She had never felt so bad before in her entire life. She felt like she had literally been fighting a bull for the last six hours. She was sore, her muscles ached, and she noticed small bruises on her hands and arms. Her face hurt, and when she went to raise her hand to her cheek, it felt swollen.
Just wanting to get home, she grabbed the reins and tried to mount her horse, and her whole body revolted in excruciating pain. Trying one more time, she took a deep breath, and with one swift push, she vaulted onto her saddle. That little movement alone took the very breath from her, as she tried to push the hurt aside.
She took her time heading home. Even the slow movements from her pony jarred her body. What should have taken no more than ten minutes took almost an hour, but she finally reached the barn at her family home. After placing her horse in her stall, Emma gently walked out of the barn. She just wanted to get to the house, go upstairs, soak in a hot bath, and sleep.
Emma heard her mother before she saw her.
“Oh, sweet Jesus!” her mother cried. “Baby, what happened?” Emma watched through squinted eyes as her mother, Isabella McKenzie, ran to her. Shock and fear marred her face. “Emma, what happened?”
“Nothing, Momma, I just want to go inside and take a hot bath,” Emma said, slowly moving around her mother, to find her house gone. All that was left was a pile of ashes and a few smoldering spots where gray smoke still billowed up.
“Momma?” Emma turned to her mother. The worried expression on her mother’s face was wrought with sorrow and pain. “What the hell happened?”
“Emma, your daddy is dead. He killed himself last night.”
Visit dpgroup.org for more books uploaded by our generous members
* * * *
Emma felt something tugging at her shirt, and quickly looked down into her daughter’s face. Quickly ripped from the past, Emma was grateful for her little girl. “Mommy, he’s here,” Tabitha said with glee.
“Who’s here, baby?”
“The tow truck guy,” she said. “Look, Mommy.” Tabitha pointed over to the truck that was backing up toward her car. Emma sighed—about time—and went to thank the man for responding so quickly, only to be stopped dead in her tracks as the man exited the truck. As the man walked closer, the shock was apparent on his face, and Emma fainted where she stood.
Chapter Two
“Mommy!” the little girl screamed as Emma began to fall. He ran from the truck ran toward Emma, catching her before she hit the rough ground.
“Emma, baby, wake up,” he said, worriedly patting her face. Tucker couldn’t believe his good fortune. What had started off as dreary day had turned into the best fucking day of his life. He still could not hold the glee in his heart that he’d felt as he had pulled up to the broken-down car to find none other than little Miss Emma McKenzie standing there. The moment he recognized her, his heart did a bazillion flips.
Oh, he was happy to have found her, but he also knew that little Miss Emma had some serious explaining to do, and for starters, why had she fainted when she laid eyes on him?
“Mommy, please wake up, please!” the cute little girl cried, bringing him back to reality.
“It’s all right, little bit. Your mommy just had a shock, that’s all. She’ll wake up soon, I promise,” he reassured the little girl.
“Are you sure?” Tabitha asked, cocking her head to the side as if not believing the man. He just laughed at the little girl’s gumption. “Yeah, I am sure. She just fainted, that’s all.”
“You’re s’posed to throwed water on someone when they faint. That’s what Mary Beth Wilkerson said her daddy did when her mommy fainted,” the little girl informed him.
The man just laughed out loud, a boisterous laugh that was full of life. “I’m sure Mrs. Wilkerson wasn’t too happy when she woke soaking wet.”
He watched as the adorable little creature thought on that and responded, “No, she wasn’t. Mary Beth said her momma said some pretty bad words then slapped her daddy. Maybe we shouldn’t throwed water on Mommy.”
Holding back his laughter, he smiled. “I think that’s a good idea. My name is Tucker Quinn. What’s your name?”
“We have the same name! Nobody has my name. I’m the only girl in school with a girl name and a boy’s name,” she said excitedly.
“Really? And just what is your name, little bit?”
