Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
“Brody, the cows are over here.”
At Layne’s comment, he turned Chaos around to face the ranch foreman. “Yeah, but they’re fine.”
The man, older by almost ten years, rode up next to him. “What’s got you so focused to the northeast? Did you see activity out there we should know about?”
No. That was the problem. He’d seen no activity on Hannah’s land for the last two weeks, nor had he heard from her. He’d forced himself not to contact her, but that hadn’t stopped him from checking on her from the ranch, not that he could do it all day, but despite riding the fence that bordered her property, he hadn’t seen her. The more concerning part was her Jeep was parked in the same spot, or at least that’s what it looked like.
“Brody?” Layne waved his hand in front of him.
“What? I was just looking at the scenery.”
Layne’s eyebrow rose. “The scenery. You mean the scenery you’ve been looking at your entire life?”
Okay, so maybe that hadn’t been the best answer. He shrugged. “I was just wondering if I was going to miss it when I land my first position as a wildlife manager.”
This time Layne’s eyes widened. “I thought you had to complete the training at the academy first.”
“I do. But that won’t take long, and then they might need me in Pinetop or Page or?—”
“Or Bisbee, Ruby, or Nogales. Once you’re accepted, they could need you anywhere.”
He’d always assumed he’d be located north. Layne brought up a good point—that he could as easily be accepted for a position in a southern territory. “It doesn’t matter where. I’ll be happier than Cami with a new bone.”
“That’s all well and good, but I need to get that hurt cow and her calf into the trailer. Think you could focus on the here and now long enough to keep the other cattle from getting in my way?”
“I can do that standing on Chaos on one leg with him walking backward.”
Layne’s bushy black mustache twitched. “I don’t need any trick riding. Just keep the cattle away.”
“You’ve got it.” He walked Chaos forward to stand guard.
As Layne circled the pair he needed, two heifers got curious. Brody tapped his heels and rode Chaos between the pair and Layne. They both gave him sorrowful looks as if all they wanted was a little gossip, but they turned back toward the rest of the herd. When the trailer back slammed into place, he turned around to find Layne dismounting.
Brody rode over. “When’s the vet coming out?”
He looked up from tying his horse to the fence. “This afternoon. I’m going to lock these two in one of the birthing pens. Now that we have a partial roof on, thanks to you, they’ll be in the shade and I’ll distract mama with some extra food. You’ll bring my horse back to the barn?”
“Sure. Then I’m going to ride out and check on our new neighbor.”
“Check on her? You make it sound like she’s a heifer that’s lost.”
He smirked. “In a way she is. She’s a city girl. She doesn’t know jack about living out here. I’m sure she’ll be moving back to Phoenix in no time.”
Layne shook his head. “I feel sorry for her. Once you get something into your mind, you find a way to make it happen. Have you considered that she might enjoy staying here?”
“Staying where? On her property? What would she do with it? She’s one lone woman.”
Layne lifted one hand up. “That may be true now, but she might meet some cowboy and decide to marry and build her own ranching empire. Just sayin’.”
He didn’t like that idea on many levels. “Well, just say it somewhere else. I don’t need anyone giving her ideas.”
Layne shook his head before turning to the truck.
Brody rode to the gate and opened it, closing it after moving Layne’s horse and his own outside. Hannah only had eleven hundred acres. It wasn’t enough to support a large herd of cattle. But what if she decided she wanted a pig farm, or to bring in irrigation and grow cotton, or—he froze. What if she decided to build a paintball course? That would bring a bunch of people into their valley.
He mounted and clicked his tongue for Layne’s horse to follow. There were a number of men in town that he’d gone to school with who would love to get their hands on their own property, and Hannah was the perfect way. They might even try to manipulate her.
As he rode back to the barn, he imagined every worst-case scenario. He had to talk to her right away. Once he had the two horses settled in their stalls, he rolled the ATV out of the barn. He never should have left her alone. There were too many smooth-talking cowboys who might take advantage of her. He’d been honest from the start, but what if that backfired?
A bark from in the house gave him an idea. Walking back into the barn, he pulled out the wagon he’d built for Cami. It was big enough for a grown man, though no grown man would be caught riding behind an ATV. He hooked the wagon to the tow-hitch before opening the door of the house.
Cami bounded out, turning around to jump on him.
“You want to go for a ride to see Hannah?”
Cami barked as if answering.
He rubbed the dog’s ear, then led her to the wagon. He opened one side and she jumped in without even being told. “Good girl.” After securing the door again, he straddled the machine and started it.
Instead of driving down the rocky driveway, he cut across the desert. At least the Harpers’ casita was directly north of his own home, making it easier to be neighborly. As he bounced across the desert, he tried to decide on an excuse for his visit. If he’d been smart, he would have tried making the Tres Leches cake again. He could always invite her over to try it on Saturday. He’d have time to make it by then.
