Chapter 12
12
A crash outside caused Bree to jump out of her skin. Rinty hopped onto all fours, ready for action as he aligned his entire body in a way that made it look like he was pointing at the spot the noise had come from.
“Let’s go,” Kade said to him as Bree moved to the kitchen drawer and pulled out a knife.
Kade reached into his rucksack that sat just inside the front door and retrieved a handgun of some kind. Bree might have grown up in a ranching community in a small Texas town, but she’d always shied away from guns aside from the stun gun her dad had once placed inside her handbag. Just in case, he’d said. At that time, her biggest threat had been a teenage boy he thought might decide the lines of consent were blurry when she’d told him no.
Gripping the handle of a carving knife, she followed Kade into the living room, Rinty by his side. Had the dog realized Kade was ex-military at some point? After the commands? Because watching the two of them now, they could be mistaken for partners to her untrained eye.
Outside the window, rolling gray clouds blanketed the sky. The chill in the heavy air promised a weather front was on its way. She’d been too distracted to check the report. Being out here in a cabin if a storm hit wasn’t exactly her warm and fuzzy right now.
Kade stepped onto the small concrete steps, his head shifting as he swept the area. A hand came back to stop her from following. “Stay inside and lock the door, okay?”
The thought of being separated, even for a few minutes, caused her shoulders to tense up.
Pain doubled her over as another cramp stole her breath.
Kade turned his head and muttered a few choice words—the exact words she was thinking.
How could this be happening now?
The contractions had been coming all morning.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Kade said.
“Leaving the hospital might have been a huge mistake,” she said, cradling her bump. “This baby might be ready to meet the world.”
“Right now?” he asked.
“I’m afraid so,” she said, sitting on the step.
Kade tucked the weapon behind him into a holster. She hadn’t realized he’d been wearing one earlier. His cotton shirt covered it. He helped her up and inside the door before grabbing his rucksack. “Are you ready?”
She nodded as another contraction hit. When had they started coming closer together? “I need to call my OB.”
“Your what?”
“Doctor,” she said as she breathed through the next one.
“What do I do?” he asked, sounding lost. It was the first time Bree had ever seen a chink in his armor.
“Grab my handbag,” she instructed. “My cell phone should be inside.”
“Okay.” He had her purse in a matter of seconds. Whatever threat was outside would have to be dealt with on their way to his truck.
Kade glanced at Rinty before helping her to her feet. “I’ll call my sister and see if she can arrange for one of my brothers to pick him up. He can stay at the ranch until I can pick him up and bring him home.” She liked the sound of those words a little too much.
This seemed like a good time to remind herself that she needed to keep perspective. They wouldn’t just be hurting each other if they tried to have a relationship and failed. They could damage the little one. No way was she allowing that to happen.
Besides, she was seriously jumping the gun. Kade hadn’t mentioned the possibility of the two of them together. No matter how incredible the kiss they’d shared had been, it couldn’t happen again. There was too much at stake.
“Can you walk on your own to the truck?” he asked.
Something dawned on her. “You can’t leave Rinty here alone.”
“What?”
“Someone might be out there, watching,” she said. “He could poison Rinty or outright shoot him.” Another cramp. Breathe. Bree glanced down at Rinty. “You’re coming with us, boy.”
Kade wrapped an arm around Bree, shielding her with his own body as they moved to the truck. Two steps away, he clicked the button to unlock the doors. Swiftly, he helped her into the passenger seat. Rinty had already jumped inside and taken a position in the backseat. Determined brown eyes scanned the area, searching for any sign of movement.
Wind whipped through the trees.
The second Bree’s backside touched the seat, Kade closed the door and circled the front of the truck. In two seconds flat, the man was behind the wheel.
On the drive to the hospital, Bree’s contractions came three minutes apart. Thank the stars for cell phones because she was able to call her OB, and Kade managed a call to his sister. She would meet him at the hospital to take Rinty to the ranch.
“I’ll be back for you,” Bree said to him in between contractions. Did he understand her? She had no idea. Did her words soothe him? She could only hope. The last thing she wanted was for Rinty to feel abandoned again. He must after being plucked out of the only life he knew.
