Teresa had come along to help with Amelia, while Devin assumed Lexi simply wanted to avoid the reporters who seemed likely to have staked out Devin’s house. The three women and Amelia were given rooms on the second floor of the main house, while Lucas had taken what he referred to as his usual house next door. Byron was in a massive master suite down the hall from the living room.
In true ranch style, the house was paneled in polished cedar, with hardwood floors, thick, patterned throw rugs and overstuffed leather furniture. The tables were pine, while the lamps bounced soft, yellow light to every corner of the rooms. The house’s oil paintings had one theme-horses. Byron had ridden in rodeos in his late teens and twenties, and he had an obvious admiration for the animals.
This morning, Lexi had declared a desire to learn to ride, and the two of them had headed for the barns. Teresa had taken Amelia to check out the duck pond, while Lucas had announced he had phone calls to make back at his house.
Devin was left alone with her anger and frustration. Now that they were out of harm’s way, she was furious with Steve. He’d thrown both her and Amelia to the wolves. They’d been defenseless against the press onslaught. Amelia’s face was undoubtedly plastered in the newspapers, while Devin and Lucas’s reputations would be dragged through the mud.
That wasn’t even counting the physical danger he’d put Amelia in. She could have been trampled in the rush. Thank goodness Lucas had been there to save her.
Devin knew she should be working on her book. She even took out her laptop, settling herself in a corner of the living room, in a big comfy chair, with a warm breeze blowing through the screened windows against her bare arms and legs. But there were too many things on her mind. She simply couldn’t focus on writing.
She wanted to rant about Steve. And she wanted to ask Lucas where he got off making sweet love to her one day, then pretending she wasn’t even alive the next.
It wasn’t as though they had nothing to discuss. They didn’t have a nanny. And they were supposed to be united in fighting Steve. Shouldn’t they be strategizing? Maybe investigating? Information gathering? Filling out forms?
After an hour’s frustration, Devin set aside her laptop and rose deliberately from the chair. She wasn’t about to spend any more time in here sitting on her hands.
She stuffed her feet into a pair of sandals and straightened the short denim skirt that she’d paired with a violet tank top for the scorching summer day. Then she left through the front door, crossed a long porch and followed the wooden walkway that led to Lucas’s house.
She knocked sharply, but there was no answer.
She waited, knocked again and finally decided to circle the house in search of him.
She followed a set of cement stepping stones that wound their way across the lawn. Once she cleared the building, she was rewarded. She heard Lucas’s voice and tracked it over a small knoll, where she spotted him at the duck pond.
Dressed in blue jeans and a plain gray T-shirt, he sat on the ground, knees up, with Amelia clinging to his shoulder as a duck waddled toward the two of them.
Teresa was nowhere in sight.
Lucas tossed some crumbs, and the duck came closer.
Amelia squealed in delight, causing the duck to scoot away in fear.
She speed-crawled a few feet after it, and Devin found her steps slowing down to take in the astonishing sight. Lucas was playing with Amelia. They were all alone. And the two of them looked happy.
Something squeezed her heart. But she wasn’t sure if it was joy or dismay. She’d have to admit Lucas would be the closest thing Amelia would ever have to a father. She shouldn’t be anything but happy to see that relationship develop. Still, from an emotional standpoint, she loved Amelia so dearly, she didn’t want to lose anything about her to Lucas.
While Devin watched, Amelia pushed herself to a wobbly standing position. Then she opened her hand and flung whatever she was holding at the duck. Devin couldn’t tell from this vantage point if Lucas had given her bread crumbs or not. Apparently, neither could the duck. It waddled closer to investigate, fanning its wings and shaking its glossy green head while it scoured the ground.
Amelia made another throwing motion, then she turned to grin at Lucas, obviously seeking his approval.
“Clever girl,” he cooed, with a deep threaded chuckle.
Amelia turned and took a step toward him, then another, and another. She walked until she was wrapped in Lucas’s arms, laughing with pride at her accomplishment.
Devin swallowed a thick, burning emotion.
Amelia’s first steps.
And they were to Lucas, not Devin.
Just then, he caught sight of her, and his expression sobered as he met her eyes.
Amelia wiggled out of his arms, and Devin pasted a bright smile on her face, crossing the remainder of the distance to the pair. Devin told herself there would be lots of steps in Amelia’s life, and plenty of other firsts, and she intended to be around for all of them. And it wasn’t as if she hadn’t witnessed the first steps. She’d simply seen it from a distance, was all.
“She seems to like the ducks,” Devin offered to break the silence.
Amelia crawled over and grabbed Devin’s leg. Devin sat down so Amelia could get into her lap. The physical contact made her feel better.
“Where’s Teresa?” she asked Lucas.
“She went riding.”
“With Lexi and Byron?”
Lucas gazed off in the distance, while the ducks bustled around, searching for every last crumb. Sarcasm put an edge in his voice. “I don’t think so.”
Devin wasn’t sure how to respond. The silence stretched.
Lucas finally spoke. “Byron and Lexi are on a date, and Teresa is checking out the cowboys more than she’s checking out the horses.”
“Byron’s attracted to Lexi?” Devin had to admit, Lexi seemed less frustrated with Byron the past few days, but a date? That was a stretch.
“Lexi’s a beautiful woman.” There was a definite rebuke in Lucas’s voice.
“I know that.” Devin hadn’t meant to imply she was surprised that Byron was attracted to Lexi. She loved Lexi, and Lucas was behaving like a jerk.
She watched the dozen ducks glide back out into the pond and decided it was best to change the subject.
“I came to ask you what’s next,” she told Lucas, helping Amelia to her feet as she held tight to her anger at Steve and her determination to support Amelia. She leaned back to balance on her arms, stretching her bare legs out in front. “Other than hiding out here, what do I do to help?”
He turned to gaze at her, anger coalescing in the pinpoints of his black pupils. “You can start by not reading my private emails.”
The breath whooshed out of Devin, and a chill prickled her skin.
He knew.
He
How on earth could she explain? “I didn’t-”
“Didn’t what?” he sneered. “Didn’t break into my email account, or didn’t have sex with me to cover it up?”
A pounding echoed in Devin’s ears. Several of the ducks took flight, while Amelia tugged at a clump of grass.
“I have to admire your tenacity,” he continued conversationally. “A lesser woman might have confessed she was spying, or maybe faked a headache, or just plain said no to sex, but not you, Devin, you stepped right on up-”
“Stop it!” She couldn’t stand to hear him talking that way.
“Stop what? Stop telling the truth? Stop catching you in your little spy games?”
“I didn’t…” She hesitated. What could she tell him? That she’d
