Max slid the car seat higher up on his arm and walked up the winding path to the Henry family farmhouse. The sun sat high in the sky, peeking its way through the shifting tableau of clouds. Fitz chattered softly beside him.
Guilt dripped down somewhere inside him and pooled in his chest. He felt bad for leaving Daisy napping in the car, even if only for a few minutes. But the opportunity to grab even just five minutes to talk to his parents and fill them in on everything that happened before he introduced them to Daisy had seemed too important to pass up.
Besides, she’d seemed to be sleeping so peacefully, and considering what she’d been through, he knew she needed the rest. She’d barely stirred when Fitz had started fussing for a diaper change the moment the van had stopped. Fatigue was a health hazard after all, he told himself, bad for the body and bad for the mind. It had just passed noon and by his guess, she’d barely had three hours of sleep since yesterday. Not that he’d had much more.
They were both overtired, lacking sleep and running on too much stress and adrenaline. He should’ve realized just how tired and vulnerable she was when he’d reached out for her at the lakeside and felt her tumble into his arms.
The memory of his lips brushing against hers sent sudden heat to the back of his neck. He’d been every bit as lost in the moment as she was and if Fitz hadn’t started fussing, how long would he have held her there? Daisy was both physically and emotionally exhausted to the point of tears. She was running for her life.
What was his excuse? He didn’t have one. He had to keep his emotions out of it, and taking her home to his parents was a good first step. Getting his parents’ advice and getting Trent and Chloe to join them there were tied for second. Not that he knew yet what he was going to say to any of them.
His footsteps traced up the familiar path toward the farmhouse. Words played through his mind.
Hi, Mom and Dad. This is Daisy. She’s on the run with a small baby, from both corrupt cops and gangsters after having witnessed a murder and finding some counterfeit money. There’s a warrant out for her arrest, and Trent and Chloe are in a hurry to bring her in for questioning, so I was thinking she could hide out here until they got here. Obviously taking her to my place was out of the question, because I haven’t cleaned in days and the corrupt cops stole my wallet. By the way, I kissed her. Yup, your bachelor son finally kissed his first girl, and I’m pretty sure it was the shortest kiss in history.
Damp filled the air as if the rain had gone back to hovering, just waiting to fall.
It was almost like a joke, the way Daisy had tumbled into his life, only not the funny kind. Because of his casual and laid-back manner, people assumed that he was a natural with women. But the truth of the matter was that romance had never been on his radar and he’d made it all the way to twenty-six without ever having kissed anyone. He’d even been proud of that fact.
But something about Daisy was different. There was an unusual physical beauty to her that twisted him up inside in a way no one ever had before, but it went way deeper than that. She was unmistakably tough. She had this odd combination of strength, courage and vulnerability all mixed together in a way that he couldn’t help but admire and be attracted to. She was the first and only woman he’d liked this way, and she was probably going to get arrested by his brother.
The familiar shape of the house loomed ahead at the top of the path. The lights were out and his father’s truck wasn’t in the driveway.
Max climbed the front steps to the porch, settled Fitz safely under the wide front-window ledge, pulled his cover over him and tucked him in gently. Fitz gazed up at him, his eyes wide as if Max was the most remarkable thing he’d ever seen before. Max brushed his finger along Fitz’s cheek. Yeah, he kind of felt the same way about him, too.
“Don’t worry, little dude,” he whispered. “We’ll have you inside in a moment. You’ll be able to stretch and play and get changed. We’ll surprise my parents when they come home, and they’ll absolutely love you. Now, just give me half a second, okay? I’ve got to find a way in.”
He knocked twice on the front door and tried the doorknob. It was locked. He ran his fingers along the top of the lintel, feeling for a spare key.
Sneaking in and out the house had always been Nick’s specialty. The littlest Henry brother had been a bit of a wild child, before something apparently happened at the end of high school that had scared him straight and made him turn his life around and enter the military. But back when they were teenagers, Nick had been an expert at crawling out of their window, down a rope he’d left tied to his bed frame. Max had tried it exactly once, slipped, broken his ankle and discovered that he found the inside of an ambulance way more interesting than whatever lame parties Nick had sneaked out to.
The footsteps behind him came so quickly he barely had time to spin around before he felt Daisy’s body plow into him like a lithe quarterback. Her cry was fierce and wild, like the fighter he’d seen in her face that first moment their eyes had met. His body flew backward as his feet slipped on the wet wood. He tumbled onto the porch and Daisy fell on top of him.
Instinctively he caught her, one arm slipping around her waist and the other around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest and protecting her from the impact of the blow. He should’ve known she’d be scared and that she’d throw herself at anyone she thought could hurt Fitz. Even him.
“Where are we?” Daisy gasped. “Where have you taken me? Where’s Fitz?”
