Flynn (3 page)

Flynn
felt himself coloring up. He’d forgotten just how grown up she was until a few
weeks after her thirteenth birthday when she’d gotten her first period.
 

“Sure
honey, we can get some of those too.”

“I
want the ones like on the commercial I saw on the TV.”
“Then you’ll have to show me.”

He
saw no need to pay attention to those sorts of things, but he guessed Emily did.

Flynn
pulled into the parking lot of the local grocery store just as the snow began
swirling around. He and Emily got out and rushed inside to get out of the cold
wind. He grabbed a cart and they headed down the first aisle.

“
Gran
said to get sprinkles for the cupcakes. People like
them and Uncle Shane will get more money,” said Emily pulling on his arm.

He
smiled. His brother was running for re-election and Emily had taken it upon
herself to make sure her uncle would still be sheriff. With his daughter as
part of his campaign team, how could his younger brother lose that race?

****

Natalie
had never been so cold in all her life. Her teeth chattered as she got back in
the car after filling it with gas. The tips of her fingers were numb. She blew
across them. Growing up in Florida had obviously thinned her blood. Choosing to
come to Montana in the middle of winter probably wasn’t the smartest idea.
However, now she knew she had a daughter and where she lived, the need to see
and meet her was her top priority.

The
area was certainly beautiful with its snowcapped mountains and valleys. At
least her child had been raised in wide open spaces and close to nature. She
wondered if she rode a horse, was an outdoorsy sort of girl, or maybe a
bookworm like she’d been.

 
The snow fell faster and harder on her car.
She turned on the windshield wipers and clapped her hands together. She’d never
driven in snow before. Maybe she’d head into Timber Creek, check into the motel
room she’d booked before she’d left Orlando, get a good night’s sleep, and then
by morning it might have stopped. She’d get an early start finding Flynn
Malone’s ranch. But something in her heart told her she had to at least find
its location tonight so she could sleep with an image of where her little girl
called home.

Natalie
pulled out of the gas station’s lot and made her way back to the main road. She
turned up the windshield wipers a notch, hoping it would clear her vision, but
nothing was helping. Gripping the steering wheel like it was going to
disintegrate if she
didn’t,
she focused on the road
ahead. She was scared. Daylight was fading fast, and the snow was coming at the
car at every angle possible.

She
knew she didn’t have much farther to go. She’d programmed the GPS on the rental
car and knew the road where the Malone ranch was located was only half a mile
ahead.

Feeling
the car’s back wheels beginning to slide, she grabbed the wheel even tighter.

The
road in question was up ahead. She put her foot down when she got to a hill and
then eased off the accelerator as she got to the top.

The ranch.

She
couldn’t miss it. It was to her left. Her daughter was in there somewhere. She
took her eyes off the road, wondering what she was going to say when she
arrived at the front door. All the way on the plane ride to Montana she’d
rehearsed how she was going to introduce herself. Back then it had seemed easy,
but now bile rose in her throat thinking about it. Seeing her and Jon’s offspring
for the very first time made her hands shake.

Natalie
hadn’t been paying attention and a deer sprang from nowhere and ran in front of
her car. She panicked, hit the brakes, and the car began to spin, careening out
of control. She hit the brakes again, realizing that she’d made a dumb mistake
because before she could get control back, the car was heading toward a snow
packed ditch. It was almost like it was happening in slow motion. The car spun
again and
bang
, it was halfway in the
ditch. She opened the door and looked at the back of the car. No way could she
reverse or accelerate out with the snow halfway up the rims of the tires.

Slamming
the steering wheel, she swore. She was stuck. She was this close to her child
and was going nowhere. She reached for her purse and dug out her phone, hoping
the road assistance service she’d subscribed to would come and pull her out.

No
signal.

Shit.

She
threw the phone down on the passenger seat. Maybe she could walk back to the
gas station and get some help. Maybe she’d freeze to death on the way. Natalie
glanced to her left. Or maybe she could walk up to the Malone ranch to see if
anyone was home.

****

By
the time Flynn and Emily exited the grocery store, it was snowing hard. Emily
stuck her tongue out and let some flakes drop onto her tongue. She’d loved
doing that since she was five.

They
loaded everything into the back of the truck. Flynn got in and opened the door
for Emily. He turned on the ignition and cranked up the heat. Emily leaned
forward and rubbed her hands together in front of the vent as he pulled out of
the store lot and made his way back to the main road.

“I
want to learn how to knit so I can make baby clothes for Shane and
Lacey’s
baby,” said Emily.

“Count
me out for that one. I think I remember your gran knitting when I was young, so
you might want to ask her for some lessons.”

He
smiled.
 
When his sister-in-law had
announced that she was pregnant, Emily had been more excited by it than the
parents to be.

“I’m
going to be a cousin,” he remembered Emily shouting all the way home.

He
glanced over at her. She’d unwrapped one of the candy bars he’d bought in the
supermarket and had already consumed half of it.

“Hey,
when did you pull that out of the grocery bag?”

“I’m
hungry.”

“Yeah,
and now you probably won’t want much supper.”

He
turned onto the road leading down the ranch. The snow was getting heavier and
thicker so he switched the windshield wiper’s speed to high. Up ahead he caught
the glimpse of what looked like a mid-sized car, blue if his eyesight was
correct, sitting in the ditch.

