Southern Charm: A Single Daddy Cowboy, Secret Baby, Ranch Western Romance (Rainbow Canyon Cowboys Book 5)

by KC Crowne

  “That’s really pretty, El,” I said, indicating her drawing.

  “I think so too. When the sun goes down, it gets really pink, so that’s the color I picked.”

  “Good call, kiddo.” She grinned before going back to it. After a little more time, she turned her attention back to me. “Can I have a snack? I’m hungry.”

  My stomach growled, and we both giggled. “Sounds like I’m a little hungry too! How about you stay here and draw, and I’ll go get something from the kitchen?”

  She nodded, not answering or looking up from her drawing. I mussed her hair before hopping out of my seat. Before I stepped out of the room, I turned back and watched El drawing. I imagined a little boy or girl, my boy or girl, seated next to her, the two of them drawing as El explained the best colors and what thinking had gone into her work. A smile lit my face, one so big it almost hurt my cheeks.

  Mama G was in the kitchen, her sleeves rolled up, a blue-and-white-striped apron cinched around her waist. When she spotted me at the doorway, she flashed me a warm, inviting smile.

  “Well, if it isn’t the prettiest little teacher I’ve ever seen?”

  “Hey, Mama G,” I said with a smile as I entered. “How are you?”

  “Just putting the finishing touches on the apple pie I made for dessert tonight.” A few uncooked apple pies were in front of her. The three pies were surrounded by flour on the counter, the crusts done up in an intricate lattice design.

  “They look amazing.”

  “And they’ll taste amazin’, too. Apples fresh from the little orchard out back. You’ve never had pie like this before.”

  My stomach rumbled at the sight.

  “I heard that,” she said as she dusted her hands, small puffs of flour spreading into the air around them. “But don’t you get any funny ideas about dessert before dinner.”

  “Don’t worry – I know better. I just came in to get a little snack for El and me.”

  Her eyes lit up. “I’ve got just the thing. Hold your horses while I fetch it.” With her usual surprising speed, Mama G zipped over to the big wooden bowl of green apples near the pies. “Apples and homemade peanut butter.”

  “Perfect,” I said. “This’ll do the trick.”

  “I know it will.” She handed the plate to me with a wink. “See you girls at dinner.”

  Plate in hand, I started back to the library. Mama G was on my mind as I went, thinking about how much she loved making food for her family, taking care of them, keeping a close eye on the ranch. Would that be me in a few decades? Would Chance and I start a big family of our own, with property to take care of, grandkids running around as we watched with big smiles on our faces?

  The future was uncertain. But I had a good feeling it was going to be bright.

  “Alright, El,” I said, opening the library door. “Got something good from Mama G—”

  I stopped the moment I crossed the threshold. El was gone. I slowly entered the library, looking around the room as though she might be hidden in some corner. But she wasn’t.

  “El? Where are you?”

  After placing the plate of apples and peanut butter on the table, the sheets of paper, crayons, and markers still there, I turned and swept my eyes across the library again.

  “El? Come on, kiddo – hiding like this isn’t funny. Come on out.” Moments passed with no response. “El? Seriously, this isn’t cool.”

  Again, no response. Fear began to spread through my belly.

  Come on – it’s no big deal. She probably just went to the bathroom or something. Don’t freak out over nothing.

  I sat down, dipping one of the apple slices into a pool of peanut butter and absentmindedly taking a bite. My eyes were on the grandfather clock in the corner, watching the second hands tick away. Five minutes passed, and there was still no sign of Ellie. I decided to look for her and went to the nearest bathroom and knocked on the door.

  “El, you in there?” No response.

  I kept on telling myself it was nothing, that she probably went to grab something from her room or to find her dad or something innocuous like that. But fear still pooled in my belly – as much as I tried to tell myself nothing was wrong, deep down something told me there was.

  The kitchen was my first destination. Mama G was still in there and flicked her golden eyes up to me when I entered. “Want some seconds?”

