Ever Hopeful

by Lori Ryan

  “But she didn’t feel the need to come check on me herself? Maybe she thought you’d handle things with more tact and grace than she could?” Laura asked, getting a laugh from Ashley. It felt really good to chat with another woman as if she were a friend. Ashley hadn’t had this kind of friendship in so long, she’d forgotten how powerful it could be.

  “Yes, that’s exactly it. That and the fact that she had to work all day.”

  “I was just headed to the barn to check on the kittens. Do you want to come? They’re adorable,” Laura said with a grin that said she knew kittens might not be up Ashley’s alley.

  “Oh yeah. How can I pass up kittens?” Ashley’s tone said “no,” but she started walking with Laura toward the barn.

  “So, any fallout from your day making pies with the women?” Ashley asked as they walked.

  Laura clamped down on her lips and didn’t answer. How do you answer that when the fallout had been, well...pretty big.

  “Oh, no. That good, huh? What happened?” Ashley asked.

  Laura lifted a shoulder. “I just realized I wasn’t really ready to jump into anything right now. Any relationship, I mean—”

  Ashley just looked at her but didn’t say anything. Laura tried to ignore the look and continue walking, but it was clear her new friend wasn’t going to move on. What was it with the people in this town? It was as if they just expected you to share everything with them right off the bat. And, for some insane reason, Laura seemed powerless to resist them.

  “I just realized he was trying to save me, you know? It’s what he does. He saves and rescues, but I don’t want to be rescued. I want to be with him because he wants to be with me, not because he thinks I need him,” she said, pushing open one of the double doors of the barn. Red hung back in the shadows, watching Ashley warily.

  “It’s all right, girl. She’s rude and obnoxious, but she won’t hurt you,” Laura said to Red, smiling at Ashley as she said that.

  “That’s not true at all. I fry dogs and eat them with biscuits and gravy for breakfast,” Ashley said, addressing Red but smiling too. Red’s tail wagged a little.

  “Gross!” Laura laughed at Ashley’s breakfast joke and walked to the tack room to look over the half door at Hope and her kittens.

  “Oh look. Snacks!” Ashley said, looking over the door.

  “You’re terrible.”

  “I know.” Ashley looked completely unrepentant. “So, are you sticking around for a while, or are you going to run again?”

  Laura turned to look at her new friend, and she felt certain Ashley also knew about running.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Ashley said, reading her thoughts. “I’ve been a runner, too. When I got to Evers, my mom—who was my sixth foster mom at the time—told me she thought it might be a good idea to just sit tight for a bit and see what happened. She said it so simply, like that was all there was to it. If I just sat tight, things would be fine. I thought she was bat-guts crazy at the time, but she was right. She and my dad were the first people to love me just for me, to take care of me because they wanted to, not because they had to. It turned out, Evers is a pretty good place to be.”

  Laura unlatched the door to the tack room and refilled Hope’s food bowl. The kittens’ eyes weren’t open yet, and their ears were still tucked tightly against their heads, but they still knew she was there. They mewed and turned tiny heads toward her. Laura rubbed their soft heads with one finger at a time, taking turns from kitten to kitten as their protective mom, newly named “Hope,” looked on with great suspicion in her gaze.

  “Shane is helping me get ready for a court battle with the Kensingtons, so there’s no reason to keep running.” Laura stood and left the room, latching the door behind her. Red fell into step behind the women as they left the barn and walked back toward the house. “And Cade is, well, he’s building great big greenhouses for me.”

  “Do you want to know what I think? Wait, of course you do. I’m brilliant and I know what I’m talking about. Of course you want to hear what I have to say.”

  Laura smiled at Ashley. “Of course I do. You’re brilliant and you know what you’re talking about.”

  “If you’re staying, just wait awhile on Cade. He may really want to be with you, not just save you. And, if that’s the case, he’ll still want that in a month or two when you’re a little more sure about what you’re doing, and you’re feeling less like a woman everyone wants to save and more like a woman who’s in charge of her own destiny, for once.”

