Page 6 of The Cold Ride

Relief flashed across Wyatt’s face. “We’d appreciate it. If it’s not too much trouble.”

“None at all. Let me just grab your keys and you can head on up.” Once they were up in their rooms, then I could try and figure out how I was going to handle the rest.

Lifting the drop cloth covering the registration desk, I selected four rooms on the second floor and grabbed keys off their designated hooks. “Your rooms are up on the second floor if you want to get your things. I—”

The loud rattle of the bus engine roared in front of the inn. Any chance for calm explanations and introductions flew right out the window.

Shit.

What was I going to do?

But the decision was taken from my hands when the front door flew open. My heart lodged in my throat. Amelia happily strolled inside in her purple coat and pale blue backpack.

“Hey, Mom.” She bounded my way, glancing at the guys like their appearance was no big deal, as if we had a bunch of Navy SEALs visiting every day.

“Hi, baby.” I hugged her tight, knowing her life would never be the same. Neither would mine.

“I didn’t know we have guests again.” She looked at the four guys with my arm around her shoulders.

My gaze landed on James. The poor man looked shell-shocked. But then, he had every reason to.

And I wanted to reverse time. Slink away in the dead of night. Anything to keep this moment from happening. Smiling at Amelia, I said, “These are some of my old friends who are going to stay at the inn tonight. Why don’t you go on back and grab yourself a snack while I finish getting them settled in their rooms?”

“Okay.” Amelia gave the guys a smile before she bounded down the hallway toward our quarters.

Steeling myself once she was out of earshot, I finally glanced at them.

And James blurted out, “She looks like my mother.”

3

Holy fuck!I had a kid.

There was no doubt in my mind she was mine. My head spun at the implications. It didn’t seem possible. Had I died on the battlefield and entered some twisted hell dimension?

She’d always been the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen with her strawberry blonde hair that was currently covered by a blue bandana. If anything, she was even more beautiful than I remember, even dressed in dirty overalls and covered in a fine dust. There was a smudge of dirt across her cheek, and it only made her pale, luminous green eyes appear even larger.

Rory’s hands shook. The earth trembled beneath my feet. Or maybe it was just me because my entire world had been rocked on its end. I stared down the hall where she disappeared. The girl with my mother’s eyes, her brunette hair a shade or so darker than mine, and frankly, the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen.

My daughter.

Jesus Christ, I had a daughter I hadn’t even known existed. Out of all the things I expected to find when we waltzed inside the quaint Roseberry Garden Inn, it wasn’t my child. As the miles slipped away after leaving Moira Kelly’s home in South Carolina, I braced myself for the reunion I never wanted to have, unable to shake the memories of that night.

My mind churned at the implications. A noxious rage rose within me. How could she have kept my daughter’s existence from me?

I flexed my hands. The woman deserved an epic fucking spanking.

“If you guys will give me a minute. I need to get Amelia situated. Then I’ll show you to your rooms.” Rory headed off down the hall before I could find my voice and ask her, what the fuck?

Amelia. I rolled her name around my head. Amelia with the braids spilling over her tiny shoulders and a dash of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Amelia with the sweet smile and bright purple coat.

My daughter’s name was Amelia.

And I was instantly, irrevocably in love with her. I wanted to know everything about her. Starting with her birthday and ending with a why the fuck her mother never told me about her.

Goddammit, she was so fucking gorgeous.

Emotions slammed into me fast and furious. Would I be a good dad? All I knew was war and death. Would she want me in her life? Was there another man she called Dad? And while I’d considered having kids at some point, I’d never found a woman I wanted to have a child with, that I wanted to be tied to for the rest of my life.

---