A Cowgirl's Secret

Chapter Fourteen

“I’m gonna get in a lot of trouble if I don’t tell my mom where I am,” Kolt said to Henry who’d told him Uncle Cash’s baby was hurt. “Why didn’t you ask my mom or Luke to help Robin?”

“In times like this,” Henry said, “babies like kids best. I’m sure your mom would agree. Besides, I looked everywhere and couldn’t find your parents. Your uncle said to bring you right away. I’m good friends with him.”

“Oh.” The farther they got from his grandparents’ house, the more worried Kolt became. In San Francisco, his teachers had talked lots about Stranger Danger, but there weren’t any homeless people or weirdos in Weed Gulch. Everyone he’d met was nice. And anyway, no matter what his mom said, Henry wasn’t a stranger and he’d always been nice to him.

“I thought we were going to Uncle Cash’s house?” Kolt asked.

“We are,” Henry promised. “We’ll need to make a quick stop at my house first. I have lots of medicine.”

“Are you a doctor and a ranch guy?” Kolt asked.

“Sort of. I make children feel really good.” He smiled. “Hungry? There’s lots of candy in there.” Pointing to a cool Spiderman lunch-box, he said, “You know, with baby Robin’s emergency and all, I forgot to tell you how glad I am that we’re getting to hang out again. I have a feeling we’re going to be special friends.”

PANICKED DIDN’T BEGIN to describe Daisy’s state of mind. Immediately upon finding the message on her car, Luke had called the sheriff and Daisy’s mother, who were on their way to Luke’s parents’ house.

Dallas knew people who’d reportedly seen Henry coming and going from a few different places. The town’s small police force had been dispatched to most. Luke, Dallas, Cash and Wyatt were checking the rest.

Daisy wanted to help in the search, but as distraught as she was, Luke had urged her to stay with his family.

Finally, Georgina arrived and Daisy ran into her mother’s arms. “So help me, Mom, if that crazy old monster hurts our son, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“Kolt’s a smart boy. He’s not going to take any funny business without putting up a mighty fight.”

Drawing back, horrified, Daisy asked, “What does that mean? Are you implying that because of what I let happen to me, I wasn’t smart?”

“Don’t go putting words in my mouth. That’s not at all what I said. I meant you’ve raised a savvy young man who knows how to protect himself.”

“Don’t you get it?” Daisy asked. “I was savvy and knew how to protect myself, but that didn’t help me. What Henry did inherently changed me. Made me feel dirty and bad. I don’t want my son bearing that kind of shame. I should’ve never come back here. Never.”

Luke’s mom marched across the room. “You dare take my grandson so much as one foot over the county line and I’ll have you arrested. Haven’t you already hurt my son enough? Luke’s a wonderful man. All I’ve ever wanted was for him to get you once and for all out of his mind. Daisy Buckhorn, you’re like a poison. As much as I love Kolt, I wish we could keep him and get rid of you. That way, Henry Pohl would never have touched our lives.”

The pain in Daisy’s chest hurt worse than any heart attack. It was a squeezing, vicelike torture that made her want to lash out and slap the woman across her condemning face.

“Peggy Montgomery,” Georgina said, hands on her hips, eyes sparking, “since you stole my lunch back in sixth grade, I never have liked you. You’re a bitter old woman who still isn’t over losing the Prom Queen title to me.”

“Stop,” Daisy begged, stepping between the two bickering women. “Mrs. Montgomery, I couldn’t care less what you think of me, but my son—your grandson—is out there somewhere, possibly hurt. Do you mind putting aside your own agenda long enough for us to get Kolt home safely?”

“THIS POP TASTES KINDA FUNNY,” Kolt said. The house where his old friend, Henry, had taken him was kinda scary. It smelled like pee and was dark inside. The only place to sit was on a sofa that had holes in the cushions.

“It’s a new flavor. You know how companies are always switching up their recipes to make you think it’s a new product when in reality, all they want is more money.”

“Um, yeah,” Kolt said, taking another drink. “I’m feeling sleepy. Are we going to go help my baby cousin soon?”

