Chapter Three
The panic in Carys’s voice against the backdrop of severe weather caused the stress knot to tighten in his chest. “Where are you?”
“No idea,” she said.
Not at all helpful.
“I was on my way to your ranch and turned off onto a gravel farm road after the highway.”
Better.
A loud crack sounded. She screamed.
The call dropped.
Back to not good.
Blaize turned toward the kitchen door. Kit stood there, blocking his exit.
“Where do you think you’re going in this mess?” she asked. Her gaze shot to the set of keys hanging next to the door.
“I have to go.” He started toward her.
She stepped aside. “In this? Be reasonable, Blaize. You could get hurt out there. You’re no match for a storm this size.”
Wind howled. A few seconds later, something substantial slammed against the side of the house as though punctuating her sentence. It was not lost on him that flying debris killed far too many people in weather like this.
“You could get hurt or worse, Blaize. I’m serious.”
“Someone could die if I don’t go,” he said.
Kit gave a small nod. She, of all people, would understand his need to help someone in need. It was the ranching way, ingrained in all of them since birth. Somehow it had skipped a generation with Cormac, but that was another story.
“If you have to do this, be careful out there,” Kit said, a worry wrinkle adding to the ones already scoring her forehead.
“You know I will.”
With that, he grabbed the keys to his old Jeep and headed out the door. The second he stepped outside rain pelted him like BBs. He tucked his chin to his chest and made a beeline to his Jeep that was parked on the pad next to the one-story ranch-style house.
Once inside, he claimed the driver’s seat and started the ignition.
The Jeep would fare better than other types of vehicles in this mess of a storm.
Texas weather in the spring was as unpredictable as serious illness.
Some folks’ DNA was a ticking time bomb that, once unleashed, could get out of control fast. At least, that had been the case for Lynn.
She’d gone from being the most alive person he’d ever met to sick and sicker in a matter of months.
Storms like this one always reminded him of Lynn. She’d left this world, and him, on a night much like this one.
He navigated down the lane and toward the farm road, face wet with a mix of rain and hot tears—tears that had taken too long to fall.
They burned as they rolled down his cheek and dripped onto his shirt.
Blaize never wanted to feel that helpless again in this lifetime.
An image of Lynn stamped his thoughts. Not sick, almost-dying Lynn.
But the one he’d fallen head over heels for.
A thump on the side of the Jeep cleared every distraction, bringing his focus back to the stretch of road in front of him.
Potholes on the lane had him bouncing around, but he didn’t care. He needed to get to Carys and the baby girl.
Trying to call back did no good as he was being tossed around like a fishing boat in a storm and he’d lost cell coverage. He muttered a few choice words under his breath as he navigated toward the spot he was certain Carys was stuck.
Barreling down the lane, he turned onto the farm road. Panic struck, causing the stress knot to tighten even more. He had no idea if her vehicle had been struck or if she’d had to abandon it altogether.
The thought of her stuck outside with no shelter sat hard on his chest. Add an infant into the equation and the boulder on his chest dug in deeper. Mud kicked up, splattering on the windows. The windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the barrage.
It had been a long time since he’d been on this road. Muscle memory kicked in as he gripped the steering wheel with both hands. He should be coming up on the spot he believed Carys to be stranded.
Stranded and in trouble—a dangerous combination.
LIGHTING SHOT ACROSS the sky. Carys strained to get a good look out the driver’s-side window. A figure, dressed in all black with a hoodie over their head, stood tall. Arms raised, Carys couldn’t tell what the person was holding, but it seemed obvious what they were about to do.
An object landed with a thud against the pane. A crack?
The phone had slipped from Carys’s hand while she’d been trying to maneuver the child back into the carrier.
She muttered a curse as she felt around on the floorboard for the device while keeping one hand on Rue.
She calmed with physical contact and a binky.
Since Carys had no way to heat a bottle and no idea if the baby could drink formula cold, she needed to do whatever she could to keep the child calm until she could be turned over to her father.
Another thud snapped her back to the person trying to break into the vehicle.
Carys had never felt more defenseless in her life.
If it was just her, she could slip out the passenger-side door and run for her life.
She might not be considered tall, but she could run.
Running was one of the extra curriculars that got her out of the house at five o’clock in the morning during the school year when home had become a prison.
Headlights bounced up and down. The hooded figure ran off and disappeared.
A Jeep roared up next to her vehicle. A substantial male immediately jumped out of the driver’s side. This had to be Blaize. For one, he came from the correct direction. Who else would be out here in this mess? The man made a beeline toward her.
Carys unlocked the door as the baby stirred.
He opened it but didn’t make a move to get inside. After introducing himself, he said, “Let’s get you two moved into my Jeep.”
“Okay,” she said, setting the baby in the carrier before handing her over to Blaize. She glanced around as she unhooked the base. “But someone was trying to break into my vehicle, so be careful.”
“What the hell?” he asked as he took the carrier and then immediately got the baby inside the Jeep with Carys’s help. Next, he shielded Carys as she exited her sedan after clumsily grabbing her purse and locating her cell on the floor.
He stood next to her while she secured the base. She immediately climbed into the back seat after shouldering the diaper bag and grabbed the carrier once settled.
