Ever Hopeful

by Lori Ryan

  Shane sounded a little bitter when he explained. “It wasn’t always easy trying to run the ranch while he was busy with his inventing, but in the end, the joke was on all of us. He invented an industrial glue pretty much by accident one day. I’m still not sure what he was trying to invent that day. But the glue is what came out. It’s used in manufacturing all over the world now. The patent earned him enough money to play in his tinker barn, as we call it, until the day he died and beyond.”

  Laura smiled, but she didn’t miss the way a little of the light left May’s expression at the mention of her husband’s passing. May and her husband must have been truly in love. That was what Laura had hoped for herself one day. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she’d dared to dream of love.

  “Well boys, go on and get this table cleared so you can get back to work.” Laura almost did a double take as the men rose without complaint and began clearing the table. Patrick would have never helped with what he saw as a woman’s work.

  “Aren’t lawyers supposed to have days packed full of appointments and meetings?” May chided Shane as he piled the plates in a stack to clear them.

  “Not small-town lawyers, Mama,” he answered with a laugh.

  Laura moved to help clear the dishes away but May insisted she sit and relax.

  “You rest some more and then I’ll show you to your room after the boys go back to work. You can settle in.”

  Laura blanched. Settle in. She had no idea where she would go or how she would find a job, but she couldn’t possibly stay here for more than a day or so. She couldn't shake the feeling that she needed to keep moving, keep running, before the Kensingtons caught up to her.

  “I’ll begin looking for work and a place to stay right away,” she started, thinking she’d just tell them she had found work and move along, but May cut her off.

  “You’ll do no such thing. Josh knew what he was doing when he sent you here. And, if he sent you to me, I’m guessing you’ve got no family to take you in and no job prospects. It’ll be wonderful to have some company around here during the day.” Laura could tell Cade and Shane were listening. Their conversation had quieted in the other room, but they didn’t argue their mother’s offer.

  “Now then,” May said as she pushed herself up from the table. “Let me show you your room.” With that announcement, she moved toward the stairs and made her way up, leaning on the railing, clearly expecting Laura to follow.

  Laura didn’t know what to say or do. If Patrick’s family found her here, she could bring trouble to the Bishops. She couldn’t do that to them.

  She weighed her options, and there weren’t many. She’d worked at a diner as a waitress in high school. It wouldn’t be fun to be on her feet for ten-hour shifts when she got further along in her pregnancy, but plenty of women had done it. She’d do it, too.

  After a few days’ rest at the ranch, she’d slip out and move on to look for work and a quiet place to settle. Maybe she could call Josh and see if he could get her money from the greenhouse and wire it to her. If she left as soon as she received the wire, she wouldn’t be around for the Kensingtons to catch up to her. That would give her enough to put down a deposit on an apartment in a new place.

  Laura rose and started up the stairs after May, who moved painstakingly slowly. Shane came into the room, hands shoved in his pockets. Cade stood behind him. He cleared his throat and Laura paused.

  “Laura. I um, I just want you to know, I won’t… What I mean is, you’ll be safe here,” Shane said, eyes on the floor. “We won’t tell anyone you’re here.”

  Laura swallowed past the lump in her throat and nodded before turning up the stairs again. She knew she should tell them that her husband was dead, that his family might be coming after her. She should tell them about the baby, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell them any of it. Laura pushed aside the guilt that swirled around her and followed May upstairs as the men went back to the kitchen. With any luck, she was overreacting. The Kensingtons would let her go and she’d live in peace, finally free of her husband and the horror her life had become the last few years.

  Chapter Nine

  Alec Hall rested his hand on the ornate wrought-iron railing leading to the Upper West Side brownstone of Martha Kensington. Over the past two days, he’d been by the side of his deceased business partner’s mother and brother, helping with the arrangements for his funeral. He’d ensured that the newspapers and news stations had photos of Patrick Kensington that had been approved by Martha, and patiently bided his time. He needed to get into Patrick’s home and search for the evidence Patrick had threatened him with in his dying moments.

