“Whatcha doing?” Rick looked up from his monitor and the file he’d received via email from Pete to see Addie standing in the doorway with her tray. It looked like she had sandwiches for their lunch. It was the fourth time she’d brought him food at his desk. He appreciated it, even as it freaked him out a bit.

Glancing at the screen, he vowed to sort the new intel he’d received after a short break. It might prevent his brain from leaking out his ears. He’d almost made it past the Pete-ramble to the actual information he needed. He also had a surveillance report from Noah and James to review. They were on to something. Most of the pieces were there, but he was missing one, the most important.

“I’m sorting through my email.”

“That sounds boring.” She sat the tray in its now routine spot on the corner of his desk. She never offered him the extra meal she carried in, but her eyes always flicked from it to him until he took it.

“It is, but there’s important stuff in there. It’s just going to take some time to go over and figure out what it means.” Off shore bank accounts. Intercepted emails. Shell companies and fraudulent charities. They had a virtual library of dirty information. The only thing they lacked?

Marcus Sutton’s hiding place.

They were running out of time. Everyone on the team agreed. The more time Sutton had, the more opportunity he had to plan an offense. Not to mention that he and Trent had two MacDonald women cooped up. It was only a matter of time before they had a rebellion on their hands.

Rick knew it cost Leigh a great deal to put her job—hell, her entire life—on hold. And she hadn’t complained once. In the hospital, she’d stayed by his side every moment. He’d be stupid if he thought that safety and practicality were the only reasons why.

Practicality didn’t have a single thing to do with the long hours she’d held his hand while he slept and healed. Her talking soft and low to him for hours on end in the ICU had absolutely nothing to do with safety.

He owed her so much and didn’t begin to know how to set things right.

Addie turned her nose up at him and his “boring emails” but stayed silent, picking at the crust of her sandwich.

“What are you girls doing today?” He focused on her and picked up his sandwich, resisting the urge to peek beneath the bread. Hopefully Leigh had supervised its construction.

“Nothing much. We’re supposed to make pizza for dinner. Maybe cookies, too.”

He felt bad—cooking lessons and homeschooling would only hold her interest so long. They were all headed fast to stir crazy.

“I need to check on some things outside. Do you want to go with?”

Her head popped up. “Really?”

“Sure. No reason we can’t take our lunch with us. Sandwiches are portable, right?” He held his sandwich in the air.

“Right!”

“Go put on your shoes and meet me at the front door in two minutes, okay?”

“Okay!” She grabbed her sandwich and napkin then bolted out the door. He hoped they didn’t find a trail of lunchmeat down the hall later.

He sent Leigh a quick text to let her know where he and Addie were going. After he opened the hidden safe in the wall behind his desk, he armed himself with a loaded 9mm. He secured it in a shoulder holster and pulled on a long-sleeve button-up to conceal it from Addie. He knew she wasn’t immune to the danger they were in, but there was no need to put it right in her face. He and his team had secured his home and all the surrounding property, but he couldn’t take any chances.

When he arrived at the front door, Addie waited, nearly vibrating with excitement. How had he forgotten that she was accustomed to spending so much time outdoors? “Ready?”

She smiled.

He opened the door and cautioned, “No running off. Stay nearby at all times.”

She bounded out after him and stepped into the sun. Turning her face up to the sky, she sighed then she looked to him. “Where are we going?”

“Let’s walk down around the stables.”

She surveyed the sweeping, storybook view. “Jeez, it’s like you have your own state or something. This place goes on forever.”

“Not quite forever.” He was thankful for that. The logistics of keeping the entire farm secured and under surveillance had been a huge undertaking. But, they’d done it.

“How many acres is it?” Wide-eyed she looked around.

He tried to see it from her perspective. Seemingly endless acres of gently sloping and rolling meadows. A random assortment of graceful gray stone and cream painted, timber barns dotted the landscape. Each was topped with a pair whimsical cupolas. The farm, in its prime, had been featured in more than one magazine.

As picture perfect as it was, it possessed and air of loneliness. Due to their need to admit as few unknown people to the property as possible, the grass had grown a little too tall. He laughed at Trent’s reaction the other day when he’d come by. His friend had been downright twitchy over the state of Rick’s fields. Knowing the situation, Trent hadn’t complained, but after he’d stared long moments at the ankle high grass, he said he’d send a trusted crew of his own to take care of it.

He hadn’t given Rick any say in the matter.

But those overgrown fields were also barren, empty of life.

“The portion of the farm I purchased is just under three hundred acres. It was originally a larger property but the owner retired. He kept a smaller portion for a hobby farm, but had no need for the rest.”

