Jacobstown was an hour’s drive south of Fort Worth. It was considered a bedroom community that had been a safe haven until recent weeks when some twisted individual started mutilating the left hooves of animals. The perp had started with small animals and then worked his way up to heifers. Several had been found on the Kent Ranch, a place she owned with five brothers.
Amber navigated onto Main Street and across town to Mrs. Parker’s old house. It was Saturday, and there weren’t many vehicles on the roads. She imagined grocery stores were probably busy with everyone anticipating the weather. She tapped her right thumb against the steering wheel. There was something about the tone of Rylan’s voice that wasn’t sitting right. Her first thought was that she should’ve asked him to come to the ranch. But she was close enough to stop by his house on her way home from the feed store, and she figured part of the reason he hadn’t contacted her yet was because of the blowout he’d had with her brother Will. Eight years was a long time to hold on to a grudge. It wasn’t like Will to do that, either.
Whatever had transpired between the two of them was kept quiet, no small feat for a town that seemed to know everyone’s business in real time. People weren’t nosy. They cared. Ranch families had a long history of looking out for one another.
Fifteen minutes later Amber pulled up in front of Rylan’s bungalow-style house and parked. At least the place wasn’t on fire. She’d worried his emergency was something like that based on the urgency in his voice, but she also realized he’d be calling the fire department and not her.
Her curiosity had her mind running through half a dozen wild scenarios before she’d arrived. Last she’d heard, Rylan was a Navy SEAL. There probably wasn’t much that he couldn’t handle on his own. Needing her made even less sense as she rolled over possible problems in her head.
By most accounts Rylan had been in Jacobstown for two weeks already, and she had yet to see him. He’d basically pushed her out of his life before he’d signed up with the military eight years ago. He’d walked away without looking back not long after the one kiss they’d shared, but this wasn’t the time to rehash that memory. Besides, he probably didn’t even remember it.
Amber hopped out of the truck, took a deep breath and moved to the front door. There were ten-gallon buckets of paint littering the covered porch. Paint chipped off the outside of the building. She stepped over a ladder in order to get to the front door.
Rylan didn’t seem to expect any visitors. She knocked, and it felt like it took forever for him to answer. It didn’t. She had a case of nerves. She’d tried to shake them off before seeing him again and clearly hadn’t.
“Thanks for coming, Amber.” Rylan opened the door for a peek, blocking her view into his home. He looked a little too good in what she could see of his jeans and long-sleeve T-shirt. Her heart performed an inappropriate little flip-flop routine at seeing him again. She didn’t want to have those feelings for him, like the childhood crush she’d had. She was an adult now, and there was no room in her life for childish pursuits.
Rylan’s dark curls had been clipped off, but that did nothing to take away from his good looks. The military had filled him out even more, and she had to force her eyes away from his chest, which had always been at eye level.
“You’re welcome.” She tried to look past him and see what he was blocking. “What’s going on, Rylan? I don’t hear from you in eight or nine—”
“Eight,” he interjected.
“Fine, eight years it’s been, and now I get an emergency call from you out of the blue? I don’t see your house burning down, and you’re not letting me inside. I’m a little confused as to why I’m here.”
“Damn.” He muttered something else under his breath that she couldn’t make out. “This is harder than I thought.”
“What is it, Rylan? Why did you call me?” Impatience had her tapping the toe of her boot on his concrete porch.
“Did you buy this place?” She hoped Mrs. Parker was okay. She’d moved six months ago to be closer to her daughter in San Antonio.
“I’m in the process,” he said, and an emotion she couldn’t quite pinpoint darkened his eyes.
“It’s good to see you, Amber.” He closed the door a little tighter against his side. He was massive at six foot three inches. He’d always been tall, but now he was filled out, too. It made a huge difference in his size and aided his ability to completely block her view.
Amber planted a balled fist on her hip, ignoring the reaction her body was having at seeing him again. “What’s so important that my hay had to wait?”
A baby let out a wail.
“Come on in and see for yourself.” He looked at her with the most helpless expression.
“What have you done, Rylan Anderson?” Amber stomped through the doorway and froze. Her jaw must’ve dropped. Rylan stared at her, but all she could focus on was the baby on the floor, lying on a blanket with couch pillows tucked all around her. “Is this yours?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
“What do you mean by that?” Okay, she understood what he was saying, but it was more like a seriously? How could this happen? And how could you not know if this is your child?
“A random person showed up at my door with her.” Rylan looked helplessly at the little girl who’d settled back down
