“Not your life. Your relationships. You keep those quiet little mouse girls around just long enough, then you cut ties. Why? Aren’t you bored with doormats for girlfriends?”
“If you’re so damn worried about my love life, why don’t you offer a suggestion?” Bo leaned down, getting nearly nose to nose with Cheri.
Ranger wanted to ask Amy to place a bet on the winner, but he didn’t want to break the two apart.
“I have. You’re just too blind to see.” Cheri turned on her heel and stormed from the room.
“What the hell does that mean?” Bo threw up his hands.
“Don't you worry your sweet little head about it, sugar.” Cheri walked to her car, blew Bo a kiss and got inside. Her engine cranked with a loud growl.
“Your friend is freaking nuts,” Bo said.
Amy bit her lip, her obvious attempt to hold back a grin failing miserably. “Not nuts, just a little different. More like a raw uncut diamond.”
“Yeah, right, and I’m a precious ruby.”
Chapter 25
“So what’s for supper?” Bo’s lack of compunction had Ranger’s teeth on edge. No way was he staying for supper and interrupting their alone time.
Ranger opened his mouth to tell him to fuck off, but Amy beat him to the punch. “Meatloaf. I’ve got plenty. Why don’t ya’ll go sit in the kitchen and I’ll finish up after I check on the kids.”
Bo lead, Ranger following on his crutches. Ranger took a seat at the table, directly across from the sheriff. Bo took off his cowboy-style sheriff’s hat and hung it on the back of the chair. The setting sun turned the white tables and chairs a bright yellow. Cheery multi-colored place mats and napkins littered the small round table. If it weren’t for an uninvited guest and a broken back door, the room would be downright cheery.
Amy came into the kitchen a minute later and placed a hand on Ranger’s shoulder. “Arturo’s locked into the Kids Channel and Chloe’s still asleep.”
Ranger covered her hand with his own.
“Can I help with anything?” Bo asked.
“No, ya’ll just relax. I’m almost done. Can I get you something to drink?” Amy said.
“Tea, if you’ve got it,” Bo said.
Ranger gnashed his teeth, barely holding back the need to pick Bo up and toss him bodily out of the house. “Same here.”
Ranger had to turn partially in his chair to watch her. Her movements were unhurried, graceful. She was obviously comfortable. She poured the tea and brought it over, dropping a quick kiss on Ranger’s brow before walking back to the stove. He kept a relaxed smile in place until she turned away, and then let his expression go full disclosure.
Bo leaned back, hands raised. “Hey, I need to talk to her for a sec.”
“You need to make it short and sweet. Got it?” Ranger had every intention of spending some time at the table with his family and then a hot and heavy night, bum leg or not. On his mission he’d been unable to get her out of his head. She’d told him she loved him. And her reaction when she’d thought he was hurt...
Fuck manners. “Forget what I said. Make your excuses and leave. You can come back tomorrow after she’s had time to rest.”
“Rest? Ha, I’m sure that’s exactly what you plan on letting her do.” Bo took a sip of his tea, studying Ranger over the brim.
“It’s none of your business what we do. Whatever you have to say can wait.” Until he’d had a night with Amy to show her exactly how much he cherished her, and always would.
Amy pulled the meatloaf out of the stove and stood, wiping a hand across her brow. The cotton dress she wore pulled tight across her chest and Ranger went hot. “I’m going to check on the kids, be back in a sec.”
“Hold on. Come here and sit for a minute. I need to talk to you about Arturo.”
The heat turned into an all-together different kind. The kind that lead to him punching Bo for ignoring Ranger’s order. Dammit. Whatever he had to say couldn’t be good; otherwise Pedro would be standing here right now. The grim turn to Bo’s gaze didn’t bode well either.
Amy hesitated, then squared her shoulders and marched back into the dining area. Pride rose in him at her bravery. She stood beside him and he wanted to pull her down into his lap and wrap his arms around her, but he had to settle for holding her hand as she sat in the chair right beside him.
