The Outlaw's Redemption. Renee Ryan

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СКАЧАТЬ the time he did as requested, Trey had already disappeared through a door behind his desk. He reappeared with a steaming mug of coffee. “You look like you could use this.”

      Grateful for the distraction, Hunter took the offered mug and buried his nose in the strong aroma.

      Perching on the edge of his desk, Trey dived back into the conversation. “Where’s the child now?”

      “Charity House.”

      Other than a slight widening of his eyes, Trey didn’t outwardly react to the news. “Then she’s in good hands.”

      “Yes.” The relief was still there, a reminder that Maria hadn’t been completely duplicitous. Enough, though, and now Hunter had to build a relationship with a nine-year-old child who didn’t even know he existed.

      Temper reared, dark and ugly, but he shoved the emotion down. What good would it do to become angry with Maria? What was done was done. Hunter had to focus on the future, not the past. “I’m heading over to the orphanage this afternoon to meet my daughter.”

      The joy was still there, too, riding alongside the relief, reminding Hunter he had a chance to redeem his past, to prove he was more than his mistakes, by becoming a loving, responsible father to his child.

      He’d once lost hope of ever achieving such a blessing. He wouldn’t muck up this opportunity.

      “You’re going to claim her as your own.” A statement, not a question.

      “That’s the plan.”

      As soon as he spoke the words, all the tension in his shoulders disappeared. He’d thought long and hard last night, blinking up at the cracked ceiling of his hotel room. His mind had worked through the multitude of problems—and the possibilities—facing him. Hunter still didn’t have a concrete plan of attack, not yet. But there was no doubt he was going to step up and become the child’s father. In every sense of the word.

      Assuming, of course, she was his.

      His gut roiled. Surely, the child was his.

      “What’s your daughter’s name?”

      “Sarah.” Hunter’s heart thumped as he said her name, surreal and yet not at all. “She turned nine years old a few weeks ago.”

      Trey fell silent, his brow furrowed in concentration, as if he were sorting through the faces of every nine-year-old girl in residence at Charity House. The likelihood of Trey knowing Sarah was high. He had several personal connections to the orphanage. Not only was he related to Marc Dupree, Trey’s wife, Katherine, was the custodian of Charity House School.

      “There’s only one child around that age named Sarah. But, if I remember correctly—” his eyebrows slammed together “—she’s not alone in this world, nor is she without family.”

      “I know. She has an aunt. Annabeth...” Hunter paused, wondering how much Trey knew about Annabeth’s connection to Mattie. Deciding not to risk exposing either woman’s secret, he gave Annabeth’s alias instead of her real name. “...Smith. Her aunt is Annabeth Smith.”

      “You know Annabeth? How?” Icy stillness fell over Trey.

      “She was Maria’s sister.” He didn’t elaborate, didn’t go into the details of how he’d discovered Annabeth’s connection to Mattie Silks. Although he hated lies and had vowed to avoid them at all costs, this particular secret wasn’t his to tell.

      “Right. Of course.” Again, Trey’s face crumpled in a look of concentration, and then a spark ignited in his dark eyes. “Annabeth is very devoted to Sarah. Is that going to be a problem?”

      Such a loaded question. Such a loaded situation. All of this would be so much easier if Annabeth wasn’t so deeply involved in Sarah’s life. But she was.

      “Honestly? I’m not sure.” No, that was a lie. “Probably.” Definitely. “All I know for certain is that I’m going to do right by my daughter.”

      He was ready for a second chance at a new life. Nobody was going to stand in his way of providing a safe, stable home for his daughter, and himself, not even Sarah’s devoted aunt.

      “Noble, to be sure, but let me give you a piece of advice.”

      Hunter knew that look in his friend’s eyes. Trey was about to say something profound. Hunter silently prepared himself.

      “Think long and hard about what you want, both in the long term and the short, before you go charging over to Charity House and make your claim.”

      “Understood.”

      “I mean it, Hunter.” Trey leaned forward, hands on his knees, his gaze intent. “Make sure you have a solid idea of what the future looks like in your mind before you start formulating plans. Your actions will impact a lot of people at Charity House, some good some bad.”

      “I get it, Trey.”

      “Do you?”

      “Yeah, I do.” Awash with joy, with terror, with expectancy, he continued, “You’re telling me I need to be in this for the long haul. And whatever I do, make sure I don’t hurt Sarah, or Annabeth, or anyone else at Charity House. That about cover it?”

      “I’d say we’re on the same page.”

      “Good. And Trey...” Hunter carefully set the mug in his hand on the desk and let out a slow breath of air. “Thank you.”

      Trey shrugged. “Happy to help.”

      “I wasn’t referring to my current situation, though I certainly appreciate the advice.” Mostly. “I meant, thank you for what you did for me two years ago. You helped settle some things in my mind, including the matter of my salvation.”

      “You came to your own conclusions.”

      That might be true, but Trey had guided him toward those conclusions. He’d patiently explained the difference between godly justice and worldly justice. He’d explained the notion of giving mercy where it wasn’t deserved, as only a man who’d sought vengeance with his own hands could do. In that, they’d shared a common bond. Trey’s first wife had been brutally murdered by a man as evil as Cole Kincaid.

      Trey had moved past his anger at God. An example Hunter wanted to follow but still wasn’t sure how. Not completely.

      “I also came here today to return this.” He dipped his hand in one of the inner pockets of his coat and retrieved the small Bible Trey had lent him during the trial. The book was frayed at the spine, nearly falling apart in places.

      “I see you spent some time in there.”

      Hunter attempted an easy smile. “A bit.”

      Giving him a long look, Trey took the Bible, flipped through a few pages at random, then offered it back to Hunter. “Keep it.”

      Hunter didn’t overthink the suggestion. He simply accepted the offered gift with a single nod of his head.

      They spoke a while СКАЧАТЬ