Page 48 of The Cattleman’s Unforgettable Love: Ford and Amelia (MacFarland Ranch #11)

Amelia grasped Ford’s fingers so tight that she was almost crushing them as she stood tense and frozen by his side.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

She barely nodded her head but didn’t move, so Ford stepped forward and knocked on the door.

Despite Cash’s attempted reassurance that the foster family might be decent people, Ford had a bad feeling about this.

The neighborhood was run down, and the air didn’t feel right – in a way that went beyond just the humidity.

It felt heavy, filled with a sense of foreboding.

He straightened his shoulders – maybe it was just him.

The moment the front door opened, his hackles were up.

He wouldn’t trust the man standing in front of them to be around kids for five minutes – let alone take them into his home as fosters.

He was wearing board shorts and a… sleeveless T-shirt.

Ford hated the term wife beater for that kind of shirt – although this guy gave the impression that it might be accurate in his case.

“What do you want?” he asked. “I’ve told you religious freaks before – we’re not interested.”

Ford looked at Amelia. He didn’t want to take over, but for the first time since he’d met her, she seemed lost for words. He squeezed her hand, and she gave him the slightest nod.

“We’re here to see Hunter,” he said.

The man narrowed his eyes. “We had the home visit last week. He’s fine. You can’t come back till next month.”

“We need to see him.”

The man eyed him up and down. “Well, you can’t. Who are you, anyway? That Sanchez woman is his caseworker.” He looked at Amelia “I’ve never seen you before.”

Amelia finally found her voice. “I’m his aunt. I’m here to see him.”

“He doesn’t have any family – that’s why he’s here.”

When he saw Amelia wince, Ford scowled at the man. “He does have family – and we’re here to see him. Can you go get him?”

“No.”

The man turned and called over his shoulder, “Make sure the kid stays in the back!”

Amelia gasped, and Ford was sorely tempted to push his way inside when they heard a child’s voice shout, “I’m here!”

“I told you – you can fuck off! You can’t come in!” He started to close the door, calling back over his shoulder, “Don’t let him–”

But apparently, whoever was back there wasn’t able to hang on to Hunter. There was the sound of a struggle from inside the house, and that was as much as Ford could take.

He stepped forward, shoving his shoulder against the door and wrapping his hand around the man’s throat as he ground out, “You tell them to bring–”

But he didn’t need to finish.

A small figure came barreling toward them, dodged past Ford and the asshole foster father, and ran straight to Amelia. He was just a wispy little thing, with wide, frightened eyes.

“Auntie Amelia?” he asked.

When she nodded, he wrapped his arms around her waist and clung to her.

“Can I go with you? Please say I can go with you.”

“No, you fucking can’t!”

Ford tightened his grip as the man struggled – and Cash went to Amelia, saying, “Get him in the car, honey.”

Ford was so caught up watching the boy with Amelia that the man escaped his grasp. He lunged forward – and Ford roared as he landed a punch to the fucker’s jaw. He went down.

Cash grinned at him as he reached them and said, “Go make sure they’re okay. I’ll take care of this.”

Ty appeared around one side of the house and Wade at the other. Ford didn’t hang around. He hurried after Amelia and Hunter, reaching them as they made it to the SUV. He held the door open and helped them climb in before running around to the other side.

It was only once he was seated that he realized how small Hunter was. He was the same age as Ashton – but much shorter and skinnier.

“Are you okay?” Amelia asked him.

He nodded rapidly. “I am now. I can come with you, right?”

“Of course,” said Amelia. “That’s what we’re here for.”

Hunter looked up at Ford. “Thanks. Are you my uncle?”

Ford ignored the way Amelia tensed and said, “Yeah, I am. I’m your Uncle Ford.”

Hunter stared at him for a long moment. The fear in his eyes visibly subsided, and as it did, Ford could see a sharp intelligence in them. Then again, he shouldn’t be surprised – the kid had managed to find Amelia on that forum.

Hunter turned to look out the window, but there wasn’t much to see. The front door to the house was now closed. Wade stood outside, and there was no sign of Cash and Ty.

“He’s going to be so mad,” said Hunter. “And who are those guys?”

“They’re my brothers,” said Ford. “We all wanted to come and get you and Natalie.”

Hunter looked at Amelia and asked hopefully, “Did you find her?”

She shook her head sadly. “Not yet.”

“But we will,” said Ford. “Some of our friends are out there looking for her right now. Do you have any ideas where she might be?”

