“No way,” Robert said. “Guys like this know how to take out their targets, even in safe houses. We’ll keep her safe here. I doubt he’ll come back tonight. But we need to take extra precautions. We’ll work out a schedule with Zane in the morning for your ranch hands to provide ’round-the-clock guard. My deputies will patrol this stretch of highway regularly too. Now, find me a blanket and pillow.”
“You don’t have to stay here. I’ll stand guard tonight.”
“No way. I need you alert tomorrow, and Emily will need you.”
Jake looked away from Robert’s knowing gaze.Apparently, I am that transparent.
“I know you haven’t known each other that long, but she trusts you, Jake. She needs someone she can count on right now, and I think she’d like that person to be you.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure you want to be that person.” Robert gave him a sly smile. “You know these homeless kittens need a lot of TLC.”
“She’s not homeless,” Jake growled, doubling his fists.
“I’m kidding, bro,” Robert said, taking a step backward. “Don’t wake up Mom, she’ll put us to work.”
“She’s awake. Or she was.” Jake rubbed the back of his neck. “She took a shotgun to bed with her.”
“You let Mom take a gun to bed?” Robert said, voice raised.
“I’d like to seeyoutell her no!”
“Hmm... good point.”
“Emily’s in your old room. You can sleep in my bed or Riley’s. You don’t have to sleep on the couch.”
“I’ll be more alert out here.”
Jake got a pillow and blanket out of the hall closet and tossed them at his brother, then after strapping on a handgun, he picked up his rifle and headed toward the back door.
“Where are you going?” Robert asked before he made it out.
Jake stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “It’s a full moon.”
Robert would understand the draw for Jake to take a ride in the light of the full moon. He’d done it often as a teenager when he couldn’t sleep. Long rides in the moonlight and his mother’s hot cocoa. That’s how he’d learned to cope with his energy and anxieties.
“It’s been a long day. I need some fresh air.”
Robert would also know Jake wouldn’t sleep a wink until he knew that whoever had been out there was indeed gone.
“Well, give our old knock before you come back in so I don’t shoot you,” Robert said as he pulled off his boots.
Jake went to the stables and saddled Thor, who seemed to have missed him as much as he’d missed riding the past few days.
As he and Thor set off at a gallop toward the front fence line, Jake let out a deep sigh. This was exactly what he needed.
After following the fence line for a mile, Jake turned Thor in the direction of an open meadow, where he could let him run. He still needed to release some tension.
As he rode, Emily weighed heavily on his mind. He marveled at the depth of his feelings for her. He’d known her such a short time, but the thought of losing her made it hard to breathe.
Would he be able to be everything Emily needed him to be? Would she let him be there for her?
He sent a silent prayer heavenward for Emily, then he sent another one for himself.
Chapter 20
“Lila Cooper called 911 yesterday requesting help to get into her car.” Robert sat at the breakfast table entertaining Emily, Faith, and Lottie. “She claimed she’d locked her keys in her car. When Brady arrived to jimmy her car door, he realized the car she wanted to get into wasn’t hers. It was the same color, but that was all. It was an entirely different make and model. She got so mad at Brady for refusing to help her she hit him over the head with her purse.”
