by Barb Han
And then there was Cadence.
She sure as hell didn’t seem to want him underfoot based on the way she stood there alternating between touching the growing bump and fisting her hands at her sides when she looked at him. Did she realize how much danger she was in? Did she know he had no plans to leave until she was safe?
The idea of becoming a father crashed down on him while looking at her.
Dammit, she looked even more beautiful.
“If I’m the target and it’s only me this person is after, doesn’t it make more sense for me to leave the ranch so everyone else will be safe?” Cadence asked after a thoughtful pause. “What if he confuses me for Ella and she accidentally gets shot in my place. I’d never be able to forgive myself if a bullet meant for me hit her.”
Ella swiped at a tear, clearly getting emotional over her sister’s revelation. “That’s not going to happen.”
Even so, Cadence had a point. Plus, security had been compromised on the ranch. The place wasn’t set up for attacks on the Butlers. Poachers, yes. And there was general security at the main house. The guard shack in front and foot patrols kept away the kinds of threats they normally faced. But there’d been several attempts on Butlers in recent months and although thankfully everything had worked out, that didn’t mean their luck would hold. Mr. Butler had been murdered on the ranch and the killer had been crafty enough to get away with it so far.
Looking at Cadence, it was clear to Rory that she had an idea of just how much danger she was in. Although, she looked to be taking everything in and considering possibilities.
“Where would you go?” he asked her.
“I’d be safer anywhere but here in Cattle Barge, where everyone knows our business and every move we make.” It was clear that she was building up to something.
“What did you have in mind? Europe?” Getting her as far away from the ranch as possible didn’t sound like the worst possible idea. Especially if it meant he could keep her out of the line of fire until he figured this out.
“I was thinking more like Colorado,” she said.
“Why would that be safe?”
“Correct me if I’m wrong but I’ve already been there for months, ever since Dad...” Her voice broke. “And no one has tried to do anything to me so far. It’s clearly safer for me there, which also raises the question, if this person was after me in the first place, why come here?”
More good points.
“I’ll give you that the person might not’ve known you’d be coming home. Maybe he was watching until you did,” Rory argued. “There’s something to be said about going back to Colorado and possibly being safer, except that it would be easy to follow you now that he’s found you. I don’t think it’s worth it to travel all the way there. But believe me, this is a win in his mind even if I threw off his immediate plans. He knows where you are. Could he have known when to expect you?”
“I doubt it,” Cadence said.
“Have there been any new hires on the ranch recently? Anyone who could’ve tipped this guy off?” Rory continued.
“No one knew I was coming home except for my family, our lawyer and May,” Cadence supplied. “I trust every one of those people with my life.”
“Agreed,” Rory said. The family lawyer, Ed Staples, was like an uncle to the Butler siblings and May, the housekeeper, had been a surrogate mother.
Rory needed to think. He paced around the kitchen.
“We could let this guy know where you’d be,” he said.
“Why would we do that?” Ella quipped.
“Let him finish,” Dalton said. It was the first sign of support since the news of his relationship with Cadence had been revealed earlier.
“Maybe there’s a way to make a big deal out of pretending you’ve come home. Set up a time and place the guy thinks you’ll be somewhere while I sneak you away from the ranch.”
“We could throw a baby shower,” Ella interjected. “Pretend that you’re here and it’s happening tomorrow.”
“That’s a solid possibility,” Dalton offered. “Word travels fast in Cattle Barge.”
“How soon can I leave?” Cadence asked.
“Out of an abundance of caution, you should go soon,” Ella said. “If someone’s trying to get to you, I don’t want to risk your life or add strain to the pregnancy.”
Dade, who had been quiet up until now, stepped forward. “The only way I’ll agree to this is if Rory goes with her.”
“Hold on a minute,” Cadence defended. “I’m old enough to make my own decisions and I don’t need the family to—”
“I know you won’t put you or your child’s life in danger by rejecting help,” Dade said sternly. And Rory could almost see the hairs on Cadence’s neck stand on end.
She was gearing up for battle and the stress couldn’t be good for her or the baby she was carrying. He needed to have a serious sit down with her once this storm blew over and figure a few things out, but for now, he needed to find a way to keep her calm.
“If she’s good with me helping, I’m all in. I’m more than willing to offer assistance but not without her agreement,” Rory said, although he fully believed that he had every right to make sure his child and its mother were safe. “The last thing she needs is more stress and I’ve already caused enough by showing up.”
She stared him down like a prizefighter from across the ring. Her arched brow gave away that she was trying to figure out his game. He didn’t have one. All he wanted was for Cadence to be safe and he was the best man for the job.
“I’m leaving,” Cadence stated. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself and the last thing I need is a babysitter.”
Surely, there was some way to change her mind. Looking at her right then with her determined gaze and jutted chin, Rory feared there wasn’t.
“Forget it. She’s too stubborn,” he said.