Bo cleared his throat. “I haven’t found the boy’s father yet. I’m still tracking, but it’s been over three days and no sign of him.”
Amy squeezed his hand, but her expression remained calm. Controlled. Except for her eyes, which mirrored her pain. Thoughts of himself and a long night with his woman faded. She would need more than that from him after this. She needed his support emotionally. The weird thing was, he looked forward to holding her as much as loving her.
Bo hesitated and glanced at Ranger. Oh now he wanted support? What did he expect? Ranger knew the odds-Pedro had been missing for over forty-eight hours. The likelihood of finding him alive shrunk with each minute past that time frame. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to tell her that. “We captured some of the Lobello gang members. I’ve told the interrogators to find out all that they can about Pedro.”
Bo finally continued, “Hopefully they will turn up some new info, but if Pedro is no longer with us, there will be the issue of the boy’s care taking. Finding next of kin.”
Amy paled. “But he doesn't have anyone else.”
“That you know of. I started making some inquiries, and it seems the boy has a distant cousin in Mexico. I haven’t contacted her yet, but she is the next of kin.”
“But Pedro fought so hard to get here, he wanted Artie to be in the US. He's already started kindergarten,” Amy said.
“Let's not get ahead of ourselves. There's still the possibility he's alive. No reason to start worrying a lot about that part yet, I only thought you should be prepared for all possibilities.”
The pain in Rangers leg was nothing compared to what he felt when he saw Amy's worry.
He told her he would fight for her.
“What if he had a family here, willing to adopt him? Foster him. Hell, whatever the freaking system will allow,” Ranger said.
“I'm afraid the system doesn't look too favorably on single parents that already have children to raise.” What Bo didn’t say was single mothers struggling to eke out a living.
Ranger glanced at Amy and his chest tightened, not liking the bleak lines forming around her mouth. Dammit, he loved her so much it hurt. What if it wasn’t just her asking? Was he ready for a turn-key family?
Could he marry her and take on two children when his longest relationship was three months and he’d never spent more than five minutes with a kid?
The answer came to him faster than a bullet. Marrying Amy wasn’t a sacrifice, it was a blessing. And getting the opportunity to raise two great kids like Chloe and Arturo was icing on the cake. He leaned forward, placing his free arm on the table and stared at Bo, leaving him no doubt that his next statement was serious. More serious than anything he'd ever done in his entire life.
And Ranger was not afraid.
“What about a married couple? Two incomes. Stable home life.”
The sheriff glanced at Amy then back to Ranger. Ranger didn't move.
“Well now, that definitely tips the scales in your favor. And with a little support from the local law-enforcement, I can almost guarantee that would work.”
Amy froze, but she had a death grip on his hand. His revelation about his feelings for her had driven him forward with-out thought. After all these months of chasing her, coaxing her just to talk to him, and he drops the M word like an RPG. The surety of his decision started wavering. Maybe she didn’t want to marry him. She’d been married to his best friend.
How could he let his sick and twisted mind jump the Grand Canyon and think she’d be happy he wanted to marry her?
He'd never been scared a day in his life, but right now he couldn't make hims
elf turn to Amy and watch the horror spreading across her features.
And the sheriff, damn him, stood, his chair scraping loud across the floor. “Let's not be hasty. We haven't found Pedro yet. I'll keep you posted.”
* * *
Amy sat there, stunned and shaken, her hand cold and sweaty in Rangers warm grip. Marriage? Marriage to her?
Her ears started ringing. Had Ranger really said that?
He was willing to sacrifice his freedom as a single man for her and an undocumented little boy he'd met only a few times? And what about Chloe?
A single sexy man like Ranger James taking on a widow with baggage and a baby and possibly a foster son?
The idea was crazy. Just plain crazy.
It had to be a hazard of his occupation, always saving people. She swallowed, barely able to make her throat work. Was that what she was to him, a damsel in distress? Someone to stroke his alpha male ego? Or did he really think about her that way? Ranger held her hand, but didn’t look at her. He stared straight ahead, a statue of regret.
