Rescue Me (Colorado Blues) (9 page)

Rory
took papers from the printer and cast his gaze over them. This couldn’t be
right. The Bellinghams, one of the richest families in San Francisco, taking
Gina to court for custody of her son Fisher. Not his Gina, it wasn’t possible.
There had to be some mistake. He walked into his office and shut the door. He
had to be reading this wrong.

Rory
sat down and started at the beginning. The papers stated that Richard
Bellingham III and his wife Arabella Bellingham, were taking Gina Taylor to
court for the sole custody of their grandson Fisher Taylor. The papers were
filed in San Francisco Municipal Courthouse on the previous Monday.

A
mix of emotions churned in his gut. Horror at the thought of losing the little
boy he had become attached to so quickly. Fear that Gina would lose her child.
Suspicion that he had been used as a cover for whatever went through his head—if
in fact she was a knowing accomplice to this. Anger at being duped, and used,
and dragged into a fight with these people.

He
picked up the phone and dialed. When Chance answered, he swore him to secrecy
and told him briefly what had happened.

“You
need to get onto Layla Cox. Sharpest mouth around and she has a mind like a
steel trap. She owes me a few favors too.” He gave Rory the phone number before
hanging up.

Without
caring what the favors were, he dialed the number and waited to be put through.

“Layla
speaking.” Her voice was smoky and seductive over the phone, and he had a difficult
time imagining her to be the hard-assed lawyer he needed.

“Layla,
this is Sheriff Watson from Estes Park, Colorado calling. My brother Chance
said you might be able to help me.”

“Well,
well,” her voice softened and he could almost see the smile on her face. “How
is that cowboy? I miss him being around to help me out.”

“Uh,
he’s fine. Happy working on his ranch. Listen, the reason I’m calling is about
a case I could be involved in. Can I run it past you?”

“Sure.”
She listened as Rory told her everything he knew.

“Right,
first things first. Let me get a copy of the file and go over it so I know
exactly what and why they’re doing this and what information they might have on
your lady. Give me a day or so and I’ll call you back.”

“Thanks,
I appreciate it.”

“You’re
in a bit of a sticky situation here, Sheriff. Legally you still have to issue
that summons against her, sorry I can’t help you out of that one.”

Rory
hung up the phone and looked at the papers sitting on his desk wondering what
the hell he’d gotten himself into. Truth be told, he knew very little about his
fiancée and he figured now that probably wasn’t a good thing. His heart warred
with his gut, knowing he had a job to do. A job he respected and loved, but he
wanted to protect Gina and Fisher. Could he do both and keep the life he’d been
building for them all intact?

Fisher
squealed when he walked into the kitchen that evening. Gina looked up from the
cookbook she was pouring over and smiled—a smile that spoke of promises to
come. Rory gripped the papers in his hand and leaned down to pat the child on
the head. He ignored the cries of protest from Fisher when he didn’t get picked
up. Instead he concentrated on the woman standing watching him at the counter.

Wariness
had crept into her eyes. “Rory, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”

He
lifted his hand and placed the papers on the counter between them. “This came
through today.” He saw the confused look in her eyes and waited as she reached
out and picked up the summons.

***

She
read the names on the papers and glanced at Rory before reading them again. “I
don’t understand.”

“Fisher’s
grandparents are suing you for full custody of their grandson.”

“He
doesn’t have any grandparents.” Gina dropped the papers on the counter and
crossed to pick up her crying son. “We have no one. I already told you that.”

“According
to this you do, or at least he does. Why didn’t you tell me this?” His eyes had
gone cold and hard, and she backed away. Her fright crossed over to the baby
and he howled louder.

Callie
came running in from the lounge. “What the heck’s going on?” She reached for
Fisher and took him from his mother, soothing his cries. Chance walked in and
stood beside her.

“This.”
Rory pointed to the papers.

Callie
glanced between the two of them and stepped closer to read what was printed on
the summons. “Oh, shit.”

“Did
you get hold of Layla?” Chance placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder and she
raised querying eyes to him. “Rory called me for advice. She’s an old friend
and the best person to help out in this situation.”

“Yes.
She’s looking into it. It would seem genuine at this stage. Apparently, these
people are filthy rich and one of the most prominent families in San
Francisco.” He looked back at Gina. “How could you not know about them?”

Her
head buzzed and she placed a hand on her stomach, hoping to settle the sick
churning in her gut. “I didn’t know, Aden said he had no family. I believed
him.”

“Awh
honey, that’s just terrible.” Callie closed the distance between them and put
an arm around Gina. “To find out you have family this way is kinda tough.” She
looked up at Rory and made gestures with her head.

