by Cindy Miles
Sean smiled. “She’s beautiful, Matt,” she said, studying the tiny little face, reddened from a good cry. Soft downy hair, light brown in color, covered her little head, and her perfect little lips pursed together as her eyes, unfocused, stared at her daddy’s camera.
“Yeah, she kinda is, huh?” Matt replied, and his eyes remained fastened to the picture for several seconds before Jep interrupted them.
“Well, can you get over here and let me look at her, then?” Jep griped. “I’d rather see her myself, though.”
Matt winked at Sean then hurried over to Jep and Owen to proudly show off his little girl.
It was indeed a happy day for the Malone family.
Sometime later, they all gathered in Emily’s room, and the new Malone mother lay in her bed, propped by pillows, with tiny Rose, wrapped in a pretty pink swaddling blanket, snuggled against her. All the men turned to giant piles of mush at the introduction to the little Malone girl, and it was such a heartwarming thing, Sean could scarcely believe she and Willa were a part of it.
Emily smiled at her as she stroked the soft down of her baby’s hair. “Thank you, Sean. You were...amazing.”
Sean felt the blush steal up her throat. “No,” she argued. “You guys, really.” She glanced between Emily and Matt. “You make a great singing duo.”
“Please tell me you recorded it,” Eric said, eavesdropping. “They sang their song together, didn’t they?” He looked between Emily and his brother. “The Josephine song?” He chuckled. “Oh, man. They used to sing it together when they were kids. Jep taught it to them. It’s...superold. I’d have paid good dollars to have heard it now.”
“It was endearing,” Sean added. “I loved it.”
Matt, scowling, gave her a slight nod. “Thank you, Sean. Eric doesn’t know good music when he hears it.”
Eric just grinned.
By the time the room and excitement settled down, and visiting hours were over, Sean was exhausted. Odd, really, since she hadn’t done all that much.
Her brain was exhausted.
Leaving the diaper bag with Matt, Sean and Willa left with Nathan, and the rest of the Malones followed suit, giving the new mommy and daddy some bonding time.
“Mama, I want to stay with King Jep,” Willa crooned as they all climbed into the elevator.
“Oh, baby,” Sean said. “King Jep probably wants to go home and rest.” She bent close to Willa. “You’re quite a busy bee, you know.”
“King Jep wouldn’t mind a bit if the little sea fairy wants to come try to beat me at chess,” Jep chimed in. “Keeps me young.”
“Please, Mama?” Willa begged. “I promise to be good.”
“I know you’ll be good.” She looked at Jep. “Are you sure?”
“Positive,” Jep answered. “You could come over later, too, if you feel like baking me something.”
Owen shook his head and smiled at Sean. “Ignore him and his bottomless stomach.”
Sean giggled, and her heart soared when Nathan’s hand found hers and he threaded his fingers with hers. “Okay, then it’s fine with me.” She grinned at Jep. “And I’d love to come bake you something.”
“Good. It’s settled.” He wiggled his eyebrows and winked. “Win, win.”
Sean just smiled.
“What’s that?” Nathan inclined his head to the bundle Sean carried. He nuzzled her neck as they stepped off the elevator.
“It’s one of Emily’s treasures,” she commented. “It’s why she’d asked me to go with her to Piper’s Cove. She’d bought this box of things from the 1930s, and this—” she held up the tiny infant dressing gown, embroidered with roses “—was in the lot. I’m going to launder it and give it to her here. I think she’d love to bring Rose home in it.”
“You are so damn cute,” he said, and brushed a kiss over her lips. When he pulled back, his eyes shone. “She’ll love it.”
“Hey, bro,” Eric said, walking up to them. “Since the storm’s blown over, how about you drop Sean off and ride with me to get Em’s Jeep? We have to change the tire.” He looked at Sean. “Can you stand to lose him for a couple hours?”
Sean met Nathan’s gaze, and he gave her a conspirator’s grin then shrugged.
“I suppose,” she told Eric. “But hurry home.”
“She can ride with us,” Owen said. “Reagan, too. That way you boys can head out.”
Nathan turned to Sean. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
Sean gave him a lazy smile. “I’ll be waiting.”
Nathan grabbed Eric’s arm. “Move it, junior. Let’s get out of here.”
Sean could only laugh.
By the time Owen dropped Sean off at home, the rain and excitement had settled into her bones and made her weary. It had zapped the energy from her. With a wave, she paused at the steps to the porch, noticing the after-rain smell of the river, the scent of some sweet flower drifting on the salty breeze and the sound of the crickets and bullfrogs at the marsh battling for airtime. A slight wind shifted the moss hanging from the live oaks that formed a canopy over her rental home, and Sean briefly wondered what it would be like to call this home.
Truly, home.
She headed inside to take a long, soaking, hot bath. First, though, she’d launder the little gown and hang it up to dry.
With a light heart, Sean stepped inside the river house and went directly to the kitchen sink. All at once, the hairs stood up on her neck and arms, and a cold chill crept inside her. A feeling of unsettledness came over her, of fear, and she drew a deep breath, let it out.
