Page 28 of Rancher to the Rescue

Prudence reached across the table to touch Adam in a show of support. He immediately withdrew. The broken pencil slammed into the table as he smacked his hand down.

Angel started fussing as realization rammed Prudence like a head-on collision. One question floated to the surface…was Adam a father?

This news changed everything for Adam.

“Does Angel belong to her?” he asked.

“Yes,” Lawler said.

Adam knew what the sheriff’s next question would be. “I still don’t believe I’m the father.”

“I know,” Lawler said. “And we don’t have to take a sample or do any tests. The most important one is seeing if we can tie the little girl to Elizabeth.”

“Libby,” Adam corrected.

“She went by Libby. Her full name is…” Lawler flashed eyes at Adam, “was Elizabeth Sue Warrington.”

“Warrington? Isn’t that a prominent Houston family?” he asked.

“Yes,” Lawler responded.

“She told me her last name was Daniels.” He was certain he’d seen identification as such. “I was never told that,” he conceded, wondering what else she’d hidden.

“There are signs when someone’s had a baby,” Prudence chimed in.

“Obviously,” Lawler agreed. “It’s the reason I’d like to run the test.”

Prudence compressed her lips in a frown. She looked at the baby with the most tender expression.

Despite the breakup, hearing Libby was dead hit him in a dark place. She was too young, too vibrant. Looking back, she might not have been right for him and she seemed to have sense enough to know it, but he didn’t wish this on her. Losing his grandfather was difficult, but the Marshall had lived a full life. Libby’s had barely even begun. The unfairness of it fisted his hands. No life should be cut short from senseless violence, especially not someone with her whole life ahead of her.

Angel wiggled in his lap and he could have sworn the little girl could sense his mood shift. She’d gone from happy and contented to fussy and agitated in a matter of seconds.

“I can feed her,” Prudence offered.

Adam nodded.

She took a turn fixing the bottle and he handed over the baby, still reeling from the news. And what if Libby was Angel’s mother? What then? What would happen to the little girl?

“She was secretive about her family,” he said to Lawler after reclaiming his seat. “Told me they didn’t get along and she rarely spoke to them. Was that true?”

“I have a deputy over there speaking to them right now. You know I can’t comment on an ongoing murder investigation,” Lawler said.

“I’m just trying to figure out how much of our relationship was a lie.” To think he’d planned to spend the rest of his life with someone who’d kept her identity from him. It seemed like something out of a TV show, not real life. Not his life. How did Libby get one over on him for almost a year of dating?

Job hazard, he thought. He worked long hours on the ranch. Animals needed care seven days a week. He’d been covering for Casey during his wife’s pregnancy, so they could spend more time together. And then there was his aversion to all things social media. The only reason he ever turned on a screen was to watch an occasional game. It was easy to have as background noise when he was at his home. He wasn’t much on surfing the internet and Libby had almost always come to him after the initial few months of dating. There’d been a dinner out when he’d almost gone face-down at the table during calving season.

Looking back, he realized it took a special person to want to be a rancher’s wife. She would have to be real comfortable being alone for long periods of time, and happy to stay in rather than go out much of the time. Libby had come to him, but he’d sensed she was getting bored with staying in.

Considering he didn’t know her real last name, he couldn’t take much of their relationship on face value. Was she spending time with him to hide out from an ex? Was she seeing someone else during their relationship? What about her folks? Did they know about him as she’d said? Or had she kept him a secret from them too?

Adam stood up and paced around the room as anger surfaced. “What do you need for a DNA test?”

He didn’t believe he was Angel’s father. However, he needed to put the question to rest.

“Swab of the inside of your cheek,” Lawler said. “And hers.”

“Simple enough.” Adam made another lap. Now, he needed to know who had targeted Prudence. Was it the same person who’d killed Libby? The coincidence would be…