Page 93 of The Cowboy and the Baby

My gaze shot up to the window. Two little knick-knacks on the sill had been swept to the side, away from the opening. I rushed to it, hardly understanding why, to find a set of footprints beneath Lily’s window. They stretched to and from the main walkway, leading all the way to the driveway, where the Jeep had parked half an hour ago.

Lily.

Lily.

The scream tore from my throat.

“Cade!”

Cade arrived in seconds, Wyatt and Cody hot on his heels. He calmly took in my blabbering, the empty room, my gestures to the window where the footprints remained. He crossed the room, brought me into his arms, and looked outside.

“Take a breath, Noelle. We’re going to find her.”

He spun, keeping me with him. His voice rumbled as he commanded Wyatt.

“Call 911, and ask if they can send Hernandez. Tell them that we need a deputy at the house. There’s been an infant abduction.” He turned to Cody. “Get the trucks warmed up just in case we need to go scout for Noelle’s parents.”

They scattered.

I pulled my breath through a narrowed airway, forcing my initial hysteria to calm. Cade grabbed my arms, brought my eyes to his.

“They’re not far, Noelle. They left, what? Half an hour ago?”

I nodded.

“They’re probably going to try to take her home. We’ll figure this out, all right?”

A whistle of wind drew my eyes outside, to the gusts skittering past and blowing through. Disbelief swept my words away. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that Mom had done this.

She’d taken Lily.

This whole visit had been a setup. No wonder Mom had been so upset, so avoidant, and left so quickly. All this time, she knew she’d stab me in the back and take my child. Is that why Dad had gone downstairs? Did he try to distract Cade, or make noise? He must have met Mom at the window right before they departed . . .

The thought of them passing Lily through the window made me want to throw up. What if they dropped her? They didn’t have a car seat! They’re driving in weather like this? They could get in an accident and?—

I cut the thought off.

How ironic. The one set of grandparents I felt certain would never take her, had taken her. All my anxiety had been directed toward the wrong people.

What did that say?

Cade squeezed my arms gently, withdrawing me from the windstorm in my brain. He pressed a kiss to my forehead, set his jaw.

“We’ll find her, Noelle. I promise. That baby girl isn’t going anywhere but back into our arms.”

He slipped out of the room, barking new orders to the boys.

31

CADE

Hernandez arrived twenty minutes later, which was a record, considering the length of the drive, the increasing wind, and the lowering temperatures. He hustled onto the porch, knocked twice, and Noelle was already pulling it open.

“I’m Noelle,” she breathed, “the baby is mine.”

Although Dagny was married to Jayson Hernandez—we all called him Hernandez—Noelle hadn’t met him when Lily stayed at his place. He stepped inside with a reassuring smile, nodded to me.

Cody and Wyatt hurried around the kitchen, dragging dishes from the table to the counters, stashing condiments into the fridge, and clearing space for the maps I gathered out of Morgan’s old room.