Forgotten Angel

Chapter 2-2

“So, Becky, where will you be staying until you find your own place?” Aaron Hammond asked, yanking her back to the present.

“Um….” She ducked her head sheepishly. Usually, she and Justin stayed in one of the guest cabins on the Royal R because her parents’ small house was too cramped for five people, but her father had told her just last week that the cabins were all booked solid through the end of October. There would be only four people to squeeze into her parents’ house now, but James’s room—her old room—was barely big enough for him, and the couch wasn’t comfortable to sleep on for more than a night or two. “I have no idea. Honestly, I just decided to move home two days ago, so I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“She’s gonna stay with us. Right, Becky?” James asked. “You can have your room back, and I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“I appreciate the offer, little man, but I’m not going to take your room.”

“I have a better idea,” Ryan said. “We have a spare room here in the cabin.”

“No, you don’t,” Becky said. “You have a daughter now.”

“Who will be in her crib in the loft with us for a while so we don’t have to tackle the stairs in the middle of the night,” Luke said. “Besides, it’ll be great for Ryan to have you around since Alex and I will be gone a lot with school and football. Unless your parents and James would rather you stay with them.”

Becky glanced first at her parents, who were almost comically conflicted between their desire to have her close and the relief that they wouldn’t have to rearrange their house to make room for her.

“It would be a lot more comfortable for you,” her father remarked. “And we’ll still see a lot of you—more than we’ve been able to in years—because you’re home now.”

Becky nodded, then turned her attention to her little brother. James fought to contain his disappointment, but it was a battle he was doomed to fail, and after a moment, his shoulders drooped.

“What about you and me spending time together?” he asked so quietly she barely heard him.

Grabbing his hand, Becky yanked him into her lap and hugged him tightly. “We’re going to spend so much time together that you’ll be sick of me and glad we don’t live under the same roof. I promise.”

“Impossible,” he muttered. “I can’t ever get sick of you.”

“You say that now, James, but you’re about to that age when you’re going to start wanting more and more space.” Becky turned to her cousin and his wife and son. “As long as you three are sure, that’d probably work out better than me trying to squeeze into my parents’ house.” Or blowing my savings on rent, she added to herself. I really did not think this through.

“We wouldn’t have offered if it would be a problem,” Ryan assured her. “Of course, you may change your mind after a few days of dealing with a crying baby and a hormonal new mom.”

“Bring it on,” Becky said, laughing. “Seriously. I wouldn’t miss it—any of it—for the world. I don’t want to miss anything ever again.”

After dinner, as the sun sank below the western ridges and bathed the eastern peaks in light that shifted enchantingly from rich gold to vivid rose, Ryan excused herself to feed Ashleigh while June, Ben, Luke, and Alex cleared the remnants of the meal, and Coach Wells bid everyone good night, hugging Becky before he left with a heartfelt glad you’re back.

She leaned back in her chair with her hands knitted behind her head and her legs stretched out in front of her and crossed at the ankles. Contentment settled wonderfully over her as she watched the shadows crawl up the eastern foothills. Closing her eyes for a few minutes, she inhaled deeply. It was as if the very bones of the earth beneath her were a magnet and she a piece of iron hopelessly unable to resist its pull and only truly at peace when she embraced it. Whatever it was, she had no trouble admitting that she had made the right decision to come home… even if she hadn’t thought it out very well. Hell, she was newly single and not remotely upset about it.

She chatted with her parents, and the O’Neils and Hammonds updated her on the goings-on of Northstar, and for a handful of moments, it felt like she’d never left. She hadn’t had time to indulge in this on her too-brief trips home over the last six years, and she was amazed at how much had changed… and how much hadn’t. There were some new residents, a few new additions to longtime families, and several new hiking trails, and business at the Bedspread Inn, the Ramshorn Hot Springs, and the Royal R Ranch was booming. But otherwise, life in Northstar went on as it always had—at a blissfully unhurried pace.

Her aunt and uncle came back out with Alex right behind. Ryan came out a minute after and gingerly sat in the chair beside Becky.

“You know, for a woman who just gave birth two days ago, you are remarkably energetic, Ryan,” Becky observed. “Is it just a show or are you really that amazing?”

Ryan laughed heartily. “At least a little of the first, and I hope some of the second. I’m tired and sore, and my body feels totally strange and unfamiliar and a bit fragile, but I have this curious energy that makes me feel like I can conquer the world.”

“She’s just that amazing,” Luke said as he stepped out the door with his daughter.

Becky stood up to meet him. “My turn again. Gimme.”

Just as she took the baby from her father, a tingling at the base of her neck alerted her that someone was watching her, and she looked toward the road. Her heart lurched, thumping against her ribs with a flood of tangled emotions at the sight of that familiar face with its pleading brown eyes and cap of tousled dark blond hair. The last time she’d seen him, he’d been wearing a suit at Luke and Ryan’s wedding, and as handsome as he’d been in it, he was far more appealing to her in those worn jeans, blue-gray and white plaid button-up shirt with its sleeves rolled up past his elbows, and scarred work boots.

