The Rancher's Secret Child. Brenda Minton
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want to see Marissa.” Alex’s wife of five months. He’d found her standing on the side of the road in a wedding dress. She was a little bitty thing, but fierce, and she’d convinced Alex to give up his single ways. They’d married in December, a year after they’d first met.
Alex wasn’t Marcus. As kids they’d been different as night and day. The same went for the two of them as adults. Alex thought things out and let things go. Marcus had always battled it out and held on to his anger. When it came to their father, Alex had tried to reason. He’d searched to find ways to solve their problems. Conversely, Marcus had gone at Jesse and he’d paid physically for his efforts.
Marcus’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the unfamiliar number and answered. “Marcus Palermo.”
“Marcus, Guy Phipps here. We’ve got a car in the ditch just south of the old crossroads bridge.”
“Who is it?” He glanced at his brother. Alex had moved closer, pulling out his phone as he did. Probably worrying about his wife. Or their sister Lucy. Even Maria, if she was on her way home from college. She’d begun her summer break just a few days ago and planned on heading home.
“Not from around here. Name is...” Guy paused. “Name’s Lissa Hart. She’s got a little boy with her. She said to call you.”
He took a deep breath and made eye contact with Alex, who now appeared worried. “Are they hurt?”
“Nothing serious. Doc is here. He’s checking her shoulder. The little guy might have bumped his head.” Guy paused again. In the background, Marcus heard sirens.
It shook him. Marcus could willingly get on the biggest and meanest bulls in the country, a ton of pure rage and power. It might get his adrenaline going, but it didn’t shake him. It didn’t make him feel weak as a kitten and helpless to do anything.
“Guy, are they taking them to the hospital? Do I need to meet them somewhere?” Marcus glanced at Alex, who had followed as he walked away, wanting privacy, wanting to put on a mask, as if this didn’t matter. Alex wore a worried expression and Marcus knew his own would match. The two of them might be different, but they were the same. The twin thing wasn’t just a myth.
He knew Alex would feel his concern. And from that troubled look in his dark eyes, Marcus understood Alex felt his brother’s guilt. He’d sent the kid away. He didn’t know how to be a dad, so he had sent his son on down the road in the middle of a torrential rainstorm with floods predicted. Proof that he didn’t deserve to be a parent. He wasn’t any better than his own father, putting his own feelings ahead of the safety of a child.
And Lissa. He hadn’t given her a second thought once he’d said his goodbyes. At least, he’d told himself he wasn’t going to give her a second thought. It counted, that he’d intended to forget her. But even now, those blue eyes of hers triggered a memory. She’d challenged him to care. For his son.
Few people got away with challenging him. Few people had the backbone for it.
On the other end of the line the first responder was giving him information. He had to focus. “Doc said he’s going to drive them back to his office if you want to meet him there. The boy is asking for you. He’s a tough kid.” There was a smile in the first responder’s voice.
“Put him on the phone.” Marcus waited and pretty soon a hiccup over the phone told him Oliver was there and fighting tears. “Hey, little man. You okay?”
“I hit my head.”
“I bet that hurt.”
“It did. They said I wasn’t uncon...uncon...” He sounded like a boy trying to be brave.
“Unconscious?” Marcus supplied.
“Yeah. So I’m okay.”
“Nothing else hurts?”
“Nope,” Oliver said on a sniffle.
“Is Lissa okay?”
More sniffling and then, “Yeah, I think. She says her shoulder hurts. She’s not crying, though. Doc said she’s tougher than a bull rider. I think you’re a bull rider.”
“I am a bull rider,” Marcus told his son. His son. “Listen, I’m going to see you in a few minutes. You’re tough. You’ve got this.”
“Yeah, I’m tough.” The boy sounded like he meant to convince himself.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes, so you keep being tough and you take care of Lissa. She’s not as tough as she’s pretending to be.”
He ended the call.
“Let’s go,” Alex said. “I’ll drive.”
“I can drive. I want to grab a couple of blankets from the house.” Marcus headed for his truck.
“They’re fine,” Alex called out to him. “If they were in bad shape, Doc would send them to Killeen.”
“I know that.” Marcus opened his truck door and found his keys in the ignition. Alex climbed in on the other side.
“You should take your keys out.”
“Yeah, I know. But spare me the lectures.”
“So you don’t want me to tell you that you care about this kid and you shouldn’t let him walk away?” Alex reached to turn up the heat.
“I want you to stay out of my business.”
Alex gave him a thumbs-up. “Right.”
“Don’t talk.”
His twin zipped his lips.
Marcus might have grinned at the ridiculous gesture, but he didn’t have an ounce of humor in him. He had sent his kid away in this weather. His reckless decision had put Oliver and Lissa in danger.
It took fifteen minutes to get to the scene of the accident.
Flashing lights and scattered emergency vehicles lined the road. Marcus pulled behind a first responder and got out. The rain had picked back up. He saw Lissa sitting in Doc Parker’s car. Oliver sat huddled against her, his face pale and a bandage over the right side of his forehead. Doc leaned in talking to them.
The car she’d been driving now sat on the back of a tow truck. The driver’s side was dented and the tires on the passenger’s side were flat. Alex said something to him about seeing where they would tow the car.
When Marcus appeared behind Doc, Oliver noticed first and big tears rolled down his cheeks. Marcus pushed away memories of his sister looking much the same way. He hadn’t been able to help Lucy, but he could help Oliver. At least for today he could handle things and make sure the child wasn’t frightened and didn’t feel alone.
And then he made eye contact with Lissa and he could see in her blue eyes that she was being strong for Oliver. He recognized the flicker of pain that flashed across her features, tightening the lines around her mouth. But she managed a smile as she raised her left hand in a half-hearted wave.
“The roads are a mess,” she informed him with a hint of humor in her voice.
“Yeah, I’ve heard.” He leaned against the side of the car. “How are they, Doc?”
“Oh, not too bad all things considered. I think Miss Hart has a dislocated shoulder. Actually, she’s a nurse and that’s her diagnosis. I would concur. Mr. Oliver has a good bump on his head, but I think he’s okay. I’ll take them back to my office. We’ll get that shoulder back in place and I’ll turn them over to you.”
Turn them over to him? He started to object. He was the last person they should be relying on. But Oliver looked happy with the news. And Lissa Hart looked...relieved?
* * *
Lissa kept her left arm around Oliver. Her right arm she kept at her side. Every bump jostled it and sent a shooting pain to her shoulder. She cringed