Charlie had really, really, really wanted to say no to Angela’s request. She had absolutely no desire to spend even an iota of her time with Ryker Hayes. Did she believe he was the good guy he touted himself to be? No. Did she think he’d even show tonight for his first visitation? Doubtful.
But she’d agreed, because at least then she would have done her part. She would have made the effort—for Honor’s sake.
Charlie checked the clock. Ten minutes until she had to leave to grab Honor from school. The girl could ride the bus, but Charlie had been picking her up this week because she was concerned about how Honor was handling everything. Plus, with Honor’s uncle in town, Charlie’s intuition was flashing like a massive red alarm that refused to quit.
Ryker had explained himself and apologized during the meeting with Angela. He’d been contrite, and Charlie no longer feared he’d snatch Honor and run.
But she still trusted him as much as she did a DPS6 transmission.
“Scott—you good if I take off in a minute?”
Yes, Scott technically worked for her, but he was fresh out of school and new to her shop. He was only twenty, but she’d liked what she saw in him. He’d tinkered with tractors and mowers and equipment on his parents’ farm growing up. And since Charlie would soon be getting stretched in so many directions with her plan to remodel and open a café next door to the shop, she needed another body working on cars.
Scott poked his head out from under the back of the car where he was replacing a fuel pump. “I’m good. Tell Honor to pop in and say hi to me when she comes home.”
It had been four days since Honor had come to live with Charlie, and already Scott had a knack for coaxing a smile out of the little girl. Charlie could do the same on occasion, too, but not as consistently as she liked.
After removing her gloves and washing up, Charlie rubbed lemon cream lotion into her hands and then checked on the progress next door. Before she’d purchased the spot, it had been a run-down building, empty for who knew how long. She’d finally found a contractor whose prices were fair market and who came highly recommended. His crew was beginning to demo this week, and based on the mess, they’d been hard at work today. She planned to keep a lot of the bones—the brick walls, the worn wood floors. She wanted a simple design with clean lines and not a lot of fuss.
When Charlie had found out the space was for sale, her temptation had been two parts. One, she liked business. Had a head for business. And two, it would keep more of her customers’ money siphoning into her pocket and not running out the shop door. So many people wanted a place to work while their car was getting fixed. The café—which she had yet to name—would provide that. She wasn’t going to compete with the food at The Fork and Spoon or restaurants like that. This would be more of a work space—one that served a handful of snack and sandwich items beyond drinks. At least...that was her current plan. It might morph as construction progressed.
At the back of the building, she jogged up the steps to the two-bedroom apartment she now shared with Honor that resided above Charlie’s Garage. The place wasn’t large by any means, but she didn’t need much beyond a small living room and kitchen in addition to the bedrooms. She and Honor were good sharing one bathroom. Charlie’s brother, Finn, was her most consistent guest, but he’d be fine securing other arrangements when he was in town. Their parents lived in Durango and had visited her in July, so she likely wouldn’t see them until the holidays.
Finn had been introduced to the town of Westbend when he’d worked a stint at a local guest ranch run by the Wilder family. He’d decided it was a good place to settle and then had taken a job on an oil rig in order to save enough money to afford his own spread. After Charlie sold her previous garage in Colorado Springs, she’d decided to settle near her brother when opening a new shop last spring. Finn had been searching for a ranch near Westbend for ages and would hopefully find the right one soon. She was ready for him to live close to her, since he was a majority of the reason she’d opened her garage in this town.
The September weather had yet to cool down and was consistently running in the eighties, so Charlie wore shorts and a striped V-neck T-shirt to pick up Honor. Warmth heated her shoulders as she drove her 1967 Mustang convertible to the elementary school, which was located on the far side of town. When she arrived, Charlie drove through the pickup line. Honor spotted the car and broke into a grin—the whole reason Charlie had driven it. Turned out the girl enjoyed the convertible as much as Charlie did.
Honor went around to the passenger side and climbed into the back seat.
“Hey, Honor. How was your day?”
She buckled into her booster seat as Charlie moved slowly ahead. “Good.”
One word.
“Did anything great happen today?”
Her head shook. No words.
“Did anything terrible happen today?”
Her head swung side to side again, and then she glued her gaze on the mountains as they eased out of the lot, her posture relaxing as if the end of school was the best part of her day.
