The Horseman's Son (6 page)

Dylan immediately looked away. “I won’t feel sorry for you and I won’t be attracted to you.”

Collena blinked, certain she’d misunderstood him. Mercy, had he noticed the way she’d looked at him earlier? With lust in her eyes?

Oh, this was not good.

She actually welcomed the knock on the door. They obviously needed some kind of interruption, because there was nothing that either of them should say about his attraction remark.

“It’s me,” a woman said from the other side of the door. Collena recognized the voice. It was Ruth Sayers, the nanny.

Dylan reached behind him and turned Collena’s photograph facedown. “Come in, Ruth.”

The woman opened the door, but she wasn’t alone. Her daughter, Millie, was with her, and the pair stood in the doorway.

Collena got a better look at Millie then. She was a younger version of her mom, with fiery red hair and piercing gray eyes. However, Millie had a calmness and serenity about her that Ruth lacked.

“The fire chief said I’m to tell you that he’d be in touch with you,” Ruth told Dylan. “Jonah’s still here though.” She pointed her finger at Collena. “Is he planning to arrest that woman for trespassing?”

Dylan pulled in a weary breath. “This is Collena Drake, and there’s a very good possibility that she’s Adam’s biological mother.”

Ruth frantically shook her head, but her daughter, Millie, had a different reaction. She merely stared at Collena. Examining her.

“Does she have any proof of what she’s saying?” Ruth snapped.

“Some,” Dylan confirmed. “It’ll take a couple of days to get the DNA results back. Or I might be able to get the results sooner if I can get the tests from the lab where she had Adam’s stem cells tested.”

“Adam has her mouth,” Millie whispered, nudging her mother with her elbow.

Collena was so relieved she couldn’t speak. Another person was confirming that there was a resemblance between her son and her.

“Her eyes, too,” Dylan added.

Just that bit of information nearly brought on the tears, but Collena blinked them back. However, it didn’t stop her longing to see her child. She’d gotten only the briefest glimpse before the doctor at Brighton had whisked Adam away.

Ruth shook her head. “I don’t see any resemblance. Lots of babies have blond hair and brown eyes.”

“Someone used the intercom earlier to listen in on the conversation I was having with Collena,” she heard Dylan say. He obviously wasn’t planning to address Ruth’s comments. “Any idea who would do that?”

So much had happened with the fire and Curtis’s visit that Collena had practically forgotten about that. But was it even important?

“Are you accusing me of eavesdropping?” Ruth asked. And she looked as if he’d slapped her.

“I’m merely asking a question.” Dylan’s tone certainly wasn’t accusatory, but he did sound adamant about getting to the bottom of the situation.

Unfortunately, the eavesdropping was nothing compared to other things that could be brewing. And Collena thought she knew who was behind them.

Rodney Harmon.

He was the most likely candidate for setting her car on fire. She couldn’t imagine Curtis traipsing around the woods in his pricey suit. Nor could she see either Millie or Ruth doing the same.

Eavesdropping, yes. Arson, no.

But now the question was—how had Rodney found her so quickly? She’d been in Greer for the past eighteen hours, and that would have put her already there in town right about the time that Rodney was escaping.

“I don’t know who listened in on the intercom,” Ruth finally answered. “Ina, maybe. She probably turned it on when she told you about the intruder and then forgot to turn it off.”

It seemed reasonable to Collena, but there was something in Dylan’s scrutinizing stare that made her wonder if it sounded reasonable to him.

“I’ve got things to do,” Ruth declared. “If you want to accuse me of anything else, you’ll find me in the nursery.”

Dylan didn’t make any attempt to apologize or follow the woman. Probably because he heard the same sound she did. There were thudding footsteps making their way down the hall, and for a moment, she braced herself for yet another confrontation with Curtis. Or worse. She prayed that Rodney Harmon hadn’t wormed his way into the house.

But it wasn’t either of them.

It was Deputy Jonah Burke.

“Well, thanks to you, I’m stuck here at the ranch for Thanksgiving,” Jonah complained, aiming that complaint at Dylan. “The fire chief just called. The road between town and here is now officially closed.”

“Closed?” Collena repeated, groaning. Well, that was just
wonderful.

She had no car and no way to leave. This day just kept adding more and more obstacles. She wanted Dylan to get that DNA test to the lab, and that wasn’t going to happen with the roads closed.

“Jonah, I’ll make up the upstairs guest room for you,” Millie volunteered. She stopped though and looked at Dylan. “What about Ms. Drake? Should I get a guest room ready for her, too?”