Pleased with his reasoning, he pulled in front of the casita and turned off the machine. Getting off, he looked at Cami. “Stay.” He didn’t want Hannah to be scared, but if she interacted with his dog more, she might get over her fear.
He walked to the Jeep. Though he’d thought it hadn’t moved, there were a number of tire tracks that showed she’d pulled in multiple times, which made him feel better. Walking up to the door, he knocked. “Howdy, Hannah. It’s me, Brody.”
He waited a minute or two before putting is ear to the solid wood door. When he couldn’t hear anything, he knocked again, remembering how she hadn’t opened the door of her apartment right away either. “Hannah, it’s me!”
Again he waited. Could she be sleeping? He doubted it, as it was late morning. Was she out with friends? He didn’t see her as the type to make a friend come all the way out to her property just to pick her up.
He walked around to a window, stepping past a newly planted agave plant and a small bed of dirt, obviously waiting for plantings. He didn’t like the look of that. It shouted ‘permanent resident’ to him.
Knocking on the window, he waited to look in. He didn’t want to scare her. When there still was no answer, he looked inside, the shade of his cowboy hat helping him to see the main room was empty. He quickly moved to the back window. This time he didn’t need the shade of his hat to see she wasn’t in there. The bathroom door stood open. Maybe she was showering. That would explain it. He pressed his ear to the glass, but didn’t hear a sound. Then the air conditioning unit next to him clicked on, obliterating any hope of hearing anything.
Concern grew into worry. He went back to the door and knocked loudly, then tried the door. It was locked. Had she gone for a walk and been bitten by a snake and was even now lying on the ground dying?
He attempted to stifle his train of thought, but his worry grew anyway. He needed to put his emotion aside and focus on the facts. That’s what a wildlife manager would do. He looked around the building for clues and found tire tracks leading away from the house toward the mountains. He crouched down and examined them. They were smaller than his ATV tracks. Confused, he followed them a few yards, but they continued.
Cami barked as if to remind him she wanted to come out.
He walked back and gave her head a rub. She could easily jump out if she had to. “I’ll let you out in a few. First, we need to follow these.” Giving her a last pat, he sat on the machine and drove next to the tracks. As he drew closer to the base of the mountain, he could see another machine parked up ahead. “What the…” It looked like a damn golf cart.
He pulled up next to it and got off to investigate. That’s exactly what it was. He turned back to look at the casita which was quite small now. Was some golf course developer out here? He didn’t like that idea at all. There was a towel covering the steering wheel, so he grabbed it and strode back to the wagon and let Cami out. “Sit.”
Cami’s butt hit the dirt.
“Okay girl, we need to find whoever used this towel. We’ve been practicing this, but now it’s for real.”
He let Cami sniff at the towel.
“Okay, seek.”
Cami sniffed the ground for a moment then bounded up the hillside. He had no idea if she had the scent. When they practiced, she was only right half the time, distracted by the other smells of the ranch, but at least climbing higher he’d have a better view, even if she did just find a desert cottontail rabbit.
Cami stayed ahead of him about fifty feet, stopping once in a while to make sure he followed. The climb was getting long and he stopped for a moment to see if anyone was below, but there was no movement around the ATV or golf cart. He continued up. Who the heck brought a golf cart into the desert?
Finally, Cami halted, sitting, staring at a boulder they would have to climb around. Obviously, she’d just enjoyed the climb. Turning around, he looked out to see what was visible and sucked in his breath. Despite living under the four peaks all his life, he’d never climbed this hill. The whole valley was laid out before him and he could even see the town. From such a viewpoint, it was actually beautiful. But appreciating the view was his last concern. Now he was too high to see if Hannah had been hurt.
Turning to call Cami back, the dog barked before running around the boulder.
Shit, now the dog was after a rabbit. Hopefully, not a rattlesnake. “Cami, come.”
Cami didn’t come. In fact, she disappeared behind the boulder.
Not in the mood for games, he stalked after Cami. As he made it halfway around, he found her standing with her tongue hanging out. Immediately, his sense went into overdrive. “Cami, sit.”
The dog did, as he walked past her to see what she’d found.
“Brody, what are you doing here?”
Profound relief washed through him at her voice, but it still took him a few seconds to find her in the shade of the large boulder since she sat on the ground. Worry returned in an instant. He immediately walked to her and crouched, ignoring the racing of his heart. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Why?”
“Why? Because you’re halfway up the mountain sitting on the ground. Do you have heat exhaustion?” She did look a little flushed, but it was hard to tell for sure in the shadow, plus she was wearing her cowboy hat.
