Chapter 16
Celine tightened the straps on the baby carrier attached to Lane’s chest and made sure Parker was nice and snug. She took a step back and grinned. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d see Lane Tipton with a baby hanging from his chest. “Feel okay?”
Frowning, he circled his arms around Parker’s middle. “I guess. How do I know he won’t fall?”
“Because all the buckles are fastened and snaps are snapped. Trust me, he’s not going anywhere.” She fixed the pint-sized baseball hat on Parker’s head to keep the sun from his face. “You might get really hot, though. You can still put him in the stroller instead.”
“Nah, I’ll be fine. I want him to see everything. He has a better view from up here. Ready?”
She nodded then led the way down the porch steps onto the front yard.
The late afternoon sun beat down on them, and she swiped her hair up into a ponytail.
The vivid red barns loomed large ahead, with the white aluminum horse stables to the left.
Beyond the buildings, acres of prairie land covered in sage grass and wildflowers created a path to a dense patch of woods beyond. “Where did you want to walk?”
Lane shrugged, bouncing Parker along with the motion. “I wish my dad wouldn’t have gotten rid of the animals. Parker might have liked seeing all the cattle and horses.”
“I heard he sold them off a few years ago,” she said, walking with no planned direction. “I wasn’t too surprised. He was never very fond of the animals. Not like you were.”
That slow, lazy smile she loved so much climbed the side of his mouth.
“True. He wanted the cash, not the responsibility. Figured investing the profit he got off the sale would be an easier lifestyle. It might have proven lucrative, but where’s the joy?
The fun? The ability to get your hands dirty and be a part of the land? ”
“Your dad never cared about any of that.”
He snorted. “He didn’t care about anything except the bottom line.” Stopping beside the barn door, he slid it open and peeked inside. Bits of dirt and dust sparkled in the beams of sunlight streaming down from the empty rafters. “Such a waste of space.”
The wall of hot, stale air greeted her in the doorway. “Ever think about doing something with it?”
He chuckled, the sound smooth like velvet on her skin. “Before a few days ago, I never imagined sticking around this place. The last thing on my mind was what to do with a couple of abandoned barns that hold a hell of a lot of good memories.”
She swallowed his words like shards of broken glass—bits and pieces stabbing her as he reminded her how low on his list of priorities she’d been before he’d found out about Parker.
How low she’d been to be left behind so many years ago.
Fighting back tears, she turned away and lifted her face to the warmth of the sun.
“What’s wrong?” Lane shifted, blocking the bright rays with his large from.
Shadows fell over her, and she glanced up with a tight smile pasted on her lips. His wrinkled brow was visible under the brim of his cowboy hat. “Nothing. Let’s keep this tour going before Parker gets too hot.”
She made a move to walk around him, but a gentle touch on her arm pinned her in place.
“Please don’t do that,” he said.
“Do what?”
“Keep pretending like our past isn’t casting one giant shadow over our present—our future.
If we’re going to make things work in the best possible way for Parker, I need you to be honest with me.
About everything. Even the stuff that’s difficult to remember.
We can’t have things constantly coming up and standing between us. ”
His willingness to discuss their issues should make her happy, relieve any misgivings that he wanted to put in the work on their relationship for the good of their son. Instead, a flash of anger flared bright as the damn sun in her chest.
“So I’m just supposed to rip open all the wounds I’ve worked so hard to bury because now you’re ready to talk?
Because you don’t want things to be awkward or uncomfortable?
Well, I’m sorry, but that’s not the way things work.
I refuse to stand here and listen to you talk about how you never wanted to return to Hillmore.
That nothing was important enough to stay until now.
That I was just a blip on the map of your life until I gave you a child.
Sorry if my pathetic feelings are too much for you to handle when you slam the raw hard truth in my face. ”
Unable to look at him any longer, she stalked by him and rounded the corner of the old barn. Tears flowed down her face. A large block of emotion and trauma weighed down her chest, threatening to cut off her air supply.
She needed space, distance. She needed to get away from Lane for one damn second—and all the memories he brought along with him.