  He had no idea if the evidence would be on paper, on a thumb drive, or on Patrick’s computer. Hell, it could be anything and anywhere. But no matter its form, he needed to find it before someone else did.

  Alec was tired of having to kowtow to Martha. He’d been doing that for the last ten years as Patrick’s partner, and it sickened him to have to continue it now. He knew Martha didn’t know the truth about Alec’s background. If she had, she never would have let her son associate with him, much less go into business with him. Martha Kensington controlled Patrick; she always had. If her background check had been able to get past the backstory he had created, she would know Alec was nothing more than a street kid with a long juvenile record…a kid who’d grown up in the gutters of New York City. If she’d known that, she would have put an end to Patrick’s dealings with Alec right away. Kensingtons didn’t mix with the Alec Halls of the world.

  Patronizing Martha a little longer was a necessity now. Alec needed access to Patrick’s home and to his wife. He had to be sure Laura Kensington didn’t know anything about the evidence Patrick had dug up the week before his death. The best way to do that was to stay close to the family, to be supportive, and solicitous. To cater to their every damn need, as they were accustomed to.

  Justin answered his knock and ushered him in, then shut the door against the flashbulbs of the reporters who surrounded the front steps. The reporters hadn’t been satisfied with the canned statements made by the family’s publicist, but then again, when someone as prominent and wealthy as Patrick Kensington died, the vultures were never satisfied with scraps.

  The shit I could tell them about that man.

  It was ironic really. Patrick had never cared when Alec made sure they were awarded projects with well-placed cash gifts, or a favor here or there for someone in a position to help them. He hadn’t cared when Alec had gotten a little rough on occasion to make sure other companies backed out of a project, or to ensure someone kept a promise made to him or Patrick. He hadn’t cared one bit when Alec had subbed out materials on jobs to raise their profit margin. But, when he’d figured out Alec was skimming a little extra for himself now and then.... Well, that had been another story altogether. The pompous ass thought he could come down on Alec, threaten him with jail time and exposure. Patrick thought he’d pin all of the company’s wrongdoing on Alec over the years, getting away free and clear and getting rid of Alec in the process.

  But, that wasn’t happening. Alec was the one who took all the risk, did all the dirty work to build that company. He deserved a bigger piece of the pie, so he’d taken it. And he’d be damned if he would let any of the Kensingtons take that away from him. Not Patrick, and certainly not his little mouse of a wife, Laura.

  “How are you holding up, Justin?” Alec asked quietly. He handed his coat to the housekeeper who waited silently beside the door.

  He followed Justin into the sitting room on the left and was greeted by the ever-cold eyes of Martha Kensington. Justin didn’t answer Alec’s query; he just grunted and poured himself another drink from the sidebar then waved the bottle at Alec with a brow raised in question.

  Alec nodded, accepted a drink, and sat next to Martha.

  “How are you feeling, Martha? Have the reporters been at you all morning?” She would lay her son to rest today. Alec almost felt a pinch of remorse for th
e pain she must be going through. Just a pinch, easily pushed aside when he thought about the way Patrick had cornered him. He hadn’t had any choice when it came down to it.

  Martha’s husband had died from a heart attack at the age of forty-three, and his father before him died almost as young from heart failure. No one had questioned it when Patrick suffered the same end. He may have only been thirty-seven but with a family history like that, who would think to look for poison in his system? Tox screens aren’t done as a matter of course unless there was some reason to go digging, and succinylcodeine wouldn’t be stumbled upon unless someone found a reason to go looking. Alec knew enough about the nurse who’d given him the drug that she’d keep his secret forever, provided he did the same with hers.

  Alec didn’t receive an answer from Martha either, because the phone rang as soon as the words were out of his mouth. She turned to pick it up as if she were glad to skip the obligation of conversing with him. As he listened to her side of the conversation and watched her stony eyes grow even harder, several things became clear.

