Bachelor Dad

by Roxann Delaney

  Lights could suddenly be seen above the row of trees and within seconds a pair of headlights emerged from the drive, headed their way. The pickup stopped and out jumped a man in a heavy coat.

  “Nikki said she saw headlights going this way and that,” he told them as he hurried them to the warm interior of the truck. “I thought I’d better come out and see if someone was in trouble. I sure didn’t expect it to be you two.”

  “Thanks, Mac,” Noah said from his position in the middle of the seat. “A deer jumped out and my mom swerved a little too much.”

  Mac nodded. “Easy to do with the roads like this. I’ll take a look at your car after I get you up to the house. If we need to get a tractor out, we can. No problem.”

  “I don’t want to put you to any trouble,” Libby said quickly.

  Chuckling, Mac leaned forward to glance at her, just as he headed down the long drive leading to the Rocking O. “It’s nothing. I grew up in Boston. Now that’s snow. This stuff,” he said, indicating the sleet still falling with a wave of his hand, “is pitiful.”

  Seconds later, they turned into a well-lit yard, and Mac shut off the engine. Noah scrambled out after Libby and they hurried around the truck to join Mac. “Is Kirby home?” Noah asked.

  “He is,” Mac answered, leading them under a covered walkway to what appeared to be a fairly new house, “and he’ll be glad to see you, I’m sure.”

  As soon as they stepped inside the house, Libby knew it was Mac and Nikki’s home. Beautiful Native American items were placed here and there, blending with the wide-open architecture.

  “Nikki,” Mac called, “you were right. There was trouble down the road, but I’ve brought them home with me.”

  The dark-haired half Cherokee young woman appeared from around the corner of the entryway. “Oh, my!” she exclaimed when she saw Libby and Noah. “Are you two all right? Are you hurt?”

  Mac explained what Noah had told him, with Noah’s help, while Libby patiently listened. “We’re fine,” she eventually told Nikki. “Mac said he’d check on my car later.”

  “I’m headed back out to do that right now,” Mac said, moving toward the door. “You might let Kirby know that Noah is here.”

  As soon as Mac was gone, Noah turned to Nikki. “My mom was abused by my dad, and now she’s afraid they won’t be able to keep him in jail.”

  Struck speechless by her son’s boldness, Libby didn’t know what to think as her face grew hot with embarrassment and the urge to flee had her ready to run.

  Nikki, however, didn’t seem to be affected by Noah’s announcement as she put her arm around Libby’s shoulders. “How awful for you,” she said, leading her farther into the house. “We’ll do absolutely everything we can to make certain you and Noah are safe and sound in Desperation.”

  Instead of bolting, Libby burst into tears.

  Chapter Eleven

  Garrett answered Morgan’s question. “I have no doubt that he abused Libby.” Narrowing his eyes in warning, he looked at Eric Cabrera.

  Libby’s ex-husband swaggered, even though he still wore the handcuffs Morgan had put on him earlier. “You don’t have proof of anything.”

  “Yeah?” Garrett asked. “When I walked in, you were not only threatening to kill her, but you had your hands around her throat, choking her.”

  Cabrera took two steps closer to Garrett. “I wouldn’t have thought you were the kind of man who would mess around with another man’s woman.” His smile was an invitation for Garrett to do something that would get the case thrown out of court.

  But Garrett didn’t budge, even though he’d had about all he could take, and he knew he should leave the rest that needed to be done to Morgan and Tucker. But that last remark went over the mark of truth and decency. “Legally she’s not your woman. She’s your ex-wife and you have no claim on her. And if I have a say in it, you won’t have any claim on Noah, either.”

  “I’ll be out of here in a matter of hours. And once I am, I’ll take care of my family. And I’ll make sure you’re all stripped of your duties.”

  Garrett moved in Cabrera’s direction, ready to do things he knew he shouldn’t, but Morgan stepped between the two men. “We have a special place for guys like you,” he told him. With a nod of his head, Tucker walked over and took Cabrera’s arm. As he led him to the cell down the hallway, Morgan assured him, “I’ll let you know if your attorney returns your call, don’t you worry about that.”

