defeated and frustrated, Emily stared at Zach. Something didn’t seem right about him. He was a rancher, yet he kept to himself. She had always thought ranchers were friendly people. But Zach kept the road to his house fenced and locked.
“I tackled you pretty hard,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “In the dark, I thought you were a man.”
“That comes from being almost six feet tall,” she remarked dryly.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded, touching ribs that ached badly. “A little sore.”
“I’ll get the kids, and we’ll drive you back to your car. You shouldn’t have left it on the highway.”
“Don’t wake them at this hour. I can walk back.”
“No, you can’t. I think they’re awake, anyway. I’ll go see.”
“Isn’t it late for little children to be awake?”
“They went to bed a long time ago. They woke up and wanted drinks of water. Since my divorce, they don’t sleep well. If they’re asleep again, I’ll carry them down.”
“May I come see them?”
He glanced at her, seeing the uncertainty in her expression. He knew Amber’s moods and the chronic liar and actress that she was. He suspected the sister was the same, and wondered if she was trying to soften him up. She couldn’t give a damn about the children because she knew nothing about them.
“I suppose.” He leveled a look at her that made her draw a shaky breath.
Emily felt anger and dislike radiate from him like heat from a wood stove. “You don’t even know me, yet you dislike me.”
He had started toward the hall. He stopped and swung around. “I know you’re Amber’s sister. You’re blood kin. Your sister is coldhearted, completely wrapped up in herself. There are two little children upstairs that have been hurt damnably by her.”
He left the room and Emily trailed behind him, watching the play of muscles in his back. She was stunned by his anger. She couldn’t argue with him. And she suspected that this man had been as badly hurt as the two children.
As she walked beside him into the hall, she was aware of his height. She was nearly six feet tall, yet he was taller than she by a good seven or eight inches.
“Why aren’t the police searching for Amber?” he asked as they climbed the stairs.
“They have started searching,” she replied. “Last weekend they found her car abandoned and burned.”
Zach frowned. “I saw that car on the television news, but it didn’t say anything about Amber.” And in the numerous times Zach had spoken with Nunez about Amber, the sheriff never once mentioned the burned-out car or that Amber was considered a missing person.
“They found my name on a slip of paper that was in the grass near the car. They called me before they were absolutely sure it was her car.”
“I can’t imagine your sister isn’t somewhere doing exactly what she wants. On the other hand, maybe she finally went too far with someone.”
“I’m worried about her. She sounded terrified when she called me.”
He shrugged and continued up the steps in silence. At the top of the stairs, he motioned toward an open door. As they entered, she heard a thumping. Zach switched on another light that revealed a black retriever sprawled on the floor, his tail thumping loudly. The dog got to its feet and crossed the room toward them.
“This is Tiger.”
“I was afraid of a watchdog.”
“Yeah, well, this is one of them—and he’s as tough as vanilla pudding.”
She scratched the dog’s head and followed Zach across the room to a narrow child’s bed that had a play castle as a headboard. He leaned over the bed and Emily reached out to grasp his arm. The instant her fingers closed around his muscled forearm, she felt an acute awareness of him. “Don’t wake her,” she whispered. “I can walk to my car.”
His eyes narrowed as he looked at her hand and then at her.
Emily’s gaze ran past him to the child, and she forgot the man.
“Oh, great saints,” she whispered and moved closer, forgetting Zach Durham’s existence as she looked at the hauntingly familiar sleeping child.
Two
Zach stared at Emily. Her face paled and she moved closer, brushing against him as she leaned over the bed. He looked from her to his sleeping baby and he knew why she was stunned. The child looked like her child. Two heads of red ringlets caught the light and reflected gold in their depths. Two pairs of eyes were fringed with thick, auburn lashes. Two straight noses were sprinkled with freckles. And he knew if Rebecca opened her eyes, they would match the green of Emily’s.
Amber had been a natural redhead, but she had always kept her hair dyed blond. And it was straight, bearing little resemblance to Rebecca’s curls.
Zach watched Emily reach out to touch one of those cuds, letting it wind around her finger. He frowned and studied her, remembering the times Amber had played him for a fool with her lying. Did the sister really feel moved by the sight of her niece, or was this some ploy?
She stepped closer, and he wondered whether she was aware of his existence. As he stared at her, he fought a strange battle with his emotions. He didn’t want to soften his feelings toward her. She was Amber’s sister! Yet he couldn’t help feeling less hostile toward her as she stared at Rebecca. Tears glistened in Emily’s eyes, and he watched her swipe her hand across her face.
If she was so moved by the sight of her niece, why hadn’t she written or contacted them? Yet already he knew the answer. Amber kept no ties to anyone. He knew almost nothing about Amber’s family except that the father was in prison for robbery.
He walked to the center of the room and waited until Emily turned from the bed. Her face was pale and her expression was forlorn as if she had just lost something valuable. He had a ridiculous urge to wrap his arms around her and tell her she could stay and get to know Rebecca.
He shook off the impulse. “You can stay here tonight and we’ll take you to your car in the morning,” he said, wondering if even this gesture was a sign that he had lost his wits.
“Oh, no! I don’t want to put you out. It wasn’t that bad a walk. I really don’t mind.”
“We have plenty of room here,” he said, realizing she didn’t want to stay any more than he wanted to have her. “Either you stay or I wake them.”
She bit her lip as if torn and glanced back at Rebecca. “I’ll stay. Please don’t wake them. May I see Jason, too?”
“Sure,” he answered, realizing there were things she probably wanted to know about her sister—things he didn’t want to get into right now.
“Don’t turn the light on in
