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tell.”
    â€œThis is one of those times it’s okay to break a promise.”
    He remained mute, staring her straight in the eye with a combination of mute defiance and fear.
    â€œDon’t make the kid break his promise,” Ridge said. “We’ll find them. It’s not like there are a lot of places for them to go.”
    She ignored him. “Come on, Josh.”
    Ridge kicked a stone and watched it skitter over the cracks in the sidewalk. It was obvious that Josh lived by the code of the kid—which was a whole lot like the code of the cowboy but with less ambiguity. To kids, right and wrong were black and white. The world would be a better place if grown-ups had the moral fiber of nine-year-olds.
    â€œJosh, I need to know,” Sierra urged.
    â€œLeave him alone.” Ridge’s tone was sharper than he’d intended. “It won’t take us more than twenty minutes to find them.”
    Sierra stood, setting her hands on her hips and glaring up at him. “Do you know what can happen to a bunch of ten-year-old boys in twenty minutes?”
    â€œDo you know how it feels to break your promise to your buddies?”
    â€œI told you, these boys need to respect you,” she hissed. “And you need to set an example.”
    â€œBy encouraging them to break their promises?”
    He answered her fiery glare with a frown then looked down at Joshua, who had fortunately been distracted by a spider in the empty window of the brick garage next door. The kid watched it with exaggerated attention, as if the bug’s progress was far more important than the two adults fighting on the sidewalk right beside him. Ridge wondered how many times Josh had heard adults fight, how many times he’d pretended not to hear.
    Sierra seemed to remember Josh at the same instant, and when she turned back to Ridge, she’d changed her posture and softened her scowl. But her eyes met his in a cold challenge.
    â€œIf you’re going to work with these guys, you need to lead by example, and that means doing the right thing.”
    â€œAnd keeping your promises isn’t the right thing?”
    â€œUsually it is.”
    Taking her arm, he led her slightly away from Josh, who was still watching the spider.
    â€œDo you remember being a kid?” he hissed.
    â€œSure.”
    â€œDo you remember how random adults’ decisions were? They never seemed to have anything to do with right or wrong. It was all about convenience.” He was speaking low and fast so Josh wouldn’t hear, and Sierra stepped closer. His lips almost brushed the hair curling around her ear. “You’re right. Kids need to be able to respect you. And that means you have to follow the rules too. So don’t you think we ought to keep our promises?”
    She shot him a look that was half anger and half confusion. “Not—not right now,” she said.
    Ridge bent down so his lips almost brushed her cheek. She took a step back, probably thinking he was sniffing her again. But he just wanted to make sure—very sure—that she heard what he was about to say. Her, not Josh.
    â€œDo you know how many promises this kid’s seen broken in his life?” he asked. “All of them—the ones that mattered, anyway. Every single one.”
    â€œHow do you know?” she asked.
    â€œBecause otherwise he wouldn’t be here.”
    ***
    Sierra hated to admit it, but the cowboy had a point.
    Not that she was ready to admit she was wrong. But she could remember a few broken promises herself, and how much they’d hurt. A lot of broken promises, actually. When it came to her mother, it would be easier to enumerate the promises that had been kept.
    â€œWhile we’re standing here arguing, the boys are probably finding a dozen ways to hurt themselves. Why can’t you just help me find the kids?”
    Ridge didn’t answer; he just stood there with his jaw squared and his