  As soon as Cabrera was out of sight, and the sound of his protests grew quiet, Garrett sank to the nearest chair and put his head in his hands. “I can’t believe I didn’t see the signs.” He looked up at Morgan, who was watching him. “They were all there, Morgan. Every one of them. I worked on a case in Chicago. The husband was a fellow attorney, although thankfully not part of the firm I belonged to. The nicest couple you could meet. And he beat the hell out of her.”

  Morgan’s expression was somber as he nodded. “I’ve heard stories. I don’t understand a man like that. It’s beyond comprehension. But I do know it goes on more than we realize.” He moved to put a hand on Garrett’s shoulder. “Sometimes we’re too close to something to see things. Don’t beat yourself up over this. You kept it from continuing.”

  Garrett closed his mind against the image of Libby when he walked in the door of his house and found the man with his hands around her throat. “I almost didn’t.”

  He heard a door close softly and looked up. Tucker had finished settling the prisoner in the cell and pulled an empty chair closer to the sheriff’s desk. “If she went to the hospital at any point, there would be records,” Tucker said. “With those and maybe X-rays of broken bones there’d be proof. That’s all you’d need to toss him in jail for a while. Then add the attempted murder charge and…”

  Garrett wasn’t convinced a trial would be enough to get Cabrera to do what he wanted. A trial took time, it took evidence, and he wasn’t sure if Libby would be willing to go through all of it. But maybe just the threat would be enough to get Cabrera where he wanted him—unable to ever get near Libby and Noah again.

  “Let me talk to him for a minute,” he announced, standing. When he saw the wariness in Morgan’s eyes, he hurried to add, “Don’t worry, I know what I can say and do and what I can’t. And even though I can admit that it felt good to punch the guy earlier, I’m calm now and will remain that way. Besides, it doesn’t look like his lawyer is going to call back real soon.”

  Morgan glanced at Tucker, who shrugged, then answered Garrett. “Just keep in mind that at this point, you can’t make any deals or promises. We have him on attempted murder, so watch what you say.”

  “I know.”

  But there was one promise he could make that wouldn’t harm the case, and he was going to share it with Eric Cabrera.

  Grabbing a small stool, he headed down the short hallway to the lone cell of Desperation’s Sheriff’s Department. Setting it against the opposite wall, he took a seat. “We need to talk, Cabrera.”

  Eric Cabrera regarded him with a haughty stare. “So talk, if that’s what you want to do.”

  Garrett leaned forward and clasped his hands between his knees. “You’ve had your rights read to you, so you know you’re being held for attempted murder. There’s very little doubt that you or your lawyer will be able to talk your way out of this. Three witnesses saw the same thing.”

  “Lauren will never say a word.”

  Garrett wouldn’t admit that he wasn’t one hundred percent sure that Libby would testify, but he was respected in the area and had friends in the court who would be more apt to believe him than some stranger from Arizona. “You can make this easy on yourself, or you can make it harder. You see, we don’t need her testimony. One of the first things we’re going to do is get all of Libby’s medical records. There’s bound to be plenty of evidence against you that this has been going on for some time. We’ll also have experts explain how her scars were more than likely obtained.” He took a breath and closed h
is eyes for a short moment, remembering the feel of those scars on her soft skin. “Whether you’re found guilty or not will be up to the court, but what I want is signed papers that you relinquish all parental rights to Noah.”

  “And what if I don’t agree to that?”

  Garrett had expected him to say it and was ready. “I’ll make sure you don’t see the outside world until you’re too old to raise a hand to anyone.” Standing, he picked up the stool. “No matter what you decide, I can promise you that you’ll never see Libby or Noah again.”

  Back in the main office, he replaced the stool and turned to the other two. “I’m going over to my office to draw up some papers for him to sign, relinquishing parental rights.” When Morgan raised an eyebrow, Garrett smiled. “Don’t worry, he’ll make the decision on his own. He knows he’s in deep, and this might help him, at least a little. First thing in the morning, I’ll bring the papers by. He can talk to his lawyer about it, if he thinks he needs to. But if and when he does sign them, let me know.”

