“I think I saw her outside the hospital, but that was before I even knew you were there.”
“Then what made you notice her?”
“She was crying as she ran across the street. I thought maybe someone she loved had died in the hospital or something, but later that day I put two and two together. When I saw this beautiful little baby, I realized the woman I’d seen must be the mother. I remember she had long hair, dark like yours, and it was braided all the way down to her hips. She got into a little beat-up truck that sounded awful when she started it.”
“What color was it?”
“Hard to say. It was one of those nondescript colors, like it could have been brown but just as easily been some shade of green.”
Angel didn’t even ask if she’d seen the license plate. Why would she have even noticed such a thing? And even if she had, it was doubtful she would have remembered after all these years.
“I wish I could give you more information.”
“It’s okay.” Angel forced a smile. “It’s more than I had a few minutes ago.”
“I know it won’t help you find her, but I think the note she left with you was completely honest. She thought she was doing the best thing for you. Nobody cries like that if they don’t care.”
When Angel left, she was able to drive only out of sight of Camille’s house before she had to pull over. Camille had been convinced that her birth mother had loved her. Could she trust that assessment? After all, Camille wasn’t a young woman anymore. She could be misremembering the events of that day. Angel had more information now, but she didn’t have a clue what to do with it.
She leaned her head back and took several deep breaths, trying to calm down and discern her next step.
Hunter’s face popped to mind, and in the next moment she was pulling back out onto the street and heading toward Blue Falls. She might not know what she was going to do with the fragments of her past she’d uncovered, but she knew without a doubt she wanted to see Hunter. Maybe he had the answers that escaped her.
Chapter 11
Hunter had just finished reconciling the bank records when he heard a vehicle coming up the driveway. Even before his mom called out from the front porch to let him know Angel was there, he’d known it was her. He couldn’t escape the feeling that the next few minutes were going to make or break his relationship with her.
By the time he closed down the computer and walked out onto the porch, Angel was already out of her truck and halfway to the house. He couldn’t tell what the expression she wore meant, so he descended the steps.
“Be back in a bit, Mom.”
“Take your time.”
Neither he nor Angel said anything until they were inside the barn, out of sight and earshot of where his mom sat.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he turned to face Angel.
She nodded, then proceeded to tell him about her meeting with Camille. “I feel like I’m trying to put together a puzzle but all I have are three pieces of one corner.”
“You want to dig more and find your mom?” He wasn’t going to make any more assumptions without asking her first.
She didn’t immediately answer. Instead, she fiddled with one of the buttons on the front of his shirt, and he had to push away the image of her unbuttoning them slowly as she held his gaze. Now wasn’t the time and this wasn’t the place for those kinds of thoughts.
“I don’t think there’s any going back now, but I’m scared of what I might find.”
He placed one hand atop her shoulder and used his other to lift her chin so that her gaze met his. “You don’t have to do it alone.”
“I know.”
He lowered his mouth to hers, and this time he didn’t let them get carried away. Instead, it was a kiss of support. One that showed how much she meant to him without words.
His mom convinced Angel to stay for dinner, and Angel revealed her search for her birth mother and how she was stuck as to where to turn next. To his surprise, it was his mom who offered an avenue that had occurred to neither him nor Angel.
“Chances are your mother didn’t drive for days to get here. She was probably either from Texas or one of the surrounding states. Why don’t you contact the authorities for the various tribes and see if anyone remembers someone being pregnant at the right time but then not having a baby afterward?”
“Wouldn’t that have sent up red flags? I doubt she would have gone back where she came from,” Angel said.
Hunter gripped her hand in his. “It can’t hurt, and you have to start somewhere.”
Angel appeared to consider that for a moment before nodding once. “You’re right.”
Not caring that his mom was sitting across the table, he lifted Angel’s hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. The smile that brought to her face filled him with a lightness that made him realize he’d do anything for this woman, anything to make her happy, make her life easier, to keep her from harm. Because he loved her like he’d never loved anyone before.
* * *
Angel thought she might throw up. It had been a month since she’d started contacting officials of tribes or for counties where there was a significant Native population in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma with next to no response. So when a member of the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma had called her, it had taken her a few seconds to realize what was happening.
“Honey, are you okay?”
Angel’s head spun a bit as she looked up at the worried expression on her mom’s face. Luckily, Julia was spending the day at the house of a friend who had a pool.
“Is something wrong with Julia?” her mother asked, fear evident in her voice.
Angel managed to shake her head. “No, it’s not that.”
Her mom set aside the basket of vegetables she’d just picked from the garden and came to sit in the rocking chair next to Angel’s on the front porch. “Then why do you look as if all the blood has drained out of your face?”
There was no more holding off on telling her family the truth. “I’ve been searching for my birth mother, and I think I might have found her.”
“Oh.” It was her mom’s turn to look stunned.
“Please don’t be upset,” Angel said. “This doesn’t mean anything bad about you and Dad. You know I couldn’t love you more if you were my biological parents.”
