Colton's Fugitive Family
Jennifer Morey
Will the Groom Killer finally be caught?It’s time for him to face justiceOn the run since her ex-fiancé's murder, Demi Colton risks everything to protect herself – and her newborn son. But now Demi's heart comes under fire when Lucas Gage, a fellow bounty hunter, steps in to prove her innocence. Can they snare the real culprit?
Will the deadly Groom Killer finally be caught?
The final chapter of The Coltons of Red Ridge
On the run since her ex-fiancé’s murder, Demi Colton risks everything to protect herself—and her newborn son. But now Demi’s heart comes under fire when Lucas Gage, a fellow bounty hunter, steps in to prove her innocence. Can they snare the real culprit while outmaneuvering death at every turn?
Two-time RITA® Award nominee and Golden Quill award winner JENNIFER MOREY writes single-title contemporary romance and page-turning romantic suspense. She has a geology degree and has managed export programs in compliance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) for the aerospace industry. She lives at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Denver, Colorado, and loves to hear from readers through her website, jennifermorey.com (http://jennifermorey.com), or Facebook.
Also by Jennifer Morey (#ueb8cbf45-e2a3-57d5-94e6-5592d4897338)
A Wanted Man
Justice Hunter
Cold Case Recruit
Taming Deputy Harlow
Runaway Heiress
Hometown Detective
Mission: Colton Justice
A Baby for Agent Colton
Front Page Affair
Armed and Famous
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Colton’s Fugitive Family
Jennifer Morey
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-07960-0
COLTON’S FUGITIVE FAMILY
© 2018 Harlequin Books S.A.
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To Harley. May his fight for life prevail.
Contents
Cover (#u0fdbc4c0-1127-5e4d-a34e-80379bdb7b0d)
Back Cover Text (#ube23ae65-8045-5ee5-99ce-f16dc9430ab3)
About the Author (#u14190106-3122-5b31-ab11-39dbb23347b4)
Booklist (#uc4d6b2fd-c1d4-58db-a876-4896166c14a3)
Title Page (#u206c0951-2784-5e8f-977a-e4a11d62956f)
Copyright (#ud3573dcf-3e3e-51a3-8c99-a8a6a60b9a44)
Dedication (#u46aff461-c4b6-56b2-abf5-5c36b143036b)
Chapter 1 (#ud09d9b55-4e88-5702-83bd-953bde1bf7d1)
Chapter 2 (#u6f9179ec-84ca-5dc0-b31c-055a876944b8)
Chapter 3 (#u07731ffd-bb36-50a3-962f-68f342cac001)
Chapter 4 (#u4f07ad72-ee7d-5722-b0d7-e6cac638c511)
Chapter 5 (#u88eb5a7a-442c-50e5-913c-c64b1c3a015c)
Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1 (#ueb8cbf45-e2a3-57d5-94e6-5592d4897338)
White Christmas lights twinkled in the otherwise dimly lit log cabin; a fire crackled; It’s a Wonderful Life played on a DVD. Demetria “Demi” Colton hung the last ornament she’d picked up in town. Stepping back, she admired the end result. She folded her arms and smiled, feeling a welcome upturn of the corners of her lips.
Perfect.
Teal, magenta, blue and lime-green round ornaments mixed with other fun, animated character ornaments and sparkly sprigs of blue-colored berries. She’d wondered if the end result would be too gaudy but the tree looked beautiful. She’d put it in the corner of the living room, flanked by windows. Only she and Wolf would enjoy viewing the lights from outside—hopefully. She didn’t want company.
She had worried she wouldn’t be able to have a tree this year, but she’d come up with a disguise so she could go into the little town not far from here. She’d changed the color of her hair from red to black and cut it into a pixie almost a year ago, when she’d first gone on the run. A brown wig, black-rimmed glasses and hippie-themed clothes were diametrically different from how she had dressed before. Working as an independent bounty hunter she had worn practical clothes—clean, neat and tidy—but she also liked to dress up and go out. She did not turn away from a Little Black Dress when the occasion fit.
Thinking she heard something outside, Demi moved to the front window and parted the heavy drapes that reached the floor. She saw nothing other than darkness beyond the porch lights. On one side of the cabin the front entry jutted out farther than the living area inside, one thing she really liked about the place. There was room to remove winter clothes, put shoes under the white bench and hang jackets on hooks above. She’d bought a no-slip multicolored rug to put over the wood floor.
The weather forecast had called for snow tonight and tomorrow. She loved snowstorms, one positive about being forced into hiding with a five-month-old baby, and this storm had prompted her to stock up on essentials since it was predicted that over a foot would fall. The single-lane driveway that wound its way a quarter of a mile from the highway would be impassable for days, shaded by a dense, dark forest.
Snowflakes drifted down right now, nothing too ominous, but a light layer of white already covered the ground. She’d be safe tonight, a rarity.
Letting the drape fall back into place, she turned toward the living room of the small cabin and shut off the lamp beside the sofa. She left the light on over the stove all night. With the Christmas lights, it was just bright enough to see. The cabin wasn’t big, with a kitchen, dining area and living room, and two bedrooms down a short hallway. One bathroom.
She had constructed a secret room where Wolf slept, and a baby monitor on the kitchen counter kept her apprised of his well-being. She’d created a hidden entrance in her bedroom closet. She’d divided the second bedroom into two. Call her paranoid, but given her fugitive situation, her first priority was Wolf’s safety. And she had an escape plan if anything went wrong. She slept easier at night knowing her son was locked in a secure place. She shouldn’t have to do any of that. She shouldn’t even be in this preposterous situation.
Anger flared. Innocent of the alleged murder of her ex-fiancé, framed unjustly, she had no way of finding evidence to clear her name. That infuriated her. It would infuriate anyone in this situation, but her temper demanded some extra control. She screamed into pillows on occasion, banged on the mattress. Sometimes she just did a few laps around the cabin to vent steam. The real killer better not get too close. The least she’d like to do was give him a bloody nose.
“We aren’t succumbing to anger anymore,” she said aloud. She didn’t feel like going to bed yet, too restless and in one of those moods where, bored and caged, she didn’t know what to do with herself.
She tried to take in her home, to let it soothe her nerves as it often did. The living room took up the front, with the kitchen to the rear left and the smaller dining room to the right, the hallway between. She’d found a used furniture store in town and used the cash she’d taken from her account to survive on the run. That had been another sore point. She should not have had to tap into her savings, most of which had come from an inheritance from her mother, who had ended up marrying someone with money after she divorced Demi’s father. She had died in a car accident a few years ago.
A tall dark-wood bistro table with white trim and very few scratches stood in the dining room. She hadn’t hung anything on the log walls. The blue patterned sofa was against the wall near the entry, and two high-backed chairs flanked a wood-burning fireplace near the dining room. A cream and tan area rug warmed the room.
The kitchen had come with stainless steel appliances and beautiful gray granite countertops with white cabinets and pendant lighting above the snack bar. She sat at one of the two blue-cushioned stools each night for dinner, after she fed her adorable baby.
If she had to spend a lot of time isolated and on the run, she needed a calming environment, and this cabin had provided that, thanks to a good friend. Being alone had its challenges, however.
“I just need to be around people more.” Maybe she’d started to go a little crazy being cooped up in this place for so many months.
If she could socialize again, then she could stop talking to herself. She had Wolf, but a five-month-old couldn’t talk back yet.
Thankfully, her inventive disguise allowed her to go to the nearby small town for supplies and visits to the library where she kept tabs on the Groom Killer investigation. She’d used the computer there to read news reports and dig into the background of the bogus witness who claimed to have seen her fleeing the scene of her ex-fiancé’s murder back in January. She’d believed he would lead her to whoever framed her. And why. And she’d been right.
Hearing that sound again—a sort of thump—Demi returned to the window, but when she pushed back the drape a bit, the Christmas lights were reflected on the glass. She saw nothing, but heard a muffled scraping on the other window.
Heart leaping into faster beats, she hurried to the fireplace mantel where she kept a wooden box containing a pistol. She had mounted a rifle on the wall in the hallway and kept another pistol in her bedroom, on the top shelf of her closet.
When she heard a piece of glass part from the window and the sound of a gathering winter storm grew louder, she realized that whoever had carved a hole in the glass, A, had specialized equipment, and B, was a professional. Although she didn’t see him, she listened as he unlocked the window and slid it open.
Flipping off the safety, she racked the slide and moved out from behind the Christmas tree.
“Come one more inch into this cabin, I’ll shoot and keep shooting,” she said.
The man had already climbed inside and when he heard her, he rolled or fell onto his behind, brushing the branches of the tree and jingling ornaments. The drapes slid off him to reveal a familiar face.
Lucas Gage looked up at her with his sexy dark eyes. His chestnut hair was mostly hidden by a black beanie, but the scars on his left cheek and above his right eye were a clear identifier. A bounty hunter, like her, he’d been her nemesis for years. He must be feeling mighty triumphant right now. He’d found her.
Instead of gloating, however, he let out a long breath and said, “You’re okay.”
He hadn’t expected her to be? And was that relief she saw and heard? Surely he hadn’t worried about her.
“Get your hands where I can see them,” she ordered.
He held up his hands, amusement spreading over his face. That always annoyed her. He was always so cocksure of himself and seemed to enjoy riling her. It didn’t help that he was a good bounty hunter—a legitimate Red Ridge Police Department bounty hunter with a K-9. Whenever she felt spurts of envy or insecurity, she reminded herself that she didn’t have to play by any PD rules.
“Thanks to you, I’m going to have to find another place to stay,” she said a bit harshly.
“You don’t have to run anymore.”
What was he saying? Was that some kind of ploy to get her to trust him? If so, it was weak. How would she get away? How would she snatch up Wolf and get out of here?
She gestured toward the window. “You have a backpack or something out there? Handcuffs?” She’d tie him up and leave. By the time he got free, she’d be long gone.