“No. I have my lunch.” She reached into a small backpack and pulled out a sandwich in a sealed plastic bag. “It’s tuna fish. Why are you here?”
Now he felt like a complete idiot, which just turned his concern into anger. “I’m looking for you. I came by your casita and found your vehicle there, but you were nowhere to be found. When I saw the tire tracks leaving your place, I grew worried. I didn’t know if you were abducted or lying on the desert floor somewhere, dying of a snake bite.”
Her eyes widened at that. “I hadn’t thought about a snake bite. Maybe I can get some antivenom to take with me next time.”
“Next time?” He had a hard time believing she’d be so foolish as to venture so far again. She had too much common sense, plus what she learned on the internet. “Why are you up here?”
She smiled. “Oh, I come up here about three times a week. It’s so peaceful and the view is amazing. Did you see it?”
“Yes. It’s nice.” He couldn’t seem to give her anything more than that. He actually thought her in her buttoned-down white shirt tied at her waist and jean shorts was a far better view.
“Nice? It’s spectacular. When I first started up the mountain, I walked all the way from home, but then I was too tired to go very high. So I bought a used golf cart from Mr. Allen at the used car place in town. He said he knows you. He was very complimentary. He gave me a good price, too. So then I was able to ride to the mountain and climb. This is as far as I’ve gone. I need to keep doing it before I’ll venture higher. I know not to go farther than I can handle.”
“Alone?” He blurted it out before he could take it back. “It’s dangerous.”
Her smile disappeared. “No, it’s not. I came prepared. I have water, food, bandages, in case I fall. I hadn’t thought of the snake antivenom, but I will add that to my pack. Besides, if anything awful happens, I can always call someone.” She pulled her phone out of her back pocket.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Your phone. What are you going to do with that—send light signals across the valley? Or were you planning to start a fire.”
She rolled her eyes. “Duh, I’d call someone and let them know I need help.”
“Really? Go ahead. Call me.”
“You’re right here. Why would I call you?”
He jerked his head up. “Humor me.”
“This is silly.” She clicked her phone on and dialed. Her brow lowered before she held her phone up.
“That’s not going to help. There’s no signal out here.”
She rose, still holding her phone aloft. “How can that be? I can see a tower in town.”
“Things appear a lot closer than they are in the desert. There’s no signal anywhere in these mountains. They’re state conservation land.”
She brought her phone down and slipped it back into her back pocket. “So I wouldn’t be able to call for help.”
“No.”
He watched as she cocked her head, probably trying to find a way to argue with him. Then, as if she’d reviewed all her options and realized he was right, her shoulders fell.
“Well, that sucks. I’ve really been enjoying my lunches up here, and I’ve been getting great exercise, too.”
Her disappointment bothered him. He almost offered to accompany her, but he didn’t have that kind of time. Besides, this was part of showing her why she’d enjoy the comforts of city life over desert life.
She finally looked at him, her brown eyes hopeful. “Since you’re here now, would you mind staying while I enjoy my lunch? I’d be happy to share.”
Cami chose that moment to push against the back of his legs, causing one of his knees to buckle a bit. “What? You remember Hannah.”
Cami walked around him and sat, watching Hannah, who hadn’t moved.
He really wanted her to not be afraid of his dog, and only for that reason, he made his decision. “I can stay. Do you have anything that Cami might like?”
“Um, I don’t know. I have my sandwich and some individually wrapped cheeses, an apple, and a pudding cup. Oh, and a couple of granola bars. Would Cami like any of that?”
“What kind of pudding?”
“Chocolate.”
“That’s a no. Dogs can’t have chocolate, but Cami does love cheese. Maybe you could give her the cheese, and I’ll have a granola bar.”
Hannah had leaned over to lift her backpack, but stilled halfway there, which showed him much more of her cleavage. He quickly lifted his gaze to her eyes.
“You want me to give Cami the cheese?”
“Sure. She’ll be anyone’s friend for life if they give her cheese.”
Hannah finally snagged her backpack and stood upright. “Okay.”
She didn’t sound okay, but she did pull a triangle of cheese from her sack.
Cami’s nose lifted, and soon her butt lifted as well, before she took a couple steps toward Hannah.
“When she gets closer, tell her to sit, then take the paper off and give it to her.”
Hannah’s brows rose. “Well, I wasn’t going to leave the paper on.”
He knew that. He wasn’t even sure why he said that, except maybe because he wanted to protect Cami from suffering ever again.
As the paper was peeled, Cami walked up to Hannah, her tail wagging.
“Sit.” Hannah’s command was a bit weak, but Cami loved cheese, and her butt plopped down.
“Good dog. Here you go.” Hannah held the cheese on her palm.
