Page 99 of The Cattleman's Unforgettable Love

She nodded gratefully. It was a detail she wouldn't have thought of.

Subroutine: What's the name of your caseworker?

Rootless2: She's called Mrs. Sanchez. Want me to get the number for you? It's in my shoe.

Amelia frowned at that. Was it some kind of typo? She glanced at Ford, and he grimaced.

"What do you think he means?"

He blew out a sigh. "I used to hide things I didn't want my dad to see in my shoe."

Amelia wanted to scream. She clenched her fist tight, her fingernails digging into her palm until she drew blood. Ford didn't say anything else. He was tapping away at his phone again.

Rootless2: Here's the number. I'm going to have to go. They're back.

Subroutine: Hang in there, Hunter. I'm coming for you.

Rootless2: Hope you can come soon, Auntie Amelia.

She started to type a reply, but the green light beside his username turned red. She closed her eyes, but that didn't stop the tears leaking out from underneath her eyelashes.

Ford moved closer and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her onto his lap. "It's okay, Lil’ Bit. We'll go get him. We'll find her." He held his phone up and snapped a picture of the screen, even as she huddled, shaking against him. She appreciated that he was trying to capture the phone number before it disappeared – he couldn't know that the entire conversation was already logged and saved securely on her drive.

When the shaking had subsided a little, he kissed the top of her head. "Are you ready to go?" he asked.

She looked up at him. "You need to get back to the ranch?"

"No, Lil’ Bit. We're heading to Florida, aren't we? I mean, we'll go back and pack a bag first, but other than that..."

“But I need to book a flight … and you can’t even take the time off, can you? And …”

He smiled. "You think I'd let you go without me? I already talked to Cash. He's got Bear fueling the plane as we speak."

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ford stared out the window of the plane, still trying to catch up with himself. The day had turned into a whirlwind. After Amelia had connected with Hunter this morning, by the time they'd made it back to the ranch, Cash had rallied the troops. Travis and Trip were sitting in the kitchen, their bags by the door. Ace arrived a few minutes later with a duffel over his shoulder. And Janey had told him that Emmett had just run home to pack a bag because he planned to come with them.

That had surprised Ford. Until Janey explained that the girls were going to stay with her. And when Emmett had heard about Hunter and Natalie, he'd insisted that he should go along since he was the only one who had any experience with kids. Wade and Ty were also ready to go, while Kolby and Tanner weren't thrilled about being left behind. But Cash had insisted someone needed to stay, and between the two of them, they could handle everything on the ranch.

He turned to Amelia when she looked up from her laptop. "Am I going to wake up in a minute and discover this is all just a bad dream?"

He leaned closer, not able to wrap his arm around her across the armrest of the wide leather seats, but leaning his shoulder against hers for support. "I think what will happen is that you're going to turn Hunter and Natalie's nightmare around."

She blew out a sigh. "What if I missed something, though? What if this is all some kind of setup and that wasn't..."

He held her gaze. "Are there any doubts in your mind at all that he wasn't Hunter?"

She pressed her lips together as she shook her head.

"Me neither,” he told her. “I know it's a lot to process, and I'm sorry. Maybe I should have told you what I suspected before now, but... I didn't want to bring it up in case I was wrong."

She shrugged. "I should have figured it out sooner myself. I told you; I spent the whole week trying not to think about it. But we can't change what's happened."

"No. But we can change things for Hunter and Natalie now."

Her eyes grew wide. "What am I going to do?"

He sat back a little. In his mind, there was no question of what she would do – she'd take the kids in, become their legal guardian. Give them a home and family – his family.

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