Rocky Mountain Brides: Raising the Rancher's Family

Leah took the receiver. “Hello, Morgan.”

“Leah, the sheriff is on his way out. There’s a report of a missing boy from Durango. The boy that fits your description is Corey Haynes. He ran away from his foster home.”

“He’s been hiding in Holt’s barn, in the loft. I’ve got to go.”

Leah hung up and ran for the door. “His name is Corey,” she called to Zach.

Running down the steps, she saw Holt with Corey in tow. His hand was around the boy’s skinny arm, pulling him toward the house. His clothes were filthy, shirt and jeans were torn, and his white tennis shoes nearly black. The child cursed as he resisted their forward progress.

Leah ran to meet them. “Corey, it’s okay. You’re safe now,” she told him.

He continued to fight Holt. “Just let me go and I’ll leave.”

Holt finally managed to get the kid into the kitchen. Pulling out a chair, he parked him there, but he jumped up. Holt pushed him back down, feeling the tender spots on his shins, knowing he’d probably have bruises tomorrow.

“Sit down, or I’ll tie you down.”

Fear filled the kid’s blue eyes, but also defiance. Then surprising Holt, he sat down. Holt grabbed another chair, swung it around and straddled it in front of the boy. “Okay, kid, I need a name and where you came from.”

“I’m not going to tell you shi—nothin’.” Head bent, he stared at the kitchen floor.

“Is it Corey?” Leah asked. “Corey Haynes?”

The boy looked at her and blinked those innocent blue eyes at her. “I don’t know any Corey.”

Leah squatted down beside the boy. “Corey, you don’t have to be afraid. We’re here to help you.”

“Yeah, I heard that before,” he muttered. “Just let me go.”

“No way,” Holt said. “You can’t live in caves.”

“Why not? It was a lot better than where I was.” Tears flooded his eyes and he swiped them away.

Leah gave Holt a pleading look. He could see she’d already lost her heart to this kid. “Were you mistreated?” She touched the boy’s arm and he didn’t pull away.

“What difference does it make? Nobody cares.”

“I care, Corey,” she insisted. “I want to help you.”

He looked up and his dirty face was streaked with tears. “Why?”

“Because you deserve better than you’re getting.” She moved in closer and pulled the child into an embrace. Her nurturing touch seemed as natural as her next breath. “No child should have to live in a cave, or a barn. You should feel safe and secure. And clean.” She wrinkled her nose. “You don’t exactly smell too great.”

She rose and looked again at Holt. “He needs a shower. Is it okay?”

How could he deny her? “Sure…why not.”

“How about I take him?” Zach said.

“Will you go with Zach, Corey?”

The boy hesitated. “Will you be here when I get back?”

Smiling, she brushed his shaggy hair off his forehead. “Yes. Just scrub from head to toe.”

“I’ll make sure he does,” Zach said as he led the boy down the hall and into the bath.

Leah turned toward Holt. “Oh, I never thought to ask, do you have anything Corey can wear?”

“Zach will come up with something.”

The last thing Holt wanted to do was get involved with this kid’s problems. But from the moment he’d found Leah on his property, she’d managed to draw him into her search. He’d followed her around, looking in every cave and mine shaft for a kid who didn’t want to be found. He’d gotten far more involved with her than was good for him, especially after the kiss. Not one of his best ideas.

“You think just because he gets cleaned up that’s going to make things better?” he told her.

“It’s a start,” she said, folding her arms over her chest stubbornly. “And I’m not going to abandon him.”

“Looks like you might not have a choice,” he said. “The kid’s a runaway. And once the sheriff gets here he’ll have to go back to his foster home.”

“The kid’s name is Corey Haynes. And he’ll never go back to an abusive home. Not if I have anything to say about it.”

“You don’t know anything about his situation. And you won’t have anything to say about whether or not he goes back.”

She stood there and stared at him. “What in your life has made you so bitter?”

He didn’t need her snooping into his private life. “Not everyone has had a life as secure and charmed as the Keenan girls.”

Leah started to speak when there was a knock at the back door. Holt went to answer it.

“Hello, I’m Sheriff Reed Larkin,” the man standing outside said.

Holt shook his hand. “Holt Rawlins.”

“I knew your father,” the sheriff said. “Sorry for your loss.”

Holt responded with a nod, and motioned for the man to come inside to the kitchen where Leah was waiting.

“Hi, Reed.”

“Hello, Leah. Looks like you’ve been busy since you got home.”

Leah caught the good-looking sheriff’s grin. Tall and muscular, Reed had nearly black hair and dark brown eyes and he’d always been crazy about her sister Paige.

“You know me, Reed, I get bored easily.”

“You still should have called me to let me know about the boy.” He pulled out his notepad along with a grainy picture. “This is the runaway, Corey Haynes, age eight.”

“That’s him,” Leah agreed. “But we can’t send him back to his foster home. The boy has been gone nearly a week. Why didn’t the foster parents report him missing until today?”