  With a wave and a promise to return in the morning, he headed home, ready to tell Libby that she was safe, no matter what happened. He hadn’t expected the streets to be slick. They’d been so busy with the prisoner that he’d barely noticed the sound of sleet on the windows of the sheriff’s office, and then he’d forgotten. His sister’s house wasn’t far, but he made the trip slowly. The streets of town were nearly deserted, and just as he pulled into Paige’s drive, he thought he glimpsed a snowflake or two in his headlights.

  “Daddy!”

  He heard the shout the moment he opened the door to his sister’s house. Sophie immediately attached herself to his legs, her arms wrapped tightly around his knees. “Hi, sweetheart.” He lifted her chin to gaze into her small face. Then he looked around, but saw only Paige. “Where’s Libby?” he asked.

  Paige appeared puzzled. “Not here. She asked if I’d mind watching Sophie for her while she took care of some things.”

  “What things?” But a cold chill began to seep into his body and fear took hold of his heart.

  “She wasn’t specific. Why?”

  Garrett sighed and slowly removed Sophie from his lower extremities, then picked her up and carried her to the sofa, where he held her on his lap. “Did Libby say where she was going or what she was going to do while you stayed with Aunt Paige?” he asked his daughter.

  “Uh-uh.”

  He wasn’t surprised. Libby was smarter than to say anything in front of Sophie, who was now well-known for repeating what she heard…from anyone to anyone. It was something they needed to work on, but since it had probably saved Libby’s life, it wasn’t a top priority.

  He glanced at Paige, who was frowning.

  Fifteen minutes later, with Sophie safely watching television, Garrett told his sister the whole story of what had happened. When she asked about the scars he’d felt and he described them, she nodded her head. “They do sound like cuts. I suppose they could be from glass from a car accident, but I’d have to see them. There’s definitely a difference between something like that and deliberate cuts from a knife or other sharp object.”

  He leaned his head against the wall in the kitchen and sighed. “If I’d known—”

  “You can’t always know,” she told him, pressing her hand to his shoulder. “The closer we are to someone, the harder it sometimes is to see things that might be more obvious to strangers. But you saved her, Garrett. Something tells me she won’t stay away long, even if it’s only to come back to thank you.”

  “It’s not her thanks that I want,” he answered, his heart aching. Somehow he’d find her. If only he had a clue where she and Noah had gone.

  LIBBY SAT ON THE PLUSH SOFA in Jules O’Brien’s living room, her hands folded in her lap. At one time her home had been as elegant as this one, but she’d paid for that by relinquishing her self-esteem. All she could hope for now was to keep her son and herself safe. She just didn’t know how to do that.

  When one of the double doors at the entrance of the room opened, she looked up to see Jules enter with a large tray in her hands. “I hope you like hot cocoa,” Jules said, closing the door behind her. “Tanner’s Aunt Bridey just made a big batch. She said it was to help chase away the cold weather blues.”

  “Thank you,” Libby answered, taking one of the mugs. “Is Noah—”

  “He and Wyoming are in the kitchen with Bridey, taste-testing her first batch of pumpkin bread.” Jules removed a tented napkin and revealed several slices on a plate. “And here’s ours. Noah will be fine. Wyoming has already decided that Noah absolutely must spend the night in his room.”

  Libby had met Jules and Tanner’s three-year-old son when Garrett had brought her to the barbecue. He was adorable and Noah had enjoyed spending time with both Kirby and Wyoming. But she hadn’t planned to stay and had only agreed to talk to Jules because Nikki had insisted. “There’s no need,” she told her hostess. “We’ll find a place to stay.”

  Jules shook her head and smiled. “Try telling Wyoming that. He’s decided Noah is now his new best friend. My heart goes out to your son.”

  Libby couldn’t help but laugh. “Noah was the same way at that age. But we really should be on our way.”

  “I can’t let you go back out in this weather. And even if I could, I wouldn’t.”

