Read Online Texan's Baby by Barb Han - Free Book Online

down her neck.
    Was that a threat? She decided to let it slide. They were both stressed and that had their nerves on edge. Dawson wouldn’t stay mad at her for long. And she had his best interest at heart. He’d see that eventually.
    In the meantime, this was going to be one long car trip. One hour down, four to go. Oh joy!
    Mason had nodded off in the backseat, which meant that Ms. Waverly, the babysitter, was going to have an interesting time watching him tonight. Or, more likely, Melanie was going to have a tough time tomorrow considering he didn’t do so well when his schedule was off track. Toddlers craved routine.
    But then, what if Sprigs figured out where she lived? Would he come for her? Mason could get hurt in the cross fire. Anxiety engulfed her like a wildfire.
    â€œI’ve done everything I can to keep my information private, but what if he finds me in Houston?” She couldn’t keep panic from her voice.
    â€œHe won’t. And if he does, I’ll be there to stop him.”
    â€œYou can’t stay at my place forever. You have work to get back to. Your life is in Mason Ridge.”
    â€œLet me worry about that,” he said. “Besides, every law enforcement agency is looking for him right now. You’re on high alert and he’s been getting away with his crimes for a long time because he’s not stupid.”
    â€œHe could hurt Mason to get back at me.” Her voice sounded small even to her. “Maybe I should call my parents and ask them to pick him up. He could go on the road with them for a little while.”
    The idea of being separated from her son even for a short period knifed her heart, but she clamped down the pain. There was no way she’d risk her son’s safety just so she could see him every day.
    â€œLet’s look at this logically. You could call your folks and have them take him on the road. If Sprigs is determined to get to you, then he could track them down. They’re older, unsuspecting—”
    â€œI’d tell them what was going on, Dawson.”
    â€œFine. Even if they know what they’re getting into, that doesn’t mean they can keep him safer than we can, than I can. I don’t like the idea of being apart. Not when our son could be used against you.”
    â€œYou have a good argument,” she conceded. She’d be relieved if not for the fear settling over her. No matter how much this felt like a bad dream, this was real and it might not be going away any time soon.
    â€œNo one’s taking our son.” Dawson’s words, the determination in them, brought a wave of comfort over her fried nerves.
    â€œYou’re right,” she said. “I’m not going back to Mason Ridge and neither is Mason.”
    â€œFor now, I’ll agree to those terms. I’ll tell my family about my son as soon as we get better acquainted and then they’ll want to be part of his life, too.”
    It shouldn’t wrench Melanie’s stomach that Mason would have so many more people in his life to love him. She couldn’t think of that without the selfish thought that meant she’d get so much less of him. No matter how she looked at it, there was no way she could or would deny his father or grandparents visitation.
    However, the conversation with his mother might not go as smoothly as Dawson assumed. He didn’t have any idea what the woman had said to a newly pregnant Melanie that made her hightail it out of town.
    Heck, Melanie had been so naive that for half of her pregnancy she’d expected Dawson to show up, thinking that surely his mother would’ve shared the news at some point. She hadn’t, so Melanie had kept up her end of the bargain. The way she’d read his mother’s threat was that she got to keep her son if she disappeared.
    Over time, Melanie had let go of the fear his mother would follow through. The woman had only wanted Melanie to disappear.
    Dawson