by Deb Kastner
“Hey, Cole?”
Cole was fishing his keys out of his pocket when Whitley’s tentative voice stopped him. Matt stood right behind her, and they both appeared worried about something.
Cole hoped they hadn’t seen Tessa leave in a huff. Now was not a good time for him to have to explain the past to them. Not when he was in a hurry to catch up with her and make things right.
“It’s Kaylie,” Matt said.
Adrenaline buzzed through Cole’s veins at the mention of Kaylie’s name. He took a quick glance at the crowd but didn’t see the girl.
“What about her? Is she hurt?”
“I don’t know,” Whitley said. “I don’t think so. But Matt and I saw her take off a little while ago, and she hasn’t come back.”
“She took off?” Cole echoed. “Where to?”
“We don’t know,” Matt replied. Whitley was shaking her head, and Matt placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “We thought it was kind of weird, though, her going off alone. We weren’t sure if it was really any of our business, but now we’re kind of wondering if we shouldn’t have said something earlier.”
“You were right to tell me,” Cole affirmed with a jerk of his chin. “When was it that you saw her leave?”
“When you guys were singing your duet,” Whitley said. “I think it was about the time when you and Tessa—well, you know.” Her face turned a bright red.
A chill ran down Cole’s spine. Kaylie was in trouble. Only he and Delia knew how much, and the doctor couldn’t tell anyone about it.
That was all on him.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” he said, quickly formulating a plan in his mind. “You tell me which way you think Kaylie went. I’ll find Tessa, and we’ll go after Kaylie in my truck. I want you two to find Alexis and Griff and tell them exactly what you told me. Ask them to keep their cell phones handy. I’ll call them just as soon as I know anything. Oh—and bring Dr. Delia up to speed on this, too, will you?”
Whitley blanched. “You think Kaylie might be injured?”
Cole shook his head. “No. Not necessarily. But I’d just as soon cover all our bases and have the doctor available in case we need her.”
Please, God, don’t let Kaylie need a doctor.
Why had the girl left the barbecue? There was something very wrong with this picture. Cole could feel it in his gut.
He jogged over to his truck, which he’d parked about a block away from the community green. Soon he was headed down the dirt road in the direction he’d seen Tessa take—the one going back toward Redemption Ranch. He prayed all the way that Tessa hadn’t taken any detours. She was the one person Cole completely trusted to be able to help Kaylie.
He should have told her the situation two weeks ago, when he’d first learned of Kaylie’s problems. Yes, he’d made Kaylie a promise not to speak of her pregnancy to anyone, but that had been a vow he’d made in ignorance, without the full knowledge of what she was asking.
He should have gone to Tessa and Alexis immediately. He saw that now—now that it was too late.
He breathed a huge sigh of relief when he maneuvered his truck around a curve in the road and saw Tessa, still walking fast with her spine as stiff as a rod. He pulled up next to her and put his truck into Park, hopping out of the cab so he could talk to her face-to-face.
“Tessa, wait.”
She didn’t even bother to look back at him, much less slow her rapid pace. He quickened his step to catch up to her.
“Go away, Cole,” she said raggedly. “I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
“This isn’t about me—about us,” Cole said, feeling winded not because of the pace Tessa had set for them but because his pulse was hammering double time in worry over Kaylie. “It’s Kaylie Johnson.”
Tessa skidded to a halt on the gravel road. Dust flew up around her feet. She swiveled to meet his gaze. “What about her?”
“She’s disappeared from the barbecue. Apparently a couple of the kids saw her leave earlier, slipping out while we were singing our duet.”
“And no one has seen her since?” Any personal awkwardness between them vanished as Tessa switched into full counselor mode.
“Not that I know of.”
“Any guesses where she might be?”
“Not really. I’d hoped maybe I’d see her on this road, heading back to the ranch like you were.”
“Maybe she is. You said she left while we were still singing. That would put her ahead of us somewhere, assuming this is the direction she took.”
“My truck will be faster,” Cole said gravely.
Tessa nodded and allowed him to hold the door open while she climbed in. Cole hopped into the driver’s side and gripped the steering wheel with both hands as he maneuvered the truck down the road. His mind wasn’t on where he was going. It was time to come clean with Tessa, and he didn’t know where to begin. She was probably going to hate him after this, and he wouldn’t blame her if she did.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, glancing his direction. “You know something, don’t you? About why Kaylie took off today?”
He nodded. “Maybe. Yes.”
“Which is it? Maybe or yes?”
“Yes.” There was no easy way to break this news to her, so he just clenched his jaw and forced the words from his lips. “She’s pregnant.”
“She’s what?” Tessa’s voice rose an octave. “How did I not know this?”
Cole was stunned. He’d just admitted to a major failure on his part and she was already blaming herself for her perceived oversight.
She turned until she was staring straight at him. “Cole—how do you know she is pregnant?”
There it was, then. The blame, shifting to his shoulders, as it should be.