“I didn’t come here to take you in, Demi. You don’t have to tie me up and run.”
As if she’d believe him. A man like him would say anything with a gun pointed at his head.
“I came here to tell you the Red Ridge PD is almost a hundred percent sure you’re innocent.”
“Almost?” That was rich. Did he really expect her to melt in relief and blithely go with him?
He let out a long exhale, no longer so amused. “It’s Devlin Harrington who’s been killing all the grooms. Police just need the missing gun and hopefully prints or other evidence that will link him.”
The police had no evidence against Devlin and he still thought she’d be safe returning to Red Ridge? “I know it’s Devlin.” She’d known for quite some time.
Devlin had behaved strangely toward her after she rejected his invitation to dinner one night. A few months later, she found herself accused of murder. While that hadn’t made the connection for her, recalling that Hayley Patton had rejected him as well made her begin to wonder if that meant something. Sure enough, it did.
“I also know he’s obsessed with Hayley Patton and a witness claimed to see me kill the last groom victim,” she continued. “A low-level drug dealer with a rap sheet said he saw me fleeing Bo’s murder scene. Really? That’s a credible witness? Another witness was killed. Can no one see a pattern here?”
“The police do.” Lucas moved slowly and began to rise, keeping his hands up and looking at her warily, testing her.
“Stay on the floor.” She took a step back. She’d never get away from him if he got the upper hand.
Lucas stood all the way up, his hands shoulder height. “I’m not going to take you in, Demi.”
“How can you expect me to trust you?”
“You don’t have to. Just believe me when I say you’ll be safe in Red Ridge.”
She wavered a few seconds before she skittered back to caution. She could not trust him.
“How did you know Devlin was obsessed with Hayley?” he asked. “One of the witnesses confessed to being paid, and that story was in the news, but what about Hayley?”
“I remembered how he used to watch Hayley. His girlfriend, Gemma Colton, brought him to a rare family gathering that her branch of the family deigned to attend. It was as though he forgot all about her when Hayley showed up. He had a creepy way of just staring at her. Then he’d make derogatory comments about Hayley, strange comments, like her dress was too short or she had on too much makeup. It was as though he thought she should be more modest. One or two comments like that and I wouldn’t have noticed, but he always criticized the way she looked and he did in a weird way, as though he was offended. I also found a social media webpage of his. He assumed a different name but I recognized him in a couple of photos he had posted. He posted a lot about his girlfriend and never mentioned her name, but he had many, many photos of Hayley and made up stories about things they did together that clearly never happened.”
“You need to give me the link. That’s more evidence against him.”
He was just trying to get her to lower her guard. He’d do anything to have another successful bounty to add to his rock-solid reputation.
They proceeded to have a stare down. Demi wasn’t one to be uncomfortable, but Lucas’s handsome face always threw her off. Not to mention his tall, muscular and fit body. She looked away first.
“The police won’t arrest you, Demi. You can go home,” Lucas said. Smooth talker.
Demi spotted the baby monitor on the kitchen counter and experienced a flash of panic. What if Wolf made a sound? Lucas might redouble his effort to haul her in if he found out she had his nephew in a hidden room.
“You say the police don’t have the evidence they need to arrest Devlin. Well, they have evidence against me.”
“They know the necklace was planted and the killer wrote your name in Bo’s blood, making it look as though Bo wrote it as he was dying. They know the witness who claimed to see you running from the crime scene lied.”
“How do they know that?”
“Everything came out because of a sexual harassment case last month. No one even realized it was connected until the pieces starting fitting together. Hunter Black—he’s a cop with the PD—found out that an employee of Colton Energy lied about bigwig Layla Colton sexually harassing him. Her phone and email were hacked. Only one person would have a motive to ruin her and that’s Devlin Harrington. He didn’t want his father marrying her. Hunter found proof of the hacking and, in turn, other evidence was dug up—evidence that connected him to being the Groom Killer. Devlin is now on the run, like you.”
Demi lowered her gun, stunned by this revelation. “What evidence?”
“A gun was found buried in his backyard. It’s the same gun used to kill some of the victims, but there were no prints.”
That further interested her. She resisted. This was Lucas Gage, Bo’s brother and her longtime enemy and professional competitor. He could be playing her until he found Wolf—his nephew—and subdued her long enough to take her into custody. He had ample reason to want to get her, and get her good.
A gust of wind reminded her a storm was underway. If she didn’t make a move now, she’d never get away. She walked into the kitchen and stopped at the counter with her back to Lucas. Blocking his sight of the monitor, she slid it between the coffee maker and the toaster oven. Then she turned to face him.
“That’s very compelling, Lucas, but I’m not going anywhere with you.”
When Lucas had first seen Demi from his vantage point on the floor, he hadn’t recognized her. He’d thought he’d wound up at another dead end, breaking into a strange woman’s cabin. Then the changes registered, the shorter hair she’d colored dark, the baggy hippie-like clothes. Her pretty green eyes were still the same, all full of fiery courage and defiance. She was the most fearless woman he’d ever met. The most competitive, too. She annoyed him as much as she intrigued him. He was sure she felt the same about him.
He still sat at the kitchen island and she stood on the other side, distrusting, still holding the gun. She might dress up as a hippie, but she looked casual but modern right now. The jeans flattered her shape, long legs and narrow hips. A soft blue thermal top was both practical on this cold night and attractive, molding to her form and reminding him that he’d always been attracted to those breasts.
He’d been so relieved when he realized he’d finally found her, relieved that she was the woman supposedly named Chelsey Carter whom he’d been tracking, and unable to deny that his relief stemmed from something much more emotional. She could handle herself and he felt bad for doubting her innocence, for going after her with more determination than he’d ever had for any other fugitive. Devlin Harrington had proved himself very dangerous, paying off fake witnesses and killing all those grooms. He’d do anything to preserve his evil way of life. More than he wanted to make amends for doubting her, Lucas wanted to protect Demi until the real Groom Killer was captured. One problem with that? Demi hadn’t liked him before he started hunting for her.
“How did you find me?” Demi asked.
Her demeanor had changed. She’d softened. Had she begun to believe him? He studied her unreadable mouth and the slight angle of her face. Were her eyebrows raised a little more? The easing of tension would do that. But Lucas knew this woman more than she realized. She might have dropped some of her guard, but she most definitely did not believe him.
“Do you mind putting that gun away?”
She still held it aimed at him.
“If I was going to hurt you, or bring you back to Red Ridge against your will, I’d have already done it, Demi.”
“You always were so sure of yourself.”
He was a good bounty hunter. “I could say the same about you.”
Her eyebrows twitched as though she hadn’t expected him to say that, as though doubting his subtle compliment.
“How did you find me?” she asked again.
He moved away from the window and the Christmas tree, nearly certain she wouldn’t shoot him. He took in her cabin. Simply furnished, but tastefully done, she’d made herself a home while she hid. At the kitchen island, he pulled a stool out and sat.
Demi stayed where she was with her gun still ready, waiting for an answer.
“I checked new and recent residents of surrounding towns and only one name came up as having no history until a few years ago—Chelsey Carter. The timing was off, of course, since you’ve only been on the run for a year. But I knew you could have found a way to fudge dates, so it was worth checking out. I wasn’t sure if it was you,” he said.
“That explains why you seemed surprised to see me,” she said.
“How did you manage to get set up here? The false name. This cabin.” He glanced around. “This is nice.”
“I didn’t have to fudge dates. I helped a fugitive escape a few years ago. She was innocent. This cabin belonged to her under a false name. She helped me the way I helped her.”
“What fugitive?”
“Maddie Morrison. When she was on the run, she came here. One of her family members gave her enough money to buy this place and helped her clear her name. I assumed her fake identity, the one she set up for herself as Chelsey Carter. She took all the furniture with her when she left, so all I had to do was furnish and decorate.”
“Didn’t anyone in town get suspicious about another Chelsey Carter appearing every now and then?”
Demi smiled. “I went to town in disguise. I bought some hippie attire and a wig so I looked more like Chelsey. We have the same eye color. She’s a little shorter than me, but not by much. Also, Chelsey didn’t go into town very much, just to buy food. She never talked to anyone, either. No one noticed me, at least, not in a suspicious or curious way.”
There was only one question left to ask.
Where was the baby?
Police had found a positive pregnancy test in her bathroom the day she’d fled. And just a few months ago, when she’d texted her brother from a burner phone to declare her innocence, Shane Colton had asked how the baby was, and Demi replied that he was fine.
Lucas looked around and saw no sign an infant lived here. He would have found her sooner if she’d had the baby under her own name. She must have gone to the hospital as Chelsey Carter. For months, until Demi had confirmed it herself via that text, her being pregnant, giving birth on the run, were rumors. He’d always hoped the rumors were true—and that the father of the baby was Bo, her ex-fiancé, his late brother. When he’d believed her guilty, he’d thought Bo getting her pregnant and then dumping her served as great motive to want to kill him. After he realized she hadn’t killed his brother, he’d wanted the rumors to be true. A part of Bo would live on. Lucas’s nephew.
“Where’s the baby?” he asked.
“What baby?”
He watched her face closely. She’d answered deadpan. But he knew about her text to her brother Shane, who worked closely with the RRPD. Why was she lying?
“Is it Bo’s?” he asked as though he didn’t believe her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
There it was, that ever-so-slight flinch of her eyes. She often did that when he made her falter.
“Come on, Demi, everyone knows you were pregnant when you fled. You were spotted—definitely pregnant—before you came here.”
Could she have lied to her brother about the baby? Maybe she’d lost the baby. He swallowed.
“I did move a lot, from hotel to hotel and town to town. I adopted disguises.”
She’d disguised herself as a pregnant woman? Disappointment filled him. So, there was no baby? No nephew? Bo would be gone forever, leaving no trace of the younger man with whom Lucas had been so close.
But what about the pregnancy test?
