Rescued by a Ranger

“I don’t really like to talk about it,” she added. She glanced pointedly at the cheap digital watch that was light-years away from the diamond-studded Cartier Christopher had given her when they’d learned she was pregnant the first time. “Not to be rude, but I need to run Belle’s bath soon.”

“Right. One quick favor to ask, then I’ll go. Would you let Eden babysit for your daughter sometime? If you and Tess ever wanted to go see a movie, for example. I would owe you big-time.”

“You would?” Alex blinked, not sure how hiring his daughter to babysit was a favor to him. “Is Eden trying to save up for a car or something?” She knew parents of teens often encouraged their kids to seek employment, but Zane’s going door to door on his daughter’s behalf seemed a touch overzealous.

“This isn’t about money,” he said. “It’s about responsibility. My ex asked if Eden could come live with me because she’d fallen in with a bad crowd in California, developed some dangerous habits. She was becoming argumentative, disrespectful, sneaky.”

“You realize you’re not painting a picture of someone I want to entrust with my only child?” she asked wryly.

“She’s still a good kid deep down,” he maintained, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself as much as Alex. “I catch glimpses of it, like last night. Watching her with Belle was encouraging. She was the Eden I remember, the young woman I believe she can be. There are a lot of rehabilitative programs that focus on giving offenders more responsibility as a way to improve self-worth and behavior.”

Damn it. Alex understood too well the need to do what was best for one’s child; she empathized with his goal. And after turning down his dinner invitation, saying yes to this seemed like the least she could do. Further entangling her and Belle’s life with Zane and his daughter’s, however, was too big a gamble to take.

She was slow to answer, trying to frame her refusal gently. “I appreciate your being so candid with me.” Didn’t she owe him some honesty in return? If she’d stepped on the broken glass, it wouldn’t have stung more than her conscience did now. “The truth is, I’ve always been a little overprotective of my daughter, even before my husband’s death. Belle wasn’t my first pregnancy. Before her, I...lost two. Then I went into labor with her prematurely. I was terrified. She’s my miracle, and I can’t let anything happen to her. The idea of letting a teenager I don’t know well, one with a history of irresponsibility—”

“I understand,” Zane interrupted. “And I won’t take up any more of your time.”

He looked so dejected that it was on the tip of her tongue to offer a compromise, such as suggesting they discuss this again after she was better acquainted with Eden. But Alex couldn’t afford to get any better acquainted with the Winchesters! It was temptingly easy to talk to Zane. In one short conversation, she’d mentioned being a foster child and her miscarriages, both of which were private matters she rarely discussed.

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