Chapter Five
To Cadence, this situation was no different than the time Dade and Dalton had stepped in between her and Granger Peabody on the playground. Standing up for her was fine, appreciated even, but they’d steamrollered right over Granger when the two of them were only playing and hadn’t listened to her when she’d tried to reason with them to let them know he wasn’t hurting her. The two had been playing Damsel in Distress and he was the villain.
Granger had been a friend until her brothers warned him to stay away or else. The ten-year-old boy wouldn’t have anything to do with her after that and it had been a lonely rest of the year. Fifth grade had spiraled into sixth when the twins had knocked the tooth out of the first boy who’d kissed her.
Granted, he hadn’t had permission but she’d been prepared to stand up for herself and not look like someone who couldn’t take care of herself.
Instead of being her saviors, they’d turned into her worst nightmares. Because of them she’d been teased her entire life for not being able to fight her own battles. That was one of the many reasons she wanted to live in Colorado and not Texas. Her heart would always be with the land and her family roots but no one felt the need to stand up for her in Colorado. She was free to live without the burden of the family name. And, yes, Maverick Mike Butler’s name—and reputation—certainly traveled with her, but he was too big for life in Texas, making it impossible to step out of his shadow.
Her brothers were too overbearing here and she could only imagine how much more protective they’d be of her babies. Especially since she’d be bringing them up on her own.
When she was on her first date, both of her brothers had shown up at the movies and sat on either side of her and Rickie Hampton. Exactly what did they think she was going to be doing in public at the theater on Main Street? Kiss? It had been bad enough that Rickie had had to go through a security gate in order to pick her up. Talk about the death of a social life. Everyone believed the Butlers thought they
had their noses in the air anyway and she guessed their sticking together hadn’t helped much. No amount of Ella’s volunteering had made a hill of beans difference. People thought what they wanted despite all evidence to the contrary.
Cadence had learned that lesson the hard way. The few friends she’d made had been using her, believing there’d be some kind of benefit to being a Butler friend. School had been lonely. Dade and Dalton had had each other. She knew the twins and Ella loved her, but smothering her wasn’t the same as being close.
To Cadence, having her family following her every move—well intentioned as it might’ve been—had been suffocating. Madelyn and Wyatt were welcomed additions now that Madelyn had forgiven Cadence for her childish behavior when her newfound sister had first come to town after being summoned by the family lawyer.
“There’s just one problem with our plan,” she finally said.
“And that is?” Ella asked.
“No one is going to believe a baby shower being set up in a few hours,” Cadence said.
Rory nodded. “He’ll see right through that.”
“There’s something else we could use, though,” Cadence said. “The will.” She referred to the stipulation that it be read on Christmas Eve with the entire family present.
“If all of you are in the same place at the same time it’ll be easy to strike and take down more than just Cadence,” Rory said.
Ella paced as the twins nodded in agreement.
“How about this?” Ella finally broke through the quiet of the last few minutes. “What if we send out word that the will is going to be read tomorrow night instead?” She checked the clock on the wall. “Make that tonight.”
“Is there time to set that up?” Cadence asked.
“We’ll let it leak online and then it’ll get picked up as gospel. We all already know everything we say and do gets reported,” she said, looking to her brothers and then Ella. “Even when it’s wrong.”
Dade’s eyes perked up. “It could work. Tell the right source. Set up a fake meet up and see what happens.”
“Cadence would be far away,” Rory interjected.
“But no one has to know that,” Ella said.
Cadence had to admit the idea might just work. The faster the sheriff caught the man targeting someone in the family—her?—the quicker she could come clean about her future plans to her siblings. She might have a temper and make decisions she sometimes regretted after acting in the moment, but she wasn’t a liar. Keeping secrets from the family didn’t feel right. Everything they’d been through since losing their father had made them even closer. Father. She couldn’t even think about him without a lump forming in her throat. What would he have thought about twin baby girls for grandchildren? She rubbed her belly again without thinking about it.
Although Maverick Mike Butler had a wild streak a mile long, he’d become more even keeled as he aged. Getting older had been nice on him. He’d worn his years well and seemed to settle into his personality more. Like there was more softness about him and less to prove. He’d confided in her that he had an announcement to make to the family. She’d suspected he was going to tell everyone that he wasn’t going to be a bachelor much longer.
Her idea to move to Colorado permanently had hit her after talking to her father. Give him and the rest of the gang at Cattle Barge up and make a life for herself in Colorado. She wished she’d told her father about her plans. Was it weird that she still wished for his approval?
“If this is going to work we need to get Ed Staples involved,” Ella said, pacing around the kitchen island.
“True,” she said.
Dade stood at the island while Dalton put on another pot of coffee.
“Let’s start planning.” Dade pulled his phone from his pocket and set it on the counter. “Now, who should we tell in order to spread the word fastest?”
“That’s easy,” Ella said. “We’ll start with the NewsNow! reporter, Cameron-something, who’s been hiding inside almost every bush I’ve walked past for months on end.”
“Won’t he question suddenly having a real story fall in his lap?” Dade asked.