  “Destiny, huh?” Laura asked. They stopped and watched the progress of the greenhouse as the panels of glass were placed along one wall.

  “I may not be sensitive and lovey dovey and all that good stuff, but I’m spiritual. People find Evers just when they need it. And Cade’s not going anywhere. Besides,” Ashley said, looking out where Cade stood, “I have a feeling that man’s worth waiting for. Tell me, did his kisses make you want to drag him off to the nearest bed, or did you just faint where you stood?”

  Laura gaped at Ashley, but that didn’t seem to faze Ashley one bit. “Oh please, don’t tell me you weren’t tempted to tear the shirt off his back a time or two. That boy can melt panties with a single glance,” Ashley said.

  Cade turned and looked at Ashley and Laura as if he’d heard every word, even though he was twenty yards away. Laura felt the heat rush to her cheeks and Ashley only laughed harder at that.

  When the laughter stopped though, Laura had one more question for her unlikely friend. “How do you know that this time wouldn’t be like before? Did you know your parents were different this time?”

  Ashley held her gaze with those impossibly blue eyes. “Did I know they wouldn’t hit me this time? That no one would show up in my bedroom? No. I didn’t. But sometimes you just have to take that chance. Sometimes, you just can’t let the past rule you.”

  ***

  Mark cut back through the field and out to the road where Paul was waiting for him. They’d followed the greenhouse delivery truck to a ranch twenty minutes outside of town, and then driven past it aways before Mark got out and cut across fields and through sparse trees to see if he could spot Laura or the doctor.

  Mark placed the high-powered binoculars he was carrying on the floor of the car as he climbed in the passenger seat.

  “We got her.” He described the two women he’d seen walking from the house to the barn. “She cut her hair and it’s darker now, but it was definitely Laura Kensington.”

  Paul headed down the road a bit while Mark called Alec and reported in.

  Chapter Thirty

  Alec watched Justin out of the corner of his eye. They were on a private jet Justin had chartered as soon as the private detectives had called to report they’d found Laura. It had been crap luck that Justin was with Alec when the PIs called and he’d picked up on the fact that they’d tracked down Laura. Well, no, not crap luck. Justin had been haunting Alec almost day and night on his new quest to find Laura and liberate her, to tell her she was free to raise the baby without any interference from his mother.

  Alec had tried to convince Justin that Alec should go get her alone, but Justin couldn’t be dissuaded.

  Alec watched Justin sip bourbon on the rocks as the jet carried them to some small Texas town with a landing strip in the Hill Country. Mark and Paul were staked out watching the ranch to be sure Laura didn’t slip away before Justin and Alec arrived. Alec knew he’d need to find a way to convince Justin to let him talk to Laura alone first. Then, he needed to find a way to keep her quiet for good without anyone being the wiser about his true motives. He didn’t have a clue how he’d do either of those things, but he’d come up with a way. He hadn’t gotten where he was in life without being damned resourceful.

  The attendant stepped into the cabin. “Gentlemen, we’ll be landing shortly. Can I get you anything else before we arrive?” she asked, her smile polite and solicitous.

  “No, thank you,” Alec said. When she left the cabin, he turned to J
ustin. “It’s an hours’ drive from the private airport to Evers. I’ve got a car waiting for us.”

  Justin only nodded as he drained the rest of his drink and then sat back and closed his eyes. He was just as quiet on the drive to Evers, but as soon as they met up with the private investigators, it was clear Justin intended to take over the show. He grilled the investigators about what they’d seen, who Laura was with, where she was. The group stood down the road from the ranch that sheltered Laura, and Justin was ready to drive right up her driveway and try to talk to her. Alec had only minutes to try to see Laura alone.

  “Listen, Justin, I think it might be better for you to let me go in first. If she sees you, she might just think you’re here to take your mother’s side in this, or worse yet, that you might hit her like Patrick did.” Alec knew he’d hit a weak spot with that suggestion. Justin visibly winced at the mention of Patrick hitting Laura, so Alec pushed on. “We don’t want to frighten her into running again. If I go in alone, maybe I can let her know you’re here to help, that you know what happened with Patrick, but you want to make sure your mom can’t hurt her. She’s less likely to be frightened by me.”