This was a mistake. Spending so much time cooped up with Lane, depending on him to keep her safe and protected, was messing with her mind.
With her emotions.
Blowing out a long breath, she stared out to the sprawling meadow in front of her. A subtle gust of wind rustled the long grass and bounced the colorful blooms of summer from side to side. Damn Kevin and whatever he’d gotten himself involved in that landed her in a mess of her own.
And damn herself for starting to forget all the pain Lane had caused her and getting swept away in some silly fantasy that would never come true.
The crunch of footsteps on gravel alerted her to Lane’s approach behind her.
As much as she wanted to stand and stare at the distant mountains and get lost in the beauty of nature, she couldn’t run away from her problems. Especially when she was currently staying in that problem’s house and he was holding her child.
Sighing, she turned to face him but her gaze fixed on her grinning baby with a river of drool coursing down his chin.
“Talking about what went wrong between us takes me back to a very dark place. I thought I was over it, but after spending time with you the last few days, I realize I’m not. I don’t know if I’ll ever be.”
Lane rubbed the back of his neck, regret shining from his eyes. “I wish I could go back in time and do things differently. I wish I could tell myself I didn’t have to let fear dictate my decisions or choose between two dreams.”
“But you can’t. And when push came to shove, you didn’t pick me.
I wasn’t enough for you—our love didn’t mean enough.
Or who knows,” she said, lifting her hands in the air only to let them fall back to her sides.
“Maybe you never really loved me. Maybe you meant more to me than I did to you, and I just have to except that and move on.”
He opened his mouth, but whatever he planned to say was interrupted by Parker’s irritated wail.
“He’s probably getting warm. We should take him back inside.
” Wanting this moment to be over, she plucked Parker out of his carrier and headed back to the house.
She might not be able to get too far from the man who still held her heart right now, but she didn’t need to continue their treacherous walk down memory lane.
Sensing Celine’s need for space, Lane opted to stay outside and out of her hair. He didn’t want her to feel confined to her room, so he grabbed his laptop, a cold beer, and set up on the wide wraparound porch.
He searched information about the new casino just out of town, paying special attention to any types of crimes connected to the establishment.
Not much popped out. Some theft, one mugging in the parking lot, and a lot of editorials regarding upset locals pissed off about the mark on the land they loved so much.
Nothing hinted at illegal activities going on inside the casino, but if there were, he probably wouldn’t find it with a casual search on the internet.
The front door opened, and Duke strolled out with his hands shoved in the front pockets of his jeans. He plopped onto the rocking chair beside Lane and kicked out his legs, crossing his ankles in front of him. “Find anything useful?”
“Not really.” Shutting his laptop, Lane grabbed the long neck of his beer bottle and took a sip.
The bitter ale coated his tongue, cooling his dry throat.
“Not like I expected to find much. Just kind of spinning my wheels, trying to think of something new to look into. An angle I hadn’t searched yet. ”
“Where’s Celine?”
Lane took another pull from his beer. “She’s been inside with Suzy and Parker ever since Suzy got back from the store.”
“You staying away from her on purpose?”
He shrugged. “Pretty sure she wants me to. Tensions got a bit high earlier.”
“Easy to see how that could happen, but if you don’t do something to smother that tension it’ll only grow.”
“True, but I’m not the one who doesn’t want to talk about it. Every time I try to broach the subject of what happened with us, she refuses. Not much I can do.”
“You can be patient. You’re the one who messed things up. You can’t just sweep in and expect to fix it on your timeline because it’s what you want.”
Chuckling, Lane shook his head. “Damn, dude. You keep saying shit like that and it’s throwing me off. I’m used to the arrogant smartass who’s more apt to slam a fist in a guy’s face than talk about feelings and be all wise about stuff.”
It was Duke’s turn to shrug. “You never really got to know me. Just saw me as some guy you could grab a drink with after a ride.”
Lane settled against the hard wood of the rocker and pushed his feet against the wide planks. He cupped his hands around his bottle, the condensation sliding on his palms. “Looks like we should fix that now that we’ll be in business together.”
“You’re probably right.”
“How’d you get into bull riding?”
