The Sheriff's Mail-Order Bride (The Watson Brothers #2)(35)

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

Their kindness would be 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 and fast.”

“No, it doesn’t matter now. This isn’t his problem, it’s 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. I wouldn’t have encroached on your goodwill. I’m not like that.”

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

So now you ask, after you accuse me. Way to make me believe you love me, Rory. “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 felt conflicted 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 stared 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. 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, either of you. 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 boy’s 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. His yo-yo mood annoyed her, played havoc with her own emotions. She couldn’t help but react, her mood snippy. “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 any more 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, Aden 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 waited for her reaction. She could be pig headed and ignore him or take what he was offering knowing that she would have acted the same in his situation. It had been a shock to all of them. Gina stepped into his embrace, 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 think the same if the tide was turned. After getting him to propose, this might be the incident that made him demand the ring back.





Chapter Thirteen





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 Woods” 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, putting him out of his misery.