by Barb Han
“They were afraid of you,” she said before burying her face in his chest. “That’s the only reason they let me walk away.”
“How do they know me?” He lifted her chin up so he could examine the scrapes on her face to make sure she didn’t need emergency care.
“I told them your name. I said you’d hunt them down and throw them in jail yourself or kill them if they hurt me, and they started panicking,” she said, gripping handfuls of his shirt as if holding on for dear life.
“That was smart. You did the right thing,” he reassured her, surprising himself by kissing her on the forehead. He tried to convince himself that he’d done it for her and not himself. Her physical scrapes weren’t as bad as he’d feared, but he had no idea what taking a fall like she had might do to a baby. Then there was the stress she’d been under. Worrying about Nicholas had been bad enough, but this? “How do you feel?”
“Like I could use a good cup of chamomile tea,” she said on a half sob, half laugh. It was her nervous tic and a good sign.
Still, he wasn’t ready to relax yet.
“Think you need to see a doctor?” he asked. “Just to make sure everything’s okay.”
“I think I’m fine, nothing more than a good scare, but you have a good point. It wouldn’t hurt to be on the safe side,” she conceded, and he was grateful that she didn’t argue. His biggest fear was that she was in shock, and therefore, the pain hadn’t kicked in yet. The thought of chasing after the men who did this to her crossed his mind. No way could he risk it with her in the truck. He’d have to let this one go. But he would find them. There was no question about that.
“They said something about a woman giving them this job,” she said with emphasis on the word woman.
Was she trying to point out that her father couldn’t be involved, or convince herself? It was possible that someone had discovered Nicholas was a McCabe, kidnapped him and tried to get a quick ransom out of the senior McCabe. Effort was being made to keep law enforcement out of the picture. A person could’ve set Nicholas up and tucked the note in the house while Celeste was at work, figuring McCabe would pay and the boy would be home before his mother realized what was going on.
“They can’t mean Hannah. This is too complicated for a teenager to coordinate.” He’d let ideas churn in the back of his mind while he found a hospital for Faith. This stress couldn’t be good for the baby. Ryder helped her into the truck, retrieved his keys and then checked for the nearest ER using the GPS locator on his phone, pausing occasionally to scan the road in order to make sure the men didn’t have a change of heart.
He plugged in an address and they arrived fifteen minutes later.
Being inside an ER brought back a flood of bad memories that Ryder wasn’t prepared to face. Feelings about walking inside the hospital after learning that his parents had died resurfaced, and his chest tightened. The sound of boots clicking on the tile floors was another reminder. Everything had been drowned out but that sound, as his brothers filed into the room to learn the news, their somber expressions stamped in his thoughts. The news that their parents had been in a fatal car crash hit full force as if Ryder was hearing it again for the first time.
An image of Faith in the same situation rocked him.
Ryder forced his thoughts to the present. This was different. He was here with Faith and she was alive, he reminded himself as she was ushered into a small room. She held on to his arm, her grip a little too tight for him to relax.
“What’s your name, honey?” the intake nurse asked after a few routine-sounding questions about what had brought her to the ER today.
A billing clerk stood at the doorway, clipboard in hand.
“Deborah Kerr,” Faith said.
Ryder leaned against the wall staring at Faith, wondering why she’d just given them the name of her favorite classic movie star. Then it occurred to him that she’d need to give her insurance card. It took another second for him to realize that she wouldn’t want to give out personal information to strangers for fear an ER bill would show up at her door later and alert her family to the fact that she was pregnant.
“I’m responsible for the bill. She lost her insurance when she was laid off from work a couple of months ago,” he said, covering for her.
“My name’s Kayla. Any unusual pains today, Deborah?” the nurse asked.
“Not right now. Not pain.” Faith shot a furtive glance in his direction.
“How about bleeding?” Kayla continued, unaware of the signals being sent between them.
“No. Nothing. Just a little bit of cramping,” Faith said. Didn’t that kick Ryder’s heart rate up.
“You mentioned that you’ll be financially responsible?” the nurse asked Ryder.
“Yes,” he agreed. “I’m the father of Ms. Kerr’s child.”
Faith’s cheeks flamed bright red.
The nurse nodded, shooting him a look like she understood their situation was complicated. That was a great word to describe everything that had to do with Faith, Ryder thought. And especially covered all the emotions he had roaring through him right now—a mix of confusion and stress and overprotective instincts.
“The billing clerk will finish processing the paperwork at her station,” the nurse said to Ryder. “Do you mind following her?”
“Not at all,” he said, but that wasn’t entirely true. He didn’t want to leave Faith’s side.
Another quick glance from her said it was okay to leave her alone. She wasn’t exactly by herself. She had the nurse.
By the time he came back fifteen minutes later, Faith had on a hospital gown and had her eyes closed with her head resting against a pillow. He slipped inside the room, trying not to disturb her.
“Hi,” she said, opening her eyes and glancing at the IV sticking out of her arm.