“She—er—told me.” They reached the ranch without having found Kaylie, and Cole parked the truck in front of the house. He stared at his hands still clenched on the wheel rather than meeting her gaze. “I was out riding a couple of weeks ago, and I found her in one of the pastures, sobbing her eyes out. It took a little bit of convincing on my part, but she eventually told me why she was so upset.”
“And it didn’t occur to you to tell me any of this?”
“Of course it occurred to me!” He removed his hat and roughly jammed his fingers through his hair. “But I couldn’t.”
“Why is that?” She sounded hurt more than angry. Cole cringed.
“Because she asked me not to.”
“And you seriously didn’t think that maybe her desire for privacy was not in her best interest?”
“She made me promise not to tell anyone and I agreed. But that was before I knew she was seven months pregnant. I thought she was going to tell me about a fight with her boyfriend or something.”
“Seven months.” Tessa groaned. “Oh, Cole. That poor little girl is as skinny as a rail. How could she possibly be that far along?”
“I thought the same thing,” he said as they exited the truck. Even though they hadn’t discussed it, they both headed straight for the girls’ bunkhouse. “Dr. Delia said the baby is okay. Kaylie is underweight, but not dangerously so.”
“How could I have not seen this?” The self-recrimination in her tone made Cole want to pull her into his arms and reassure her that none of this was her fault.
She had to know he was the one to blame.
“I convinced her to see Delia only because I could guarantee her doctor-patient confidentiality.”
“You took her there yourself?”
Cole set his jaw. “I did. And I tried to convince her to share her burden with you and Alexis, but she didn’t even want to talk about it.”
“Except to you.”
“And now she’s taken off, so you can see all the good I did for her.”
>
Neither one of them was thinking only of Kaylie’s situation. Cole knew full well Tessa’s thoughts, like his, had traveled back to the tragedy with Savannah.
He reached for her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Kaylie’s not gone, Red. For all we know, she just went for a long walk to clear her head. Even if she is trying to leave town, she can’t have gotten very far. We’ll find her. I promise.”
He allowed himself one moment just to pull her into his embrace, to let her rest her head on his shoulder. He stroked her hair, a motion as soothing to him as he hoped it was to her. She relaxed in his arms for a moment but then quickly collected herself.
“Come on,” she said, reaching for his hand. “Let’s check the bunkhouse.”
Chapter Nine
Tessa didn’t know whether to be angry or relieved when she and Cole discovered Kaylie in the bunkhouse. Tears were pouring down Kaylie’s cheeks, and she appeared oblivious to them. She was packing all of her clothes into her lime-green suitcase.
“Are you planning to go somewhere?” Cole asked, leaning his shoulder against the door frame.
Kaylie jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice. “I’m leaving.” She sniffled. “You can’t stop me.”
The expression on the teenager’s face was a mixture of determination and despair. Clearly the poor child’s emotions had been stretched as far as they could go.
“I wouldn’t count on that,” Cole countered mildly.
Tessa flashed him a desperate look. The last thing Kaylie needed right now was for someone to come down hard on her. Cole’s tone had been gentle, but his words were too harsh for the situation.
Tessa knew how Cole felt. She was experiencing many of the same emotions, among them anger and fear. But now was not the time to give in to those feelings.
“You’re going to be here for only one more day. Why do you think you need to leave now?” she asked.
“That’s just it. My dad is going to be there to meet the van when we get back to Houston. I—” Fresh tears streamed down Kaylie’s cheeks.
Tessa’s immediate response was to reach out to Kaylie, but before the thought had firmly formed in her mind, Cole was already kneeling in front of the teenager, opening his arms to her and offering his strong, broad shoulder for her to cry on.
“Come here, sweetheart,” he coaxed, the very picture of a father figure. A mentor. “Everything is going to be okay.”
Tessa sat down on the bed beside Kaylie and put an arm around her. Cole met Tessa’s gaze over the top of Kaylie’s head. His eyes registered the same fear she held in her heart.
Would Kaylie be okay?
Tessa more than anyone knew there was no way of predicting what would happen, no possible way of making that kind of guarantee. Only God knew Kaylie’s future—or any of their futures.
“We’re not going to let you face this alone, Kaylie,” Cole assured her, reaching for Tessa’s hand to bring the three of them together in a circle. “You may be leaving Redemption Ranch tomorrow, but Tessa and I will stay in touch with you for as long as you need us, okay? We’ll be there for you and your baby.”
Tessa knew the words were meant to reassure Kaylie, but they worked on her heart, as well. He was supporting her as she worked through her own fear. When he squeezed her hand, she felt enveloped in his warmth and strength.
Kaylie pulled back, wiping her tears away with the sleeve of her shirt. “I’m scared,” she admitted softly.
“We know you are, darlin’,” Cole said. “But running away isn’t going to solve your problem. It’ll only give you new ones. You have to think of your sweet little baby waiting to be born.”
“But my dad—what if he hates me?”
Tessa wanted with all her heart to assure Kaylie that there was no way her father could ever hate her. But how could she say those words when she didn’t believe them herself?