“My name is Tabitha Quinn McKenzie,” she said in one breath. Tucker looked at the little girl, words evading him. All he could do was stare at the creature before him.
“Are you all right, Mr. Quinn? You look sick. You gonna throwed up, too?” Tabitha asked as she placed her small hands on his forehead, “You’re not having a fever,” she said as she moved her hands to his cheeks.
Tucker was about to faint himself. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. If he hadn’t seen her with his own eyes, he would never have believed it. Tabitha Quinn McKenzie was the spitting image of his mother, right down to the spray of freckles across her little pert nose.
“How old are you, little bit?” he asked, hoping and praying.
“I just turned six in February,” Tabitha proudly informed him.
Tucker smiled and said, “That’s the perfect age, little bit, just perfect. How would you like to go for a ride in that big ole truck over there? I know some people who would just love to give you ice cream and cookies. Would you like that?”
“Oh yes, please!” Tabitha jumped happily then stopped, looking at him warily. “Mommy said not to go with strangers. Mommy said strangers are bad,” she informed him seriously.
“You’re right, strangers are very bad, but we are not strangers, are we? You know my name, and your mommy called me. I even know your mommy’s name. It’s Emma Elizabeth McKenzie.” Tucker did everything he could not to laugh at Tabitha’s expression of shock. “How about you go grab your mommy’s purse while I put your mommy in the truck, and then we can go get some of that ice cream, okay?”
“Okay!” Tabitha smiled. He watched as she ran to the car and grabbed her mother’s purse, then stopped all of a sudden, unsure of something.
“What’s wrong, little bit?”
“Can I bring my kitten?” Tabitha asked.
“Sure thing. Come on, we gotta get goin’ before it gets dark,” Tucker said as he placed Emma in the front seat of the tow truck. Looking at her, he noticed that she hadn’t changed since that night, but he knew for damn sure, she sure as shit had a lot of explaining to do. He just couldn’t wait to hear what tale she would weaved this time, and for her sake and her ass, it better be good.
Tabitha came running up to him, and without even thinking, Tucker scooped her up into his arms, and helped her into the cab. He watched as Tabitha moved to sit in the middle seat, and once she was set, he jumped in.
As he pulled onto the road, he heard Tabitha yell, “Seat belts!”
Tucker just roared with laughter.
* * * *
Travis and Tate were waiting on the front porch.
They had both received a text from Tucker about finding Emma, but it was cryptic, talking about a surprise. They both rose from the front porch chairs as the tow truck slowed to a stop in front of the house.
Travis watched as Tate ran to the truck’s passenger side, scooping Emma’s unconscious body out, holding her close to his chest. He made no apologies as he quickly took her into the house. As Tucker exited the vehicle, Travis yelled, “So what’s this big-ass surprise?”
“Watch your mouth, Travis,” Tucker said sternly, giving his brother an evil look. He then reached into the cab and picked something up, then gently bent down to put it on the ground.
Travis stood there as he watched little pink feet walk around the driver’s side door and stop. The young girl was darling, with curly brown hair that fell past her shoulders, and the sweetest button nose. Even her spray of freckles added character to her cherub face. Her cheeks were pink, and her rosy lips were her mother’s.
Travis knew he was looking at Emma’s daughter, and something inside him wanted scream out in rage.
He watched as the little girl waited till Tucker closed the door, then, as if afraid, she turned, raising her arms, wanting to be held. Tucker instantly picked up the little girl, walking toward Travis.
“Who is he?” Tabitha asked Tucker, shyly.
“This is my brother, Travis,” he said sweetly to the little girl, then turned to Travis. “Travis, I would like you to meet Tabitha Quinn McKenzie, Emma’s daughter.” Tucker saw the confusion and anger flash cross is brother face, and then reality set in. Travis looked Tucker straight in the eye, with the same question he had had only twenty minutes ago. “Tabitha, tell Travis how old you are.”