“It’s really pretty, but it seems kinda lonely.”

He couldn’t deny the truth of her words. “It does. Maybe eventually it’ll look a little more…”

“Alive? Less like a ghost town?” She answered for him disdainfully.

“Yeah, less like a ghost town.”

She tilted her head to look up at him, worried. “It’s okay. Really. I loved my little barn even though it didn’t look very nice. I wanted a nicer place for my horses, but my dad didn’t care. He spent all his money on drugs. Is your dad a bad guy, too?” Her quiet question caught him off guard. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault if he is. I know sometimes people who seem nice really aren’t.”

Hell, she’s worried about me.

He couldn’t fathom it. They paused and he leaned against a fence rail. “He’s not a bad guy, really…He’s not a criminal.”

“Then what did he do to you?” She tilted her head and looked at him in question.

Well, hell. How do I answer that one? “He never did anything bad to me. He was just never there when I needed him. My mom died when I was young and things were…difficult. He made some pretty big mistakes.” That might be the understatement of the year. He wasn’t sure that he should tell a thirteen-year-old that his father had an extra-marital relationship while his wife battled cancer. “We never saw eye to eye on things that were important to both of us.”

“I get that. Mine always ignored me. Like, totally forgot I existed. I stopped asking him for dinner and everything. I could feed myself, ‘cause he never did anything to help me. But the one thing I really, really wanted, when I went and asked him to get feed for my horses, well, he kinda went crazy. He screamed and yelled and screamed and yelled some more. I thought he might never stop. Even when I started crying, like I tried not to, but when I couldn’t stop it, I had to leave the house and go to my hideout. He’s horrible. I…I wish I wasn’t a part of him. Like I wish he wasn’t my dad.”

He’d never felt lower than at that moment when her words and their meaning registered. Yes, his father virtually disappeared off the face of the planet, abandoning him at the worst moment of his life. He hadn’t been a good husband to his ill wife. Later after college when his father had tried to mend fences and draw him into the family business, they fought. And they had some brutal, nasty arguments.

But at that point he’d been a grown man and able to hold his own. He’d been able to stand up for his mother, even though she no longer needed it. She’d been gone for a decade.

He had never been a young girl, a child, forced to fend for herself. She had such an incredibly soft heart, much like Leigh’s. For her to sit and watch her horses, the very best thing in her life wither away, unable to get them what they needed, well, he couldn’t imagine the pain she’d shouldered alone. He imagined she spent more than just that one occasion in tears.

He’d always had a pantry full of food and, sometimes, even a cook or kind housekeeper. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the age she’d been forced to start fending for herself.

Yet, she remained a sweet and kind miracle.

He struggled to find some small way to shine a positive light on her past. “Sweetheart, I know science makes a big deal about it, but your DNA is only a small component of what makes you who you are. Your father only contributed to fifty percent of that. Your mother gave you the other half of your genes.” He straightened and led them up the path to the side of the house.

Sourly, she groused. “At least I don’t have his name.”

Rick agreed, but wasn’t sure he was supposed to admit that aloud. He himself had even been angry the Tom hadn’t given Addie his name when she’d been born. Now, he wondered if that had been a blessing in disguise. It’d be one less stain on her life.

Instead of agreeing, he volunteered what little he knew of her mother’s history. “The Potters were pretty important people.”

She scrunched her nose and looked down at her feet. “Yeah, right.”

“No, really. I have the info in the files we created when we were searching for you. Did you ever think about the fact that your name is Potter? You lived in Potter County.”

Addie scuffed the tow of her shoe in the grass. “A lot of people are named Potter. It’s not special.”

“Not true. It is special. The county was named after your great aunt, several times removed. Her name was Marjorie Jean Potter.” He tried to put things in a light she might appreciate. “The area was extremely poor, but the kids needed a school. Most of them didn’t attend because the nearest one was thirty miles away. She went to the mayor of Riley Creek, which was a teeny, tiny town then. He told her no, they couldn’t afford to build a school. She didn’t like that.”

Taken aback, Addie squinted her eyes, straightening her neck in outrage. “But kids need school. Some teachers are even nice. The year before my mom died and things got bad, I went to school. I had a teacher who liked my drawings. She showed me a few tricks to make them better.” She hopped over a knee-high boulder at the old garden’s edge.

“Your great aunt agreed. Kids need school. She went toe to toe with the mayor. He kept telling her there was no money.”

“She didn’t like that, did she?” She smiled with the knowledge that his story would bring something better.

“Nope. I don’t think she did.”

“How did she get the money?”

“Marjorie was one of the few women landowners in this part of the state. She offered a couple of acres of her own property to the town if they would build a school on it.”

