Where Have All The Cowboys Gone formerly titled; Protecting the Cowboys Baby by Elle Marlow

Chapter One/ Part 2

Chapter One Protecting the Cowboy's Baby ~Courtland Dynasty Series

"What the hell are you doing here? Get out!"

Alana jumped at the shout, then spun to discover a stranger standing in the shadows. Her gasp twirled in her throat before it rushed painfully out her lungs. If it were not for the fact she'd heard that voice before, she would've turned and run. But when the dark figure stepped into the light, her heart squeezed as she struggled to recognize her ex-husband, Hayden Courtland.

"I-I'm sorry, the door was already open. I repeatedly called out your name. When you didn't answer, I started to worry that something might be wrong."

His soft laugh birthed goose bumps down her spine. "A whole year has gone by and now you've decided to worry about me?"

She braved a tiny step in his direction, accidentally hitting an empty bottle of beer with the toe of her boot. The bottle clinked as it rolled across the wooden floor, hitting the wall before it spun like a top.

"What's this? You never used to drink."

"Well, I do now. Leave."

Alana rubbed a chill from her arms. In all the scenarios that played out in her mind, this wasn't it. She started to do as he asked, but the lines in Hayden's face stopped her. Lines of worry, lines of a man living a hard life. None of which had been there before. He used to say how much he hated beards, but thick, dark stubbles now framed his jaw-line. She must have reacted without realizing it, because he tucked his chin toward his chest to end her scrutiny. When he looked up again, his blue eyes frosted over effectively blocking any hope of finding warmth. "You didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?"

Her body went numb. She wasn't sure how to explain why she was standing in his kitchen. "I have a reason, if you'll give me a minute."

"There's no good reason for you to walk back inside this house. None."

"I just wanted..."

Desperate for a life line, her gaze darted around the kitchen, to the dishes piled high to the ceiling, to the bottles cluttered on the floor. When her focus landed on a small stack of magazines scattered and left untouched on the dinner table, she froze. She'd forgotten she'd ordered those before she left. A child's face on the magazine's cover struggled to smile at her through layers of dust.

A child. A child that by now would've been three months old, filling this house with love instead of cold emptiness. It's my fault, all of this. All my fault...

Like the flipping of a switch, her adrenalin spiked. Heat burned the back of her neck while the room took a horrifying dip. The baby's image blended into the darkness as her heart pounded like a jack hammer against her ribs. It was starting again, another panic attack. She inhaled sharply but the air wouldn't pass through the restricting walls of her throat.

Please, dear Lord, don't let me do this...not now...not now...

"Hayden help," she whispered, her own voice evaporating.

Don't do this , focus Alana, try to focus.

She reached a hand out for the counter but missed. The floor dropped beneath her. Hopeless and overwhelmed, she squeezed her eyes closed.

"Alana! Her name echoed off the kitchen walls. She concentrated on the sound as she braced herself for the impact of hitting the floor. Instead, large arms... arms her body recognized immediately, encircled her and lifted her. Hayden's arms held her until she could steady herself. The warmth of his embrace erased the terror, and within moments, the shattered pieces of her mind fell back in place. A brief sense of fatigue traveled over her, but the overwhelming fear subsided. He stiffened when she leaned against him, the brief contact comforting even if it he hadn't meant it to be.