The impact hit Collena full force. Yes, the road closure would hinder the DNA test and getting replacement copies of her documents, but if Dylan actually let her stay, then she would be under the same roof as Adam.

She might get to see her son.

But she rethought that when she and Dylan turned toward each other at the same moment. That wasn’t exactly a welcoming or inviting look he was giving her.

“She’ll stay,” Dylan said as if he were speaking profanity. He turned to Millie. “Have Hank check the security system. I want all perimeter and internal alarms set to the highest levels. Lock all the doors and windows. Make sure no one gets in without my permission.”

Millie’s eyes widened, and she nodded. “Dylan, are you expecting trouble?”

“Trouble’s already here,” he mumbled. “There’s a fugitive on the loose,” he added in a louder voice, apparently for Millie’s ears. “He’s dangerous, and I don’t want him anywhere near the house.”

“What about Adam?” Millie stared at Collena when she asked that question. “What should we do with him to make sure he’s…safe?”

Safe, and away from Collena.

“Keep Adam in the nursery until you hear from me,” Dylan ordered.

Another nod and Millie walked away, apparently ready to do her duty by making sure Collena didn’t see her little boy.

Dylan would have walked away, as well, if Collena hadn’t grabbed his arm. “Adam has my eyes. My mouth. My hair. He’s my son, and I want to see him.”

She could see the debate start. It seemed to make its way through every muscle in his body.

Dylan glanced back at the photo of her that he’d turned facedown on his desk. He was likely feeling sorry for her again. Part of Collena despised that—she hated pity—but another part of her was willing to do anything to see her child.

That included begging.

Still, she wasn’t certain that even begging would be enough to convince Dylan.

They stood there. Long, long moments. While his mental debate continued. Collena had her own. To speak or not to speak. And she decided there was nothing she could say that would help her cause.

He groaned softly. “Come with me,” he finally said. “And don’t make me regret this.”

Collena was too afraid to hope that he was leading her in the direction of the nursery.

Dylan knew this could be a huge mistake.

After the incident with the car fire and Collena’s suggestion of marriage, he wanted nothing more than to distance himself from the woman who could take Adam away from him. But he also knew that distancing himself wouldn’t make this situation go away.

One way or another, he had to convince Collena that he should be the one to raise Adam. He couldn’t do that if they were at each other’s throats. And as for marriage for the sake of them sharing custody? Well, that was an absolute last resort, but he wasn’t ruling it out just yet.

Dylan led Collena through the maze of corridors in the sprawling house. Nearly ten thousand square feet was more than enough room to bring up an active child. He’d had fatherhood in mind when he made renovations several years earlier.

He stopped for a moment outside the nursery door and looked back at Collena. She was nibbling on her bottom lip and showed more nerves than she had when facing down the car fire and Curtis Reese.

“I’m scared,” she admitted.

“Me, too,” Dylan acknowledged.

Her mouth quivered as if threatening a smile. Dylan figured it’d been a long time since she’d made that particular facial expression. But the smile didn’t materialize. Instead, she squared her shoulders and took a deep breath.

Dylan did the same, and he opened the nursery door.

The room was empty.

Because of the leftover adrenaline, he felt another jolt of concern, but then reminded himself that it wasn’t unusual for Ruth and Adam to be away from the nursery. Just because they weren’t there in the room didn’t mean that someone like Curtis Reese had kidnapped his son. He stepped into the room and pressed the button to turn on the house intercom.

“Ruth?” Dylan called out.

It only took a few seconds for the nanny to answer. “Adam and I are in the playroom.”

“This way,” Dylan instructed Collena, leading her back through the corridors. He hated that edgy feel of the adrenaline and hated even more that it was now associated with his son’s safety. Since he’d had five years with no incidents, he had thought they were safe.

He’d obviously thought wrong.

“Does Adam really look like me?” Collena asked.

He stopped, turned around and considered lying. But he didn’t after he combed his gaze over Collena’s face. “He’s the spitting image of you.”

Her bottom lip trembled a little, and she blinked hard. “Thank you.” But then she hesitated and stared at him. “You’re being nice to me because of that picture. I asked you to forget about it.”

Why, he didn’t know, but he stepped closer, violating her personal space. “I’m not being nice to you. If I had my way, you wouldn’t be here at the ranch and you definitely wouldn’t be on the verge of going into the playroom.”

She lifted her shoulder. “So, why am? Why are you letting me see Adam?”