Hunter sighed. “No. She wouldn’t tell me. I promised her I wouldn’t tell – no matter what they did to me – but she said it was best if I didn’t know.”

Ford pressed his fingers to his temple, not wanting to think what exactly Hunter meant by that.

“How does she contact you?” Amelia asked.

“She calls from payphones.”

Ford frowned, surprised at that.

Amelia looked thoughtful. “Do you remember any of the numbers that she’s called from?”

“Only that they’re 407 numbers, but that’s most of Orlando.”

“It’s okay – we’ll find her,” said Ford.

He frowned when Wade came and opened the door next to him. There had been plenty of room for the three of them to sit back here on the way from the airport, but Ford didn’t want to crowd Hunter.

“Want to get in the back?” he asked Wade. Since Cash always insisted on renting Suburbans, Wade could use the third row.

Hunter surprised him when he said, “It’s okay. I can scoot up.”

Amelia held Ford’s gaze with a shocked look on her face as Hunter climbed onto his lap. The kid seemed to pick up on their reactions and looked up at him.

“Is this okay? I mean, you’re my uncle, aren’t you?”

“It’s fine by me,” said Ford.

At that moment, Cash and Ty arrived and climbed in the front. Wade got in next to Ford and slammed the other door.

Cash turned in his seat to look back at them. “How are we doing, folks? It’s nice to meet you, Hunter.”

Ford was amazed by the kid’s resilience when he smiled and said, “It’s nice to meet you, too. Thanks for coming to get me.”

He looked at Ty and Wade in turn. “Thank you. Can we go find Nat now?”

Amelia finally found her voice and said, “That’s the plan.”

Cash started the engine, and Hunter asked, “So, you guys are all cowboys, then?”

Wade chuckled. “Was it the hats that gave us away?”

Hunter smiled at him but didn’t answer.

Ford was still a little shocked to have the bony little guy sitting on his lap – not that he minded. He was shocked in a good way. He’d been expecting that it would take some time before the kid trusted anyone.

“I should introduce you to everyone,” Amelia said.

“Yeah, I thought it would be just you coming to get me. I didn’t know you were married.”

Amelia tensed beside Ford, and he shot her a quick smile. The last thing he wanted was her freaking out about the kid’s assumption. A ball of disappointment settled in his stomach when she said, “I’m not.”

When Hunter looked up at him, Ford winked and said, “Yet.”

“Oh. Sorry,” said Hunter. “I thought… when I asked if you were my uncle…”

“I want to be,” Ford told him.

“We all want to be,” said Cash from the driver’s seat. “Right, Amelia?”

She finally smiled and seemed to relax as she said, “That’s right. These guys are… Wade – Uncle Wade.”

Wade held his hand out and as Hunter shook it, he said, “Nice to meet you. When we get back to the ranch, I’ll introduce you to Mateo and Maya – my kids. I think you’re about the same age as Mateo.”

“And this is your Uncle Ty,” Cash jerked his thumb, and Ty turned in the passenger seat. He, too, shook hands with Hunter.

“And the guy driving is your Uncle Cash.”

“Wow. So, are you all brothers?”

“We are,” said Ford.

“That’s a big family.”

Ford chuckled. “It’s even bigger than this. You still have Uncle Tanner and Uncle Kolby, who couldn’t come with us today to get you. And then you have two aunts – Auntie Laney and Auntie Janey.”

“Wow. That’s a huge family.”

He turned to Amelia and reached out for her hand. Ford could see the tears shining in her eyes as she took it.

“Thanks for coming to get me. You’ll be able to find Nat, won’t you?”

There was no mistaking the look of determination on Amelia’s face when she assured him, “We will.”

Ford was fascinated by the way Hunter relaxed and leaned against him.

“Are you okay down there?” he asked.

Hunter yawned and nodded. “Do you mind if I go to sleep? I’m tired.”

For a second, Ford wondered if he was asking whether he could climb in the back to lie down. Then the kid went and cemented his place in Ford’s heart when he rested his cheek against his chest, curled his arm around his waist, and closed his eyes.

Ford held the kid to him – just so that he wouldn’t slide off, that was all.

Wade grinned at him, and Cash caught his gaze in the rearview mirror and smiled.

He was so caught up in the wonder of the moment that it took him a second before he thought to check on Amelia’s reaction. The look on her face assured him that she didn’t mind that he was the one Hunter was sleeping on. Her eyes were full of love as she met his gaze and nodded.