She put the pistol down on the counter and leaned her hip against the edge. She seemed entirely too relaxed. He began to suspect an act.
“I’m a little chilled.” She rubbed her arms and left the kitchen. “I’m just going to get a sweater.”
He watched her disappear down the hall. He leaned to the right but couldn’t see all the way to the end. Standing, he walked to the threshold. A light was on in one room. Another door led to a bathroom and the one next to it must be for a second bedroom. Passing the bathroom, he peered into the first bedroom. It contained a twin bed and a dresser and not much more. It was a small room. At the end of the hall, he looked into the lit bedroom. A queen-sized bed with a colorful quilt, dresser and chair filled it. He looked back toward the entrance to the spare bedroom. The wall ended before the linen closet.
Where had Demi gone?
He entered her bedroom. There was no bathroom off this room. He opened the closet. Just clothes hanging and some folded on an upper shelf. Shoes lined the floor. He parted the clothes. No passage there. Hurrying to the hall, he opened the linen closet. Nothing unusual here.
In the spare bedroom he noticed there was no window on the left wall and the window straight ahead was right at the room’s corner. He went there and looked outside. Snow fell much thicker now, but when he looked left, he saw the house extended farther than this room.
Going back to Demi’s closet, he shoved the clothes aside and searched the back wall. There had to be a hidden entrance in here. He felt the paneling until his fingers caught on a latch. Opening that, he found himself inside a nursery. The cradle was empty and the barred window was open. He shut it to keep out the cold.
He ran to the front of the cabin. Bursting through the front door, he saw Demi running for the Jeep through the heavy fall of snow. She held a bundle in front of her—the baby.
She had lied to him. She did have a baby.
“Demi! Wait!” he shouted.
Just then, gunfire erupted through the blowing wind and snow. Demi shrieked and had to duck in front of the Jeep. Lucas took out his gun and tried to determine the location of the gunman. It was difficult to see.
More bullets followed. Glass shattered and the Jeep sank as its front tire was blown out.
Lucas shot in the general direction of the gunfire. The gunman returned fire. Lucas pulled his head behind the pillar of the front porch where he’d taken cover, then leaned out and shot back several times.
Taking shelter again, he heard no more gunshots. He left the protection of the post and ran for the woods, seeing Demi with a crying baby still crouched in front of the Jeep.
Lucas slowed at the origin of the gunshots and saw footprints.
Chapter 2 (#ueb8cbf45-e2a3-57d5-94e6-5592d4897338)
Wolf’s cries overpowered Demi’s fear. Holding him against her in the baby carrier pack she’d put on, she tried to calm him and keep him quiet. How had Devlin found her? Had Lucas led him here?
The Jeep was useless with a flat tire. She’d have to change it, and how would she do that without being noticed or being killed? Had she been able to reach the Jeep before the gunfire exploded, Wolf wouldn’t be in tears and she’d be gone. Now only her baby’s safety mattered. She had to get back to the cabin.
If she could find Lucas’s keys, she could still get away, but that would have to wait. Her conscience nettled her that she’d be leaving him here with a killer. No matter what he said, he intended to hand her over to authorities. What else could she do? She had to think of Wolf. If she was arrested, what would happen to him?
Seeing Lucas disappear into the woods, she ran to the cabin, going in the front. She took a moment to calm Wolf, rocking him and looking down into his teary green eyes. He had red hair and a cute face. Right now his cheeks were bulbous with his open and crying mouth.
“I’m sorry.” She kissed his head. “I’m sorry.” This was all Devlin’s fault. Her son should not have to endure this. He should be sleeping in his crib, warm, safe and dry.
The baby began to quiet, looking up at her in a way that always melted her, with such trust and love. His sleepy eyes closed and opened. She’d put him to bed once she was sure he felt safe again.
Demi looked around the cabin. Lucas had left nothing behind. She went to the window he’d broken in through and looked outside. There was a backpack there.
She covered Wolf in the soft blanket and checked her surroundings on the porch, making sure the gunman had fled. Lucas had no doubt chased him through the woods. She hurried to the side of the cabin. Crouching at the backpack, holding Wolf securely against her, even though the baby carrier did that for her, she saw he’d fallen asleep. She dug through the contents of Lucas’s bag. The main compartment held nothing but extra clothes and water bottles. The smaller pockets held other essentials like trail mix, a GPS and a small first aid kit. No mobile phone. No handcuffs. No keys.
Standing, she returned to the front, not seeing Lucas and not hearing any gunfire. He had his keys on him. She was trapped here. She closed and locked the door and put Wolf to bed. Seeing that Lucas had closed the window, she locked it and then the secret door before going back into the living room. It was cold in the cabin. She went to the window he’d compromised and closed and locked that. Getting duct tape from the kitchen junk drawer that served as her tool box, she taped up the hole in the glass. Before closing the drapes, she saw that two or three inches of fresh snow already covered the ground.
A knock on the front door told her Lucas had returned. He’d spent a while out there, tracking the shooter.
She went to the door and said, “Just go away, Lucas.”
“I can’t leave, Demi, especially now. Devlin got away.”
He was that sure it was Devlin who’d shot at them? Devlin could afford to hire a gunman. He’d hired witnesses. Why not a hit man?
“Go away.”
“Let me in.”
“No.”
“Demi...”
“No! Go away. You should have never come here.” She kept her voice low enough not to disturb Wolf but loud enough for Lucas to hear her.
“You need me. Let me in.”
“I don’t need you,” she snapped, her defenses flaring. What made him think she needed him?
“You have a baby. You need help. You can’t defend him on your own. Surely you can see that. I can protect you both.”
A few months ago, when she responded to Shane’s text saying that the baby was okay, she’d immediately known she’d made a mistake. She could trust her brother, but he worked with cops. They’d know to look for a woman and infant. That had been a rare error on her part.
And Lucas did have a good point. When the shooter had fired at her, she’d gone wild with anxiety that Wolf would be harmed.
But this was Lucas offering his protection.
“How can I be sure you’re going to help me?”
“You won’t be. This storm is getting bad and you have a flat tire and broken windows in your Jeep. You need a vehicle. You can’t stay here anymore, Demi. Once the storm clears, I’ll get you out of here.”
Did he speak with a silver tongue? Although she could not argue his points. Would she be better off finding another way to get herself and Wolf somewhere else?
“Let me in. We can talk about what to do in the morning. Devlin won’t try to come back tonight. If he does, he’ll be trapped in this storm.”
With them? No, Devlin or his hit man would kill her and possibly Wolf. Then he could just take shelter in her cabin until the storm passed. The thought of Wolf hurt like that, or dead, made her sick.
Lucas could make it to town before the storm really got bad, but he’d return once the roads were passable again and she’d be hard-pressed to get away before he did. On the other hand, if she allowed him to stay, she could ride the storm out and wait for another opportunity to escape. She could take his keys while he slept. He’d be okay in the cabin until he found a way out. An outdoorsman like him could hike to the road or even town. By then she’d be long gone.
She unlocked the door, pulled it open and stepped back.
Lucas stood with snowflakes covering him, his gun held down at his side and his pack slung over his other shoulder. He looked manly and strong and sexier than she’d ever seen him.
“I knew you’d see reason.” He grinned.
“This doesn’t mean I trust you.” She folded her arms.
He walked inside. “Oh, believe me, I know.” He brushed the snow off himself and stomped his feet. He looked around. “Where is the baby?”
“In bed.”
He looked at her. “Can I see him?” He put his pack down.
Indecision gnawed her. He must be wondering if the baby was Bo’s child—if he had a nephew. What harm would it be to allow him a look?
She led him to her bedroom and the secret door, which she unlocked to allow him inside.
“This is a little overkill, isn’t it?” he asked as he walked to the crib.
“You think it’s overkill after being shot at tonight?” She came to stand at the foot of the crib. Wolf lay sleeping on his back, the blanket up to his chin.
Lucas turned on the light on the side table. Then he used his finger to pull the blanket farther down. He gazed at Wolf for endless seconds. Then his eyes lifted to catch hers. She saw the unvoiced question. Was the baby his nephew? Next she saw the pain of loss and a wish for some kind of link to his dead brother.
Empathy took her by surprise. She met his eyes for a while, flustered and reeling. This felt like a connection, but there could be none because this was her enemy.
To her amazement, Lucas averted his eyes first. “What’s his name?”
“Wolf.”
He returned to his silent and reverent study of the baby.
Demi looked down at Wolf, befuddled over what was transpiring. Could it be that Lucas had come here to help her? Or had seeing his nephew in the flesh confused him?
She folded her arms, feeling uncharacteristically vulnerable. Wolf was the most important thing in her life now. She’d had no way of predicting his importance before he was born. He’d been important as he’d grown inside her, but as soon as he came out into the world and gave that first cry, something had changed in her. When he’d been placed in her arms, she knew she’d never be the same. Every move he made, every twitch of his tiny arms, every shift of his head, was miraculous. When his newborn eyes met hers, she’d melted with love.
This man could take all of that from her.
When he looked up at her, she sensed he’d ask more questions.
“Let’s let him sleep.” Demi moved to the door and waited for Lucas to leave the room ahead of her.
He walked to the door and stopped, meeting her eyes as though guessing she didn’t want to talk about Wolf’s father.
“I’m going to board up the window, then I’ll sleep on the sofa.” He left the room.
Demi’s heart slammed. He’d backed off. Maybe he’d recognized the mama bear in her. Maybe he had decided to table his desire to see and hold the child of his dead brother. Demi could not trust her intuition. With Lucas, she’d been wrong too many times to give in to the primal attraction that had plagued her from the first time she met him. Okay, so she was attracted to him. That didn’t mean he was good for her.