The sheriff was gone. They were alone in the room together, Ranger’s words hanging over their heads like a herd of elephants in the Sahara.
Amy knew she should say something, but for some reason she couldn't coordinate her lips and tongue.
Who was this man that was willing to give up everything for her?
Chloe cried out from the nursery, signaling she’d woken from her nap and Amy had never been so relieved to hear her cry. She dropped Ranger’s hand without a word and ran from the room, escaping his presence and his words and the thoughts and the hope they brought up inside her. She passed Arturo, coming out of the guest bedroom. “Supper's almost ready. Mr. Ranger is in the kitchen, why don't you hang out with him while I change Chloe? Then we can eat.”
“Miss Amy? Did the sheriff man, did he find my papa?” His little voice wobbled, his chin trembled. Then he sucked in a breath and straightened his spine.
She wanted to drop to her knees and take him into her arms. Tell him everything would be okay. But she didn't know that. She didn't know if anything would be okay. But she knew she was on the verge of hysterics. So she sucked in her own trembling lip and offered him a smile, “Not yet little man, but he’s still looking and so are a whole bunch of other people. He's gonna let me know as soon as he knows anything.”
Arturo nodded, he didn’t move. He needed more than words from her and she fought hard to push past her own problems and act like a grown up. She knelt down and brushed a stray lock of dark silky hair behind his little ear, marveling at how a boy so small could take on so much.
Over the past couple of days, he’d held it together so well. Helping around the house, playing with Chloe and not breaking into hysterics the whole time. But she could see the strain now, a strain no child should ever have to face. “I want you to know something. No matter what happens, I will be here for you. Do you understand?”
He nodded again and said, “Why did those men want to take all those kids?”
Such a big question and one he had the right to know the answer to. But how was she supposed to tell a five-year-old about child slavery?
“There are bad people in this world, Arturo. Bad people who hurt others, even if they don’t deserve it. The Lobellos were bad people. We might not ever understand why they do those things, but all that matters is that you’re safe now. Those kids are safe now, too. And you know why? It’s because there are a lot more good people than bad out there.”
“Good people, you mean like Senor Ranger?”
Amy jerked at his name. Ranger was a good man. “Yes, baby. Like Ranger. He’s one of those special people who saves others, even if it’s dangerous.”
“I’m glad Mr. Ranger is your friend.”
Her friend, her lover, her would-be-hero in waiting.
Chapter 26
The next couple of days passed in a blur. Ranger stayed busy finishing up from the raid and filling out paperwork. He’d spent the majority of his days away, but each night he’d been drawn to Amy’s. Each night, he slept on the couch, careful to give her space, but not too much. He couldn’t take the chance that she’d run again.
Bo still hadn’t located Pedro. The ATF, FBI and his own team had been unable to locate him either. None of the Lobellos knew what happened to him. The more time went by, the worse it boded for Pedro. And the more he and Amy fell into a routine of talking but not talking, and touching but not feeling.
Ranger wanted to get back out in the field and assist in the search, but his damn leg was healing slower than Christmas. At headquarters, every one avoided him and those few that didn’t got a terse response. The fear of being a burden was grinding his nerves to dust. He’d never been an indoors kind of guy. And now he was stuck sitting at a desk during the day while his team was out searching.
By the time he left work, his tension was about as tight as a tourniquet. But each night, when he pulled into Amy’s driveway, the tightness in his chest eased a little. But tonight, the tension hadn’t eased. It had pulled even tighter. And he was on the verge of snapping. He had to do something to break this system of avoidance before they both detonated.
After supper, Ranger helped Amy put the kids to bed. A wholly domesticated process that he’d never imagined himself doing. Not until Amy.
If it hadn’t been for the kids, supper would have been a ghost town. Ranger had caught her staring at him repeatedly, but hadn’t been able to coax more than a sentence or two from her lips. Not that he expected her to gush or anything, but her silence killed him.
