He gave her his heart.

She gave him a daughter.

Eighteen months ago, Colt McCloud experienced an unforgettable night of passion. Now his onetime lover is at his door, pleading for help to save the daughter they conceived. Lola Dayton knows Colt is her only hope to infiltrate the kidnapper’s compound and save their baby. His military—and father—instincts kick in. And Colt secretly vows...if they survive, he’ll make this threesome a forever family.

B. J. DANIELS is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author. She wrote her first book after a career as an award-winning newspaper journalist and author of thirty-seven published short stories. She lives in Montana with her husband, Parker, and three springer spaniels. When not writing, she quilts, boats and plays tennis. Contact her at www.bjdaniels.com, on Facebook or on Twitter, @bjdanielsauthor.

Also by B. J. Daniels

Cowboy’s Redemption

Dark Horse

Dead Ringer

Rough Rider

Renegade’s Pride

Outlaw’s Honor

Hero’s Return

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Cowboy’s Redemption

B.J. Daniels

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07884-9

COWBOY’S REDEMPTION

© 2018 Barbara Heinlein

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

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This one is for Stelly, who even at four loves stories where the heroine gets to help save herself.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Extract

Extract

Chapter One

Running blindly through the darkness, Lola didn’t see the tree limb until it struck her in the face. It clawed at her cheek, digging into a spot under her right eye as she flung it away with her arm. She had to stifle the cry of pain that rose in her throat for fear she would be heard. As she ran, she felt warm blood run down to the corner of her lips. The taste of it mingled with the salt of her tears, but she didn’t slow, couldn’t. She could hear them behind her.

She pushed harder, knowing that, being men, they had the advantage, especially the way she was dressed. Her long skirt caught on something. She heard the fabric rend, not for the first time. She felt as if it was her heart being ripped out with it.

Her only choice was to escape. But at what price? She’d been forced to leave behind the one person who mattered most. Her thundering heart ached at the thought, but she knew that this was the only way. If she could get help...

“She’s over here!” came a cry from behind her. “This way!”

She wiped away the warm blood as she crashed through the brush and trees. Her legs ached and she didn’t know how much longer she could keep going. Fatigue was draining her. If they caught her this time...

She tripped on a tree root, stumbled and almost plunged headlong down the mountainside. Her shoulder slammed into a tree trunk. She veered off it like a pinball, but she kept pushing herself forward because the alternative was worse than death.

They were closer now. She could feel one of them breathing down her neck. She didn’t dare look back. To look back would be to admit defeat. If she could just reach the road before they caught up to her...

Suddenly the trees opened up. She burst out of the darkness of the pines onto the blacktop of a narrow two-lane highway. The glare of headlights blinded her an instant before the shriek of rubber on the dark pavement filled the night air.

Chapter Two

Major Colt McCloud felt the big bird shake as he brought the helicopter low over the bleak landscape. He was back in Afghanistan behind the controls of a UH-60 Black Hawk. The throb of the rotating blades was drowned out by the sound of mortar fire. It grew louder and louder, taking on a consistent pounding that warned him something was very wrong.

He dragged himself awake, but the dream followed him. Blinking in the darkness, he didn’t know where he was for a moment. Everything looked alien and surreal. As the dream began to fade, he recognized his bedroom at the ranch.

He’d left behind the sound of the chopper and the mortar fire, but the pounding had intensified. With a start, he realized what he was hearing.

Someone was at the door.

He glanced at the clock on his bedside table. It was after three in the morning. Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, he grabbed his jeans, pulling them on as he fought to put the dream behind him and hurry to the door.

A half dozen possibilities flashed in his mind as he moved quickly through the house. It still felt strange to be back here after years of traveling the world as an Army helicopter pilot. After his fiancée dumped him, he’d planned to make a career out of the military, but then his father had died, leaving him a working ranch that either had to be run or sold.

He’d taken a hundred-and-twenty-day leave in between assignments so he could come home to take care of the ranch. His father had been the one who’d loved ranching, not Colt. That’s why there was a for-sale sign out on the road into the ranch.

Colt reached the front door and, frowning at the incessant knocking at this hour of the morning, threw it open.

He blinked at the disheveled woman standing there before she turned to motion to the driver of the car idling nearby. The engine roared and a car full of what appeared to be partying teenagers took off in a cloud of dust.

Colt flipped on the porch light as the woman turned back to him and he got his first good look at her and her scratched, blood-streaked face. For a moment he didn’t recognize her, and then it all came back in a rush. Standing there was a woman he’d never thought he’d see again.

“Lola?” He couldn’t even be sure that was her real name. But somehow it fit her, so maybe at least that part of her story had been true. “What happened to you?”

“I had nowhere else to go.” Her words came out in a rush. “I was so worried that you wouldn’t be here.” She burst into tears and slumped as if physically exhausted.

He caught her, swung her up into his arms and carried her into the house, kicking the door closed behind him. His mind raced as he tried to imagine what could have happened to bring her to his door in Gilt Edge, Montana, in the middle of the night and in this condition.

“Sit here,” he said as he carried her in and set her down in a kitchen chair before going for the first-aid kit. When he returned, he was momentarily taken aback by the memory of this woman the first time he’d met her. She wasn’t beautiful in the classic sense. But she was striking, from her wide violet eyes fringed with pale lashes to the silk of her long blond hair. She had looked like an angel, especially in the long white dress she’d been wearing that night.