“I doubt it,” Ella said on a sharp sigh. “He’s hungry for any piece of information he can get on us. He won’t question the source, especially when the information will come from a Butler.”
Dalton rocked his head in agreement, a look of disdain darkening his features.
“We haven’t talked about this yet, but is there anyone you can think of who would want to scare you, Cadence?” Dalton poured a cup of coffee for himself and offered one to Rory.
“No,” she admitted as Rory took the cup from her brother. She really was clueless as to who would want to hurt her. “I haven’t even been in Cattle Barge since Dad’s murder and I kept a low profile in Colorado. I doubt anyone could’ve tracked me there.”
Rory issued a grunt noise.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She whirled around on him.
“I knew where you were and when you left,” he said, and then it seemed to dawn on him that he’d revealed he’d been watching her.
“How good can you be at your job, Rory? You didn’t even know I was carrying your child.” She regretted the insult as soon as she hurled it. “Look, I didn’t mean that. I’m just saying—”
It was too late. Rory had already stalked out back and slammed the door behind him.
* * *
“I WASN’T TRYING to upset you,” Cadence called after Rory, stopping him in his tracks.
He immediately backpedaled as he glanced around. It was pitch-black outside save for the light above the barn door and another at the back porch. “Are you crazy or just trying to put yourself in harm’s way?”
“What?” A look of confusion knitted her brows.
“Anyone could be hiding in the tree line. Get back inside, Cadence.”
She looked like she was about to mount an argument but then her gaze darted around toward the darkened areas of the yard. Much to his surprise, she turned tail and headed back inside. He followed her.
The kitchen had cleared out, which was good. He didn’t want to say what he had to in front of her siblings no matter how close he was to her brothers.
“A lot has happened and you should probably think about getting some rest,” he started and before she could become indignant, he held up his hands in surrender and said, “I’m not telling you what to do. Do what you want. It’s a suggestion.”
Her heart-shaped lips bowed. “I didn’t take it the wrong way.” She stopped short of saying this time. But he’d take it. At least she didn’t look ready to hurl a coffee cup at him. He’d call that progress.
He’d also seize on the good will.
“I don’t want you anywhere around the fake reading of the will,” he admitted.
Did she realize how much she cradled her stomach?
Rory battled against the strong urge to protect her. He’d only push her away. Cadence’s independent streak had always been longer than the Rio Grande. She might be stubborn but she wasn’t stupid.
“You’re right.”
He almost performed a double take. Was she agreeing with him? Did she have another agenda that she was about to lay down?
“I know you want to go back to Colorado. Promise you won’t make that decision without at least letting me know before you leave?” he asked.
She blew out a breath. “Believe it or not, I’m not trying to make any of this harder than it already is, Rory.”
Somehow, he doubted that. But he didn’t want to send her blood pressure up again, so he didn’t comment. “Does that mean you’ll discuss your plans with me before you act?”
She cocked an eyebrow. She looked good standing there in the kitchen. Even better than he remembered and that was saying a lot. Was it the pregnancy making her skin glow? He’d heard horrib
le things about what pregnancy did to a woman’s body and yet it sure as hell looked good on Cadence.
His fool heart squeezed at the thought of her having his child. First, he had to get them both out of danger.
“You have a right to know where I am.”
He bit back the argument that said he’d had a right to know about the baby from day one but she hadn’t exactly shared that information until she was forced to. In fact, if he hadn’t shown up, he would still be in the dark. But all he cared about right now was finding the guy who’d called himself Dex.
“Dalton asked about anyone you can think of who might be upset with you,” he continued. “Have you thought of anyone? This guy said his name was Dex but he’d be an idiot to use his real name and he didn’t strike me as naive.” The whole camping scene had been set up to look like Dex was a less-experienced outdoorsman. The guy was better than Rory had initially given him credit for because he’d slipped out of Rory’s reach.
“Seems like having Butler for a last name is enough to put me on the wrong side of a rifle scope,” she said with a frown. “But no one comes to mind.”
“Fair enough,” he said, feeling her frustration peel off her in waves. “Until we figure it out, you’ll need to keep a low profile.”
“Understood.” She pinned him with her stare. “What’s going to happen to Boots?”
He gave a noncommittal shrug.
“Dex was obviously using him as a decoy, so there won’t be anybody looking for him. I’d like to keep him here at the ranch if you don’t want him,” she said, and he couldn’t figure what she’d want with the little dog.
Rory had only briefly considered keeping the puppy for himself. Taking the dog on the range while tracking poachers wasn’t the best-case scenario for the dog or Rory. A wrongly timed bark could put Rory in grave danger. He’d be no good to the dog dead. Rory’s life was smoother if he traveled alone.
Plus, a home with Cadence would offer far more stability than anything Rory could propose. This was the first thing they’d agreed on since the baby bomb had been dropped just hours ago. Rory still hadn’t wrapped his mind around being a father. Figuring out the rest that came along with it was going to be a slow climb. As far as the dog went, he could give her that. “Okay.”