Finding Home (30 page)

Sarah held tight to Colt’s hand while
they listened to the doctor’s instructions regarding her stitches.  She
listened to all the do’s and don’t’s he listed but she had a hard time paying
attention to anything else he said.  She was ready to get out of there and
she wanted nothing more than time alone with Colt.  Between his time in
L.A. and her kidnapping, it had been too long since she’d been in his arms and
she was nearing the point where she didn’t care if there were all these people
around them; she wanted his arms around her, she wanted his kisses and she
wanted them now. 

When she was finally released and
they were in the Bainbridges SUV on their way to the ranch, she finally got
what she wanted: Colt held her in his lap, his arms tight around her.  She
hugged her arms over his and closed her eyes, her head resting against his
chest, her ear over his heart, taking comfort from it’s strong, steady
beat.  Coop had also been released so he and Claire were riding along with
them as well.  Sarah was relaxed since Colt was there with her but she
couldn’t help being just a little apprehensive about going to the Bainbridges. 
She wasn’t quite so sure she wanted to see what she had been deprived of all these
years.  It was hard enough just seeing the people she’d missed out on.

“You awake?” Colt asked softly, his
lips against her brow.

“Mm hm,” she answered.

“You OK with going to the ranch?”

“No,” she replied honestly, “but I’ll
be all right.”

He brushed his hand through her hair,
sliding his hand down her jaw and tipping her face up to his.  For several
long moments, neither spoke.  Colt brushed his thumb over her lower lip,
giving a low groan when her tongue slowly licked over it and drew it into her
mouth.  Unable to resist and uncaring of their audience, he leaned down
and claimed her lips, his tongue dipping in to snatch a quick taste of her
before pulling back.  He stopped himself from saying the words out loud,
but he loved her so much it was almost a physical ache. 

“They were good to you the last few
days, right?” he asked, his brow pressed to hers.

“Yes.  Wayne was very kind to
me.  They just wanted the money; they weren’t interested in hurting me.”

He nodded.  “That’s good. 
I don’t think I could handle if they had touched you, or hurt you.”

She placed her hand on his cheek,
loving the feel of his stubble on her palm; so much so that she slowly rubbed
her palm over his face from his cheek to his chin.  If felt so incredibly
masculine, she loved it.

“I like this,” she told him, gently
tugging on a few of the hairs along his jaw.

“Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah.  I can’t wait to feel
it on my neck…on my breast…my stomach…my thighs,” she whispered.

“Damn, baby,” he groaned and she
could feel him growing hard against her thigh.

“I missed you, Colt,” she told him,
kissing him.

“I missed you, too.”

“Sarah?” Tag called from the
front.  “This is it.  This is Valley Ridge Ranch.  Not much to
see at night but you’ll be able to see the house when we get close.”

“Awesome,” she said, trying to seem
excited for his sake.  For herself, she was uneasy about going.

“Relax, babe,” Colt whispered,
pressing a kiss to her temple.

She nodded and then gasped when they
rounded a bend and the massive house came into view.  It was a bit
reminiscent of Colt’s mountain log cabin house, but easily five times
bigger.  It was fully illuminated with accent lighting and warm light
spilling from the massive floor to ceiling windows.  Landscape lighting
showed off an elaborate fountain that flowed down over several river rocks and
boulders to a stream that wound around the property almost like a moat.

“Holy cow!  This is your house?”
she asked Tag.

“Well, it’s Mom and Dad’s,” he said,
pulling into the circular drive in front.

“That is gorgeous,” Claire said from
beside them.

Sarah just nodded.  And she
thought Colt’s house was big!  His house could fit inside this one several
times over.  No wonder they had been a target for kidnap and ransom!

When they got out of the truck, Colt
laced his fingers with hers and raised their joined hands to his lips, winking
at her over them as he kissed the back of her hand.

“It’s just a house, babe.  Four
walls and a roof.”

