Deacon got to his feet. “I am not like some men. I thought we had a good connection, but apparently not if you couldn’t tell me about her.” He raked his hand through his hair, then sat down again. “Ava, I am going to be a part of her life but living five hours apart is going to be hard no matter which one of us travels. Five hours might not seem like much, but it is if you do it enough.” He stood again and paced. “I’ve thought of hardly anything else since finding out about her and that’s notgood. I have a case to work on and this is all a distraction.”
“So, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying you and Ellie should move to Clifton.” He stared at her.
Ava widened her eyes. “No. We can’t just up and move.”
“Why the hell not?”
“My family is here—”
“And mine is there! How is it fair that Ellie doesn’t know her other two uncles and grandfather?”
“We can visit.”
“That’s not going to work and you know it. Are you willing to make that trip every weekend?”
“No because you will do it too.”
“There will be times I can’t, especially if I’m on a case, and on weekends, I have work to do around my place.”
“I have a job too, Deacon.”
“One you can do from anywhere. You don’t have to be here at the ranch. You do bookkeeping, sales, and payroll. All done on a program in your computer.”
“My father told you that, didn’t he? That still doesn’t make the move easy for me.”
“Alright. I’ll say this one time. You either move to Clifton or we go to court and I’ll seek joint custody. You kept her from me for well over two years, Ava. How do you think a judge will feel about that when he knows I want my daughter?”
“Are you threatening me?” She slowly got to her feet.
“No, sweetheart, that’s not a threat. That is a promise. You think about it.”
“Just where would we live?”
“You can move in with me. I have two spare bedrooms, or we’ll find you an apartment. Either works for me, then once you’re settled, you and I can get to know each other more than just in bed. Ava, I’m telling you, if you don’t do this, we will go to court and let them figure it out.”
“You think this is easy for me? I feel horrible knowing how I’ve hurt you, but to move…” She shook her head. “And, you just said you could work on weekends at your job and have things to do around your place. If I move there, what are we supposed to do while you’re doing that?”
“Anything you want. First off, working on weekends rarely happens unless we’re short-handed, and working around my place is done first thing in the morning, but I am not going to feel like traveling after I do that, especially for a five hour drive. I deserve to know my child,” he snapped.
Deacon walked toward the door with his hat in his hand. He opened the door, put his hat on, then looked at her.
“Think about it. You really only have those two choices. I’ll be around for a few days, and I will see my daughter.” He stepped onto the porch and pulled the door closed behind him as Ava sunk onto the sofa.
Chapter Five
Late afternoon sunlight slanted across the blacktop driveway as Deke eased his truck to a stop in front of the house. He killed the engine. Deke straightened his badge on his belt, while Rawley and Killian got out behind him, each squinting down the long yard to the three barns, then he led the way to the front door
“Damn, what a place,” Killian murmured.
Deke pressed the doorbell and waited. The heavy door swung open a crack, revealing the same woman he’d seen before. Her hair was pinned back haphazardly, and worry creased her forehead.
“Agent Anderson,” she said breathlessly. “What can I do for you?”
Deke offered a polite nod. “I need to see Mr. Winchester. I have a search warrant for the premises.”
“A search warrant?” The color drained from her face.
