Lone Rider (25 page)

“Are you all right?” he asked as he and Emily drove to the sheriff's office.

“I'm fine. I was just startled.”

He glanced over at her. She seemed calm, in control. She wasn't the kind to get hysterical. Instead, she seemed even more protective of her daughter. He liked that about her.

The deputy was waiting for them. After taking down the information, he asked Alex more about the times he'd seen the man.

“You're sure he was watching Miss Calder?”

“Definitely. That's what made me notice him. He seemed so intent on her comings and goings.”

The deputy turned to Emily. “You say he might have some connection to your former boyfriend, Harrison Ames?”

“I don't know that for sure. It just seems likely.”

The deputy studied his notes for a moment. “You say entry into your house was through your daughter's window and that the photo taken was of the two of you.” He glanced at Alex, then back to Emily. “Where is the baby's father?”

“He's out of the picture.”

“Is it possible this man has a connection to the baby's father?”

Alex found himself waiting for the answer, as well. The man's interest in Jodie worried him.

“There's no connection,” she said with a shake of her head. “Jodie's father didn't travel in the same circles as my ex-boyfriend.”

The deputy seemed to think about that for a moment. “This man seems interested in your daughter. If he is a friend of your ex-boyfriend, who I understand is serving time in prison, then...is there any chance that Harrison Ames thinks Jodie is his?”

When Emily didn't answer, Alex looked over at her. Her face had crumpled, and he could see that she was fighting tears. He reached over and took her hand.

“If it would be easier, I can leave,” he whispered to her.

She squeezed his hand and shook her head. Lifting her face, she met the deputy's gaze. “I became pregnant shortly after Harrison's arrest. Her father is married, an upstanding member of society in Billings, a decent man. He and I...it was a moment of weakness for him. I asked for a paternity test after Jodie was born, not because I wanted anything from the man, but so I knew who my daughter's father was. It wasn't Harrison.”

Alex squeezed her hand back.

The deputy nodded. “It seems Harrison might be thinking otherwise. Would you be willing to have another paternity test done to assure him he is wrong?”

She nodded.

“We'll talk to this man. I doubt we can get him on breaking and entering, but we'll try. Mostly we just want to make sure he doesn't continue shadowing you,” the deputy said and got to his feet.

As they left, Emily said to Alex, “You didn't know what you were getting into, did you? I would understand if—”

“I told you, I want to get to know you.”

“Well, you're getting to know me. I'm so sorry.”

He shook his head. “Hey, we all come with a past. Someday maybe I'll tell you about mine.”

She looked over him as they walked out of the sheriff's department, into the beautiful summer night. She saw a sadness in his expression as if he was thinking about that past. Maybe he, too, had regrets. “I can't wait to hear about it.”

Alex caught her hand and brought her to a stop. Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her. As he drew back, he smiled. “I had a wonderful time tonight.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Even a visit to the sheriff's department?”

“Next date I think we should go to a movie that Jodie can see.”

Emily smiled through her tears. “That sounds wonderful.”

* * *

W
HEN
R
USSELL
DROVE
up to the cabin the next day, he didn't see Sarah. Normally she would have come out on the deck. He felt a jolt of worry. What if the press had found her? Reporters had been clamoring to get her story. It was why he'd hidden her out here. What if she'd fallen and—

When she appeared at the side of the cabin, he was confused to see that she was dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt. He hadn't purchased either for her. Even stranger, she had a long-handled shovel in one hand and he could see even from a distance that her hands were muddy, as were the knees of the jeans.

“Sarah?” he called, feeling slightly off balance by this image of the woman.

Not only that, she had seemed both surprised and upset by his unexpected appearance. Normally he would have called on his way to let her know he was coming. Today he'd come on the spur of the moment. He'd been thinking about her and had just driven toward the mountains to check on her.

Now he felt as if he'd caught her doing something she shouldn't have.

“Is everything all right?” he asked as he got out and walked up the slope to her.

She gave him an embarrassed shake of her head. “You're going to think me so foolish. I found a dead cat this morning on the deck. The poor thing. I couldn't tell if it starved to death or died of some illness. I found these clothes in the closet and a shovel in the shed out back.”

“You should have called me. I would have been happy to do it for you,” he said, noting that she looked winded as if the exertion had worn her out. He reminded himself that she probably wasn't used to the altitude compared with where she'd spent the past twenty-two years.

“I put the cat in a plastic garbage bag and took it back into the woods to bury it. I didn't realize what a job it was going to be.” She sighed.

Even dirty and tired, her cheek smeared with soil, she looked beautiful. The physical work had put color in her cheeks, and her blue eyes shone with something close to excitement. He realized she must have been going crazy up here for something to do.

“Let me get cleaned up,” she said. “I need to wash these clothes before your daughter finds out I borrowed them.”

“She said to use whatever you found up here,” he assured her as he took the shovel from her. “I'll put this away for you. I picked up some groceries for you, a couple of steaks I could throw on the grill and a huckleberry pie I bought at the Branding Iron café. I hope you're hungry.”

“Ravenous,” she said as she trotted up the steps like a woman half her age.

Later, Russell noticed that Sarah's energy level had dropped. He could see that something was bothering her and guessed it was the fact that the senator was leaving again. He'd seen on the news last night that Senator Buckmaster Hamilton was scheduled for a debate in Iowa in a few days. That meant he and his wife would be leaving Montana for an unspecified amount of time.

He decided to address the elephant in the room head-on. “I heard that Buckmaster is leaving for the campaign trail,” he said and took a bite of the meal he'd brought.

