Cowboy's Secret Son by Robin Perini

Author:Robin Perini
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-05-04T15:30:43+00:00

Chapter Eight

The ranch house felt like a prison. Courtney paced back and forth and peered out the small window of the bedroom. She should be doing something. Gathering food, water, bandages. Instead, because of the threats, she was stuck here, like the citified woman Roscoe believed her to be.

Plumes of dark brown smoke drifted from the north over the ranch, its acrid scent poisoning the fresh air. An hour ago the sirens of a fire truck and ambulance had screamed across Jared’s land.

Still, they waited.

Unaware of the dangers outside, Dylan had discovered energy to spare. He crawled around the room, exploring everything. She’d shut the bathroom door to keep him from getting into trouble. Right now, he’d discovered the closet and a small cubby underneath a short table sitting inside. It was just his size. He threw his stuffed bull out of the closet and crawled to retrieve it before repeating the process a second, third and fourth time.

Courtney would normally have been on the floor enjoying her son, but instead, she recorded every fact she could remember from the time Marilyn had called to warn her. With one eye on him and on Velma, she filled page after page.

The housekeeper sat on the bed holding the gun and staring at the door.

“How much longer do you think?” Courtney asked, her legs bouncing with nerves.

“No telling. Fires are tricky, especially as dry as it’s been lately. No news is good news as far as I’m concerned. Nobody tried to get in this room, and Jared hasn’t called to evacuate. To me, that’s a win.”

Dylan crawled between her legs and grabbed on to her pants. He pulled himself up and grinned at her, oh-so-proud of himself for standing alone.

“Look at you, Jelly Bean,” she said with a smile. She chucked him under the chin. He hugged her and then scooted beneath the crib, lying on the floor and staring up at its base.

Courtney planted herself cross-legged on the bed. “Jared told me about Alyssa and their daughter.”

Velma’s eyebrow popped up. “I’m surprised. He doesn’t talk about them. Ever.”

“I can’t believe they never caught the man who killed her.”

Velma clicked her teeth together. “That was a bad business. I thought Jared might waste away to nothing. He blamed himself for so long, not being able to save Alyssa from drowning. For months he called out her name in his sleep, promising he’d save her this time.”

“She drowned?”

“The murderer pushed her out of the boat at Last Chance Lake and weighed her body down with a tire. Jared did everything humanly possible, but she was under the water too long. He’s never forgiven himself.”

“I didn’t understand how much he must have gone through,” Courtney whispered. “And he was never caught. He could still be out there.”

“That’s Jared’s fear. It’s why he’s built an impenetrable wall around his heart. The truth is, the murderer could easily be dead. He hasn’t shown his face since. The ranch has done well. And we haven’t had

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.