Rose looked at Ashby in amazement. “You make it sound so simple.”
“I might make it sound that way, but I know matters of the heart aren’t simple at all. Oh, Rose.” She laid her hand on her flat stomach. “I’m going to have a baby. I’ve dreamed of a baby for so long. But getting here in my life wasn’t easy for me either. You were there for me when I fought falling in love with Dan. You know it took me a while to come to my conclusions about what I wanted and who I wanted. But I did eventually. And so will you.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“You’ll know. And speaking of that, looks like you’ve got company.”
Rose turned to see Zane and Max climbing out of Zane’s truck. They were smiling when they walked inside.
“Hey, Mom,” Max said. “We’re having lunch over at Sam’s place. Do you want to come?”
Zane stood just inside the door and had taken his hat off and was holding it across his heart as he was prone to do. Her gaze lingered on the corded strength of his forearm and on the hand that rested over the top of the hat. She swallowed hard and glanced at Ashby, who gave her a knowing smile.
“I’ll hold the fort down. You go have lunch with your son.” Ashby put no emphasis on the word son but Rose understood what she was saying. Have lunch with them for Max. Relax.
“Okay,” Rose said. Zane immediately pulled the door open and held it for her and Max to pass. Ashby mouthed the word relax when she glanced back at her and Rose took a deep breath as she walked beside Zane. The strangest thing happened as they walked and she listened to Max talk about his morning…she didn’t have to force herself to relax. She was relaxed.
And she stayed that way through the entire meal. She and Zane sat on opposite sides of the booth, which was probably part of it. She was accepting that her nerves going ballistic because he was so near was normal. Looking at him acting so…calm, one would never suspect that this was the man who’d given her flowers and told her that he loved her.
He was waiting. Just like Max was. She should be aggravated about the whole thing and she had been…but her anger had sunk into the background, replaced with this honest confusion.
She loved watching him and Max together. They had become so comfortable, she realized as she watched them. When Zane had first come into their lives, she’d felt jealousy when he spent time with his dad. That was gone, replaced with a genuine appreciation and enjoyment for the relationship they had developed.
She was finishing up the last of her fries when this dawned on her and she paused, looking down at the fry she’d just dipped in ketchup, and gave God a much-deserved thank-you. When she looked up, Zane was watching her. She smiled and he reciprocated with a thoughtful one of his own.
“Would it be okay with you if Max spent the night out at my place tonight?”
“Oh.” The question caught her off guard for some strange reason. “Sure.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Max plopped a fry into his mouth. “We’re going camping. Gil’s coming, too. I already called him but told him it depended on if you gave us the okay.”
“Sounds like fun.”
Max on a campout with his dad. Her heart swelled with a gladness that felt like it would explode.
“You’re welcome to come,” Zane said. Beside him Max gave her an enthusiastic nod.
“Oh, no,” she said. “This sounds like a male bonding thing. A girl would just get in the way.”
“You’re never in the way, Rose,” Zane said, his voice gravelly and his golden eyes darkened in a way that sent a thrill bouncing through her.
She laughed, nervous in an instant.
“Come on, Mom. It’ll be fun.”
“You’re not afraid, are you?” Zane asked.
She knew there was more to the question than asking about a camping trip.
You’re not afraid, are you?
She lifted her chin and met his challenging gaze straight on. “I’m not afraid.”
His lips curled slowly. “Then you’ll go?”
“Yes, I’ll go,” she said, feeling a sense of anticipation at the idea of going camping with her son and his dad. Was she saying yes to more?
“Now we’re talking,” Max yelped and rammed a fist into the air, causing her and Zane to laugh. Their gazes locked just as his emergency beeper buzzed to life.
Chapter Twenty-One
Zane glanced down at the number on the beeper. “Excuse me,” he said, and walked through the diner to the counter.
Rose watched him ask Sam to borrow his phone. Mule Hollow was in a dead zone and not much cell-phone service made it through, so landlines were still essential. Small-town life had some drawbacks and most of the time lack of cell-phone service wasn’t much of an issue. But in an emergency every moment counted. As Zane strode around the counter and snatched up the phone, a sense of foreboding overcame Rose. Nothing ever happened in Mule Hollow, though she didn’t feel reassured by the knowledge.
“What do you think it is?” Max asked as he watched Zane talking on the phone.
“I don’t know. I’m sure it’s nothing too bad.” Brady was back in town and, true to her word, Dottie had sent him back to work immediately. Zane and Brady were sharing the duties again. She’d talked with Brady the day before when he’d stopped by the shop to buy Dottie a gift. He was as happy a man as there ever was. She wondered if it was him on the other end of the line or if it was the 911 dispatch they shared with the surrounding county.
Within seconds Zane was back and Rose knew before he spoke a word that something bad had happened. There was a keen alertness to his eyes—eyes that had seen it all and were determined to fix it. Every purposeful step he took was filled with intent. As he approached she recognized it all from…before.
