Love and Protect

by Lori Ryan

  Before Martha had even hung up the phone, Alec deciphered what had happened. Laura wasn’t in the hospital or anywhere else that the driver could find. She was missing. He forced his hand to loosen around the glass he held and set it carefully on the table as Martha hung up the phone.

  “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 ranted.

  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 her wishes.

  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 her doctor’s care and not able to attend services today due to her fragile state.” The words were spit out with an appropriate level of poison to their tone.

  Your concern for Laura is touching, Martha.

  Alec pulled out his cell phone 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 chose to take that as assent and made the call anyway. If Laura was on the run, that only confirmed his suspicion. Patrick must have given her the evidence he had against Alec before he 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 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 weekends. Three churches rounded out the lot.

  While May talked, Laura planned. She had almost six hundred dollars in cash left. Not really enough to buy a reliable car if she wanted to have anything left for a hotel room when she stopped to rest. She’d need to take a bus if she wanted to move again. Big city or small town? There was probably more opportunity to hide herself among a large number of people 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 had trimmed the excess fat off the meat they hadn’t used, and sent Laura down to the barn with the scraps for Red. As she walked, Laura looked out over the endless fields at the horses grazing 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 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 under the thumb of a cruel and unforgiving father who hated her simply for being born—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 it was only a matter of time before one of Patrick’s blows would hit her in the wrong place and take her baby’s life.

  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, and embrace her future. If only she wasn’t afraid to listen to those whispers, afraid to believe their message. 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. It was amazing how easily the dog brought a smile to her face. One that was genuine and heartfelt, not forced and polite.

  “Hey beautiful girl. I brought you a surprise,” Laura said, pulling the chunks of meat out for 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, 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 and the thoughts away.

  His dark hair fell messily over his forehead, framing green eyes that always seemed to be smiling. “It was like she heard you coming 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 toward him, without any concern over the way the decision went. Oddly, she felt a pang at the thought that he might not care if she walked away. A part of her that had been long dead wanted him to care. Wanted him to want her.

  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 if she was only going to leave. But she was drawn to him despite her hesitation. Red followed by her side, keeping herself in contact with Laura’s leg as they walked.

  “She probably just smelled the meat May sent down for her,” Laura 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. There, 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 center popped over the half door.

  “Oh!” The horse was much larger than Laura had 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 smaller from a distance. Smaller, and safer, too.

  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, lo
oking back at the beautiful horse who continued to push at Cade for the candy.

  This brought more laughter rumbling from Cade’s chest. “I wouldn’t tease you like that. Horses love mints. I promise. I probably shouldn’t feed them as many as I do, but I can’t help it. I’m a pushover.” He stepped aside, giving Laura more space. She watched his face for a long moment searching for signs that he was teasing, but he seemed to be telling the truth.

  She reluctantly stepped forward and eyed the mint sitting on Cade’s open palm. Laura reached forward and took the candy from his hand, then watched as Cade rubbed the palm of his hand up and down the white marking on the horse’s face. The horse leaned in for the rubbing, seeming to enjoy the contact.

  She was mesmerized watching those large hands stroke the horse. Cade’s hands had never hit a woman—of that Laura was absolutely sure. She didn’t know how, but she knew it with a certainty that calmed her. His were hands that were strong and sure, but they were gentle at the same time. They healed and loved and taught, but they didn’t hurt.

  She took a step toward the horse, but faltered as he turned his head. He reached his nose toward her hand with lips working furiously to try to reach the mint.

  “His mouth is huge,” Laura said, and pulled her hand back.

  “He won’t hurt you. Just hold it flat on your hand and he’ll do the rest. You won’t even feel his teeth, I promise.” Cade slipped his hand under hers, cushioning it as she reached forward with the candy.

  Cade was right. The horse’s mouth was velvet on her palm as he lipped the candy off her hand. It disappeared with a satisfying crunch that lured a laugh from Laura, despite herself.

  “What’s his name?” she asked as she placed her hand on the flat of the horse’s face as Cade had done. She was rewarded when the horse leaned in to her hand and let her rub.

  “Cayenne’s Pride was his racing name. Race horses have names that tell you where they came from. The Cayenne tells you what stable he was out of. He came from Cayenne Jackson’s place. Pride is sort of like his given name. I can’t decide if I want to call him Cayenne or Pride or come up with something totally different. Time will tell,” Cade said.

  “He’s yours? I thought all the horses here came to be rehabbed and then rehomed.”

  “Most do, but I’m keeping him. My horse had to be put down about a year ago. Had bone cancer. I’ve been waiting for another horse to come along that spoke to me. This guy’s it. I knew it the minute I saw him.” Cade looked at the horse with a reverent love and respect that Laura figured was what made him so good at what he did. It took her breath away to see the relationship between the two.

  “Why did he retire?” Laura asked.

  “Hock injury. He’s been on stall rest but I’m rehabbing him gradually. He’ll be sound again soon. His injury wasn’t serious enough to cause him to be lame for life, it just isn’t something a racehorse owner wants to deal with. There was a time when they would’ve put him down, but nowadays there are people like me who take them and work with them.”

  Cayenne’s Pride flipped his head with a neigh and drew back into the stall to pull hay from a bracket on the wall.

  “I guess we’ve been dismissed,” Cade said with a smile. “Come on, I’ll show you Millie. She’ll have a fit if we don’t visit her.”

  They turned toward the other end of the barn, but footsteps behind them made Laura whirl. It had only been a day since her arrival, and she still felt as if the Kensingtons would show up any minute to take her back.

