Page 45 of Calder Strong (The Calder Brand #5)

“This mess is partly my fault,” he said. “I was the one who talked Annabeth into getting married. Now it’s come back to make everything worse. I just wish there was something I could do.”

“There is.” Britta laid a hand on his shoulder. “You can do what she wanted and take care of her children. They’re your children now. Be a father to them.”

Joseph’s breath stopped for an instant as he felt the impact of her words.

He had become a father to two precious children who needed him.

And he had no idea where to begin. His natural father had deserted him before he was born.

His adopted father had been busy with work, leaving most of Joseph’s upbringing to his mother.

How could he keep his word to Annabeth and become a loving father to her little ones? All he could do was try.

“How have they been?” he asked.

“They’ve been good but very quiet. I could tell they were worried about their mother, especially Lucas. He was asking questions, and I didn’t know what to tell him. They’re in bed now. I put them in the guest room. You might want to look in on them.”

Joseph left the kitchen and walked down the hall to the bedroom on the right. The door was ajar, the darkness made friendlier by a teddy bear light on the nightstand between two single beds.

For the space of a long breath, he stood looking down at them. Ellie was curled in her quilt, lost in dreams. Lucas lay on his back in the near bed. His eyes were closed, but Joseph could sense his alertness.

How could he show them that, even with their mother absent, they were safe and loved?

As Joseph bent over him, Lucas opened his eyes. Joseph realized his son had probably been awake all along.

“Hello, Lucas,” he said, speaking softly.

“Are you our new dad?” the boy asked.

The question caught Joseph by surprise. “How do you know that?”

“People talk. I listen. I learn lots of things that way. I know that you and my mama got married.”

“That’s right. We did. Is it all right if I sit down?”

“Uh-huh. We can talk that way.”

Joseph lowered himself to the edge of the bed, near the foot. The moment was fragile and precious, like having a butterfly pause to rest on his hand. “What would you like to talk about?” he asked.

“Is my mama in jail?” Lucas asked. “I heard that, too. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Ellie.”

“We’re doing everything we can to get her out,” Joseph said. “We hope she won’t be there much longer.”

“Is it because she killed my dad?”

“Yes. We know she did it to save you. But some people don’t believe that.”

“They’re wrong.”

“Yes, they are. We just have to prove that.”

Lucas was silent for a moment. “I should go to jail, too,” he said.

“Why would you say that?” Joseph tried to conceal his surprise.

“I helped Mama. He was hurting her. I was on the floor. I made him fall—with his shoelaces.”

Joseph spoke carefully. “Who knows about this, Lucas?”

“Just me and Mama.” Lucas sat up. “Am I going to jail?”

Joseph wrapped the boy in his arms. Hugging him close, he spoke past the lump in his throat. “No, Son. It sounds like you saved your mother. You’re not going to jail. I can promise you that.”

The small arms crept around his neck. Heart bursting, Joseph eased Lucas back onto the pillow. “Go to sleep now,” he said. “I’ll get your mother home as soon as I can. You’re a brave boy, and I’m proud of you. Don’t forget that.”

Before leaving the room, Joseph allowed his gaze to linger on his sleeping children. Being their father was more than he deserved. It was an honor and a blessing.

As he closed the door, leaving it ajar, his thoughts turned to what he would tell Ezra. Lucas’s testimony could save his mother from prison. But something told Joseph there was going to be a problem. Annabeth would protect her children at any cost. She would never allow her son to take the stand.

Lola was waiting when the truck arrived with her shipment of moonshine whiskey. There were two men in the cab, a driver in work clothes and the pudgy man she’d met earlier, known only as the Boss.

The driver had backed the truck up to the basement door. He climbed out and began unloading. Forrest came out to help him. Thanks to good food and hard work, the boy had put on muscle. He carried the heavy crates with ease.

The Boss took a seat at one of the tables and beckoned Lola to join him. The new partnership was earning her more money than ever. The product was good, but the partners involved, especially this man, made her nervous.

She took a chair across the table from him and waited while he took a Havana cigar out of his vest, lit it, inhaled, and took a leisurely puff.

“I guess you heard the news about your former partner.” The bastard had eyes and ears everywhere.

“You mean that his wife stabbed him to death with a butcher knife? Sure. The whole town knows by now. His sister put him in the ground this morning. With his wife out of the way, I’m betting she’ll be trying to get her hands on that farm.

” Lola had shed a few tears over her lost lover.

They’d had some good times together. Maybe his prim little wife had found out. Maybe that was why she’d murdered him.