Lucas lay on Demi’s living room sofa, his head on his folded arms, fireplace flickering, staring up at the shadows flickering on the ceiling. He had so much on his mind he couldn’t sleep. Demi’s determination to get away, her protectiveness of Wolf and, most of all, her reticence in talking about Bo. Why did she feel that way? Did she feel threatened? He could see why she’d taken such precautions in fleeing and hiding, and even securing Wolf in his nearly impenetrable room. She must fear his being taken from her and, of course, harmed in some way. Did she also fear that Lucas would take the baby after he turned her in? As a relative, Lucas could get custody of the baby if she were in jail.
What could he do to convince her he had no intention of turning her in? Maybe all she needed was time—to trust him or for him to prove that Devlin had become the prime suspect in the Groom Killer case. He felt obligated to make amends for believing her guilty for so long. He also knew how stubborn she could be.
Hearing her moving in her bedroom, he saw a light turn on. He listened to her open the secret door. How many times did she do that during the night? Maybe she hadn’t until now, when her location had been revealed and someone started shooting at her.
He heard her close and lock the door and then come into the hallway. She walked quietly, as though trying not to wake him.
“I’m not asleep.” He pushed the blanket off and stood to see her frozen in the kitchen.
He had kept his jeans on but was bare other than that. He watched her take in his chest and arms and then lift her eyes. Blinking, she turned and took out a glass from the cabinet. Lucas liked how she stretched her body to reach the upper shelf. She wore a sleeveless nightgown that fell to her knees and inched up her thighs. She was barefoot, like him. The gas fireplace kept it warm in here. The cabin had forced air heating, as well, but on such a cold night with blowing snow, the cabin would feel draftier without the extra heat.
“Nights like tonight I wish I had a television,” Demi said as she put the glass on the counter, the nightgown returning to her knees and her bare heels touching back down on the wood floor.
“I can’t sleep, either.”
Without acknowledging that, she opened the refrigerator and took out a milk container. He leaned against the island, the tree lights and fire the only sources of illumination after the refrigerator closed. He found it amazing that she’d managed to make such a welcoming home while on the run. Then again, as a bounty hunter, she knew how not to be found. Using a false name, plus her disguise, explained why it had taken so long for him to do so. She’d been on the run for a year. He should have known. He should not have underestimated her.
She glanced over at him as she finished pouring a glass of milk, her eyes going down the front of him before turning to put the milk carton away.
“Where’s Queenie?” she asked, in what must be a safe subject for her.
“She’s with Elle.” His dog was a beautiful Belgian Malinois, with a dark head faintly intermixed with chestnut brown that took over the rest of her body. She was one of the best ground and air trackers the Red Ridge Police Department’s K-9 Unit had. His sister, Elle Gage, had a dog, too, and was a rookie cop at the RRPD.
“You didn’t bring her?”
“I’ll pick her up when we’re back in Red Ridge.”
“We?” She sipped her milk and sent him a barely contained scowl as she walked into the living room.
He decided not to argue just now. Wind gusted and pelted snow against the side of the cabin. He welcomed the time he’d be stuck here with her. Trailing her, he sat at the opposite end of the sofa, listening to the storm. Demi had left the gas fireplace burning on low before going to bed. Flames flickered and added light in the small space.
“You must have been working hard to find me,” she said, putting her glass down on the side table. “You didn’t always think I was innocent.”
She said the last in a tone much more representative of her fiery spirit. She obviously did not believe he thought she was innocent, at least, not completely.
He put his feet up on the square ottoman and leaned back. “Oh, yeah. I tried very hard to find you when I thought you killed my brother.”
“But now you’ve changed your mind.”
She sounded like a smart-mouth. “With good reason.”
“With no proof,” she countered.
He again decided not to argue.
“Did everyone think I did it?” she asked.
“No, not everyone. Quite a few didn’t think you would kill anyone. Shane and Brayden drove me nuts.”
At the mention of her half brothers—Shane Colton, the ex-con turned private investigator and RRPD informant, and Brayden Colton, another RRPD K-9 officer—Demi’s face lit up. They had defended her but she likely hadn’t known that until now. He felt a little redemption inch its way into his regret.
“My brothers tried to exonerate me?” she asked.
“At first the evidence was difficult for them to ignore. After Tucker Frane was killed, Shane thought you were being framed.”
“Tucker said he saw me shoot a man in the alley between Bea’s Bridal and a French restaurant.”
“That’s why Shane began to suspect something was off.”
She angled herself on the sofa, bending her knees and looping her arms around them, settling in. For what, Lucas would wait cautiously to find out.
“And Brayden?” she asked.
“Brayden would rip my head off if he had the chance.”
She smiled big and sang a soft, “Yay.”
“Aw, come on. It wasn’t all that bad between you and me.” The Coltons and the Gages of Red Ridge traditionally didn’t get along well. Years of feuding had caused a rift, but Lucas had seen that change ever since Demi had been set up as the Groom Killer.
Her animation faded. “Yes it was. You always had to be the dominant top dog.”
“You’re freelance. I’m a bona fide Red Ridge PD K-9 cop.”
The vixen poked out her pretty head. Stormy dyed eyebrows arrowed down. He hated how he loved that. Part of the reason they’d remained enemies for so long was he could never stop teasing her. He didn’t think he’d be able to stop now.
“Bounty hunter,” she shot back.
“Deputized bounty hunter.” He winked.
“Ugh.” She rolled her eyes. “Do you have to do that?”
He chuckled. “Only with you.”
She eyed him. “You do it on purpose?”
He chuckled deeper. “I wouldn’t say on purpose. I can’t help it.”
Her head tilted sideways a little. “You like yanking my chain.”
“Let’s just say I’m one of the few people who think your quick temper is adorable.”
“Adorable.”
He held back another chuckle. “Yes.”
“Why do you think it’s adorable? Adorable is not how I would describe myself.”
He agreed. He would describe her as many things. Smart. Tenacious. tough. “It’s adorable because you never realize I’m teasing you. You’re innocent and then...not.”
She said nothing. Someday maybe she’d relax enough to let the little things fall off her shoulders. If she ever did, he would want to be the first man to date her that way.
“I also think you’re defensive because of who your father is, Demi.”
“What? You Gages hate all things Colton, no matter what side of the tracks we live on.”
The snowstorm wasn’t easing up anytime soon. They had plenty of time to debate.
“I know you’re close with your brothers and sister, but what happened with your dad?”
“He’s my dad.”
“Yeah, but...”
“He’s Rusty Colton, the low-down bar owner? Nothing compared to the other Coltons in town? Be careful.”
“Hey, I didn’t—”
“Didn’t mean to what?”
Dealing with her temper had always been a chess game. He’d always had to plan his next move. But now, suddenly, this wasn’t a game. Demi’s temper had more depth than he’d ever realized. She could be touched off rather easily, but she never got abusive. Granted, she could tone down her intensity a notch or two, but she stood on solid ground. He’d actually always sensed that about her, and enjoyed how easily he could set her off.
“Why do you want to know about my dad? All you’re here to do is take me in to be arrested. There might be a new prime suspect, but that doesn’t mean I’m off the hook.”
He gave up trying to convince her he wasn’t here to take her in. Instead, he decided to be blunt. “We’re going to be together in this storm for a while. Why not make the best of it? I’m curious, that’s all. I’ve wanted to ask you about your dad for a long time.”
Her controlled attack mode softened. She took a moment to answer. “My father doesn’t care about anyone other than himself.” She averted her eyes toward the Christmas tree. “The only good thing he ever did was produce me and my half brothers and my half sister, Quinn. He’s my father and we spend time together, but it doesn’t feel genuine to me.”
He felt her conflict about being raised by a man like Rusty or fathered by him. Her mother had left him, or so Lucas had heard.
“You’re not estranged?”
“No.” Her slow response conveyed her confusion.
She had some kind of relationship with her father, albeit strained. “What about your mother?” He knew something about her history but not personal details.
“You probably already know all of us have different mothers. Mine died just a few years ago.”
Lucas said nothing. Her line of Coltons wasn’t the high end compared to those others in town. He hadn’t paid much attention to that gossip, but Rusty’s was the rough branch of the clan, their spawn not accepted by the wealthier Coltons. Bad reputation due to hard living.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
He’d always thought Demi needed no approval from anyone. Her strength surpassed anything he’d heard about her father.
Standing, he strode to the window next to the tree, parting the drapes as though to survey for security, when in fact he needed the time to recover. Rusty tainted her reputation with those who didn’t look deeper. Her brothers had proven themselves. Her sister, too. Did Demi feel she hadn’t yet?
“I didn’t know about your mother.” He turned to look back at her.
She lowered her eyes, a telltale sign of the loss, the memory of her mother still painful.
“What was she like?”
Her eyes lifted. “Someone who should have never married Rusty.”
“I’m guessing the mothers of all your siblings realize that.”
She met his eyes and he turned from the window to keep up the contact.
“My father doesn’t do much to change our reputations, but he is my father. There’s nothing I can do to change that.”
“If you could, would you want to?”
“No. What would be the point?”
He didn’t respond.
She stretched her legs and rested her feet on the ottoman. “My mother was naïve, but not ignorant. She preferred to look at everyone in the best light. She saw good in everyone. Even Rusty.”
He gave her time to go on.
“Rusty’s bad qualities outweighed his good, but she only cared about the good. I suppose that’s why she married him. I can forgive her because she was so full of love and because she finally took me and left. We had a good life without Rusty. We were close. I lived with her up until she died. I had just finished college.” She rested her chin on her knee and drifted off in thought.
“I’m sorry. That must have been hard on you.”
She shrugged, as though opting for bravery instead of acknowledging painful memories. “I had Brayden.”
He knew she was closest to Brayden. “How did she die?”
“Car accident.” She slid her feet off the ottoman and leaned on her elbows.
“I’m sorry.”
She sat up and looked at him. “Stop saying that.”
That he was sorry? He did feel sorry for her.
“You Coltons never cared much for any Gages. You’re only putting up this fantastic front to lure me back to Red Ridge.”
“You’ve always been interested in the family feud that’s been raging for a century. I never paid it much attention. And I won’t try to keep telling you I’m not here to take you in.”