“It’s not that, honey. I just don’t want you to get hurt again.”
“I know. And trust me, I’ve thought about that a lot. It’s why I’ve held off so long, why I didn’t know if I’d ever try to find her.”
“But something changed. This is about Julia’s family tree project, isn’t it?”
“Partially. But...I guess I just need answers, to know who I am. I want to know why she didn’t keep me.” She’d mulled the reasons over and over and over again, and a voice had become more insistent lately that she needed to put her past to rest so she could fully embrace her future. A future that she hoped always included Hunter.
They’d spent as much time as they could together over the past month. He’d helped her with her search, given her strength when she’d faltered and kissed her more times than she could count. And as if he hadn’t stolen enough of her heart, he’d been more of a father to Julia than Dave ever could have been. Her whole family loved him and his mom. He’d sat beside his mother as Arden had interviewed her for an intimate piece on what it was like living with Alzheimer’s disease, helped out Sloane with her latest ranch camp and taken part in more than one poker game with Angel’s dad and brothers.
Neither she nor Hunter had professed their love yet, but she believed deep down that they were in love. Maybe he didn’t want to push her, and she still struggled sometimes with the fear of losing him, that one day he’d wake up and realize she was lacking in some way and decide he didn’t want her.
“Then I think you should find her,” her mom said, drawin
g Angel out of her wandering thoughts.
“You won’t be upset? What about Dad?”
“Don’t worry about us. We know you love us, and we love you enough to understand that you deserve whatever answers you seek.”
Tears pooled in Angel’s eyes. “You are the best mom anyone could ever ask for.”
“I am pretty awesome, aren’t I?”
Angel laughed, grateful for her mom’s sense of humor. “I guess I should make plans for a trip to Oklahoma.”
“You shouldn’t go alone. Take Hunter with you.”
“I’d love that, but he can’t leave his mom for that long.”
“Don’t worry about Evelyn. She can stay here. Julia will love that.”
Angel jumped up and wrapped her mom in a hug. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you more.”
Angel stepped off the porch and walked along the road that led to the pasture as she pulled out her phone and called Hunter.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said in greeting, making her smile ear to ear.
“How would you feel about taking a trip?”
* * *
Angel sank onto the edge of the bed at the Choctaw Motor Lodge, not sure what was occupying more space in her brain—the fact that she might this very day come face-to-face with her birth mother or that the room she would be sharing with Hunter had a single bed. Hunter had agreed to let her pay for the room if they got only one. Knowing he wasn’t flush with funds, she’d booked the single room available thanks to a big festival and powwow that was going on this weekend. Though the front desk clerk had told her the room had two double beds, she’d opened the door to find a king instead.
She couldn’t deny she liked the idea of sharing the bed with Hunter, but she was such an emotional mess that she didn’t think she was going to be in a romantic frame of mind. Plus, would Hunter think she’d deliberately booked a room with only one bed? She supposed she’d find out when he returned from the fast-food place across the street with their lunch.
With the door open so he’d know which room to return to, she could hear the sounds of air-conditioning units struggling to keep up with the summer heat, the passing of cars on the street and the distant sound of drums that must be coming from the fairgrounds where the powwow was being held. Was her mother there even now? Had the woman she’d talked to decided to tell Angel’s birth mother about her inquiries? Would that knowledge make her mother run yet again?
Angel shook her head. She had to stop thinking about her as her mother. There was just as much chance that she wasn’t, that this was a wasted trip. Sure, the circumstances all seemed to fit, but she couldn’t let herself get her hopes up too high. Even if this Nora Martin was the woman who’d given birth to her, there was no guarantee she was a good or likable person. Angel had run so many scenarios through her mind that her brain was exhausted from the effort.
She looked up at the sound of footsteps outside the door just in time to see Hunter pause before stepping in. He glanced at the bed but didn’t comment as he placed the bags of food on the small table next to the wall unit pumping out slightly musty chilled air.
“It’s not the Ritz, but it’ll do,” she said as she stood, purposefully moved away from the bed and shut the door.
“I don’t need anything fancy.”
“Good thing since this was literally the only room available in town.” Not that any of the other hotels they’d seen were likely to approach four stars, either, but as long as the room was clean and safe she didn’t care. It wasn’t as if she was here on vacation.
She sank onto the chair opposite Hunter and accepted the burger he handed her. But when she opened the wrapper, she couldn’t make herself take a bite despite the fact she’d not eaten anything all day and it was now midafternoon.
“I know you’re anxious, but you need to eat,” Hunter said.
“I’m not hungry.”
“You still need something in your stomach,” he said. “The last thing you want to do when you meet this woman is pass out.”
She smiled as much as she could, which wasn’t much. “One of these days you’re going to need to stop making so much sense all the time.”
He grinned. “I’ll do my best.”