“Wow. She was really nice. Did he give her the money for the school?”

He gave his head a single negative shake. “Nope.”

“That was a good deal. He should have taken it.” She turned her head and looked at his beautiful, but lonely barn in the distance. The longing on her face tore at his heart until it bled. She needed a family, a life filled with love and light. Anything less was a crime.

He’d see that she got it, if it was the last thing he did. An idea sprung to life, spawning a new list of things to do, lessons to learn.

He smiled a wicked grin, playing the story up and letting her know that the best part was to come. “He definitely should have taken it.”

She brightened, waiting for the good part. “What did she do?”

“She staged a protest. One morning when he got ready to leave for work, he opened his front door to find five women, all fired up and chanting. They blocked his door, refusing to let him past. He shut the door on them and snuck out his bedroom window. Do you want to guess what he found waiting for him when he got to work?”

Her eyes brightened. “More protestors?”

They walked along a curving path paved with smooth stones that led them into the old flower garden. “Yup. Six more mothers and three fathers waited. This continued for two weeks.”

Addie stepped up onto a low rock wall that bordered a neglected flower bed. “He finally gave up?” She put her arms out to the side as if walking a tightrope up the inclined wall.

“Well, he got a whole lot more serious about finding the funds to build the school. When they opened it, your great aunt volunteered and helped teach.” Without thought he held his hand out when she came to the high end of the wall.

“So…She was a badass?” She grabbed his hand and held on as she jumped down.

“Yeah, she was a badass. Just don’t let Leigh hear you use that word, though in this case, I’d think she’d agree.” He let her hand go. When the warmth of her little hand in his left, he realized what he’d done.

Her eyes shining with pride, she straightened her thin shoulders. “My grandpa was a badass too. He fought in a war. Had medals and everything.”

“A veteran. Then he was definitely a badass. So you come from a long line of strong people who did good things. But I think the most important part of what makes a person who they are is the way the behave. Their actions and the things they say. The way they treat people.”

“Yeah. I guess so.” Her acceptance sounded half-hearted as she stared out across the empty fields. Knowing it wouldn’t help, he just barely resisted the urge to reinforce his point. And he realized he wanted to be there to help her truly understand that lesson and others.

“Come on, kid. Let’s go see what Leigh’s up to. I have a phone call to make.”

Trent Dawson just might laugh his ass off. So be it.

* * *

Leigh’s bedroom door opened and Addie rushed in. She stopped dead in her tracks, looking at Leigh where she sat at her desk. “What are you wearing?” Disgust written all over her face, the girl stomped over, hands on hips. One would have thought Leigh had gone out, rolled in the mud, then dressed in a potato sack.

Without any idea as to where Addie’s attitude came from, Leigh stood. “I don’t have a lot of choices. Most of my clothes are at my house. Jeans can be dressy.”

“Why didn’t you pack nicer things?” She threw her hands up in the air. When she mumbled like an aggravated mother, Leigh had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. “I swear. How am I supposed to do anything with this?” She put one hand on her forehead then waved the other up and down gesturing to Leigh’s clothing.

Leigh gave up the fight and laughed. When the joy bubbled to the surface, it erupted into full blown belly laughs. The hysteria felt wonderful.

Not the least bit impressed, Addie glared. “What happened to that dress you had on a few days ago? The yellow thing?”

“My sundress? It’s not dressy, honey.”

“Well, it’s better than that.” Adding pointed accusingly the jeans and top Leigh wore. Apparently, it wasn’t what Addie had in mind when she’d insisted that she take a bath, relax and get pretty. She and Rick were to take over dinner preparations for the evening, giving Leigh a break.

She didn’t mind cooking, or helping Addie with meals. Who knew what kind of kitchen disaster she’d find in the morning? The girl was so determined and excited about her secret menu, that Leigh hadn’t been able to deny her.

She just hoped she didn’t regret giving in.

“You really want me to wear a dress?”

Addie’s pale blue eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “Yes!”

“Can I wear a skirt?” She walked to her closet and opened the door. “It’s really all I have with me.”

Addie huffed. “I guess it’ll have to do.”

Leigh smiled and bit back another round of laughter. “Give me just a couple of minutes. It won’t take me long.”

Addie’s hands returned to her hips. “Fine. Five minutes and not a second longer. I’m going to check on Rick.” She stomped out of Leigh’s bedroom and closed the door.

Leigh had just pulled the skirt from the closet when her bedroom door opened and Addie’s head and one shoulder appeared. “Your hair and makeup look really pretty. Can you teach me how to do the curls one day? And maybe the makeup?”