That was over a year ago and he hadn’t seen her since. Nor had he expected to since they’d met initially several hundred miles from the ranch. But whatever had struck him about her hadn’t faded. There was something flawless about her—even as scraped up and bruised as she was. It made him furious at whoever was responsible for this.

“Can you tell me what happened?” he asked as he began to clean the cuts.

“I... I...” Her throat seemed to close on a sob.

“It’s okay, don’t try to talk.” He felt her trembling and could see that she was fighting tears. “This cut under your eye is deep.”

She said nothing, looking as if it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. He took in her torn and filthy dress. It was long, like the white one he’d first seen her in, but faded. It reminded him of something his grandmother might have worn to do housework in. She was also thinner than he remembered.

As he gently cleaned her wounds, he could see dark circles under her eyes, and her long braided hair was in disarray with bits of twigs and leaves stuck in it.

The night he’d met her, her plaited hair had been pinned up at the nape of her neck—until he’d released it, the blond silk dropping to the center of her back.

He finished his doctoring, put away the first-aid kit, and wondered how far she’d come to find him and what she had been through to get here. When he returned to the kitchen, he found her standing at the back window, staring out. As she turned, he saw the fear in her eyes—and the exhaustion.

Colt desperately wanted to know what had happened to her and how she’d ended up on his doorstep. He hadn’t even thought that she’d known his name. “Have you had anything to eat?”

“Not in the past forty-eight hours or so,” she said, squinting at the clock on the wall as if not sure what day it was. “And not all that much before that.”

He’d been meaning to get into Gilt Edge and buy some groceries. “Sit and I’ll see what I can scare up,” he said as he opened the refrigerator. Seeing only one egg left, he said, “How do you feel about pancakes? I have chokecherry syrup.”

She nodded and attempted a smile. She looked skittish as a newborn calf. Worse, he sensed that she was having second thoughts about coming here.

She licked her cracked lips. “I have to tell you. I have to explain—”

“It’s okay. You’re safe here.” But safe from what, he wondered? “There’s no hurry. Let’s get you taken care of first.” He’d feed her and get her settled down.

He motioned her into a chair at the kitchen table. He could tell that she must hurt all over by the way she moved. As much as he wanted to know what had happened, he thought she needed food more than anything else at this moment.

“While I make the pancakes, would you like a hot shower? The guest room is down the hall to the left. I can find you some clothes. They’ll be too large for you, but maybe they will be more comfortable.”

Tears welled in her eyes. He saw her swallow before she nodded. As she started to get to her feet, he noticed her grimace in pain.

“Wait.”

She froze.

“I don’t know how to say this delicately, but if someone assaulted you—”

“I wasn’t raped.”

He nodded, hoping that was true, because a shower would destroy important evidence. “Okay, so the injuries were...”

“From running for my life.” With that she limped out of the kitchen.

He had the pancake batter made and the griddle heating when he heard the shower come on. He stopped to listen to the running water, remembering this woman in a hotel shower with him months ago.

That night he’d bumped into her coming out of the hotel bar. He’d seen that she was upset. She’d told him that she needed his help, that there was someone after her. She’d given him the impression she was running from an old boyfriend. He’d been happy to help. Now he wondered if that was still the case. She said she was running for her life—just as she had the first time they’d met.

But that had been in Billings. This was Gilt Edge, Montana, hundreds of miles away. Didn’t seem likely she would still be running from the same boyfriend. But whoever was chasing her, she’d come to him for help.

He couldn’t turn her away any more than he’d been able to in that hotel hallway in Billings last year.

* * *

LOLA PULLED OUT her braid, discarding the debris stuck in it, then climbed into the steaming shower. She stood under the hot spray, leaned against the smooth, cool tile wall of the shower and closed her eyes. She felt weak from hunger, lack of sleep and constant fear. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept through the night.

Exhaustion pulled at her. It took all of her energy to wash herself. Her body felt alien to her, her skin chafed from the rough fabric of the long dresses she’d been wearing for months. Stumbling from the shower, she wrapped her hair in one of the guest towels. It felt good to free her hair from the braid that had been wound at the nape of her neck.

As she pulled down another clean towel from the bathroom rack, she put it to her face and sniffed its freshness. Tears burned her eyes. It had been so long since she’d had even the smallest creature comforts like good soap, shampoo and clean towels that smelled like this, let alone unlimited hot water.

When she opened the bathroom door, she saw that Colt had left her a sweatshirt and sweatpants on the guest-room bed. She dried and tugged them on, pulling the drawstring tight around her waist. He was right, the clothes were too big, but they felt heavenly.

She took the towels back to the bathroom to hang them and considered her dirty clothing on the floor. The hem of the worn ankle-length coarse cotton dress was torn and filthy with dirt and grime. The long sleeves were just as bad except they were soiled with her blood. The black utilitarian shoes were scuffed, the heels worn unevenly since she’d inherited them well used.

She wadded up the dress and shoved it into the bathroom wastebasket before putting the shoes on top of it, all the time feeling as if she was committing a sin. Then again, she’d already done that, hadn’t she.

Downstairs, she stepped into the kitchen to see Colt slip three more pancakes onto the stack he already had on the plate.

He turned as if sensing her in the doorway and she was reminded of the first time she’d seen him. All she’d noticed that night was his Army uniform—before he’d turned and she’d seen his face.