“The only reason I found the feud so interesting is there was plenty of feuding going on in my family. None of my father’s other wives liked my mother. I barely saw my half brothers or half sister. I never understood what the feud was about. My family is about as broken as any can get. We were disliked because we have a low reputation. I guess I thought that funny...or silly.”
She confirmed his notion that she needed no one’s approval.
“How did you end up so close to Brayden, then?” he asked.
“I would run into him on occasion. We started talking and discovered we had a lot in common. We both love the woods and mountains. We liked the same kind of literature and food. And...” She stared at the fireplace with a soft smile forming. “We just...talk a lot. It’s easy to be with him.”
“Love of woods and mountains.” No wonder Brayden had become a search-and-rescue specialist. He hadn’t known until now why Demi had become a bounty hunter. He supposed it had something to do with that, but more so a desire to catch criminals, and for Demi, that included satisfying her outlaw spirit.
“I never thought you were a roughneck just because your dad is.” Outlaw, yes, but she had soft spots he doubted even she realized she possessed.
“But you think I killed Bo.”
“Did,” he corrected her. “I know you’re innocent.”
She humphed.
Another gust pelted snow against the windows and outer walls. The storm showed no signs of letting up anytime soon. Lucas didn’t mind. What he did mind was his reason for not minding. Being stranded alone with Demi filled him with excitement. Maybe more than redemption had drawn him here. Maybe Demi herself had. Her innocence might have had a bigger effect on him than he realized.
Chapter 3 (#ueb8cbf45-e2a3-57d5-94e6-5592d4897338)
Demi heard Wolf on the baby monitor. He’d started to cry. She got up and went to the secret door. Leaving that open, she flipped on the light. There was no overhead light in this room, just two brushed-brass lamps with bear-embroidered shades. She went to his crib to see what had awakened him. Judging from the smell, she didn’t have to guess. Lifting him with a kiss to his pudgy cheek, she quieted him and then laid him on the changing table.
He didn’t protest. In fact, she was pretty sure he enjoyed having his diaper changed. She bent to brush her nose with his.
“Don’t you?” she cooed. “You like this.”
He wiggled his arms and legs along with a baby sound of glee.
She smiled with a heart full of love. And proceeded to change him.
“You’re going to be a clean freak when you get older, aren’t you?”
He made the gleeful squeal again.
She cleaned him up and put on a fresh diaper. When she’d finished, she picked him up and held him, unable to resist. She was tired and needed more sleep, but these moments were just too precious to relinquish too soon.
“He’s a good baby.”
A jolt shot through her and she turned. Lucas stood in the doorway. How long had he been there?
“Sorry.” He walked into the room. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“He likes eating and having his diapers changed. He doesn’t even mind a bath.” She looked down at his adorable face with his sweet green eyes looking up at her. He’d have her red hair, too. She was glad he’d gotten a lot of her features. She didn’t want to look at him and every time be reminded of Bo.
When Lucas stopped before them, Wolf turned his head and fell into a long, curious inspection of the new face.
“Can I hold him?”
Demi couldn’t explain why she was so overprotective of Wolf, other than having a madman frame her and police on her tail for murder. She saw no harm in letting him hold Wolf, not in the middle of a snowstorm. He wouldn’t try to take Wolf and go.
She handed him over.
Wolf seemed glad to go there, immersed in rapt fascination with Lucas’s face. She watched softness transform Lucas’s expression like an instant connection had formed right then and there. Lucas put his finger near Wolf’s hand and Wolf grasped it. Her baby had a strong grip.
“He’s something else,” Lucas said. “He has your eyes and hair.”
“Yes.”
“Is he Bo’s son?”
After a few seconds she finally said, “Yes.”
Lucas looked up at her and she felt the powerful meaning that brought to him. Bo might have veered off an honest path into murkiness and deceit, but they were still brothers.
“You were close to Bo?” she asked.
“When we were younger we were practically inseparable. Somewhere along the way he had drifted. I got busy with life and didn’t notice until he started doing questionable things. Lying. Treating female coworkers with disrespect. He’d almost been fired from some early jobs for sexual harassment. That wasn’t the brother I knew. I don’t know why he changed.”
She could see the sadness that brought him, but he also had many good memories. So did she. When she first met Bo, she must have seen the same traits Lucas had. Although Bo had darker hair and green eyes, he’d looked similar to his younger brother. He and Lucas were both handsome in a strong, clean-cut way. He’d also loved the outdoors, hiking and skiing, fishing—and dogs, of course.
She’d fallen for him right away and been certain he’d felt the same. She believed he had, anyway, and maybe hadn’t stopped loving her even after she’d begun to withdraw. She’d caught him in various lies, as well. Not major ones, just a series of little lies that made her wonder why he’d thought he needed them in the first place. But every time she questioned him he would fly into a rage. He’d frightened her once when he’d picked up an iron patio table and hurled it across the yard. That’s when she began to think maybe he wasn’t the one for her. When he left one night after another fight and came home drunk, she’d found another woman’s number written on a business card. That had been it for her. They had broken the engagement.
“I don’t know, either,” she finally said. “He had a lot going for him, but he made a lot of bad choices.”
Lucas watched Wolf fall asleep in his arms. “How did you get together?”
“I’ve always known him. I ran into him a few times. Then one day at the market he started talking to me. A few minutes later he asked me out. We had dinner, then went on a few hikes.” She shrugged. “We just hit it off.”
She wouldn’t add that Bo had reminded her of a nonconfrontational Lucas.
“And then he showed you his new ways?” Lucas’s eyes lifted.
“Yes, but he had some good points. He had his own business breeding dogs for the K-9 Unit and was so good with the mamas and pups. I can see how the two of you were so close before he lost his way.”
A slight upward curve of his mouth told her he appreciated the comment.
“He could be charming. The only problem was, he was charming to other women.”
“Yeah, and he got mixed up with the Larson twins.”
Noel and milder-mannered Evan had caused Red Ridge a lot of trouble, but the criminal twins were behind bars now. Bo could be a real rat, but he hadn’t deserved to be murdered.
“What happened between you and Bo?” Lucas asked.
Unable to resist, Demi reached for Wolf. Lucas gave him up and she held him, seeing him stir a little before falling into sleep again.
“We started fighting a lot. He would lie about stupid things, things he didn’t need to lie about. He had a temper, too.”
“He wasn’t like that when we were younger.”
“He wasn’t like that until we got engaged. He asked me to marry him, I said yes, and then I found out about the harassment. It changed the way I felt about him. After one fight, he left and spent his evening at The Pour House and came home drunk.” She eased Wolf down into his crib and covered him. “The next morning I told him he had to change his ways or it was over.”
“You broke up with him?”
“In essence. I gave him a chance to redeem himself. I guess I still hung onto the man I dated, the man I’d fallen in love with.”
“You did love him?”
She wasn’t sure why Lucas needed to know all of this. Maybe talking about his older brother helped him deal with the loss. “I loved a version of Bo.”
“Did he try to change?”
“Oh, no. He was furious with me. He packed, took back the ring and left. Not long after that, I found out he was seeing Hayley Patton.”
Lucas studied her, or maybe he wasn’t really seeing her, he was so deep in thought over how his brother had ended up so unreasonably callous.
“Did you know you were pregnant when you split up?”
She shook her head. “And I didn’t see a point in telling him. To be honest, I don’t think he would have cared.”
“The previous version of Bo would have.”
She supposed he was right, although at the time of the split she’d believed that when they first started dating, Bo had put on a front to win her over.
After a lengthy stare that began to heat up, Lucas scratched his head as though feeling awkward. “I’m going to be up for a while.”
“Me, too. Should we make some coffee?”
“Sure.” He led her out of the baby’s room.
In the kitchen she went about preparing a pot of coffee, not hearing the snow blowing the way it had earlier. She kept thinking about how loving Lucas had been with Wolf. He seemed a natural with children. Before having Wolf, Demi would not have pictured herself as a maternal person. Now she knew that if she ever married, it would have to be to a man who would be a father to Wolf.
“Do you want kids?” she asked before she could stop herself. She didn’t need to know that about him—Lucas—her rival and a Gage.
“No.”
He answered so quickly that she stopped in the process of pouring water into the coffee maker to look at him.
“I haven’t seen the family thing work out so well. It might be for some people, but not for me.”
“So, not just kids, you’re tossing the whole marriage thing into the trash along with that?”
“I wouldn’t say trash. I chose not to.”
That sounded rather harsh. Cut-and-dried. He’d live alone his entire life? What would make anyone come to such a drastic decision?
“Having a long-term girlfriend is the same as being married.” She said that to test him more than anything.
“I don’t think so.”
He seemed so adamant. Demi couldn’t help the disappointment that gripped her. She’d always been secretly attracted to him, but their volatile relationship had not left any room for soft sentiments.
She had to ask. “Why? I mean, why not get married?”
“My mother died when I was young. It tore my father’s heart out and changed everything in our family.”
She had known he’d lost his mother just as she had. “Your dad remarried but she died last year, too” she said.
He nodded grimly. “He still grieves for her and my mother, but I’ve seen him improve over the last few weeks. He told me he does much better on his own.”
Alone. That sounded more like avoidance. “Better in the sense he doesn’t have to worry about losing anyone?” Everyone was happier when they weren’t alone. Humans weren’t meant to live alone.
“I think that’s why my brother turned into such a reprobate. He kept losing mothers. He may have felt abandoned, left to his own devices, especially after our mother died. My dad was no good for us during his mourning. He worked constantly and wasn’t really there for any of us. It ripped our family apart.”
Mourning that never stopped. His father must have drowned his sorrow in work and had been so consumed with it that he never had time with his kids. Maybe spending time with them had grown too painful. He’d had a family with two women he loved and both of them had been cruelly taken from him. His kids had been left to raise themselves.
Demi saw the coffee had finished brewing and poured two cups. “Sugar or cream?”