His half-assed proposal sat large in both their minds. But he hadn’t regretted it. Not one bit. The more he thought about making a family with Amy, the more he became convinced they were meant to be. Not that he waxed poetic or what the hell ever that meant, but how could he not feel like fate played a role?
His childhood had been full of darkness and abuse. His father murdered his mother and then tried to kill him and Hunter. If it hadn’t been for luck they wouldn’t be alive today. After roaming the roads, scavenging for food and whatever they could get their grubby hands on, the boys had stumbled on Hank James’ Broken River Ranch. Hank had given up his bachelor lifestyle and became an immediate father to two rough boys off the street. He’d taught them respect. He’d taught them loyalty. He’d taught them sacrifice. But more importantly, he’d taught them the importance of family.
And now Ranger had a chance at a real family of his own. He could take Arturo under his wing, and help him grow into a good man. Just like Hank.
“Would you mind tucking Arturo in while I rock Chloe to sleep?” Amy said, juggling a fussy Chloe on her hip. Arturo had already gone to the bedroom to change into his pajamas.
At least she hadn’t asked him to leave, something he’d been half expecting and half dreading. “Sure thing.”
She grabbed his hand and the gesture sent a flare of hope to his heart. “Thank you.”
Ranger had to clear his throat to get it to work again. The woman was driving him nuts. He wanted to drag her to bed and make love until they were both too exhausted to sleep, but he knew she needed time. Needed to process. “Anytime, honey. Go on now, I’ve got this.”
Amy took Chloe to the nursery and Ranger went to tuck Arturo in. The quilt on the full-size bed swallowed the boy. Ranger felt clumsy and unsure of himself, but he lowered down to sit on the edge of the bed and propped his crutches on the night stand. He didn’t know what to say or do, so he sat there, silent. It was Arturo that led the way.
Ranger watched in the lamp glow as Arturo grabbed his hand. Ranger marveled at how tiny his fingers appeared wrapped through his own. Interwoven. “Will you stay here until I fall asleep?”
At that moment, any doubt that Ranger would be this boy’s father was completely erased from his mind. “For sure, little man. I’m not going anywhere.”
He nodded, held onto his hand and closed his eyes. Anger at the Lobellos for hurting the boy filled him. Arturo was too young
to have suffered such a loss. To have been kidnapped and scared out of his mind and his father possibly murdered. But he was resilient and he had a shot at a bright future.
A bright future with Ranger and Amy as his parents. As long as Amy would accept him into her family.
At that moment Amy peeked her head around the door and Ranger lifted a hand to his lips for her to be quiet. Arturo's breathing had fallen deep and even, his fingers slack. Ranger picked his crutches up and left the room, letting Amy softly shut the door behind him.
They went into the living room, and he sat on the couch, patting the cushion beside him. Amy hesitated a second, and then sat. The few inches between them like miles. Unable to stand the distance any longer, Ranger wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. Amy tucked her head against his chest, fitting him perfectly. But more importantly, she didn’t fight him or push away. And damn it felt good. Really good. Her head lying against his chest, the smell of her shampoo filling his senses. Her breasts pressed against his side. Blood filled his cock, giving him an instant hard on. Whenever the woman was around he responded like a teenager. No longer a full-grown man in control of his own body.
Distraction. He promised himself that he would take it slow. “How about a movie?”
She wrinkled her nose, and that smattering of freckles was so cute. “A movie?”
“Yeah, like a normal couple that’s dating would do.” Because Lord knows they hadn't had anything close to normal. From the intruder, to the Lobellos, to finding out about Shane’s infidelity. Normal would be heaven.
“That sounds nice.”
“And because I'm such a gentleman, I'll let you pick it out. As long as it's not The Notebook or something like that.”
“Darn, that's my favorite movie,” Amy said.
He cringed, wondering if he could make it through the sob fest without gagging. But if it would make her happy, he’d do it.
Her soft laughter interrupted his thoughts. “You should see the look on your face right now.”
Men of Mercy: The Complete Story Page 42