“Because I don’t think I have a choice. We’re each other’s obstacles. You want what I have, and I don’t want to give him up. Somehow, we have to work through that, and working through issues is something that I’m usually pretty good at doing.”

“I offered a solution,” she reminded him.

“I don’t call that a solution.” In fact, he didn’t know what exactly to call her marriage proposal.

Since marriage was the last thing he wanted to discuss, Dylan turned and started walking again toward the playroom. Collena was right behind him. And with each step, he dreaded this meeting even more.

Yet, he knew it was inevitable.

If he didn’t allow Collena to see Adam, then tomorrow when the roads were clear, she’d no doubt start legal proceedings to get custody. So, he wasn’t being nice. He was doing what he had to do to keep things amicable between Collena and him.

When he reached the set of playroom doors, Dylan didn’t pause. He didn’t dare. Because he might change his mind. It was like ripping off a bandage. Fast, but definitely not painless.

He threw open the doors.

Dylan spotted Ruth first. She was sitting in a recliner with a paperback clutched in her hand. Adam was on a toy car that he was scooting around the room. He looked up, spotted Dylan and smiled the smile that always made him feel on top of the world.

“Is there a problem?” Ruth asked. Her eyes went straight to Collena, and the nanny got to her feet.

“No problem,” Dylan assured her.

Ruth made a nasally sound to indicate she didn’t buy that. “Then why is that woman here?”

Good question.
But Dylan kept that remark to himself. Instead, he stood back and watched as Collena took short cautious steps toward Adam.

The little boy stopped and eyed the stranger who was approaching him. Adam didn’t smile. Nor did he back away as he sometimes did with people he didn’t know. He simply studied Collena as she stooped to Adam’s eye level.

“Hi,” Adam said, using his latest favorite word. Except it sounded more like “i.”

“Hi,” Collena answered. Her voice was clogged with emotion.

Neither Dylan, nor Ruth said a word, but their gazes met, and he could tell that Ruth saw what Dylan had already known.

This was definitely mother and son.

Collena dropped down onto the floor, sitting directly across from Adam, and the two just watched each other. Adam babbled something, reached out and touched Collena’s hair, which was barely a shade darker than Adam’s own.

That one touch seemed to open the floodgates for Adam. With help from Collena, he climbed off the toy car, took a picture book that was lying on the floor and toddled back to Collena. Adam thrust the book toward her, and Collena took it and began to read to the child.

The simple gesture got Dylan right in the heart. Adam was more accepting of Collena than he wanted his son to be.

However, he didn’t have time to react beyond that because his phone rang. Dylan extracted it from his pocket and checked the screen. It was from Mason Tanner, the P.I. friend who’d sent him those faxes about Collena. Dylan had e-mailed the man shortly thereafter and asked him to do a background check on Curtis Reese.

Because he didn’t want Ruth or Collena to overhear this particular conversation, Dylan stepped into the hall to take the call.

“Please tell me you found something on Curtis Reese,” Dylan said, commencing with a greeting.

“I did. Thankfully, his life is somewhat of an open book. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he’s staying at the hotel in Greer and is literally less than eight miles from your doorstep. He’s not alone, either. He has his lawyer and a pair of private investigators there with him. And he has power, Dylan. Lots of it. Along with a couple of judges in his pocket.”

That was not what Dylan wanted to hear. “Are you saying he could actually win a custody battle?”

“Absolutely. From what I can see from the outside looking in, he can make a case against either you or Collena Drake. Yours is a no-brainer. The adoption was illegal, and that means legally you have no claim to Adam.”

Dylan felt as if someone had sucker punched him. “I’ve raised him since birth.”

“That won’t negate the fact that the adoption was illegal. I’m not a lawyer, but Collena obviously has the strongest claim for full custody.”

He felt another punch. “Once she has proof that she’s Adam’s mother.”

“Oh, there’s proof already. I checked the lab where you’d stored Adam’s umbilical cord. They’re the ones who ran the DNA test for the police, and Collena’s DNA is on file because she’s a former cop. Adam is Collena’s son, all right. No disputing that.”

That one was more than a punch. Dylan was grateful for the brief period of silence that followed. He needed it to come to terms with the fact that Collena had been telling him the truth.

Hell.

And the truth was that he could lose Adam.

“Collena has the best claim for custody,” Mason Tanner repeated. “Unless, of course, Curtis Reese is able to prove she’s unfit in some way.”