That he was handsome hadn’t even registered. What she’d seen was a kind face. She’d been desperate and Colt McCloud had suddenly appeared as if it had been meant to be. Just as he’d been here tonight, she thought.

“Last time I saw you, you were on leave and talking about staying in the military,” she said as he pulled out a kitchen chair for her and she sat down. “I was afraid that you had and that—” her voice broke as she met his gaze “—you wouldn’t be here.”

“I’m on leave now. My father died.”

“I’m sorry.”

He set down the plate of pancakes. “Dig in.”

Always the gentleman, she thought as he joined her at the table. “I made a bunch. There’s fresh sweet butter. If you don’t like chokecherry syrup—”

“I love it.” She slid several of the lightly browned cakes onto her plate. The aroma that rose from them made her stomach growl loudly. She slathered them with butter and covered them with syrup. The first bite was so delicious that she actually moaned, making him smile.

“I was going to ask how they are,” he said with a laugh, “but I guess I don’t have to.”

She devoured the pancakes before helping herself to more. They ate in a companionable silence that didn’t surprise her any more than Colt making her pancakes in the middle of the night or opening his door to her, no questions asked. It was as if it was something he did all the time. Maybe it was, she thought, remembering the first night they’d met.

He hadn’t hesitated when she’d told him she needed his help. She’d looked into his blue eyes and known she could trust him. He’d been so sweet and caring that she’d almost told him the truth. But she’d stopped herself. Because she didn’t think he would believe her? Or because she didn’t want to involve him? Or because, at that point, she thought she could still handle things on her own?

Unfortunately, she no longer had the option of keeping the truth from him.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” she said, after swallowing her last bite of pancake and wiping her mouth with her napkin. The food had helped, but her body ached all over and fatigue had weakened her. “You had to be surprised to see me again, especially with me showing up at your door in the middle of the night looking like I do.”

“I didn’t even know you knew my last name.”

“After that night in Billings... Before I left your hotel room, while you were still sleeping, I looked in your wallet.”

“You planned to take my money?” He’d had over four hundred dollars in there. He’d been headed home to his fiancée, he’d told her. But the fiancée, who was supposed to pick him up at the airport, had called instead with crushing news. Not only was she not picking him up, she was in love with one of his best friends, someone he’d known since grade school.

He’d been thinking he just might rent a car and drive home to confront the two of them, he’d told Lola later. But, ultimately, he’d booked a flight for the next morning to where he was stationed and, with time to kill, had taken a taxi to a hotel, paid for a room and headed for the hotel bar. Two drinks later, he’d run into Lola as he’d headed from the bar to the men’s room. Lola had saved him from getting stinking drunk that night. Also from driving to Gilt Edge to confront his ex-fiancée and his ex-friend.

“I hate to admit that I thought about taking your money,” she said. “I could have used it.”

“You should have taken it then.”

She smiled at him and shook her head. “You were so kind to me, so tender...” Her cheeks heated as she held his gaze and remembered being naked in his arms. “I’m sure I gave you the wrong impression of me that night. It wasn’t like me to...with a complete stranger.” She bit her lower lip and felt tears well in her eyes again.

“There is nothing wrong with the impression you left with me. As a matter of fact, I’ve thought of you often.” He smiled. It was a great smile. “Every time I heard one of those songs that we’d danced to in my hotel room that night—” his gaze warmed to a Caribbean blue “—I thought of you.”

She looked away to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat before she could speak again. “It wasn’t an old boyfriend I was running from that night. I let you believe that because I doubted you’d have believed the truth. I did need your help, though, because right before I collided with you in that hallway, I’d seen one of them in the hotel. I knew it was just a matter of time before they found me and took me back.”

“Took you back?”

“I wasn’t a fugitive from the law or some mental institution,” she said quickly. “It’s worse than that.”

He narrowed his gaze with concern. “What could be worse than that?”

“The Society of Lasting Serenity.”

Chapter Three

“The fringe religious cult that relocated to the mountains about five years ago?” Colt asked, unable to keep the shock from his voice.

She nodded.

He couldn’t have been more stunned if she’d said she had escaped from prison. “When did you join that?”

“I didn’t. My parents were some of the founding members when the group began in California. I was in Europe at university when they joined. I’d heard from my father that SLS had relocated to Montana. A few years after that, I received word that the leader, Jonas Emanuel, needed to see me. My mother was ill.” Her voice broke. “Before I could get back here, my mother and father both died, within hours of each other, and had been buried on the compound. According to Jonas, they had one dying wish.” Her laugh could have cut glass. “They wanted to see me married. Once I was on the SLS compound, I learned that, according to Jonas, they had promised me to him.”

“That’s crazy.” He still couldn’t get his head around this.

“Jonas is delusional but also dangerous.”

“So you were running from him that night I met you?”

She nodded. “But, unfortunately, when I left the hotel the next morning, two of the ‘sisters’ were waiting for me and forced me to go back to the compound.”

“And tonight?” he asked as he pushed his plate away.

Lola met his gaze. “I escaped. I’d been locked up there since I last saw you within miles of here at the Montana SLS compound.”

Colt let out a curse. “You’ve been held there all this time against your will? Why didn’t you—”

“Escape sooner?” She sounded near tears as she held his gaze.

He saw something in those beautiful eyes that made his stomach drop.

