The Lawman's Rebel Bride Read online

  The nursing home parking lot was full, forcing her to park next door. Sundays were their busiest days. It looked like it was someone’s birthday judging by all the balloons when she walked in. She solemnly wondered if her grandmother’s birthday in November would be her last.

  Think happy thoughts. It was sometimes hard to do in a nursing home.

  “Hi, Grammy.” Belle stepped into the room and gave her grandmother a kiss on the cheek. “You look good today.”

  “Thank you, dearie.” Trudy’s eyes seemed to stare right past her. “Have you seen my granddaughter out there?”

  “Y-your granddaughter?” Belle’s throat squeezed shut as her heart ceased beating for a second or two. “What’s her name?”

  “Belle.” Her grandmother attempted to lean forward and get a better view of the hallway. “I hear noise out there. Could you check for me? She has blond hair and blue eyes, much like yours, only she’s ten years old.”

  Belle nodded, unable to speak. She pointed to the doorway indicating she’d go check. Out in the hallway, she covered her mouth with both hands and slid down the wall to the floor. It was too soon. It was much too soon. She couldn’t lose her yet. Please, Lord, not yet.

  Myra joined her on the floor and handed her a pack of tissues. “Dry your eyes, honey.” She wrapped an arm around Belle’s shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. “She’s been in and out all morning. We think it’s because of all the commotion going on today. Three residents are celebrating birthdays and there have been a lot of kids running up and down the hallway.” Myra stood and lifted Belle by the arm. “Let’s get you up before someone or something runs you over. I know you’re opposed to us moving her to the Alzheimer’s wing and we won’t until you give us the authorization, but it’s much quieter in that section. The environment is more stable and that has a big impact on their demeanor.”

  “She hates the quiet.” Belle wiped her eyes. “She always had the classic country channel on the radio playing at home. I feel like I’m stuffing her away in a closet if I move her there.”

  “You’re not,” Myra reassured. “You’re providing her with the best possible care you can. And we can play the radio for her. We can start that today.”

  “I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of the music before.” Belle wiped her eyes.

  “Because this is a stressful situation,” Myra said.

  “I’m okay now. Thank you.”

  “Give what I said some thought and feel free to ask us any questions you might have. We’re here for you.”

  Belle nodded in acknowledgment and walked back into the room. “I couldn’t find her out there.”

  “Find who?” Trudy asked. “Belle, bubbe. Why do you look like you’ve been crying?”

  Belle started to laugh out of relief. “It’s just allergies, Grammy. Now that I’m living on the ranch with Harlan, I’m around a lot more hay.”

  “That Harlan is a good man. Don’t let him slip away.”

  “I won’t, Grammy.” Belle pulled a chair alongside the bed. “What have you been up to today? Have you gotten out of your room?”

  A toddler duck-waddled down the hallway with his mother close behind him. “Slow down, Trevor.”

  “Oh, sure. I was in the garden waiting for my granddaughter earlier, but she never showed.”

  She sighed. “I’m sure she’ll be here soon.” Belle hoped the visitors thinned out sooner rather than later. There was so much she wanted to tell her about Harlan and the ranch. She’d have to skip the Ivy parts, but she had already thought of a little white lie she could tell to explain her presence in their lives. “Why don’t you tell me about her.” Belle played along while she waited for her grandmother to come back around.

  “My little bubbeleh. Wild as she is sweet. She gets that from her mother. The wild, not the sweet. I don’t know where we went wrong with Cindy. She’d always been a shy little thing until she grew the boobies.”

  Belle sucked in her lips to keep from laughing. She’d never heard her grandmother talk much about her mother before. While the memory of her mom’s face had blurred over time, she did remember how blessed Cindy had been in the cleavage department.

  “Those boobies got her in more trouble. Especially when she started dating that man who had been far too old for her. What twenty-seven-year-old goes out with a high school senior? When her father and I found out she told him she was eighteen, we put a stop to it. By that point it was too late.”

  Wait a minute. Belle perched on the edge of her chair. “What do you mean it was too late?”

  “Cindy got herself pregnant with that man’s baby. Her father got so upset he had a heart attack and died that very night.”

  Belle was afraid to breathe. She’d never known that’s when her grandfather had died. The heart attack hadn’t been a secret, but the circumstances surrounding it must have been. And all these years she’d been told her mother had been young and reckless and didn’t know who Belle’s father was. Her mind raced in a million directions. Okay, deep breath. She needed to sort fact from fiction. Trudy had Alzheimer’s disease so she may not even be talking about her mother. There might be a different Cindy. Maybe she mixed up the names. Names. She needed more names.

  “What happened to the man when Cindy got pregnant?”

  “Turns out he wasn’t so bad after all. Probably would have done her a world of good if she’d married him. He became a successful attorney and now Beckett’s a judge.”

  The room began to suffocate her. She needed to get air. Desperately. Judge Sanders? How many judges were named Beckett? She stood, grabbing on to the bed rail for support. “I’ll be right out—” The room tilted as darkness washed over her. The last thing she remembered before she hit the floor was her grandmother yelling for help.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Belle.” Harlan patted her hand. “Belle, it’s Harlan. Can you hear me?”