“Black.”
She poured cream into her coffee along with a sugar substitute, her one nonnegotiable indulgence. Taking the cups, she went to the kitchen island and handed him his black coffee.
“What about your stepmother?” She took a careful sip of the steaming brew.
“By the time she came along, we were accustomed to taking care of ourselves. She was nice and everything, but she wasn’t our mother and she never really tried to form any kind of bond with us. In all fairness, I don’t think she could have, even if she tried. We all felt the loss of our mother. It wasn’t just Dad who suffered.”
Demi leaned her hip against the countertop. “After my mother died, I started thinking about having a family. Being alone didn’t appeal to me. After I had Wolf, I realized I will never be alone. I will always have him. I can see why you wouldn’t want to get married. My father didn’t mourn the loss of any of his wives, but he wasn’t part of my life. He didn’t care about us. I would hate it if I ended up marrying a man like that. Even if he wasn’t exactly like my dad, even if he had redeeming qualities, if he doesn’t care about his kids, to me that is worse than if he died.”
“Then we agree.” He half grinned. “That sounds dangerous.” He sipped some coffee and put his cup down behind him and to his side on the counter.
Dangerous because they had that in common—something important? She wasn’t completely convinced. “In a way. I think there is too much importance placed on marriage, that too many people get married because that’s what everybody else does. That leads to bad decisions. That said, you can’t go through life expecting to lose the person you love if you marry them.”
“Why not? Everybody dies. There is no free ticket out of that one.”
“Well, no, obviously not,” she said, “but look at how many people live their entire lives with the one they married. Just because your dad lost both wives doesn’t mean you will.” It seemed a weak reason to avoid marriage. Then again, she’d avoid it, too, if she wasn’t sure the man would care deeply about his family.
“It’s more than marriage. It’s the whole idea of love.”
So, he refused to love out of fear he’d lose it the way his father had? “You’ll really go through your entire life never falling in love?” She felt another one of their notorious arguments coming on.
“Actually, I don’t think about it,” he said.
“You must, because you just told me you’ll never fall in love or get married.” He couldn’t have come to such a conclusion without first pondering the notion.
“Are we going to fight again?” he asked.
Feeling her ire rise, she practiced control. With Lucas that did not come easy.
“You’re just afraid,” she said, trying to tone down the edge in her voice.
“No,” he said. “I don’t want to mourn over a woman, whether she leaves or dies, and I don’t want the family drama that comes with it. Ever.”
Like his father had. “Isn’t that a little narrow-minded?”
“Aren’t you narrow-minded when it comes to getting married? Trusting a man?”
He had her there. She couldn’t call out his flaws when she had her own. ”Marriage is also about trust, not just love. You either love the person you’re with or you don’t. Trust is a lot harder to gauge.”
“I’m not with anyone,” he said.
Come to think of it, she had never known him to be with a woman for any significant length of time. He dated often and he dated stereotypical beauties—fashion divas or sheltered, unadventurous women with not much going for them other than their looks. She bet he singled them out, knowing none of them would last.
Demi agreed that if you loved the person you were with and were sure you wanted to spend every waking moment with them for the rest of your life, then marriage didn’t matter. But trust did. You trusted your partner with your money and your home. You loved the man.
“Neither am I.”
“Then we’ve settled it. No love without trust because trust is too rare, and no marriage because marriage never works. Just companionship. That’s what both of us want.”
“Ooooh, something in common. How special.”
He angled his head in response to her mocking. “You brought it up.”
“What if you end up falling in love despite your best effort not to?” Her stomach did a flop when she realized she feared that as much as he did. What if she fell in love again?
“I won’t.”
Her ire rose again. How could he say that? She left her coffee on the counter and went to him.
“Then there’s no danger in doing this.” She put her hands on his chest and slid them upward as she leaned her body against his, looking up into his dark eyes with her best attempt at smoldering sexuality.
She saw the startled flinch in his eyes before he recovered.
“We’ve never tried this before,” she said. “We were always so busy arguing and beating each other to bounties that I doubt it ever crossed either one of our minds.”
“It crossed mine.”
It was her turn to be startled. He’d considered romancing her? She’d daydreamed of it more than once. Those hot imaginings had always unsettled her.
“Well, I don’t trust you and you will never fall in love, so...” She tilted her head as she rose up onto her toes. Looking into his eyes, she slowly moved her lips to his, barely touching. She felt his warm breath and smelled the faint remains of cologne.
Her heart beat fast and she had to take more breaths. She hadn’t anticipated this—a real reaction to him as a man. She should have. Hadn’t she just recalled all those daydreams she’d had of him? He’d admitted to having them, too.
His hands slid around her. They singed her with each inch they traveled from her waist to her back. Heat ignited and spread.
He pressed his mouth more firmly to hers and they fell into a moving kiss. As his lips caressed, hers answered. It felt so good she couldn’t stop. She vaguely heard their harsher breathing.
His tongue probed for entry and she allowed it. From there a hungry feasting ensued.
His hands roamed down to her rear and she instinctively lifted her leg, needing more. He reached for the hem of her nightgown and, in doing so, his elbow moved back and bumped into his coffee cup. The cup tipped over and coffee spilled.
Demi stepped back and Lucas turned to right the cup. For a moment she could only stand there and watch coffee spread over the counter and drip over the edge.
What had just happened?
Snapping herself back into a semblance of control, she went to the paper towel holder and retrieved enough to mop up the mess.
“I’ll get it.” Lucas took the paper towels from her and began wiping up the spilled coffee.
His declaration that he’d never fall in love or get married gnawed at her. So did her lack of trust. This man would see to it she was arrested. She’d kissed him, and the chemistry taunted her. Attraction she expected but this...this was far beyond anything she’d ever imagined.
Lucas spent an awkward day with Demi. The snowstorm had gradually relented by midday and he was itching to get out of here. Another storm was forecast for later so they didn’t have a long window of time. He also needed to get moving rather than be confined in this small space alone with her. Demi had always been bold, but he couldn’t believe she’d pressed herself against him like that. Kissed him. Even more, he could not rationalize the punch it had packed. He’d thought of kissing her many times before but he had never anticipated such intense passion.
He wanted to stop it from cluttering up his mind. Unlike other women, she wouldn’t leave him alone in his thoughts. She’d spent her morning with Wolf, feeding him and bathing him and dressing him. After she’d put him down for a nap, she’d come out into the living room and sat on the sofa with a book, her glances wary and sometimes sultry.
“We should get going soon,” he said.
Raising her eyes from the book, she sent him one of her distrusting looks.
“We can’t stay here with Devlin out there. It’s stopped snowing. He’s going to be back.” They should have left as soon as the snow let up this morning. Now the afternoon was growing late.
“Give me your keys, then.”
He had kept them in his pocket to prevent her from leaving without him. “I’ll drive you.”
“Why should I go with you?” she asked.
“We can go to my cabin. I have a security system. Devlin won’t be able to get at us there.”
“Us.”
“You and Wolf will be safe there.”
“For how long? Until you convince me to go to town where I’ll be arrested?”
“You won’t be arrested.”
“The evidence hasn’t disappeared, Lucas. Police have enough to throw me behind bars until they’re positive Devlin is their guy. But seeing me in jail is what you really want, isn’t it?”
“No.” Frustrated, he stood and paced to one side of the room and then went to the window next to the Christmas tree. It was still cloudy but there was no wind and no more snow fell. Drifts rolled across the landscape from the cabin to the trees. He saw no tracks and had gone outside to check for signs someone had prowled. There were none. They didn’t have much time to waste.
He faced the room and Demi’s cautious eyes. “You can stay at my cabin for as long as you like. I won’t tell anyone you’re there. My colleagues all know I went looking for you. I’ll tell them I didn’t find you. You can bring your disguises and we can search for the missing weapon used in Bo’s murder. You can stay hidden until we find it and we have something concrete to clear your name.”
Several seconds passed while she considered that. “Why would you do that? What reason do you have to help me? You think I’m guilty.”
“I don’t think you’re guilty anymore.”
“Still. Why help me? I’d be more inclined to believe you’d use my arrest as a convenient way to get rid of me professionally.”
He scoffed. She sure had a low opinion of him. Well, her body certainly disagreed.
“I’m not that much of a shyster. Thanks.”
She averted her eyes and he knew by her reaction that she saw his point.
“I owe you, anyway,” he said, bringing her eyes back to him. “Not only for doubting your innocence, but for saving my life.”
When she didn’t seem to recall the incident to which he referred, he said, “Remember that bounty we both went after? The robbery suspect? He drew on me and you appeared behind him and stopped him from shooting me.”
“I didn’t save your life.”
“He would have shot me.” Lucas was sure of it. “I was so intent on getting him before you that I rushed too much. I went out into the open too soon. I didn’t know where he had gone. I didn’t see him go into that alley. You did, and you positioned yourself behind him.”
Again, several seconds passed as she contemplated what he’d said. “That almost sounds like a compliment.”
He hadn’t said she was a good bounty hunter but he supposed he’d implied it. She was good. He had never admitted that, though. He had always been too driven to outmaneuver her.
“Please, Demi. Come with me to my cabin. It isn’t safe here.” She had to see that.
Her gaze went to the Christmas tree. “I don’t like the idea of spending Christmas in hiding.”
“I have a Christmas tree in my cabin.”
Her eyes moved back to him.
“And exterior lights. You don’t have those here.” She only had the tree.
Still, she hesitated, but he felt her begin to sway.
“Aren’t you tired of running?”
She let out a heavy sigh. “Of course I am. I miss my home and my friends.”
“Then go pack. Let’s get out of here while we still can.”
At last she nodded. “All right.” She stood and walked to the back of the cabin.
Lucas was immensely relieved and a little amazed that he’d actually gotten through to her. She’d agreed to go with him. She never would have done that before she’d been accused of murder. Their rivalry had been too strong. Add to that the fact that she was a Colton and he was a Gage and their feud only grew more intense.