Her voice caught as she said, “I had originally gone there to get my parents’ remains because I don’t believe they died of natural causes. I’d gotten a letter from my father right before I heard from Jonas. He wanted out of SLS, but my mother refused. My father said he feared the hold Jonas had on her and needed my help because she wasn’t well.”

“What are you saying?”

“I think they were murdered, but I can’t prove it without their bodies, and Jonas has refused to release them. Legally, there isn’t much I can do since my parents had signed over everything to him—even their daughter.”

Murder? He’d heard about the fifty-two-year-old charismatic leader of the cult living in the mountains outside of town, but he couldn’t imagine the things Lola was telling him. “He can’t expect you to marry him.”

“Jonas was convinced that I would fall for him if I spent enough time at the compound, so he kept me there. At first, he told me it would take time to have my parents’ remains exhumed and moved. Later I realized there was no way he was letting their remains go anywhere even if he could convince me to marry him, which was never going to happen.”

Maybe it was the late hour, but he was having trouble making sense of this. “So after you met me...”

“I was more determined to free both my parents and myself from Jonas forever. I wasn’t back at the compound long though, when I realized I was pregnant. Jonas realized it, too. I became a prisoner of SLS until the birth. Then Jonas had the baby taken away and had me locked up. I had to escape to get help for my daughter.”

“Your daughter?”

She met his gaze. “That’s why I’m here... She’s our daughter,” she said, her voice suddenly choked with tears. “Jonas took the baby girl that you and I made the first night we met.”

* * *

COLT STARED AT HER, too shocked to speak for a moment. What the hell? “Are you trying to tell me—”

“I had your child but I couldn’t contact you. Jonas kept me under guard, locked away. I had no way to get a message out. If any of the sisters tried to help me, they were severely punished.”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Wait. You had the baby at the compound?”

She nodded. “One of the members is a midwife. She delivered a healthy girl, but then Jonas had the child taken away almost at once. I got to hold her only for a few moments and only because Sister Amelia let me. She was harshly reprimanded for it. I got to look into her precious face. She has this adorable tiny heart-shaped birthmark on her left thigh and my blond hair. Just fuzz really.” Tears filled her eyes again.

Colt ran a hand over his face before he looked at her again. “I’m having a hard time believing any of this.”

“I know. If Jonas had let me leave with my daughter, I wouldn’t have ever troubled you with any of this,” she said.

“You would never have told me about the baby?” He hadn’t meant to make it sound like an accusation. He’d expected her to be offended.

Instead, when she spoke, he saw only sympathy in her gaze. “When I met you, you were on leave and going back the next day. You were talking about staying in the Army. Your fiancée had just broken up with you.”

“You don’t have to remind me.”

“What you and I shared that night...” She met his gaze. “I’ll never forget it, but I wasn’t fool enough to think that it might lead to anything. The only reason I’m here now is that I need help to get our daughter away from that...man.”

“Don’t I have a right to know if I have a child?”

“Of course. But I wouldn’t be asking anything of you—if Jonas hadn’t taken our daughter. I’m more than capable of taking care of her and myself.”

“What I don’t understand is why Jonas wants to keep a baby that isn’t his.”

She didn’t seem surprised by his skepticism, but when he looked into her eyes, he saw pain darken all that beautiful blue. “I can understand why you wouldn’t believe she’s yours.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.” She got to her feet, grabbing the table to steady herself. “I shouldn’t have come here, but I didn’t know where else to go.”

“Hold on,” he said, pushing back his chair and coming around the table to take her shoulders in his hands. She felt small, fragile, and yet he saw a strength in her that belied her slim frame. “You have to admit this is quite the story.”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you the night we met about the cult or the problems I was having getting my parents’ remains out. I still thought I could handle it myself. Also I doubt you would have believed it.” Her smile hurt him soul deep. “I wouldn’t have believed it and I’ve lived through all of this.”

He was doing his best to keep an open mind. He wasn’t a man who jumped to quick conclusions. He took his time to make decisions based on the knowledge he was able to acquire. It had kept him alive all these years as an Army helicopter pilot.

“So what you’re telling me is that the leader of SLS has taken your baby to force you to marry him? If he’s so dangerous, why wouldn’t he have just—”

“Forced me? He tried to...join with me, as he put it. He’s still limping from the attempt. And equally determined that I will come to him. Now that I’ve shamed him...he will never let me have my baby unless I completely surrender to him in front of the whole congregation.”

“Don’t you mean our baby?”

Lola gave him an impatient look. Tears filled her eyes as she swayed a little as if having trouble staying upright after everything she’d been through.

He felt a stab of guilt. He’d been putting her through an interrogation when clearly she was exhausted. It was bad enough that she was scraped, cut and bruised, but he could see that her real injuries were more than skin deep.

“You’re dead on your feet,” he said. “There isn’t anything we can do tonight. Get some rest. Tomorrow...”

A tear broke loose and cascaded down her cheek. He caught it with his thumb and gently wiped it away before she let him lead her to the guest bedroom where she’d showered earlier. His mind was racing. If any of this was true...

“Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out,” Colt said as he pulled back the covers. “Just get some sleep.” He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink.

Could he really have a daughter? A daughter now being held by a crackpot cult leader? A man who, according to Lola, was much more dangerous than anyone knew?

Lola climbed into the bed, still wearing his too-large sweats. He tucked her in, seeing that she could barely keep her eyes open.