“Hey there,” Ryder said, tamping down the stress at seeing her in a hospital bed.
“They want me to get started on IV fluids since I’ve been vomiting so much. I may have let myself get a little dehydrated,” she said in a voice so soft that Ryder sat on the edge of the bed to get close enough to hear. “I’m sure it’s just nerves with Nicholas missing and everything that’s happened since.”
He nodded. This wasn’t the time for the conversation he wanted to have about her letting him take the lead on finding Nicholas. She needed to strap herself in bed and stay there until the baby was born as far as Ryder was concerned.
“The nurse seemed a little too eager to get me out of the room earlier,” he said.
Faith smiled. “You should’ve heard the questions she asked once you left.”
“Like what?”
“She wanted to know if I was being abused.” She laughed, but it wasn’t funny to Ryder.
“That’s nice of her,” he said defensively.
“She was just doing her job. She didn’t mean anything personally by it,” she said. “The statistics are staggering. She rattled off a few when I had the same reaction as you. A woman is beaten every nine seconds in America.”
Ryder clenched his hands, making tight fists.
“She obviously doesn’t know your family or its reputation, or she wouldn’t have had to ask,” Faith said, clearly picking up on his disgust. A look passed behind her honey browns that he couldn’t easily read, another sign things had changed since they’d been together.
“Abuse happens in wealthy families as often as it does in poor.” Every woman should be safe with the person she loved, he thought bitterly. “I’m more concerned about you than my reputation right now. Feeling any better?”
“I’m probably going to have a few bruises on my face. I saw the red marks when I asked to go to the bathroom before the nurse put the IV in. That’ll be fun to explain to my family.”
He started to speak his mind, but thought better o
f it. Again, this wasn’t the time to bring up her relationship with her family or why he thought she needed to come clean with them about the pregnancy and her relationship to him. The sooner they all knew that he planned to be part of the baby’s life the faster they could all adjust to the fact that they were tied together by that little boy or girl she was carrying.
“It’s more important for you to rest and take care of yourself right now,” he said, thinking of how much more protective he’d be of a little one once he held the baby in his arms.
“I didn’t plan on this.” Her hand rested on her tummy. “Now that it’s here I don’t want to lose it even though that makes no sense. Is that crazy?”
“No.” He shared the sentiment. It would take some time to get used to the idea that he was going to be a father. He had four months to adjust. Ryder wasn’t sure if that was enough time or not since he’d never been in this situation before, not even a scare because he was always careful, but he’d do whatever it took. For now, he needed to make sure she was safe. “You didn’t recognize those men.”
She shook her head. “I still can’t believe they let me go. I threatened them using your name and they said she didn’t mention anything about an O’Brien being involved.”
Maybe one of McCabe’s exes thought she could get his attention by kidnapping his son. His mind circled back to greed being behind this.
The doctor came in, interrupting them. She was younger than Ryder had expected, and part of him hoped she wasn’t too green. He suppressed the urge to ask her age.
She introduced herself as Dr. Field and shook Ryder’s outstretched hand. She moved to the bed beside Faith and asked a few routine-sounding questions. A bad feeling settled over Ryder. It could be Faith’s revelation. Being in a hospital also brought back too many haunting memories of waiting on word of his parents.
“Have you had any bleeding since the fall?” Dr. Field asked Faith as Ryder, once again, stood helplessly by.
Faith said the same thing she’d told the nurse about the cramping.
He didn’t figure there was any way he’d be able to talk Faith into seeing Dr. McConnell later given that the doctor knew everyone in town. He trusted McConnell, since she was a close friend of his mother’s. He could see how Faith wouldn’t feel as secure.
Ryder had to figure out a way to gently break the news to his brothers that Faith McCabe was having his child. This news would come out of the blue for them. He’d never once mentioned dating anyone, and they’d never suspect he’d see a McCabe. That one wasn’t going to go over very well. They, just like her family, would have to get used to it. He knew that his would support him no matter what. But Faith’s? Hers was dysfunctional. There were no indications of physical abuse, but mental abuse was just as bad and left no outward signs. He thought about abuse statistics and her mother. She’d been married to Hollister McCabe for a few decades. What would that do to a person?
Ryder would find a way to shield his child. This situation wasn’t going away, and since the thought of losing the baby left a weird pain in his chest, he didn’t want it to. Not that he would’ve picked this timing to have a child. Clearly, he’d had no plans before this surprise. He needed to get his head around how his life was about to change.
Four months.
Ryder could figure anything out in sixteen weeks.
“I don’t see any reason why you can’t go home once that bag is empty,” the doctor said, pointing to the pole by her bed. How old was she? Twenty-two? Her credibility wasn’t helped by the fact that she wore adult braces.
Faith tensed on the word home.
“Thank you,” she said.
“I’ll send someone in to check you out in a few minutes,” Dr. Field said.
Out of courtesy, Ryder thanked the doctor before she left. It sure wasn’t because he thought she knew what she was doing.
“You should see a real doctor when we get back to Bluff,” he said in a low voice once he was sure the door was closed.