“Get a grip, Sean,” she told herself out loud. “Your imagination is running again.”
“No,” a voice said from the darkness. “It most certainly isn’t your imagination.”
Sean’s heart leaped to her throat, and her eyes widened as she focused on a figure sitting in a corner chair. She dropped the gown.
“Sara.” The figure stood then emerged into the light.
He hadn’t needed to.
She knew that voice anywhere.
Cold fear pulsed through her veins as Chase Black stepped toward her.
“You look...different,” he said in his refined, old-Houston accent.
Sheer panic moved through Sean’s veins, and she wanted to run, escape.
There was nowhere to go.
Chase smiled at her. “Aren’t you happy to see an old friend?”
Sean said nothing. Just stood frozen in disbelief.
Chase smiled, his painfully handsome face chiseled, shaven, perfectly groomed.
“More than friends, right?” he persisted. “Or has nearly six years made you forget?”
She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t move. How had she allowed this to happen? Dropped her guard for too long. Stayed in one town for too long.
Grew comfortable, settled, content, for too, too long.
Chase stood in his perfectly fitted tailored suit, widened his stance, crossed his arms over his chest then rubbed his jaw. He studied her. Hard.
“I never gave you enough credit, Sara,” he said slowly, continuing his perusal. “I never thought you’d just...leave me. Particularly on the eve of our nuptials, which really, really hurt.” He clicked his tongue. “I won’t make that mistake again.”
She had nowhere to run. And Willa. Willa! Oh, God, what was she going to do?
A slow smile transformed the handsome face of Chase Black into one of pure dominance, arrogance and manipulation. This was the Chase Black she knew.
And before he could even speak, her stomach plummeted. He knew. She could tell by his expression.
“What did you name her?” he asked. “Our daughter?”
“You stay away, Chase,” Sean warned. “We are not a part of your life. I’ll never be a pa
rt of it. Ever!” she growled, even as Chase rushed her and grabbed her arm. He jerked her to him and lowered his head to hers.
“You will,” he said calmly, his large blue eyes—exactly like Willa’s—staring at her. “You both will. And you’ll do it willingly, Sara.”
Fury replaced the fear in Sean’s veins. “You stay away from her!” she warned, pleaded.
He cocked his head, inspecting her. “Look at you now. Little country mouse, with your little cardigan. The sea air has done you good, Sara. And even your new look?” His eyes scanned her hair. “Quite a change, but I could get used to it. You could completely pass for a respectable lady, Sara.”
He was baiting her. Ignoring her. Trying to control her.
Just what he always did.
“You have no rights,” Sean warned. “To me, or to her. Stay away, Chase.”
That slow smile returned, and his gaze bore into hers. He drew closer.
“No, darling Sara,” he said. “I really, really think I have rights. More than, say, you, wouldn’t you agree?”
Cold settled into Sean’s veins again.
“Now,” he said, his smile widening. “I’d very much like to meet my daughter.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
WHEN NATHAN PULLED into Sean’s drive, it was a little later than he’d expected.
Once he and Eric had made it to the Jeep, they’d discovered the flat tire had met its end by means of a nail, probably picked up in the parking lot of the thrift shop Sean and Emily had gone to. He and Eric had had a hell of a time getting the spare loose, but once they did, they threw the spare on and headed home.
Thoughts of Emily, Matt and little Rose came to mind, and Nathan couldn’t help but smile. He’d never seen his brother so happy, so content.
For the first time in a long, long while, he could see himself having the very same thing.
With Sean and Willa.
Maybe, one day, even a new little person of their own.
He bound up the steps of Sean’s porch, shaking his head. That sort of talk would probably scare Sean right out of Cassabaw.
The lights were off; the house was dark. Maybe she’d gone to bed? With a soft knock at the door, he waited, listened for movement inside. When he heard none, Nathan tried the door. It was uncharacteristically unlocked. Sean always locked the door. Despite the safety of Cassabaw, it was a habit, she’d said once.
Quietly, Nathan let himself in.
Standing in the living room, he glanced around. Only the light above the kitchen sink was on, and he could see the little dress that Sean had insisted on washing to take to the hospital for little Rose. It was lying on the floor by the sink. Something’s not right. Crossing the room, he picked it up.
“Sean?” he called.
Nothing. Not a sound.
Making his way through the darkened house, he ducked inside Sean’s room, and in the dim light filtering from the kitchen, he noticed the room was empty.
He switched on the lamp by the bed, and light flooded the empty room. The bed was made. And there was no sign of Sean.
Walking through the house, he absently checked each room, calling her name, before stepping out onto the back deck that faced the marsh. All was empty.
No signs of Sean. Anywhere.
Until he walked back through the kitchen.
There, on the counter, was Sean’s purse, along with her cell.
Nathan lifted each, for some odd reason, then set them back down.
Maybe she’d gone to his house to be with Willa.
Only, Sean’s car was in the drive.
An unsettled feeling gnawed at Nathan and he hurried out of the house and jumped into the truck, making his way home. When he got there, Jep and Owen were in the living room, watching TV. They both turned when he came in.
“Where are Sean and Willa?” Nathan asked.