“Dayton.” At his puzzled look, she added, “That’s my last name.” They’d shared only first names the night they met. But that night neither of them had been themselves. She’d been running scared, and he’d been wallowing in self-pity over losing the woman he’d thought he was going to marry and live with the rest of his life.

“Lola Dayton,” he repeated, and smiled down at her. “Pretty name.”

He moved to the door and switched off the light.

“I named our daughter Grace,” she said from out of the darkness. “Do you remember telling me that you always loved that name?”

He turned in the doorway to look back at her, too choked up to speak for a moment. “It was my grandmother’s name.”

* * *

LOLA THOUGHT SHE wouldn’t be able to sleep. Her body felt leaden as she’d sunk under the covers. She could still feel the rough skin of Colt’s thumb pad against her cheek and reached up to touch the spot. She hadn’t been wrong about him. Not that first night. Not tonight.

She closed her eyes and felt herself careening off that mountain, running for her life, running for Grace’s life. She was safe, she reminded herself. But Grace...

The sisters were taking good care of Grace, she told herself. Jonas wouldn’t let anything happen to the baby. At least she prayed that he wouldn’t hurt Grace to punish her even more.

The thought had her heart pounding until she realized the only power Jonas had over her was the baby. He wouldn’t hurt Grace. He needed that child if he ever hoped to get what he wanted. And what he wanted was Lola. She’d seen it in his eyes. A voracious need that he thought only she could fill.

If he ever got his hands on her again... Well, she knew there would be no saving herself from him.

* * *

COLT KICKED OFF his boots and lay down on the bed fully dressed. Sleep was out of the question. If half of what Lola had told him was true... Was it possible they’d made a baby that night? They hadn’t used protection. He hadn’t had anything. Nor had she. It wasn’t like him to take a chance like that.

But there was something so wholesome, so innocent, so guileless...

Rolling to his side, he closed his eyes. The memory was almost painful. The sweet scent of her body as she lay with her back to him naked on the bed. The warmth of his palm as he slowly ran it from her side down into the saddle of her slim waist to the rise of her hip and her perfectly rounded buttocks. The catch of her breath as he pulled her into him and cupped one full breast. The tender moan from her lips as he rolled her over to look into those violet eyes.

Groaning, Colt shifted to his back again to stare up at the dark ceiling. That night he’d lost himself in that delectable woman. He’d buried all feelings for his former fiancée into her. He’d found salvation in her body, in her arms, in her tentative touch, in her soft, sweet kisses.

He closed his eyes, again remembering the feel of her in his arms as they’d danced in his hotel room. The slow sway, their bodies joined, their movements more sensuous than even the act of love. He’d given her a little piece of his heart that night and had not even realized it.

Swinging his legs over the bed, he knew he’d never get any rest until he checked on her. Earlier, he’d gotten the feeling that she wanted to run—rather than tell him what had brought her to his door. She hadn’t wanted to involve him, wouldn’t have if Jonas didn’t have her baby.

That much he believed. But why hadn’t she told him what she was running from the night they’d first met? Maybe he could have helped her.

He moved quietly down the hallway, half-afraid he would open the bedroom door only to find her gone and all of this like his dream about being back in Afghanistan.

After easing open the door, he waited for his eyes to adjust to the blackness in the room. Her blond hair lay like a fan across her pillow. Her peaceful face made her appear angelic. He found himself smiling as he stared down at the sleeping Lola. He couldn’t help wondering about their daughter. She would be three months old now. Did she resemble her mother? He hoped so.

The thought shook him because he realized how much he wanted to believe her. A daughter. He really could have a daughter? A baby with Lola? He shook his head. What were the chances that their union would bring a child into this world? And yet he and Lola had done more than make love that night. They’d connected in a way he and Julia never had.

The thought of Julia, though, made him recoil. Look how wrong he’d been about her. How wrong he’d been about his own mother. Could he trust his judgment when it came to women? Doubtful.

He stepped out of the room, closing the door softly behind him. Tomorrow, he told himself, he would know the truth. He’d get the sheriff to go with them up to the compound and settle this once and for all.

Colt walked out onto the porch to stare up at the starry sky. The air was crisp and cold, snow still capping the highest peaks around town. He knew this all could be true. Normally, he would never have had intercourse with a woman he didn’t know without protection. But that night, he and Lola hadn’t just had sex. They’d made love, two lost souls who’d given each other comfort in a world that had hurt them.

He’d been heartbroken over Julia and his friend Wyatt. Being in Lola’s arms had saved him. If their lovemaking had resulted in a baby...a little girl...

Yes, what was he going to do? Besides go up to that compound and get the baby for Lola? He tried to imagine himself as a father to an infant. What a joke. He couldn’t have been in a worse place in his life to take on a wife and a child.

He looked across the ranch. All his life he’d felt tied down to this land. That his father had tried to chain him to it still infuriated him—and at the same time made him feel guilty. His father had had such a connection to the land, one that Colt had never felt. He’d loved being a cowboy, but ranching was more about trying to make a living off the land. He’d watched his father struggle for years. Why would the old man think he would want this? Why hadn’t his father sold the place, done something fun with the money before he’d died?

Instead, he’d left it all to Colt—lock, stock and barrel, making the place feel like a noose around his neck.

“It’s yours,” the probate attorney had said. “Do whatever you want with the ranch.”