Rose’s heart caught in her chest—this was the man who’d walked into the room where a scared young woman sat completely uncertain about what her next move should be. Rose remembered how terrified she’d been after seeing the murder. She’d gone to the police because she hadn’t known what else to do. Fear had taken her there…not heroics. But this was the Texas Ranger who’d looked into her eyes and in that single intense exchange inspired her to be brave.
Until this moment, Rose hadn’t fully comprehended that she’d stepped up to the plate to see justice served because Texas Ranger Zane Cantrell’s gaze made her want to be the very best form of herself that she could possibly be. But it was the absolute, undeniable truth. And as he came to a halt at her table and settled his gaze on her she understood it.
“I’ve got to go,” he said, breaking into her revelation. “That was Brady. A vehicle matching the description of one suspected of being used in a bank robbery and hostage abduction of a three-year-old in Kerrville was spotted turning off the highway a few minutes ago. We’re setting up a roadblock and checkpoint at the crossroads.”
Rose’s hand went to her throat and she nodded. “We’ll pray,” she said and held his gaze for a moment before he touched Max’s shoulder and then strode toward the door.
“Can I help, Dad?” Max called as they stood.
Zane spun. “Sorry, son.” He looked around the room. Cowboys all over the diner had risen and App and Stanley had, too. Even at their age, like the war veterans that they were, they looked ready to take on the world.
“Can we help?” App asked and echoes came from others.
“Please,” Zane said, holding up a hand. “Everyone stay. They wounded a bank teller and are armed and dangerous. For this child’s sake I need all of you to stay away from the crossroads.”
“You got it,” Sam said, stepping to the front of the room. “Godspeed to you, Zane.”
Zane nodded and then he was gone.
Everyone was silent as they followed him outside and watched him climb into his truck, and a moment later he was gone.
Max wrapped an arm around Rose’s waist and hugged her to his hip. “Don’t worry, Mom. I can tell you this. If that little girl is in that car, my dad will get her back.”
&nb
sp; Rose draped her arm about his shoulders and hugged him closer. “Yes, he will,” she said with complete certainty that he would…or would die trying.
Watching him leave, Rose had never felt more clarity about what she wanted than in that moment. But was it too late?
Zane worked on adrenaline as he raced toward the roadblock point. He knew he had the Texas highway patrol converging from all directions and air support on the way. Brady was on the way also, but had been at home, which would put him behind Zane. Zane figured he was the first in a direct path to meet the suspects.
A little girl’s safety hung in the balance. Zane prayed for God’s deliverance of her and focused on his job. On the skills that had made him the Ranger who’d believed he’d been put on earth for a purpose to fight for those who couldn’t fight for themselves…he’d lost faith in that to an extent after he’d stepped over the line with Rose. And even though he’d become a believer after his accident he hadn’t ever completely gotten that feeling back. Self-respect lost played with a man’s head.
But he knew as he headed down the road that God had equipped him and placed him in this spot, in this moment out here in the middle of nowhere, for a reason and it was barreling down the road toward him…and Zane had no intention of messing up. Of letting that baby down. Running on instinct and something more, Zane kept going when he hit the crossroads where he was supposed to set up the roadblock. The crossroads was nine miles from Mule Hollow and fifty miles from the highway. Brady would set the roadblock up, but Zane was in an unmarked vehicle and something told him he could use that to his advantage.
He tugged his badge off and dropped it in his shirt pocket as he slowed to an unsuspicious rate of speed.
The radio barked to life. “Zane, where are you?”
Brady. Zane snatched up the handset. “I’m twenty miles between the crossroads and the highway.” There was a pause, and he knew Brady was fighting the urge to reprimand. But Zane had already realized that Brady wasn’t a man who wasted time on water under the bridge.
“You see anything?” he asked finally.
“No, wait. I see it. They’re on the side of the road. Looks like a flat. I’m going in.”
“Zane—”
He clicked the radio off. He didn’t need it barking and giving away his advantage.
He had the element of surprise going for him. He couldn’t believe they were sitting on the side of the road with a flat. A flat.
But he wasn’t griping. And he wasn’t hesitating. He knew instantly how to react. He pulled over, intentionally leaving a distance between him and the car. “You boys need some help?” he called, sticking his head out the window and smiling like a good ol’ boy with no clue as to who they were or what they’d done.
The two men took him at face value, assuming he was just a dumb cowboy doing the neighborly thing. Zane knew they were desperate and as such he’d expected they would pretend to accept his help. He hadn’t missed the flash of steel when he’d driven up or that each held his right hand slightly behind him as they approached. They would jack his truck, kill him if they had to. He read it in their eyes that they’d crossed the line of caring anything about human life. He bided his time and willed them to keep coming away from the car, where he saw a small blond head peeking from the backseat.
He had God on his side as they approached his truck, moving away from the car and the toddler.
“Thanks for stopping, man,” one said, smiling. They held their guns hidden behind them fully intent on pulling them out the instant they were beside him. Zane let them come. The last thing they expected was the gun leveled on them the instant they came to a halt.
Zane had been in life-and-death situations numerous times over the years and never had he seen something with so much potential to end badly be resolved so easily.
“I’ll take those guns,” he said, with steel in his voice and his eyes. He had no compulsion to do what was needed to make certain that little girl got home to her parents. “Slow and easy on the ground there.”
