my truck, her eyes moving to me as her lips stopped moving. I eased off the gas and drove by the gallery, our eyes locked. Fear crossed her face as she turned pale. My heart lurched. Why was she so afraid?
***
I barely slept that night as the little eyes continued to play with my heart. He was the right age; it had been almost three years since the wedding. The only reason I knew that was because I’d be running Jackson's ranch in a few months when he and Hailey went on an anniversary cruise. It wasn’t even five in the morning when I decided to stop obsessing and start on the day's chores.
The men were happy to have me working alongside them. They were even more thrilled when I left around ten and told them to take the rest of the day off except for feeding. We all needed a break after a hard drive west earlier in the week. My family had their Sunday dinner planned for Thompsons hold. The private roads would take me there in a matter of hours, yet I found myself heading back through town. I had to get answers.
Pulling up to the gallery, my heart felt like it would beat right out of my chest. I pushed open the door, grateful I seemed to be the only customer for the moment. They’d only just opened for the morning. A young woman peeked around the corner and smiled at me. I was a little disheartened that it was Stacy. Behind her, though, a noise came that warmed my heart—the sound of a happy child.
“Hi there, can I help you?”
“I was actually wondering if Stacy was around?” I said.
She looked me up and down. “She’s out doing a landscape for a client. Were you interested in having some work commissioned?”
The little boy laughed and came tumbling around the corner behind her. His smiling face beamed up at me as he relished in the freedom of having his apparent caretaker distracted. I couldn’t help but laugh as he hid behind various circular structures. For the first time, I realized how well the gallery had been designed. Every piece was well out of his reach or that of any child. The freestanding display cases were artfully bolted to the ground without a single sharp edge.
It gave the impression that it was strictly for artistic inspiration, but I saw the genius behind the designs. The little boy could move around freely under his mother or the woman’s care without worrying about him or the art getting damaged. My fingers ached to chase the boy around and play all the games he seemed to be enjoying. He looked healthy and equally as important, truly happy.
“Sir?” She asked. “Did you want to maybe leave a message or something?”
“Sure,” I said. “Could you let Stacy know that Walker Wheeler stopped in?”
The woman’s face paled, piquing my interest. “Has she mentioned me?”
She quickly shook her head. “No, I just know she is doing a piece for another Wheeler. That’s where she’s at today. Listen, I’ll tell her you stopped by.”
I nodded but said nothing as I headed back out the door. The boy had hidden back behind the gallery again in what I could only assume was an office. There wasn’t a single bone in my body that believed what the woman had said. Stacy was working on a piece for Jackson and Hailey, alright, but that wasn’t what made her pale.
My name had brought something to the surface. It seemed to confirm my suspicion. Not only was the boy mine, but Stacy knew it and had kept him hidden from me. As I peeled away from the gallery, my hands tightened on the wheel. It wasn’t long before I’d jumped back onto Lakeview property and taken the dirt road at a speed too dangerous for the main drag.
If I was going to make it to Jackson’s property before Stacy left, I needed to make up time. Next to me, my phone rang, and I quickly answered it.
“You know when one of my men call me saying my brothers driving like a maniac, your name isn’t the one that pops up,” Jackson said.
“Bite me, what you’ve got spotters now?”
“Naw, back forty is getting new fencing. I sent you a text about it this morning, but you’d have to actually read it to know that. You okay?”
“Course I am, can’t a man drive a little without getting the third degree?”
“Sure can, that just