“You mean I can sell it?”

“After three months. That’s all your father stipulated. That you live on the ranch for three months full-time, and then if you still don’t want to ranch, you can liquidate all of your father’s holdings.”

Colt took a deep breath and let it out. “Sorry, Dad. If you think even three years on this land is going to change anything, you are dead wrong.” He’d put in his three months and more waiting for an offer on the place.

When his leave was up, he was heading back to the Army and his real job. At least that had been the plan before he’d found Lola standing on his doorstep. Now he didn’t know what to think. All he knew was that he had to fly. He didn’t want to ranch. Once the place sold, there would be nothing holding him here.

He thought about Lola asleep back in the house. If this baby was his, he’d take responsibility, but he couldn’t make any promises—not when he didn’t even know where he would be living when he came home on leave.

Up by the road, he could see the for-sale sign by the gate into the ranch. With luck, the ranch would sell soon. In the meantime, he had to get Lola’s baby back for her. His baby.

He pushed open the door and headed for his bedroom. Everything was going to work out. Once Lola understood what he needed to do, what he had to do...

He lay down on the bed fully clothed again and closed his eyes, knowing there was no chance of sleep. But hours later, he woke with a start, surprised to find sunlight streaming in through the window. As he rose, still dressed, he worried that he would find Lola gone, just as she had been that morning in Billings.

The thought had his heart pounding as he padded down to the guest room. The door was partially ajar. What if none of it had been true? What if she’d realized he would see through all of it and had taken off?

He pressed his fingertips against the warm wood and pushed gently until he could see into the dim light of the room. She lay wrapped in one of his mother’s quilts, her long blond hair splayed across the pillow. He eased the door closed, surprised how relieved he was. Maybe he wasn’t a good judge of character when it came in women—Julia a case in point—but he wanted to believe Lola was different. It surprised him how much he wanted to believe it.

* * *

LOLA WOKE TO the smell of frying bacon. Her stomach growled. She sat up with a start, momentarily confused as to where she was. Not on the hard cot at the compound. Not locked in the claustrophobia-inducing tiny cabin with little heat. And certainly not waking to the wonderful scent of frying bacon at that awful prison.

Her memory of the events came back to her in a rush. What surprised her the most was that she’d slept. It had been so long that she hadn’t been allowed to sleep through the night without being awakened as part of the brainwashing treatment. Or when the sisters had come to take her breast milk for the baby. She knew the only reason, other than exhaustion, she’d slept last night was knowing that she was safe. If Colt hadn’t been there, though...

She refused to think about that as she got up. Her escape had cost her. She hurt all over. The scratches on her face and the sore muscles were painful. But far worse was the ache in her heart. She’d had to leave Grace behind.

Still dressed in the sweatshirt and sweatpants and barefoot, she followed the smell of frying bacon to the kitchen. Colt had music playing and was singing softly to a country music song. She had to smile, remembering how much he’d liked to dance.

That memory brought a rush of heat to her cheeks. She’d told herself that she hadn’t been in her right mind that night, but seeing Colt again, she knew that was a lie. He’d liberated that woman from the darkness she’d been living in. He’d brought out a part of her she hadn’t known existed.

He seemed to sense her in the doorway and turned, instantly smiling. “I hope you don’t mind pancakes again. There was batter left over. I haven’t been to the store. But I did find some bacon in the freezer.”

“It’s making my stomach growl. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Nope, just bring your appetite.” He motioned for her to take a seat. “I made a lot. I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.”

She sat down at the table and watched him expertly flip pancakes and load up a plate with bacon.

As he set everything on the table and took a chair, he met her gaze. “How are you feeling?”

“Better. I slept well.” For that he couldn’t imagine how thankful she was. “On the compound, they would wake me every few hours to chant over me.”

“Sounds like brainwashing,” Colt said, his jaw tightening.

“Jonas calls it rehabilitation.”

He pushed the bacon and pancakes toward her. “Eat while it’s hot. We’ll deal with everything else once we’ve eaten.”

She looked into his handsome face, remembered being in his arms and felt a flood of guilt. If there was any other way of saving Grace, she wouldn’t have involved him in this. But he had been involved since that night in Billings when she’d asked for his help and he hadn’t hesitated. He just hadn’t known then that what he was getting involved in was more than dangerous.

Once Jonas knew that Colt was the father of her baby... She shuddered at the thought of what she was about to do to this wonderful man.

Chapter Four

Colt picked at his food. He’d lied about being hungry. Just the smell of it turned his stomach. But he watched Lola wolf down hers as if she hadn’t eaten in months. He suspected she hadn’t eaten much. She was definitely thinner than she’d been that night in Billings a year ago.

But if anything, she was even more striking, with her pale skin and those incredible eyes. He was glad to see her hair down. It fell in a waterfall of gold down her back. He was reminded again how she’d looked the first time he’d seen her—and when he’d opened the door last night.

“I’ve been thinking about what we should do first,” Colt said as he moved his food around the plate. “We need to start by getting you some clothing that fits,” he said as if all they had to worry about was a shopping trip. “Then I think we should go by the sheriff’s office.”

“There is somewhere we have to go first,” she said, looking up from cutting off a bite of pancake dripping with the red syrup. “I know you don’t trust me. It’s all right. I wouldn’t trust me, either. But don’t worry, you will.” She smiled. She had a slight gap between her two front teeth that made her smile adorable. That and the innocence in her lightly freckled face had sucked him in from the first.

