Gunfire On The Ranch. Delores Fossen

didn’t linger in the hall, though. She pushed past all of them and hurried into the room, no doubt to see her son.

      “You came because of these gunmen?” Jodi asked him.

      “Yeah,” Theo verified. “I tried to stop this.”

      Jodi made a sound of understanding, and this time she went to him. Just as he’d done to Ivy, Jodi hugged him. For a couple of seconds, anyway. But then she eased back and punched him in the arm.

      Hard.

      “That’s for not calling me.” She punched him again. “That’s for letting me think you might be dead or dying somewhere.”

      The emotion surprised him. So did the tears that sprang to his sister’s eyes. Jodi wasn’t the crying sort. Or at least she hadn’t been the last time he’d seen her. But she hadn’t been engaged to Gabriel Beckett then. Obviously, his sister had taken her life in a new direction.

      “I love you,” Jodi added. “And you’re bleeding.” She used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe his cheek.

      Theo hadn’t forgotten about the glass cutting him, but he also hadn’t figured it was serious since he wasn’t hurting.

      “Who’s with Gabriel?” Jodi asked.

      “Three ranch hands.”

      Jodi glanced back at Jameson, and that seemed to be the only cue the Ranger needed to get moving. Maybe Jodi wanted her soon-to-be husband to have as much backup as possible.

      “Wait here with them,” Jameson said to Theo as he headed down the stairs. “And don’t let them go outside until I say so.”

      Theo doubted Ivy would want to venture out of the house as long as that gunman was out there, but since his sister was already nibbling on her bottom lip and looking around, she might try to disobey Jameson’s orders. Just in case that’s what she had on her mind, Theo took Jodi by the arm.

      “Is there a bathroom in here so you can get me a cloth for this cut on my cheek?” he asked. Not that he particularly wanted to do that, but it would give Jodi something to do.

      “Yes, this way.”

      Theo followed her into the bedroom and then to the attached bathroom. It wasn’t that big, but it still took Theo a moment to spot Ivy because she was in the corner next to a claw-foot tub. She had a boy clutched in her arms.

      Definitely not a baby.

      This kid was older, school-age, and he was looking up at Ivy as if to comfort her rather than vice versa.

      Jodi froze, practically in midstep. Ivy froze, too, but the boy turned and faced Theo. And Theo felt as if he’d just been punched in the gut. Because he knew that face. Or rather he knew the features, because he saw them every time he looked in the mirror.

      Hell.

      Ivy must have seen his reaction then, because she shook her head. Not a denial, exactly, since there was no way she could deny what Theo had just realized.

      He was looking at his own son.

       Chapter Four

      Ivy could have sworn her heart stopped beating for a few seconds. Theo knew. God, he knew.

      From the moment she’d seen Theo by the side of the house, Ivy had feared this might come. In fact, at first that’s why she had thought Theo was there, that he’d found out about Nathan. It would have been safer if that’s why he’d been there. But it wasn’t going to be easy to deal with the storm that was brewing behind Theo’s narrowed eyes.

      “Who is that?” Nathan asked, his attention suddenly fixed on Theo. “He’s not one of the bad men, is he?”

      On the surface those were easy questions, but neither Ivy, Jodi nor Theo jumped to provide him with answers. Ivy wasn’t even sure she could speak yet, and she doubted Theo could, either, because his jaw was clenched so tight.

      “Uh, this is my brother, Theo.” Jodi finally spoke up. “And no, he’s not a bad guy. He’s sort of a cop like your uncle Gabriel and uncle Jameson.”

      Because Ivy still had her arms wrapped around Nathan, she felt his muscles relax a little. It would probably be a while before he completely relaxed. Even when he did, this had changed everything for him. Her little boy had heard those gunshots, had felt the terror that went along with him.

      There’d be nightmares.

      Ones similar to hers, ones she’d been having for a decade. And Ivy silently cursed the gunmen for that. Silently thanked Theo, too, for warning them, or those two thugs might have made it all the way into the house. Then her son might have to deal with more than fear, tight muscles and nightmares. They could all be dead.

      A thought that sickened her to the core.

      At the moment, though, Theo probably wouldn’t want her thanks. For anything. In fact, his shock had morphed into a glare that he was now aiming at her.

      “How old are you?” Theo asked. His glare softened significantly when he looked at Nathan.

      “Nine,” her son answered, meaning Theo could narrow down the date he’d been conceived.

      Theo clearly wasn’t surprised by her son’s answer. Not after seeing Nathan’s face. In fact, Theo might even be able to remember the exact date of Nathan’s conception. Because it was the same night of the big blowup between her parents and him. A blowup that’d happened because her mom had found Nathan and her in bed together.

      All of those feelings came back, too.

      Ivy pushed them aside, that mix of pleasure and grief, and she got to her feet. It was obvious there were some things she needed to say to Theo. Obvious, too, that he had some questions for her, and she didn’t want him asking those in front of Nathan. Eventually, her son would have to know the truth, but now wasn’t the time. He wasn’t ready for it. Heck, she wasn’t ready for it.

      “I’ll stay with Nathan,” Jodi volunteered. “He’ll be okay.”

      Even though Ivy hadn’t said anything to her, Jodi and she were on the same page about what needed to be done. But Ivy didn’t want her explanation to Theo to come at the expense of her son’s safety.

      Theo didn’t say anything, either. He just followed Ivy out of the ensuite bathroom and into the bedroom, and he pulled the bathroom door shut behind them. She didn’t go far, just a few feet away. Hopefully close enough so she could still get to Nathan if there was another attack but far enough away from Theo so that they weren’t in each other’s personal space. Even though it did seem a little late for that since they’d once been lovers.

      He stood there staring, and she could see he was trying to work out what to say to her. Hopefully, he wasn’t going to yell at her, since she didn’t want Nathan to overhear something like that. At least at the moment Theo wasn’t yelling. In fact, he wasn’t saying anything. Theo put his hands on his hips, shook his head and turned that glare on her again.

      “Why?” he finally asked, and he did keep his voice at a whisper. An angry one that dripped with emotion.

      Since that simple word could encompass a lot of territory, Ivy went with a simple explanation. “I couldn’t find you to tell you I was pregnant.”

      Ivy watched him process that, and she knew it wasn’t something he could dispute. Theo had vanished shortly after the attacks. Jodi had been in the hospital, still recovering from her horrific injuries, and she certainly hadn’t known how to get in touch with her brother.

      “I left because you told me to leave,” Theo reminded her.

      She couldn’t dispute that, either. Ivy had indeed ordered him out of her house and her life after the argument with her parents. In part, she’d done that for Theo’s own safety. Because she’d been afraid