Page 79 of Caught By A Cowboy

I draw my attention back to Maddison, whose eyes are fixed and besotted on the baby in her arms.

“He really is perfect, isn’t he?” She smiles as his little hand wraps itself around her finger.

“Did you expect anything less?” I hold them both in my arms and feel like the luckiest man in the world.

Lawrence West eventually arrives and takes care of Maddison, and we’re both relieved when he says there's no need for either of them to go to the hospital. Roger and Taylor manage to clear the yard and the house of any stray guests, even Jean, Daphne, and Eleanor, who were all lingering to get a first look. Roger brings Mary out to meet her grandson before they leave to stay in the guesthouse in town. I offered for them to stay here with us, but Roger insisted that tonight was just for our little family.

I thank Lawerence West as I carry our son across the yard in one arm while aiding Maddison with the other. Then take them both straight upstairs and draw her a bath. While she relaxes in the tub, I sit on the floor next to her with our son laid out on my knees, in front of me. I study every inch of him and play with his tiny fingers. I gotta say, I'm impressed with how strong his grip is. I tell him all the things I’m gonna teach him how to do while Maddison listens on and smiles. Once I’ve settled Maddison into bed and watched her feed our little boy, I place him in the crib beside her and when I turn back to her, she’s already fallen asleep.

“You let your mama rest,” I whisper to him before kissing her forehead and heading downstairs to lock up.

The house is silent, so I assume Kendra is staying at Taylor’s tonight and when I step into the kitchen and find Riley Hale sitting at my table, all those warm, cozy feelings, my chest has been holding for the past few hours, instantly chill.

She must have been home and changed because she’s wearing jeans and her leather jacket; and although I’m sure she knows all the things I’ve done, she doesn’t seem fazed or intimidated to be alone with me. In fact, she lowers her eyes from mine and gestures them to the seat opposite her, leaving me wondering how this bitch has the nerve to tell me to sit at my own damn table.

“Is this the part where ya tell me not to get close to that little boy because you're on to me?” I laugh at her sarcastically as I pull out a chair, spin it around and straddle it. She needs to know that if she’s gonna try and take me down, she’s in for the fight of her life.

“No.” She shakes her head. “ Actually, I’m here to ask you a favor.” Her words take me completely by surprise and after the day I’ve had, that's quite an achievement.

“You want a favor from me?” I check I heard her right.

“Let’s lay it out, Sullivan. I’m not an idiot, and I’m also not as straight as you think I am. This town has the lowest crime rate in the state. I know the reason for that and you and your friends are welcome to run whatever little corporation you need to, to keep it that way. All I ask is that you don’t play me for a fool.” I nod my head as I stare across the table.

“I didn’t come to this sleepy, little town to write speeding tickets or to take you down. I’m here for someone else's ass.” She pulls an old, faded photo from her purse and lays it out in front of me.

“That's Michael Gendry.” I glance back up at her.

“It is,” she tells me, waiting for my reaction. “So, can I count on you or not?” She cuts the silence when I don’t give her one.

“Getting into it with that family is real risky, why should I help you?” I stroke my hand over my mouth and when she places something else in front of me, I recognize it straight away. I had the damn thing in the glove compartment of my truck for four days

“Why do you have Billy McGee’s phone?” I question her, starting to get real suspicious.

“I’m assuming whoever killed him was looking for it when they went to his house. Given the evidence that I found on it,” she tells me, typing in his code to unlock the screen and spinning it around. She hits play on a video and, although the screenremains black and the audio’s a little fuzzy, I can still make out the words.

“You killed her, ran her off the road.” I hear a woman’s voice but don’t recognize it. “Michael. Speak to me. This is going too far.”

“That town is ours, we get the road, we get the power.” The next voice I do recognize, and it undoubtedly belongs to Michael Gendry.

“You can have the road, just reroute it, you're never going to get the Sullivan ranch. Jace Sullivan is as stubborn as you are,” the woman tells him. “None of this makes any sense, you stood more chance of getting the place while Marie owned it, now she’s dea–”

“But Marie never did own it, and neither will Jace…What if I told you that Marie Sullivan was really a nasty, little whore who cheated on her husband?”

I clench my fists as I hear that fucker talk about my momma.

“What if I told you that Keith knew, and ensured her bastard boy would never prosper from his family's legacy?”

“Michael?”

“The ranch belongs to Jamie, Jamie’s got no interest in cattle and horses. He’ll sell if the price is right.”

“Then why kill Marie, why would you run her off the road like that?” The woman sounds distressed.

“That was just payback, sweetheart.”

The video ends and when I look back up, Hale has a pitiful look on her face.

“So it wasn’t an accident. Those fuckers ran her car off the road!” I stand up and slam my fist at the table.

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