The Bull Rider's Baby Bombshell. Amanda Renee

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       Chapter One

      Call Jade.

      I can’t do this.

      Please forgive me.

      Jade Scott read her sister’s note for the tenth time since arriving in Saddle Ridge. Almost an entire day had passed since Liv had vanished, leaving behind her month-and-a-half-old triplets. Jade would’ve arrived sooner if there had been more flights out of Los Angeles to the middle-of-nowhere Montana. She’d ditched the godforsaken town eleven years ago and had sworn never to return. But her sister’s children had annihilated that plan. Especially since Jade had been partially responsible for their existence.

      “I didn’t call the police like you asked, but now that you’re here, I think we should.”

      “No!” Jade spun to face Maddie Winters, her sister’s best friend and the woman who had taken care of the children for the past twenty hours. “As soon as we do, Liv’s labeled a bad parent and those girls go in the system.”

      “Nobody will take them away with you here.” Maddie checked to see if there were any new messages on her phone. “I’m really worried about her.”

      Jade scanned the small living room. A month ago, it looked like a baby—or three—lived there. Today it looked cold and sterile, devoid of any signs of the triplets. The crocheted baby blankets and baskets of pastel yarn were gone from the corner. Once covered with stacks of photo albums her sister couldn’t wait to fill, the coffee table now sat bare. Embroidered pillows with their cute mommy and baby sayings no longer littered the couch. Her sister had even removed the framed pictures of the girls along with their plaster hand-and footprints from the mantel. Except for the video baby monitor, nothing baby related remained in sight. Why? She knew Liv’s desire for order was strong thanks to their chaotic upbringing, but she’d never thought her sister would wipe away all visible traces of her children.

      “I’m worried too. We don’t need to involve the police though. She wasn’t kidnapped.” Liv was a chronic planner and everything about the situation felt deliberate. “She made a conscious decision to walk away. She wrote a note, she called you to babysit and then left on her own accord. If we call the police, the girls go into the system. Hell will freeze over before I let that happen.”

      Jade knew all about the system. She and Liv had spent fourteen years in foster care, bounced from place to place until Liv had been old enough to become her guardian. Being two teenage girls on their own had forced them to grow up fast. Too fast.

      Jade’s phone rang inside her bag jarring her back to the present. It wasn’t her sister’s ringtone, but she reached for it to be safe. It was her office in Los Angeles. She answered, СКАЧАТЬ