  Her eyes felt heavy and her head ached something awful. She lifted her free hand, but something was attached to her fingertip. “What the heck?” She tried to shake the plastic contraption off when she noticed the wires coming out of her hospital gown. Hospital gown? “Where am I?”

  “You’re in the hospital. You fainted at the nursing home and they couldn’t wake you up. Trudy said your head bounced off that floor like a basketball.”

  “I passed out?” Belle squeezed her eyes shut and tried to remember what had happened. Her grandmother hadn’t recognized her. No, that wasn’t it. She had recognized her after a while.

  A nurse came in and interrupted her thoughts. “You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

  “My head hurts.” Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. “May I have some water?”

  “I’ll get it.” Harlan poured her a cup from a mauve pitcher while the nurse checked the machines she seemingly had been connected to during her unconsciousness. Belle looked up at the IV bag hanging from the stand next to the bed and followed the drip line into her arm. She frantically grabbed at it. “What is this?” A wave of nausea slammed into her and dragged her under. “I feel sick.”

  “Shh.” Harlan stuck a straw in the cup and handed it to her. “They’re just fluids. You’re dehydrated and you have a concussion.”

  “The doctor will be in to check on you shortly,” the nurse said before walking out of the room.

  “You gave me quite a scare.” Harlan raked his hand through his thick chestnut hair. “Do you remember anything?”

  Belle sipped her water. Flashes of memories from throughout the day churned in her brain. “I remember Grammy telling me my grandfather had a heart attack and died the night my mom told them she was pregnant.”

  “Whoa. That’s heavy.” He squeezed her hand. “Myra told me Trudy didn’t recognize you today.”

  Belle tried to shake her head, but the pain was
too intense. “She didn’t. I guess the noise in there was too much for her to process. She thought I was ten and kept looking for me. She realized who I was for a little while, but then it was gone. Myra said that sometimes happened in loud situations.”

  “Do you remember feeling sick?”

  “No.” Belle closed her eyes against the brightness of the room. “We were talking about my mom. And boobies. I remember boobies.”

  Harlan bowed his head as his shoulders bounced up and down.

  “Stop laughing at me.” Belle tried to swat him but ended up clunking him in the head with her finger pulse oximeter. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “Are you trying to injure me so I’ll join you in that bed?”

  “Oh, my God!” Belle tried to sit up. Her mind almost short-circuited. Bed. Sex. Babies. Beckett. Sanders. “Judge Sanders is my father.”

  “What?” Harlan jumped up. “Are you serious?”

  “And how’s our patient this afternoon?” The doctor entered the room. “I’m Dr. Kim, the neurologist on staff. Are you experiencing any nausea?”

  “I almost threw up a minute ago.” Belle didn’t take her eyes of Harlan. “My head really hurts.”

  The doctor withdrew a flashlight from his pocket and shined it in her eyes. “Will you follow the light for me?”

  The light was bright, too bright. “When can I go home?”

  “Not until at least tomorrow. Your pupils are even, so that’s a good sign. Are you experiencing any blurry vision?”

  “No.”

  “Your scan results were normal. We’ll reevaluate you in a couple hours. Depending on how you feel, we may run another scan. You took quite a fall and you have a good-sized knot on the side of your head. Your nausea concerns me, so we’re going to keep you here overnight. I’ll be back to check on you later. If you feel any worse than you do now, let us know right away.”

  “Thank you.” He left the room and Harlan returned to her side.

  “Are you sure she said Judge Sanders?”

  “Granted my memory’s a little fuzzy right now, but she said the man was ten years older than my mom and he thought she was eighteen. Then something about my grandparents telling him the truth. I guess she was already pregnant when the relationship ended. Grammy said she shouldn’t have come between them because Beckett went on to become a judge.” She shrugged. “Who else could it be?”

  “Okay. But you were born in Texas.”

  “My mom was a runaway. I don’t know if she left or if Grammy threw her out after my grandfather’s heart attack. She blames my mom for his death. I never knew how or why she was in Texas. I assumed she ran away first and got pregnant down there. Apparently not. It makes sense, when you think about it. All the crap I’ve been arrested for, and I’ve always got off easy.”

  “Yeah, you have,” Harlan agreed. “I’ve always said you had a guardian angel. I guess you just had a guardian.”

  “I need you to find him and get him to come see me.” Belle reached for Harlan. “Tonight.”

  “Don’t you want to wait until we get you home? I don’t know anything about his personal life or where he lives.”

  “If you plan to be sheriff one day, you can figure out his address or phone number. I’ve waited twenty-seven years to meet my father. Soon he’ll be my only living relative. I have questions. Lots of them, and they can’t wait.” She glanced around the room. “Where’s Ivy?”

  “With Dylan.”

  “I want her to spend the night with you, not him. I won’t let you spend the night here, worrying about me, when that child needs you now more than ever. I’m in good hands. So please, find Judge Sanders. Tell him it’s urgent but don’t tell him the truth. Let him think I’m in trouble again. I’m willing to bet he’ll come to my rescue.”

