so he reversed course and then ditched them out the back door.
* * *
HEART POUNDING, MELISSA ran to her sedan. She should’ve known better than to show up at the O’Brien’s ranch. Yet, she’d had to see Colin one more time before disappearing into her new identity in witness protection. She glanced at the clock on her dashboard. She had little more than two hours left before saying goodbye to her past life. At midnight, Melissa Rancic would no longer exist. Richard Rancic, her husband and a hardened criminal, had escaped custody and was on the loose. According to her US marshal handler, Tim Davis, Richard was last seen making a run for the Canadian border. That he was so far away had given her the confidence she’d needed to come back to Bluff and see Colin. She’d expected it to hurt but also to comfort her. To give her the strength she would need to do what had to be done in order to protect her daughter.
Hands shaking, she managed to retrieve her purse from the backseat and locate her keys. Getting the right one in the ignition proved a frustrating challenge. After several attempts, she had the engine purring and the Great Hall in the rearview. Not long after that, the entire O’Brien ranch disappeared.
Head spinning, she thought about the fact that Colin hadn’t changed one bit, unless it was possible to look even better. That old saying about absence making the heart grow fonder proved true. His jet-black hair and those intense dark eyes still had the power to make her weak-kneed with one look. There was a deeper emotion present in his eyes now, too, and it looked a lot like hurt.
The past year of living without him had been like living in an Arctic cave...brutal, dark, cold. There’d been no sun. No laughter. No joy. And yet, day after day, she’d had to put on a brave face with her husband and pretend that she loved him. Both her and her daughter’s survival had depended on delivering a good show. A shiver raced through her as she thought about what her life had turned into and the dangerous man she was running from.
Life, like spring weather in Texas, could change in a flash.
The gravity of just how big a mistake it had been to come back to Bluff, to see Colin, had shifted the ground beneath her feet. This whole idea had been a stupid mistake no matter how badly her body had reacted at the thought of never seeing him again, and the panic attack had been almost crippling. Her chest had squeezed until she thought it might burst. When release finally came, her heart filled with an ache so deep she could scarcely breathe.
Even so, it had been rash of her to think that she could get away with slipping into the dimly lit Great Hall and catch one last glimpse of him before someone recognized her and kicked her out. Based on his expression, he would have her thrown out himself.
Memories of spending time at the ranch assaulted her. She and Colin had been so happy, so carefree, so in love...
A sob escaped before she could suppress it. Her eyes blurred as she navigated onto the main road into town. At least she had their daughter. She’d have to hold on to that piece of Colin for the rest of her life and let it be enough. Angelina touched a piece of Melissa’s heart that could belong to no one else. She thought about how unfair it was that her daughter had never met her real father, would never meet him.
But then, this was the way it had to be, she reminded herself. Melissa’s father was old and sick. He’d made his mistakes and they were both paying for them. If Richard had followed through on his threats, her father would live out the rest of his life in jail. She couldn’t allow that to happen no matter how angry she’d become at him for his unethical business practices. And then there were the threats Richard had made about Colin and his family. The man could destroy the O’Briens if their secret was revealed. The bedrock of the family had been their parents’ unwavering love and devotion. If Richard had gone public with the photos he had, the ones of Mr. O’Brien having an affair, the family would’ve been crushed. Colin would’ve been devastated.
In order to save her father and Colin, Melissa had done as Richard had said. Break off her engagement with Colin and agree to marry Richard instead. Save two families. Melissa had naively believed that all she needed was time to figure out how to back out of the arrangement with Richard. It had all come at her so fast. How simple had she been to think that man wouldn’t force her to go through with the wedding or a loveless union?
And then she’d missed her period. Once she’d realized she was pregnant and that Richard would stop at nothing to destroy her if she walked out on him, she’d been too frightened to put up a fight. Scared he’d force her to give the baby up for adoption or, worse yet, do something more sinister, she’d convinced Richard that Angelina was his. She hadn’t realized how a small snowball of a lie could grow and build, gaining momentum until it became an avalanche and destroyed everything in its path, destroyed her.
In her heart, she’d known all along that Richard would’ve moved heaven and earth to find her if she’d left him before the feds became involved. Then he’d destroy everything she loved. The worst part about her whole marriage was that she’d had to persuade her husband that Colin meant nothing to her. Her and her daughter’s lives had depended on Melissa being convincing.
Three days after Angelina had been born, the feds had shown up and told Melissa they were building a case against Richard and his family. She’d been given an ultimatum: help the government or lose her daughter. She’d negotiated to have her father taken into protective custody. He was living in an undisclosed facility. Melissa had secretly helped gather evidence against her husband, living in daily fear of being discovered. And that wasn’t the worst of it. The true hell that she’d lived had been wondering what her life would have been like if she’d married Colin instead...
There was no time for doubts now.
Melissa had done what she’d had to do in order to protect those closest to her, including him. Regretting the past or her actions now wouldn’t change a thing. Witnessing the pain in Colin’s eyes had her second-guessing everything.
Tears streaked her cheeks as, once again, she drove away from the only man she’d ever loved.
“Thank you so much, Mrs. Klein,” Melissa said as she held out a couple of twenties in her fist, not realizing she was clenching her hand until she noticed her white knuckles.
The older woman glanced at Melissa and smiled before waving her hand. She’d retired and moved to Bluff after thirty years of teaching in the Houston ISD. Her husband’s family was originally from the area, and the two of them had returned to live out their retirement in a small town. She was the perfect neighbor because she didn’t know everyone yet and had no idea about Melissa’s past in Bluff.
“I can’t take all that and especially not for—” Mrs. Klein glanced at her watch “—an hour and fifteen minutes’ worth of work.”
“Please do. I didn’t realize I’d be back so soon and I’ve messed up your whole evening.” Tears free-fell down Melissa’s cheeks now, and they had nothing to do with the words coming out of her mouth.
“Don’t worry about it, dear. Seriously. There’s still time to catch CSI with Bernard if I hurry.” Mrs. Klein’s brow furrowed and she had a mix of pity and kindness on her face. She really was a sweet woman. “The baby was no trouble. She’s been asleep the whole time.”
Melissa told herself to get it together. She would. It had been easier to leave town when she thought she was saving everyone she loved. With everything that she’d been through in the past twelve months, she figured she could endure most anything. Seeing Colin again was too much. She’d been naive to think that she could see him again and then walk away a second time without a few tears. He looked good... unbelievably good. Different, but good. His quick smile and easygoing charm had been replaced by distrust and cautious eyes.
The way he’d looked at her, so angry, so hurt...so final.
For Colin, there wasn’t a lot of gray area. Life was black-and-white. She should’ve known that once she’d left him, he’d be done.