  Libby ducked her head and nodded. She’d admitted to Nikki that she’d endured abuse during her marriage, and Noah was convinced Jules O’Brien could help. But Libby wasn’t sure she could go through sharing her past with anyone, even someone who was trained to help.

  “You’ve been through hell,” Jules said, her voice low and comforting. “Can you tell me a little about it?”

  “I—” Libby shook her head. “It’s hard. I’ve locked so much of it away for so long, it hurts too much to try to drag it all out.”

  “You never told anyone?”

  Libby swallowed the shame she was feeling. “I couldn’t. Who would I have told?”

  “Your parents?”

  “My parents wouldn’t have believed me.”

  “Friends?”

  “Too many of them were wives of Eric’s friends and employees. I wasn’t allowed to have friends on my own.”

  “That’s not unusual. It’s easier for someone to control a person when there’s no one to turn to,” Jules explained.

  “That’s how it started,” Libby admitted. “The control. He had his way to get me to bend to his will. I didn’t realize what was happening.”

  Jules leaned back against the sofa, crossing her legs. “Can you tell me about it?”

  Haltingly at first, Libby began to describe her relationship with Eric, beginning with how they’d met and progressing to their marriage. “I began to have doubts,” she admitted, “and even mentioned it to my mother, but she assured me it was nothing more than pre-wedding nerves. I convinced myself that she was right.”

  “It’s easy to think things will get better,” Jules explained. “We all do it in our daily lives. And often it does help. It’s better to be an optimist than a pessimist. But in the case of living with an abusive person, it can become dangerous.”

  Libby nodded, remembering how it had been. “For a long time, I thought there was something wrong with me. As time went on, I realized it was wrong, but I didn’t know what to do about it. I had no support outside of the marriage and was certain that he would do what he threatened.”

  “And what was that?” Jules asked.

  “That he’d kill me if I left him.”

  “So you never considered it?”

  “Not until the day he hit Noah,” Libby admitted. “And then it was as if I finally woke up and saw the reality of my life in that one moment.”

  “And that’s when you left.”

  Clenching her fingers in her lap, Libby nodded. “I realized that it had come down to keeping Noah safe. I’d given up on myself. A few weeks later, while Eric was away on business, I moved out. He was served with divorce papers as soon a
s he returned, and I went to stay with my parents for a week. The funny thing was that after Eric initially got over the shock, he seemed to accept it. He didn’t even try to fight the divorce.”

  “But you stayed in Phoenix, where you’d lived when you were married.”

  “I had nowhere else to go. Between the child support and alimony, I didn’t need to work, but I did find a part-time job at a small boutique. It kept me from climbing the walls. Eric had turned nearly everyone against me, but at least I was free of him. Or so I thought.”

  Another hour later, Libby explained her reason for fleeing with her son—how Noah had come home with a black eye, and she’d known Eric had hit him. She told Jules about the judge and how she’d lost faith in the law, finally running with Noah to keep him safe.

  “We crammed everything we could into the car,” Libby said, describing what she called their getaway. “Clothes, mostly, but a few special things we didn’t want to leave behind. I had some cash saved up, then we got in the car and I just drove.”

  “You didn’t have a plan as to where you might go?”

  Libby nodded, remembering what the underground had done for her. And she’d tried to make it an adventure for Noah. “I had help,” she admitted, “but I can’t tell you about it. We stayed off the primary highways. When we drove into Desperation, I knew it was home. I’d had enough running and so had Noah. I’d been told where to find a job, and I walked into Lou’s, asked to see the owner and then asked him for the job. He hired me on the spot, and I started working the next day. It happened that the apartment was available to rent, and I had just enough to pay the first month and a deposit.”

  “Do you like living in Desperation?”

  Libby felt Jules studying her. “Both of us do. I’d rather stay, but now that Eric has found us…”

  “Garrett will do everything within his power to keep you and Noah safe. You know that, don’t you?”

  It took all Libby’s strength to keep her tears at bay. Nodding, she took a shaky breath. “I have no doubt that he will. But that doesn’t mean that he’ll succeed when all is said and done. He doesn’t understand how much influence Eric and his family have with people in Arizona who have the power to get him off.”