She reared back, half sitting on his legs, with one hand pressed against his chest. Her other hand rose in the air, and he caught it before he could figure where it was about to land.
“This is my parents’ house, and Fitz is fine!” His fingers tightened their grip on hers. “He’s right over there on the porch behind us! I promise!”
Thunder crashed in the distance. He slid his legs out from under her, and she tumbled off him onto the porch. Her other hand rose, and he grabbed that one, too.
“What were you thinking?” she demanded.
“That my parents are really good people and we’d be safe here,” he said. “My mom’s a nurse, and my retired father runs free paintball events and shooting classes for youth groups. Fitz needs to be changed. You were fast asleep, and I figured I could go talk to my folks without you chasing me down and leaping on me like a warrior woman, ready to fight me to the death.” He gasped and suddenly realized she was no longer fighting. She wasn’t even trying to pull her hands out of his. “Apparently I was wrong. I should’ve woken you up. I’m sorry.”
The front door flew open.
“Max?” His father’s voice rose above him. “What are you doing?”
He looked up. Both of his parents were standing in the doorway. Mom’s eyebrows rose. Dad shook his head. He couldn’t begin to imagine how he looked, wet and tousled, sitting on his parents’ front porch, holding both of Daisy’s hands in his.
“Sorry I didn’t call first. It’s a long story, but both my phone and wallet were stolen.” He dropped her hands just long enough to struggle to his feet, then he reached a hand down to help her up. She let him take it, and they stood there, like a couple of lost teenagers, holding hands on his parents’ porch. “This is my friend Daisy. Daisy, these are my parents.”
As if on cue, Fitz began to howl.
* * *
Max’s mother unfroze first. She was a good foot shorter than her husband with a kind smile and shoulder-length hair that Daisy guessed had once been black and was now streaked with gray.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Daisy,” she said, reaching for her hand. “I’m Emily and this is Maxwell’s father, John. Welcome to our home. Please, do come inside and out of the cold. Max, will you fetch the baby? Sounds like he’s in a hurry to get changed.”
What had Max been thinking, bringing her here? She felt his fingers tighten in hers.
“It’ll be okay,” Max said, softly. “Like I told you, my parents are really good people.”
She sighed. She didn’t doubt they were good people. What she doubted was that Max had any idea what he was doing. He was a nice guy and a good man, but if what had happened back at the diner had shown her anything, it was that he was clearly in over his head. It was bad enough she’d put his life in danger. Her mess was now going to threaten the lives of his two apparently lovely and elderly parents, too. Thankfully, she’d got a long enough catnap to clear her head. It was about time one of them was thinking straight.
She pulled her hand away from his and shook his parents’ hands in turn, making polite small talk as they welcomed her to their home and watching out of the corner of her eye as Max went and picked up Fitz. She couldn’t help but wonder what Fitz thought of all this. For nine months, his view of the world had consisted entirely of his nursery and backyard. Then again, her view of Canada had, too. They walked into the farmhouse.
“Where’s the truck?” Max asked.
“We lent it to a neighbor,” his dad said. “They’re picking up a crib for their new granddaughter today and needed something with cargo space.”
Max wiped his shoes on the mat, ran both of his palms down the side of his jeans and searched his parents’ faces with a look she couldn’t read. “Has Trent called and filled you in on my little adventure?”
His parents looked at each other. It was a look that seemed to exchange endless libraries of shared knowledge in a glance.
“No, he hasn’t,” his father said. He closed the door and turned the lock, shutting out the cold and wet. “But I’m sure he’ll be happy for you to call him. You can use my cell phone, if you’d like.”
“I will,” Max said, “once Daisy and Fitz are settled.”
Her eyes drank in the large living room with overstuffed furniture and a wide, welcoming fireplace. Knickknacks and books spilled over the tables. Watercolors of flowers, farmlands, boys and a girl hung on the walls. Through a doorway, she caught a glimpse of a kitchen with a well-worn wooden table and dirty dishes for two piled by the sink.
Small talk floated around her, comforting and welcoming. Max’s mother mentioned putting on a pot of stew for lunch, Max’s father said something about baking a loaf of bread and then they debated for a minute where the children’s old crib might be.
She couldn’t stay here. She didn’t belong here. These people with their perfect, happy little lives deserved better than the chaos helping her could bring.
Max undid the buckle that held Fitz in his car seat. Instinctively, her arms reached out, and she felt Max slide Fitz’s small body into them. Her arms tightened around him.
“Don’t worry,” Max said, softly. “He’s safe here. You both are.”
He didn’t get it, even after Officers Kelly and Bradley had shown up at the diner and threatened his life. She wouldn’t be safe here. She wasn’t safe anywhere. All she’d do was bring pain and danger into more good people’s lives. Her chin rose. She turned back to his parents.
