defiance, but fear was already sliding over her, jarring her composure. “I can’t do this.” She dropped her tone and petulant posture. “Not anymore. I put you and your Sand obsession out on the curb. You can’t just pop back up. My heart can’t take it.” She rubbed her chest. She shouldn’t have to worry about protecting her infant from a fugitive, and she shouldn’t have to endure the pain of watching Ryder walk away again when his business in Shadow Point was done.
Her arms found their way back around her middle, uselessly trying to hold herself together while a tornado of emotions spun in her scrambled head. How stupid of her to feel heartbroken all over again. The sight of Ryder Garrett shouldn’t do this to her. It wasn’t right. Wasn’t fair. She bit into her lip and forced herself to think rationally. Ryder wasn’t back for her. He was back for Sand. He’d landed on her doorstep dragging the same baggage he’d left with. Only this time everything was worse. The fugitive was in town. And she had a baby to think about.
She narrowed her eyes at Ryder, measuring what to say next. She should never have let his clear expression and sensible words fool her. He wasn’t reformed. Ryder was still a junkie. He might not be hooked on anything illegal, but his drug of choice was every bit as lethal.
* * *
RYDER WATCHED HELPLESSLY as Kara’s wide eyes brimmed with tears. Never one for a big show of emotion, she shoved away from the table and turned her back on him. He followed her to the living room on instinct. “Kara.” This was 100 percent his fault. He’d somehow allowed the monster he’d chased for so long to wind up on her doorstep. Whether or not Sand had made a personal appearance at her home, he’d found her at the park, and that meant he knew her routine. He’d likely been watching since the first day he was set free. “I’m sorry.”
She stopped midstep and turned on her toes to face him. A solitary tear rolled over her cheek, but she made no move to catch it. Instead, her stubborn chin inched higher. “Why?” she snapped.
“Why what?” Ryder froze, mentally flailing. “Why is Sand here? Bothering you? I don’t know, but I promise you, I will stop him this time.”
She puffed out her cheeks, sending air into her bangs and setting them to flutter. “Why are you sorry?” She dragged the question into long, pointed words.
Ryder rocked back on his heels. A boulder of regret settled in the hollow of his chest, flattening his lungs and strangling his breath. He slid his fingers into the front pockets of his jeans. When he’d followed her to the living room, he’d intended to hold her, to cradle and comfort her, but the look on her face said he’d likely lose a hand for trying, and he’d better start talking or he was going back to the curb, fugitive or not. “I’m sorry for everything.” He cringed at the lame answer. He knew it wasn’t what she wanted, but it was true anyway.
“Keep talking.”
“All right.” Might as well start with the most obvious and pertinent reason. “I’m sorry my position as a US marshal has upset your life and possibly endangered you and your baby.”
Her eyebrows rose in unison. A perfect expression of You think?
She turned to pace the room, aimlessly righting toppled piles of plastic toys and stacks of small pink blankets. “Anything else?” she prompted, suddenly abusing a frilly pillow.
“Yeah, but I don’t think this is the right time to talk about that.” In other words, he didn’t know where to begin, and he’d rather not. He’d imagined contacting her a thousand times, even rehearsed in the shower what he would say to her, and, embarrassingly, once to his therapist at work. It hadn’t been his intent to talk about Kara, but there was only so long he could discuss punching his coworker in the face.
Kara snapped upright, dropping the little pillow onto the couch. “Now’s not good for you, huh?” She nodded slowly, baiting him. “Well, a better time, then.” She glided around the coffee table straightening magazines. “I wonder when that will be?” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Maybe two or three years from now when you turn up without notice again? Will that work for you?” She smiled, tight and bright. “I can’t imagine what the reason will be next time. Maybe a crime boss on the run will be posing as my daughter’s preschool teacher.”
Ryder’s lips twitched. He’d always gotten a kick out of Kara’s fury. Not that she was usually wrong in her anger. She was patient and forgiving to a fault, but she was also stretching for five foot four, and her long wavy blond hair and big cartoon princess eyes made it all the worse. Angry Kara was a fluffy bunny baring her teeth, and the sight of her tiny face turning six shades of pissed usually ended their fights. He’d laugh, apologize and drag her into his arms, because what kind of jerk upsets a bunny?
Kara’s forced smile fell. She pressed her palms against the narrow curve of her waist, emphasizing her full breasts and testing the integrity of her tank top. “Something funny?”
He pulled his eyes back above her collar where they belonged. “What?”
“Why is the fugitive you were chasing three years ago bothering me now? To hurt you? That seems silly. If he thinks we’re still a couple, he should brush up on his stalking skills.”
“I imagine that’s what he’s doing now. I think you’re right. He’s looking to hurt me, and now he’s free to do it.”
Kara’s knees buckled. She planted onto their old couch with a sharp exhale and covered her lips with narrow fingers. “He asked me about the daddy.”
“What did you say?” A bubble of hope rose in Ryder’s chest. “Did you tell him the father’s name? Make sure he knew she wasn’t mine?” Maybe Kara and her baby were safer than he’d thought. Sand was sure to leave Kara alone if he knew she wasn’t in Ryder’s life anymore. He’d have to move on. Find another angle.
Kara stretched her eyes wide. “I didn’t tell him anything. He asked if her daddy was at work, then he said he must be missing her. I just said no. I don’t engage with people like that, and I never give out personal details. I made it crystal clear that my level of interest in talking with him was zero, and I left.”
Ryder swore, then pinched his lips tight. He ran a heavy hand through his hair and curled his fingers knuckle-deep into the strands. Kara had done the right thing for any other situation, but she’d likely only kindled Sand’s interest today. They were engaged when Ryder started to pursue him. Sand had no reason to think they weren’t married now and raising a family.
“S-so,” Kara stuttered. “Sand is definitely coming after me now because he thinks we got married and had a baby.”
Ryder took a seat at her side and swooped an arm around her shoulders like he had hundreds of times before. “Come here.”
She leaned into him, covering her face with one hand and rolling against his side. He inhaled the soft, familiar scent of her, soaked in her warmth and longed to be her hero once again. The man she’d fallen in love with when he saved her goofy kite from a tree. Her class had finger painted terrible kites to look like butterflies and rainbows. An errant wind had blown Kara’s into a tree. If it hadn’t been for that damn kite and Ryder’s affinity for tree climbing, they might never have met. But they did, and they were happy.
He missed being there for her. Opening jars and carrying things her short little arms couldn’t manage. He missed driving her places in his truck so she could perform a one-woman karaoke concert in the passenger seat. More than that, he desperately missed her.
Kara