“If that’s what you think, you don’t know everything,” the Boss said. “Joseph Dollarhide has married the widow. He’s adopting her two kids. If anybody gets that farm, it’ll be him. Not that the place is worth much. The land is pretty well played out.”

“Joseph Dollarhide. I’ll be damned.” Lola had picked Joseph as a backup match for her sister before that plan went south. Now Francine was gone, Joseph was married, and Lola was stuck here with nowhere to go.

“So why are you telling me this?” she asked the Boss. “What’s any of it got to do with you?”

The Boss took a long drag on his cigar. “Your partners made good money off their moonshine business. The little weasel who was brewing the hooch let himself get beat to pieces because he wouldn’t tell my associates where his stash was. What do you think? How much did Silas Mosby have put away?”

Lola shrugged. “I never asked Silas how much he made before I came on board or what he made on the side. I take it you want to get your hands on that money.”

“As I see it, that money belongs to the partnership. If anyone dies or leaves, we’re entitled to take their share.”

“I see.” Lola knew the Boss’s claim about the partnership was bullshit. But she was in no position to argue.

“We can’t get to the big cowboy—Buck they called him,” the Boss said. “He’s safe on the Calder Ranch. But now that your friend Silas Mosby is six feet under, we figure, as your partners, his cash should be ours for the taking.”

“Don’t look at me,” Lola said. “I don’t know where it is. Maybe his wife took it, or Joseph.”

“Now you’re thinking,” the Boss said. “If the new Mr. and Mrs. Dollarhide have the money, what would make them give it to us?”

Lola read the evil glint in his eye. “Oh, no!” she said. “Running a speakeasy is one thing—hell, the sheriff is one of my best customers. But kidnapping? That’s a major crime. And too many things can go wrong. Count me out.”

“But that’s just it, my dear.” The Boss stubbed out his cigar in a heavy glass ashtray.

“You can’t count yourself out. We need you—not to do the snatch, we can manage that.

But we need you to act as a go-between. Joseph Dollarhide knows you, maybe even trusts you.

He’ll believe what you tell him.” He made a show of examining his manicured nails, giving Lola time to think.

“Of course, I wouldn’t ask you to do it for nothing,” he said.

“You’ll be getting your share of the money. ”

Seeing no way out, Lola leaned toward him. “How much of a share?” she asked in a sly voice.

Joseph was back in Miles City to visit Annabeth the next day. The sight of her, looking drawn and weary in her drab prisoner garb, tore at his heart.

“The children?” she asked. “How are they?”

“They’re all right. Aunt Britta’s taking good care of them.” Joseph reached through the bars and clasped her hand. “I talked to Lucas last night after Ellie was asleep. He seems to understand most of what’s going on. He claims he learned it by listening.”

She managed a wan smile. “That’s our Lucas for you. I don’t have to tell him much.”

“Ezra wants to put him on the stand.”

“I already told him no. I won’t put him through that ordeal.”

“He could save you, Annabeth. He saw everything that happened, and I know he wants to help. He’s stronger than you seem to think he is.”

“It’s still a no,” she said. “At least, I would need to talk with him first, and I can’t let him see me like this.”

“Blast it, Annabeth!” Frustration made his words harsh. “Your family needs you. I need you. You have to let yourself be saved.”

“I know.” She opened his hand and pressed her lips to his palm. “But there has to be another way.”

“Then pray that we can find it.”

Seething, he left the jail and took the road back to Blue Moon.

How could he convince her to let Lucas testify?

The boy was willing, and he would make the perfect witness—innocent and clearheaded.

His testimony, along with the still-healing wounds on his back, would prove to any jury that Annabeth had acted in defense of her son and herself.

By now, it was late afternoon. Joseph had spent last night at home in his own bed.

That morning, he’d checked on the ranch and sawmill, then had a long visit with Ezra before leaving for Miles City.

Now he planned to stop by the Hunter Ranch and spend some time with his children.

They would be worried and wanting their mother.

He would do his best to be there for them.

Driving through the ranch gate, he could see Britta’s house.

The front yard, with swings for the children, was empty.

He could see Britta’s tall figure on the porch with the dog.

She was pacing in agitation. As he came up the drive, she plunged off the porch and raced toward him.

Even from a distance he could see her anguished expression.

Dread clawed at him as he climbed out of the car and ran to meet her.

Out of breath, she collapsed against him, then caught her balance. “The children,” she gasped. “Lucas and Ellie. They’re gone! They’ve been taken!”