Rodeo Daddy

He smiled. “Good.”

“I’ve been following your wonderful success with Finders Keepers. I hope I get to see Lily while I’m here, and the baby. How old is Elizabeth now, almost a month?”

“She’s the cutest thing,” the proud uncle said, a sparkle in his eye.

It struck her what a great father Dylan would make. But so far, it seemed, no woman had caught his eye.

“So, who do you have to find this early in the morning?” he asked, no doubt sensing her need to get this settled and as quickly as possible.

She took a breath and braced herself, not sure how much he knew about all this. “Jack Shane.”

He arched a brow. “Jack Shane?”

“He worked on the ranch about ten years ago.”

She filled Dylan in on everything Cody had told her, although she suspected he probably knew most of it. “I was in love with Jack,” she confided.

“I remember,” Dylan said quietly. “You went to Europe later that summer.”

Her father had surprised her with that trip to Europe. Now she knew why. Obviously, he’d hoped it would help her get over Jack. Too bad it hadn’t worked.

“Are you sure about this?” Dylan asked.

She’d never been more sure of anything. Or more afraid. “I have to know the truth.”

Dylan looked skeptical. “More than likely, you’ll never know the truth. If he conned you before, what’s to prevent him from doing it again? I have to raise these questions, Chelsea. Jack Shane might be guilty. He might even be...dangerous. What then?”

She started to argue, but he stopped her.

“Did you ever think that he might not want to be found?”

She knew what Dylan meant: if Jack was guilty, seeing her turn up on his doorstep wasn’t going to make his day.

“Or he might be in prison—or worse,” Dylan added. “Ten years is a long time. And all things considered, there’s more than a good chance you aren’t going to like what you find.”

She nodded. “Either way, I need to know and I need to hear it straight from Jack.”

Dylan studied her for a moment. “Okay, I’ll do my best to find him for you, but I have to tell you, it’s against my better judgment.”

“Thanks, Dylan,” she said, opening her purse to pull out her checkbook.

He reached over to put a hand on hers. “Let’s see what I find out, then we can talk about my fee. I’ll give you a call.” He got to his feet. “Lily is around—you have to see this baby. Stay here, and I’ll be right back.”

Restless, Chelsea walked around the tastefully furnished office, too nervous to sit. She knew she wouldn’t be good for anything until Dylan found Jack. Until she got this settled in her mind. And her heart.

She heard Lily’s voice and turned to hear Dylan say, “Give me that baby, and come in here and say hello to Chelsea.”

“Chelsea? You didn’t tell me she was here.” Lily burst through the door and rushed to hug her as Dylan brought the baby in. Elizabeth was so tiny and adorable, Chelsea melted at the sight of her.

“Everything’s all right, isn’t it?” Lily asked with concern after Chelsea had made a fuss over the baby.

Chelsea nodded. She’d always felt close to Lily and her sister Ashley, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell Lily about Jack. “Congratulations. Elizabeth is beautiful.”

Lily’s face glowed with happiness as she nudged the blanket down with a finger so she could look at her baby cuddled in her brother’s arms. Chelsea watched the expression on Lily’s face and wondered if she would ever have a child of her own.

* * *

DYLAN WATCHED Chelsea leave, unable to shake off the bad feeling he had. Chelsea was like a little sister to him, and, like Cody, he felt protective of her.

“What’s wrong?” Lily asked behind him.

He turned to look at her holding her precious infant daughter. Everything, he wanted to say. He envied his sister. She had Cole and now Elizabeth.

“I’m worried about Chelsea,” he answered honestly.

“She’s a headstrong woman,” Lily agreed.

He had to laugh. “Like someone else I know.”

“Dylan, when I came in earlier, you were on the phone with Zach Logan. I couldn’t help but overhear.”

Zach had been Dylan’s boss when he’d worked with the Dallas police. “Zach’s just helping me with Julie’s case,” Dylan said. He didn’t want to concern his sister any more than he already had. “Zach’s involvement will help me settle it faster, that’s all.”

Julie. The woman he loved. The woman who had married his best friend, Sebastian Cooper.

It had only been a few months since Dylan had discovered Sebastian was up to his neck in the mob. Julie had learned of it even earlier and had taken off, pregnant.

That had been a year ago January—a long year in which Dylan had searched for Julie, finally locating her in the tiny Texas town of Cactus Creek. Julie was fearful for her life and that of her baby son, Thomas. She was convinced Sebastian meant to harm her, and after eavesdropping on Sebastian and mobster Luke Silva, Dylan knew her fears were grounded. He had put her in a safe house in Boot Hill until he could find enough evidence on Sebastian to send him to prison for life.

Dylan worried that he wasn’t moving fast enough. That Sebastian was going to find Julie and Thomas before he could get what he needed on his old friend. He had tried to keep the fact that he’d found Julie a secret, but his twin sister Lily knew him too well—Lily and their ranch foreman, Max, who was like a brother to Dylan. They noticed Dylan had changed in the past few months and had guessed the reason. But Dylan trusted them to keep his discovery of Julie a secret. And even though he hated to inflict worry on his sister and Max, it had helped having them to confide in.

“I heard you tell Zach that you’re planning to go see J. B. Crowe in prison to flush out Sebastian,” she said, then lowered her voice, realizing she’d startled Elizabeth. She looked down at the infant, then back up at him. “J. B. Crowe is the head of the mob. You helped put him in prison—you know how dangerous he is.” Dylan stepped over to his sister and rested his hand on her shoulder. “Believe me, I know. But for Julie’s sake, I’ve got to find Sebastian before he finds her, and J. B. Crowe is going to help me. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

“You really love her, don’t you?” Lily said. “Just do me a favor. Please be careful.”

“Always.” He kissed his sister on the forehead, then Elizabeth. “You just take care of my niece and don’t worry.” But he could tell that would be hard for her. It was another reason he had to find Sebastian. And soon.

* * *

IT WASN’T UNTIL the next evening that Dylan called. Chelsea had been waiting anxiously by the phone. Cody had cleared out of the house and was back in his distant, uncommunicative mood. Her attempts at conversation with him only elicited grunts until she’d finally just given up.

It broke her heart to lose him again. She could only hope he’d come around, because now that she’d gone this far, she wasn’t turning back.

“Chelsea?” The sound of Dylan’s voice made her heart begin to pound.

“You found Jack?” she whispered.

“He doesn’t go by Jack Shane anymore,” Dylan said. “He calls himself Jackson Robinson.”