Lonetree Ranchers: Colt. Kathie DeNosky

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СКАЧАТЬ from her afternoon nap was a welcomed release from the disturbing memories. Setting her coffee cup on the end table, Kaylee rose from the couch. As she walked down the hall to see about Amber, Kaylee wiped away the last of her tears. She had Amber to think about now. She didn’t have time to worry about a past she couldn’t change.

      “Did you have a bad dream, sweetie?” she asked, lifting the little girl from her small bed.

      Amber shook her head sleepily, put her finger in her mouth and buried her face in her mother’s neck.

      “It’s all right. Mommy won’t let anything hurt you,” Kaylee said, hugging her daughter close.

      She started into the living room to sit in the rocking chair with Amber, but the ringing door bell had her detouring to see who the current salesman was and what he was trying to sell today. Turning on the tape player she kept by the door, she smiled at Amber as the sounds of a snarling German Shepard filled the room.

      “One of these days, Mommy’s going to get a real dog with enormous teeth and an insatiable appetite for door-to-door salesmen.” Making sure the security chain was in place, Kaylee took a deep breath and reached for the doorknob. “Until then, let’s see how fast we can send this joker on his way.”

      As Colt waited at the door to the second-floor apartment, he adjusted the sling holding his left arm snug against his body and looked around at the shabby building. What was Kaylee doing here instead of living on her ranch up in the Oklahoma panhandle?

      While he’d been recuperating last month, he’d done a lot of soul-searching and had come to the realization that he had to find her and make things right. He shook his head. He’d been ready to jump on that paramedic for his lack of respect toward her, yet, to his chagrin, he’d realized that he hadn’t acted any better. He’d snapped at her for no other reason than the fact that she’d witnessed him give in to the pain of a broken collarbone like some little kid.

      But when he’d gotten back on his feet, he’d gone to the Lazy S only to find that Kaylee had sold the ranch and moved to Oklahoma City shortly after Mitch had died. He’d had to resort to searching through the phone book to find her. Fortunately there’d only been one Kaylee Simpson listed in the area.

      The door suddenly opened as far as the security chain would allow. “I don’t care what you’re selling. I don’t want—” Kaylee stopped abruptly. “Colt?”

      Pushing the wide brim of his Resistol up with his thumb, he rocked back on his heels, chuckling at the recording of a snarling dog. “Does that tape of Kujo really chase off door-to-door salesmen?”

      She stared at him through the narrow opening as if she couldn’t quite believe her eyes. “W-what are you doing here?”

      He winced at her blunt tone. She sure didn’t seem very happy to see him. All things considered, he couldn’t say that he blamed her.

      Hoping to tease her into a better mood, he grinned. “Well, hello to you, too, brat. You want to shut off Kujo, now that you know it’s me and not somebody trying to sell a vacuum cleaner?”

      She turned away and the sound of the snarling dog ceased. “I’m sorry. Hello, Colt.”

      “Me see,” a little voice said a moment before a set of tiny fingers appeared around the edge of the door in an effort to open it wider.

      Colt frowned. “Do you have company?”

      “No, but this really isn’t a good time,” Kaylee said, prying the baby’s fingers from the door.

      The panic suddenly filling her violet eyes bothered him. A lot. “Are you all right, Kaylee?”

      She nodded. “I’m fine.”

      “Me see, Mommy,” the little voice insisted. “Me see.”

      “Not now, sweetie,” Kaylee said gently.

      Colt felt as though he’d been sucker punched. Kaylee had a child? Was she married?

      “We need to talk,” he said seriously.

      He told himself that Mitch would want Colt to make sure she was doing okay. But the truth was, he wanted to know what was going on.

      “I can’t imagine what you think we need to talk about.” She gave him a one-shouldered shrug, but he could tell from the tone of her voice that she was nervous as hell about something.

      “Come on, Kaylee,” he said, watching her closely. “I drove all the way down here from the Lonetree just to talk to you. The least you can do is give me five minutes.”

      Her defeated expression caused the air to lodge in his lungs. Something was definitely going on, and Colt had every intention of finding out what is was.

      “Kaylee?”

      She closed the door, released the chain, then swung it wide for him to step into the tiny apartment. “I’m sorry about the mess,” she said, pointing to the toys scattered on the floor in front of the couch. “I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

      Colt turned to tell her he was used to seeing toys scattered all over his two brothers’ homes, but the words died somewhere between his vocal cords and opened mouth. The baby riding Kaylee’s hip was a little girl with raven curls. Her face was buried shyly against Kaylee’s neck, but something about the child caused his scalp to prickle and his pulse to race.

      “Is she yours?” he asked cautiously.

      Kaylee stared at him for what seemed like an eternity before she slowly nodded. “Yes. This is my daughter, Amber.”

      At the sound of her name, the baby looked up, but when she saw him staring at her, she stuck one tiny index finger in her mouth and once again hid her face in Kaylee’s shoulder.

      The glimpse Colt had gotten hadn’t been much, but it was enough to see that the little girl’s eyes were blue. A vivid blue. His sisters-in-law, Annie and Samantha, called it “Wakefield blue.”

      His heart pounding against his ribs like a jungle drum, he had a hard time drawing air into his lungs. The child had to be around the same age as his brother Brant’s little boy, Zach. From there it didn’t take much for Colt to do the math.

      Swallowing hard, he asked, “She’s mine, isn’t she, Kaylee?”

      Colt watched her bite her lower lip to keep it from trembling. He knew the answer, but he needed to hear her tell him.

      “Kaylee?”

      She took a deep breath, then defiantly met his gaze. “Yes, Colt. Amber is your daughter, too.”

      Two

      “Dammit, Kaylee, why didn’t you tell me?” Colt demanded. Conflicting emotions twisted his gut and he had to force himself to take several deep breaths in an effort to stay calm. “Didn’t you think I had the right to know about my own daughter?”

      Anger flashed in her violet eyes. “No.”

      Colt wasn’t sure how he’d expected her to answer, but the vehemence in her tone surprised him. He’d never seen her this angry before.

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