He Bought an Empty Ranch… Then Found 4 Women and a Baby Living Inside

Chapter 2

The room went still.

Not one of the four women looked at him now. They looked toward the hallway, and the copper-haired girl was the first to break. She turned and hurried out of sight, and a moment later the crying softened, the way a child goes quiet when gathered up warm and held.

Jude stood where he was, fire heat on one side of him and cold understanding on the other.

“A child,” he said. It was not a question.

The oldest woman folded her hands over her apron. “Now you understand.”

“I understand that you brought an infant into an empty ranch in the middle of open country. I understand that you’ve been living in my house without a word to me. What I do not understand is what happens when the first snow comes. What happens when the food runs out. What happens when someone rides out here with bad intentions and finds four women alone.”

Her gray eyes held him without apology. “That has already happened in other places, Mr. Calloway. We are still here.”