“I know you’ve seen my little baby boy, Grayson,” Cole said gently. “He’s the light of my life, just like you are to your father. Now granted, my little tyke can’t even crawl yet, but I can’t imagine that there’s anything he could ever do that would make me love him less than I do right now.”
Tessa’s heart welled so full she thought it might burst right out of her chest.
She loved this man. Really loved him. It was likely that she always had, but never so much as she did at this moment.
“Your father might be shocked by the news at first. Angry, even. But you are his daughter, and the child you are carrying is his grandchild. I don’t know your dad, but I do know what it is to be a father.”
“I never thought of that,” Kaylie admitted, pressing both hands over her belly. “This is his grandchild.”
Tessa could see it now, the artful way Kaylie had disguised her growing midsection with loose shirts. She couldn’t imagine how she ever missed it. She’d been blind, in more ways than one.
“We’re both going to support you through this,” Tessa said, echoing Cole’s sentiments. “I know Cole took you to see Dr. Delia. Have you thought about where you want to give birth? Do you have anyone you trust to be your birthing coach?”
Kaylie seemed to brighten when they talked about her baby.
“No. I’d like— That is, I wish I could stay here in Serendipity. At least until the baby is born. I like Dr. Delia. She delivers babies, right?”
“Yes, she does, at a hospital in San Antonio. I’m not sure how that would work out for you, since you live in Houston.”
Immediately the light left Kaylie’s eyes.
“You said your father is a professor, didn’t you?” Cole asked, leaning back on his heels and bracing his hands on his thighs.
“Yes. He teaches philosophy at Rice.”
“Does he teach summer classes?”
“No. He spends his summers reading and fishing.”
“We’ve got quite a few good streams and lakes around here. I wonder if we could tempt your father to spend a couple of months in Serendipity. There’s a nice bed-and-breakfast here in town, and I’m sure if I talked to the Howells, I could get a good deal for you and your dad.”
“Tessa could be my birthing coach.” Excitement filled Kaylie’s voice. “I mean—Tessa, would you be my birthing coach? I trust you more than anybody. Well, except for Cole. You know what I mean.”
The plan sounded perfect. Too perfect. Tessa wasn’t sure Cole should be filling Kaylie’s head with all of these ideas. What if her father struck them down?
Kaylie was apparently thinking the same thing. Her face fell. “I don’t know...”
“I’ll call and speak to your father tonight.” Cole’s attitude and his voice were brimming with confidence. Either he wasn’t aware of Tessa’s and Kaylie’s reluctance or he was ignoring it. “It may be better if he hears of your pregnancy from me. I can explain the situation to him. That way he’ll have a little time to digest the news and get used to the idea before you have to see him tomorrow. In fact, if he agrees to come out here, you won’t even have to leave with the other kids.”
“You’d do that?”
Tessa’s heart acknowledged the answer to that question.
Of course he would. Because he was Cole Bishop, Righter of Wrongs, Slayer of Dragons. And Tessa didn’t care one bit that she was getting all mushy and teary-eyed over it.
“I think you should hang out here with Tessa and try to relax, maybe play a game of cards or something. We don’t want to upset your little baby now, do we?”
“But why are you doing this? No one has ever been this nice to me before.”
“Why?” Cole grinned, setting Kaylie’s world to right and Tessa’s heart to fluttering. “It’s simple, really. Because I’m a mentor.”
* * *
Kaylie stood between Cole and Tessa and waved at the other ki
ds as the van drove away. Tessa laid a hand on the girl’s shoulder.
“Alexis promised she’d feed us lunch before your dad gets here this afternoon. Why don’t you go wash up and we’ll meet you inside?”
Kaylie smiled and nodded, looking as happy and carefree as she had since she’d arrived at Redemption Ranch a month ago. Things were definitely looking up for her, and Cole was glad of it.
Together, he and Tessa had made a difference in one girl’s life. And that, he realized, was how a man changed the world. One life at a time.
The phone call to Kaylie’s father hadn’t been as difficult as he’d anticipated. After David Johnson got over the initial shock of finding out his teenage daughter was pregnant, his only concern was for Kaylie and her baby. He was understandably hurt that she hadn’t come to him sooner, but he admitted that he’d probably made that difficult for her.
He was determined to change their relationship now, starting with moving to Serendipity for the summer so Kaylie could have her baby where she felt comfortable and loved.
Cole shifted his mind back to the present. Tessa was staring down the road where the van had disappeared, her expression pensive.
Cole threaded his fingers through hers. “All’s well that ends well, right?”
Tessa gazed up at him, and he was surprised to discover she had tears in her eyes.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“For what?”
“You know for what.”
“Kaylie? Honey, that was a tag-team effort. We did it together. And if I had had the sense of a billy goat, I would have told you about Kaylie’s pregnancy long before I did. Then maybe things wouldn’t have come to a head in such a dramatic way.”
“Like you said—it ended well for Kaylie. But that’s not what I was talking about. I meant about me.”
She squeezed his hand and stared up at him with such emotion brimming in her gaze that his throat closed up. He felt like a million bucks when she looked at him that way.
As if he was a hero. Her hero. And that’s all he had ever wanted to be.