stay-out-of-this look.
Nonetheless, a few minutes later they were treading the worn path from the house to the horse barn and the fenced pasture beyond. To Sean’s surprise, Joey walked next to him.
“Watch the mud,” Eve cautioned Joey when they approached a low spot. “You only have one pair of shoes with you.”
Tennis shoes, Sean noted. “You need a pair of boots,” he said. “A cowboy can’t be worried about a little mud.”
“Yeah, Momma,” Joey agreed. “Cowboys have to get muddy.”
Sean stooped low. “Climb on my shoulders, pardner, and I’ll give you a ride over the muck.”
Joey looked to his mother for approval. When she nodded, he grinned again and climbed aboard. Sean had worn jackets that weighed more.
“Can I feed the horses?” Joey asked.
“Sure,” Collette said. “Like I said, that’s usually my job, but I can sure use some help. And once you feed them, they’ll really love you.”
“Horses treat most people well, as long as you respect them and teach them what you expect from them,” Sean said.
Even when he’d been Joey’s age, Sean had loved horses, especially Sinbad. It had been storming the night he was foaled, the thunder so loud it had rattled the horse barn as if it were kindling.
Sean’s mother had insisted Sean stay inside, but his father had changed her mind. “A boy should see his own horse come kicking into the world,” Troy had said.
Old memories of life on the ranch attacked without warning, and a violent churning rumbled in Sean’s gut. The images grew painfully vivid. His dad teaching him to ride. Sean playing with his brothers on sunny afternoons. Him sneaking his first smoke behind the woodshed.
Stealing his first kiss in a clump of bluebonnets just past the old corral. Penny Rich. He hadn’t thought of her in years. She’d been fourteen, with long, blond hair and budding breasts. He’d been twelve, with braces.
That same spring, he’d broken his right leg while practicing his calf roping for the first local rodeo of the summer. His mother had rushed to him, a look of pure panic in her dark eyes. Mom. Always there.
Until she wasn’t.
Sean’s knees all but buckled beneath him as the memories intensified. The ache that he’d spent years burying suddenly felt like a suffocating noose around his neck.
He should have never come back to Texas.
Only two things kept him from leaving right now—a woman who needed his help whether she admitted it or not, and the young boy who desperately needed her alive and well.
JOEY CLIMBED ON THE SLATS of Starlight’s stall. With a little encouragement from Collette, he reached over and gingerly ran his fingers through the mare’s mane.
Eve watched in amazement. Joey’s curiosity about the horses no doubt had a lot to do with his fervor, but still, this kind of engagement with strangers was an auspicious accomplishment for him.
Even more surprising was the way he’d climbed on Sean’s shoulders. He’d even questioned where Sean had gone when he didn’t enter the barn with them. This from a kid who was still wary of the postman.
Joey looked back at her to make sure she was still nearby. She waved and smiled.
“A budding cowboy. All he needs is a hat and a saddle.”
She turned at Sean’s voice. “I thought you’d deserted us.”
“I needed a minute to wrap my head around being back at the ranch,” he admitted.
Naturally he would. She’d been so caught up in her own problems, she hadn’t given much thought to what this homecoming must be like for Sean.
He stepped over to the nearest stall, crooned a few words to a gorgeous roan and then turned back to her. “I need a ride to the hospital. Whenever you’re ready to go, no hurry.”
The statement caught her off guard. “Your brother wants you to ride with him.”
“I told him to go ahead without me. I’ll catch a ride back with him if need be. Is that a problem for you?”
“If this is because you’re worried about me, you needn’t be.”
“It’s not you I’m worried about.” Sean raked his fingers through his thick, dark hair, only to have an unruly lock fall back over his forehead. “I just want to make sure you’re not stealing the knives.”
It was clear that Sean could see right through her and her flimsy lies. But why did he care?
More importantly, how was she going to convince him she didn’t need his help, when his offer became more tempting by the minute?
But she’d have Joey as a chaperone on the drive into town. That would ensure she didn’t give into any crazy urges. And once they got to the hospital, she’d make some excuse to leave without seeing Troy. Sean would take her for an ungrateful wench, but that was far better than having Troy ask her about Orson in front of the others, and dragging his whole family into her problems. At least it would be better for them.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t be a major mistake for her.