“It’s
okay, I can understand his shock. I wouldn’t believe me either if someone threw
this at me.” Gina tried to smile and it didn’t come off because her lips were
wobbling.

“What
can we do to help?” Chance took her hand in his and squeezed it. “You only have
to ask you know.”

Gina
let the tears slide down her cheeks, their kindness being her undoing. “I’ll leave.
I have to. I can’t let you get involved in this. It’s my problem, not yours.”

“Why
would you want to do that? You and Rory are getting married. This is your home
now.” Callie looked at the pair of them. “I don’t believe you would let her go
now, Rory. You need to sort this out.”

“No,
it doesn’t matter now. This isn’t his problem, its mine. Just so you know, this
is as much of a shock to me as it is to you.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes
with the back of her hand. “I swear to you all, if I’d known Aden had a family,
I would have gone to them when he died.”

He
shook his head. “Look, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to think about this. I was
as shocked as you are.” He bit his lip and then focused on Gina. “Tell us more
about Aden. What makes you think he had no family?”

“Because
he told me he didn’t. And he had no money either or he wouldn’t have stolen
from me to feed his drug habit. Would he?” She seemed uncertain and looked to
him for help.

“I
wonder if he could have been estranged from his family. Didn’t you put two and
two together when you found out his name?” Callie looked at her hopefully.

“His
surname was Woods. Aden Woods. I told the police that when they came to
interview me. I even showed them his driver’s license.”

“Either
they have the wrong person or he lived under an assumed name for whatever
reason there was. We’ll have to wait for Layla to get back to us and figure out
what the hell’s going on.” Chance looked between the two of them. “Don’t go
making rash decisions now. Find out what the story is and then take it from
there. No good will come of you two battling each other over this.”

“It
doesn’t seem fair to do this to any of you. If I wasn’t here, you wouldn’t be
involved in this mess.”

“You’re
not leaving, I won’t let you.” Rory took Fisher from Callie and held him close,
easing the little boys tears. “I’m so sorry, Gina. I didn’t know what to think
when this came through. I reacted badly and I’m sorry. I should have believed
you.”

“It’s
still not your problem.” He was only being nice and she couldn’t bear the
thought of him thinking she’d deceived him. “I’ll figure something out,
somehow.”

“No.
I won’t let go you, not now I’ve found you.” He pleaded with her. “We can do
this together, don’t you see? I have Chance’s lawyer onto it already to see
what she can find out. We’ll fix this. I promise.”

Gina
hadn’t been ready for him to offer his support after seeing the look in his
eyes when he walked in the door. “Don’t you think that if I knew Fisher had
grandparents I would have let them meet him? If Aden had told me about them, I
might have gone to them for help when I couldn’t do anymore for him. I didn’t
know, I swear I didn’t know.” She wiped her eyes but couldn’t stop the tears
streaking down her cheeks. “If I’d known, he wouldn’t have been cremated by the
state and his ashes left unclaimed. He would have been buried with dignity.”

“What
a bloody mess. I hope Layla can sort this out because damned if I want my
future sister-in-law and nephew dragged through the courts for the public to
make a meal out of.” Chance gave her a sympathetic glance. “Reckon now might be
a good time to open a bottle of wine and heat up a pizza for dinner.”

“I
can do that.” Callie high fived him and strode over to the freezer, hunting the
shelves until she found what she was looking for. “Bingo.” She took the pizza
from the box and dug out a tray from the cupboard before she placed it in the
oven. Chance found a bottle of wine and glasses, placing them on the table with
paper napkins ready for a simple dinner.

Rory
opened his arms to Gina and she hurried into them, snuggled between her son and
the man who had promised to love her. Her heart thudded in turmoil. Partly for
the parents of her dead boyfriend and partly for the grief she was going to
cause them now, because there was no way she was letting them take her child
from her.

That
night when they went to bed, Rory held her close but didn’t initiate sex. She
wondered if there was still a part of him that doubted her story and it hurt
knowing she would probably be the same if the tide was turned.

The
next morning when he got to the office, Rory powered up his computer and ran a
search on Gina and Aden. Nothing came up on Gina and he breathed a guilty sigh
of relief. He hit the search for Aden and got the report on his death and
subsequent death certificate which verified Gina’s account of what happened.
With nothing else to go on, he had to wait for a phone call from the lawyer.
Luckily she rang near the end of the day.

 “Okay,
here’s the deal from what I could garner from the paper work.” Layla’s voice
took on a professional tone as she summarized the case. “Aden Richard Woods Bellingham
was the only child of Richard and Arabella Bellingham, heir to a massive
fortune which includes real estate, business interests here and overseas, seats
on numerous boards, etc etc. They are claiming full custody of his child, now
their only heir, sighting Gina Taylor as an unfit parent. For proof they are
holding documents that go back to her early childhood. Her father was a drug
addict and a drunk, in and out of court, finally dying when she was seventeen
leaving her alone. The courts decided she was able to look after herself and
didn’t require her to go into foster care.”