“Yes, he called to tell me earlier,” she said without looking up from her plate. “Now that Bo is safe, there's nothing keeping him here.”

“Then Angelina is going with him?”

Sarah looked up. “She's his wife.”

“Are you going to be all right?” he asked and reached across the table to take her hand. She'd seemed more than a little distressed earlier when he'd found her coming back from burying the dead cat. There was still something jittery about her. He feared she was thinking about taking off for only God knew where.

“If you're unhappy staying here...”

“No. That is, I love spending time with you. The rest of my day...” She looked away.

He felt his heart do a little loop-de-loop. “So you're considering moving onto the ranch as the senator suggested?”

She laughed. “Not as long as Angelina is alive!” She shook her head and squeezed his hand, then let it go. “That isn't what I meant. It's taken me a while, but I've come to realize that I no longer have a place in Buck's life. So,” she said, trying to look more cheerful, “I need to get a life of my own.”

That sounded good to him, unless getting a life of her own meant leaving. He asked her as much.

“You've been wonderful, but I can't keep doing this.” She held up her hand to kill his protests. “For all of our sakes, I need to move on.”

He threw down his napkin and rose from the table. Reaching for her hand, he pulled her to her feet.

Russell had never been impulsive. He thought out everything before making a decision. He told himself he'd been thinking about this for months. Even as he drew Sarah into his arms, he knew this was still out of character for him.

But he couldn't let her leave. Over these months, he'd fallen in love with her. He was tired of pretending otherwise, and he said as much.

“Marry me,” he said. “Sarah—” He was ready to list all the reasons they should be together, but she didn't give him a chance.

“You're right. I need to find my own happiness. That's what Buck did. He's got his political career and a wife by his side.” She met his gaze. “But I can't destroy your life in an attempt to make mine better.”

“You won't destroy my life.”

She let out a laugh and stepped away. “You don't know how close I was to saying yes.”

“Then do.”

She shook her head. “Even not knowing where I've been, what I've been, you'd marry me?”

“I love you.”

She took a breath and let it out slowly. “You know me better than anyone. At least what there is to know.”

“Once you move on, the press will lose interest in you. You can have a normal life.”

She stared at him for a long moment. “Normal?”

“Wouldn't you like a normal life, Sarah, out of the public eye?”

She nodded, a tear coursing down one cheek. “What about my past?”

“It hasn't come after you. It's been months. Photos from your time with Buckmaster have been plastered all over the internet and newspapers around the world. If there is a past that you have to fear, then you should have heard from it by now, don't you think?”

She wiped at the tear with her free hand. “I don't want to hurt you.”

“You won't. And should this past that you fear come looking for you, I'll take care of it.”

“Buck will be—”

“Off campaigning for president with his wife at his side,” he interrupted, knowing what she was going to say. Of course, Buck would be furious. If he'd had his way, he would have Sarah living on the ranch, locked away so he wouldn't have to give up either wife.

“Your former husband has had months to make a change if he was so inclined,” Russell said not unkindly. “He chose the presidency and the wife who could best get him there.”

* * *

S
ARAH
HEARD
THE
truth in Russell's words, but it didn't make it any easier. Maybe Buckmaster had kept her in prison for the missing years she couldn't remember. Maybe not. But there was no doubt that she was a prisoner now.

Russell was right. Her options were limited. She could take off, try to disappear again, but with her photo—even one from years ago—everywhere, she wouldn't be able to run from the publicity. Even with the money that Buck had given her to live on, she would be a recluse, hidden away out of sight while he followed his dream.

“You have no idea what you're proposing.”

“Don't I? The press will quit hounding you once you break your ties with Buckmaster.”

“I'll still be the mother of his children.”

“His
grown
children. There's no story there. Right now, it's a love triangle. You're the odd woman out. As Mrs. Russell Murdock, you'll be a forgotten footnote in history.”

She stared at him. He was offering her anonymity.

“Let Buckmaster go. He's let you go.”

She felt herself weaken. He was right. She and Buck could never be together again. Even if something happened to Angelina and there was a chance for her and Buck to find each other again, the press would crucify him. He could never get elected with her at his side. Buck deserved to be president. He'd worked hard for it. No matter what he might have done after she tried to kill herself, she believed he would be a good president.

“Well, Sarah?” Russell asked. “Will you marry me? I'll get down on one knee if—”

“That isn't necessary. The media is convinced I'm a flake, a lunatic, a bad mother and a mental case. Can we do this right by starting with an engagement? Not a long one. Just long enough that this doesn't come off as something I've done that is even crazier.”

He smiled. “I'll get you a ring tomorrow.”

“I will need to talk to Buck first.” She saw him grit his teeth.

“Whatever you need to do.”

Sarah studied his handsome face, thinking about the grave she'd dug earlier today. Now she felt as if she was digging Russell's. He knew how she still felt about Buck. He really seemed to believe that his love could conquer all. She almost felt sorry for him. She tried to tell herself she wasn't using this kind, loving man, but she knew she was.

“You might want to prepare your daughter.”

His expression said he doubted anything could prepare his daughter for this. “I don't care what anyone else thinks.”

That was good, because she suspected the county would think he'd lost his mind. Love did that to a person, she thought.

“I should call Buck.”

* * *

S
ENATOR
B
UCKMASTER
H
AMILTON
stared at his open suitcase. In Washington, he had a staff. But here at the ranch, he preferred doing things himself. He liked his life to be as down-to-earth as possible. It's why he rode his horse every afternoon he was home. He didn't want to forget his roots.

It was also why he didn't own a jet, even though Angelina had never understood it. He was a man of the people. It was why he thought he would be a good president.