Damn, she thought appreciatively. Then she jerked herself back to reality. That’s exactly the kind of thinking that got your heart broken.

“I’m sorry, Becky,” Luke murmured. “I know this is awkward for you.”

She met his concerned gaze with a smile. “Don’t worry, Luke. I won’t ruin your party.”

“It’s not my party that I’m worried about.”

“I know. But I’ll be okay.” She grinned. “I’m too damned happy to be home to let even Shane ruin my night.”

“It’s late enough in the day now that you might as well go to Luke’s party and head back to Hamilton in the morning.”

After spending the day in Devyn meeting with his new coworkers and bosses, Shane was inclined to agree with his father about waiting until morning to drive back to the Bitterroot because the last thing he felt like doing was spending another four hours in his truck. No, there was one thing he was less inclined to do.

“Considering who’s on the guest list for Luke’s party, I don’t think it’s a good idea that I go, Dad.”

“Horse s**t,” Austin muttered. “I thought the whole point of you moving back was to stop running from your troubles and face them.”

Shane growled, but his father was right. “Fine. Let’s go. Party’s probably half over by now, anyhow.”

Austin drove up to Luke’s cabin, and Shane stared out the passenger-side window, watching the flicker of blue sky between the bottlebrush branches of the lodgepole pines and trying hard not to think about what awaited him at his old friend’s cabin. His father parked behind a silver pickup Shane didn’t recognize, and as he stepped out of his dad’s truck, he habitually glanced at the other vehicle’s plates to see where the truck was from, thinking maybe June’s parents had driven out from Washington. It became immediately evident that it wasn’t Luke’s grandparents; the truck had Wyoming plates, and his heart dropped into his stomach as soon as it clicked what that meant.

Becky.

“It’ll be fine,” Austin remarked when Shane didn’t immediately follow him. “So let’s get a move on.”

“I wouldn’t be so quick to say it’ll be fine, Dad. Becky’s here.” Shane’s voice was strangled by a myriad of emotions that he hungered for with the poisonous fervor of addiction.

“So?”

“That’s a lot more trouble than I feel up to handling right now.”

He didn’t say it, but he was tired of seeing hatred in Becky’s enchanting gray eyes every time she looked at him. They’d seen each other only a handful of times since they’d broken up, and each time, she’d greeted him with a cold glare or a snarled “go to hell.” He’d last seen her at Luke and Ryan’s wedding, and if the cold shoulder she’d given him was any indication, time had not yet dimmed her anger.

“Well, get over it.”

“I think it might be best if I just wait for you…” A glance up at the cabin stalled the words in his throat; Becky stood out on the deck with her cousin and holding Luke’s daughter, echoing the day he’d so stupidly broken both their hearts. “…in the truck,” he finished slowly. “I don’t want to wreck Luke’s party.”

“You’re not waiting in the truck.”

Panic warred with thrill, and the desire to go to her and wrap her in his arms like he once had conflicted nauseatingly with the urge to flee. When she glanced up and their gazes met, his moment to escape ended abruptly, leaving him no choice but to follow his father up the hill.

He clenched his jaw and set off after Austin, whose ground-eating strides were a welcome reminder that his father was in very good shape. Dread and nervousness grew with each step he took, and by the time they reached the party, his heart was pounding too erratically to be explained by the little bit of exertion it had taken to climb the short hill. Luke greeted him with a grin.

“I’m glad your dad dragged you up here,” he remarked.

“Yeah,” Shane said. A smidgeon of the tension tightening the muscles of his neck and shoulders eased. “Sorry we’re so late, but I just got back from my meetings in Devyn.”

“Not a big deal. Dinner’s over already, but there may be a steak left if you’re hungry.”

“Thanks, but I ate in town, and I think Dad already ate, too.”

“I did. Got hungry waiting for you to get home,” Austin confirmed.

“Well, make yourselves comfortable,” Luke said, stepping out of the way so they could join the rest of the party on the deck.

Ryan, June, Ben, Pat, and the kids all greeted Shane warmly enough as did the Hammonds and Coach Wells and even Aelissm. Ryan’s family was polite, except for Matt, who only nodded in greeting with a dark scowl on his face. No surprise there, Shane thought. Having said hello to everyone else, Shane turned at last to Becky. At the moment, she was too busy gazing at Luke and Ryan’s daughter, and he expected that tender smile would turn into the cold, flat expression she seemed to reserve just for him as soon as she lifted her eyes.

“Hello, Becky,” he said softly.

To his shock, the smile didn’t disappear, and when she replied, her voice was disconcertingly gentle. “Hello, Shane.”

“I assume we also missed the announcement,” Austin said before Shane could make any further conversation with Becky, perhaps trying to stave off any awkwardness. “What’d you name her?”