  First, she’d sent her driver to pick Laura up at the hospital rather than see to her daughter-in-law herself or even send Justin to bring her to their home. Typical, Alec realized. Laura had been treated in much the same manner he had; as an outsider. As someone who hadn’t measured up. Not that anyone really measured up in the Kensingtons’ world.

  When Patrick and Laura had married three years ago, Alec wondered why his partner had married a woman who clearly didn’t meet his family’s standards. Laura came from the wrong side of the tracks in a small New Jersey town that Patrick liked to say was the armpit of the state. At first Alec thought Patrick was rebelling in some way, but that wasn't it at all. It hadn’t taken Alec long to figure out it was all about control. Patrick liked the control he had over Laura, the way he could hold himself over her with such superiority. It was the same thing his mother did with everyone around her, and Alec had to wonder if Laura had been paying the price for Martha’s treatment of Patrick.

  Before Martha had even hung up the phone, Alec deciphered the rest of the conversation. Laura wasn’t in the hospital or anywhere else that the driver could find. She’d left the hospital and was missing.

  Alec forced his hand to loosen around the glass he held and set it carefully on the table as Martha hung up the phone and began to rant.

  “She never allowed the doctor to check her in. She simply left saying her sister was picking her up. She doesn’t have a sister!” Martha said.

  Her voice was cold and tight with indignation. There was no concern for Laura or her well-being in the tone. Only anger that she would dare defy Martha and check herself out of the hospital.

  Justin grunted and downed the rest of his drink before pouring another one.

  Martha rose, her carriage regal and commanding. “Lord knows what goes through that ignorant woman’s head, but I won’t allow her to embarrass us in this manner.”

  Martha handed her empty glass to Justin. “Alec, put out a statement that Laura is still under a doctor’s care and not able to attend services today due to her fragile state,” she said.

  Your concern for Laura is touching, Martha.

  Alec pulled his cell phone out and flipped through his contacts. “I’ve got the number for a private investigator I’ve worked with on some sensitive matters. His agency is excellent and highly regarded. He’ll keep this quiet while he tracks her down.”

  Martha made a dismissive noise, but Alec made the call anyway. If Laura was on the run, that only confirmed his suspicion. Patrick must have given the evidence he had against Alec to Laura before he’d died. Alec needed to find her. Fast.

  Chapter Ten

  Laura followed the paved path down toward the large red barn that housed Cade’s horses and a few dogs he picked up from time to time. She’d spent the morning listening to May tell her about the town of Evers, the town closest to the Bishop Ranch. Apparently, there wasn’t much more to it than what she’d seen on her way through the day before.

  There was Jansen’s Feed Store, a diner run by two sisters who spent most of their time arguing—but whose cooking couldn’t be beat so people put up with the bickering—a bank, gas station, and convenience store. There were a few old buildings that now housed a gallery and a potter’s workshop that had begun to draw tourists on the weekend. Three churches rounded out the lot.

  While May talked, Laura planned. She calculated in her head. She had almost six hundred dollars left. Not really enough to buy a reliable car. She’d need to take a bus if she wanted to move again. Big city or small town? More opportunity to bury herself in a city and better odds she’d get a job right away, but the cost of living would be higher. In the end, she’d decided to look for a moderately sized city—large enough to get lost in, but small enough so the cost of living wouldn’t be overwhelming. She needed to settle somewhere and let the man working on her identity know where she was so she could get her papers. She had decided to contact Josh and see if he could get to her cash in the greenhouse to send on to her wherever she settled.

  After they finished making a stew that was now simmering on the stove, May trimmed the excess fat off and handed a pile of the scraps from the beef they’d used, and sent Laura down to the barn with them for Red. As she walked, Laura looked out over the endless fields and watched the horses graze in the heat of the Texas day. There was a stillness and quiet to the ranch that calmed Laura. She knew she had to keep moving if she wanted to stay safe, but she was grateful for the small respite she’d been offered here. And honestly, she had a feeling it wasn’t going to be easy to move on.

