“What about your mother?” He knew something about her history but not personal details.
“You probably already know all of us have different mothers. Mine died just a few years ago.”
Lucas said nothing. Her line of Coltons wasn’t the high end compared to those others in town. He hadn’t paid much attention to that gossip, but Rusty’s was the rough branch of the clan, their spawn not accepted by the wealthier Coltons. Bad reputation due to hard living.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
He’d always thought Demi needed no approval from anyone. Her strength surpassed anything he’d heard about her father.
Standing, he strode to the window next to the tree, parting the drapes as though to survey for security, when in fact he needed the time to recover. Rusty tainted her reputation with those who didn’t look deeper. Her brothers had proven themselves. Her sister, too. Did Demi feel she hadn’t yet?
“I didn’t know about your mother.” He turned to look back at her.
She lowered her eyes, a telltale sign of the loss, the memory of her mother still painful.
“What was she like?”
Her eyes lifted. “Someone who should have never married Rusty.”
“I’m guessing the mothers of all your siblings realize that.”
She met his eyes and he turned from the window to keep up the contact.
“My father doesn’t do much to change our reputations, but he is my father. There’s nothing I can do to change that.”
“If you could, would you want to?”
“No. What would be the point?”
He didn’t respond.
She stretched her legs and rested her feet on the ottoman. “My mother was naïve, but not ignorant. She preferred to look at everyone in the best light. She saw good in everyone. Even Rusty.”
He gave her time to go on.
“Rusty’s bad qualities outweighed his good, but she only cared about the good. I suppose that’s why she married him. I can forgive her because she was so full of love and because she finally took me and left. We had a good life without Rusty. We were close. I lived with her up until she died. I had just finished college.” She rested her chin on her knee and drifted off in thought.
“I’m sorry. That must have been hard on you.”
She shrugged, as though opting for bravery instead of acknowledging painful memories. “I had Brayden.”
He knew she was closest to Brayden. “How did she die?”
“Car accident.” She slid her feet off the ottoman and leaned on her elbows.
“I’m sorry.”
She sat up and looked at him. “Stop saying that.”
That he was sorry? He did feel sorry for her.
“You Coltons never cared much for any Gages. You’re only putting up this fantastic front to lure me back to Red Ridge.”
“You’ve always been interested in the family feud that’s been raging for a century. I never paid it much attention. And I won’t try to keep telling you I’m not here to take you in.”
“The only reason I found the feud so interesting is there was plenty of feuding going on in my family. None of my father’s other wives liked my mother. I barely saw my half brothers or half sister. I never understood what the feud was about. My family is about as broken as any can get. We were disliked because we have a low reputation. I guess I thought that funny...or silly.”
She confirmed his notion that she needed no one’s approval.
“How did you end up so close to Brayden, then?” he asked.
“I would run into him on occasion. We started talking and discovered we had a lot in common. We both love the woods and mountains. We liked the same kind of literature and food. And...” She stared at the fireplace with a soft smile forming. “We just...talk a lot. It’s easy to be with him.”
“Love of woods and mountains.” No wonder Brayden had become a search-and-rescue specialist. He hadn’t known until now why Demi had become a bounty hunter. He supposed it had something to do with that, but more so a desire to catch criminals, and for Demi, that included satisfying her outlaw spirit.
“I never thought you were a roughneck just because your dad is.” Outlaw, yes, but she had soft spots he doubted even she realized she possessed.
“But you think I killed Bo.”
“Did,” he corrected her. “I know you’re innocent.”
She humphed.
Another gust pelted snow against the windows and outer walls. The storm showed no signs of letting up anytime soon. Lucas didn’t mind. What he did mind was his reason for not minding. Being stranded alone with Demi filled him with excitement. Maybe more than redemption had drawn him here. Maybe Demi herself had. Her innocence might have had a bigger effect on him than he realized.
Demi heard Wolf on the baby monitor. He’d started to cry. She got up and went to the secret door. Leaving that open, she flipped on the light. There was no overhead light in this room, just two brushed-brass lamps with bear-embroidered shades. She went to his crib to see what had awakened him. Judging from the smell, she didn’t have to guess. Lifting him with a kiss to his pudgy cheek, she quieted him and then laid him on the changing table.
He didn’t protest. In fact, she was pretty sure he enjoyed having his diaper changed. She bent to brush her nose with his.
“Don’t you?” she cooed. “You like this.”
He wiggled his arms and legs along with a baby sound of glee.
She smiled with a heart full of love. And proceeded to change him.
“You’re going to be a clean freak when you get older, aren’t you?”
He made the gleeful squeal again.
She cleaned him up and put on a fresh diaper. When she’d finished, she picked him up and held him, unable to resist. She was tired and needed more sleep, but these moments were just too precious to relinquish too soon.
“He’s a good baby.”
A jolt shot through her and she turned. Lucas stood in the doorway. How long had he been there?
“Sorry.” He walked into the room. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“He likes eating and having his diapers changed. He doesn’t even mind a bath.” She