She laughed.  “I’d say that’s
definitely more than four walls!”

Charlotte and Buck came up to them as
they stood at the base of the entryway stairs looking up at the house. 
There were tears in Charlotte’s eyes as she came to Sarah and Sarah squeezed
Colt’s hand hard.  She knew the significance of this moment: Buck and
Charlotte were finally bringing their baby home.  No matter her
apprehension, Sarah knew she couldn’t deny them this moment.

“We never thought this day would
come,” Charlotte said, taking Sarah’s free hand into her own.  “I can’t
tell you what it means to us, to have you here where you’ve always
belonged.”  She shifted her gaze from Sarah to Colt, reaching out to lay a
hand on his shoulder.  “Thank you, so much, for looking into Sarah’s past
and finally bringing her home to us.  There aren’t enough words to tell
you how much that means to us.”

“It’s been my pleasure, ma’am,” Colt
answered.

“Would you allow me?” Buck asked,
nodding to the hand that Colt held in his.

Colt gave Sarah’s hand a squeeze then
placed it in Buck’s.  Claire came to her brother and wrapped her arm
around his waist and together they watched the Bainbridges escort their long
lost daughter up the steps and into their home for the first time in nearly
twenty-seven years.  It was a poignant, bittersweet scene and everyone
decided to wait a bit outside to give the family a few moments of privacy.

“That gave me chills,” Claire said,
wiping tears from her eyes.

Colt cleared his throat. “Yeah, that
was something.”

Tag clapped him on the shoulder and
nodded toward the house.  “Come on, everyone, let’s get you all settled
in.”

Colt looked to his side to see Coop
coming to claim Claire, his arm in a sling.  Behind him, Mike, Riley, Gib
and Whit started up to the house.  He took a deep breath, feeling better
that his team was with him since there was still one more kidnapper on the
loose. 

“Colt?” Vivian asked, breaking his
thoughts.  “Are you coming?”

“Yeah, sure, lead the way,” he said,
following her and Tag up the stairs and inside.

Sarah stood inside between her
parents.  He saw relief flood her features when he stepped inside. 
She held out her hand to him and he stepped to her, closing his hand over her
smaller one.

“This house is amazing,” Sarah said,
her eyes wide as she looked around the entry way.

Buck stepped forward, his arm still
around Sarah’s shoulders.

“First, I want to thank each and
every one of you for what you did to bring Sarah home.  Words can’t
express our gratitude and we want you to know you are welcome to stay as long
as you’d like.”

“Tag and Vivian will show you all to
your rooms,” Charlotte announced.  “Make yourselves at home.  If you
need anything, dial star seven on your phone.  Food, towels, blankets,
whatever.  Star seven.”  She turned then to Sarah and Colt, eyes bright
with unshed tears.  “Would you two come with us?” she asked them.

Colt nodded and Sarah stepped from
Buck’s arm to Colt’s side.  He kissed the side of her head as they
followed her parents up the stairs.  Sarah looked up at him and the look
on her face caused his heart to swell.  She was looking at him as if he
were the epitome of everything she ever wanted.  He took a deep
breath.  With her looking at him like that, she made him feel like he
could do anything.

“I can’t wait to get you in bed,” he
whispered to her as they walked.

She looked up at him, smiling so
bright he felt he’d never be cold again as long as she was near.  They
followed Buck and Charlotte down a long hall and stopped when they did outside
a closed door.  Charlotte put her hand on the door briefly then turned to
face them.

“I haven’t opened the door to this
room in a long, long time.  The staff comes in and dusts but that’s
all.”  She nodded to Buck, who opened the door.  Charlotte led them
inside; Sarah froze when they walked in.  It was a nursery, beautifully
decorated in pale pink.  “You were such a good baby,” she said, showing
her a picture of her holding a baby snuggled close to her, sitting in the
rocking chair there in the corner of the room.  “You were proving to be
the easiest of the three of you.  Tag was laid back but he didn’t like
loud places.  Vivian had reflux.  You were just a quiet, sweet little
angel.  Nothing seemed to bother you.  You liked to be held and you
loved to snuggle.  You loved to laugh at Tag and he was absolutely devoted
to you.  He was usually the first one in here to check on you in the
morning, which is why he was the one to find you missing that morning.”