“Very soon. I have a few more things to finish up here—you know, collecting my tools and such. Then, we’ll be all ready to go.”

Kolt was so sleepy, he could hardly understand what Henry was talking about.

“That’s right,” Henry said, sitting next to him on the couch. “Close your pretty eyes and your new best friend will make all your dreams come true.”

“THIS IS BS,” LUKE SAID, slamming the heel of his hand against the steering wheel. “Where could that sleazebag be?” He and Dallas had followed the directions they’d been given with no results. The road had diminished to little more than a four-wheel-drive path leading through dense forest.

“Keep going,” Dallas urged. “I swear Wyatt and I came hunting out here once. Seems like there’s a shack where this dead-ends.”

“If we do find him, Dallas, and he has my son, you’re going to have to hold me back to keep me from killing him.”

With his fist, Dallas smacked his open palm. “Not if I get to him first. Then you’ll be the one needing to hold me. Way I see it, though, we both need to be smart. No sense in us going to jail for hurting Henry. That would only cause more grief for our families.”

“My head gets that point, but every other piece of me wants to beat Henry to a bloody pulp.”

Dallas nodded. “No one wants to pulverize this guy more than me. We’ll have to work together to keep our cool—if he’s even here.”

Cresting the next hill, Luke saw a structure built of plywood and corrugated metal. What looked to be aluminum trailer windows had been fitted to the side. Seeing no vehicle made the pain in his already tight neck burn.

“Dammit,” Dallas said. “I thought for sure he’d be here. It was the most isolated spot anywhere on our list.”

“Wait,” Luke said, “what’s that?”

Only the corner of a chrome truck fender was visible beneath a camouflage tarp further disguised with pine boughs and twigs.

“Let’s check it out. Cut the engine here.” A good two hundred yards from the shack, Luke killed the motor, then together they crept to the truck, tossing back the wrap to find it was indeed Henry’s.

Adrenaline surged through Luke, along with the hope that he’d find Kolt safe inside.

“Come on,” Dallas said, “I’ll cover the back, you get the front. We both have a score to settle with this bastard, but your son’s safety trumps all.”

“Agreed.”

Not in the mood for pleasantries, Luke tried the door and found it locked, then kicked the flimsy barrier down.

Lying inordinately still on a beat-up sofa was his son, Henry hovering protectively over him—holding a knife to his throat. “Go ahead,” Henry taunted. “Step one foot closer and I’ll gut him like a hog.”

“Back off,” Luke said. “You’re in enough trouble as it is. Let Kolt go and I’ll bet any judge will take it easy on you.”

“Let him go?” Henry laughed. “After what his bitch mother said I did? She ruined my reputation. My whole life. I can’t go anywhere without so-called friends accusing me of horrible things. All I ever did was love the children of this town. Is it really my fault if so many of them have loved me back?”

Luke’s stomach turned at the implication that Daisy wasn’t Henry’s only victim.

“Dad?” Kolt sluggishly turned his head. His movements were exaggerated to the point that it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out he’d been drugged. “Dad, is that you?”

While Luke’s knees felt rubbery with relief, he knew they weren’t anywhere out of the woods just yet.

“Good,” Henry said, “my new friend’s awake. Before you so rudely interrupted, Luke, I’d planned some nap-time fun, but it’s just as easy to play while Kolt’s alert.”

Luke clenched his hands so tightly his fingernails cut into his palms. More than anything he wanted to jump Henry and take him down, but as long as he held the knife to Kolt’s jugular, Luke had to play it safe.

From the corner of his eye, Luke caught a movement and realized Dallas was stepping up behind Henry, biding his time until he felt it safe to make a move.

Dallas held his finger to his lips.

Luke barely nodded.

Henry brushed Kolt’s hair back from his forehead. “You’re so handsome. I’ve always preferred to play with little girls, but considering how much you remind me of your mother, you’ll do.”

With a mighty growl, Dallas lunged for Henry, pinning the arm holding the knife.

Luke then took down the rest of him, with one mighty punch rendering Henry unconscious. “Sorry,” Luke said. “Self-defense.”