  Laura took a steadying breath when she saw it was only Shane coming around the corner into the barn. He still made her jumpy, but she’d rather see him than the Kensingtons. She knew Cade watched her closely, aware of her attempt to regulate her breathing. The man saw way too much. No doubt he had read every line of tension that spiked before she’d seen Shane, and had questions about what caused her to tense up, but she wasn’t ready to answer anyone’s questions yet.

  “Hey, Cade, Laura.”

  “What brings you here two days in a row, Shane?” Cade taunted. “You rethinking that career in town? I have stalls you can muck out if you’re looking for a change.”

  Shane laughed and shook his head. “You can keep your horse sh—” He glanced at Laura, amending his sentence. “I’ll let you handle the pitchfork.” The brothers smiled at each other and Laura began to relax, but the feeling was short lived.

  Shane’s face became serious as he looked at Laura. “I actually came out to talk to you, Laura. It seems you’ve made the news.”

  She couldn’t have controlled the intake of breath if she’d tried. She felt Cade move closer to her as the muscles in her shoulders tensed so tightly they hurt. Cade didn’t touch her, but she felt his presence next to her as palpably as she felt her own nails dig into the palms of her hands. Shane handed her a printout from The New York Times online, and she immediately recognized the picture of her standing next to Patrick on the front page. It had been taken at last year’s Christmas party for Patrick’s business. She’d had to wear the high-collared navy blue dress to hide the marks that marred her neck.

  A headline above the picture read: Laura Kensington Missing. Laura let her eyes drop to the print and scanned the text. Most of the quotes came from her husband’s business partner, a man who had always frightened Laura almost as much as Patrick had. There was an underlying evil behind the mask he wore for the world. The same way Patrick’s face had always been a mask hiding the devil.

  The words in the article hit her full force in the gut. Unstable, emotionally distraught after husband’s death, pregnant, danger to herself or child.

  The irony of it all was that Patrick and his family wouldn’t have known about the baby if he’d died a week earlier.

  Laura shivered as she remembered Patrick standing over her while she sat on the toilet when he’d made her take a pregnancy test. She’d already known the outcome—had for weeks. She had tried to hide it from him, but he didn’t buy her excuses when she’d been vomiting daily for over two weeks.

  If he hadn’t caught on, if he hadn’t made her take the test and then called his family to brag about the son he was sure he would have, the family would have gladly let her walk away after his death. They would be relieved to be rid of the trash Patrick had brought home.

  Laura took a step back. The paper fell from her hands, as one hand landed on her stomach. She looked at Cade and Shane, shaking her head and moving away from them as if by sheer will she could somehow make this go away.

  “It’s all right, Laura,” Shane said. “You don’t have to leave. If there’s a reason you can’t go back there, the ranch is the safest place for you to be.”

  “No.” Laura shook her head again. They now knew her secret. “I have to go. I have to leave. People have seen me here.” She backpedaled further, then realized she’d worked herself into a corner. Would the Bishops question her stability now, or wonder if she’d hurt her baby after reading those lies?

  Laura’s mind raced to the people in town who had seen her get off the bus, to Tom Jansen and Seth who would surely recognize her. She’d need to change her appearance and get hold of another fake identity. She had to get far away from anyone who had seen her until she could change the way she looked. She needed to be sure no one could force her and her baby back to the Kensingtons.

  “Laura,” Cade said, quietly and calmly, stepping in front of her and leaning down to catch her gaze without touching her. He drew her eyes to his before speaking again.

  “Shane didn’t tell you because we want you to leave. He told you so we could help. You need to trust us, Laura. This is the safest place for you to be. Even if anyone other than Shane happens to read The New York Times.” Cade threw a wry glance over his shoulder at Shane before looking back to Laura as though he didn’t understand why his brother would read a national paper in their small town. “No one that’s seen you will tell anyone where you are. People around here are loyal to a fault to Mama. She’s helped all of
them, one way or another, and sent half the kids around here to college or trade school or something. If people know May Bishop is protecting you, you’re as safe as you can be. I promise.”

  Shane stepped up behind Cade. “He’s right, Laura. No one’s going to tell anyone you’re here. And with Cade here, no one’s going to be able to get on the grounds and get to you without him knowing it. If you leave, you’ll be out there on your own.”

  Laura didn’t need him to tell her that. She knew better than anyone if she ran from the ranch she was heading out into nothing, with no one to support her. Still, what choice did she have? What if she brought trouble to these people? There was trouble coming for her one way or another. Whether it was in the form of the Kensingtons coming after her for the baby or someone else coming because of whatever had put fear into Patrick’s eyes before his death, she didn’t know. But she knew trouble would come before long.

  “Laura, no.” Cade’s voice was quiet with the command he issued so calmly. A command urging her not to run.

  She felt Red press against her legs as if she too had something to say about the situation.

  Cade’s voice changed to a plea. “Let’s go on up and talk to Mama.”

  “You don’t have to go back to the house,” came May’s voice from behind the men. “I’m here. Joelle called and told me she saw the article in the paper. She read me the whole thing.” May rolled her wheelchair further into the barn and Laura let her gaze meet the woman’s sharp eyes. “Unstable my foot. What a load of nonsense. You’d think a reputable newspaper like that would have the decency to check some facts before printing rubbish. Now then, when the baby gets here, you’ll need a little more room. Cade, let’s move Laura’s things into the room at the back of the house. There’s a small bedroom that connects to it through a shared bathroom, Laura. When the baby comes, you’ll be nice and close but still have plenty of space to yourself.”