Within seconds of him stepping out of his truck and their palms flat against the hood of his truck, all manner of sirens and flashing lights broke loose.
Zane understood without a doubt that God had been in control of this situation. If he’d been in his marked vehicle, or if any hint of sirens or lights had come a second earlier, his window of surprise would have been lost.
God’s timing had been perfect.
Zane sent up a heartfelt prayer of thanks and later as he watched the helicopter lift off with the little girl headed for home, his heart was at peace. He was glad to see the news helicopters leave, along with the police chopper.
“You ready to go?” Brady asked, a grin plastered to his face. “B’cause I know I am. I have a wife to hug and a baby of my own to hold. You did good, Zane.”
“I did my job.”
“Yeah, I know.” He clapped him on the shoulder.
Zane knew he understood. Brady had been on the Houston police force before returning to his hometown to become sheriff. Zane knew he’d seen his share of unhappy endings and understood how wrong this one could have turned out. Zane wanted to go home and hug his family, too. And, God willing, he would.
The first thing he noticed as he followed Brady down Main Street were the cars and trucks lining every parking space and, behind them, the crowd strung out down the sidewalks. “What in the world?” he said out loud. Brady stopped in the center of the street and Zane did the same. Immediately a cheer went up and everyone rushed off the sidewalk and gathered round them. Amazed and uncertain he climbed from the truck and looked at the people he’d come to think of as friends over the past few weeks. In the front of the group stood Rose and Max.
This was his town. His people. His family. How strange God worked, he realized. When he’d driven into town he’d been a loner, closed off emotionally from everyone around him. A man who’d lived his life only for his profession. And now, God had given him such a miraculous gift by bringing him here and giving him everything.
Realization fully hit him of how God’s timing had been so perfect not only in the rescue of the little girl. One tiny second off and there could have been a gun-fight and she might have been shot in the crossfire. But in God’s careful precise timing He’d put Zane exactly where he was supposed to be. There would be those who would say it all happened by chance, but Zane knew differently. Just as he suddenly knew it was the same with his life.
As clearly as he knew he belonged in this town and with the woman whose gaze he was riveted to. He knew God had brought him to this point in His perfect timing. He didn’t understand everything but he knew there was no happenstance about it.
Rose Vincent was the only woman he would ever love. And though he hated the thought of all those years between them wasted and all the years he’d missed seeing Max grow up, Zane trusted God to bring it all together.
“You’re a hero,” Max said, breaking out of the pack and engulfing him in a bear hug. “It’s all over the television.”
Zane hugged his son tightly and met Rose’s gaze over the top of his head. She had tears in her eyes as she stepped up and laid her hand on his cheek.
“We were just doing our job,” he said gruffly. His heart pounded at her touch and the precious gift of having Max’s arms around him. He’d never had anything like this before.
Rose smiled and brushed her thumb across his cheek. “Of course you were,” she said. And the light that shone in her eyes took his breath away. There was an entire town standing around and while he was thankful for the situation having ended so well all he could really think about right now was the look in Rose’s eyes and the sweet touch of her hand on his cheek.
“Can I have a word with you?”
She nodded.
“Whatcha got to say?” Applegate called, giving Zane a piercing look that asked if he was about to be smart and do everything in his power to win Rose’s heart.
Zane returned App’s stare with a warm one
of his own. Smart man. “I’m sure you’ll know directly. But for the moment I’d like to be alone.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Max said, grinning up at him.
Zane took Rose’s hand and she came willingly. All he could think of was that she’d touched his cheek so gently and in her eyes he saw what he dared to hope was his future.
“Use the store,” Ashby said.
“And take all the time y’all need,” Norma Sue encouraged.
“That’s right,” Esther Mae called. “We’ll be out here waiting to celebrate some more if the two of you have come to your senses.”
Max put one hand on Zane’s arm and one on Rose’s and pushed then gently in the direction of Ashby’s Treasures. “Go on,” he said. “There’s only one way I want this day to end.”
Rose chuckled and pulled Zane into the store and closed the door behind them. Max turned his back on them and crossed his arms as if guarding the world from intruding on them. Zane knew it was the other way around. Max was blocking their path of escaping the store until he got his happy ending.
“I—” Rose began just as Zane did the same. They ended up halting their words and just staring at each other. Rose had so much she wanted to say. So much she wanted to make up for.
“Oh, Zane,” she began again and he let her speak. “I’ve been so slow to understanding. But the minute I saw you hang that phone up in Sam’s earlier and I saw that look in your eyes everything clicked into place.” She stepped close and cupped his face between her hands. “I realized that no matter how our lives had gotten mixed up over the years, or what the path was that got us from that first moment when I laid eyes on you to that moment in Sam’s, that I loved you because you inspire me to be strong. To be brave. To do what I must in the face of any adversity. And suddenly I understood why you walked away from me.”
He pulled her close and buried his face in her neck and she felt him tremble as he held her so tightly their hearts pounded against each other. “I was so afraid of losing you,” he whispered against her ear. “I would have done anything to keep you safe.”
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