is it?” Tessa called as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. Running a fast hand over her hair, she cautiously waited at the door. Who could be knocking this late at night?
“It’s Cord, Tessa.”
Her heart plummeted with dread the moment she heard his deep voice. There was only one reason Cord would show up on her doorstep without calling, only one mission that would bring him to her house despite the hour.
Hunt. She’d been fearing the worst, and clearly, the news Cord had about his brother was too serious for a phone call. Swallowing tightly, she opened the door to stare at him.
His darkly handsome face was drawn and worried. “May I come in?”
“Of course.” She stepped back, drawing her robe tightly around her with fingers that clenched the soft velour lapels for nervous support.
Closing the door behind him, he said, “Tessa—”
“Cord. Please. Just tell me. Don’t try to spare me.” She was speaking too fast, but Tessa couldn’t stand the tension knotting her insides.
“Two men came to my house tonight. They claimed they had news about Hunt, but…” He squinted at her as he considered his next words. “I had the strangest hunch they were really looking for you.”
“Looking for me?” She sank into an overstuffed chair covered with a bright tropical fabric and motioned Cord to sit in the wicker chair across from her.
“Their story was that they had come to tell me Hunt was dead.”
“Oh, no!” Even though she expected the worst, hearing it shattered her. Tears instantly burned her eyes.
“Wait.” He held up a hand. “Tessa, I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there was something off about their story.”
“What do you mean?” She could barely push her voice through her stiff lips. Her entire body seemed frozen, unable to move.
He got up, moving pantherlike to look out every window in the den of the small, three-bedroom house. What he thought he might see in the darkness, Tessa didn’t know.
“They had ID. They had the right uniform. They almost said the right words. Almost.”
“Almost?”
“Almost, if I wasn’t already inclined to be cautious because of Hunt’s work. Almost, if they hadn’t followed up their song-and-dance routine by asking me where to find you.”
She shook her head, puzzled, trying to follow Cord’s words and yet unable to think through the blinding haze of sadness.
“They said they wanted to inform you that Hunt had died an honorable death while on a sensitive assignment. You know, the usual clichés.”
Pain flowed through her every nerve ending at hearing the blunt words. “But if you don’t believe them—if you think they were really looking for me…” Panic rose inside her. “Are you suggesting someone wants to use me to flush Hunt out?”
“I don’t know. And I don’t want to get ahead of myself before I get some answers out of the military.”
He waved a hand dismissively but not with much emphasis, and Tessa realized he was exhausted. Her gaze sought the clock; it was nearly midnight. Cord would have gotten up at about four in the morning to check on his cattle. “You’re tired,” she murmured.
Cord sent her a sharp, assessing glance. “I’m not tired.”
She knew better. “Did you just find out?”
He shook his head.
“Why did you wait so late to come tell me?” He studied her, every inch of her, and Tessa’s eyes widened under his scrutiny. “Tell me. I have to know everything.”
“I told them I didn’t know where you were.” He hesitated, watching her. “I didn’t want them to follow me here.”
“Oh.” Tessa felt something inside her begin to unravel. Her strength, perhaps. After all the months of worry about Hunt, Cord was trying to tell her as gently as possible that not only were they not going to find out that Hunt was alive, but also that the worries were about to intensify. Unconsciously, she ran a soothing hand over her rounded stomach. Somehow, somehow I will take care of this child. I will not be afraid.
When Cord’s weight suddenly filled the space beside her, Tessa felt her eyes begin to overflow. He put his arms around her in the most unobtrusive, supportive way—and she allowed her head to sink against his broad chest. “I have to hear everything you’re thinking.”
“Not tonight you don’t. I can worry for both of us tonight, and in the morning, when the shock wears off some, I’ll fill in the rest of my hunch. Possibly I’ll have more concrete information then.”
“All right.” She had no strength left to insist. All her strength was needed to nurture the child growing inside her.
“I want you to come stay at the ranch tonight.”
She jerked away from the warm shelter of his arms. “Why?”
“I’d just feel better if you did.”
She sensed something deeper, something hidden in his request. “There’s no need to worry about me. I’m fine here.” The watchful depth in his granite eyes struck her. “You’re not telling me you think I’m still in danger, are you?”
The near hysterical question hung between them.
“You told them you didn’t know where I am! How would they find me?”
Cord stood, picked up his hat, settled it on his head. He gave her one long stare that shook her with its protective purpose. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to stay in my house, but I think you should go to your mother’s, at least. My gut tells me you shouldn’t be alone.”
What exactly was his concern—her safety or her sanity? “My mother’s house is not an option,” she snapped, angered because he knew as well as anyone that her mother was disgusted by her free-wheeling relationship with Hunt Greer. He’s never going to marry you. You’re making a fool of yourself, running all over the world after him. You just wait, Tessa Draper. You’re going to find yourself right back here in Crookseye alone and that spy boyfriend of yours will never remember your name.
The memory of her mother’s harsh words made Tessa shiver despite the velour robe she wore. Since July, when Hunt had disappeared, she’d worked in Dallas at a friend’s shop. That employment ended when her friend had to close her business. Now more than seven months pregnant, Tessa had decided to come back to the tiny house she owned, to spend the remaining days of her pregnancy in quiet solitude.
She had no place else to go. It was doubtful anyone would hire her at this late stage in her pregnancy. It would be peaceful, at least, in her little house in Crookseye Canyon.
So she’d thought.
Periodically, Cord had called to check on her unobtrusively. She knew he hoped his brother would return to her safely. This apparently
