Page 123 of Winter Vows

Paul hesitated, then turned back. He knelt down and Bobby ran to him. Paul gathered him in a tight hug that brought the salty sting of tears to Kelsey’s eyes. Whatever else she thought of her ex-husband, she knew his emotions now were genuine.

“’Bye, little buddy,” Paul whispered, his voice breaking. “Remember that Daddy loves you, okay?”

Then he all but pushed Bobby in Kelsey’s direction and sprinted to his car. Bobby began crying in earnest then and nothing Kelsey could do seemed to console him as they stood on the dusty, lonely road and watched Paul drive away.

“Oh, baby, it’s going to be okay,” she whispered, even as she heard sirens in the distance and knew that Justin’s men were closing in on her ex-husband. She would do everything in her power to right Bobby’s word, but she doubted Paul’s would ever be the same again.

In that moment, she was able to recall with absolute clarity the man she had once loved so deeply, and all of the anger from the past few days died and gave way to regret.

“He’s rolling, We’re good to go.” Justin’s voice cut through the interminable silence as the radio crackled to life once more.

The deputy glanced toward Dylan. “You want in on this?”

Dylan thought of just how badly he wanted a piece of the arrest, but then he imagined Kelsey and Bobby just up the road and what they must be feeling.

“No, but thanks,” he said. He stepped from the car and held out his hand for his keys. The deputy returned them.

According to the last transmission Dylan had heard, Paul was still heading west, probably intending to loop around at some point and make his way back to the Dallas airport where he thought he could pick up his car. By now, that car was in some police impound lot, and if Justin had his way, Paul would get nowhere near the airport anyway.

Dylan hit the highway only a few car lengths behind the deputy who’d detained him. He pushed his speed to eighty, confident that there wasn’t a cop in the vicinity who was interested in handing out a ticket at the moment.

He covered the few miles to the meeting point in less than ten minutes. He spotted Kelsey at the side of the road, Bobby in her arms. Both of them were crying. He pulled to a stop behind her car, then waited a minute to give them some privacy before getting out.

“Hey, darlin’,” he called with forced cheer as he made his way to them.

Kelsey’s gaze shot to his and he could see the relief in her eyes. Without relaxing her grip on her son, she reached out a hand to touch his face.

“You’re okay?” she whispered. “Really?”

He winked at Bobby, who was staring at him wide-eyed, no doubt recalling the last time they’d met. “Not a scratch on me,” he assured them both.

His gaze caught Kelsey’s and held. “You did real good.”

She almost faltered then, as if the last of her strength had finally deserted her. Dylan took Bobby from her, then circled her waist with his other arm. “It’s over, Kelsey. It’s over and everything is going to be just fine.”

“I want to believe that,” she said as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.

He gave her a squeeze. “Then believe it.”

She sighed against him, then met his gaze. “I want to go home, Dylan. I just want to take my son and go home.”

He nodded. “You still have that radio in the car?”

“On the seat.”

“Let me okay it with Justin and we’ll get out of here. Meantime, you hop on in the back with Bobby. I’ll drive.”

“What about your car?”

“I’ll come back for it later.” He picked up the transmitter and called Justin. “Mind if I take Kelsey on home? Can you catch up with us there?”

“Ten-four,” Justin said.

“Everything okay on your end?” he asked, avoiding any direct mention of Paul or an arrest for Bobby’s sake.

“Yep. We’re on our way in now.”

“Anybody get hurt?”

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