He’d been vulnerable that night. He’d been a broken man and Lola had been more than a temptation. The fact that she’d sworn he was saving her that night hadn’t hurt, either.

He thought about the way she’d looked last night when he’d found her on his doorstep. She still had a scratch across one cheek and a cut under her right eye. It made her look like a tomboy.

“You have to admit, the story you told me last night was a little hard to believe.”

“I know. That’s why you have to let me prove it to you.”

He eyed her suspiciously. “And how do you plan to do that?”

“Do you know a doctor in town who can examine me?”

His pulse jumped. “I thought you said—”

“Not for that. Or for my mental proficiency.” Her gaze locked with his. “I need you to know that I had a baby three months ago. A doctor should be able to tell.” He started to argue, but she stopped him. “This is where we need to start before we go to the sheriff.”

He wanted to argue that this wasn’t necessary, but they both knew it was. If a doctor said she’d never given birth and none of this was real, then it would be over. No harm done. Except the idea of him and Lola having a baby together would always linger, he realized.

“I used to go to a family doctor here in town. If he’s still practicing...”

* * *

DR. HUBERT GRAY was a large man with a drooping gray mustache and matching bushy eyebrows over piercing blue eyes.

Colt explained what they wanted.

Dr. Gray narrowed his gaze for a moment, taking them both in. “Well, then, why don’t you step into the examination room with my nurse, Sara. She’ll get you ready while I visit with Colt here.”

The moment Lola and Sara left the room, the doctor leaned back in his office chair. “Let me get this straight. You aren’t even sure there is a child?”

“Lola says there is. Unfortunately, the baby isn’t here.”

The doctor nodded. “You realize this won’t prove that the child is yours—just that she has given birth before.”

Colt nodded. “I know this is unusual.”

“Nothing surprises me. By the way, I was sorry to hear about your father. Damn cancer. Only thing that could stop him from ranching.”

“Yes, he loved it.”

“Tell me about flying helicopters. You know I have my pilot’s license, but I’ve never flown a chopper.”

Colt told him what he loved about it. “There is nothing like being able to hover in the air, being able to put it down in places—” he shook his head “—that seem impossible.”

“I can tell that you love what you do, but did I hear you’re ranching again?”

“Temporarily.”

A buzz sounded and Dr. Gray rose. “This shouldn’t take long. Sit tight.”

True to his word, the doctor returned minutes later. Colt looked up expectantly. “Well?” he asked as Dr. Gray took his seat again behind his desk. Colt realized that his emotions were all over the place. He didn’t know what he was hoping to hear.

Did he really want to believe that Lola had given birth to their child to have it stolen by some crazy cult leader? Wouldn’t it be better if Lola had lied for whatever reason after becoming obsessed with him following their one-night stand?

“You wanted to know if she has recently given birth?” the doctor asked.

“Has she?” He held his breath, telling himself even if she had, it didn’t mean that any of the rest of it was true.

“Since she gave me permission to provide you with this information, I’d say she gave birth in the past three months.”

Just as she’d said. He glanced at the floor, not sure if he was relieved or not. He felt like a heel for having even a glimmer of doubt. But Lola was right. He’d had to know before he went any further with this. It wasn’t like he really knew this woman. He’d simply shared one night of intimacy all those months ago.

There was a tap at the door. The nurse stuck her head in to say that the doctor had another patient waiting. Behind the nurse, he saw Lola in the hallway. She looked as if she’d been crying. He quickly rose. “Thank you, Doc,” he said over his shoulder as he hurried to Lola, taking both of her hands in his. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. You didn’t have to do this.”

Her smile was sad but sweet as she shook her head. “I just got upset because Dr. Gray is so kind. I wish he’d delivered Grace instead of...” She shook her head. “Not that any of that matters now.”

“It’s time we went to the sheriff,” he said as he led her out of the building. She seemed to hesitate, though, as they reached his pickup. “What?”

“Just that the sheriff isn’t going to be able to do anything—and that’s if he believes you.”

“He’ll believe me. I know him,” he said as he opened the pickup door for her. “I went to school with his sister Lillie and her twin brother, Darby. Darby’s a good friend. Both Lillie and Darby are new parents. As for the sheriff—Flint Cahill is as down-to-earth as anyone I know and I’m sure he’s familiar with The Society of Lasting Serenity. Sheriff Cahill is also the only way we can get on church property—and off—without any trouble.”

She still looked worried. “You don’t know Jonas. He’ll be furious that I went to the law. He’ll also deny everything.”

“We’ll see about that.” He went around the truck and slid behind the wheel. As he started the engine, he looked over at her and saw how anxious she was. “Lola, the man has taken our daughter, right?” She nodded. “Then I don’t give a damn how furious he is, okay?”

“You don’t know how he is.”

“No, but I’m going to find out. Don’t worry. I’m going to get to the bottom of this, one way or the other.”

She looked scared, but said, “I trust you with my life. And Grace’s.”

Grace. Their child. He still couldn’t imagine them having a baby together—let alone that some cult leader had her and refused to give her up to her own mother.

Common sense told him there had to be more to the story—and that’s what worried him as he drove to the sheriff’s department. Sheriff Cahill would sort it out, he told himself. As he’d said, he liked and trusted Flint. Going up to the compound with the levelheaded sheriff made the most sense.

