Only Her (Haley Cove Book 1)

by Lee Wardlow

  “He did.”

  “How are you Sky?”

  “I don’t need to tell you how confused I am? If anyone knows it is probably my four sisters.”

  “How did he handle the fact that he has a ten-year-old daughter?”

  She was playing with the pen in her hand avoiding eye contact. “Not well. You know him,” Skylar told her.

  “I thought I did then he left you. I thought family meant everything to him then he never came home,” Roxy informed her.

  “He said he couldn’t. It would have been too hard. He’s been calling. Paid off his mom’s farm.”

  “Paid off the ranch here too,” Ramona told Roxy.

  Her hands flopped down on the table palm down. “Is that a good idea Sky?”

  “It was a loan Roxy. Tag has been giving me some problems. Threatening me with everything he can. We set it up legally. I signed paperwork and everything. I pay him back every month just like I would the mortgage company.”

  “What’s crawled up Tag’s butt?”

  Sky looked at Ramona who gave her a crooked grin of concern. “What hasn’t.” Ramona replied for her sister.

  “I’ll explain later.” Sky just wanted to enjoy her sister and not bring down the mood by discussing Tag.

  “I’d love to see my niece. Where is she?” Roxy asked. “I bet she’s growing like a weed.”

  Not really, Skylar thought. Unfortunately, it appeared that her daughter would be tiny like her. “Beside the barn, playing with the goats.” Roxy rose from her chair. “She’s not growing at all. She’s kind a bummed about it too. Looks like she’s gonna be a petite one like her Momma.”

  “Yeah but she’s got a mighty right hook,” Ramona told her.

  “Oh, I’m sure there is a story there. I think I’ll ask Ava about that. I’ll go out to see her if you don’t mind.”

  “Sure, go ahead. I’m just going to finish up in here and wait for Luka to get back with the supplies.”

  Ramona and Skylar were looking at Skylar’s iPad reviewing some ideas for Chloe’s party. Chloe texted Sky letting her know she would be at the ranch soon. She was in town leaving the feed store, after saying hello to Brett and Benji at the feed store.

  A creak in the hallway usually meant that someone was walking on the one board that they all knew to avoid. A board that should have been fixed a long time ago. Ramona got up from the table and went to the kitchen doorway. She expected Ava, Roxy or Luka. She backed into the kitchen. Skylar turned her head and saw Tag with his rifle drawn aiming it at her sister.

  Skylar rose from the table her hands were shaking as she stepped in front of her sister. “What are you doing?” Ramona whispered.

  “Protecting you,” Sky replied.

  “He has a gun. I’m not sure how much protection you can offer me.”

  “What are you doing Tag?” Skylar asked. She was pushing Ramona back slowly.

  “My truck is behind the house. Head towards the back door.”

  Skylar glanced over her shoulder at Ramona. Her sister pulled her towards the back door. “Just take me,” Skylar said.

  He snorted. “You aren’t in a position to tell me what to do right now,” he declared.

  They backed into the door. Ramona turned and unlocked the heavy door. The old knob jiggled in her hand. She opened the screen door and stepped outside. She saw Chloe coming up the drive in her vehicle. She gave her a few minutes to get parked then she stepped out onto the porch. She didn’t know where Roxy and Ava were; hopefully out of sight.

  Skylar took Ramona’s hand. “Come on,” she whispered. “Hurry before he sees Chloe, Roxy or Ava.”

  Skylar let Ramona guide her to Tag’s truck. “You aren’t taking Ramona,” she insisted. “I’ll go wherever you want but you aren’t taking her.”

  “I don’t need any witnesses.”

  “Seriously, you don’t think that you aren’t going to be the prime suspect if I disappear? Leave Ramona.”

  “Get in the truck,” Tag snapped. Skylar climbed into the truck.

  “You aren’t taking her,” Skylar insisted. He glanced over his shoulder at Ramona then he shoved her away and hopped inside his truck and drove away. Sky glanced over the seat through the back window as Ramona got to her feet. She seemed okay. Skylar hit him hard in the arm.