While she’d waited, she just taken a few minutes to add a few lazy curls to the ends of her hair and a little color to her face. “Sure. Anytime.”

Addie nodded then disappeared.

Leigh heard her shout from the far end of the hall. “She needs five minutes, then I am done! Jeez, you grownups are a lot of work.”

She exchanged the pale green and black skirt for her jeans. She slipped on a pair of strappy sandals. Making a stop by her mirror, she added lip gloss for some shine.

Hoping she passed Addie’s muster, she sat down at her desk to wait. She’d been banned from the rest of the house while Addie and Rick had prepared dinner. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know why they felt the need to hide their activities, but she told herself not to worry, at least for tonight.

Someone knocked on the door, breaking into her thoughts. Addie always announced her presence, often as she let herself in.

Rick.

She opened her door to find him dressed in a black tailored button-up and slacks. Men in business or dress attire had never appealed much to Leigh. A country girl at heart, she’d didn’t have anything against them, really, but she’d always been drawn to men who appeared a little more rugged.

Until Rick Evans crossed her path. Polished, but not quite civilized enough to completely mask the dark undercurrent of lethal grace, he caused something in her chest to hitch each and every time she saw him.

Now? Forget the hitch. The sight of him, standing there, holding a bouquet of scraggly wildflowers, stopped her heart in its tracks. She’d seen plenty of handsome men in her life, but had never dreamed that a specimen as downright decadent existed beyond fiction. Joke’s on you, sister.

His hair, still slightly shower damp, curled a bit at his collar and over one brow.

Words failed her, and she was forced her to settle on a one word greeting. “Hey.”

He handed her the half-wilted bouquet. It was simultaneously the most pitiful and beautiful bunch she’d ever seen. “Addie insisted I bring you flowers. She picked them, but I’m not supposed to tell you that. She wanted me to take all the credit.”

“I don’t doubt that one bit. Your secret’s safe. She demanded I wear a dress. Although I think anything less than a ball gown would have been a disappointment. My wardrobe is limited, so this is what you get.” She gestured down at her skirt.

“Leigh, there is nothing disappointing about what you’re wearing. You wouldn’t be any less beautiful in jeans and an old t-shirt.”

She shook her head. “Oh no, that wouldn’t do for the organizer of this event. Any idea why this dinner is such a big deal to her?”

“No idea at all.” His shit-eating grin said otherwise. Full of gentlemanly charm, he held his elbow out for her. “Shall we?”

Footsteps thundered through the house, sounding much like a herd of elephants. Addie appeared at the opposite end of the hall. Already dressed in pale blue pajamas, she tilted her as she looked them both over. “Just checking. I’ve eaten and I have snacks. Cara just got here. We’re going to have a movie night. Just pretend I’m not even here.”

She vanished as quickly as she’d appeared. Leigh laughed, surprised at how much noise a child who probably didn’t weigh a hundred pounds could make.

“Another movie marathon? Poor Cara. You’re going to owe her. Hopefully Addie won’t be too hard on her.”

“We have a deal. I suspect she’ll keep her end of the bargain.” A lazy, knowing grin spread over his face. Her toes curled. With nothing left to do, she took the flowers and his elbow.

A hundred butterflies taking flight low in her belly, she tried for lighthearted. “I’m still trying to figure out whether this is just teenager drama or something more.”

He stopped at the patio door. His hands on her shoulders turned her to face him. The heat of his palms spread through her, bringing thoughts she’d tried so hard to ignore to the surface. There was nothing lighthearted in the deep undercurrents swirling beneath his simple words. “Definitely something more, for both her and I.”

Making her best effort at a cheeky grin, she asked, “You wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would you? Say like plotting my demise?”

The sly, sexy smile that took over his mouth just might be the death of her. “Never.”

She gulped and pretended to be unaffected when she was anything but. Desire bloomed deep, its intensity shaking her.

His palms slid down the flesh of her arms in a sultry caress. He took her by the hand and led her to the kitchen where a picnic basket waited on the counter. Leaning close, he whispered, “Now, I want you to think about only one thing. What does Leigh Ann MacDonald want?” He took her hands, weaving their fingers together at her sides.

“Honestly, I don’t even know anymore. I did. Then the world tilted, mixing everything up. Some things just don’t seem as important as they used to.” She didn’t know what to make of their dinner. Rick and Addie told her they wanted to give her a break for the evening. Picnics and a sunset dinner? The setup felt more and more like a date.

They totally suckered me.

She should have known better. The two of them had so much in common that it was mind boggling. Why would they setup a date for her?

Rick had made it plain that he had no interest in anything beyond making sure Addie was in good hands. Then again, the kiss we shared over icing a few nights ago took friendly to an entirely new level.

