Page 104 of The Cowboy and the Baby

Headlights.

I stopped my snowmobile directly behind the stuck Jeep. I faced the haphazard path Richard struggled to make in this deeper, drifted snow. Headlights on, flashers blinking, the Jeep sat cockeyed and stuck on a snow embankment. Attempts to dig out were clear, but led to nowhere. The snow was too deep to reach the ground.

Wyatt pulled up next to me as the driver’s side door shoved open. It scraped against snow as Richard stumbled free.

My anger locked in, all my energy came forward. Blood rushed to my hands, warming them with tingles, like preparing the knuckles to take a beating when and if I decided to smash my fist into Richard’s nose.

I’d love to.

Wouldn’t, but I wanted to. Cowboy Code demanded he throw the first punch, and then I would be all in.

Richard stood next to the Jeep, trembling.

“You all right?” I called.

He squinted against the storm. My headlights pointed off to the side, but lights from the dash illuminated his expression enough. With the door open, I could see into the back seat. Ashley sat there, baby in her arms. Lily cried inconsolably, and my heart cracked. Molten rage almost poured out, but I schooled it.

But only because I saw something in Richard’s eyes.

Fear.

Actual fear.

“How’d you find us?” he called. The question almost ripped off his lips, taken by the storm. I grabbed his wrist, yanked him away from the door, and shut it.

“There’s a baby in that car!” I shouted. “And you’re letting the cold in. I followed your tire tracks. You aren’t as smart as you think. I knew where you’d go, and what you’d try to do.”

Richard looked down and grumbled something I couldn’t hear. This situation would resolve easily enough. I’d leave him behind. Take Lily, put her in the carrier, and wear her home. Ashley could ride with Wyatt.

Cowboy Code protected the weak, not the stupid.

He could sit this storm out alone, and then come up with a new plan to get home once it settled. He deserved it. He deserved worse, in fact, for all his poor treatment of Noelle and Lily combined.

But I couldn’t do it.

In Ashley, I saw a devastated woman misplaced by her husband’s fanaticism for greed. I saw the broken family that somehow brought Noelle into the world. Noelle’s view on life, her love for Lily, was a miracle considering who she’d grown up with.

But there was one fact that I couldn’t forget: without these fools, I wouldn’t have Noelle or Lily.

So I owed them.

One thing, and then nothing ever again.

“We’re going to do it one way!” I shouted over the storm. “I’m going to wear Lily under my coat so she stays warm, and she’s going to ride back to the ranch with me. Ashley is going to join me on my snowmobile, and you will go with Wyatt. We’ll take you to town, drop you off at a hotel, and let the state troopers know we found you. Since they’re looking for you,” I added.

A flash of terror appeared in his eyes, then went out as quickly. His lips clamped down in a stubborn twist.

I held a finger right in his face. Although I spoke low, and gravely, and angry, it didn’t matter how loud the wind, I knew he heard every word I said.

“Then, you are going to leave and never come back. You’re going to deal with whatever issues you have at your job without Noelle, and we will never hear from you again. Because if we do hear from you again, you’ll deal with me. Whatever fire you think you’re facing now is going to seem small in comparison.”

The threat found a mark, because Richard paled. His nostrils flared, cheeks twitched like a trapped, livid rabbit. I expected him to try to punch me, swing a fist, something, but he just melted against the door.

“Fine,” he snapped, but it had no power. “Fine.”

I lifted an arm to call for Wyatt.

“Stay right there,” I commanded Richard, “until Wyatt tells you he’s ready.” I paused, my hand wrapped around the door handle to reach for Lily. “Oh, and hold on tight. Wyatt’s a bull rider and an impetuous fool.”