  Justin looked from Alec to the ranch and back again. “All right. I’ll hang back and let you go in first.”

  “Good. Mark, Paul, you guys drive us up to the bottom of the driveway and then wait there. I’ll walk up and see her then wave to you guys when she’s ready to see you, Justin. If she does run, be prepared to trail her.” He leveled a look at Mark that he hoped he would interpret correctly since Alec couldn’t be as blunt as he’d like to be with Justin listening in. “Don’t lose her.”

  ***

  Cade slowed Cayenne’s Pride to a walk. He rode the fence line along the western edge of their property helping José check for spots that might need repair. It was something he did from time to time to help their friend and just to get out on his horse more often. Cayenne’s rehab was going so well, Cade was having a hard time holding Cayenne back, making sure he didn’t hurt himself in his eagerness to run again. But this week he’d started letting the horse run, and it felt great to be out on the powerful creature’s back as he worked.

  The landscape on the ranch never ceased to calm him, and after Laura’s decision to end what had barely begun between them, he needed something to settle him. But this wasn’t settling him in the least today. In fact, the further away from the barn and house he rode, the more tense he got. Something wasn’t sitting right for him today and the urge to turn back toward Laura, to stay close to her, seemed ever-present.

  Cade’s phone rang—the ringtone indicated Shane was calling him. He dropped the reins over the horn of his saddle and let Cayenne continue at a slower pace.

  “Hey, Shane, what’s up?”

  “Are you with Laura?” Shane asked without saying hello.

  The hair on Cade’s neck stood up and he turned Cayenne back toward the barn. “No. I’m riding the fence line. She’s back at the barn.”

  “It’s probably nothing, but I just saw Tina and Gina. Two men were asking about Doc in the diner yesterday. They said they were old friends of his who wanted to visit, but the girls pretended not to know who he was. The guys said they were leaving town, on their way to Austin, so they could already be gone, but I just thought you should stick closer to her for a few days to be safe.”

  Cade grunted a response and disconnected the call before urging Cayenne into a gallop, praying he wasn’t pushing the horse too hard, too fast, but he needed to get back to Laura. He shouldn’t have ignored the feelings of unease he’d had since yesterday. Even if Laura didn’t want to be with him, he could be close enough to watch her and make sure no one came onto the property without him knowing about it.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Laura filled the water bowl for Hope and placed it on the floor next to the cat’s bed. She held her hand still for a minute below Hope’s chin, and waited to see if Hope might let her get in a little scratch. The cat lowered her nose and sniffed for a second and Laura used the edge of her hand to rub at the side of Hope’s face. The cat held still for the petting but appeared torn about the interaction.

  Laura remembered Cade telling her he always backed off if he wasn’t sure an animal wanted to engage with him. She dropped her hand and whispered good-bye then stood and slipped from the room.

  Red stood outside the tack room door and whimpered.

  “All right, just for a bit,” Laura said and opened the door to let Red into the room. Red had started checking on the kittens several times a day, despite Hope’s yowling objections. Laura watched over the door as Red lay quietly near the kittens. She couldn’t help but wonder how Red would be with her baby when it arrived. She had a feeling Red would be gentle and protective, and as dedicated to the baby as she appeared to be with the kittens.

  In a flash, Red was on her feet. She spun toward Laura, hair prickled along her spine, a low growl coming from deep within her throat.

  “Red?” Laura asked.

  “Hello, Laura.”

  She spun when she heard the voice behind her, then panicked as she realized it was Alec Hall standing in the center aisle of the barn. “I’m not going back,” she said, her back pressed against the door to the tack room.

  Alec laughed. “I have no intention of letting you go back. In fact, I plan to make sure you don’t ever go back. But first, I need to know what Patrick gave you before he died. Where are you hiding the evidence, Laura?”

  Laura tried to think but she was frozen. She had no idea what Alec was talking about. Evidence?