Now, in the short amount of time he’d been alone with her, he began to sense a thaw between them. Certainly that kiss had melted a sizable chunk of animosity. He wasn’t sure it was right to call it animosity, though. Maybe on the surface. Underneath, he had always thought their competition held more playfulness than that. He had teased her, after all. Now he had to face the fact that his attraction to her presented more of an issue than anything else.
What if you end up falling in love despite your best effort not to?
Her question haunted him. He suspected it would continue to haunt him after that kiss.
An explosion rumbled the walls of the cabin.
Lucas drew his pistol and rushed to the front door. He cracked the door open and cautiously peered outside. His truck was on fire. Someone had blown it up. Further, all the tires on the Jeep were slashed.
They had no way out of here. Except on foot.
Chapter 4 (#ueb8cbf45-e2a3-57d5-94e6-5592d4897338)
Throwing on a jacket, Lucas ran from the cabin. He heard a snowmobile. In the woods, he slowed to listen. The snowmobile noise grew fainter. He’d never catch the man.
Running back to the cabin, he saw Demi, armed with a rifle, standing outside the cabin.
“We’re trapped here,” she said, lowering the gun.
Inside, he closed and locked the door. “We’ll hike to the inn a few miles down the highway.”
“Hike?”
He knew she was thinking about Wolf. “We’ll be all right. Dress warm.”
She gaped at him a moment and then went to the rear of the cabin.
Lucas kept watch through the windows. Moments later, he heard the snowmobile return. Devlin emerged from the trees with an automatic weapon. He started shooting at the cabin. Lucas ducked out of sight with his back to the wall. Glass broke. Bullets hit ornaments on the Christmas tree.
He ran to the back of the cabin, grabbing his backpack on the way. Closing Demi’s closet door behind him, he adjusted the hanging clothes to hide the back of the closet and then joined Demi in Wolf’s secret room. He locked the door.
All the while, a hail of bullets struck the cabin and broke more glass and other items in the living room and kitchen.
Demi had finished dressing Wolf and had him in a baby packpack. He began to fret over the noise.
“Shh,” Demi said softly, bouncing him. She had the rifle propped next to the door and he saw a pistol in a waist holster. She’d brought a backpack and winter clothes into Wolf’s room. He commended her for her forethought.
The gunfire ceased.
Lucas exchanged a look with Demi. Where was Devlin?
Shortly thereafter, the sound of the door breaking down preceded more gunfire.
“I know you’re in here!” Devlin shouted.
His booted feet thudded on the floor as he moved into the cabin. Lucas heard him come down the hall and stop at the door to the room next to this hidden area. Then his steps reached Demi’s room. He shot his automatic weapon, tearing the room up for a few seconds before stopping. “Where are you?” he yelled.
Devlin began throwing things. A lamp. He tipped over the dresser with a roar.
“Where did you go?” He continued to rant. “How did I miss you running?”
His boots thudded into the hall. “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid! How could I be so stupid?”
More thrashing came from the living room. “I should have never drove away on the snowmobile. I should have attacked right away!” He roared again and then his footsteps faded as he left the cabin.
Lucas waited, listening to the snowmobile circle the cabin, then do a wider swath, and then the noise faded altogether.
“All right. Let’s go.”
Demi put Wolf’s hood over his head and covered his head with a blanket. She herself had on a heavy winter jacket, a hat and gloves, and winter boots.
Lucas opened the window bars and the window. Demi had put a stepladder before the window. Lucas picked up the two backpacks and used the ladder to climb up and out. Dropping the packs, he took Wolf from Demi and she climbed out. He hung one backpack on his back and hooked the other over one shoulder while Demi put the baby pack back on. She followed him through the deep snow toward the front of the cabin. Flames devoured his truck. He’d loved that truck, his 2500 Laramie Crew Cab.
Once they reached the long, winding driveway, he slowed to allow Demi to catch up and walk beside him. He kept an extra-careful watch on their surroundings, listening for the snowmobile and searching for signs of anyone lurking in the trees. The snow wasn’t as deep under the tree canopy.
“Why does Devlin want to kill me?” Demi asked as she hiked alongside him.
“Got me.”
“The evidence is against me. He framed me.”
He thought while he walked and kept vigil. “He must know police are after him. Even without solid evidence against him, he’s now a suspect.”
“Then why kill me? Why not just make a run for it?”
“He has. If you’re asking why he’d like to kill you, you should ask why he wanted to kill all those grooms.”
“His obsession with Hayley. He killed Bo so he wouldn’t have her, and he probably killed all the others because he couldn’t marry the woman he loved so therefore no one else could.”
Lucas thought some more as he walked, glad to have something to focus on other than kissing Demi. “You were supposed to go to jail after he framed you. Instead, you went on the run. You got away. Now he’s a suspect. His plan is failing and he likely blames you. You should be in jail, according to him.”
“I guess we’ll never know for sure. I can’t climb inside the mind of an unstable person. Whatever his reason is, it won’t make any sense to someone rational.”
“Probably not.”
They reached the highway. They’d be more out in the open now. If Devlin were to come after them again, he’d have to drive a car and not the snowmobile. Lucas made a mental note to check the local snowmobile rentals to prove Devlin rented one.
“How far is the inn?” Demi asked.
“I saw it on my way here. Maybe five miles.”
“That’s not bad.”
Five miles was a cinch for him. He loved the outdoors and always made plans on his weekends off to do something active. He was, however, concerned over the lowering gray clouds. It would start to snow again soon.
“Do you walk a lot?”
“Yes. I love hiking in the woods. It’s been great staying at the cabin. I took Wolf every day.”
“I love being in the woods, too. Camping. Fishing. Mountain biking and hiking.”
“I haven’t camped in a long time. I’m not big on fishing. I have a nice mountain bike, though.”
He walked beside her, wondering how he’d missed the many interests they shared. After the potency of that kiss, the revelation didn’t bode well for his philosophy on love. Hell, just because he found her attractive on every level didn’t mean he’d automatically fall in love. Sex was always hot in the beginning. As time passed that wore off and companionship became the important factor. Like any other relationship, the physical passion would fade.
A car approached from behind them.
Lucas put his hand on her back and steered her off the highway into the trees. He wouldn’t take any chances in case the driver was Devlin. There weren’t many cars out after the big storm.
Demi stood behind a tree and he behind her. The car passed.
They resumed their trek on the highway for a few more minutes. Then another car approached.
Demi found another tree and they waited.
This time the car slowed and pulled over not far from where they stood. Lucas recognized Devlin in the driver’s seat.
“That man is relentless,” Demi said.
“You go deeper into the woods.” She took Wolf and did as he said.
Lucas waited for Devlin to get out of the car and aimed his pistol. He shot and the bullet hit the door frame. Devlin bent for cover. He held his automatic weapon. Lucas could see the barrel sticking up as Devlin held it. He took aim and hit the top, sending it falling from Devlin’s hand.
Getting back into the car, Devlin started driving. Lucas shot at him again as he passed, hitting his mark but not fatally. He thought he had struck Devlin’s arm, given that Devlin jerked his hand off the steering wheel and swerved a little. He kept driving. Lucas watched until he disappeared from view.
They walked up the highway and Lucas saw snowflakes begin to fall.
Tired, cold and hungry, Demi shook off more snow from Wolf’s blanket and checked on him. His cute face sprang into an open-mouthed smile. He’d done that each time she checked on him, as though having fun with a game of peekaboo. Seeing the lighted sign for the inn, a surge of gladness suffused her. It was dark now and the snow had begun to fall more heavily. Lucas repeatedly looked around and she could tell he watched out for them. She could focus on protecting Wolf, which she appreciated.
As they turned onto the paved road leading to a parking area in front of the inn, bright lights welcomed them. Demi hadn’t seen a sight that washed her with relief more than this. It was a large log structure with a gabled window perched over the double-door entry and white-trimmed windows along the first and second stories on each side. She could see a Christmas tree through one of the windows.
She couldn’t wait to get settled into a nice warm room and order room service. She hoped they had room service.
She walked faster, nearly trotting toward the entrance while holding Wolf’s head. Lucas chuckled and jogged to the front door to open it for her. She entered as Wolf began to cry. He had a soft cry, not a screech, but low toned. He also used his hands to get his mother’s attention. She talked to him every time he did that. He so melted her heart. Lucas was beginning to melt it even more whenever she caught him watching. She could tell he was comfortable with his affection. Yes, he wanted to know his brother’s son, but was the boy’s mother another matter?
Inside, they stood in a small, wood-floored foyer with a desk. Piano music played somewhere in the back. There were no doors other than a wide-open archway that led into a living room. Clanking dishes and running water told her the kitchen must be to the right of that room.
Demi went to the desk with Lucas, taking in a grand double staircase of dark-stained wood and banisters with white vertical spindles. The two beautiful curving stairways flanked the foyer, rising to a large landing area on the upper level where the Christmas tree twinkled.
A slightly plump older woman with short gray hair and black-rimmed glasses appeared through the living room archway. “Oh, hello.”
A man matching her age trailed her.
“What are the two of you doing out in this weather?” The older woman spotted Wolf. “Oh, and you have a youngster.”
“We don’t have any arrivals tonight,” the older man said, sounding mildly cantankerous.
“Oh, stop, Edward. We have plenty of rooms.” The woman waved her hand as though swatting at him.
“We just put away all the food, Gladys.”
The woman named Gladys went behind the desk. “Shush, Edward. Let’s put you in room...” She looked up at Demi, the baby and then Lucas. “Let’s give them the west corner. You’ll have lots of room and there’s a fireplace and a nice tub.”
“Heaven,” Demi said.
Gladys began processing the transaction on the computer. “What brings you two here at this hour and in a storm like this?”
“The storm passed.” Lucas handed her a card.
“The snow hasn’t,” Edward said.
