Chapter 5
Prudence rocked the baby. Her arms were ready to fall off. Her back hurt. And, strangely, she’d never felt better in her life.
Unless, of course, she factored in the reality she had no memory whatsoever of the last three days.
“I know the way out,” Lawler said after asking a few more routine-sounding questions for his report. The man had been thorough.
He disappeared down the hallway as Adam caught her gaze.
“For tonight, it’s probably best if we stay here.
There haven’t been any kids in this place in years and we’ll have privacy since I doubt anyone will want to stay at the Marshall’s house.
Anyone who wanted one has a home on the property,” Adam said.
“And I know a bedroom with a crib already set up. I don’t think the room has been used since my brothers were little. ”
“Why is there two of everything?” Prudence asked, remembering her question from earlier. At least her mind was working now.
Adam stopped cold. His forehead wrinkled in confusion.
“When Luna brought us here. I noticed two sets of barns and—”
“Oh, right.” Adam nodded. “It’s because my father and uncle fight so much. Have all their lives. So, the Marshall built two separate but equal homes and barns for them. The whole place is divided down the middle.”
The dread in his voice struck her.
“It sounds like a rough situation to grow up in,” she said. Looking around at all the grandeur, she’d assumed living here must be a dream. The family had plenty of money. At least, that’s how it looked from the outside.
“Believe me, you don’t want to know.” He issued a sharp sigh before holding out his hand. “How about we talk about that later? I’m not sure how long one of those things sleeps, but Casey comes back from his weekends at home more tired than if he’d spent all day on fences.”
“Fences?” She quirked a brow, noticing he’d just called Baby X a ‘thing.’ She was mildly amused by the off-handed comment.
“Remind me to explain what that means another time,” he said with a smile and a wink.
She took his outstretched hand and used it as leverage to pull herself up. There was something about making contact with Adam that caused electricity to vibrate through her, warming her all the way to her cheekbones and back.
“Think we can head to my place first thing in the morning? I have a prescription there and can’t miss a dose,” she said.
“Not a problem. I have a feeling Baby—”
“Mind if we figure out a nickname for her? I hate the thought of referring to her in such a generic term,” Prudence said.
“Let’s see. I was standing on Angel Pass when I first—”
“Angel. I like that name,” she said with a smile. “What do you think?”
“It’s good. It fits her.” He looked at the baby in her arms with such appreciation that Prudence’s ovaries practically hummed.
“Let’s put Angel to bed and give your arms a break,” he said.
“Deal.”
Prudence followed him upstairs and to the first bedroom on the right. The room was large. It had a four-poster bed, wallpaper that was elegant but also from a different era, and a sitting area complete with a balcony.
“I picked this suite for its size, the en suite bath, and the fact that, if memory serves, there’s a crib on the other side of the bed,” he said.
“If you don’t come up here, why is it so clean?” She didn’t see a speck of dust.
“The Marshall had a live-in housekeeper for years. She’ll be back tomorrow morning. It was next to impossible to force her to take the night off and go home,” he said.
“I thought you said she lived here,” she said.
“Only during the weekdays,” he stated.
True to his word, there was an old-fashioned crib next to the bed.
Prudence glanced at the clock, realizing she didn’t so much as have her phone on her.
It was strange to be so disconnected, but she missed her journal even more.
She almost laughed out loud. What exactly would she write in it?
Forgot the past three days but woke up with a baby and none other than Adam Firebrand at my side.
If only it was funny.
Prudence glanced down at her clothes. She must have been around some animal today considering the dog hair on her jogging suit. Please don’t tell her she’d been wearing the same clothes for three days. She shook off the thought as impossible. She would smell much worse.
Although, would she even know it if she did?
Embarrassment heated her cheeks at the thought. There would have been a sign if she stunk to high heaven. Right? A wrinkled nose when Adam got close to her.
She decided she must not be too ripe. A shower still sounded amazing and she wondered if there was any clothing she could borrow in the meantime.
“Do you, by chance, have something I can change into after a shower? I always take one before bed and these clothes are dirty.” She had to wash off the animal funk before climbing under her sheets.
“There’s a robe on the back of the door. That should do until I can throw your clothes in the washer.” His voice dropped an octave and had a low-gravelly quality to it that caused her stomach to freefall.
“That’s great.” She cleared her throat trying to ease the sudden dryness. Why did it feel like she’d just licked a glue stick? Prudence gently placed the baby in the crib. “Think she’ll be okay here until I get back?”
“I’ll make sure of it.” Those words spoken with that voice traveled all over her.
Prudence had no choice but to get out of Dodge. She practically gaited toward the bathroom.
“Toss your clothes out and I’ll run them through while you shower,” he said. That man could make reading the ingredients off a cereal box sound sexy.
“Okay.” The thought of him touching her most personal things sent more of that electricity shooting through her. She stripped and then wrapped a towel around her. Even the towels here were bigger and better than anything she’d ever owned.
Cracking the door open, she handed over her clothes, bra, and panties in all. She’d been careful to tuck those inside her warm-up shirt, but still. Shower.
For the next ten minutes, she scrubbed and rinsed.
Did Angel need to be cleaned up too? Prudence somehow doubted the baby took a daily bath.
If she had her phone, she could easily look it up.
She’d learned a long time ago that she could figure out how to do almost anything within reason on the internet.
The sounds of Angel fussing got Prudence moving. She exited the shower, dried off, and wrapped the robe around her in two shakes.
Nothing could prepare her for the hit she took when she opened the door and saw this huge, outdoorsy cattle rancher trying to calm the baby. Angel looked so tiny by comparison to his big strong arms. He was gently bouncing her on his shoulder while comforting her by patting her back.