She
paused and Rory heard papers being shuffled. “Apparently she dropped out of
school and went to work as a waitress which is where she met Aden, the golden
child. He was flexing his wings and got into a bad crowd, so they say. Anyway,
that’s where his parents lost track of him. It’s taken then this long to track
him down and well, we know what they found.”

There
was silence for a moment and then Rory heard the click of her tongue. “Basically
what they’re trying to say is that Gina was a bad influence, got him hooked on
drugs with the intention of getting her claws into the family money. As a drug
addict, they say she is incapable of raising their grandson the way he should
be raised and therefore should not retain custody.” She let out a sigh. “I’m
telling you, Sheriff, these guys are ready to play hard ball. I hope your girlfriend
is worth it because you’re all going to get dragged through the mud if this
gets to court.”

Rory
pinched the skin between his eyes and gripped the phone. “Believe me, Layla, we
are going to fight this. I don’t care how much money these people have, there
is no way they’re taking that child. And his mother is no drug user either.”

“Well
now, if we can prove that, then we have a starting point. I want you to be
prepared for this to get dirty cause it will, I can guarantee you of that. The
press is going to have a field day with this one.”

“Have
at it, I say. They have no grounds to take Fisher away from us.”

“Us?
Does that mean you are in a somewhat permanent relationship with her?” Hope
sounded across the phone.

“Yes,
we got engaged this week.” He tapped his short cut nails on the edge of his
desk.

“Well,
now that I can work with. When did you love birds meet?”

A
cold spike of dread followed those words. “Do we have to get into that? Isn’t
it enough that we’re living together and engaged?”

“No.
They’ll dig around and find out so you may as well tell me the truth now.
Listen, tell you what. I’m going to catch an afternoon flight down there. Get
this all sorted out in person. It’s the least I can do for Chance anyway.” She
paused as though thinking. “I can meet you both and we can work out where we’re
going from here.”

“Are
you sure?”

“Definitely.
I could use a day or two in the country anyway. This damned city is getting so
busy, some days I just want to walk away, but I love the fight too much. See
you later on. I’ll call you when I get to the airport before I board my plane.”

Rory
put the phone down and looked aimlessly out the window. How would it go down
when Layla found out that theirs was an internet hook up that turned into an
arranged marriage of convenience? It might not come across too good as a solid
relationship where a child could grow and be happy compared to what his rich
grandparents could offer. Last night they’d all managed to convince Gina that
this would all work out. After listening to Layla and what she’d found out, he
wasn’t so sure anymore.

Dealing
with petty complaints and traffic violations didn’t help his day go any faster
so when he got the call from Layla to say her plane would be arriving before end
of his shift, Rory was keen to pick her up. When he told Chance she was coming
to town, he found out that they’d spoken earlier and he’d already offered her a
room while she was there. It made sense to have her at the ranch to sort things
out according to his brother.

Standing
in the line at the arrivals gate, Rory held his hat in his hand. He was anxious
about meeting this lawyer and introducing her to Gina. He kept his eyes on the
people filing out the gate and looked for a person to match the voice over the
phone. His mind had been too full of facts and legal jargon to ask her what she
looked like.

A
petite blonde in a killer red suit with matching shoes headed his way. He
smiled and looked away, not for a moment thinking this was Gina’s lawyer. She appeared
far too young. When she paused in front of him, he raised an eyebrow. “Can I
help you, miss?”

“Rory
Watson?” She held out her hand. “Layla Cox. Nice to meet you.”

It
took him a moment to gather himself. From the glowing references Chance had
given her, he expected a middle-aged woman with lines of experience on her
face, not the glowing model of perfection standing in front of him.

“Yeah,
I get it all the time. Under this pretty package is a steel trap you don’t want
to get caught in, believe me.” She looked around for the baggage carousel. “I
only have the one case.”

Together
they walked over and waited for the bags to appear. “There it is, the red one.”
Rory reached for it and swung it off the belt.

Layla
kept up a brisk chatter as he led her out of the small airport to his waiting
truck. “I can’t wait to meet Gina.” She smoothed her skirt down over her
shapely legs and hooked in her seatbelt. “How long have you guys been dating?
You never did answer that question.”

***

Her
hand shook when she opened the porch door. When Rory had called to say Layla
was flying out to see her, her mind had gone into panic mode. The house had to
be clean, a meal prepared, and the spare room aired out. There was nothing she
wouldn’t do for this woman if it meant she could keep her son from people she’d
never met. As her sweaty palms connected with the cold door handle, she said a
prayer and plastered a smile on her face. Rory opened the truck door for the
lawyer and she strode purposefully toward the house.