  “What evidence, Alec? What do you want from me?” Laura looked around her as she spoke and tried to figure out if there was anything she could use as a weapon. Anything she could hit him with or throw at him. She had no delusions that she could really hurt him. He was much stronger and larger than she was. But she might be able to throw him off balance long enough to run. If she could get up the stairs to Cade’s apartment, she could lock the door and call for help.

  The Jeep. Get to the Jeep, Laura. She could almost hear Cade’s voice in her ear as she remembered the running plan he and Shane had set up for her. She had begun to think she would never have to use it, and she certainly never thought she would have to run because Alec Hall came looking for something he thought she had.

  “Don’t even think about running, Laura,” Alec said, pulling a gun from behind his back. “I’ve got people waiting outside if you try to run. Now, let’s talk about that evidence.”

  Laura knew if she told him the truth—that Patrick would never have confided in her—she would be useless to Alec alive. Whatever he wanted, she needed to find a way to play along until help arrived or she figured out a way to escape.

  “Let me tell you how this is going to go. You’re going to give me what I want, every damn piece of evidence that idiot husband of yours ever collected. Do that, and I let you go. If you don’t, I’ll tell everyone I walked in here to try to talk you into seeing Justin to talk about the baby. You pulled a gun on me, we struggled, and the gun went off.” He shook his head. “I tried to save you. Did my best, with the baby and all, you know. But, I couldn’t save you.”

  Before Laura could answer, she heard another man approaching. She didn’t process right away that it was Justin Kensington.

  “What the hell are you doing, Alec? What is this?” Justin asked from behind Alec, his voice filled with accusation, making it clear he’d heard what Alec said to Laura.

  The next few seconds moved in slow motion. As Laura watched in horror, Alec spun and shot Justin. Laura didn’t stop to think, didn’t worry about the fact that this was one of the people she’d been running from. Her only instinct was to see if she could help him. She ran to Justin where he fell and tried to stop the bleeding.

  She thought she might be screaming, but she wasn’t even sure.

  “Get up. Laura. I don’t have time to screw around now,” Alec said. “That shot’s going to bring people running.”


  The horses were out in their pastures, but Laura could hear Red barking and growling from inside the tack room. She tried to remember if May and Josh were home to call for help. Surely they would have heard the gunshot….

  But no, they had gone out earlier this morning. They wouldn’t be home for a few hours. Cade was out on the ranch. Laura was alone.

  She crouched next to Justin and felt for a pulse. It wasn’t strong, but it was still there. Justin was still alive. Laura turned and stood between his prone body and Alec. “You killed him.”

  Alec laughed. “No, I didn’t, Laura. You did. You pulled a gun and shot him when he tried to talk you into coming home.”

  Laura felt sick to her stomach. Her mind whirred as she tried to come up with a way to get out of this, to get help for Justin before he bled out— and help for herself. Before she could think of what to say to Alec, she saw something out of the corner of her eye.

  The blur of movement was so fast, Laura didn’t know what it was at first. But then it hit her. Red. Red had jumped the tack room door and was on top of Alec, teeth clamped on his arm as the man screamed in pain. The gun fell from his hand and skidded to a stop at Laura’s feet.

  She froze for a split second, watching the way Red pinned Alec. But then she heard Cade’s instructions in her head. Get to the Jeep and run. She picked up the gun and headed for the Jeep.

  “Red, come! Red!” she called out as she ran. Laura made it to the Jeep, grabbed the keys and gunned the engine as Red jumped into the passenger seat. Dust rose behind them, and she started for the dirt road leading away from her ranch, away from the first place she’d ever wanted to call home.

  ***

  Cade had Cayenne running flat out when he heard the shot, but somehow that horse dug deeper and gave him more. It didn’t hurt to have a racehorse under you when you needed one, and apparently, the hock had healed well enough for Cayenne to race when Cade needed him to. As the barn came into view, he could see the Jeep tearing down the dirt driveway. Another car was headed up the drive, trying to block her way.