“Do they always go to sleep like that?” Ty asked in a low voice. “Just out like a light?”

“My two don’t,” said Wade.

Cash took a quick glance over his shoulder. “I’d guess that little guy has been living on his nerves for weeks. He knows he’s safe now – that’s why.”

Ford tightened his arm a little around Hunter – silently promising him that, as long as Amelia would allow it, he’d keep him and his sister safe for the rest of their lives.

~ ~ ~

Amelia could hardly look away from Hunter. He looked like a mini Danny. It broke her heart.

At the same time, seeing him turn to Ford so easily – the way he’d climbed up onto his lap – had been a shock. But the way he’d just clung to him and fallen asleep was almost more than her heart could take.

She looked up when Ford stroked his thumb across the back of her hand and mouthed, Are you okay? She nodded, not wanting to speak. She didn’t trust her voice not to crack at the moment, and she wasn’t ready to voice her feelings in front of his brothers.

The way he cocked an eyebrow told her that he needed more reassurance than that, so she took hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze.

She could tell he was concerned how she’d feel about Hunter turning to him instead of her – and she wanted to explain, just not in front of the rest of them, just how much she loved it.

She might be a little upset if Hunter hadn’t come running straight to her when he escaped that house. If he hadn’t hugged her waist as if he’d been waiting for her to show up his whole life. But she didn’t need his exclusive affection.

And if Ford wanted to be a part of whatever happened from here, then Hunter forming a bond with him was not only beautiful, but also necessary.

She finally let out a breath. They had him, that was what mattered. She tensed again when she realized that they may technically have just kidnapped him. But she’d worked with Cash long enough to know that everything would be smoothed over by morning – if not before.

She leaned forward to tap Ty’s shoulder and said in a low voice, “We need to tell Trip and Travis to let the caseworker know that he’s with us.”

Ty smiled. “It’s already done. Don’t worry.”

Cash turned his head. “You don’t have to worry about a damn thing, honey. It’ll all be taken care of.”

“Thanks. I can relax about you cleaning up after us… but Natalie’s still out there somewhere.”

“Emmett just checked in.” Ty held his phone up. “They started out at the home she ran away from. Found some kids who said she’d been sleeping rough around there, but they haven’t seen her for a couple weeks.”

Amelia’s heart started to pound – hoping against hope that Natalie was safe somewhere.

When Cash took the onramp to rejoin the highway, a billboard caught her attention. She didn’t know why. This place was plastered with them. And noticing that made her realize for the first time, how much open space and lack of commercialism there was in Montana.

She frowned at the smiling face of a woman and the text extolling the virtues of Orlando International Airport.

“Holy shit,” she breathed.

Ford turned to her. “What?”

“I might be wrong, but…” She looked to Cash. “Can you take us to the airport?”

“I can. Want to tell me why?”

“This might be a crazy thought… but I think Natalie might be there.”

Ty held his phone up again. “Let me tell Ace and Emmett. Ace said in his last message that some kids had told Emmett she might be at the airport.”

“What makes you think she might be there?” Ford asked.

She turned to him and gripped his hand tightly. “The last time I saw Danny, he told me that he’d been sleeping rough – that he was homeless.”

She didn’t add that Danny had given that as his explanation for stealing from her. She swallowed. She didn’t want to think about that – let alone say it in front of Hunter, even if he was asleep.

She nodded to herself, getting more convinced that she was right about Natalie.

“He told me that if I wouldn’t give him money, he’d just have to go back to staying at the airport.”

Ford frowned, and she made a face. “If you think about it, it’s a very smart place to stay when you don’t have anywhere else to go. It’s warm and dry. There are often people sleeping, so you won’t look so out of place. There are bathrooms.” She shrugged. “It makes sense, if you ask me.”

“Sounds like she’s a smart kid,” said Wade. “And if she knew that was something her dad had done…”

“Emmett’s asking if you have any photos of her,” said Ty.

“I don’t,” she said sadly.

She was surprised when Ford spoke up and said, “But tell him that if Hunter’s anything to go by, she might look a lot like Amelia.”

Amelia looked at Hunter – Hunter’s peaceful, sleeping face resting against Ford’s chest. All she’d been able to think was that he looked so much like Danny. But then… maybe Ford had a point.

People used to say that she and Danny looked like twins.