She hiccupped. “Yeah. Stupid huh?”

He swallowed the knot in his throat. “Naw…liberating. I’d cry but people might think I’m g*y. Gotta go get pissing drunk and beat on someone. Wanna fly my brother up here to help a guy out?”

Her laughter caused the knot to untie and he leaned against his seat. Then she sobbed again. “OK, you have to stop the waterworks. The piece of paper is going to be ripped up. That’s it. I still love ya. And I’ll always have your back. Us Gardners are loyal that way.” Zach will be, too.

Karen sucked in a deep breath he heard all the way in Canada. “So how is the producer? Asshat or hottie?”

“That’s my girl.” He ignored the moisture in his eyes and kept talking…kept laughing. “He’s hot, but a complete asshat.”

She laughed, and Michael felt it deep inside his heart.

“Isn’t your leading lady Angie McMillian?”

“Yeah. Anorexic and just this side of a bitch.”

“Really? She always seemed so sweet on TV.”

They talked as they always had for a little while, and Michael knew they were going to be fine.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Zach drove Nolan down to St. George, and followed his GPS to the hotel where Karen said she and Becky were staying. The last time he’d been in St. George had been with Tracey to visit her family. Nolan had been a beaming ray of sunshine ever since the picture of his kid ended up on Zach’s cell phone. He went from a nervous, unsure kid to a proud daddy before Zach’s eyes. The transition was so unexpected he couldn’t help but stare. He actually felt sorry for Becky’s parents if Nolan ever had a moment alone with them…or if they tried to stand in their way of being together.

Zach found himself admiring the young man as he pulled off the freeway an hour later and zigzagged through the crowded streets of the larger Utah city.

“I could have driven myself,” Nolan said as they pulled into the hotel parking lot.

“Your car will lead the authorities to Becky.”

“I don’t think anyone is looking for us here.”

Zach pulled into a parking space. “Let’s not take any chances right now. You have the weekend off, and Karen and I will figure something out over the next few days.”

They walked to the outside balcony of the hotel room.

Nolan knocked on Becky’s door. She opened it only after Nolan whispered that it was him. The teenager slipped into the room and Zach moved on to Karen’s door.

She looked as if she’d just stepped from the shower, something he and Nolan had taken care of back at his house before he shoved an overnight bag in his truck in case he ended up stuck in the city. Then they hit the road to St. George.

“Hey?”

Karen opened the door wider and he stepped inside.

Her skin smelled like flowers, and her hair was a cloud around the edges of her face. She was so damn beautiful. He shoved his hands in his pockets, even though he wanted to touch her.

“Hey.”

“I dropped Nolan off with Becky. He wanted to stay here with her.”

Karen smiled and the room lost oxygen. “They probably want to stare at the ultrasound picture all night.”

Zach grinned. “Yeah. That was something.”

“Makes it real. It’s not just a blue line on a pregnancy test anymore.”

He couldn’t imagine everything Nolan was going through. One thing he did know, the kid was in for the long haul.

Zach nodded toward the door. “Wanna go grab a bite to eat? Bring them back some takeout?”

“That would be great.”

They told the kids they were leaving, and Zach led Karen to his truck and opened the door for her to get in.

They found a quiet Italian restaurant and Karen insisted on ordering a bottle of wine. The wine was surprisingly good but the company was what kept him smiling.

“I talked to Gwen. She had a suggestion that I think we should consider.”

“What’s that?”

Karen was ripping through a bread stick and washing it down with the cabernet.

“Talking to Becky’s parents. Let them know we’re aware of their abuse. Tell them that Becky will go to the authorities if they don’t let her walk away.”

“Isn’t that an empty threat at this point? Becky didn’t seem interested in pressing charges.”

“I think if she felt threatened, that would change.”

“To protect the baby?”

“Or Nolan. She’s scared, but with each passing day, she’s getting stronger. They’re going to be OK. We’ll get them over this hurdle.”

“You’re an incredible woman, Karen.”

She sipped her wine and shook her head. “No. Just a sucker.”

Their food came and she dug in with an appetite that rivaled his.

“I think Nolan is being watched. The police drove by the site three times that I saw.”

Karen paused midbite. “Did they follow you here?”

“No. And Nolan’s car is still in the garage. The sheriff goes to church with Becky’s parents. Knows them really well according to Nolan.”

“That can complicate things. She can always petition the court to emancipate her, but she has to prove she can care for herself and prove to the court that her parents aren’t fit.”

“To do that she’d have to reveal their abuse.”

Karen sat lost in her own thoughts for a minute. He reached out and touched her hand.

“That’s hard to do. So many people don’t believe the victims.” She shook her head. “We’ll figure it out. I suppose it’s time for me to investigate all the legalities of helping out runaways.”

“You keep saying that. What exactly do you envision when you think of helping out kids like Becky and Nolan?”

Karen sat back and the shadows of her past drifted from her face when she spoke.

“I always saw a big house…you know, one of those colonial, or maybe even Victorian jobs with lots of bedrooms. Like those used in bed-and-breakfasts?”

“Yeah.”

“It would have to be remodeled for extra bathrooms of course…and probably a larger kitchen than those old houses normally have. But I want something that feels like a home. I’d have it on some kind of registry for runaway safe houses. There would be rules of course. No drugs, no violence…that kind of thing. No bullying. And the kids would have to work part-time, be in some kind of continuation school, or be studying for the GED. If they’re really young, and this is the part where I’d need legal guidance, they’d be registered in school.”