  “What the fuck Skylar.” The truck swerved as he drove across the fields to the back gate where she and Brett had entered to sit by the pond.

  “She’s pregnant you, jackass.”

  “Another Shaw bastard,” he sneered. “Brett’s?”

  She scooted over and sat as close to the door as she could, avoiding looking at him. “What are you thinking Tag?” He ignored her. “Where are you going?”

  “I rented a cabin in the north. Somewhere I could think.”

  “Think about what?” Her voice rose several octaves.

  “Sky, you don’t realize what you’ve done to me.”

  “Talk to me then.” She glanced across the seats at him but kept her calm and her distance. “This doesn’t make things any better. This is felony kidnapping.”

  “Mother took me off the board of directors besides the council removing me as Mayor.”

  “I’m sorry Tag. I never meant to hurt you. I told you from the beginning how I felt. I rarely saw you so I thought we were on the same page.”

  He glanced over at her then back towards the road. “I tried not to fall in love with you Sky.”

  “Like I said, I’m sorry that you did. I wouldn’t hurt anyone the way that Luka hurt me.”

  “But you’re going to take him back. Everyone in town thinks so. Hell why not. He’s famous. Did you know that?” She was beginning to realize just how famous Luka was. “He’s wealthy. You can google his net worth and find that on the internet. He’s one of the wealthiest MMA fighters in the world.”

  “I don’t care about that Tag.”

  He looked at her then he shook his head. “No you wouldn’t, would you?”

  “You can take me back home before it is too late. Maybe get some help. We can forget this ever happened.” Sky was hoping he would take her suggestion.

  “Not yet,” he said. Then he looked at her. “Maybe never. What do I have to lose? I’ve lost everything.”

  **

  Luka should have known. He had a niggling feeling in the back of his head all day that he forgot something or that something wasn’t right. When he finished Skylar’s list he headed back to the ranch. He called her but she didn’t answer. Maybe she was catching up with Chloe. That had to be what it was. That was why Skylar wasn’t answering.

  When he turned down the lane to the ranch, a line of police cars was in the driveway. His heart began to beat hard against his chest. His brothers were there. Brett, Dalton and Benji. His mother Luna. Chloe and Roxy. Where was Ramona? Ava? Skylar?

  He parked as close as he could. Leaving the door open and hell he thought he might have even left the truck running too as he ran up the drive to them all standing in the yard.

  “Where is Skylar and Ava?” He asked.

  Ramona came off the porch. He hadn’t seen her. She must have been sitting on the swing. “Luka,” she was crying. She went to Brett and he tugged her into his side, holding her close. “Tag took her. He was going to take me too. She made him leave me behind.”

  “Where is Ava?”

  “Inside,” his mother told him. “With Stellan. They are watching cartoons together to keep her mind off this.”

  “I just need a moment to see her then I want to know what happened.”

  They let him go. Inside the house, he called Ava’s name. She appeared in the doorway to the living room. “Daddy. Momma is gone.” His baby was crying. He went to her and scooped her into his arms; holding her close.

  “I know baby. We’ll find her.”

  “That’s what Stellan said.”

  “He’s right. We will.” He hugged her hard against him. Then he patted her back. She leaned out of his arms so he could see he
r face. “I love you Ava. You and Momma both. I need to go outside so I can find out what happened.”

  “Okay.”

  “You stay here with Stellan.”

  “I will,” she promised.

  “Thanks Stellan,” he told his brother who was sprawled across Skylar’s couch. His brother nodded. He watched his daughter go back to his brother’s side. She snuggled into his body and watched the television; sniffing every now and then because Tag had taken her mother and she was afraid. Stellan kissed Ava’s head and hugged her hard. They would get through this together as Shaw’s always did.

  Turning, he went back to the door and outside into the yard where his family was waiting on him. The screen door slammed shut behind him then he ran down the steps to the yard. “What the hell happened?”

  Ramona started explaining. She finished with Tag shoving her down onto the back porch and leaving with Skylar. “Where was Ava?” Luka asked.

