McCullen's Secret Son (The Heroes Of Horseshoe Creek Book 2) by Rita Herron

wife so nobody in town would ask questions.
    But respectable to
whom
? He hadn’t told his father about her or Sam.
    “He was the fool for not wanting to be with you,” Brett murmured.
    Willow swallowed hard. “You left me, too, Brett.” She regretted the words the moment she said them.
    Brett’s eyes flickered with pain and truth of her statement.
    “It doesn’t matter now,” Willow said. “All that matters is getting Sam back.”
    Brett’s gaze latched with hers, and he started to say something, but she opened the door and hurried up the sidewalk. This was not the time for a personal discussion of the past.
    That would come. But first she had to bring Sam home.
    Brett caught up to her just as she punched the doorbell. He surveyed the property as if looking for signs of trouble. The door squeaked open, and a middle-aged woman in a nurse’s uniform appeared at the door. Behind her, Willow noticed a white-haired woman in a wheelchair.
    “Can I help you?” the woman asked.
    “My name is Willow James, and this is Brett McCullen.” Brett tipped his Stetson in greeting, and Willow forged ahead. “We’d like to talk to you, Miss...?”
    “Eleanor Patterson,” the woman said. “What’s this about?”
    Willow offered her a tentative smile. “I was married to a man named Leo Howard who lived in this house. How long have you lived here?”
    “Just a few months. We needed a one-story, so we found this place.”
    “Did you know Mr. Howard?” Brett asked.
    Eleanor angled her head toward Brett, her eyes narrowed, then lighting up in recognition. “You look familiar.”
    Brett’s handsome face slid into one of his charming smiles. “You might recognize me from the rodeo circuit, ma’am.”
    She snapped her fingers. “That’s where it was. My goodness, you’re more handsome in person than you are in the magazines.”
    Irritation nagged at Willow.
    “Thanks,” Brett said with a smile. “Ma’am, we don’t mean to bother you, but did you know Leo Howard?”
    “No, the house was vacant when the Realtor showed it to me.”
    “Did the previous tenant leave anything here when he left?” Willow asked. “Maybe some boxes or papers.”
    “I really don’t know.” Eleanor gestured toward the older woman in the chair. “Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for her medication.”
    “Please think hard,” Willow said. “I’m looking for some important documents that I think he put somewhere.”
    Eleanor looked back and forth between them, then sighed. “The house was basically empty, but now that I think about it, there were a few old boxes in the attic.”
    “Would you mind if we take a look?” Brett gave her another flirtatious smile, and she waved him toward the hallway where a door led to an attic. Willow followed him, uneasy at the way the woman in the wheelchair watched them, as if she thought they intended to rob her.
    Dust motes drifted downward and fluttered through the attic as they climbed the steps and looked across the dark interior. Three plain brown boxes were stacked against the far wall, a ratty blanket on top.
    They crossed the space to them, and Brett set the first box on the floor. Willow opened it and began to dig through it while Brett worked on the second box. Flannel shirts, jeans and a dusty pair of work boots were stuffed in the box Willow examined, along with an old pocket watch that no longer worked, and a box of cigars.
    Odd
. Leo hadn’t smoked.
    “There’s a couple of fake IDs in here,” Brett said. “A few letters, it looks like from Doris, but Leo never opened them.”
    Willow spotted another envelope in the box and removed it. Inside, she found several photographs. “Look at these.” She spread them out—a picture of Leo’s father, then Doris, then Gus Garcia and two other men. Were those Leo’s partners?
    He slid another box over between them and lifted the top. Inside lay a .38 caliber gun and some ammunition. Beside it, he found another driver’s license