She went down on her knees beside him.
“Can’t sleep?”
“No.”
“Why are you being so mean to your sister?”
He turned on his side to face her. “Because she’s being silly and she’s going to get us caught. Then they’ll take us back to Nigel and put you in jail. I can’t take that, Callie. I can’t. And if you’re in jail, I’ll just die. I’m so scared.”
“Oh, Adam.” She gathered him in her arms, her heart breaking. “Please stop worrying so much. I’ll take care of us. I promise.”
“But the sheriff keeps coming here.”
“He’s just being nice.” As she said the words, she knew they were true. Wade Montgomery was a nice man. “Listen to me. Worrying is my department and I will handle the sheriff. I want you to turn back into the sweet little boy you’ve always been. Okay?”
“Okay.” He rubbed his face against her.
“Now go to sleep.”
Callie walked out onto the front porch and sat in one of the rockers, her heart heavy. It was a beautiful moonlit night with a million stars twinkling through the live oaks. She drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs, listening to the gentle serenade of the crickets. Everything was quiet. Peaceful. Except her thoughts.
How could her mother do this to them? she asked herself again. Put them in the position of fleeing from the law. So much anger churned inside her at the turmoil Adam was going through, and the grief and fear Mary Beth and Brit were experiencing. She tried not to be angry at Glynis, but she was. She’d been taken in by a con artist. Nigel had lavished her with attention and praise, something she’d needed after John’s death. Still, it didn’t give her the right to bring that awful man into their lives.
Glynis could be impulsive and selfish at times, but she’d never done anything like this. She and John had had a good marriage, a good life, so how could she fall for Nigel? Callie didn’t understand that and every time she’d tried to talk to her mother, Glynis would say they’d talk later. But later never came. Instead, a nightmare had followed and she was still…
Her thoughts skidded to an abrupt stop as a car pulled up to the curb. Wade. Again. He unfolded his tall frame from the vehicle and started up the walk. It was late—too late for a friendly visit. What was he doing here? There could only be one reason. He knew her identity and had come to arrest her.
Her first reaction was to run inside, lock the front door and get the kids out the back. But her car was in front.
She was trapped.
And she didn’t even hear a siren.
CHAPTER FOUR
AS THE SHERIFF STROLLED UP the steps, Callie held her breath until her chest burned. Why was he here?
“Mrs. Austin.” Wade tipped his hat in welcome.
“Sheriff,” she acknowledged in a hesitant voice, her heart ticking like a time bomb about to explode.
“I was making my last drive through town before heading home and I saw you sitting out here.” He leaned a shoulder against a pillar.
Her lungs expanded with relief. He didn’t know who she was—yet. She had more time. Tightening her arms around her legs, she said, “It’s so relaxing and quiet. I can barely hear the traffic on the highway.”
“Yep. Homestead’s a peaceful place. Not much happens.”
“I like that.”
“That’s why you came to Homestead, isn’t it?”
Her eyes shot to his, trying to make out his expression in the moonlight. Was there something hidden in that remark? There seemed to be, but she really couldn’t tell. Her perception wasn’t all that good lately, and her nerves were a mangled mass of spaghetti.
“What do you mean?” she asked for good measure.
Wade walked over and sat in the other rocker. It squeaked against the floorboards from his weight. “A small quiet town to raise your children.”
“Yes.”
Away from Nigel Tremont and his sadistic behavior.
Wade clasped his hands between his knees. “I really came by to apologize.”
“Oh?”
“I should have spoken to you first before offering Brit a chance to ride a horse. That put you in an awkward position.”
Callie tucked her hair behind her ear, amazed at his sensitivity. “Since we started making plans to come to Texas, Brit has talked about being a cowgirl. She’s never been near a horse so I’m not sure where the idea comes from. I feel once she gets near the big animal all that will change. Brit’s very impulsive.”
“And very charming. Like her mother.”
His voice felt like a caress in the night, warming her skin and… Oh, this was getting too intimate—with the wrong man.
A tense pause followed, then he said, “I’m afraid I had personal reasons for making the offer.”
“Personal reasons?”
“Yeah.” He rubbed his hands together. “My son died four years ago and his horse hasn’t been ridden since. I was hoping another child would…” He stopped for a moment. “My father is very protective of that horse and it probably wouldn’t have worked anyway.”
Callie’s heart filled with compassion. “I’m so sorry about your son.” She could only imagine the grief and the heartache of losing a child and she could hear it in every word he spoke.
“Thank you,” he said and got to his feet with restless energy. It was clear that talking about his son wasn’t easy and he quickly changed the subject. “I thought I better warn you, too, about the townsfolk. They’ll be eager to help and I hope it’s not going to offend you. People around here are just friendly.”
She stood on her bare feet facing him. “I’ll remember that and I’m probably going to need a lot of help. The house—” she waved a hand toward the front door “—needs lots of work.”
“June Bug is a good carpenter and he can fix just about anything.”
“Odell’s a very interesting person.”
A dark eyebrow arched in amusement. “Yeah. I think he’s been called that a time or two.”
“I’m not calling him June Bug. I consider it an insult.”
Wade studied her in the moonlight, which seemed to form a halo around the blond hair that hung loosely to her shoulders. Without her shoes, she barely came up to his shoulder, but despite her petite size he had a feeling Callie Austin was a very strong woman. She would be a pleasant surprise for the town of Homestead. That was his personal opinion. His train of thought seemed to be completely