  “Are you sure you’ll be okay here alone after this news?”

  “I’ve been alone for a long time.” Belle smoothed the front of her gown. “I can handle it.”

  “Okay.” He kissed her on the mouth before turning to leave. “I’ll call you later.”

  Belle attempted a smile but didn’t have the strength to see it through. She had a father. One who’d been nearby all along. What was it with parents abandoning their kids around here?

  * * *

  HARLAN CALLED LYDIA on the way to Dylan’s and told her about Belle’s fall and her decision to stay on the ranch. He omitted the fainting episode and the father revelation. Then he called the nursing home to check on Trudy and update them on Belle’s condition. By the time they arrived back at the ranch Belle’s animals were long overdue on their feedings. Ivy fed them their bottles while Harlan treated Lillie’s sunburn. Imogene and Olive ate and curled up together in their stall, but he couldn’t in good conscience leave behind the piglet and the lamb.

  Together, he and Ivy filled a small kiddie pool with fresh hay and dragged it across the yard and into the house. In hindsight, they should have filled it after they brought it inside. It just fit in the front mudroom. Nobody ever used that door anyway.

  After the addition of a few baby gates and checking in with Belle again, he finally had a chance to sit down and try to locate Judge Sanders. He still didn’t believe it. And he wasn’t so sure Belle should either. There was only one way to find out and that was to ask the man. Five phone calls later, he had the county clerk’s phone number. She must know how to reach the judge at home. Harlan looked at his watch. It was half past eight. Still early enough to call.

  The phone rang twice before she answered. “Hi, this is Deputy Sheriff Harlan Slade. It’s imperative I reach Judge Sanders tonight. Would you happen to have a number for him or could you contact him for me?”

  “I can call him and relay the information. May I ask what this is regarding?”

  “It’s an urgent matter regarding Belle Barnes.”

  Within minutes, an incoming call came in from an unknown number. “Harlan Slade,” he answered.

  “Harlan, it’s Beckett Sanders. I received a call about Miss Barnes. Or should I call her Mrs. Slade.” The man chuckled.

  How about calling her daughter?

  “She’s still going by Barnes.” At least that’s how he registered her at the hospital today. “Belle had an accident earlier at the nursing home. She requests to see you right away.”

  “Is she okay?”

  “She has a concussion. She said to tell you the matter is extremely urgent.”

  “Is she in county?”

  “Hospital, not jail.” Harlan felt the need to clarify that statement. They were talking about Belle after all. He gave the judge the room number and then phoned Belle with an update. He wished he could be there with her when she found out the truth, but she had been right. He belonged with Ivy tonight.

  Harlan walked in the living room and found his daughter watching cartoons and Elvis, Samson and Lillie curled up sound asleep beside her.

  “Ivy, how did they get out of their pen?”

  “I took them out. Elvis was lonely.”

  Of course he was. He mentally tabulated how much it would cost to get animal poop out of the area rug, because sooner or later, one of the three would spring a leak. Then he remembered the extra shower curtain liner he had in the upstairs bathroom. A few minutes later, the crisis had been averted. If they stayed on the plastic, everyone would remain happy.

  “Daddy?”

  “Yes, sweetheart?”

  “When can I see my mommy?”

  A flaming ball of barbed wire hitting him at warp speed would’ve been preferable over the gnawing ache churning in the pit of his stomach. “Have you slept on it?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you’re sure.”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you give me more than one-word answers and tell me how you’re feeling?”
/>   “I thought about how sad I would be if I never met you.” She flopped against him on the couch. “I don’t want to be sad for not knowing Mommy.”

  That was more deductive reasoning then he’d given her credit for. “I can call her and set up something for this week.”

  “Can I meet her now?”

  “Ivy, it’s almost time for bed.” She didn’t argue. She just stared up at him with those big blue eyes and he was putty in her hands. “Okay, you win. I’ll call her and see if she wants to come over tonight. I can’t make any promises.” He should at least let Molly know Belle wouldn’t make their coffee date tomorrow morning.

  Harlan was an idiot for doubting Molly would rush straight over. He greeted her on the porch first and warned her that the visit would be brief. “I mean it, Molly. A half hour at the most. She needs to get to bed.”

  The last time the three of them were in the same house together, it was the day she walked out on them. Molly followed him through the house and into the living room.

  “You’ll have to ignore the temporary animal play area. I brought the menagerie in while Belle is in the hospital.”

  Harlan watched Molly’s eyes as she took in her surroundings. Instead of zeroing in on Ivy, she noticed everything else about the room, floor to ceiling.

  “You changed the place.”

  Harlan nodded from the doorway. He hadn’t allowed her past the kitchen the other day. Her voice was quieter tonight, almost as if she didn’t want to attract Ivy’s attention.

  “Barnyard animals are okay in the house?”

  “I took the necessary precautions.” Harlan sighed. Belle had been a better mother to his daughter. Molly had been in the house for five minutes and she still hadn’t focused on Ivy. “Maybe this was a mistake,” Harlan said under his breath.