Page 30 of The Risk

She headed down the hall. She could hear Calvin in the kitchen, and she wanted a hug and a kiss and to find out whyhe had invaded her parents’ house again. She’d seen his father’s truck from her window.

That man…

She had seen him more since the kidnapping than she had in six years. And every time he just looked at her in that particular Gene way that melted her insides, making her lose all sense of reason—and want to give him exactly what he wanted.

The problem was… what he wanted was probably fleeting.

And Chantal just couldn’t do that.

Her mom looked up when she walked into the kitchen. “Hi, baby girl. We have a guest.”

“I see that. Where is his daddy?” She opened her arms. Calvin came running toward her, like he always did. She had spent a lot of time with Genny’s nephew, especially in the last year, when she’d been practically hiding out with Genny in the mornings before her friend went into the hospital for her ten to six shifts.

Chantal didn’t always feel well in the mornings. It had gotten easier to disappear, so she didn’t worry her parents if she needed to rest.

She’d fallen into the habit of driving Genny to work—and they’d drop Calvin off at his preschool three times a week. She’d spend at least an hour with the little boy while Genny got ready each morning, too.

“Daddy is helping Uncle Chad and Uncle Charlie with the damned cows,” Calvin said, squeezing her tight. “They got out and are all over the damned place again.”

“Don’t say ‘damned,’ okay? That’s a grown-up word for the quarter jar.” She held him close on her left hip. He knew not to mess with her monitor and pump now. Calvin liked cuddles in the morning—from his Aunt Genny or from Chantal when she was there, too. Chantal didn’t mind at all.

She used to cuddle her nephew Jaden when he had been this age, too. She tightened her hold on Calvin. Losing Jaden to a heart defect at seventeen had been devastating. For all of them.

Calvin had been born four months later. She’d been a little reluctant to get close to him, considering how she had felt about his father. But he had wormed his way right into her heart, especially after Genny had moved home and Chantal was with her even more.

“I got to come with Daddy. We were looking for you. And then Uncle Chad said the cows were out and the fences broked. Uncle Charlie called some of his friends and Daddy called Uncle Grady and Uncle Gunn.”

“All of the fences were down between here and the Hillers’ place, honey. We’re not sure what happened.” Her mother shot her a worried look. “Your father said it looked like straight-line wind damage from the storm last night. Gene and your brothers are going to try to get them up as fast as they can.”

But the Hillers’ hands were off on the weekends. So that meant her brothers and Genny’s, plus whoever of Charlie’s friends they could round up to help… round up. The Hillers had a lot of cattle. And… “How many people are we talking about?”

“About two dozen.”

Two dozen people helping her parents right now. That meant it was time to get busy. “We’re going to have to feed them, aren’t we?”

“Of course.”

“Okay. I’m going to have to call in reinforcements.”

“I figured you would.” Her mother shot her a grin. It was Chad’s grin at his wickedest, right there on her mother’s face. Chantal adored her mom, too. “I’m passing the baton on to you, my daughter. I’m going to hang out with Calvin here. And Charlie’s babies once Rory and Charlotte get here. I’m going to be doing Grandma now.”

And that made her mom happier than she’d been in a long time. Her mom had been hurting so much after they’d lost Jaden—getting Charlotte and then Charlie’s two new babies had helped so much.

Chantal pulled in a deep breath. “I have this covered.”

“Of course you do. I raised you well, after all. Now… get to it.”

26

He was beyond exhausted,but the fences had been repaired and the cattle had been moved back to where they belonged. Charlie’s pals with the TSP weren’t total newbies with the cattle and had come in handy. Well, most of them. He was still reserving judgment on a few of the guys from Major Crimes. Those punks liked the ladies too much.

Gene’s lady, specifically. And his sister Genesis. The guys flirted like total man dogs, right there in front of Gene and Chad and Charlie and all of Gene’s brothers. They even asked if they could take Chantal and Genesis to the Barratt-Finley Creek for dinner the next day.

Well, that wasn’t going to happen. He’d told one guy that, right there in front of Genesis and Chantal. They’d just snickered at him and laughed.

He took his turn in the barn at the sink, washing up. Gene was going to check on his kid… and hunt down his woman. The barn where her studio was would probably be empty for a while. He could lure her out there and kiss the hell out of her.

He’d been wanting that all day.