Sarah stepped away from Colt and
walked slowly around the room, looking at all the pictures and
decorations.  Being in this room, seeing the pictures, she could clearly
feel their pain at losing her.  It was weird to know that the room had
barely been touched in nearly twenty-seven years, but she certainly understood
it.

“Will you keep this room like this
now?” she asked, looking over at Charlotte.

Charlotte smiled, wiping a tear from
her cheek.  “You know, I don’t know.  I suppose there’s no reason to
now.”

Sarah brushed her hand over a white
teddy bear that was propped in the corner of the crib.  It was a beautiful
room.  She could easily picture a baby lying in the crib, gazing up at the
mobile hanging over it.

“Then again, we haven’t needed this
room in almost twenty-seven years,” Buck said.  “I’d kind of like to keep
it as it is now, just to remind us, you know?”

“We could do that, too,” Charlotte
said.  “Come on, I’ll show you to your rooms.”

“Rooms?” Colt questioned.

“You don’t think I’m putting you
together, do you?” Charlotte challenged him.

“I think it would be pointless,
because I’m not letting her out of my sight.”

“She will be perfectly fine.”

“Charlotte,” Buck cautioned her.

She glanced from her husband to
Colt’s determined face, then sighed.  “Oh, all right.  But don’t
think I’m happy about it.”

“Understood,” Colt said, “and I don’t
mean to be disrespectful toward you, but after recent events, I’m not taking
any chances.”

Charlotte nodded, then shifted her
gaze to Sarah.  “Is that all right with you?”

“I wouldn’t be able to sleep without
him near me,” she admitted.

“Right this way, then.”

She led them down the hall and around
the corner to a room that faced the back of the house.  She embraced Sarah
and held her tight for a few moments then to their surprise, turned to Colt and
embraced him, too.

“I knew you wouldn’t go for separate
rooms, but I’m her mother, I had to try,” she whispered to him.

Colt smiled and kissed her
cheek.  “No worries.  Good night, ma’am.”

“Charlotte,” she corrected.  “If
you’ll give me just a few moments, I’ll bring you one of my gowns to change
into, Sarah.”

Buck said his good nights and then
for the first time in days, Sarah and Colt were finally alone again.  They
stood silent for a few moments, just staring at each other, knowing that
Charlotte would be knocking on the door again in a few moments so they chose to
keep their distance from each other until she came back. It seemed to take
forever but when the knock came, Colt quickly crossed over to answer it. 

“I brought a gown and a robe for you
and a change of clothes for the morning until we can have some things picked up
for you.  There are toiletries in the bathroom, as well as a hairdryer and
curling iron should you want it.”

“Thank you,” Sarah replied, taking
the clothing from her.

“You’re very welcome.  Good
night.”

Once she was gone, Sarah headed
toward the en suite bathroom.

“I’m going to get a shower,” she told
Colt, “I haven’t been able to for days, I feel all grungy.”

“You can’t get your stitches wet,
babe.  Take a bath.  I can come wash your hair for you to keep you
from getting them wet.”

“OK, thanks, that’d be great.”

“I’ll give you a few minutes and then
I’ll be in, OK?”

She nodded.  “Sounds good.”

He waited until he heard the water to
the tub starting, then left the room and went in search of Mike.  He ended
up having to text him and ask him to meet him on the landing since the house
was so large.

“Anything new?” he asked.

“Wayne Robinson isn’t talking. 
The Feds are going over lists of his known associates but so far all they’ve
come up with are the two who were killed tonight.”