28. Cara
Chapter twenty-eight
Cara
Waiting idly for Ellis to return was the hardest thing I’d ever done. Shivering from the cold and with a throbbing pain in my ankle, I pressed up against Jupiter’s warm body, grabbing his reins as tightly as I could in my stiff fingers.
Alone with nothing but the howling storm to distract me, the thoughts in my head were getting louder and louder.
One worst-case scenario chased the last, and the longer Ellis was away, the more sure I became that he had gotten lost, drowned in the pond, fallen to his death, or died half a dozen other possible deaths, and I would surely freeze to death without ever rescuing my son.
When I was about to break out in tears again from sheer desperation, I heard Ellis approaching, and soon afterward, I saw him coming out of the forest. His head and shoulders were covered with snow, his cheeks red from the icy wind, but he was smiling. Smiling!
“I found him!” he yelled, and when I heard those words, only my injured ankle kept me from sprinting to him to throw myself into his arms.
I had to wait impatiently for him to make his way back to me, and after hugging him tight and covering his face with kisses, he took Jupiter’s reins from me, wrapped an arm around my body, and helped me hobble to the place he’d found Riley.
It was a painful ordeal, and more than once, I nearly collapsed to the ground, but Ellis always caught me and pulled me back up. “We’re almost there,” he whispered in my ear, and his words did not fail to motivate me.
It felt like it took forever, but Ellis finally pointed at a hole in the cliffside. He helped me through it, and as soon as I entered the cave, the howling of the storm died. Before I could get my bearing in the darkness, I felt something hit my body, and I didn’t need to see to know it was my Riley.
I wrapped my arms around him, savoring the feeling of having him close, breathing in the familiar smell of his hair. Only when my eyes adjusted to the darkness surrounding us, I leaned away to take a look at him. He was a little worse for wear and was shivering and pale, but he was alive. He was safe.
We’d found him. Ellis had found him.
“Mom, you can let go of me now,” Riley said, sounding a little embarrassed. “I’m okay, really.”
Reluctantly, I eased my grip, but I didn’t let go completely. “Thank God you are. This could have ended so much worse. You could have died, Riley. What were you thinking?”
Ellis stepped beside me. “Come on, Cara. I don’t think it’s the right moment for a lecture.”
Riley looked at his feet. “No, she’s right,” he mumbled. “I’m smarter than this. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”
Ellis patted his shoulder. “You were pretty upset. Sometimes, we do things we normally wouldn’t do when we get upset or scared. Right, Cara?”
He gave me a long look.
Riley kicked a rock away, his eyes still fixed on the ground. “So, it’s true?” he mumbled. “Ellis really is my father?”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, he is.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I’m not angry anymore. I just want to know.”
Ellis and I exchanged a glance, and he gave me an encouraging smile. “Just tell him. You said it yourself. He’s old enough to understand.”
“I am old enough!” Riley said just before another bout of shivering shook his body. Even in the dark, I noticed his lips had a blueish tint.
“Okay, but let’s get comfortable first. Ellis, there’s a first aid kit with an emergency blanket in Jupiter’s saddlebag.”
Riley and I sat on the ground. I took him in my arms, both for warmth and for comfort, and Ellis wrapped the crinkling golden blanket around us before sitting down next to us.
With Riley on one side and Ellis on the other, I gathered my courage. That wasn’t the way I’d imagined the conversation, cowering on the cold, hard floor of a cave, huddled together for warmth, but it was time to come clean with Riley—no more delays, no more excuses. He deserved the truth.
“The most important thing first: your father and I were very in love when we met, and when I found out I was pregnant with you, I was very happy. Never think anything else, Riley, okay? You’ve been loved and wanted from the very start.”
I could see him swallow hard as he nodded along. “Then why are you and he no longer together?”
“When I found out about you, Ellis was studying in England, so I couldn’t tell him right away. His father—your grandfather—found out before him, and he was… not so happy.”
“Why not?”
I hesitated. That was the difficult part. How should I tell my twelve-year-old his grandfather thought he was a blemish on the family , without breaking his heart?
Ellis came to my rescue. “Because my father is a very narrow-minded man. When things don’t go the way he’s planned, he gets upset. He had different plans for me at that time than becoming a father.”
“He didn’t want me to tell Ellis about you, and he… he threatened to take you away from me if I did.”
Riley tensed instantly. “Take me away?” he asked, his voice laced with panic. “But he can’t do that, right?”
Ellis put his hand on Riley’s shoulder. “Not anymore. When I found out about you and what he had said and done to your mom, I made sure he could no longer hurt either of you. You’re safe.”
“But back then, I was very afraid. I didn’t want us to be separated, so I did what I was told. That’s why I didn’t tell Ellis about you. Or you about Ellis.”
“So no one else knows my dad owns Mystimons?” A grin flashed across Riley’s face.