  “She was in the barn with me?” Roxy told him. “She was showing me Majestic.”

  “Thank god,” Luna said.

  Roxy nodded in agreement.

  “I had just arrived,” Chloe explained so I reached Ramona first when I heard her screaming at Tag’s retreating truck. “We called 911 from my phone. They have an APB out on his truck. His mother has tried calling his cell but he’s not answering it.”

  “Does she have hers?”

  “No,” Ramona replied. “We were sitting at the table when it happened. Her phone was there. She stepped in front of me.”

  All three brothers raised their eyebrow. “Why?” Luka asked.

  “She thought she could protect me somehow,” she replied.

  Luka gazed at Ramona. “Are you hurt?” He asked. “Anything wrong? I don’t know much about pregnancy but you said he knocked you down.”

  “Pregnancy?” Brett choked on the word.

  “Oh shit,” Luna groaned. “Another Bradford girl knocked up by one of my sons.” She rubbed her eyes tiredly.

  Dalton started to laugh. “At least Brett knows about it.”

  “I do now,” he snapped. “How long have you known Ramona? Or you Luka? I guess Skylar knows too?”

  His arm had dropped to his side. Luna replaced it with her own. “Brett, Skylar is missing. Could you not choose right this moment to come down on Ramona?”

  “I’m sorry Ramona,” Luka told her. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  She glared at him. “I’m three months pregnant so I’ve known for a while now. I told Sky when she was sick. I don’t know when she decided to tell Luka.”

  “Everyone but me Ramona,” he said. “The father should have been the first to know. Don’t you think?”

  He turned and went to the house. Luna grabbed her arm to keep her from following him. “Sweetheart, you know him well. Give him time to calm down.”

  “Okay,” Ramona replied. “I will.” She kept looking over her shoulder at the door where he had entered the house.

  **

  They all moved inside the house eventually, the Chief and his deputies as well. Tag’s credit cards were traced but he hadn’t used them. He had taken a large amount of cash out of his bank account. Now they waited and let the police do their work in tracking down Tag Richardson.

  At midnight, Luka was on the porch swing in jeans and a cotton shirt. His feet were bare. His thoughts a mess. What if Tag hurt Skylar? He wanted to hurt him but Luka had to think of Ava now. He leaned his head back and pressed his eyes hard with his fingertips. He kept thinking about Skylar at seventeen, so trusting as she gazed through the screen door at him. He had left her. He had hurt her by leaving her. He leaned forward on his elbows. The screen door slamming shut startled him. Brett cringed. “I forget that damn door’s spring doesn’t work.”

  “Me too.”

  He took a seat by his brother. They rocked back and forth in silence. All of the officers had gone back to the station except Isaac. Ramona was in bed with Ava. Chloe was in her bedroom asleep. Roxy was on the couch with Stellan. Neither of them were sure that was a good idea. Their mother was in Sky’s room asleep. His remaining brothers were scattered through the house in empty bedrooms.

  “You can’t sleep?”

  “No,” he replied. “I’m worried about Skylar. She’s my best friend. I’m worried about Ramona. Did she do something to the baby when she fell? I’m scared as hell. I’m going to be a father.”

  “You’ll be a good father Brett. You were a great substitute for Ava.”

  “It wasn’t the same Luka.” He had told him that already.

  “I guess not. Means something different when it’s your own.”

  “It does.” He hesitated.

  “What Brett?”

  “I want Ramona to marry me but I don’t want her to think that it’s because of the baby. I love her man. I have for a very long time.” Luka clapped his brother on the back. “I want to be there every day with her. Raise our kids. All the mushy stuff women say and want to hear. I want that.”

  “Why are you telling me and not her?”

  “Because I’ve never really been sure of Ramona and how she feels about me Luka.” He leaned back in the swing. “She has been so frustrating. That girl turned fifteen and suddenly I thought she’s not a little girl anymore. I want her.”

  Luka laughed. “I remember.”

  “She wouldn’t give me the time of day.”

  “Because she thought you liked Sky.”

  “Sky and I have a special relationship but it’s always been platonic. Something neither of you understood.”