When
Gina stepped out onto the porch, Layla held out her hand. “Hi, Gina, I’m Layla Cox.
Thank you so much for having me over.”

“It’s
good of you to come all this way. I really appreciate this.”

Layla
waved a hand as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Anything for Chance. What a magical
place, you’re so lucky to live out here in the wilds like this.” She glanced
around and breathed deeply. “Ah, that cool mountain air. Makes me wonder why
the heck I still live in the city sometimes. Get sick of fighting the traffic
and the smog.” She gave Gina a grin and shrugged her shoulders. “Anyway, let’s
get down to business and see what we can do, shall we?”

Rory
walked up behind her with the suitcase. “How about we get you settled first and
when Chance gets in which won’t be too long, we can get started. He asked if
you wouldn’t mind waiting for him to give us what you’ve got.”

Layla
turned her baby blues eyes in his direction before nodding her head. “Sounds
fair enough to me. Gives me a chance to get changed out of my city clothes. I
came straight from the office. Hopefully my secretary packed jeans like I asked
her to.”

“Let
me show you up to your room then.” Gina led the way inside and up the stairs,
listening to the comments on how much their visitor liked the house on the way.
Once she was settled, Gina left her alone and hurried back down to Rory. She
threw herself into his arms, shaking uncontrollably while her nerves finally got
the better of her.

He
stroked her hair, probably waiting for her panic to subside and she was
grateful for that. “I’m sorry, I thought I could hold it together and I’m
failing miserably.” She sighed and took a deep breath. “I don’t know how I’ll
ever be able to repay you for what you’re doing.”

“Honey,
settle down and stop worrying about that. You’ve given me more happiness in the
last couple of weeks than I’ve had in three years. I’ve told you, I love you
and I’m not giving up, no matter how hard this gets. You and Fisher are my
family as much as Chance and Callie are. None of us expect payment, it’s how
families work.”

Her
lip wobbled again and Rory bent his head and took her mouth with his, stilling
the emotions rising in her throat and instead giving her other sensations to
think about. Last night they had lain together, neither had made the advance
toward sex. It had been a night of consoling and it hadn’t seemed right to take
it to that level. Now he ignited the passion as easily as flicking a switch.

“Oops,
sorry to break up you two lovebirds. I did try to take my time upstairs to give
you a moment.” Layla walked into the kitchen wearing a pair of tight blue denim
jeans that hugged her shapely butt and a white button up blouse loose at the
throat. Her short bobbed hairstyle swung around her pretty cheeks like a wave
of liquid gold.

“Can
I get you anything? A coffee or tea?” Gina stepped away from Rory, regretting
it as soon as the warmth moved with him.

“I’d
love to take a walk if that’s okay. Nothing like seeing what Chance does up
close. Kind of hard to get a picture of the real cowboy when he’s in the city.”

“Let
me show you around then.” Rory took Gina’s hand and together they walked Layla
down to the barn where Fisher chased chickens in the hay and Callie was getting
the feed ready for Tiny and Sultan.

“Well,
look at you, cute thing.” Layla crouched down beside Fisher and watched him
tottering around on his pudgy little legs. He looked from his mother to the
stranger and went closer to investigate.

“Callie,
this is Layla, a friend of Chance’s who is going to help with the summons.
Layla, meet Callie, Chance’s wife.”

“Wife?”
The perfectly shaped eyebrows rose a notch or two. “Well now, how lovely is
that. I must say I’m surprised. I didn’t know he was thinking of marriage. Last
time it was mentioned he ran a mile.” Layla stood up and held out her hand to
Callie as she stepped forward.

“Really,
do tell me more.” The Australian drawl held more than a hint of laughter.

“Don’t
you dare tell everyone my secrets, Layla, or I’ll have to fire you.” Chance
rode into the barn on his horse, guided it to the stall, and slid down to the
ground. With deft movements, he leaned down and undid the saddle, swinging it
over the side of the stall where he picked up a brush and rubbed the horse down.
Tiny pushed the gate open and walked into his stall, dropping his head into the
feed bucket.

“You
can’t go keeping secrets from your wife, pal. Time you spilled the beans I’m
thinking.” Gina loved Callie’s pushy nature and wished that one day she would
have the balls to tackle anything and everything the way she did.

He
walked over and hugged Layla before turning and planting a kiss on his wife’s
lips. “I’ll tell you later if you behave.”

She
laughed hysterically and winked at the others. “Game on.”

“Now
you’ve met my crazy family, how about we head indoors and see what you’ve got
planned to save this situation.”