Jep frowned. “What do you mean, where are Sean and Willa?”
“They aren’t with you?” Owen asked.
“No, and they’re not home, either,” Nathan offered. “House was unlocked. Her car is there. Purse and cell phone there.” He met his father’s and grandfather’s worried gazes. “They aren’t there.”
“Sean came here not long after we got home,” Owen said, rising from his recliner. “Said she and Willa were going to make you a special dinner.”
Nathan ran his hand over the back of his neck. Worry struck him. “Something’s not right, Dad.”
“Well, what in hell’s name could be wrong?” Jep asked, rising from his chair. “They couldn’t have gone far, son. Not without her phone and car and purse. No female goes anywhere without her purse.”
“I know,” Nathan agreed, and he began pacing the room. He then pulled his cell out and called Matt. Maybe she’d gone back to the hospital, for whatever reason.
“Have you seen Sean?” Nathan asked Matt.
“Not since you all left here,” he answered. “Why?”
Nathan gave a short laugh. “She seems to have vanished,” he said. “I know it sounds crazy, but I can’t find her.”
“Take it easy, bro,” Matt said. “You know how girls are. They get an idea and off they go.”
Nathan breathed. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Maybe she’s with Reagan and Eric.”
“I’ll check,” he said. “You guys rest.”
“Let me know if you need me,” Matt said. “I mean it.”
“Will do,” Nathan replied and hung up.
After a quick call to Eric, who confirmed he and Reagan were alone and hadn’t seen Sean and Willa since the hospital, Nathan’s concern grew.
“I’m going to take another look around Sean’s house,” he told Jep and Owen.
He took off out the door before either could reply.
When he pulled into Sean’s drive, he cut to the side, parking just off the path. Grabbing a flashlight from the glove box, he hopped out and inspected the ground. Kneeling, he noticed the tracks leading in, then out, then in and out once more. Tracks other than his old pickup’s tire marks.
Not Sean’s, either.
Running up the drive, he took the steps two at a time and rushed into the house, ran straight to Willa’s room and threw open her drawers. Clothes still filled them, and her little shoes were lined up by the closet.
He dashed into Sean’s room, only to find the same. Her clothes were untouched. Shoes lined up. And in the bathroom, her toothbrush, makeup, blow-dryer, perfume.
“Where are you?” Nathan said angrily.
How had they simply vanished? In a handful of hours?
More to the point, why?
Nathan stood in Sean’s living room, frustrated, worried and stumped. He had zero idea where they’d gone, how they’d gone or why. He had nowhere to turn, didn’t even begin to know where to look.
Had something happened to them?
Had an intruder kidnapped them?
“Now you’re talking crazy,” he told himself.
Cassabaw didn’t have intruders, break-ins or kidnappings. It simply didn’t exist here. So where did they go?
Walking out to the front porch, Nathan stood there, staring into the darkness. It was then he noticed a slip of paper, lying on the wood-planked floor. Reaching for it, he surmised it’d fallen from the door when he’d thrown it open.
His fingers fumbled the folded paper, and he dropped his head to better read the writing. It was Sean’s.
How had he missed it before?
His gut seized as he read her words, scratched hastily and messy—so unlike her usual neat handwriting.
Nathan,
I know this is unexpected, and I’m sorry. For everything. This can’t be undone, so don’t try to find us. Just...forget you ever me
t me. I’m begging you, leave us alone. Trust me. It’s better that way.
Sean
The words blurred as Nathan read and reread them, anger and hurt building each time. He crumpled the paper, smoothed it out again then squeezed it tightly in his fist.
She’d gone.
Sean had taken Willa and left him. Left Cassabaw.
But why?
It made zero sense. He’d been with her a handful of hours ago, and she’d been smiling, teasing. She was happy. Willa was happy.
They belonged here.
They belonged with him.
His gaze moved down the lane, where the multiple sets of tire tracks led in and out of the property. Sitting down, he held the note and stared at the words once more. Hell, no. It made no sense at all.
He didn’t know how, or why, but he felt in his heart Sean didn’t just...leave. Not after everything they’d shared. No way had she faked it all. The feelings. The words. Every touch, every kiss—nobody could fake all of that.
So why had she gone?
Staring into the night, Nathan finally got up, walked to his truck and climbed in. He stared at the little river cottage for some time before turning the engine over and heading home. Once there, he parked the truck and sat some more.
What in the hell was he supposed to do now?
Black Hills Estates
Houston, Texas
SEAN STARED OUT the window, at the vast expanse of the estate. So much land, she couldn’t even tell where the road leading out was.
Not that it’d do any good.
She couldn’t leave.
She could never, ever leave. Her biggest fear had come true. She’d let her guard down, and the one thing she’d worked so hard to keep at bay had found her. Found her and Willa.
Nathan’s face came to mind, and she closed her eyes in hopes of squelching the memory.
It’d been two weeks. Two weeks since little Rose had been nearly born on the side of an island road in the middle of a storm. Two weeks since she’d experienced joy deep in her bones. Two weeks since she’d felt Nathan’s fingers entwined with hers, his lips caressing her mouth...