  I shook my head. “No, I’m looking for El, actually. I was thinking she might’ve gotten bored waiting for me and came in here. Have you seen her?”

  Mama G dusted her hands on her apron and shook her head. “Neither hide nor hair of the little sprout. What were you guys up to?”

  “Just drawing in the library.”

  “Hm.” She glanced aside, giving the matter some serious thought. “You ask me, I bet you she got restless and went outside or somethin’ like that. Kids that age have energy to spare, and right when you think you’ve got their butts planted in one spot, they start gettin’ restless. That’s where I’d check.”

  It made sense. “I’ll check around the ranch. Thanks, Mama G.”

  She flashed a smile of white teeth, a little glimmer in her eye that let me know she didn’t feel like it was anything to worry about. “If I see the little rugrat, I’ll be sure to keep her here until you’re back.”

  Another thanks, and I hurried away, trying to look like I wasn’t hurrying. I did my best to not look too worried. Once I stepped through the front door, I spotted Wyatt on the porch, a mug of coffee on the stand next to him, and a hardback book in his hands.

  “Hey, Wyatt,” I greeted. “Don’t want to bother you, but have you seen El?”

  He set the book on his lap, the title appearing to be the published journal of a 19th-century veterinarian. “I sure did. About fifteen minutes ago.”

  Excitement surged through me. “Where did she go?”

  He gestured to the far corner of the ranch. “Around the bend. Girl looked to be in a hurry. Didn’t think much about it – figured she was goin’ to look for you or her daddy. There a problem?”

  “No. We were in the library, and she ran off while I was getting some snacks.”

  He smirked. “Probably wanted some fresh air. I’ll let her know you were lookin’ for her if she comes back by.”

  “Thanks, Wyatt.”

  His words put me at ease, just like Mama G. I was worried the family might think I was being negligent, but they seemed to not be too worried about it. And with Wyatt at the front door, the odds were good that I’d see her before too long.

  Still, I knew I’d feel better when she was with me. As quickly as I could without breaking into a full run, I made my way around the far corner of the house. No sign of her. I kept on moving, my eyes flicking here and there, wondering where she might be. I circled the house and reached the windows to the library. I glanced inside at the table where we’d been sitting, the sliced apples already taking on a tinge of brown.

  After a full loop around the house, I was back at the porch.

  “No sign of her?” Wyatt asked, glancing up again from his book with a slightly concerned expression on his face.

  “No sign.”

  He sighed. “I’m sure it’s fine, but it’d be nice to put eyes on her.”

  “I’m going to look around the house.”

  “Good call. And I’ll keep my eyes peeled. Let me know if you want me to get off my duff and help look.”

  “I will. Thanks again, Wyatt.”

  He nodded and tipped his hat before turning his attention back to the book.

  For some reason, I decided to start my search back in the library. After all, maybe she’d come back in the last few minutes. But no sign of her.

  “El, come on,” I said to no one in particular. “This isn’t funny.”

  Without thinking, I walked to the table and leaned over the top of it, the honey drizzled on the peanut butter catching the light pouring in through the window. I spotted something – two somethings. Two someones. />
  Off in the far distance was a tall, reedy man, and at his side was a little girl, her hand in his. There were a few other tourists here and there, and if I hadn’t taken a closer look, I might not have noticed them.

  I rushed to the window, squinting my eyes

  What the fuck?

  He was on the ranch grounds, and he’d found El. Whatever fear I felt doubled, and I rushed out of the library as fast as I could and burst through the back exit.

  Chapter 21

  CHANCE

  When Gerald and I finally finished putting up the last of his high-tech security equipment, I was about ready for a cold beer. We went back to my cabin, and I headed to the fridge and grabbed a pair of Buds, tossing one to Gerald as he took a seat at my desk. We both cracked open our beers at the same time, and that first swig was like heaven.

  “Damn,” he said. “Nothin’ like a beer after work.”

  “You’re right about that.” I dropped on to the couch.