Honor didn’t talk on the drive home, and Charlie tried desperately not to care. Would she ever get through to the girl? Or would she be gone before they were able to forge any meaningful connection? Not for the first time, Charlie wondered if she’d done the right thing in choosing to foster parent. There were other ways to bring a child into her life. She could have looked into adoption. Or refused to foster unless the child’s parental rights had already been terminated.
But when Angela had called about Honor, Charlie had known that she was supposed to say yes. Her gut had given her The Signal. Even if her heart crumbled in the process, this was where she was supposed to be.
She parked in her personal garage, located across the alley behind the shop, and waited for Honor to grab her backpack and climb out. For full-day kindergarten, there wasn’t much for homework besides reading, so it didn’t usually contain more than a lunch, but Honor adored the backpack. Charlie wasn’t sure what she’d used before coming to live with her. They’d bought the backpack together during their first outing. There’d been plenty with characters on them, bright and a bit atrocious in Charlie’s opinion, but Honor had chosen one with stars on it. Simple and pretty.
“Your uncle Ryker is coming by tonight to see you.” Charlie managed to make the announcement without choking on the vile taste it left in her mouth. She still wasn’t okay with any of this, but she refused to be labeled a quitter. When Charlie had said yes to fostering, she’d said yes to a whole world she knew very little about. And she’d figure out a way to roll with the changes. Somehow.
Honor simply nodded.
Charlie hadn’t heard a peep from the girl’s uncle since their encounter on Wednesday night, and she was both relieved and shocked by that. Maybe he wasn’t the jerk he’d been on the playground. Then again, maybe he was simply trying to act a certain way in order to gain the right to care for his niece.
Angela had investigated Ryker’s story before giving Charlie the all clear for the visitation today. Ryker and Kaia were half siblings. Same mom, different dads.
At twenty-eight, Ryker was a handful of years older than Kaia. He didn’t appear to be struggling with the same issues as his half sister, but Charlie knew very little about him besides what Angela had shared.
She both wanted and didn’t want the man to show up tonight. No for her. And maybe yes for Honor. Maybe. If Ryker was a good man. If he was who he claimed to be. If his presence in Honor’s life was helpful and not a hindrance. But the jury on all of that was still out.
Charlie had just finished putting away dinner—chicken and vegetables, of which Honor ate precisely six bites—when a knock sounded on her door. She checked through the peephole. The man had cleaned up since their last run-in. Ryker wore a short-sleeved plaid shirt with jeans and boots. He’d shaved and lost the haggard appearance that had been clinging to him when he’d rolled into town. A long, jagged sigh ripped from Charlie’s lungs. Didn’t matter if he was as shiny as a brand-new penny. Underneath he was still the same guy. Why had she agreed to this again?
Charlie had considered telling Ryker to meet them at the park in order to avoid having him show up at her home address, but since she lived over Charlie’s Garage, there was no hiding for her or Honor. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that—about any of this.
“Honor, your uncle is here.” Her call was answered by thundering footsteps that surprised Charlie with their velocity.
When she opened the front door, Honor flew into Ryker’s arms. He scooped her up, her little bare feet dangling. “How’s my girl?”
Honor didn’t answer, which perversely gave Charlie a lift. If she’d started chattering like crazy, it would have crushed her. Even though she did wish for that kind of happiness for Honor.
Ryker put Honor down, acknowledging Charlie for the first time. “Charlotte.” His tone held a sliver of spite.
“Only my mom calls me that.” When she’d been little, her granddad had begun calling her Charlie, and much to her mom’s chagrin, the moniker had stuck. Charlie preferred the shorter version. It fit her better.
“Sorry.” Please. He was miles away from that apology. “It was on the paperwork that Angela sent over to me.” Ryker was still standing on the landing, as she’d yet to invite him in. If Charlie gave the door a hefty shove, it would likely stop just short of crushing his nose. Interesting. She didn’t usually experience such a tug toward violence. His eyebrows arched as if he could read her thoughts, and she scrambled her telltale features that so often gave her away.
“I thought maybe we could walk to the park tonight.” Charlie didn’t feel comfortable having Ryker in her place as of yet. Angela had offered the playroom at her office, but that wouldn’t excite Honor. This did, according to her nodding head and bouncing legs.