“How long before the baby comes?” Kade asked, his knuckles white on the steering wheel.
“I have no idea,” she admitted. “I’ve been warned that first pregnancies generally mean longer labors.”
“As much as I don’t want you to be in pain, I’d prefer this kid not pop out on the drive to the hospital.”
She couldn’t agree more.
“I’ve seen and done a lot of things, but I’ve never felt so helpless in my entire life,” he said. “You’re amazing to have made it through the pregnancy this far. It couldn’t have been easy.”
At this point, Bree was focused on her breathing but the compliment burrowed into her heart. Responding wasn’t much of an option, so she stored it in a place she could easily find it when she needed a boost. She nodded, knowing he could see the movement from the corner of his eye as he sped down the highway with his emergency flashers on. Rinty wasn’t the only one on full alert.
By the time they arrived at the hospital, Bree’s contractions were too close together for her to think about anything else.
It would be just like her to go from zero signs to go-time in a matter of a couple of hours, considering she’d just been released from the hospital hours ago.
The cramps made it impossible to speak. Kade called the hospital to let the staff know they were about to arrive.
“We’re here,” Kade said as he roared up to the ER bay, as instructed. A look of sheer panic crossed his features as he searched for Chloe.
A nurse came rushing out along with two orderlies.
Before Bree was whisked out of the truck, she managed to say, “I’m safe. Wait for Chloe. Don’t leave our boy.”
“Okay,” Kade said, looking torn. “Rinty is safe.”
Before Bree could say anything else, a contraction hit accompanied by a strong urge to push. Not two seconds later, she was in a wheelchair and being rushed inside.
Kade tapped the steering wheel with his thumb as he moved the truck out of the ER bay. Guilt struck with the force of a rogue wave at not being able to go inside with Bree while she was delivering his child. Being stuck between a rock and a hard place was the perfect way to describe this trip home. Not only had he discovered that he was going to be a father, but the baby’s mother was in love with someone else.
Long, lean fingers squeezed his chest until he thought his heart might burst. His feelings for Bree confused the hell out of him because he’d never wanted a family before. His stubborn side wanted to have a baby with someone who was in love with him if he was going to go there at all.
A few things were certain. Kade wouldn’t abandon his child. He knew all too well what that did to a kid—even when circumstances were complicated and dictated it. Kade wouldn’t leave Bree to raise the child on her own. First of all, he had more honor than that. Secondly, he’d seen Chloe’s struggles bringing up Grayson on her own. He wouldn’t wish that on another person. And he sure as hell wouldn’t do that to Bree.
Could he stick around Saddle Junction? The traitorous thought he could head up the family ranch punched him in the solar plexus. Would he be giving Beaumont Sturgess exactly what he’d always wanted?
The same stubborn side that wouldn’t let Kade walk away from Bree and his child dug its heels in on giving the family’s patriarch what he wanted. Kade had made a commitment to himself that he would never run the ranch.
Could he step aside and let the others have it?
No, that would mean leaving the second oldest in charge. Beau. He’d been a class-A jerk at the will reading. Did he really want to get to know his siblings? Or was he planning to worm his way into taking over the ranch? Kade had been preoccupied since the meeting. He had no idea what was going on with his brothers or what they were thinking. Had any of them changed their minds about how to handle the ranch?
As far as Kade was concerned, they should stick with the plan of selling the horses, then breaking up the land, piece-by-piece, before tearing down the house they’d been raised in. He’d used the term “house” instead of “home” on purpose. A home was a place you looked forward to going to at the end of a long day. A home held the people you loved inside, keeping them safe from the elements. A home was a place where celebrations occurred.
Sturgess Ranch housed nothing more than pain inside of pillars and sheetrock. Good riddance. The way Beaumont treated non-performing racehorses should be criminalized.
Annmarie pulled up, breaking into his heavy thoughts. She pulled her sedan alongside his and exited as he did the same.
“Where are Chloe and Grayson?” he asked.