ALYSSA COLEMAN PEEKED THROUGH a slit in the blinds and into the glaring sun outside the front window of her San Antonio apartment. The unmarked car pulled up right on schedule and two men got out.
She figured the taller one to be Detective Reagan Conner. He walked and looked like he’d sounded on the phone. Authoritative. No-nonsense. Tough as nails.
Still no match for her brother.
Both men stopped on the drive where her son Nick was shooting baskets. Nick laughed at something they said and then preened a bit as he sank the next shot. She didn’t have to worry about Nick telling them anything. He’d never heard of his uncle Orson. She planned to keep it that way.
She stepped to the door and opened it the minute the bell rang. The two men flashed police IDs and she invited them inside. She wasn’t intimidated by them. They’d threaten, but they were saints compared to what she’d grown up around.
She had no idea where her brother was hiding out, but she knew he’d be in touch with her again. He needed something from her, and he knew she’d be too afraid not to do as he asked.
She’d like to help the detectives. She’d like to stop her brother before he killed again. She really would.
But she liked living, so the good detectives would have to rely on their investigative abilities.
SEAN SQUEEZED EVE’S duffel into the crammed trunk of her compact car. The contents looked more like Eve and Joey were off for an extended vacation, not a quick trip to visit friends as she’d indicated. The three suitcases could simply indicate she was a clotheshorse, but there were also two large shopping bags of books and toys for Joey, and a boxed video gaming set.
He rearranged a few things and took the liberty of snooping. A large zippered carry-on bag shoved all the way to the back held used Christmas decorations. A stuffed reindeer, a dancing Santa, a set of musical bells and a child’s wooden nativity set. Tomorrow was only December first.
His suspicions multiplied and his anxiety level soared. His first instincts that she was on the run held even more credence. Possibilities ran rampant through his mind. Was she dealing with a stalker? A spurned lover? An irate ex-husband?
Or had she broken the law? Did she even have custody of the kid? And who had called her this morning at dawn?
He put everything back in place and closed the trunk. She wasn’t a troubled horse that he could lock up in a stable or fence in until he could figure out what was going on in her head. If she was hell-bent on leaving, there wasn’t a lot he could do to stop her.
For all he knew, she might be meeting up with some secret lover who was just dying to take care of her. But if that were the case, why had she been so distracted and nervous at breakfast? And even when she’d been watching Collette take Joey for a ride around the smal
l corral, she’d practically jumped the fence when a rabbit had hopped out of the tall grass behind her.
Sean turned as the front door of the house slammed shut. Joey settled on the top step with his Game Boy and a juice box that Eve had evidently brought with them.
Fighting the growing frustration, Sean went back into the house to grab his hat and a glass of water. He stopped when he spotted Eve standing behind the sofa in the family room. Her fingers dug into the cushioned back of the couch, and her expression was grim.
A picture of a guy who looked like your average tattooed bodybuilder stared back at him from the TV. The picture disappeared and the station’s anchorman appeared in its place.
“Escaped convict Orson Bastion is still on the loose and should be considered armed and dangerous. It is quite possible that his appearance has been altered.
“If you see him or someone you think might be him, contact authorities immediately. Do not approach him on your own.”
Orson Bastion. There had been lots of talk of him on Sean’s truck radio yesterday. He’d escaped from the same institution where Troy had been held. Sean had wondered then if his father knew the man. Judging from the intensity of Eve’s focus, he’d say she definitely knew the escapee.
He muttered a curse under his breath as the truth hit him like a blow to the gut.
Eve picked up the remote and turned off the TV. When she started to walk away, Sean blocked her path.
“We need to talk, Eve.” And this time he’d settle for nothing less than the truth.
Chapter Six
“What’s your connection to Orson Bastion?” Sean demanded.
“Keep your voice down, please. You’ll upset Joey.”
“Then start talking. And skip the lies.”
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “He was an inmate at one of the prisons where I worked as a therapist.”
“The same one Troy was in,” Sean acknowledged. “Were you his therapist?”
“That information would fall under doctor/patient privilege.”