  Gerald watched me, flashing a grin right as my ass hit the seat. “Don’t get too comfy – still not finished yet.”

  “You serious?”

  “I’m serious. But don’t worry – this is the part of the work we get to sit on our asses to do. Mind if I grab your laptop?”

  “Go for it.”

  He sat down next to me on the couch and opened my computer on the coffee table. “Next step is the software. All we need to do is get all this installed, and you’ll be able to check in on the cameras from your computer. And it’s all saved to the cloud, so you don’t need to worry about it taking up space on the hard drive.”

  “Shit,” I said. “Damned if we didn’t let our equipment get all sorts of out-of-date.”

  “No worries, cuz. I’m on it,” he said with a grin. He did a little clicking around on some websites, and I sipped my beer as I watched him work. While I was happy for his help, I wanted to get done with it as fast as possible, so I could meet Sam and do a little more talking about the news that had rocked our world.

  “Alright,” he said. “Let me show you how this works.” A little more clicking and the screen was filled with four boxes, each with a different security feed. “We got the front gates, the back entrances, and the one that looks out over the road leading to the ranch. You can cycle through them all, make ‘em bigger.”

  As he did, I spotted something on the feed that showed the back entrance of the ranch. It was an old truck, one that looked like it’d seen better days. It pulled away from the gate and disappeared from the screen.

  “Who’s that?” Gerald asked, clearly not liking what he was seeing.

  “Dunno. Might be one of the ranch hands leaving for the day, but it’s weird that they’d go out through the back.”

  “You want me to follow them?”

  “Like, hop in my truck and drive?”

  “No, like with the cameras. Here, look.” He dragged the cursor over the truck, a red outline forming over it. “We can tag things on the screen, let the cameras keep track of them.” He clicked the truck, and as soon as it drove off-screen the other camera feed, the one for the side road, expanded.

  “Ain’t that somethin’?” I asked, enthralled.

  But the truck was fast, quickly disappearing off that screen too. The main road feed was next.

  “Now, that’s strange,” Gerald said, pointing to the windows of the truck. “This thing’s an old beater, but it’s got tinted windows like some kind of limo.”

  “That is weird.” I watched as the truck drove out of sight, going beyond the reach of the cameras.

  “Any of your guys have a truck like that?”

  “Not that I know of.” I didn’t like it one bit. “Come on,” I said, forgetting all about my beer. “Let’s go to the house. Wanna check on somethin’.”

  The something I wanted to check on was El and Sam. The truck had caused a bit of paranoia to take hold, and I wanted to make sure they were safe, that nothing was out of the ordinary.

  “Let’s do it,” he said. “Wouldn’t mind saying hi to the rest of the clan. I can show you the rest of this stuff later.”

  We left the cabin and climbed in my truck. I felt his glance as I gunned the engine. “You alright, Chance?” he asked. “You look a million miles away.”

  “Just that shit we were talkin’ about, that Kyle prick.”

  He nodded. “I get it – that’s the last kind of asshole you want in your life.” His eyes flashed as if he’d realized something. “You don’t think…”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. He’s already talked to my little girl once and told Sam he was comin’ for her. And I don’t think he’s the quittin’ type.”

  “With this new gear, he or anyone else you don’t want on the grounds won’t be pokin’ around.”

  “I know. Just hopin’ we didn’t get it all installed exactly an hour too late.”

  He said nothing, knowing I was speaking the truth.

  I pulled up to the house and spotted Wyatt on the porch in the middle of his pre-dinner routine of sipping coffee and reading a book. His eyes flicked up to us as we stepped out of the truck. He rose as soon as he saw our cousin.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” he said with a grin. “Is that Gerald?”

  “Howdy, cuz,” Gerald said as the men approached and gave one another a back-slapping hug. “Good to see you.”

  “No kiddin’,” Wyatt agreed.

  Gerald glanced down at Wyatt’s hand, spotting the ring on his finger. “I see more than a few things have changed around ol’ Rainbow Canyons.”