Somehow she managed to force the burger down, but her fries remained untouched. When she saw that Hunter had mowed through his, she pushed her container toward him. Evidently satisfied that she’d at least eaten the burger, he made quick work of her fries, as well.
After they finished eating and Hunter had thrown their trash away, he extended his hand to her.
“You ready?”
She shook her head. “Not even close. A very big part of me wants to go back home and forget I ever came here.”
“You’ll always wonder, for the rest of your life, if you don’t at least meet her.”
“What if it’s not even her?”
“Then we’ll keep looking until we do find her.”
She liked how he said “we’ll,” showing that no matter what today held in store for her, she wasn’t alone.
“Thank you for coming with me.”
“You’ve already thanked me at least half a dozen times.”
“I know, but it bears repeating. You have a lot on your plate already. You didn’t need to take on this, too.”
Hunter pulled her to her feet and into his arms. “You should know by now that I’ll do whatever’s necessary to make you happy.”
It wasn’t a declaration of love, but to her ears it sounded much the same. Especially combined with the feeling of his arms holding her and the sincerity she saw in his eyes. She wrapped her arms more fully around him and listened to his heartbeat next to her ear. But she resisted the urge to stay right there, avoiding the truth she’d come here to find, and stepped out of his embrace.
“I suppose this isn’t going to get any easier.”
He ran his thumb across her cheek. “Nope, but I’ll be right there beside you.”
Hunter drove them to the fairgrounds, and the hotel occupancy rates hadn’t lied. Judging by the number of cars parked in seemingly every spot available, it appeared that half the state of Oklahoma had come out for the powwow. Angel didn’t know whether to be nervous that there would be so many potential witnesses if things went bad or thankful for such a large crowd she could disappear into.
Angel stared out the windshield of the truck from the passenger seat after Hunter squeezed into a spot and turned off the engine. She slapped her palms against her legs and took a deep breath.
“Well, here goes nothing, I guess.” Still, she didn’t get out of the truck, not until Hunter came around and opened her door, removing one more obstacle between her and possibly the answers to questions she’d harbored her entire life.
As she stepped out onto unsteady feet, Hunter kissed her on the forehead. “You’ve got this.”
She slipped her hand into his and they wove their way through the field full of vehicles toward the grouping of concession trailers and tents. Abigail, the woman who had contacted her, claimed that Nora would be working at the tent where they were frying and selling funnel cakes. As they moved closer, the knots in Angel’s stomach tightened even more. When she smelled the distinctive aroma of fresh funnel cake, she halted.
“You okay?” Hunter asked, concern evident in his tone.
Angel wondered if she wore the same look her mom had seen that day on the front porch when she’d first heard from Abigail. After a couple of seconds she nodded and forced herself to put one foot forward, then another, as if teaching her brain how to walk again.
When they drew close to the tent, she considered the best way to introduce herself. While she ran through possibilities in her head, she stepped into the line of people waiting to buy a funnel cake. Normally, she was a great fan of the fried dough concoction, but today the smell nauseated her.
/> Hunter took up the spot in line behind her and placed his strong, supportive hands on her shoulders. Even though she knew it was all mental, she felt as if she were literally drawing strength into her body from his. For a fleeting moment, her thoughts drifted back to their hotel room and its single bed, what could possibly happen between them in that bed. But then the line in front of her moved forward, bringing her firmly back to the present and the fact that she might literally be taking one more step toward her birth mother.
She scanned the half-dozen women moving about beneath the tent pouring dough into the grease vat, shaking generous doses of powdered sugar onto the finished products, taking money and making change. Angel couldn’t see their faces well from where she stood, couldn’t hear if they called each other by name. Which one was Nora? Was she even here? And if she was, how would she greet the questions bubbling in the cauldron of Angel’s insides?
Before she was ready, Angel found herself at the front of the line.
“How many?”
“Is Nora Martin here?”
Angel noticed a woman turn away from the fryer, a paper plate bearing a piping hot funnel cake in each hand—both of which she promptly dropped. The wide-eyed look on the woman’s face telegraphed the truth even before she lifted a hand to her mouth and started crying.
“Nora, are you okay?” the woman in front of Angel asked.
“I need a minute.” Nora’s voice was barely above a whisper and almost lost in the noise of other conversations, the sizzle of the fryer and the jingles on the dresses of the female dancers currently performing in the arena.
Angel stepped out of the line, and Hunter’s hand slipped down to capture hers. She was probably gripping his so hard that she was cutting off his circulation, but he didn’t seem to mind. Nora kept her gaze on Angel the entire time as she skirted the tables lining the outside of the tent until she came face-to-face with Angel, as if she thought she might disappear if she looked away. Ironic.
“Are you really here?” Nora asked.
When she lifted her hand, as if she might touch Angel’s face, Angel took a step backward. Nora’s hand went to her own cheek instead and wiped away some of her tears.
Home on the Ranch: Texas Cowboy, Be Mine Page 14