“What was she, like, sixteen?” Faith asked, a smile breaking out over white teeth.
“I wanted to ask what her SAT scores were and what she planned to do after high school graduation,” he quipped, grateful for the break in tension. A lighter mood was welcome at this point. It had been one hell of a day, and his normally cool emotions were all over the map, not to mention the chemistry between them hadn’t dimmed despite their circumstances.
The rest of the time spent while waiting for the IV bag to drain went by fast. Checkout was speedy and the two were back on the road soon after.
Ryder had a lot on his mind, and the deeper they dug into Nicholas’s disappearance, the more questions mounted. The two men who’d tried to abduct Faith were obviously hired by someone. Who? And again, why? He had to wonder what these men, and Hannah, could want from a fifteen-year-old boy. Ransom was the only thing that made sense, and he doubted that Hollister McCabe would pay anything for an illegitimate child. But then whoever took him might not know that.
“Where do we go now?” Faith asked.
“You? Home.” There was going to be no argument over that one.
“I can’t. Nicholas is still missing.”
“Did you get a good look at the kidnappers? Can you describe them?”
“We can’t go to police,” she insisted. “They might hurt him.”
“They didn’t seem like the most skilled criminals or even like they’d thought their plan completely through when they snatched you,” he said, eyes on the road ahead. “I keep going back to the same question. What do they stand to gain from taking Nicholas, and my mind keeps cycling back to the same response...money.”
“Me, too. I mean, those guys were scary as all get-out and strong. But they hear your name and are willing to let me go. I’m grateful, believe me, but I can’t figure what that’s all about,” she said.
“It makes more sense now that I know there’s someone else pulling the strings,” Ryder said. “Those guys were only willing to go so far.”
“Maybe they were just trying to scare me in order to stop me from investigating Nicholas’s disappearance,” she offered.
“That’s possible,” he said. “So, whoever’s doing this doesn’t know you very well.”
“Then they most likely planned to release me all along. So I wasn’t in as much danger as I—”
“Hold it right there,” Ryder interrupted. “I see exactly where you’re going with this and there’s no way I’m standing by and watching you—”
“That’s why I came to you,” she said.
“We need to involve the law. I understand that you want to put Nicholas first—”
“Because he’s in danger. I would do the same thing for this baby. Besides, Celeste is going to the sheriff to report Nicholas missing.” Ryder wouldn’t get far as long as her defenses were up.
“I get it. I do,” he soothed, figuring he needed to take another tack. “Today has been a long day. You’ve barely been able to keep food down and the only reason you’re hydrated is because you just spent an hour on an IV. If you’re not ready to go home you can rest at the cabin. I’ll keep working on finding Nicholas. You don’t have to do this alone now, and I won’t stop until I have answers. You have my word on that.”
“Okay,” Faith said, and his chest swelled with pride that his word meant something to her. “Take me to the cabin. I can’t go home right now.”
* * *
FAITH WOKE WITH a start. She sat up and glanced around, trying to get her bearings. The last thing she remembered was curling up on the couch at the cabin.
The clock on the mantel read eight forty-five. It was dark outside. Her mouth was dry. And she needed to go to the bathroom. Another great pregnancy side effect was an almost constant need to use the restroom.
Her stomach cramped as she pushed of
f the oversize tan suede sofa. That had happened a lot in her first trimester and she’d called her doctor to make sure everything was okay. Into her second trimester, it’d stopped and she gave in to a moment of fear that something was wrong with the baby.
She checked outside and Ryder’s truck was gone. Only her car was still there.
Keeping a positive attitude had gotten her through many dark days, and so she chose to think positively now, too. And that lasted right up until she saw the blood. There wasn’t much. But it was enough to get her heart racing and cause fear to threaten to swallow her.
She needed to call Ryder and find out where he was.
By the time Faith made it back to the couch, she’d calmed herself down. Spotting was completely normal, and the cramp was gone. That had to be a good sign.
Instead of involving Ryder, she phoned her doctor’s private line.
He picked up on the second ring.
She explained what had happened and he reassured her, as he had so many times in the first trimester, that it was most likely nothing. If it worsened, she was to go directly to the hospital. She thanked the doctor, grateful for the reassurance.
Despite being stressed, she was hungry. She moved into the kitchen. There was a note on the fridge from Ryder. Food’s in the fridge. Help yourself. I’ll be back later.
She found a few of her favorite things, including fresh red apples and Greek yogurt. There was a box of graham crackers on the counter and a container of decaf coffee.
Thinking about how many times he’d “fixed” her breakfast—which basically meant half-burned toast, yogurt and fruit with a good cup of coffee—had her heart doing things she couldn’t afford. She would always be a McCabe. He would always be an O’Brien. And there wasn’t a bridge long enough to cover that gap.
It was getting late. Spending so much time with Ryder today had taken a toll. Every time he was close, her body was aware of his all-male presence. And since her increased hormone levels amplified all her senses, she felt even more attracted to him.
