Travis nodded.“Chloe promised to be careful.Said she was just giving Ivy a ride home and would be back before anyone missed them.She told them not to lie to us but to give her a fifteen-minute head start.”
“She’ll be careful,” Kade reassured.“Too much has happened at the ranch for her not to take this seriously.You know that.”
Beau wanted to be reassured, but he wasn’t.
“I’ve been overprotective with her lately,” Travis conceded.“That’s the reason she thought she had to go about it this way.It’s just—”
“She’s pregnant,” Kade said.
Travis’s gaze shot to him.“How did you know?”
“I’ve got eyes,” Kade said, like the answer was as plain as the nose on his face.“And my wife is pregnant.I know the signs.Chloe’s been off for weeks.It took me a minute to figure out why, but I caught on.”
Travis’s gaze shifted to Beau.
“Chloe told me earlier,” he said.
“I’m surprisingly relieved not to have to keep it a secret any longer,” Travis said.He studied Beau.“Go find them, okay?”
“On it.”
With that, Beau turned toward the ranch and headed home to get his truck.They couldn’t be more than fifteen to twenty minutes ahead.Still, it was enough time for Clay and Royce to run them off the road if they were waiting outside the ranch property.
Could Beau catch them in time?
Chloe parkedtwo blocks from Ivy’s apartment on Castle Hill Street.The Old West Austin neighborhood blended old and new architectural styles, which was part of the reason she loved it here so much.It was like living in the past and present, all at once.The studio condominium where she lived had been built in the late 1950s.The metal roof was murder on WiFi, but the wood floors made up for it.Plus, she had a balcony, which was rare in a studio.Cafes and shops were a stone’s throw away, but you’d never know it on her quiet residential street.The tree-lined streets provided some relief from the searing afternoon sun, and the central location made it easier for her to visit her clients at home.
Speaking of which, she needed to reach out to let her clients know that she had a family emergency.
Before getting out of the vehicle, she put an out-of-office message on her phone.Her clients would reach out if she didn’t show, and this would make sure they weren’t left hanging.She felt bad enough that she would have to miss some of her appointments.
Why were things outside of your control so frustrating?Because they are things outside of your control,an annoying little voice pointed out.
“Ready?”Chloe asked.
Ivy suddenly realized the vehicle had been stopped for several minutes, and Chloe had been studying her.
“You can go now,” Ivy said.“You gave me a ride.I’ll make good time on the road and probably catch up to you before you make it back to the ranch.”A part of her didn’t want to risk anything happening to Chloe if those bastards had figured out where she lived.They had to have, right?They’d snatched her in broad daylight several blocks from her home.
Of course, she had a home alarm that was monitored.As safe as Austin had always felt to her, being a female living alone, she took precautions.She would have gotten a dog a long time ago if she didn’t work so many hours.It seemed unfair to leave a dog alone while she visited clients six days a week, sometimes seven, depending on a family’s needs and schedule.
“Not a chance,” Chloe insisted.“I’m not leaving you here alone.Let me make sure you get inside your house safely, and then I’ll think about going ahead.But I can wait for you to grab a few things, too.”
The determined set to Chloe’s eyes said she was willing to dig her heels in on this subject.Ivy knew about being stubborn.She counted herself as part of the club, so she realized arguing would be a waste of energy.
Her phone had seven missed calls and multiple text notifications from Beau.He was undoubtedly upset with her for leaving.She hadn’t been willing to sit around and wait for him to come back when she’d had a ride.Besides, she would be heading back to the ranch soon enough.The lie she’d told herself was that she wouldn’t even be missed.
Beau might not be offering a chance to act on their attraction, but he’d been clear about not walking away until they saw this thing through with their parents.
“Let’s do this,” Ivy said to Chloe, forcing her thoughts to something she had control over.
“All right.”
Ivy met Chloe around the back of her sedan.
“Are you sure you want to stick around and watch me pack?”Ivy asked as they headed toward the street her condo was on.
“Absolutely.”