  She’d spent her whole life either under the thumb of a cruel and unforgiving father who hated her simply for being born a girl—and later, living in fear of her husband’s fists and the cruel blows they struck with such ease. From the moment she’d discovered she was pregnant, she’d known she had to leave. It was only a matter of time before one of those blows from Patrick would hit her in the wrong place and take her baby’s life.

  But knowing she had to leave, and figuring out how to support herself and a child, were very different things. The ranch seemed to have an energy that whispered of possibilities to Laura. It told her she could be anything she chose to be; anyone she set out to be. She had only to decide who or what to be and embrace her future. If only she wasn’t afraid to listen to those whispers, and too afraid to stay in one place.

  Laura looked up to see Red trotting toward her, mouth open and happy, tongue lolling as she panted in the heat. Laura laughed and knelt down.

  “Hey beautiful girl. I brought you a surprise,” Laura said, pulling the chunks of meat out to a greedy mouth that gobbled them down in one bite.

  “Mornin’, Laura,” Cade said from twenty feet away. He leaned on the barn door, shoulder against the edge, long legs crossed. He was as relaxed and in his element as any man could be. Though Cade was tall and lean, she could tell he was muscular beneath the tan work shirt and worn jeans he wore, and Laura was embarrassed to find that her pulse quickened whenever he was near her. For a split second, she found herself wondering what it would feel like to run her hands over those muscles, to feel that strength. She pushed the urge away.

  His dark hair fell messily over his forehead, framing green eyes that always seemed to be laughing. “It was like she heard you coming from a mile away. Whined for me to open the door so she could get to you.”

  Cade was so unlike the men she’d met in her life so far. He didn’t move toward Laura. He seemed unhurried, as if he could wait for her to choose to either walk away or to walk over to him, without any concern over the way the decision went.

  Laura closed the yards between them slowly, not at all sure she really wanted to spend any more time than she had to with anyone on the ranch. She was drawn to him despite her hesitation. Red followed by Laura’s side, keeping herself in contact with Laura’s leg as they walked.

  “She probably just smelled the meat May sent down
for her,” she said.

  She didn’t know what else to say after that. She crossed her arms, holding herself in the protective bubble she’d built over the last few years. It’d been a long time since she’d talked to anyone outside her husband’s family, unless you counted the polite, mindless chatter that had been expected at business functions and social events. Then, she’d worn a carefully constructed mantle that showed the world what they expected to see.

  Laura didn’t want to step back into the persona she’d worn for the last three years as Patrick’s wife. She didn’t want to be that person anymore.

  Cade filled in the silence for her. “I can show you the horses, introduce you to a few of them,” he said, motioning over his shoulder with an easy jerk of the chin toward the barn.

  Laura nodded. She followed him into the barn, but stayed back a few paces. He didn’t seem to care if she talked or not, which in itself took the pressure off and made it easier to be around him.

  Laura followed Cade up to one of the stall doors, but stepped back when a large brown head with a white stripe down the face popped over the half door.

  “Oh!” The horse was larger than Laura thought it would be, making her wonder whether she really wanted to meet the magical creatures she’d seen in the fields on her way down from the house. They seemed to be safer from a distance.

  The horse lowered his head and shoved at Cade’s chest, throwing him back a foot or two and making him laugh—a rich deep laugh that seemed to reach right into Laura and warm her from the inside out.

  “He’s looking for a mint,” Cade said and pulled a wrapped peppermint out of his pocket. He raised a brow and looked at Laura. “You want to feed him?”

  Laura frowned at the mint in Cade’s hand. “You’re teasing me. He doesn’t eat mints,” she said, shaking her head and looking back at the beautiful horse who continued to push at Cade for the mint.