“Looks
like someone had a spin out on the slippery road,” said Flynn slowing the truck
as they approached. As they got closer, he could see a woman standing by the
front left headlight. “I think someone might need our help.” He pulled over
behind the car and put the truck into park. “You stay here while I go see what
I can do for this lady.”

Flynn
jumped out of the truck, pulled his jacket collar up and made his way toward
the woman. As she turned, his heart skipped a beat. Shit, she was beautiful.
Snow had already frosted her long dark hair and some had even fallen on her
eyelashes. Something about her seemed vaguely familiar, but he knew he’d never
met her before. Maybe she’d been in one of his dreams.

“Can
I offer any help?” he asked.

“I’m
not used to driving in snow, and I hit the brakes when a deer ran out in front
of me. The car is in too deep for me to get it out.”

“Don’t
worry, it happens all the time. That’s my ranch up on that road. I can go get a
rope and attach it my truck and pull you out. However, I suggest you don’t wait
here because it’s cold and someone could swerve and hit you. You feel
comfortable about riding up to the ranch with me and my daughter?”

“I
don’t want to put you to any trouble.”

“No
trouble at all. I’d be glad to help you.”

She
smiled. She was so pretty.

“I’ll
just grab my purse.”

He
waited until she reached into the car and then slung her bag over her shoulder
and walked toward him.

“My
name’s Flynn Malone.” He stuck out his hand to her. She removed her glove and
stuck her hand into his.
Soft skin…lovely skin.
Maybe
he was dreaming
.
“Natalie Stevens.”

He
put his hand on the small of her back and encouraged her to head toward his
truck. He opened the passenger door. “Emily, would you scoot over so this lady
can ride up to the ranch with us.”

Emily,
eating yet another candy bar, moved to the middle of the truck. He held
Natalie’s arm as she climbed inside. Flynn closed the door and then ran around
to the driver’s side and got in.

“This
is my daughter, Emily. Emily, this is Natalie.”

“Hi Natalie,
it’s nice to meet you.”

Chapter
Four

How
she’d managed to get out of his truck she didn’t know. Now her feet wouldn’t
quite move. It had been one shock after another.
Sliding off
the road into the ditch.
 
Flynn Malone stopping to help her.
She’d expected him to be
a rugged old man. She didn’t know why she’d assumed that, but he was the most
handsome man she’d ever seen. Her heart had skipped a beat when he’d shaken her
hand. She stomach hadn’t done flips like that since she’d first met Emily’s
father.

And Emily.

While
it had been a total shock to see her daughter in the flesh, she hadn’t quite
expected to see a teenager with Down syndrome.
 
She swallowed. The recollection of her pregnancy was rushing at her so
fast now.

When
she’d had an ultrasound and they’d suggested there could be something wrong
with the baby, she’d assumed her mother had paid them to say that as a ploy to
get Natalie to end her pregnancy. Her mother had wanted that from the minute
she’d found out that Natalie was having a baby. However, now she knew she was
telling the truth.

She
looked at Emily again.

She
stood unable to move even a mere inch as she watched her help her father unload
the bags of groceries from the back of his truck. She’d come here with every
intention of telling him who she was, and why she was here, but after setting
eyes on her daughter she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She was suddenly
tongue-tied.

“Let’s
head inside before we all freeze,” said Flynn.

“Come
on Natalie, it’s warm inside.” Emily pulled on her arm.

 
How she wished she could head back to her
motel room and sit all alone for a few hours so she could process this into her
brain. But she had no way of getting there until he got her car out of the
ditch.

Natalie
followed her and Flynn up the driveway and to the front door. The wind had
picked up,
and
she shivered. Maybe her mother had been right; she should
have left things in the past. But she’d promised Jon, and in her heart she’d
always wanted to set eyes upon their child.

Flynn
opened back the front door and Emily grabbed Natalie’s arm again and encouraged
her inside.

If you only knew
who I am.
What
would both of you think? What would you do?

She
smiled at Natalie, and now that they were inside and in the light, she could
see that Emily had reddish hair just like Jon’s. She swallowed. This was the
girl they’d made and never got to see grow up or to love for the last thirteen
years.

Even
through the thick lenses on Emily’s glasses she could see a little of Jon’s
eyes.
The color somewhere in between blue and green.
She suddenly missed him. If only he could be here to see Emily. Most of all, to
give Natalie the strength she now felt she needed.

“Why
don’t you take off your coat so we can hang it up to dry? And then come through
to the kitchen and I’ll make some coffee to warm you up,” said Flynn.

Now
she was inside she also got a better look at him.
Rugged old man.
So far from it.
Sexy tall cowboy
.
That described him perfectly.

“I
can do it,” said Emily.

“I’ll
do it, but you can offer Natalie some cookies,” said Flynn

“They
come from my grandma’s café,” said Emily.

Her grandma.

She
had a family and Natalie probably had no right being here. She was an outsider
and stranger who
was
intruding.

“Come
on,” said Emily.

Natalie
followed them through the living room. She glanced at the photos on the walls.
Most of them were of the young Emily with Flynn. She’d been such a cute little
girl. If only she could stand here and study them some more. Maybe even ask for
a photo album so she could see evidence of her child growing up…but she
couldn’t.

Flynn
put the bags down on the countertop.

“I don’t
want to put you to any trouble,” said Natalie seeing Flynn fill up the coffee
pot.