Colton Baby Homecoming. Lara Lacombe

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      “The best,” he replied.

      “What’s her name?”

      “Penny.”

      “Interesting choice,” she replied. “She’s not really the color of a penny, though.”

      He chuckled softly. “I named her that because she ate pennies.”

      Darcy made a face. “Gross.”

      “In her defense, she was pretty hungry.”

      “She must have been, to stoop to eating change.”

      He felt the smile slide off his face as he thought back to the day he’d found the dog. “I was taking a walk in the woods when I came across her. She was a puppy, barely old enough to be away from her mother. She was nothing more than two big eyes and four big paws, and some psychopath had tied her to a tree and left her.” He clenched his jaw, feeling his back teeth grind together. Even though it had been several years, just the thought of the cruelty was enough to send his blood pressure into the stratosphere.

      Darcy gasped. “That’s horrible!”

      He nodded. “It was a good thing I came along when I did. I don’t know how long she’d been out there, but she wasn’t going to last much longer. So I scooped her up, put her in the truck and headed into town to the vet’s office. She was clearly starving, and before I knew what was happening, she’d eaten the change right out of my console.”

      “Poor thing. Very resourceful of her, though.” Darcy looked down at Penny, her expression a mixture of sympathy and amusement. “She’s lucky you found her before it was too late.”

      “Turned out, we both got lucky that day.” He didn’t bother trying to explain how Penny had helped him as much as he’d helped her. How the dog had healed the cracks in his heart and turned out to be his best friend. It probably said something sad about him that he trusted his dog more than any person, but it was the truth.

      Ridge shifted in the chair and glanced down at the baby, relieved to see his movements hadn’t disturbed her sleep. Poor little thing had had quite the day, but she seemed to be a survivor.

      As if she could read his thoughts, Darcy spoke up. “She’s going to be okay.” Her words were soft and soothing, and just like that he was taken back to the days when he could tell this woman anything. How many conversations had they had, how many times had he opened his heart to her and shared parts of himself he’d never shown to anyone? He hated to admit it but despite the distance between them, Darcy still held him in her sway.

      At least he was able to recognize it before he fell for her again.

      His phone buzzed and he glanced at the screen. We’re here. Where are you?

      “Sam and Annabel are here. What room are we in?”

      “I’ll go get them,” Darcy volunteered. “Will you be okay on your own for a minute?”

      He smiled wryly at her concern. “I haven’t broken the baby yet.”

      She nodded. “Fair enough. I’ll be right back.”

      Ridge waited until she had left, then looked down at the baby in his arms. She slept peacefully, curled up like a little shrimp against his chest. She was so small, her cherubic features the very picture of innocence. A range of expressions flitted across her face in rapid succession while she slept, as if she was trying each one on for size. While he watched, her mouth turned up in an impossibly sweet smile, and he felt the weight of responsibility slam down on his shoulders. Even though he wasn’t related to this child and had no idea where she had come from, she was his now.

      “I don’t know who left you on my doorstep,” he said softly. “But I promise, I will take care of you.” It was his calling to take care of the lost—the reason he’d gone into search and rescue in the first place. His brother Trevor, an FBI profiler, had once told Ridge he was drawn to that work because he hadn’t been able to help their youngest sister, Josie. Ridge wasn’t sure he believed all that psychological mumbo jumbo, but he did know one thing: he took care of his own.

      He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the soft hair on the top of the baby’s head. “I’ll keep you safe,” he whispered.

       Chapter 3

      Darcy stepped out of the exam room and took a deep breath, trying to center her thoughts. Her head was spinning from the events of the past half hour and she had a seemingly endless list of questions demanding to be answered. Where had that baby come from? Why had someone left her with Ridge? What had he been doing over the past decade since she’d seen him last? Had he truly moved on and found someone or was he still alone, as she was?

      First things first, she told herself firmly. Solve the mystery of the baby. Everything else can wait.

      Nerves fluttered in her stomach as she made her way back into the waiting area of the emergency room. She’d never met any of Ridge’s siblings before, since they had all been split up and raised in different foster homes. For reasons she didn’t care to examine too closely, she very much wanted to make a good first impression on these people. She knew Ridge was still angry with her for the way things had ended between them, but maybe if his siblings liked her he would soften a bit toward her. Even though there was no chance of them getting back together, it would be nice if they could have some kind of friendship. They’d meant too much to each other to have this bitterness between them persist.

      It wasn’t hard to find Sam and Annabel, and not just because the waiting room was fairly quiet. She would have recognized them in the middle of a crowd, as they both had the same studious look as Ridge. It must be a common Colton expression, she decided—that sober, thoughtful gaze made it seem as though they were constantly assessing their environment.

      Sam turned to face her as she approached. He had the same dark hair and eyes as his brother, but while Ridge was tall with the broad shoulders and muscular arms of a swimmer, Sam had a more rangy build that reminded her of a long-distance runner.

      “Sam Colton?”

      He nodded, his gaze assessing as he shook her hand.

      Darcy turned to the woman standing beside him. “And you must be Annabel.”

      Ridge’s sister offered her a tight smile that didn’t quite reach her blue eyes. “Where’s Ridge?”

      “Right this way,” Darcy said, gesturing them forward. “Thanks for coming so quickly.”

      “Ridge doesn’t cry wolf,” Sam observed quietly. “He wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important.”

      Darcy rapped lightly on the door of the exam room, then opened it and gestured Sam and Annabel inside. The pair took a step into the room and drew up short as they both caught sight of their brother with a baby in his arms.

      Sam recovered first. “Well,” he drawled. “I leave you alone for a few hours, and you go and get a baby.” There was an odd tone to his voice, as if he’d just been kicked in the gut. Was he upset? But why? Something tingled at the back of Darcy’s memory, but before she could really hone in СКАЧАТЬ