Because if what Lola was telling him was true, they weren’t leaving there without Grace.

* * *

SHERIFF FLINT CAHILL was a nice-looking man with thick dark hair and gray eyes. He ushered them right into his office, offered them a chair and something to drink. They took chairs, but declined a beverage.

“So what is this about?” the sheriff asked after they were all seated, the office door closed behind them.

Colt could see that Lola liked the sheriff from the moment she met him. There was something about him that exuded confidence, as well as honesty and integrity. She told him everything she had Colt. When she finished, though, Colt couldn’t tell from Flint’s expression what he was thinking.

The sheriff looked at him, his gray eyes narrowing. “I’m assuming you wouldn’t have brought Ms. Dayton here if you didn’t believe her story.”

“I know this is unusual.” He glanced over at her. Her scrapes and scratches were healing, and she looked good in the clothes they’d bought her. Still, he saw that she kept rubbing her hand on her thighs as if not believing she was back in denim.

At the store, he’d wanted to buy her more clothing, but she’d insisted she didn’t need more than a couple pairs of jeans, two shirts, several undergarments and hiking shoes and socks. She’d promised to pay him back once she could get to her own money. Jonas had taken her purse with her cash and credit cards. Her money was in a California bank account. Once she had Grace, she said she would see about getting money wired up to her so she could pay him back.

Colt wasn’t about to take her money, but he hadn’t argued. The one thing he’d learned quickly about Lola was that she didn’t expect or want anything from him—except help getting her baby from Jonas. That, she’d said, would be more than enough since it could get them both killed.

At the time, he’d thought she was exaggerating. Now he wasn’t so sure.

“I believe her,” Colt told the sheriff. “What do you know about The Society of Lasting Serenity?”

“Just that they were California based but moved up here about five years ago. They keep to themselves. I believe their numbers have dropped some. Probably our Montana winters.”

“You’re having trouble believing that Jonas Emanuel would steal Lola’s child,” Colt said.

Flint sighed. “No offense but, yes, I am.” He turned to Lola. “You say your only connection to the group was through your parents before their deaths and your return to the States?”

“Yes, they became involved after I left for college. I thought it was a passing phase, a sign of them not being able to accept their only child had left the nest.”

“You never visited them at the California compound?” the sheriff asked.

“No, I got a teaching job right out of college in the Virgin Islands.”

Flint frowned. “You didn’t visit your parents before you left?”

Lola looked away. “By then we were...estranged. I didn’t agree with some of the things they were being taught in what I felt was a fringe cult.”

“So why would your parents promise you to Jonas Emanuel?” the sheriff asked.

She let out a bitter laugh. “To save me. My mother believed that I needed Jonas’s teaching. Otherwise, I was doomed to live a wasted life chasing foolish dreams and, of course, ending up with the wrong man.”

“They wanted you to marry Jonas.” Flint frowned. “Isn’t he a little old for you?”

“He’s fifty-two. I’m thirty-two. So it’s not unheard-of.”

The sheriff looked over at Colt, who was going to be thirty-three soon. Young for a major in the Army, he knew.

“I doubt my parents took age into consideration,” Lola said. “One of the teachings at the SLS is that everyone is ageless. My parents, like the other members, were brainwashed.”

“So you went to the compound after you were notified that your parents had died,” the sheriff said.

“I questioned them both dying especially since earlier I’d received a letter from my father saying he wanted out but was having a hard time convincing my mother to leave SLS,” she said. “Also I wanted to have them buried together in California, next to my older sister, who was stillborn. My parents were both in their forties when they had me. By then, they didn’t believe they would ever conceive again.”

“So you had their bodies—”

“Jonas refused to release them. He said they would be buried as they had wished—on the side of the mountain at the compound. I went up there determined to find out how it was that they had died within hours of each other. I also wanted to make him understand that I would get a lawyer if I had to—or go to the authorities.”

“That’s when you learned that you’d been promised to him?” the sheriff asked.

“Yes, as ridiculous as it sounds. When I refused, I was held there against my will until I managed to get away. I’d stolen aboard a van driven by two of the sisters, as they call them. That’s when I met Colt.”

“Why didn’t you go to the police then?” Flint asked.

“I planned to the next morning. I’d gone into the back of the hotel when I saw one of the sisters coming in the front. I ducked down a hallway and literally collided with Colt. I asked for his help and he sneaked me up to his room.”

The sheriff looked at Colt. “And the two of you hit it off. She didn’t tell you what she was running from?”

“No, but it was clear she was scared. I thought it was an old boyfriend.”

Flint nodded and looked to Lola again. “You didn’t trust him enough to ask for his help the next morning?”

“I didn’t want to involve him. By then I knew what Jonas was capable of. This flock does whatever he tells them. The few who disobey are punished. One woman brought me extra food. I heard her being beaten the next morning by her own so-called sisters. When I had my daughter, they took her away almost at once. I could hear her crying, but I didn’t get to see her again. The women would come in and take my breast milk, but they said she was now Jonas’s child. He called her his angel. I knew I had only one choice. Escape and try to find Colt. I couldn’t fight Jonas and his followers alone. And Jonas made it clear. The only way I could see my baby and be with her was if I married him and gave my life to The Society of Lasting Serenity.”

Flint pushed back his chair and rose to his feet. “I think it’s time I visited the compound and met this Jonas Emanuel.”

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