“Same as you, I suppose. Spent my childhood on a ranch. Pops put me on a bull when I was a kid, and I fell in love with it—the adrenaline rush and excitement. And hell, I was good at it. I got on the circuit when I was still in high school. Nothing more to it than that.” Duke clasped his hands on his lap and stared in front of him as he spoke, as if seeing something that wasn’t there.
“So why’d you stop?”
“Told you. Wasn’t as much fun without your ass around to kick. Doesn’t mean I won’t go back. But for now, I needed a break. Being here, starting this new venture with you, just feels right.”
A beat of silence lingered between them with only the sound of crickets and critters filling the air. “I call bullshit.”
Duke kept his gaze fixed straight ahead. “That’s your prerogative, I guess.”
“I won’t push,” Lane said, studying the outline of Duke’s profile. “Some wise guy told me I need to learn how to be patient. But know I’m here. You know, if you need someone to talk to. It’s actually been nice having you around the last few days.”
“That had to be hard to say,” Duke said, grinning.
“You have no idea. But enough of this sappy nonsense. Any thoughts on Celine’s situation?
We haven’t heard a word from the sheriff’s department regarding Kevin, so my guess is the douchebag’s still missing.
In my book, that shines one hell of a suspicious light his way. But the question still remains, why?”
“That’s been bugging me,” Duke said. “They’ve been divorced about a year, right?”
“I think so.”
“So why would some goons come after her if her ex is the one who owes money? Does she have access to his funds?”
“She hasn’t mentioned that, but we should verify. Still, wouldn’t it make more sense to beat him and make him pay what he owes rather than going after her?”
“Sounds more logical to me, which is why this whole thing seems like one giant maze with no clear path to the truth. What if we’re wrong about Kevin?
What if he’s not at the center of this at all, and we’re searching in the wrong direction?
” His mind flashed back to the trashed house and spots of blood in the other man’s bedroom. “But that just doesn’t feel right.”
“I think your gut’s right on this,” Duke said. “We follow Kevin, we find the answers.”
“Can’t follow him if we don’t know where he is.”
Duke pointed at the computer on Lane’s lap.
“We keep sniffing out his digital footprint. Social media. Call old friends. Speak to his parents. I’m sure the sheriff’s department is doing some of that, but they might miss something.
Or Celine could notice something they don’t.
Either way, we need more dirt on this guy. ”
“He had a ton of files in his home office. Maybe Celine and I should go through them. If he was misappropriating funds from work, there could be a trail there. Clients to investigate. Hell, maybe even someone associated with whoever he’s tangled up in.
A man whose livelihood is tied up in accounting would keep records of what’s owed. ”
“Did the deputies take in his computer as evidence?”
Lane shrugged and finished off his beer. “Not sure. We left before the house was processed. We were told the department takes all missing persons cases seriously, regardless of the length of time someone is missing, but that doesn’t mean they spent a lot of time pouring through the house.”
“Well, looks like we have another step to take. I’ll start poking around online, you and Celine should head back to the house. See if there’s anything left behind that could lead to answers.”
Lane stared out into the darkening sky. The sun dipped low over the horizon, bathing the land in dark purples and pinks.
Parker would need to be put down soon, and he didn’t want to press Celine more tonight.
“We’ll head out in the morning. I don’t want to put her in danger by lurking around Kevin’s place at night. ”
Duke arched his brows high. “Gonna keep on avoiding her, huh?”
He could lie, stick to his story about wanting to look out for Celine, but what was the point? Duke was his partner, and if they wanted to get closer, he had to be honest. “Yep.”
Standing, he slapped a hand on Duke’s shoulder and headed for the front door. “Make sure to lock up when you come inside. See ya tomorrow.”
He ignored his buddy’s shit-eating grin and climbed the stairs to his bedroom. He hesitated outside Celine’s door, wishing he could knock and tell her and the baby goodnight. But something told him that wouldn’t be welcomed.
Sighing, he tore himself away from the closed door and stepped into his old room. He’d do some digging of his own until bedtime. Fixing his and Celine’s problems from the past might not be possible tonight, but he could at least try to figure out who was after her before they struck again.