Love and Protect

by Lori Ryan

  Laura was mortified. She moved her hands down from around her head, but used them to cover her face and the heat she knew would be in her cheeks. She knew she looked like an idiot. She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed deeply in an effort to keep tears from falling though they burned behind her lids.

  By the time she’d gotten to the ranch, she was on her very last legs, tired in a way she’d never been before. Perhaps part of that was the pregnancy, but she’d had no idea how badly the exhaustion would affect her ability to cope. One minute, she’d heard Shane talking about who she was and what trouble she might bring with her and the next, she’d known she needed to get out of there. She had to go before he started asking questions she didn’t want to answer. All of her usual defense mechanisms and coping tricks had left her when she’d heard the men coming up behind her. And when Shane had reached for her, she’d reacted to protect herself, her baby.

  Now she was on the ground in an embarrassing display of stupidity and foolishness. Patrick’s voice hissed in her ear. Fool. Get up off the floor, Laura. They’ll know what an idiot you are. Always showing your background. Always showing those damn roots.

  She could almost see him looking down at her as she crouched on the ground.

  Laura didn’t need Patrick’s voice to tell her how stupid she looked right now. She knew it well enough herself. What would they think of her? She stayed where she was, kneeling on the ground, her face buried in her hands, making sure no tears fell to the ground. She couldn’t bring herself to face anyone after that little display. Her heart beat too quickly in her chest and she needed to calm herself.

  Laura heard a soft voice behind her and heard footsteps walking back toward the house. She slid one hand to the side and saw Cade sit down next to her, arms draped casually over his drawn up knees. He kept his body angled toward the barn and didn’t reach out to her.

  “We’ll just stay here a bit. When you’re ready to get up, you reach out for my arm and I’ll help you up, okay?” Cade said.

  Then, much to Laura’s surprise, he simply talked. He didn’t ask questions or try to figure out why she’d fallen to the ground and covered herself like the town idiot after a harmless touch. He didn’t make a big deal out of the fact that she was practically curled in a ball. He talked about nothing and everything all at once.

  “I’ve always loved this time of day. Come to think of it, I love any time of day, but this time is especially nice. Middle of the day, after morning chores are done: animals fed, stalls cleaned, all turned out to pasture. After lunch, I’ve got nothing but playtime to look forward to. Ride a few of the horses. Do some training with my girl, Red.”

  Cade’s voice was soothing, calming. A balm somehow on her frazzled nerves. He spoke as though he expected nothing from her, and that in itself was comforting.

  “Hey, speak of the devil herself,” Cade said. There was a spark of genuine pleasure to his voice that drew Laura’s head up a bit.

  When she lifted her head, she was face to face with a beautiful red dog wagging her tail, low and fast. The dog sniffed the air in Laura’s direction as if trying to get a reading of some sort, and her whole body wriggled as she came forward and licked at Laura’s hands. Hands that shook as they reached out, unsure of herself but drawn to the beautiful creature in front of her.

  The dog’s eyes were warm and deep and she let Laura pet behind her silken ears. The muscles that rippled beneath the dog’s short hair spoke of power and strength, but she was gentle and timid, almost as if she saw something familiar in Laura and wanted to connect with her.

  “Well, I’ll be. She really likes you,” Cade said with a laugh.

  Laura looked over to see him watching as Red continued to wriggle under Laura’s pats and scratches.

  “She didn’t let me touch her until today. It took me about four weeks to earn that, and here you are on the farm for an hour and she waltzes up, pretty as a picture, and lets you snuggle with her. Ms. Red, I don’t mind telling you, I’m feeling a little like a jilted lover.”

  A smile tugged at the corners of Laura’s mouth. He still hadn’t pressed her for answers or tried to lure her back inside. Laura looked over at his kind green eyes that watched as she petted Red. If she didn’t get up soon, she’d either lose feeling in her legs or fall back in the dirt. With a deep fortifying breath, Laura reached out and took hold of Cade’s arm. Cade simply smiled and helped pull her to her feet. They walked inside together as if he’d only taken her for a tour of the ranch before lunch.

  Chapter Eight

  Cade and May carried on an easy conversation during lunch, talking about the animals on the ranch, the new scholarship Shane was setting up for her, Red’s progress with people, and more. Shane sat quietly as if he didn’t know what to say to Laura, and Laura focused only on avoiding eye contact with everyone. Between Cade and May’s conversation, the air didn’t hang near as heavy as it could have.