The sight was almost too much to take in all at once. A surprising tear sprang to her eye. Prudence had never once wanted a husband and a child. Not as far back as she could remember had either of those things held any appeal. Until this moment. Right then. With Adam and Angel.
Adam had helped with kittens and foals, and had assisted with the birthing of puppies and more calves than he could count, so why was this little thing ripping his heart to shreds with her whimper?
He’d never felt so helpless in all his life.
“Everything okay in here?” Prudence’s voice was like rain in a drought.
“She’s fussy so I picked her up. It helped for all of two seconds,” he said, trying not to notice the rivulet of water rolling down Prudence’s sensual neck. She didn’t have her glasses on, so he could see more of the delicate features of her face. Not the time, Firebrand.
“I can take her,” she offered but he figured her arms needed a break.
“Tell me what to do and I’ll do it,” he said.
“She can’t be hungry again so soon…” A spark lit up her dark blue eyes as she wagged her finger in the air and headed toward the loveseat where he’d set the diaper bag. She returned a moment later with something blue in her hand.
“There you go.” She barely touched Angel’s cheek with it before the newborn latched on.
It was insta-quiet.
“What is that thing?” he asked.
“A pacifier,” she said with a smile that spread warmth through his chest—a chest that had been encased in ice for the past year.
He walked over to the crib and gently placed her back inside. “Is there a right way to do this?”
“I think she has to be on her back,” she said.
There was something satisfying about getting the baby to settle down and rest. He had a feeling they were in for a ride tonight, though. When Prudence moved next to him, his racing heart agreed.
Rather than allow that train to pick up steam, he excused himself to take a shower. “Will you be okay alone with her?”
A look of hurt passed behind her eyes.
“I don’t mean you’re incapable or that you’ll hurt her in any way,” he quickly back-peddled. “I wanted to make sure you were comfortable with it.”
“You were,” she said and he could hear the defensiveness in her tone.
“I had you in the next room. My clothes are in a different wing.” This place had always felt too big for so few people living here.
Unlike his sons, the Marshall only had two children.
This place was more than half empty all of the time.
It seemed like a waste of space to Adam, who preferred his two-bedroom log cabin by the lake.
Azure Lake had always been his favorite spot on the ranch when he needed to get away from it all and think.
Her mouth formed the word, oh.
“In that case, how long will it take you to get back?” she asked.
“Depends on your comfort level. I can jog to the other side of the house and back, or shower over there where all my stuff is. Your choice,” he said.
“You should go where you’re comfortable,” she stated. “I’ll be fine here.”
He paused for a second as his brain started clicking.
“You know what’s strange to me?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“I’ve been talking to you for…” He glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was almost midnight. “Three hours now and you haven’t slipped once. You know your name. You know what day it is. Your mind is sharp.”
“I thought the same thing in the shower,” she admitted on a heavy sigh. “It’s weird, isn’t it.”
“What’s the last thing you remember?” he asked.
“Waking up,” she said. “The next part isn’t so clear, but it involves Henry.”
That was three days ago. “And you have no memories since then?”
“That’s right,” she said.
“No one stopped by to see him and you didn’t go anywhere else?” he asked.
“Not that I remember,” she admitted with a shrug. “Frustrating, isn’t it.”
“It’s a puzzle for me. I can only imagine what a terrible feeling it must be for you,” he said. There had to be something…an event? His mind snapped to her being on a date and someone slipping something inside her drink.
Her mind was sharp now. She seemed to be firing on all cylinders.
“We’ll get to the bottom of what’s going on,” he said as he headed toward the hallway.
“I’m not sure if I thanked you nearly enough, Adam.” The sound of her voice stopped him in his tracks. The mix of gratitude tinted with fear the memory lapse could strike at any time strengthened his resolve.
“No need. It’s what we do here. We take care of our own,” he said and meant it. Ranchers were known for having each other’s backs. He couldn’t exactly speak for folks in town, but that spirit was very much alive and well when it came to his community.
“I appreciate it anyway. You didn’t have to stick up for me with Lawler or volunteer to let me and Angel stay here overnight.
It means a lot that you would put yourself out for me, for her,” she said.
Her voice cracked on the last part and he wondered if her emotions were getting the best of her.
He couldn’t imagine how awful it would be to lose three days of his life, just like that with no warning.
She didn’t appear sick or hurt. She was too young for dementia. It just didn’t add up.
“You’re welcome, Prudence,” he said. “This all must be crazy for you. My guess is that you acted quickly to save that little girl’s life.
You saw the piece of paper, my name, and were bringing her here to the ranch when something else happened.
I can only imagine why you would be on that part of the land, but every possibility causes my hands to fist and anger to well up.
Helping you fill in the details is the least I can do. ”
“Is that really what you think?” She was reaching for hope. He could hear it in her voice. She needed a reason not to be scared to go to sleep or wake up in the morning.
“I wouldn’t say so if it wasn’t true. Hand to God,” he said.
She sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. “So, we’ll figure it out together?”
“You have my word,” he said.
His answer seemed to satisfy her. At least for the time being. She seemed nervous about turning in.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes. Fifteen tops.” He figured he could make it to the opposite wing and scrub down in roughly that amount of time.
“Then, I’ll wait up for you,” she offered, fiddling with the belt on her robe. Nervous habit?
He glanced at the bed. It hadn’t occurred to him they’d be sleeping in the same room. Now that he thought about it, it made sense. She would probably want the company and she seemed more than a little afraid to wake up, like sleeping might somehow erase her memories again.
The way she looked at him right then would haunt him if that happened. He tried not to let that dominate his thoughts as he cut across the house to the other wing.