  Luka turned his head and gazed out over the fields in front of the house. The four Bradford girls had been coming to his parent’s house since Skylar and Brett became friends. As each one got a little older another sister tagged along with her.

  “You have to look at it from our perspective. It can be a little challenging being on the outside looking in when you two need each other before you need one of us.”

  Brett scoffed. “She only needed me when you weren’t available.”

  He turned his head towards his brother. He started to say that wasn’t true. Then he realized Brett was right. He had always been good and shutting down emotionally whenever things got difficult and that is when she turned to Brett.

  “So tell Ramona how you feel. Talk to her. Something I didn’t do well with Skylar. Tell her that you want to marry her. Don’t let her slip through your fingers like I did Sky.”

  The door creaked a little. Then it opened wide. Ramona stepped onto the porch. “I’m sorry for eavesdropping boys but I heard.”

  Brett rose from the swing and went to her. He lifted her off her feet. “I love you baby. So much.” He kissed her cheek then he kissed her. “I don’t have a ring yet but I do want to marry you.”

  She nodded. Then she cupped his cheeks. “I think we’ve been playing around long enough Brett especially now that we’re going to be parents.”

  Luka gazed at them with longing. This is what he wanted with Skylar. He was scared that they wouldn’t find her in time. He rubbed his hand across his jaw.

  “Why don’t you guys go to Ramona’s old room where I’ve been and I’ll let you know if we hear anything.”

  “Thanks Luka. You need your rest too,” Ramona told him.

  “I can’t sleep right now. I’ll just sit here for a bit.”

  “Good night,” they told him.

  Chapter 18

  The cabin was deep in the woods. No one would ever find her. Skylar was sure of it. She was sure that is why Tag had chosen this particular place. She wasn’t sure how far she was from home.

  He had headed north. She knew that much. He had gotten off the main highway about twenty miles north and headed east. It felt like Tag had driven a hundred miles on the old, two lane roads; going on forever. There were so many turns and winding back streets she would never remember them all.

  Then he turned off a main thoroughfare and drove up a hill. “Where are we Tag?”

  �
��I told you I rented a cabin.”

  He stopped in front of the single story cabin and parked the truck. Reaching in the back, he grabbed his rifle. “Do you need that?”

  He hesitated but he took it with him anyway. Skylar sighed tiredly. She followed him, bare footed, watching the ground to be sure she didn’t step on something. Tag followed her up the steps to the wide front porch. She waited for him to open the door. Reaching around her Tag unlocked the door and stepped back so she could go in first.

  It was basic inside. A sofa with red and blue plaid material sat in front of the window. A stone fireplace to the left of it. A heavy, wooden dining set with four chairs to the right centered beneath a wrought iron cross with a light hanging from each point. He flipped a switch and the room was illuminated in a soft glow.

  Skylar saw a small galley kitchen behind the dining area. A loft overhead where she assumed was the bedroom.

  “Chloe’s birthday is next week,” she told him. “She was coming home today. We haven’t seen her in months. I was planning a party for her tomorrow.”

  “Well I’m sorry that my life couldn’t fall apart at a more convenient time for you, Skylar. Mother just removed me today from the board of directors at the bank.”

  She sat on the sofa and pulled her feet up to her chest. “I didn’t mean it that way Tag.”

  He went to the kitchen and searched through the fridge; returning with an opened beer can. He sat in one of the tables beneath the hanging cross. The light brighter there than where she was sitting. He propped his rifle between his legs and took a good long slug of his beer. His phone had been vibrating since they left Haley Cove. He glanced at it again before he silenced it.

  “Who keeps calling you Tag?” Skylar asked.

  “My mother.”

  “Maybe you should let her know you’re all right,” Sky suggested.

  His eyes traveled up to her face. A sadness that she had never known existed in him before was evident in there now. “I don’t think she cares.”

  “I bet she does. I’m a mom. I know how these things work.”

  “I don’t give a damn,” he shouted. “She should have thought of that. You should have thought of that.” He leaned back in his chair.