“I don’t own Mystimons, Riley. I just work for the company that holds the license for the video games.”
“But your father owns the company, so you will own it later, right?”
“Maybe,” Ellis said. “To be honest, we’re not really on great terms. It’s very possible I will own nothing.”
“Oh. That sucks.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s worth it if I can be with you instead, be… your father. If you want me to.”
Ellis sounded calm, but I could see the insecurity in his eyes.
Riley shrugged. “It’s a bit weird since I hardly know you and all… but I guess we can get to know each other now.”
“Yes, we can if that is what you want.”
“Yeah, I want that. It would be really cool to have a proper dad, I think.”
I felt Ellis relax next to me. A moment of silence followed—not awkward silence but happy silence. Nothing was left to say. We were all back together, where we belonged.
Outside our cave, the storm was howling, but I felt warm inside. The two people I loved the most in the world were with me. Everything would be alright.
I don’t know how many hours passed, but the sun was already setting when the storm died down and the blizzard reduced to a soft snowfall, and we heard faint, faraway voices outside calling for us and dogs barking.
Ellis left Riley and me behind to meet them halfway, and a few minutes later, he returned with a very relieved Terry and a blond police officer in tow.
As soon as Ellis helped me hobble out of the cave, Terry pulled me into a bear hug. “Thank God,” he said, his voice raspy and shaky. “I had feared the worst when we found Marigold without her rider.”
I wiped away the tears that were building in my eyes again. “Without Ellis, I might’ve died out there. But how are you? Are you alright? Is Wyatt?”
“We’re both okay,” he assured me. “We stayed in the cabin until the worst was over. Although Wyatt argued with me the whole time. He wanted to head back out into the blizzard as soon as we realized Riley wasn’t there.”
“I’m glad you talked him out of it. God, I’m so sorry. I endangered all your lives when I rushed out to find Riley.”
Terry patted my back. “We all made the choice to come with you. And besides, a mother has to do what a mother has to do. No one blames you for anything.”
Because of my ankle, I couldn’t get back to civilization, and the knee-deep snow meant no car could get through to us. They had to airlift me out and fly me to Emerald Valley General Hospital.
Being the cause of such a big fuss was embarrassing, but everyone, from the police officers to the paramedics to Terry and Ellis, assured me it was fine and that they were all just glad I was alive.
Ellis and Riley returned to town with the police, but they met me at the hospital soon after.
I had to stay in the emergency room for several hours, but at least Riley was on the gurney next to me. Ellis was at our side the entire time, making sure we were comfortable and warm and had enough to eat and drink.
The doctors checked Riley first, but to our relief, he was fine.
“Just a few scrapes and bruises and some mild hypothermia,” the doctor told us. “He will be fine with a couple of band-aids and a cup of hot tea.”
I, on the other hand, did not get off that easily. The doctor held up an X-ray for me. “It’s broken,” he explained. “But the good news is it’s a simple fracture that does not require surgery. You will need a cast, though, for two weeks.”
The cast went all the way up to my knee and was heavy and uncomfortable, but all in all, I counted myself lucky. A broken ankle was a small price to pay for the safety of my son.
Annette and Terry offered to let me stay at Cedar Creek Ranch until I was fully mobile again, but all I wanted was to go home. Ellis assured them he would take good care of me, which was good enough for them.
For the next two weeks, Ellis visited us daily at the Sunset Apartments. He took care of the shopping, the washing, and the cleaning, and I was surprised that a man who grew up pampered by nannies and housekeepers even knew how to run a washing machine.
After he took care of me and the household chores, Ellis usually spent some time with Riley. Often, they just played video games on Riley’s new PocketQuest. Sometimes, Riley showed him his newest paintings or artwork, and sometimes they just talked—about horses or school or who knows what. I usually left them to their own devices. As much as I craved spending time with Ellis, now that I finally had him back, I knew it was even more important for Riley to have some alone time with his father.
When Ellis wasn’t with us, Riley took over most of the household, and he did a fine job and never complained. I was pretty sure he was trying to pay penance for running away and causing a full-blown rescue mission that kept the entirety of the Brightwater Police Department and a search and rescue team from Stenton busy for a day. I appreciated the gesture, but he wouldn’t get out of apologizing to Terry and Annette in person. It was their horse he stole, after all.
The fate of the ranch was still hanging over our heads. Ellis hadn’t talked to his father since the day he confronted him, but officially he was still working for Horizon Electronics. I hadn’t dared to ask Ellis if Terry had signed the contract yet, clinging to the hope that after everything that happened, Ellis surely wouldn’t go through with it. I tried to tell myself it was nothing personal, that it was just business, but deep down, I knew I would find it hard to forgive Ellis if he played such a vital part in destroying our beloved Cedar Creek Ranch.