Charlie understood the predicament that Angela was in and the huge caseload she was under. And that they weren’t staffed for covering visits in a small town like Westbend. She understood it, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. The playground was a good compromise. They could walk there from her apartment, which avoided the awkwardness of riding somewhere in a car together. Plus, the park made Honor happy...or at least not unhappy.
Charlie didn’t love that they’d be heading back to the scene of the crime—where Ryker had barreled at them—but there weren’t many other options. She and Honor had gotten ice cream last night, so it didn’t seem prudent to do the same a second evening in a row.
“In this?” Ryker turned and scanned the sky. A couple dark clouds hovered over the mountains, but the rest was clear. The moisture would likely scoot by them to the north.
Honor tugged on Charlie’s hand, her nod determined.
“Honor says yes. I say we do it.”
What Charlie said, went. That’s the lesson Ryker had learned so far. He’d mentioned numerous times on their walk to the park that his weather app had predicted rain, but he’d been ignored.
Kind of like right now.
Charlie was sitting on a bench, her nose in a book.
“Are you just going to read all night?”
The woman glanced up, a whole mess of emotions ranging from annoyance to exasperation scrunching her peaches-and-cream features. She wore an olive-and-white-striped T-shirt with shorts and espresso leather sandals. She was the definition of casual, but with her short red hair and those smoky evergreen eyes, she was incredibly unique.
Pretty.
No. Nope. Do not go there, Ryker Hayes. The absolute worst thing he could do right now was find the woman fostering Honor attractive.
His current and pressing mission was to gain the right to raise Honor in Kaia’s absence. Nothing else mattered but finding a way to take care of her. He’d seen enough of his mom putting boyfriends first—before him and Kaia—to confirm he’d never travel that road. Romantic relationships complicated things, and Ryker refused to repeat his mother’s broken patterns.
“This is your time with Honor,” Charlie answered. “Just pretend I’m not here.” Easier said than done. She gave a cool smile, then slipped behind her book shield once again. “I’m here for Honor. Not you.” Her snarky whisper was quiet enough that she probably thought Ryker wouldn’t catch it.
She’d be wrong.
He was torn between finding Charlie Brightwood amusing, distracting or problematic. That last one wouldn’t be on the list if she wasn’t a roadblock for him getting to care for Honor. But since Angela was nowhere near ready to put Honor in his care, Ryker should really be thankful for Charlie. His niece could have ended up in a much worse situation, but she’d been sent to live with the trusted town mechanic. Yes, Ryker had asked around about Charlie. No one had a bad thing to say about her.
He was glad for Honor’s sake that she’d been placed with Charlie. But the woman’s stellar reputation might make the battle for the right to care for Honor even tougher.
Family is the first choice, he reminded himself. Ryker had done some research, some digging. The system was supposed to try to place children with family members. He just had to get everything ready so that he was prepared for Honor. He needed an apartment. A job. Small, overwhelming things like that. In the last two days, he’d filled out a mountain of paperwork for Angela and had also contacted his boss back in Texas to notify him that he planned to stay in Colorado. Thankfully he’d been understanding. The Circle M had been a great place to work, and Ryker hated leaving without notice. If it weren’t for Honor and this emergency situation, he would never even consider it. Ryker had also asked his roommates to box up his things and try to rent out his room, since his lease wasn’t up for another six months.
For all intents and purposes, he considered his move to Colorado permanent. Even if Kaia did find a way to correct her mistakes and gain back custody of Honor, Ryker couldn’t see himself leaving the state. He had to live close to Honor from now on to make sure she was okay. Somebody had to be a consistent adult for the girl.
His sweet niece flew down the slide, and when she reached the bottom, Ryker whirled her in circles until his arms needed a break. Honor’s enjoyment was faint but present, which Ryker considered a victory. She’d been so quiet the other day and again tonight. It was as if she’d lost her voice when she’d lost her mom. When Ryker had talked to Honor over video call, she’d always had a shyness, but she’d still been willing to communicate and tell him something about her day. She was obviously struggling with being yanked from her mom, no matter how lacking the situation had been. Rightfully so. Kaia might make bad decisions from time to time, but she loved Honor. Ryker still believed that to be true.
Without the Armijos, Ryker would have bumbled along like his sister. Maybe even worse. The older couple had kept him occupied in junior high and high school by having him help out with their horses. That had been the first time Ryker had belonged. Anger over his mom’s choices and long string of equally bad boyfriends had finally begun to drain out of him.
