Page 7 of The Way Back Home
“Tomorrow, I think,” he said distractedly. “It’s about a twelve-hour drive straight through, and I want to get there before the cookies are gone.”
Mona laughed. “How many of you are there?”
“Ten, including me,” he said, grinning. “That’s not counting in-laws and grandkids.”
“Your mother always said she wanted a proper brood,” Mona said with obvious affection.
“We are that,” Noah admitted, a slight smile curving his lips. A pang went through his chest, knowing thathis decision not to return home and settle down was a disappointment. But it was also necessary.
“Your mama loves you,” Mona said softly, as if she’d read his mind, and he had a flashback to that odd woman at the Atlanta airport.
“I know she does.”
“Well, come on then,” Mona said. “I’ll close up the office. You go on and get packed.”
“I will,” Noah murmured, his eyes already back on the performance outside when he saw a marked vehicle driving slowly down the lane. “Are you expecting the sheriff tonight, Mona?”
Mona was back at the window in a second, her warm smile replaced by concern as her shoulders tightened and her eyes narrowed. Sheriff Jackson’s cruiser circled around the back of the barn, out of sight. When it didn’t reappear on the other side, a soft curse crossed the older woman’s lips.
Noah’s gaze snapped to her. Since coming out to the ranch, he hadn’t heard anything crosser thandangpass her lips.
His gut clenched, his honed senses instantly on alert. Mona was one of the toughest, most capable women he knew, yet he saw only fear and worry in her eyes.
“What’s going on, Mona?”
“I’m not sure, but whatever it is, we can’t let Bill take T away. We just can’t.”
With that, Mona was out the door. Noah was right behind her.
CHAPTER FOUR
TEAGAN
Engrossed in the thrill of riding Onyx, Teagan didn’t notice the newcomer until he was at the corral gate. Fit, thirty-something, and armed, he was dressed in an official uniform, complete with badge, baton, and handcuffs. She didn’t knowwhohe was, but she knewwhathe was.
Teagan coaxed the feisty stallion to a walk, then brought him to a halt on the farthest side of the paddock to dismount. A small voice in the back of her head suggested that the guy might just be a friend of Mona’s and was enjoying the show, but the knot in her gut told her otherwise.
She’d learned the hard way to trust her instincts.
She remained on the far side of the stallion, nearly invisible beside the fourteen-hand-high mount. A discreet peek around Onyx’s foreleg revealed the copleaning against the gatepost. His stance was deceptively casual. His intense stare was anything but.
“Evening,” he called out in a friendly sort of tone, his deep voice carrying easily in the still, dusky air. “You mind giving me a moment of your time?”
Teagan pretended she hadn’t heard him. Her mind was racing with the hows and whys, but ultimately, none of it mattered. Another lesson she’d learned the hard way:don’t trust the police.
Switching into survival mode, Teagan silenced the mental noise and focused. This was not her first rodeo, and she’d prepared for this eventuality. The cop was between her and the loft, so going back there was a no-go.
Woods, it was then.
She let the adrenaline build, reviewing escape routes and the best way to get to the emergency pack she’d stowed in the woods about a mile away.
The cop straightened, his hand on the gate latch, ready to enter.
“You there,” he called out again, his voice louder this time. “I need a word, please.”
The latch door from the house slammed shut as Mona barreled out at full speed. “Bill Jackson, what are you doing out there?”
Mona spoke with the tone of a woman chastising a bunch of kids for TP’ing her house on mischief night. Unfortunately for Teagan, the sheriff didn’t seem fazed. His eyes remained riveted on her—or rather, the part of her he could see beneath the stallion’s underside.