Was he as grumpy as he sounded? He seemed harmless and even friendly underneath his elderly annoyance.
“We had car trouble,” Demi said.
“We can get a tow for you.” Gladys gave Lucas his card back.
“Don’t bother, it’s totaled. It caught on fire.” Lucas glanced over at Demi with a secretive grin.
“Oh, my goodness. I am so happy you are all right.”
Gladys gave him the key—a real key. The charm of this place was already working its way into Demi.
“Do you have room service?” she asked.
“We have a kitchen and prepare food for all three meals a day, but it’s all put away now. There’s a restaurant not far from here that delivers to us, though.” Gladys produced a menu.
Demi took it, thrilled to no end. “Thank you.”
“Have a good night.”
“Breakfast starts at seven,” Edward said.
Lucas led the way up the grand staircase and down the hall to their end room. Only then did Demi realize they’d be sharing it. She hadn’t thought to ask for her own.
Lucas opened the door and let her go in first. A king-sized bed with a cream comforter that had a thick green stripe running across the foot end was to the left of the door. A white nightstand with a dark wood top was on each side. A counter with a microwave and coffee machine was to the left. There was a small refrigerator below. The bathroom was behind an old-fashioned sage-colored sofa that faced a fireplace and high-backed chair. The walls were sage green and trimmed in white. Tall windows flanked the fireplace, and a larger window was between a dresser with a television and the high-backed chair.
Demi removed the baby pack and a now-fussing Wolf. Lucas put the backpacks on the sofa and went to the large window, performing his sentinel role.
After removing her outer clothes, Demi prepared Wolf’s dinner, holding him in one arm. Then she went to the chair and sat, feeding him with a bottle.
Lucas left the window and checked the taller, narrower windows. When he finished, he turned on the fireplace and sat on the sofa with the restaurant menu.
“Pizza?”
Anything sounded good right now. “Sure.”
He took out his mobile and put it away. There must have been no service because he went to one of the nightstands and used the phone to order.
Demi looked down at Wolf, with his red hair and closed eyes, as he suckled the bottle. He’d been a real trouper on the long, cold walk here. He’d only started complaining when he got hungry. Maybe he’d grow up to be an outdoor person, like her.
Lucas finished ordering and sat down on the sofa and watched them. Wolf began making tiny grunting sounds, contented with a full tummy. He opened his eyes and met hers. Their bond was magical. She’d heard other mothers talk of it but hadn’t come close to imagining what it would be like for real. Indescribable. Miraculous.
Wolf finished his dinner. She needed to get him ready for bed.
Standing, she walked to Lucas. “Will you hold him so I can get us ready for bed?”
Lucas looked up at her and then reached out to take the baby. He cradled Wolf in his arms, his size dwarfing the little one.
Demi dug into her backpack, which she had strategically packed to fit the most items. She found Wolf’s pj’s and a fresh diaper and set them on the counter. In the bathroom, she flattened a towel out on the vanity next to the sink. Before retrieving Wolf, she washed her face and got into her own pj’s—she’d opted for pants and a top.
When she emerged from the bathroom, Lucas was at the counter with Wolf, changing his diaper and talking to him in a baby voice. She couldn’t hear exactly what he said, something to do with fresh and clean for bed.
She stopped beside them and saw Wolf’s big smile. He giggled and waved his arms.
“It didn’t take long for him to latch on to you.”
Lucas smiled with a glance at her. He finished dressing Wolf and lifted him, raising him high and then bringing a pudgy cheek down for a blow-kiss. Wolf squealed in delight.
“I am never going to get him to sleep if you keep that up.”
“We can hang out for a little while.” Lucas cradled the baby in one arm as though he’d held infants all his life.
“How are you so adept at handling babies?”
“Friends and family gatherings.”
“You like them.”
“Kids? Yeah, of course. What’s not to like?” He offered his pinky and Wolf grabbed hold. “Yeah.”
His sing-song tone contrasted mightily with all his brawn. Adoration suffused her. After that kiss, the whole spectacle warmed her much more, having more sentimentality and heat.
“You said you don’t want to have kids.”
“Not my own. It’s easy to enjoy them when they aren’t yours.”
A laugh bubbled up and out of her. She used to think the same before Wolf came along.
“He’ll have to sleep between us tonight,” Lucas said in his normal man tone. Then, to Wolf, the sound changing again, he said, “Won’t you? Yeah.” He brushed his nose with the baby’s, eliciting another raucous bout of giggles. “We can’t have you rolling off anything.”
The baby would serve as a barrier between them. Demi should be glad for that.
“Are you sure you won’t roll onto him?” she asked.
“I doubt I’ll get much sleep tonight anyway. I won’t roll over on him.” Lucas’s voice reverted to the animated version for the last declaration. “No I won’t.”
“How did I ever miss this Jerry Maguire character you have in you?”
His deep chuckle rendered Wolf still. His eyes grew big and he stared up at Lucas as though the rich sound fascinated him.
I’m with you, pal. More than his voice fascinates me.
Demi had to endure another half hour of Lucas playing with Wolf before sleepiness finally took over and the baby conked out in his arms. She also had to endure the way Lucas watched the transition from play to sleep. He held Wolf until the phone rang, signaling their pizza had arrived.
Demi took Wolf from him and laid the baby on the bed while Lucas took care of the pizza delivery. She arranged a blanket around Wolf and leaned down to kiss his forehead. She wasn’t accustomed to sharing him with anyone. No one else had been around. She had to admit to a little jealousy, seeing how smitten her son was with Lucas. More disturbing, though, was how Lucas bonded with him. Wolf could almost be his own son. Being his brother’s son was close enough.
Lucas put the pizza on the oval wood coffee table and retrieved some paper towels from the counter next to the microwave.
It was after seven, and she was starving. She sat next to him on the sage sofa. He handed her a slice on a paper towel.
“I don’t understand why you deprive yourself of having children when you love them so much.”
He chewed a bite of his own slice and looked at her. After he swallowed, he said, “Eat.”
“No, really. Why do you?” To make him happy, she bit into her pizza.
“I don’t look at it like I’m depriving myself.”
“But you are.” He’d made the decision not to have them when it was obvious he adored them.
“I enjoy other people’s kids. Why do I have to have my own to satisfy that urge?”
He called it an urge?
“Did you plan on having Wolf?” he asked.
She scoffed. “No. He was an accident. A very special one.”
“Did you plan on having kids in general?”
She supposed she deserved the questions since she’d gone after him for answers on the same matter. “Actually, no. I hadn’t given it much thought. Having them wasn’t a top priority. Don’t ask me why.”
“But after Bo, you decided to stay away from marriage?”
“Marriage, at least for a while, and definitely not until I find a man I can trust. If I never do, that’s okay with me.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Well, good, because I don’t believe you, either.”
And she didn’t trust him, either. He didn’t believe she’d stay away from marriage and she didn’t believe he would, either. Where did that leave them?
Chapter 5 (#ueb8cbf45-e2a3-57d5-94e6-5592d4897338)
Early the next morning, Lucas woke before Wolf and Demi. He rolled onto his side and propped his head on his hand. Snuggled in a blanket on top of the comforter, the baby breathed evenly. Long, fine, dark-red eyelashes rested on his cheeks. Lucas didn’t like how Demi’s question bothered him. He did like kids. They didn’t have a worry in the world and always gravitated toward fun and adventure. His favorite camping trips were the ones with big groups and kids.
Whenever he thought of having kids of his own, he also thought of how devastating it would be to lose them. He enjoyed other people’s kids. He’d feel a lot stronger about his own. He knew people who’d lost a child. It changed them beyond compare. No parent should have to go through that, but the sad reality was, in life there was death. The only death he needed to suffer was his own.
After spending time with Demi and Wolf, though, he wondered if he’d made the wrong choice. He understood most people would not relate to his decision not to marry or have kids. He knew it was drastic. He also knew that he never, ever wanted to feel what his father had felt and lose touch with those around him, even his kids.
Lucas had needed his father after his mother died. He hadn’t had his father. He didn’t really have him to this day. His father was a quiet, solitary man. Successful, no arguing that, but detached from the rest of society. He functioned. He socialized. From the outside, no one would guess a depressed man struggled to survive day-to-day. On the inside a completely different man lived. He felt neither joy nor sorrow anymore. He’d lost too much. Money had meaning and nothing else. Money would not hurt him. Love would.
Lucas didn’t live in isolation. Money didn’t mean that much to him beyond being a necessity. He wasn’t afraid of love, either. He just never wanted to be hurt the way his father had been hurt. It was a conscious decision.
He could just hear Demi argue with him. She argued with him a lot. That’s why they butted heads so often.
“If you avoid love because you don’t want to be hurt, then you’re afraid,” she’d say. Or something similar.
Once he fell in love, his well-being would depend on the well-being of the woman he loved. Who had control over something like that? Nobody, that’s who. Unless a person chose not to fall in love. He controlled his destiny.
Demi stirred, taking a deep breath followed by a long stretch. The comforter slid off her breasts, which stood out with the arch of her back. Even her modest pj top didn’t minimize the shape of her perky chest. She had an athletic body, something that had always attracted him.
Her eyes blinked open. She turned her head and their eyes met, hers sleepy, and he was sure his were heating up.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Watching Wolf sleep.”
She smiled softly and rolled to her side to look at her son. The motherly love that swept her expression left him no illusions as to what she felt for her baby. Their bond was powerful.
Feeling himself slipping ever deeper into this domestic bliss, Lucas pushed the covers off and got up. He busied himself making coffee.
Demi stayed in bed, waiting for Wolf to wake up. Once he did, she went about giving him a bath and dressing him. They’d go downstairs for breakfast.
Lucas put a cup of coffee on the side table by the bed where Demi was dressing the baby.
“Ah. Thanks.”
He sipped his coffee just as four gunshots rang out from somewhere in the inn. He put down the cup and grabbed his gun. Demi had picked up Wolf.
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