Tabitha smiled sweetly and said, “I just had my birthday. I am six now.”
Tucker watched as relief and acceptance crossed his face. “You know something, Tabitha? I really like the number six. It’s a really good number, don’t you think so?” Travis asked the little girl.
“Yes!” She laughed, hugging Tucker’s neck.
“Come on, lil’ bit, I promised you ice cream and cookies.”
“Oh, then we must have lots of ice cream!” Travis said, laughing
“Yeah!” Tabitha squealed in delight.
* * * *
Tate couldn’t believe his eyes. She was here, in his bed, where she belonged, finally. She was still the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, and she belonged to him. He never knew what had happened after that night. All he knew was that when he and his brothers went to call on Emma the next evening, their house was burnt to the ground, her father was dead, and she and her mother were gone. They had heard through the town’s gossip line that her father had committed suicide by setting the house on fire the night Emma was with them, and then by morning the next day, she had disappeared with her mother. It was a hellacious night. A night the town was still trying to recover from, for not only that night did Emma lose her father and her only home, Tate and his brothers found out late the next day that their very own father was killed in a car crash out on the interstate.
Tate spent the next two years looking everywhere for her, but when Travis was nearly killed in a freak accident on the ranch, he had had to stop his search for Emma and return home to help out. But he never did quit looking, not ever. Tate hired a private investigator, and during his off time, he would scour the Internet for any new leads. But it seemed that Emma had disappeared into thin air.
It was pure fate, luck, whatever they wanted to believe, that Tucker was on call for Jerry tonight, since Jerry’s wife had just gone into labor. If not, they may have never known that Emma was in town.
Tate grabbed a cool cloth from the basin filled with water and gently wiped Emma’s forehead. He knew Tucker said she had fainted in the text, but she should have woken up by now. Getting worried, Tate went to grab the phone off of his nightstand when he heard her moan.
* * * *
Emma woke to a pounding headache. She moaned and gently grabbed her head as she tried to sit up.
“Baby, just lay down. You need to rest.” She heard the familiar male voice, and froze. Slowly turning, she saw Tate sitting on the bed next to her. “Please, Emma, you have been out for close to two hours. You’re not well. Just lay back like I said.”
“I’m fine,” she replied curtly, and swung her legs off the bed to stand. Looking around, she had no earthly idea where she was. Nothing looked familiar. “Where am I, Tate?”
“At the ranch. This is my room,” he told her truthfully.
Emma stood and began to pace. This is not happening, this is not happening, she said over and over again to herself, then completely stiffened, afraid. Turing to Tate, she whispered, “Where’s Tabitha?”
“You mean our daughter. She is in the kitchen eating as much junk food as those two idiots can get down her. I tried to tell them that they were gonna make her sick, but they won’t listen. They are having too much fun with her,” Tate said with a straight face, void of all emotion.
“I’ll just get Tabitha and go. Thank you for watching her while I was out.”
“You are more than welcome to do whatever you want, Emma, you always have, but understand this. Tabitha is not leaving this house, ever,” Tate said, looking at her now with fury in his eyes.
She watched as Tate got up from the bed and walked to the door. Turning to face her, Emma saw pain, true pain in his eyes. “I loved you. I loved you so much, Emma. I looked for you for two years. But never in that whole time did it ever enter into my mind, that the woman I loved with everything in my body would be so callous as to keep my daughter from me. So before you leave this room, you make damn sure you know exactly what you are going to do, because let me assure you on this, if you even think of taking Tabitha out of this house and away from me ever again, I will make your life a true living hell. Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to spend some long overdue time with my daughter.”
Emma stood there, speechless. Her worst nightmare had just come true.
Everything that she had fought for for the last seven years was for nothing. She knew she had gambled by taking the shortcut to Denver. Well, she had gambled and lost, big time. She knew there was no way she could stay, but it would be over her dead body before she left her daughter here with them. That was not going to happen, ever.
