A Rancher's Pride(36)

Eager to be away from both mother and son, Kayla had followed Becky into the backyard.

Her face flushing—and not just from the heat of the day—she sagged against the porch railing.

Why had she blurted out that accusation against Sam? Why hadn’t she refused to go talk with the judge? She’d have been so much better off. Yet, that wouldn’t have been fair to Sam.

Long ago, Ronnie had made her promise never to breathe a word of what she’d been told to anyone. And now that Kayla had accused him of such a terrible act, she had learned all too clearly why Ronnie had sworn her to secrecy. She had lied.

As Kayla had also accused Sam of doing.

Across the yard, Becky and Pirate disappeared behind the barn. They liked to walk—and, in the puppy’s case, sniff—their way around the huge building. It always took a while.

Still agonizing over what she had done, Kayla dropped her head onto her upraised knees and groaned. How could she ever make up to Sam for the way she had treated him?

Her throat tightened as if to prevent her from saying the words aloud. Her head spun, and again, it wasn’t due to the heat, but from all the thoughts whirling in her mind. Now that she had learned the truth about Ronnie’s injuries, she had to question everything Ronnie had told her. Had to reexamine everything she had thought she’d known about Sam.

There was one thing she could swear to, though, and from her own knowledge. All Sam could think about was winning over the judge and taking Becky away from her.

If accusing him of abuse hadn’t turned the judge against her, it would certainly give the man pause. Again, she worried over what had happened that afternoon in the private conference in his chambers. She should have stayed there. She should have protested the two of them going off together. Who knows what deal they might already have made?

An agreement that might be all the judge needed to decide Sam should keep custody of Becky.

All thanks to Kayla’s own misinformed actions.

What was she going to do to make the judge see she was the best person to care for Becky?

From behind her came the sounds of the screen door hinges. She turned to find Sam leaning against the kitchen door frame, his slumped posture almost mimicking hers. She would have laughed, except he looked the picture of misery, and chances were if she could get her hands on a mirror, she would find she looked the same.

“Listen,” he said, “I just came to tell you—” He stopped, looking past her. “What the hell is that?”

She turned quickly, her thoughts flying to Becky.

Her niece had just rounded the barn with Pirate prancing beside her.

“Call her over here,” he demanded.

She looked at him in surprise. “Why? She’s okay.”

“Not with that mutt around her, she isn’t.”

“Your puppy won’t hurt her. He and Becky have played together before this.”

“He’s not my dog. Just call her,” he repeated.

She could see his frustration mounting. At the sight of the dog or at his own inability to talk to Becky, she couldn’t tell. But she had to acknowledge that he’d know better than she would if there were something wrong with the dog.

She motioned Becky to come to her.

As Becky neared the porch, Pirate followed at her heels. When she started up the steps, Sam leaned over the railing to yell at the dog, waving him away. The confused pup bounded once after Becky, backed up a couple of paces, ran in a circle. At last, he stood still, his head cocked and his eyes trained adoringly on her. Sam yelled again. Pirate retreated a few feet, gave a low whine, turned to go. He paused once to glance back before finally loping away.

Becky looked just as confused as her furry friend. Her eyes wide, she snapped her fingers, then tapped her fingertips twice on her cheek. “Dog? Home?”

Kayla nodded.

Sam had retreated into the kitchen, and she could see him punching the keypad of the cordless phone.

Becky climbed onto the porch swing, where she had left her doll. Kayla gave the swing a push to start it moving.

A minute later, she heard Sam’s voice on the phone.

“This is Sam Robertson. Tell Porter to keep his animals off my land. Including that mangy dog of his. That mutt gets anywhere near my daughter again, and I’ll see Porter gets what he deserves…. Right. You do that. Word for word. He gives you any grief about delivering my message, you just let me know.” He dropped the phone back onto its base.

After giving Becky another push on the swing, Kayla turned and went into the kitchen, closing the screen door softly behind her.