Hungry. Sinful. Delicious. So far from platonic they might as well have been from opposite planets. Dinner for two didn’t say, “Put your feet up and rest.”

* * *

Addie walked down the hallway and almost bumped into Cara coming out of the kitchen. She carried a drink in one hand and a bowl of popcorn in the other. When Cara looked up she smiled. “Hey, kiddo. How’s it going?” Addie considered that smile. It was real. She’d always had a knack for knowing if people were telling the truth or not. Faces and expressions weren’t much different.

Cara was good people.

Good people. That’s what her grandpa always said when he liked someone. Mark’s good people. The Parkers are good people. Beth, down at the store, is good people. Maybe it made her sound like a country girl. She didn’t care. She still considered it the highest compliment someone could give a person.

“I’m okay.” She bit back the urge to babble on, revealing how she felt. As much as she liked Cara, she still felt awkward in the pretty soldier’s presence. Addie enjoyed her company, but worried she might say or do the wrong thing. And she didn’t want anything bad to get back to Leigh or Rick. She might be tired of staring at the same walls every day, but at least they were clean and safe. She had more food than she could eat in a month and both Leigh and Rick were so good to her.

Like real parents.

Almost too good, except they easily passed the smile test. She still couldn’t believe this new world she lived in could be real.

“Come on in here, chickie.” Cara tilted her head in the direction of the TV room. “Are we watching comedies or superhero movies?”

“You can pick. There are too many to choose from.” She followed Cara into the family room and sat on the couch.

“Okay. Now, before we start the movies, tell me what’s really going on. You’re good with the poker face, but you can’t fool me. What’s up?”

Oh, shit. Addie looked down at her feet on the shiny wood floor. Cara had the smile radar, too. She knew better than to think she could outsmart it, but she couldn’t do anything to screw up things here with Rick and Leigh.

“Come on, spit it out before you worry a hole in your bottom lip.”

Her head snapped up to find Cara looking at her with concern. A long forgotten memory came to life, bringing a rush of happiness. “My grandpa used to tell me that.”

Cara sat on the couch then sat her phone beside her. Just like Rick’s, it had an app and access to security stuff on it. They never made a big deal about it, but they always had one close. “I think I’d like your grandpa. He sounds like a good guy.”

“He was...I miss him a lot.” She sat at the other end of the couch and crossed her legs.

“So, what’s with the gloomy face?”

Maybe it would be better to tell Cara her worries? “It’s not a big deal. I’m just getting bored. I don’t want Rick to think I don’t like what he’d doing for me. I don’t want to bug them.”

“I think that’s normal. Rick’s working hard. The whole team is. It won’t be long.”

“I know.” She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen anyone work so hard in her life.

Cara turned on the TV with the remote. “You said your grandfather was in the Army?”

Full of emotion, worries and turmoil Addie nodded.

Cara got up and walked across the room to the loveseat. She picked up a large white plastic bag. She brought the bag over, then held it out for her to take. “For you.”

Shock stole her words. What should she say? Do? What if Cara thought she didn’t like it? She reached her hand out then before she came in contact with the bag, she withdrew it. “A present for me? I never get presents. We never had the money or dad was always busy with his...drugs.” What did it matter anymore? Everyone knew what he did.

“This one didn’t cost me anything, but I thought you might like to have it back. It’s not a gift that most thirteen-year-old girls would like, but I figure you’re special enough to appreciate it.”

Curiosity stuck its claws in her. Addie took the bag. A little heavy and bulky, its weight shifted awkwardly in the bag. Half eager, half afraid, she opened it and looked inside.

“What?” She blinked. And blinked again. It was still there, the familiar dark greens and browns, a balm to her aching soul.

Pulling it out, she looked to the front. “It is. It really is.” The name Potter was embroidered on the front. She rubbed a fingertip over the letters. Her breath left her on a shaky exhale.

“It’s been laundered, so it’s clean. I thought you’d like to have it back.”

She dropped the bag to the floor and clutched it to her chest. She thought her grandfather’s old coat was lost to her forever after she’d dropped it in the woods all those weeks ago.

“I don’t know what to say or do.” Tears welled in her eyes. Closing them, she bent her head and pressed the coat to her face.

“Just say thank you.”

“Thank you so much. This is the best present ever.” Addie thought she might have seen a hint of moisture in Cara’s eyes too.

Then she threw a piece of popcorn at Addie. “Come on, sis. We have a pile of movies to watch. Did you save any cupcakes for us?”

Sis. She’d heard lots of people say it the same way they said sweetheart or honey to someone they liked. No one had ever called her that.

Does this mean I have a friend?