They got on the road, and Reid angled the rearview mirror so he could better see Pen’s son. Even before they made it all the way down the long bumpy driveway to the highway, the toddler had quieted to a snuffle and was trying to see the night-darkened view out his window.
A sensation like the warmth and satisfaction of that first sip of hot coffee on a cold morning filled his chest. Affection, he realized. Because whether he wanted to admit it or not, he was growing attached to the little boy. Nicholas’s endearing grin, wide and insightful eyes and infectious laugh had burrowed into Reid’s heart and taken root. Even his crying spells and tantrums didn’t irritate him the way they had in the first few days. He’d begun to understand how the toddler ticked and what precipitated a meltdown.
But along with the mellow tenderness that filled him, a stark edginess crept in at the periphery, as well. Reid had a new appreciation for the demands of parenting. The job of raising a child was huge, never-ending and quite possibly, even more pressure-packed than being a policeman. As a detective, Reid could go days or weeks without facing an emergency situation where he literally had a person’s life in his hands. But a parent was responsible for their child’s life every minute of every day. Feeding them, keeping them from getting hurt, keeping them clean and warm and happy...
Not to mention how a parent’s example, interactions and instruction shaped their child’s personality, outlook on life and preparedness for the future. Just considering all the ramifications made Reid’s hands sweat, even in the cold car. He rubbed his palms, one at a time, on his chest. He wasn’t ready to be a father. He cared deeply for Pen and appreciated her son in a new light, but how could he tie himself down to that mountain of responsibility and pressure?
“Are you mad at me?” Pen asked softly as she gave him a long, scrutinizing look.
“Huh? No. Why?”
“You just looked so...upset. You were scowling and so quiet. I thought maybe you were angry at me for defying you and insisting we drive out.”
“No. It’s not that. I’m...” he flipped up one palm on the steering wheel “...just thinking.”
“For what it’s worth,” she whispered, peering into the backseat, “it’s working. His eyes are getting droopy.”
Reid checked the mirror and smiled at Nicholas’s efforts to fight sleep.
By unspoken agreement, he and Pen remained silent, allowing the whir of the tires and light sway of the vehicle to lull Nicholas. When he did ask Pen a question about how soon was too soon to return to the lake house to ensure the boy stayed asleep, he got no response. Glancing her way, he found her head lolled to the side and her lips parted slightly in sleep.
He smiled and resisted the urge to stroke her cheek for fear of waking her. She needed her sleep as badly as Nicholas did. He knew she’d been restless and had had trouble sleeping over the past several days. The whole situation with her father, the attempt on their lives and the stress of caring for Nicholas in a new environment were weighing on her. He’d seen the circles under her eyes grow darker each day.
So he kept driving. He’d drive all night if it meant she got some much needed rest. He used the time to ruminate on his own concerns and plans. Repairs he needed to make at the lake house, the unsolved case of his missing father, the next steps in proving Hugh Barrington’s deceit and corruption. He needed to get a copy of Hugh’s phone records. He still needed to see if he could link a known hit man to the fictitious Mareau Towing, where the sizable bank draft had been sent on the day of the gunman’s attack. He needed—
“Reid?”
He whipped his head toward Pen, who blinked sleepily at the scenery out the window. “Why are we here?”
He brought his attention to where he’d driven and groaned. The fences of the farthest pastures of his family’s ranch whizzed by and the turnoff to the mansion loomed in the distance. He snorted his wry amusement. “Autopilot, I guess. I wasn’t really thinking about where I was.”
She gave him a reluctant glance. “Do you want to stop in as long as we’re here?”
“Naw. I’ve got nothing particular to report to them. Nothing to pick up.” He craned his neck to check on Nicholas. “Besides, little guy is asleep. Let’s just head back to the lake.”
She nodded her agreement, and while Reid was deciding whether to turn around on the driveway or make a loop by following the highway to the next street, he spotted a pair of headlights coming down the drive from the house. He squinted to see who was leaving the house at this late hour. Evenings out drinking or partying weren’t uncommon for any of his siblings in the past, but the Colton clan as a whole had become much more the homebodies in recent months, now that his brothers and sisters had someone to stay home with.
So who...? A prickle of suspicion nipped at his spine. Thinking quickly, he pulled onto a rutted lane that the ranch hands used as access to the farthest pastures and turned off his headlights and engine. “Get down.”
“What?” Pen’s tone held a note of panic, as she clearly remembered the last time he’d instructed her to duck in a front seat.
“I don’t know yet who that is.” He nodded toward the vehicle that was turning from the drive onto the highway, aiming in their direction. “And I don’t want the wrong person to see you with me.”
She unfastened her seat belt quickly and slid low on the seat, just before the dark Mercedes rolled past. Though Reid recognized Aaron Manfred’s car, he squinted to verify that the driver, his angular face illuminated by his dashboard lights, was, in fact, his father’s longtime butler. The older man didn’t so much as glance at Reid’s darkened vehicle sitting just outside the range of his headlights.
“I’ll be damned,” he muttered.
“What? Can I get up now?”
“Yeah.” He waited until Aaron was well down the highway before starting the Range Rover again and turning on his headlights. “Where does he keep going at this hour?” he mumbled to himself.
“Who was it?” Pen rebuckled her seat belt and cast a curious gaze down the dark highway.