Dallas said, “Couldn’t agree more.”

From outside came a siren’s wail.

“While you were in here, I called for backup. Lucky for us, a few search teams weren’t too far away.”

“Dad?” Kolt tried sitting up, only to fall back down. “I feel funny.”

Chills gripped Luke with such force he had to sit. Scooping his boy into his arms, Luke held him and rocked him and cried silent tears of relief. Not only had Kolt called him Dad, but the boy was going to be okay. He hadn’t been physically hurt, and likely, once Henry’s drug of choice wore off, Kolt would remember little of his ordeal.

As Henry began to stir, Dallas said to Luke, “Get Kolt out of here. I’ll stand watch till help comes.”

On his feet, Kolt in his arms, Luke noted red and blue lights strobing through the dirty windows onto the walls. “Lucky for that scumbag,” he said with a nod toward Henry, “you won’t have to wait too long.”

UNABLE TO COPE WITH both her fears for her son and Peggy Montgomery’s blame, Daisy had asked her mother to take her back to the ranch, where at least she could concentrate on Kolt.

“Honey,” Georgina said, an hour into their wait, “you’re going to wear a hole in the carpet. Sit down. Rest. You know Luke and Dallas will bring Kolt home.”

“That’s just it, Mom, even if Kolt is healthy and emotionally unscarred, how do we ever feel safe in this town again? Kolt was snatched right out from under us at a family party. It’s insane.”

“Yes, it is,” Georgina said, rising to give Daisy a hug, “which is why you never need worry about an event like this happening again.”

Shrugging free of Georgina’s hold, Daisy continued to pace.

Fearing what Luke and Dallas might find, Josie had taken the twins and her baby to Wren’s. That’s how serious the situation was. No one wanted the girls overhearing details if their cousin had been killed.

Just as Daisy was contemplating this and continuing her pacing, the front door opened and in walked Dallas, followed by Luke, Kolt limp in his arms.

“Oh!” Daisy cried, running to be with her boys. “Is he all right? Did Henry—?”

“No. He’s been drugged, but the effects wore off a while back. Now, I think he’s just exhausted.”

Luke carried Kolt to the couch. Daisy sat beside him, cradling his head to her breasts. “My sweet baby boy. I’m so sorry.”

“Mommy,” Kolt said. He hadn’t called her that in a good four years. “Henry said he was my friend. He told me Uncle Cash needed my help with Robin and it was an emergency. I told him you’d be mad at me for leaving without telling you, but he said you’d understand and not be mad. Are you mad?”

“No, baby,” Daisy managed past the knot in her throat, “I’m not mad at all.”

“Henry wasn’t really my friend, was he?”

Daisy shook her head, unable to speak through her tears.

WITH KOLT SCRUBBED head-to-toe clean and tucked into bed, Daisy refusing to leave his side, Luke headed to the kitchen for coffee and one of the sandwiches a neighbor had dropped off.

The sheriff had stopped by to report that with Kolt’s testimony as well as that of a few other girls who had recently come forward, Henry would be locked away for a very long time.

Though the day had had a happy ending, Luke couldn’t help but let his mind wander to dark places. What if Kolt had been seriously hurt? Worse yet, killed? How would he have held it together well enough to help Daisy through?

While they’d made love, Daisy had told Luke she loved him. Luke hated himself for having pretended not to hear, but at the time he hadn’t been entirely sure what love even meant. After the events of this afternoon, after nearly losing his boy, Luke now recognized that love was the yawning black hole in your gut that loomed when you got a glimpse of your life without the people you most adored.

“You all right?” Dallas asked, sauntering into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee.

“Yeah.” Grinning, Luke said, “oddly enough, I’m feeling pretty good. Sometime during all of this mess, I finally pulled my head out of my behind long enough to realize I’m crazy in love with your sister.”

“About damned time,” Dallas said with a pat to Luke’s back.

“Since you’re the man of the Buckhorn family, do I have your permission to ask her to marry me?”

Dallas laughed. “I’d have to go old-school, challenging you to a duel if you didn’t.”