“She had to get ready for work, and she didn’t want Rinty in the same vehicle as the little kids,” Annmarie said. She wore a miniskirt that left little to the imagination and a tight shirt that looked a size too small. Her stomach showed, revealing abs and a belly button piercing. She wore makeup and fresh lipstick.
“Do you have plans tonight?” Kade asked, wondering if a stranger should be left alone with Rinty. Technically, Annmarie was a stranger, but she would have been prepped about the risks of Rinty around small children. He trusted that she would take the warnings seriously.
A smile spread across Annmarie’s hot pink lips. “I was hoping you’d stop by later.”
Shock didn’t even cover his reaction. He almost slipped and said his child was being born in the hospital behind them, then realized Annmarie didn’t know that.
She ran her finger along the top of her door before giving him a seductive stare. “Thought I might help you figure out a few reasons to stick around town once the will is settled.”
Annmarie was an attractive woman. She was his sister’s roommate and his nephew’s sometimes caregiver. She was nice. But there was no chemistry. Not on his side.
“Bree needs me to stay here,” he said before coaxing Rinty out of the passenger side and into Annmarie’s vehicle. Other than that, he didn’t know what to say to Annmarie. This wasn’t the time for a long conversation or to search his brain to find a way to let her down easy. So, he stayed all business. “She’s about to have a baby alone.” That should ring a bell, considering Annmarie had been in the same position once.
“Right. Zeke.” Annmarie flashed sorrowful eyes at Kade. “I forgot.”
Kade would never forget, any more than he would forgive himself, for not saving Zeke. It should be Zeke at this hospital with Bree, no matter how much the voice in the back of Kade’s mind argued the baby’s father had more of a right than anyone else. However, Bree was in love with Zeke. They’d been about to marry and raise the baby together.
Why did the thought burn a hole in the center of Kade’s chest? Zeke didn’t know the baby wasn’t his. The news would have shattered him, broken his heart. Zeke had been head over heels in love with Bree, and a piece of Kade had wanted her for his own.
“I gotta go,” he said, cutting off those heavy thoughts before the unfairness of the situation could take root in his soul.
“Okay,” Annmarie said. “Maybe I’ll see you around then.”
Considering the fact that she lived in the same trailer as his sister, she could bet on that fact. “See you soon.”
Annmarie smiled, waved, and then reclaimed the driver’s seat. Rinty sat dutifully next to her. He did fine with adults. Most of the time. Would he do as well with an infant?
Kade couldn’t abandon Rinty any more than he could walk away from his own child. Like it or not, Rinty was stuck with Kade.
Now, though, his family needed him, and he intended to be there for Bree.
After racing through the ER and being directed to the maternity floor, Kade took two steps at a time. He flew out of the stairwell.
“Hold on, sir,” an orderly said as he practically bum-rushed him. The husky worker blocked Kade. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“My…” Hell, what? “Bree Kyndall is in labor. I’m with her.” He did his best to look around the big guy and get a peek down the hall.
“Are you next of kin?” the orderly asked.
“Technically, no,” he admitted, not ready to share with the world that he was the father of Bree’s child. Not until the two of them had a conversation about what that meant, what his role would be, and how they would tell everyone the baby belonged to Kade and not Zeke.
“You can wait for her in the room over here.” The orderly motioned toward a door across from the nurse’s station.
Should Kade blast the truth? That he had every right to be in the room where his child was being born?
Saddle Junction was a small town. Rumors spread like vines.
He raked his fingers through his hair in frustration as his gaze landed on a tall male wearing scrubs and some kind of head cover hovering in front of a doorway down the hall. “Is that Bree’s room?”
The orderly followed Kade’s finger as it pointed. Scrubs immediately turned his back to them and quickly disappeared down the hall.
“Who was that?” Kade asked. For a split second, he thought about throwing a punch, but what would it accomplish? Kade might knock the big guy off balance, and he might even throw him to the tile floor, but Bree’s room was being protected. He should probably be happy about the fact.
The orderly shrugged. “Probably someone doing their job.”
“I won’t keep you from doing yours then,” Kade said, realizing he might be endangering Bree and the baby by distracting the orderly who’d been assigned to keep everyone, including him, away from her.
What use was Kade to anyone, especially to those who needed him most?