Protecting the Presidents Daughter

Chapter 6

Braden sat with a coffee in hand and watched Dylan and Emily saddle up two horses. She knew they were safe and secure on the ranch, but it still worried her that the bastard threatening her had gotten close enough to take pictures of Emily. She wasn’t surprised when her mother asked her to pack up and get to safety. What had been a surprise was that she’d suggested Tanner as her head of security. Her mother didn’t like Tanner. She never had. Not even when Tanner and Amanda had been together and then given her Emily. She had seemed to hate Tanner more then. But when it had come to protecting Braden and Emily, her mother had insisted on Tanner. Braden knew Tanner’s reputation, she’d followed everything she could find about Tanner. From when she’d started her training, to her having her training agents now. After Amanda, Tanner had taken all the hard assignments, Braden was sure she’d check up on her and be told she’d been killed. But that never happened. Tanner was very good and her reputation as the best in her field had grown over the years. At forty years old, she was still fit, her body still a honed weapon. Grey had started showing in her dark hair, and her eyes showed fatigue, she was still an attractive woman. Braden had to smile, thinking back on the first few times she’d seen Tanner in a suit. She’d been so uncomfortable, and she’d hated the fact that Amanda treated her more like an escort than security. But after a while, the suits had become a part of her working persona, and she’d slipped into the sleek agent role easily. And the role of the escort had become more real than Braden ever thought it would. Fifteen years. It had taken Amanda less than a year to reel Tanner in, they’d been married, and Amanda was pregnant so quickly it seemed impossible. But Amanda had made sure she’d gotten what she wanted. She always had. She herself had asked Beth to marry her and that’s when things started going badly.

“Morning.”

Braden jumped at the low voice. “Shit.” She wiped the coffee she’d spilled on her knee. “You startled me.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.” Tanner sat down on the porch next to Braden. “She rides?” She gestured to where Emily and Dylan mounted and after a quick wave at Braden, they rode out to the fields behind the house.

“Yes. Mother insisted she take lessons. And Emily loves it, so that worked out.”

“Do you still ride?”

“Not as much as I want. But I do, yes.” Braden set her cup down on the step and breathed in the crisp morning air. “She’s angry at me” Braden let out a laugh. “Who am I kidding? That kid has been angry at everyone and everything since Amanda died.” She rubbed a hand over her face. “Dylan seemed to get through to her. And they spend a lot of time together.”

“Something I should know?”

“They’re just friends, Tanner. Emily doesn’t have many of those, so I don’t fuss about it.” Braden shook her head. “Dylan is happily married to a lovely girl, Jo I think, who allows Emily to visit there sometimes.” She smiled. “I think they adopted her.”

“How does your mom feel about that?” Tanner scoffed. “Letting her granddaughter hang with help?”

“She doesn’t know,” Braden said simply. “I, we don’t talk much. Her secretary sends me my calendar for the month. I make sure I show up where they want me, and in between, I run my business. Emily goes to see her twice a week for supper, and when my mother has an open weekend, Emily stays with her. To Emily’s delight, that doesn’t happen often.”

Tanner sipped her coffee. “And Beth? How does she feel about Emily being handed over to you two to raise?”

“Beth.” Braden shook her head. “Beth is Beth. She didn’t play a role in Emily’s life. As long as she can travel when she wants, and her credit card works, she’s happy.”

Tanner shifted her gaze to Braden. “So, you’ve basically raised Emily yourself?”

“Yes.” Braden smiled. “Mother thought dumping Emily in my lap and making her my responsibility would be punishment. But the truth is, she saved me. Having her to look after this innocent kid who didn’t deserve what happened. She gave me a reason to get up in the morning and push through my own grief and pain. Because she needed me.” She dropped her head. “She was difficult in the beginning. Refused to eat or sleep. I was going to take her to the doctor after she passed out from exhaustion. Then Dylan asked me to speak to her. And I figured what the hell, things couldn’t get worse. The next day, she came down the stairs, had breakfast with me, and asked if she could go back to school.”

“What did Dylan say to her?”

“I don’t know. I never asked her, and she never told me. She just said that she would always be there and she knew how hard things are for a child who has lost her parents.”

“Mm, yes she would.” That was all Tanner said. “I have to go out for a while. I’m meeting with the team working on your case. I need to know what’s happening and what their timeline is. And what they know so far.”

“Will they tell you? I’ve been trying to get them to talk to me to tell me, anything at all. But I just keep getting shut down.”

“They will,” Tanner said, and Braden believed her. “I’m sorry this is happening to you and Emily. Is your business going to be okay for the next two weeks? If it takes longer than that, will you be, okay?”

“Yes, I can do everything I need to from here, and my managers are capable and good at their jobs. I’m okay.”

“Okay good.” Tanner stood. “Stay on the ranch, and if anything feels off, let Dylan or Meghan know. They are on you and Emily until I get back, the others are here. I’ve told them to try and make the fact that they are watching you twenty-four-seven as noninvasive as possible, but they are around.”

“Thank you, Tanner.”

“That’s what I do,” Tanner said and turned to leave. “Try and relax, take a walk, go for a ride. The fresh air will do you good, Ms. Roberts.”

“Why won’t you say my name?”

“I’m here to do a job.” She saw Braden flinch and added. “I can’t.” She walked away before Braden could ask her anything else.

"Pregnant?" Tanner felt her legs turn to jelly and slumped down into a chair. "How?"

"I told you I was going to go for the tests and then if all is good, I was going to do the procedure." She grinned and sat down in front of Tanner. "Don't pretend you don't want this. You said you wanted kids."

"I said one day, we are not ready for this, Amanda."

"Well, it's done and our baby is on the way." Amanda stood again.

"Our? What about this includes me in the decision?" Tanner snapped. "You made this decision without me."

"I knew you would take forever to commit. Now it's done and we can start planning ahead." Amanda sat down beside Tanner. "Please tell me I'm not in this alone."

"No, of course not." Tanner pulled Amanda into her arms and shoved the fear down as deep as she could.