  “You don’t even know the half of it.”

  Gerald laughed. “Looks good on you man.”

  Wyatt flashed another smile and glanced over at me. He must’ve been able to read the worry on my face. “What’s the problem?” he asked, his brow furrowing. “You look like somethin’s got ya spooked, little brother.”

  “Just two – El and Sam.”

  He took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair. “Somethin’ up?”

  “Why, you seen ‘em?”

  “Well, Sam’s been runnin’ round, tryin’ to find El.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that one bit, but I tried to keep the fear in check. “You mean they weren’t together?”

  He shook his head. “No, I guess Sam went to get them a snack, and when she came back, El was gone. I saw the little one run out around the corner of the house here a bit back, but Sam said she didn’t see her.”

  Gerald glanced at me with an expression of mild worry on his face. He knew what I was thinking.

  Wyatt set down his coffee and book and stood up. “I’m thinkin’ the time for sittin’ around is over. Let’s see if we can find her.”

  The three of us made our way around the ranch. When we reached the western side, I pointed off into the far distance, toward the road where I’d spotted the truck.

  “You didn’t see anyone drivin’ around?” I asked. “Someone in an old truck with tinted windows?”

  He shook his head. “Nope.”

  “That ain’t good,” Gerald said. “It means whoever was in that thing came in through the side, did whatever they’d come to do, and left.”

  “Right,” I said. “Let’s keep moving.”

  We reached the path that led off into the woods. Right when we arrived, I spotted a familiar figure running, her hair tossing around her shoulders. As Sam drew closer, I saw the expression of total fear on her face.

  “Chance!” Her voice was an ice pick of terror. She picked up the pace, running up and throwing her arms around me. Her body pressed against mine; I could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

  “What’s goin’ on, Sam? Where’s El?”

  The color drained from her face. Her eyes flicked over to Gerald, but introductions were going to have to wait. “Kyle has her.”

  “What?” The word came out in a snarl.

  “I…I…”

  I put my hands on her shoulders, reassuring her with my touch. “Sam, I need t
o know everything that’s goin’ on.” She nodded her head but was still having trouble catching her breath. “Just take a deep breath, baby. Tell me what you know.”

  She did as I asked, taking a deep breath before explaining what had happened when she’d returned to the library. “I was too late,” she cried. “By the time I got out of the house and saw them, it was just in time to watch Kyle get into a truck with El.”

  “A truck?” I asked. “And old beat-up one with tinted windows?”

  “Yes,” she said breathlessly. “Did you see it?”

  “Fuckin’ hell,” Gerald said, taking off his hat and shaking his head. “We just missed the asshole.”

  The reality of the situation dawned on me, that when we’d watched the footage of the truck earlier, El had been in the car. From the comfort of my living room couch, I’d watched my daughter get kidnapped.

  “We have to do something,” Sam cried. “We need to call the cops.”

  Gerald shook his head. “Cops’ll be too slow. Don’t trust ‘em as far as I can throw ‘em.” The line of work Gerald specialized in was within the law but like a more efficient version of it.

  “Sam, this is my cousin Gerald. He’s here to help.”

  Gerald tipped his hat and turned back to me. “Chance, we can sit around waitin’ for the cops to drive up here. They’re gonna ask questions, look over the footage, and check the exit – in short, all kinds ‘a shit that’ll just waste time. Meanwhile, that Kyle prick will be drivin’ further and further away with your little girl.”

  “He knows about Kyle?” Sam asked, her eyes wide.

  “He does, and he’s gonna help us find him.”

  Another nod from Sam as she processed everything. “Okay, then I’m coming with you.”

  “No way,” I said without hesitation. “This is gonna be too dangerous.”

  “But he’s here because of me, Chance. It’s my fault this is happening!”

  “The only one here to blame is that asshole who decided to mess with my family. I need to know you’re safe. Please go back and call the cops. We’ll need them eventually anyway.”