stopped in front of her and removed the remaining bags from her grasp. His eyes locked with hers. “I know how you feel. I’ve been running on adrenaline the past few hours, and now I don’t have any left. I’ll tell her and let you know when I hear something about Corey.”
Fighting the urge to lose herself in his blue gaze, she was surprised she had the energy even to smile, but she managed somehow. She didn’t look away. “I appreciate that.”
For a long moment he remained in front of her. She couldn’t move. Nick attracted her. She didn’t know a lot about him personally, but she’d seen him in action tonight, trying to find a child. Too bad she wouldn’t be here more than three or four weeks before she returned to Alabama and her life there.
For the past two years, she’d been dating a guy who worked with her at the Legal Aid office in Mobile. They had so much in common—helping others, the same career—and she’d known him for years, but right before the holidays, they had mutually decided to be only friends. There was no spark between them, and she was beginning to believe there never would be.
She needed to focus on what she came to do, not a cowboy who made her start questioning her love life—or lack of one. She was just passing through Haven, here to learn about Fletcher and now any other family members. Then she would leave.
Nick strolled past Darcy and out into the hall. He gave her one nod. His actions dragged her away from her perfectly happy life in Alabama. Their gazes connected one last time. Her pulse sped while her lungs held her breath.
“Again, thanks for your help this evening. Good night.” His deep, husky voice wrapped around her, chasing away any lingering chill from earlier and confusing her even more.
The sound of his footsteps going down the stairs echoed through her mind until she finally shook herself out of her daze, plodded to the four-poster bed and collapsed on it. Her last thought as sleep descended was of Nick holding Corey as he tried to console the boy. He would make a great father.
* * *
After feeding the animals the next morning, Nick entered his house through the back door, stomping off the snow that had fallen lightly throughout the night. At least Darcy was comfortable at the inn and Corey was with Mrs. Scott. Nick would drive over to Dry Gulch after he ate breakfast. Then he could hopefully let Darcy know what would happen with Corey.
The events of the day before only reconfirmed he wouldn’t be a good father. Yes, he had found Corey, but he should have been there in the first place and stopped the child before he ran away.
Nick hung his overcoat and Stetson on a peg, noticing a beige hat and a black jacket on the remaining two hooks. The ever-present scent of coffee peppered the air. He loved that smell. The sound of shuffling footsteps coming toward the kitchen alerted him to his uncle’s presence.
“I didn’t hear you come in last night or get up this morning. I tried to stay up, but obviously I fell asleep in my lounge chair. You should have awakened me. How’s Corey?”
“We found him.” Nick went on to tell his uncle about Ned’s arrest and Mrs. Scott taking the boy.
“I figured he was okay or you wouldn’t have come home. What’s this about you picking up a stranger?” His uncle, a tall, thin man with graying hair, ambled to the refrigerator, removed a mixing bowl and poured its contents into a black skillet on the stove.
“How did you hear about Darcy?”
“Carol called me to let me know what was happening in case you forgot to. Of course, she knows you would have filled me in eventually. It was just an excuse to gossip, although she didn’t tell me a lot about this woman you rescued on the highway.”
“I don’t know a lot. She’s about my age. She’s a lawyer.” He wouldn’t tell his uncle how pretty Darcy was or he would make more of it. Uncle Howard was determined Nick would marry one day. Nick was just as resolved to stay single. Even when his mother was alive, his parents’ marriage had been volatile—not something he would want.
“Carol told me Darcy has the room booked for three weeks with a possibility of staying a fourth one.” Uncle Howard’s curiosity came to the forefront of their conversation as he scrambled the eggs and then popped some bread into the toaster. “Why would a young woman come here and stay? We don’t have too many coming through here, besides that Avery gal. And Avery has her own agenda.”
Nick chuckled. “Don’t know why.”
His uncle shook his head. “Did you find out anything else about her?”
“I figure Carol and Clarence will get the lowdown and tell you. You three are such gossipers. Darcy is probably being drilled right now by Carol.”
Uncle Howard propped one hand on his waist. “I do not gossip. I’m genuinely interested in the people around me.”
“And yet you haven’t discovered who is sabotaging the boys ranch or, for that matter, who messed with our fence a while back.”
“I’m working on it, but I ain’t no detective.” When two pieces of bread popped up lightly toasted, Howard buttered each slice and set it on a plate. “I don’t see why anyone would steal children’s saddles, especially from a home for troubled boys.”
“I could think of one—Fletcher. And the way the man feels about me bothering him about Corey, he could have sabotaged our fence too.”
“I’ve considered him, but he would just use his influence and money to shut down the ranch, not soil his hands taking the saddles or letting the calves loose. Don’t quite know why he’s so against the ranch when his dad did a lot for it. I’m glad Tucker isn’t alive to know what his son is doing. Now, our ranch might be another story. Fletcher ain’t too happy with you. When are you going to the boys ranch next?”
“Tomorrow for sure. Flint said there are two horses I need to look at.” Nick volunteered as a farrier when they needed one.
“I’m so glad he’s found someone. Lana is perfect for him and will be a great mother for Logan.”
“Married life will agree with Flint.” Left unsaid was that marriage wouldn’t work for Nick, especially with someone who wanted children. Seeing what Corey was going through only reinforced that notion.
“It’s good for a lot of men. Look at Heath and Josie.”
“Stop right there. Flint is the foreman at the boys ranch, and Heath is a Texas Ranger—they do all right for themselves. I’m struggling to make this ranch viable, and I don’t know how I could support a wife when this place needs so much. So quit trying to fix me up. I don’t have the time.”
“There’s always Avery Culpepper,” Uncle Howard said with a chuckle, while dishing up the scrambled eggs.
Several months ago, Cyrus Culpepper, one of the boys ranch’s earliest residents, had died and bequeathed his family place to the Lone Star Cowboy League. The larger property allowed the boys ranch to take in more kids. The only hitch to the inheritance was that the town had to find the four other original residents of the ranch, besides Cyrus. Also Avery Culpepper, Cyrus’s granddaughter, needed to be located. And she had been, but Lana didn’t think the woman who claimed to be Avery was the real one.
“Do you think she is for real?” Nick
