Page 4 of Stalked at Rescue Ridge

We need you, Kade. Please, come home. Please. Chloe

There wasn’t much Kade wouldn’t do for Chloe. Could he do this? Could he go home? Face Bree?

All he really had to do was go home and have a conversation with his siblings about selling Sturgess Ranch. Considering the fact not one of them lived on or worked the ranch, there wouldn’t likely be much debate about the sale. An annoying voice in the back of his head picked that moment to remind him that he was in no condition to head back out into the field. His injuries needed time to heal. Going back home to Saddle Junction for a couple of weeks should give him enough time.

Dammit. Was he actually considering going back to the town he’d sworn off at eighteen and after he’d renewed that promise after his fling with Bree?

Kade bit back a curse. He lifted his gaze to Burns. “What about Zeke? I’m not leaving here without him.”

Commander Burns dropped his gaze and gave a little head shake. “I’m sorry, son.”

Those words were the equivalent of a sword being thrust deep into the center of Kade’s chest. All the air was suddenly sucked out of the room, and he couldn’t breathe. His chest ached with the kind of hurt and loss that created a massive crater. One that could never be refilled.

“Bucket,” he managed to get out before the first heave.

Guilt wrapped long tentacles around him and squeezed. Kade’s irritation and lack of focus had cost his best friend’s life.Jesus. No. Zeke couldn’t be dead. He was about to be a father.And it was one hundred percent on Kade that a child had lost its father before taking its first breath.

How the hell was he supposed to live with that?

1

Breanne Kyndall, called Bree by everyone who knew her, could barely breathe. The little bean growing in her stomach had wedged itself underneath Bree’s ribcage and decided to test its soccer skills. She rolled off the side of bed, catching herself before she plopped onto the floor. Nearing her due date, every body part felt swollen. How was that even possible?

Upright and on her feet, she waddled into the kitchen because the way she moved could no longer be classified as walking. Bree reached for a mug. At least decaf coffee gave her some sense of normalcy. The smell convinced her body there was caffeine inside the cup. Score one for placebos.

Moving to the fridge, she pulled out a carton of milk and poured in a quarter of a cup. This way, she convinced herself the drink was healthy—mostly. The baby needed calcium.

Taking a sip, the warmth felt good on her throat. Days had passed since hearing the news about Zeke. Days that had become a blur of tears mixed with memories of times with someone who’d become her closest confidant.

The temptation to ask about Kade had gotten the best of her at the post office yesterday. He’d been injured in the attack that had taken Zeke. Guilt consumed her at the relief Kade had lived. Grief was a strange thing. It caused her to feel guilty every time she found a reason to smile, however fleeting, since learning of the tragedy. And especially every time she hoped Kade would knock on her door.

The way she’d walked out on him without looking back after a fling that had caused her to fall hopelessly in love with the man had sealed her fate. Kade’s pride would never allow him to care about her again. His stubborn side would cause him to dig his heels in. Hell would freeze over, and she’d be able to skate on the ice before he would grace her presence again.

What had she done?

Bree needed to find Kade and tell him the truth. Making a phone call wasn’t an option. He wouldn’t take her calls anyway. Plus, this wasn’t the kind of news you left on someone’s voicemail.

“I’d rather die than have children of my own,”he’d muttered under his breath when the topic had come up during their weekend fling.

Bree had always wanted kids. One child at the very least. Sex with Kade had been an existential experience, spiritual even. But she’d been wasting her time thinking anything between them could be more than an occasional, no-strings-attached relationship. Relationship? Bree issued a grunt. Their one shared experience had been nothing but great sex. Amazing sex. Mind-altering sex.

But still sex.

Since she wasn’t a love ’em and leave ’em type, she’d plucked up the courage to shut off her phone and delete his messages. All but one. Call her weak, but she’d saved the one where he’d said they might have something special going on between them, and he thought they were having a good time getting to know each other.

Bree had known Kade since kindergarten. Or, at least, known of him. He’d been angry at the world and, most of all, his father. He’d kept to himself. He’d been impossible to get to know, which was a serious accomplishment in a small town like Saddle Junction.

And then he’d come home on leave, showing her a surprisingly vulnerable side as he’d fixed the flat tire that had left her stranded on the exit ramp leading to town. He’d followed her home to make sure she made it okay.

The pregnancy news six weeks later had shocked the hell out of her. Bree might have seen herself as the family type, but having a baby with someone dead set against fatherhood had never been the plan.

She’d confided in Zeke, who had been a godsend. And now?

Fighting back tears that welled every time she thought about him, she gathered up all the courage she could muster. The Sturgess family lawyer had called a meeting to read Beaumont Sturgess’s last will and testament. Bree finally had a chance to be in the same room with Kade.

Face-to-face was the only way to deliver the news that he was going to be a father any day now.

The meeting Kadehad been dreading on the day-and-a-half journey to Saddle Junction would take place in an hour—just enough time to grab a quick shower and drive a rental to the ranch until he had time to pick up his truck at Chloe’s. There was a chill in the air, typical early December weather in these parts.

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