And Curtis just might be able to do that if he could prove that Collena had endangered her unborn child by going on an undercover assignment. A good lawyer could argue that, and Curtis would almost certainly have a good lawyer. Heck, he’d have an entire team of them.

“What about Curtis Reese himself—what kind of dirt could you find on him?” Dylan asked.

“Nothing, other than rumors that he owns those judges and a few politicians. He was born stinking rich, inherited his family’s chain of hardware stores, and then added to his wealth through what appears to be legal means. He’s considered a good, upstanding citizen by most. And now that his less-than-stellar son is dead, there isn’t even a hint of danger in any facet of his life. He comes off like a Boy Scout, Dylan, and that’s not good news for you.”

It wasn’t. His worst fears had been confirmed—he could lose Adam.

“Keep digging,” Dylan ordered. “I want any and every thing that you can find on not just Curtis Reese, but Collena Drake and the man who recently escaped from jail, Rodney Harmon.”

“I will, but you have to start looking at the likelihood of a serious custody battle. Or some kind of settlement with Collena. If you can’t buy her off, then if I were you, I’d be hoping that she’s a reasonable woman.”

Dylan clicked the end-call button, slipped the phone back into his pocket and leaned against the wall. His lungs felt heavy, as if he’d taken in too much air, and every muscle in his body was in a knot.

What the hell was he going to do?

He turned and opened the door just slightly so he could see inside the playroom. Ruth was in the chair, and she was glaring at Collena. However, Collena was oblivious, because her attention was focused solely on Adam, who was back on his toy car. His son was grinning from ear to ear and babbling happy sounds.

Collena turned and spotted him in the doorway. She, too, was smiling, and there were tears of joy in her eyes.

Dylan didn’t waste any time. There wasn’t a reason to delay this.

He knew what he had to do.

He motioned for Collena to come to him. Her smile faded, probably because she anticipated that he’d gotten some bad news from the phone call. She got up from the floor and, without breaking eye contact with him, she made her way to him.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Everything.” Dylan cleared his throat. He partially closed the door, only leaving it open a small crack. “If your marriage proposal is still good—I’m accepting it.”

O
F ALL THE THINGS
that Collena had expected to hear Dylan say, she hadn’t expected that.

“You’re accepting my marriage proposal?” she asked, certain she’d misunderstood him.

He nodded. And he looked as if he were facing a firing squad. “The P.I. I just spoke with confirmed that you’re Adam’s biological mother. He also believes that Curtis Reese has a chance of getting custody of Adam.”

“He does,” Collena agreed, speaking around the lump in her throat. That’s why she’d suggested marriage in the first place. She didn’t have the resources and political contacts to fight Curtis, but Dylan did. With Dylan’s help, she could get custody of her child.

Her plan was working. That was the good news, but she knew they had a long fight ahead of them. This was just the first step.

“I thought we stood a better chance of winning if we were together,” Collena added.

Dylan huffed. “Of course, a judge might see right through our convenient relationship.”

“I don’t doubt that, either, but Curtis is a widower, and I think a judge would be more likely to keep Adam in the home where he was raised and with parents who’ve made a commitment to give him the best life possible. We’ll just have to be honest and not hide the reason we’re getting married. I’m hoping our marriage will prove to the judge that we’re willing to do anything for Adam’s happiness. Curtis can’t compete with that.”

His eyes snapped to hers. “You really think we can pull this off?”

“I don’t think we have a choice. And believe me, for the past three days, I’ve studied all the options. If I’d been able to come up with something better, I would have gone in that direction.”

“I’ll bet you would have,” he mumbled. He took a hard breath and opened his mouth to say something. However, Ruth interrupted him.

With Adam in her arms, Ruth threw open the door. “It’s time for Adam’s bath,” she announced.

Collena desperately wanted to spend more time with her son, but she also needed to work out some details with Dylan.

Apparently, they were getting married.

Just thinking that sent a rush of panic through her. She’d come up with the plan before she’d met Dylan. Before she’d realized that she was attracted to him. She wanted her son, but she didn’t want a relationship with Dylan. Not with her past. And not with her excess emotional baggage. She still hadn’t gotten over the painful relationship with Adam’s father.

Falling for him could ruin everything she’d planned.

Collena took both a step back, both emotionally and physically, and let Ruth walk past them. Adam gave them a little wave as Ruth carried him down the hall.

She and Dylan stood there in silence. He was no doubt thinking of the enormous impact of what he’d just done. Collena knew that impact, as well.