If not for the Armijos and their horses, Ryker had no idea who he’d be right now. They were the ones who’d introduced him to Jesus. They were the ones who’d encouraged him and fed him dinner. His mom had been present but usually distracted by whatever man was current in her life. She’d married Ryker’s father and Kaia’s father, but other than that, she’d gone through boyfriends like a kid did Goldfish crackers.
Once the Armijos sold the ranch, Ryker had switched to being a ranch hand at the Circle M, but his hidden desire had always been to work directly with horses again—to return his focus to the beautiful, calming creatures who had the capacity to turn a kid’s murky heart pink and healthy.
But with Honor in his life, Ryker would be shelving that dream. Again. She was more important than anything or anyone else, and he’d take any job to be close to her, to be able to provide for her.
“Let’s race, Uncle Ry.” Ry. Kaia had always called him that. Honor must have picked up on it. His chest burned with resolve. I’ll figure out a way to take care of you, Honor. I promise.
“Okay. Last one to the grass is a polka-dot unicorn.”
Honor tore across the mulch while squealing, feet flying, curls doing the same, and Ryker jogged after her.
She reached the parched grass and turned, hands on her hips, claiming her win without saying a thing.
Sassy girl. “You’re way too fast for me. I’m going to have to practice before we have a rematch.”
Her sapphire eyes danced.
From the vicinity of the bench, a faint smile bent the portion of Charlie’s lips that peeked out from under her book.
So, she was paying attention.
Ryker’s skin heated. Despite the book shield, Charlie was surely watching him like a hawk, documenting his every word and move, then packing them up and sending them on the express train to Angela.
This was his punishment for losing his mind. But even if he hadn’t, it wasn’t like Angela would have signed Honor’s care over to him. She’d given him a list of things he had to change in order to make that happen. Angela certainly wasn’t going to let Honor crash with him at the Lazy Bones Motel he was currently calling home. Ryker wouldn’t, either. The place was a two on the cleanliness scale, and the decor left much to be desired. Since he was in a pinch and needed something cheap, it would do.
“Let’s swing.” Honor skipped away.
She could say let’s pick up trash and he’d be in.
Ryker shoved his body between the chains and onto the plastic seat, pumping his legs along with Honor. Once she got going, she leaned back, her dark brown curls dancing in the breeze the swing created.
Carefree. Finally. If only the feeling would stay with her and sink into her bones. After a few minutes, she switched back to the slide and Ryker followed.
Boom! The sky crackled and heaved with thunder. From the top of the slide, Honor’s eyes expanded to golf ball size. From the top of the metal slide...
“You’d better come down in case there’s lightning. Come on.”
She listened, zooming into his arms. He caught her, swinging her in a circle that earned rave reviews before depositing her on the ground. A fat drop landed on his head, and Ryker glanced to the sky. Those few dark clouds had produced babies. And then some. It was leaning toward dusk, too, so the light was disappearing by the second.
“We should probably head back.” Charlie’s call was interrupted by a flash and another even louder crash.
Honor latched on to his leg, and Ryker scooped her up. “It’s okay, Hon. They’re just bowling in heaven, remember?” That’s what his mom had always told him when he’d been little and the noise had scared him.
The skies opened up and gushed down.
“Over here! There’s an awning.”
Ryker followed Charlie’s yell and path. It landed them under the awning of the building next door. Rain slipped under as it came down sideways, but it was better than being exposed in the park.
Charlie peeked out from their protective cover. “Should we make a run for my place? Or wait it out?”
Another bout of lightning illuminated the night.
“I don’t know how long this is supposed to last, but it’s pretty rough right now. I think we’ll have to wait it out for a bit.” Ryker fought back the I told you so itching to jump from his tongue.
Honor whimpered in his arms, and he tucked her head against his shoulder. “It’s okay, honey. You’re fine. We’re okay.” It wasn’t the best of situations, but they should be safe enough under the small cover. The lightning would focus on something taller, something metal. At least that’s what he asked for in his silent prayer.
Pop-pop-pop. Small icy pebbles spit from the sky, drumming against the awning like horse hooves.