She scanned the area, but it was pitch black outside, way too dark to see anything. The occasional lightning bolt lit up the sky, but not long enough to see anything clearly. This area was rural, and trees lined the farm road.
“Thank you for coming out in this,” she said to Blaize as he took the driver’s seat. She could only imagine what he must’ve thought of her. She was supposed to take care of Rue, not place the little girl in harm’s way even further. “I should have stayed home to ride it out.”
He waved her off like it was nothing as he banked a U-turn back toward his ranch. “You were acting in the best interest of the kid.”
“Was I? Bringing her out in this?” She was still shaking from the encounter with the person intent on harming them. “Not to mention the person who…”
An involuntary shiver rocked her body.
“Speaking of that, did you get a description?” He had to raise his voice to speak over the thunder booms.
Rue spit out her binky and started crying.
“That might be the most pitiful sound I’ve ever heard in my life,” Blaize said, glancing at them through the rearview mirror.
He had the most interesting shade of blue-green eyes she’d ever seen.
They were like staring into deep turquoise pools.
After standing next to him, she knew he had to be at least six feet two inches, maybe a little more.
He had a substantial build. Carys told herself she only noticed because of the threat of danger a few moments ago.
On a basic, biological level, she needed to know he could protect her while she was vulnerable.
Being with a baby had never made her feel more helpless.
You couldn’t run from danger while finagling an infant in your arms. You couldn’t fight back. She felt defenseless.
Carys had a new understanding and a whole new respect for what mothers must go through on a daily basis. She didn’t mean in the physical danger sense because what had just happened was rare. Trying to protect something so tiny and fragile, despite the lung capacity, would be a full-time job.
The baby kept up the crying as they pulled beside a ranch-style farmhouse that looked severely in need of TLC.
Part of her job was to evaluate environments and people.
She’d been a CPS worker for the past two years.
Enough time to get a feel for people and places within a few minutes of meeting them or entering their space.
Blaize over the phone caused a lot of alarm bells to sound.
She gave him grace for the fact he was finding out that he was a father from a stranger—not exactly an ideal situation.
He claimed there was no possible way he fathered Rue.
She needed to have a conversation with him about that before leaving her with him.
But first. Quiet the baby. Then? Coffee.
“What can I do to help?” Blaize asked as he pulled the lever that made the driver’s seat go up so she could exit the Jeep.
“Take her,” she said, handing over the carrier once more. Carys climbed out of the back seat and rushed toward the back door a half step behind Blaize. He stopped a little too suddenly, causing her to walk right into his back—a very muscled, brick-wall-type back. “Sorry.”
If he noticed, he didn’t say a word. Instead, he opened the door for her and ushered her inside.
Water dripped into a bucket a foot away from the fridge. The place was old and small but tidy.
A grandmotherly figure hopped up from her spot at the kitchen table, eyes as bright as her smile. “I can heat up water in the kettle.”
“That would be amazing,” Carys said. “Thank you.”
The older woman practically beamed. “Call me Kit.”
“I’m Carys.”
Blaize set the baby carrier on top of the kitchen table, away from the splunk sounds coming from the bucket.
With all three of them working, Rue had a bottle in her mouth, happily sucking the milk within a matter of minutes with Kit doing the honors.
Carys cornered Blaize near the sink. “Thank you for rescuing us, by the way.”
“Don’t mention it.” He issued a sharp sigh. “I’m concerned about the person on the loose who attacked your vehicle. You’re sure they were trying to get to you?”
“What other option is there?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged massive shoulders. “Maybe they thought you were trapped and couldn’t unlock the door?”
She was already shaking her head before he could finish that sentence. “I was in plain sight.”
“But you didn’t get a description of them?”
“Not with the dark clothing and hoodie they were wearing.”
“Male or female?”
“It was impossible to tell.” Frustrating as hell, too. “It was dark, and they were wearing oversized clothing that basically made it impossible to make out any shapes other than a general description of, like, they were a human being.”
She issued a sharp sigh. “How’s that for helpful?”
“The road will be washed out from the rain, so getting footprints or tire tracks won’t happen, either.” He took a sip of coffee.
“Which means whoever was there remains anonymous until they strike again.”
“We’ll get the sheriff involved,” he said. “That’ll get more eyes on the case.”
It wasn’t exactly progress, but she couldn’t be picky under the circumstances.
She was still beating herself up for not checking the weather before leaving the house.
What kind of parent would she make? Not that she wanted children at this point in her life, or possibly ever.
Ruling them out didn’t feel like the right move.
She glanced over at Rue, who seemed the most content in Kit’s arms.
“She’s a good baby,” Kit said, practically beaming. “All she needed was a meal and a diaper change to be happy.”
“I think you’re selling yourself short, Kit. She’s comfortable with you. She was screaming the whole time I held her.” Not technically the whole time, but it sure felt like it.
Kit issued a grunt. “She’s probably worn out from crying, then.”
“Do you want to sit down?” Blaize asked.
“Yes.” She had questions for the gorgeous man. But something told her that he wouldn’t have the answers she needed to hear to be able to walk away from Rue.