Page 22 of Bryson's Treasure

Chapter 9

Bryson leanedagainst the tack room door. Azadeh and Lynn stood outside Midnight’s stall, filling his bucket with feed. It had taken a month for the judge to sign off on the divorce, but Gabriel had sent Noah the information today showing the divorce was final.

Bryson had just spoken with Gabriel over the phone and couldn’t help but smile. Razor was putting him through the wringer. She was one hell of an agent. He had worked a few operations with her over the years. When someone became her friend, she would protect them for life, and she made sure their enemies never saw the light of day.

Gabriel had tried to tell her he was worried she would get hurt. It took everything in Bryson not to laugh when Gabriel told him she had flipped him on his back a second later and had her high heel pointed at the artery in his neck until he promised never to doubt her ability again.

Razor was working her way through Gabriel’s company, looking for the person who had killed Gabriel’s dad. It would be the same person who was after Lynn. Luckily nobody had come after them since Gabriel left. At night, Lynn and Bryson combed through the servers at RRT Consulting. Gabriel had given them full rights. Bryson loved to watch Lynn work. She’d written a program to help sort through the data.

Bryson had worked with a few programmers over the years. None were able to write a program so quickly with so much detail. During his time in the military, he had written a few scripts and small programs only to have them not work the first time he ran them. Most of the time it was because he didn’t end a statement. Then he would have to comb through the code and figure out what he did wrong. Lynn’s program worked the first time she ran it.

He waited a few minutes before he walked over to his girls. Bryson fell for Lynn each day a little more. They had talked about going on a date, but both wanted the divorce to be finalized first.

Lynn leaned down and whispered something in Azadeh’s ear, and the young girl burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Bryson asked as he lifted Azadeh and tossed her into the air.

“Girl stuff, nothing you boys need to know about.” She winked at him before feeding a carrot to Midnight. “He’s so much calmer.” Midnight nudged Lynn’s pocket, looking for another carrot.

“Hannah said he was abused. It takes time for an animal to trust again. The other day he threw his head back when Noah walked in.” Bryson ran his hand along the horse’s neck.

“It’s okay, Midnight. Noah is scary sometimes,” she whispered to the horse.

Bryson wanted to ask what she planned to do after they made sure the man after her was gone. Would she stay in Montana or go back to Seattle? He reached up and scratched behind Midnight’s ear. How would the horse take it when she left, or would she take him with her and leave me with nothing to remember her by? He wasn’t ready to ask his questions because he was worried what her response might be. Deep down he knew she would be perfect for him and Azadeh, but maybe it would be too much to ask for her to help raise Azadeh.

“Bryson?”

“Yes?” He turned toward Azadeh.

“Are we moving somewhere else?” she asked.

He frowned down at her. “I know it’s not the same as where you grew up, but I have you registered to start school in January. Do you not like living here?”

“I like it here. Lynn said she was leaving.”

Lynn blushed. “Not right away.” Lynn knelt down so she was eye level with Azadeh. “I can’t stay here forever. Once the bad guy is in jail, I’m going to have to find a place to live.”

“I don’t want you to leave us,” Azadeh whispered. A small tear escaped the young girl’s eye, and it almost broke Bryson’s heart. Lynn was already talking about leaving, and it affected Azadeh as much as it did him. He was just able to hide his emotions a little better than the young girl.

“You don’t have to worry about finding a place. Montana Gold will always have room for you.” He reached out and gripped her hand.

Whatever he said had upset her.

Lynn reached up and wiped her eye. “You mean that?” She looked into his eyes, searching for something he didn’t understand. “This is the second time in my life I feel like I have a place to call home. I know I’m not part of your family, but it’s starting to feel like I have a place here.”

The barn and animals around him disappeared as he looked down at her. A light sheen still covered her eyes, but they weren’t tears of sadness. He searched his brain for the right words, but the only ones that came to mind would sound so caveman-like, and he didn’t want to wreck the moment.

Bryson pulled Lynn into his arms. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t have these feelings about family.” He dipped his head, and his lips brushed across hers for a second. Aware of Azadeh being close, he didn’t want to lose control in front of her. “I’ve waited over a month to taste those lips.”

“Wow.” She ran her fingers across them. “You’re right, the feelings I have for you aren’t something you should have for a family member.”

Bryson stepped back for a second. “Azadeh, can you go into the house and see if Matilda needs help?”

The young girl stared up at him for a second before turning and running toward the house. She barely cleared the barn before Bryson wrapped his arms around Lynn, his mouth capturing her lips. His tongue pushed past them to sweep across her tongue. The kiss wasn’t sweet like when Azadeh was near. This kiss was claiming her as his. He needed her as much as he needed his next breath. For the past four weeks, he had waited to do just that.

He pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. “I’ve wanted to do that since the first time I saw you.”

Lynn’s lips ticked upward. “I’ve waited just as long. From the way you just kissed me, I assume you talked to Gabriel.”

---