  “Did you get José the papers to renew their lease, Shane?” May asked her oldest son.

  Shane nodded and swallowed a mouthful of food. “We signed everything last week. I wrote up a twenty-five year lease this time so we don’t have to worry about it for a while, but I gave him a clause to get out of it if he needs to.”

  “Good,” May said then turned to Laura. “The ranch is four thousand acres, but we don’t use all of that anymore. We use about five hundred acres for the animals Cade rehabs, but we lease the other thirty-five hundred acres to José Sandoval and his family. They own a small plot behind us that was too small to do much with. By leasing our land, they’re able to turn a profit on their cattle. You may see the cattle as they’re rotated through the different pastures from time to time. José and his wife often come over for dinner on Sundays, and they help us out around here when we need them.”

  Laura nodded. Later, she would wonder why they didn’t use the land themselves anymore. For now, she was too distracted to think about anything other than whether staying on the ranch was a good idea. She needed to rest for a day or two, but should probably move on after that.

  Maybe she could get in touch with John Smith and have him send the permanent identity to her here before relocating. But would staying that long be wise? It would be a few weeks, at least. It didn’t seem like a good idea to just sit and wait for the Kensingtons to track her down.

  No. I’d better move on and have him send it to me down the road somewhere.

  Laura was lost in thought when May’s voice pulled her back to the present. “My husband was always more interested in his inventions than in running the ranch,” May said, with a wistful smile. “His family had worked it for generations, but he liked tinkering in the barn more than he liked keeping cattle in it. For years we all teased him about it.”

  Cade and Shane shared a wry smile as Laura looked from one of them to the other, trying to understand.

  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, but in reality had only been three years.

  “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 never have 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, but Laura could hear affection in his voice, not genuine correction.

  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.

  “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 with their mother’s offer.

  “Now then,” May said as she pushed herself up from the table, “let me show you your room.” With that, she moved toward the stairs and made her way up, leaning heavily 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 say anything. 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. That maybe her husband had been in some sort of trouble before he died. The needles of doubt pegged her again when she thought of the USB drive she’d left hidden in the kitchen.

  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. With any luck, she was overreacting. Whatever Patrick had been involved in, whatever he’d hidden, was nothing that could come back to haunt her. With any luck, 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 Martha Kensington’s Upper West Side brownstone. Over the past two days, he’d been by the side of his deceased business partner’s mother and brother, helping with the funeral arrangements. 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’d have to put up this façade as long as necessary to find the evidence he hadn’t known existed until it was too late. He needed to get into Patrick’s home and search for the proof 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 now. Martha didn’t know the truth about his background. If she had, she never would have let her son associate with him, much less go into business with him. Martha Kensington had controlled Patrick mercilessly; she always had. If her background check into Alec 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 as Alec Halligan 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 Halligans 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.

  Ironically, 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 over the years on Alec, getting away free and clear, and getting rid of Alec in the process.

  But, that wasn’t happening. Alec was the one who had taken all the risks, did 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. He didn’t know if Laura had the evidence, or even knew what had been happening. He was fairly sure Patrick wouldn’t have shared anything with his wife, but who could be certain? He sure as hell wasn’t taking any chances now.

  “How are you holding up, Justin?” Alec asked quietly, ever playing the part. 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 always-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 the 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 the 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. Alec had learned at an early age that the only way to get yourself out of a corner was to come out swinging. Swing fast and hard, and don’t stop fighting until your opponent lay bleeding on the floor beneath you.

  Martha’s husband had died from a heart attack at the age of forty-three, and hi
s father before him had died almost as young from heart failure. No one had questioned it when Patrick suffered the same end. He had only been thirty-seven but with a family history like that, who would think to look for poison in his system? Tox screens weren’t done as a matter of course unless there was some reason to go digging, and succinylcholine 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. She no more wanted her secrets to come out than he did.

  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. He and Laura had been treated in much the same manner: as outsiders 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 control was the name of the game. Patrick liked the control he had over Laura, the way he could hold himself over her with such superiority.

  His mother did the same thing with everyone around her, and Alec had to wonder if Laura had been paying the price for Martha’s treatment of Patrick these past few years. It was ironic, really. Martha Kensington was no better a mother than Alec’s own crack-whore of a mother had been. Which was to say, not very good at all. Alec suppressed a laugh at the thought and refocused on Martha’s conversation.