“I’m scared.” Honor’s wail ended on a cry, and Charlie ran a hand across her hair. It was soft and springy today—Charlie’s doing, Ryker assumed. It had never looked this healthy when he’d video chatted with his sister. Ryker hated to think of Kaia losing custody of Honor as a good thing, but he also hated to think that Honor hadn’t been getting the care she needed. Somewhere along the way, he’d failed them.
When he’d dropped by his sister’s apartment after running into Honor and Charlie the other night, the landlord told him Kaia hadn’t been paying her rent and had been in the process of being evicted. Most of her things were gone from the apartment, and the landlord had given him a couple of boxes of stuff that had been left. None of which looked to be of any value.
Ryker had questioned the neighbors as to Kaia’s whereabouts, but no one had given him any clues as to where she’d gone. She’d been charged with neglect but not arrested, so she was probably afraid, not knowing what that meant. She’d run somewhere. Where was his sister now? And what was she doing?
Honor leaned in Charlie’s direction, then crashed into the woman’s arms. “It’s okay, Honor.” Charlie’s hand raked gently over his niece’s head time and time again. “It’s just water and ice. It’s not going to hurt us under here. It’s just being loud and noisy. We should tell it to be quiet.”
Slightly hopeful eyes peeked out from Charlie’s shoulder.
“What do you think? Should we yell at the storm?”
Honor nodded, chewing on her thumbnail.
“Are you going to yell or just me?”
Honor pointed to Charlie...and then him. Ryker softened. “You think we should tell it to stop storming, huh?”
Her tiny teeth pressed into her top lip as her head bobbed again.
Charlie held his gaze directly, apologetically. “Sorry.” Her mouth curved.
He laughed. “I’m in. Let’s do this.” They faced the wall of moisture, which had switched back to rain.
“Stop it, you big, bad, meany storm.” Charlie went first, and Ryker’s lips twitched.
He joined in. “Stop storming right now!”
A giggle followed. Honor had perked up. The rain sputtered, the roar notching down.
“Again!” Honor proclaimed. She waved her hand like a queen surveying her domain. Amusement threaded between Ryker and Charlie. It was the first time their communication wasn’t bogged down with distrust.
They both yelled at the sky, pausing to laugh between exclamations. Strangely enough, Ryker found the whole thing enjoyable. Almost...therapeutic. Stress relief from the last few crazy days. When Charlie shouted that the storm was a “stinky, bratty, bossy-pants,” Honor giggled and asked to be put down.
She stepped to the edge of the awning but not fully into the storm. Ryker would guess they were both intrigued by what she would do next.
Honor’s pointer finger shook at the weather. “You stop it right now, sky! No more rain! Or lightning or thunder!” She barked the whole phrase out in a string, determination crowding her tiny, adorable features.
“Whoa. That was thirteen at once.”
“Thirteen what?”
Honor began dipping the toes peeking out of her sandals into a puddle that had formed. She’d scooted far enough away that Charlie could answer quietly without her overhearing.
“Words. She hasn’t been talking a lot.”
Ah. “It’s not you. I’m sure she’s just struggling with being—”
“Ripped from her home and mother?”
“Yeah, exactly. Kaia means well, but she didn’t have much of a chance growing up. Our mom wasn’t the best at relationships, and she followed suit.” Kaia’s constant string of boyfriends had begun in junior high. Their mom’s had started after the marriages to each of their fathers had failed. Ryker’s world had become a revolving door of men. One in particular had messed with him, doing the most damage. The attacks when his mom hadn’t been paying attention had been mainly verbal. Rarely physical. It was painful to revisit those memories, even now.
The Armijos and their horses had rescued him. But when Kaia had acted out in high school, Mom had sent her to Colorado to live with her dad, so she hadn’t been able to follow Ryker’s path. She’d never ended the downward cycle.
Once his sister reappeared, Ryker would know more about the next steps with Honor and whether she’d need care for months or years. And outside of that, nothing else mattered. Even the woman who’d taken Honor in and obviously already cared for her.
Sure, he felt a tug of attraction toward Charlie. Especially seeing her yell at the sky just now to make Honor smile, to lessen her fear. But he could easily bury that unwelcome spark of interest.
Honor was his main concern and focus. And Charlie, despite any intrigue she created in him, was not. If push came to shove and Ryker had to combat Charlie for the right to raise his niece in the absence of her mother, then that’s exactly what he would do.