“Thanks, man.”

“My pleasure,” Dallas said. “Welcome to the family.”

The two lifelong friends hugged before Luke headed up the back stairs two at a time.

A KNOCK SOUNDED ON Kolt’s open door.

Daisy looked up to see Luke. He’d never looked more handsome. His jeans might be torn and dirty, his once nice red plaid Western shirt crumpled and stained with what she’d learned was Henry’s blood, but for saving their son, she’d forever be in Luke’s debt.

“May I come in?” he asked.

“Of course.” She’d stretched out beside Kolt on his twin bed.

Luke perched on what little extra room was left at the foot. “It’s been a helluva day, huh?”

“That it has. Did you ever get around to calling your parents to let them know Kolt’s okay?”

“A while ago,” he said. “Mom wanted to come over, but thank goodness, Dad talked her out of it.”

“Which reminds me,” Daisy said, easing to her feet. While Kolt lightly snored, she gestured for Luke to follow her out of his room. “Your mom and I got into it after you left. She said incredibly hurtful things and I need to know if you agree.”

“What kinds of things?” he asked in Daisy’s room.

“That your whole family views me as a poison to you. That if it hadn’t been for my influence in your life, you’d now be married and happy with six kids and a perfect house and—”

“Stop,” he said, pulling her back when she tried escaping his embrace. “Not a single word of that is true. You and Kolt have come to mean everything to me. My intention in even being with you right now was to ask you to marry me, but the mood is kind of broken.”

“What?” She looked up at him with huge, tear-stained doe eyes. Why, when she’d first left all those years ago, hadn’t he moved heaven and earth to find her? How had he breathed with her gone? “Do you mean it? You really want to marry me?”

“Um, yeah.”

Her smile rocked his world.

“MOM, GIVE IT A REST,” Luke warned after Wednesday night’s supper. She’d wanted Kolt to come, but Daisy still felt uncomfortable letting him out of her sight and she sure wanted nothing to do with Peggy and her big mouth. Besides which, Luke needed to have this conversation in private. “I’m marrying Daisy and that’s that. If you don’t like my choice in brides, feel free to skip our wedding.”

“Son,” his dad warned. “Don’t you sass your mom. She means well.”

“Bull,” Luke grumbled. “What she means is to stick her gossipy nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“That’s enough.” Joe slapped his napkin on the dining-room table. “I will not have you talking to your mother like that in our home.”

“Do you know what she said to Daisy? She had the gall to call her a poison in my life. Did Mom confess to that?”

“I was standing beside her when she said it,” his dad admitted, “but in her defense, you’re not being logical where Daisy or your son is concerned. Daisy ran off once, hid Kolt from you for practically his whole life. What’s to say she won’t try it again? Right in our living room she declared in front of God and everyone that she wished she’d never returned to Weed Gulch. If she took off again with Kolt, running to Lord only knows where, what would you do? There’s nothing on paper anywhere to prove you’re Kolt’s father. You’d have to track down your son, force DNA tests, get hung up in court. It’s bound to be a big old donkey mess.” Pushing his chair back from the table, Joe rose to stare at the family portrait they’d had taken a good twenty years earlier. “Son, I know you love this woman, but what do you really know about her? All your mother and I are asking is that you take a few legal precautions before getting into a mess you can’t fight your way out of. After all, she is a lawyer, and you know how wily they can be.”

His entire life, Luke had looked up to his parents. He’d admired their lifestyle and sought them out for advice. On this matter, however, they were completely at odds.

“I’m sorry you feel this way,” Luke said, tossing his own napkin on the table. “Guess I’d better get going.”

“Thank your mother for dinner. She worked on it all afternoon.”

Ever the dutiful son, Luke did as his father requested on that one issue. As for the matter of marrying Daisy, his family needed to back off.

He didn’t have a clue what his legal rights were regarding Kolt, and considering how Luke felt about Daisy, he didn’t much care. Once they were married, and Kolt shared Luke’s last name, the whole world would know him as Luke’s son. That fact meant more than any legal document.

Luke wished he could believe that.