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24
Jessica
Ian continued to surprise Jessica at every turn. Who knew a rugged cowboy could enjoy reading romance novels? And one about a princess, no less. She read to him until the timer in the kitchen went off. That was about the same time Liz announced dinner was ready.
At some point Cal and Finn had returned home. They left the parlor and entered the kitchen to find all the Bakers milling around by the sink. They spoke in hushed tones, sending off all kinds of red flags.
Jessica spun to face Ian. “What did you find?” she whispered. She fought the instinct to be angry. Somehow he’d managed to avoid telling her. Somewhere under all her other thoughts, she’d figured it wasn’t a big deal. An animal had spooked Rusty and run off—they were fine. But with the way everyone was acting, that had to be wrong.
“I said I’d tell you later. It’s dinnertime. We don’t want to spoil that.” He moved to step around her, but she blocked him.
“Ian. Tell me.Now,” she hissed. A glance over her shoulder verified the rest of the Bakers were still engaged in their conversation. Jessica folded her arms.
His focus shifted above her shoulder toward the rest of his family.
“Ian, just rip off the Band-Aid. She’s gonna find out sooner or later,” Brock’s voice called out over the low hum of voices. The room went deathly quiet.
Jessica shifted her weight from one foot to the other. It was the men. In her gut, she knew it. There was no other reason for Ian to be holding back anything from her at this point.
Ian ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. “We saw footprints, that’s all.”
Her chest tightened. Even though she expected to hear this, it was still hard to stomach. “They found me,” her voice cracked.
He held up his hands. “We don’tknowthat.”
She huffed. “Of course we do. Who else would trespass on your property and not come to the door and say hello?” She paced in front of them. Distantly she registered that someone had pulled her pie from the oven. Her breathing came in quick spurts. Her heart felt heavy and tight all at once. Head pounding, she stopped for just a moment to rub her temples with her fingers. “I should leave. It’s not safe for anyone if I stay here.” She shot Ian a look. His face had paled. Tears threatened behind her eyes. “I’ll pack up my stuff and find somewhere else to go. Somewhere they won’t find me.” Jessica took off past Ian and ran down the hall.
“It’sjustfootprints, Jessica. It could beanyone,” Ian’s voice followed her.
She hurried up the stairs and toward her room. “You’re lying to yourself if you think that. If they found me, it’s only a matter of time before they do something about it.” Ian watched as she grabbed her duffle bag from the closet and threw a few shirts inside.
Ian placed a hand on her arm. “You can’t leave.”
“I’m not a prisoner. And if I stay, someone is going to get hurt. I won’t be the one responsible for that.” She pulled away from his touch. “Just let me get my stuff and I’ll get a ride.”
“No.”
“No?” She laughed. “You don’t have a say in this.”
“Jessica.” His voice sounded so broken. She hadn’t heard anything so disheartening before.
Jessica stopped what she was doing and met his gaze. The only way to describe his eyes was to compare Ian to a basset hound. His mouth drooped down, and his grip tightened on her forearm.
“Ian, I can’t stay here. You have to understand that.”
“We have a plan. My brothers—”
“Your brothers don’t have to risk their lives to keep me safe.”
“They’re okay with it,” he insisted.
Jessica released an exasperated breath. “That’s not the point.”
“Just give it a few days. Sean contacted the sheriff. The perimeter is going to be more secure. Someone will be with you every second if you want.”
“Teach me to shoot.”
“What? You don’t need to know how to do that.”