“Thank you for your kindness and hospitality,” she said, “but Fitz and I can’t stay here. I’ll change him and feed him, and then we’ll be on our way, once someone is kind enough to let me know how I can get my hands on a vehicle.”
She watched as Max and his parents seemed to pass one shared look among the three of them, as if it was a hot potato they were each too polite to presume the other wanted to handle.
“Why don’t you change your baby while I put the food on?” Emily said. “Then after everyone’s had a bite to eat and the opportunity to warm up, we can sit down and help you figure out your next step.”
Daisy almost smiled. Like mother like son, apparently.
“Thank you,” Daisy said. “But you don’t understand. I’m in trouble with police. Fitz isn’t my child. I’m his nanny. I had to take him and run for my life from some very bad people, before they killed me and took him. His father begged me to take him and keep him safe, but for some reason the news is saying I kidnapped Fitz, and now I’m wanted for kidnapping.”
She took a very deep breath. None of them interrupted.
“Believe me, I don’t want to tell you any of this,” she added. “I really don’t. Especially since you’re probably going to call the police. But I don’t want to lie to people as kind and good as you two seem to be. It’s bad enough your son was accidentally caught up in all that and was kind enough to help me—even though he was robbed, attacked and had his life threatened trying to protect me. So please, after I leave, talk your son into forgetting about me. I don’t want anybody else to get hurt.”
Fitz coughed. She brushed her hand over his forehead. His fever was back.
“We know who you are, Daisy.” Max’s father spoke first. There was no smile on John’s chiseled face. But there was warmth in his eyes. “We know who that baby you’re holding is and something about the trouble you’re in. We saw the news a few hours ago and joined hands to pray for you both, too. Not that we had any idea you had anything to do with our son, but we have a habit of praying for people on the news who need it, and it was clear that you and that precious baby were in some kind of trouble.”
He glanced over to the door, and for the first time, Daisy saw the rifle resting above the lintel. John ran his hand over his jaw. “Of course, we never guessed this was how our prayers were going to be answered. But if our son showed up at our doorway with you, seeking sanctuary, then you’re safe here with us, just as long as you give us your word that you’re going to pray for guidance and talk honestly to our son and figure out how to do the right thing.”
Unexpected tears rose to her eyes. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She turned to Max, his eyes met hers and for one long wordless moment, they held each other’s gaze with the same intensity their arms had wrapped around each other back at the lakeside. Fitz coughed again and then scrunched up his face and howled.
“Come on.” Emily’s hand brushed her arm. “I know you have a lot of important decisions to make. But any decision can wait until you’ve got cleaned up and had lunch. Let’s you and I head upstairs with Fitz. He sounds like he needs to be changed and I’m guessing you could use a hot shower and a change of clothes, too. I’m sure I can find something close to your size.”
Daisy broke Max’s gaze and turned to his mother.
“Thank you,” she said, but the words came out as barely more than a whisper. She blinked back her tears, and when they were too stubborn to move, she wiped them away with one hand. Then she let Emily lead her out of the living room, through the kitchen and toward the stairs heading up to the second floor.
“So, Dad, you think I should call Jacob and Nick and let them know that Trent and I have started a new family tradition?” Max asked when Daisy and Emily were halfway up the stairs. “Every Henry brother is required to bring home at least one damsel in distress.”
She winced, guessing he hadn’t meant for her to hear that. Emily winced, too.
“Forgive Max,” his mother said. They continued up the stairs. “He likes to hide his feelings behind attempted humor sometimes. It’s a bad habit and maybe it’s partially my fault. I relied on him a lot when he was little. We all did. When things got too serious, Max was always the one who knew how to lighten the mood. I think sometimes he needs to be reminded that it’s okay to be serious.”
Daisy wasn’t sure what that meant. The two women kept walking up the stairs, and the men’s voices faded behind them. When they reached the second floor, four bedrooms spread out in different directions and another staircase led up to the third floor. Emily led her into a tiny bedroom with pale purple walls and a beautiful mural with a silhouette of a willowy girl with a shield and sword on the wall. One word was painted underneath: Faith.
“It’s exquisite.” Daisy’s jaw dropped. “Who’s Faith?”
“Max’s sister,” Emily said. The sister that Max had never once told her about, never once mentioned. Emily pulled an old blanket from a cupboard, folded it twice and laid it on the bed. “You can change Fitz here. I’ll go draw a bath. I’m worried about his fever and his cough. A bath should help.”
“Thank you,” Daisy said again. “I don’t want to cause you any trouble, and if there’s anything I can do...”
Her words trailed off. The words felt so inadequate but she didn’t know what else to say.
“Max puts on a brave face,” Emily said. She glanced at the mural. “But he’s got a pretty soft heart and for whatever reason, he’s let you get your hands on it. Promise me you’re never going to hurt him.”