Mia“Are you okay, Mia?” Grayson asked, tugging gently on Mia's hand as they walked to the barn for their Wednesday work session.“Hmm? Oh, I'm fine,” she replied, giving herself a shake and smiling down at him. Her thoughts had been on the baby growing in her stomach.“Carter says that you can't let your thoughts wander when you're working with the horses,” Grayson informed her. “You need to use your full brain.”Mia chuckled. “It's a good thing I'm not working with the horses today then, huh?”On impulse, she knelt down and pulled the little boy into a hug. Grayson happily hugged her back. She took a deep breath in, pulling in his strawberry scented shampoo mixed with the sunshine in his hair. It smelled like innocence to her. He would never be this little again. Tears welled up in her eyes.“You sure you're okay?” Grayson asked, pulling back. He frowned a little, and she realized she'd hugged him for a long time.“I am,” she promised. “Go catch up with your brother and sister. I ne
MiaMia stood in front of the ranch house and took a deep breath. The smells of hay and clean mountain air filled her lungs, and she tried to steady herself. Today was the day. Today she was telling Carter.The kids were at school, and she'd told her boss she was taking the rest of the day off, so there weren't any distractions. Today, she wasn't getting sidetracked by cars or kids or anything. Today, she was telling him that he was the father of her baby.Just thinking the words made her heart stumble. She still wasn't sure how he was going to react, and that uncertainty gnawed at her. She loved him, and she was terrified that he might push her away because of this.He didn't want children. He'd said it in interviews and even to her directly. She wanted him to be in her life, to be in their child's life, but she understood if he didn't want to be. This was something he had been very clear on not wanting. She wasn't sure how he was going to respond.Mia glanced around the ranch. It se
Mia“You killed my daughter. Now, I'm going to kill you.”The words were even and calm, yet so full of hatred that Mia winced. The man on the other side of the door wasn't nervous or afraid. He was calm and ready to deal out the justice he felt the world deserved. A justice with Carter dead.The man started to pound on the door. It shook from every blow and Mia didn't know how long it would hold. It was a heavier door than she was used to, but the man outside was determined, and a little bit of wood and metal wasn't about to stop him. This had to be the man sending death-threats to Carter. He had to have found a way to turn off the security system and phones. She wondered how he'd gotten security to leave.It didn't matter, though. He was here now. He was here and ready to carry out his threats.Carter didn't hesitate. He went to the window, ready with a plan. He grunted with the effort of lifting the big window open. Once it was open, he pushed on the screen, letting it tumble to the
MiaMia glanced at the office door on her way out and recoiled. It was a miracle the man hadn't gotten through. Just a few more moments and he would have had them. The door on the opposite side of the office was in tatters and stamped with blood. She could only assume it was the man's with his attempts to get in.She wasn't far behind Carter. She could see the blue of his shirt as he disappeared out the front door. A sea of uniformed security stood in her way, but she wiggled between them hot on his tail. She had to catch him.Outside, the police had finally arrived. Ten squad cars all stood in the big driveway loop of the ranch with more lining up down the road. It hurt her eyes to look at all the lights, but she did see an officer putting a man into the back of one.He was tall and relatively good looking. He had the dark uniform of the security team, though it didn't seem to fit him very well. The man looked up, and she saw his eyes. They were ice cold and full of such fury that sh
Mia“Mia, where are you?” Grayson asked over the phone. “You were supposed to be here ten minutes ago.”Mia put on her turn signal and worked her way to the edge of the highway so she could get off and head up to the ranch.“I'm really sorry, Grayson,” Mia replied, checking her mirrors. “The traffic today is terrible. The snow is just slowing everything down.”“How long until you get here?” the little boy asked, obviously pouting.Mia raised her eyebrows at the phone. Grayson usually didn't care when she got to the ranch. In fact, the later she was, the happier he was because it meant more time in the barn with Star Dancer. He loved that little colt.“Five minutes, tops,” she promised, stepping on the gas and zooming up to the dirt road leading to the ranch.“Okay!” Grayson replied cheerfully and he ended the call. Mia shook her head and kept driving. Everyone seemed to be behaving oddly today.First, Laura had asked the kids to come work at the ranch today, even though it wasn't thei
Mia“Are you the parent or legal guardian of Grayson and Alexander Fitch?”The cold voice on the other end of the phone made Mia's heart drop.“I'm their social worker, Mia Amesworth,” she replied, slowly stopping as she walked through the outdoor parking lot of the grocery store. “Are they okay?”“The boys broke into Stone Mountain Ranch, ma'am.” The voice was authoritative and uncompromising.“Grayson and Alexander did what?” Mia came to an immediate and abrupt halt. It was a good thing no one else was leaving the building yet, or she probably would have been hit by a car since she was standing in the middle of the road.“They broke into Stone Mountain Ranch, ma'am,” the voice repeated. “The boys said the person to contact about this was you.”“Have the police been contacted?” Mia asked as she started walking as quickly as possible toward her car. If she sped, she might be able to make it to the ranch before the police took the boys into custody. She thought about dropping her groce
CarterCarter watched as the small car with the woman and three children drove off his ranch. He shook his head, wondering how in the world that woman was planning on managing those kids. They'd all signed non-disclosure agreements and were supposed to come back the following Monday to start work. He hoped it would go well.They seemed nice enough, as far as kids went. Carter didn't have much experience with anyone under eighteen, but they seemed well behaved once they were in custody. He could certainly understand and even relate to their actions, but they were still kids. Troubles and liabilities all rolled into one cute package.“And that's why I'm never having any,” he mumbled under his breath to no one in particular. One of the security guards raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything.“So, what's the damage?” Carter asked, walking over to his head of security.To say that Brian was a big man would be an understatement. Brian Cards was a giant of a man who could shoot the
Mia“Maybe we'll get to ride the horses like cowboys,” Grayson shouted, bouncing around in the backseat. His seat belt was barely holding him down in his booster seat, and Mia had already asked him three times to remember to stay seated. He was just too excited to contain himself.Mia pulled up to the big ranch house, this time invited rather than coming to rescue her boys. All three kids were in the car, and all three of them were jabbering ideas of what they thought they were going to do.“I have a feeling it will be more like mucking stalls, or cleaning or something,” Mia said gently as she put the car in park. The kids all opened their doors and rushed out into the country air.It smelled like clean air, grass, and... horses. Definitely, like horses. It wasn't a bad scent, but it wasn't something that Mia wanted to wear as perfume either.Definitely doing something with cleaning the stalls.... she thought as she caught the main scent coming from the big barn to her left.“Glad you