Cami’s tongue came out and swiped the whole piece into her mouth.
“Oh.” Hannah pulled her hand back then wiped it on her shorts. “I didn’t expect to get so wet.” She gave a small uncomfortable laugh. “Should I give her the other one now?”
“Sure. If you hold off until your done with your lunch, she’ll look at you like she’s starving the whole time. And she knows what starving is all about.”
“Was she a stray that you took in?” Hannah pulled out the second piece of cheese and started to unwrap it.
Cami’s gaze didn’t leave Hannah’s hands and her tail sped up as her butt lifted just slightly off the round.
Even as he thought of how he came upon Cami, he tensed. “Yes, she was a stray, in the worst way. Somone from up north had dumped her in the desert, and she was trying to survive. She must have been out here a month before I found her. She was skin and bones and her fur was matted and the color of the dirt. That’s why I called her Cami, short for ‘camouflage.’”
“Oh, the poor thing.” As if the cheese was Cami’s first meal since then, Hannah crouched down. “Here you go, girl.” She held her hand out and Cami licked the cheese into her mouth. Hannah tentatively set her hand on Cami’s back and stroked. “You won’t ever have to starve again, now that you have Brody. He’ll take good care of you.”
He wasn’t sure if it was Hannah’s growing connection to his dog or her faith in him that had him straightening his shoulders. “No, she’ll never have to worry. I think she knows that. She’s very smart. She’s the one who found you.”
Cami turned her head to lick Hannah’s face, and Hannah fell on her butt avoiding the kiss. “Does she think I have more in my mouth?”
He laughed. “No. She just likes to show her appreciation with a kiss.” He wouldn’t mind if Hannah had the same habit. Now where had that come from? “Cami, come. Let Hannah eat her lunch in peace.”
Cami trotted over to him.
“You two can’t stand there in the sun while we eat. Come sit.”
Though there wasn’t a large amount of shade, there was just enough if he sat right next to her, which he didn’t mind doing. Walking around to sit on her right against the boulder, he kept Cami on his other side.
“Here.” Hannah handed him half her sandwich.
“That’s your lunch.”
“No, it’s yours. Mine is right here.” She held up the other half. “I’m sharing my food and you’re sharing your time.”
“Thank you.” He took a bite.
She grinned. “Besides, I know it’s past your lunch time, and I expect your stomach to be growling any second.”
He would have laughed, but he had tuna fish in his mouth, so he chewed instead.
“And since I’m not going to get to stay up here as long as I expected, I won’t need all this food.” Her lower lip jutted out just a bit, making her disappointment clear.
He felt like an ogre for ruining one of her new favorite pastimes. But it was for the best. It wasn’t safe to be alone in the mountains, or the desert for that matter. “I know it’s hard to adjust to new limitations. We’re doing that now at Rocky Road. After my father had a stroke while riding the fences alone, Tanner won’t let any of us ride out without a partner. Personally, I think he’s going a bit overboard, but like I said, what I think doesn’t matter. He can get very stubborn, especially when it comes to family. After my brother died, you’d think Tanner was my bodyguard.” He shook his head as he took another bite, liking the bit of dill relish she had put in the tuna.
“Your brother Jackson died?” Hannah brought her sandwich down to her lap and stared at him wide-eyed.
“No, not at all. He’s alive and well…as far as I know. He’s in Syria, so it’s a bit hard to tell.” He tried not to think about Jackson too much. His mother always said that worrying accomplished nothing.
“Then who died?”
“My brother Devlin. I wasn’t there, but all my brothers were in the hayloft and Devlin fell and broke his neck. It just about killed my mom.” He took a deep breath as memories of coming upon his mother crying filled his head. “It was an accident, but Tanner blames himself as the oldest, while Jackson claims he might as well have killed Devlin with his own two hands. I wasn’t there, but it messed up both of them. Just my opinion.”
Hannah linked her hand with his. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine losing a brother.”
Her touch felt good, though he shrugged. “I was pretty young and it took me a while to understand everything. I hadn’t been allowed to go to the barn without an adult, so I didn’t see it happen. But I saw what it did to my mother, and like any little boy, I wanted to fix it. But I learned some things can’t be fixed.”
He’d also learned that waiting until someday was a waste of time. Someday wasn’t guaranteed. He’d thought someday his mom would be super proud of him graduating high school at the top of his class. He’d expected her to be bursting with pride when he entered his career. He thought she’d cry at his wedding and insist on babysitting his kids. But none of that would happen. After she died, his motivation had left him, except for his search for a career that would satisfy the unnamable need inside him. That’s what drove him. A need to succeed at whatever it was that he was meant to do.
His mom had told him to follow his passion no matter what his father wanted him to do. He didn’t want to let his mom down.