She only had to figure out a way out of this mess and quick. She was expected in Denver in one week. If she failed to show, her life was over, literally. She knew there was no way she could explain the circumstance of the last seven years to satisfy the brothers. Besides, she even had a hard time believing it had happened and she lived it. But nevertheless, her ass had to be in Denver in one week, or else.
First things first, she had to figure out a way to get her daughter out of here without bringing down the wrath of the Quinn brothers, and that was one temperament she did not want to tangle with.
She was still sitting on the bed when she heard the door open. She turned to see Travis walk in and come to stand in front of her. Travis never said much, but when he did, she knew to listen. Waiting for him to speak, Emma finally looked up at him, and then without warning he grabbed her by the arms and hauled her against his chest. “You wanna tell me what the fuck you were thinking, Emma?”
Emma flinched as the bite of pain registered under his grip. “Travis, you’re hurting me,” she said softly, trying to control herself, because she knew any minute she was about to break into tears.
“You’re lucky I don’t break your fucking neck.”
“I’m sorry.”
“The hell you are. You kept our daughter away from me for six goddamn years. Six years, Emma. Not once was there a letter, e-mail, phone call, not even a ‘Hey, I have your kid, fuck off.’”
“I’m so sorry, Travis,” she whimpered, trying to keep the tears at bay, but when he shook her, she couldn’t stop them even if she tried.
“No! You don’t deserve to cry, not over this. Not ever!” Travis said, throwing her on the bed. Emma kept repeating “I’m sorry” over and over again as she curled into a tight ball. Without another word, she heard Travis leave the room, leaving Emma to deal with the aftermath.
Emma was mentally in pain. She couldn’t take much more of this. The anger, pain, and sorrow that she had witnessed in Tate’s and Travis’s eyes were too much for her. Emma just cried until she couldn’t cry anymore. She knew eventually Tucker would walk in and give her his two cents, and deep down she knew she deserved it.
Yes, she knew her reason for alienating them from Tabitha was justified, but even the most justified reasons have a counter claim. The fact was that no matter what they had done to her, they did have the right to know their daughter. Emma would bet her life savings that Tabitha was out in the kitchen having the time of her life, being waited and doted on by three men, who probably already thought she hung the moon. There was no way she was ever going to keep Tabitha away from t
hem now, so she knew she should better face the facts and quick.
As she rolled over onto her back, she closed her eyes. She never heard the door open, just the weight of him falling on her. She gasped, opening her eyes to find Tucker on top of her.
“Hey, Emma.”
“Hi, Tucker. You come to chew my ass, too?”
“Nah, I figure Mr. Doom and Gloom already did that,” Tucker said, framing her face with his hands. “But answer me this, Emma, how can Tabitha eat so damn much? I mean that little squirt downed three bowls of strawberry ice cream, five cookies, and two brownies. Where in the hell did she put it?”
Emma couldn’t stop herself. She laughed. Oh, she laughed like there was no tomorrow, letting the joy of her daughter’s fun fill her veins. It felt like aloe to a deep cut. “She has her daddy’s stomach. Everything goes in, and nothing comes out. Wait till you see her eat pizza. She is going to give you boys a run for your money.” Emma smiled telling him that little bit.
Tucker smiled. Emma knew he couldn’t wait to see it.
“Tucker, I am so sorry,” she whispered, breaking the light mood between them.
“Don’t, Emma. I am trying everything I can to not spank your ass raw for what you did. Just let me enjoy having my daughter, please.”
“Okay, Tucker.”
He looked down at her, and instantly she wished he hadn’t. There were tears in his eyes, and everything in her screamed to make them go away. Emma closed her eyes, looking away. “You better not look away, Emma. I won’t have it. Ever, you hear me? You were wrong, and you will have to live that, but don’t you ever turn away from me again. You hear me?” Tucker said, grabbing her face, making damn sure she was looking at him.
Emma's Treasures Page 3