Chapter Seventeen
At last, he was called in and shown to a booth with a metal chair and a phone.
Rachel sat facing him behind a thick glass pane with a matching phone.
Her hair was disheveled, and she was clad in a baggy orange jumpsuit.
His mother. The sight of her made him want to rail and curse.
But her expression was surprisingly calm.
What could he say to her?
She spoke first. “Hello, son. Are you all right?”
“I will be. But it’s you I’m worried about.”
“Don’t be worried. I’m where the good Lord wants me to be. Did Stetson and Cheyenne come with you?”
“They wanted to. But the folks here would only allow one visitor. I sent them back to Texas with the stallion. Cheyenne begged to stay. But never mind that. I’m here to help, and we don’t have much time. Do you have a lawyer yet?”
“I don’t need a lawyer. I killed that monster of my own free will. I’m going to plead guilty and accept God’s punishment.” Her serenity was almost Buddha-like. In spite of what she’d just said, it was hard to believe this woman had killed in cold blood.
“You’re going to need a lawyer, Mother. It’s a complicated system, and you don’t know the law. You’ll probably be sent back to Texas soon. But if a lawyer is offered to you, let them help.”
“We’ll see. In the meantime, I’ll be perfectly safe. Go home, take care of your dad and your sister. They’re going to need you.”
“I understand.” Roper despised his own helplessness. “But isn’t there anything I can do for you?”
“One thing. It would be a comfort to have my Bible.”
“I thought of that,” Roper said. “Your Bible is at the front desk. I had to leave it. But the lady said you could have it once it’s been cleared by security.”
“Then that’s good enough for me. Go home now. And trust that things will work out according to God’s plan.”
Their time was up. A guard had come to take Rachel back to her cell. Another guard showed Roper out. As he passed the front desk, he caught the woman’s eye. “You’ll see that she gets that Bible?”
The woman nodded. “I’ll see to it.”
Roper left the jail and crossed the parking lot.
It was night, but the bright lights of Las Vegas obscured everything in the sky except the moon.
Stetson and Cheyenne had taken the stallion in the new trailer rig, leaving Roper the family car.
Before visiting the jail, he’d checked out of the hotel and packed the trunk for the drive back to Texas.
He was dog-tired, but there was no way he’d be able to sleep.
Lila would be flying back to Texas tomorrow. After that, the two of them would piece together the changed fabric of their lives and try to create something real and lasting.
Guzzling the energy drink he’d bought earlier, Roper climbed into the car and headed for home.
Cheyenne sat buckled into the passenger seat of the truck.
Too wired to doze, she gazed blankly at the headlights sliding past the window.
After more than two years on the rodeo circuit, riding shotgun with Stetson was nothing new.
He didn’t talk much, just blasted his music on his favorite radio station, hour by hour.
Cheyenne could usually tune it out. But tonight she’d lost her earbuds, and the bedlam of wailing guitars and screaming voices was like earned punishment to her overloaded brain.
It was her fault, all of it—Frank’s murder and her mother’s arrest. She’d kept quiet about Frank’s rape for two years.
She could have kept the secret safe forever.
But no, she’d finally flung it at her mother in an outburst of anger.
She’d meant to hurt Rachel, and she had.
But she’d had no idea of the biblical fury she’d awakened in that stoic, God-fearing woman.
Roper had sent her a brief text, saying that he’d seen their mother in jail and that she was safe, calm, and resigned to her punishment.
Roper would be on the road now, a few hours behind them.
Too bad Stetson couldn’t let her out at the next off-ramp and have Roper stop and pick her up.
At least she’d be with someone she could talk to.
She found her phone and scrolled to Buck’s text. Every time she read it, the pain deepened. She hadn’t known how to respond to him, but now, as she composed a reply, the words began to come.
When I read your message, all I wanted was to drop everything, rush to Ten Sleep, and convince you that your past didn’t matter to me. That’s still what I want. But something has happened, something heartbreaking, that’s going to delay me for a while.
Fingers flying, she told him her story—the quarrel with her mother and the confession of the rape, Frank’s murder, and the shocking discovery that her mother had been the killer.
I don’t know what’s going to happen. I suppose my mother will spend years, if not the rest of her life, in prison.
My father is an invalid, and she took care of him.
She asked me to take her place in the family.
I’ll do my best, but I’m not her, and I don’t know how well I can manage.
I’m not ready to give up my life—or you.
If that sounds selfish, I can’t help it.
Roper will be around, although he’ll be working and probably married soon.
But I’m guessing my other brothers will go their own way.
I don’t know if I’ll ever have a chance to get a cutting horse and train with it.
I only know that the one thing I can’t give up is the hope of being with you—sharing life on your ranch and giving you all my love.
By the time Cheyenne finished the message and sent it, tears were spilling out of her eyes. She had poured out her heart to Buck. Would he respond, or had he already made up his mind to let her go?
A few minutes later, his reply appeared on the screen. Cheyenne hesitated, bracing herself for what she was about to read. Maybe she’d been too bold. Maybe he had really wanted to end their relationship. She opened the message.
Cheyenne. If I could, I would take you in my arms and hold you. What a tragedy for you and your family. As for your response to my message, it’s what I desperately wanted. But I’m still concerned that you don’t understand what you’re asking.
Let me explain some of the realities you’d be facing if you were to come here.
Ten Sleep is a beautiful little town at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains.
My ranch is surrounded by forest and grasslands, and there are many wild animals—deer, elk, moose, wild horses, and even bears.
That’s the good part. But Ten Sleep is in the middle of nowhere.
There are tourists around in the summer season, but in the winter, the population dwindles to about 250 brave souls, so you couldn’t expect much social life, especially if you’re not into hunting and fishing.
Winters are long and harsh. I get around on a snowmobile and spend most of my time trying to keep the animals alive.
If you were here, you’d be doing that, too.
The ranch has been in my family for generations.
That’s one reason I’ll never live anywhere else.
But there’s another reason. That arrest I told you about, when I was eighteen, is still with me, like a life sentence.
My name is on state and national registries for anyone to find.
People here are my friends. They know me and know my story.
But if I were to move away, wherever I might go, I would have to check in with the police.
Then, whenever a crime was committed, they’d be knocking on my door.
I wouldn’t wish that on myself, and I certainly wouldn’t wish it on you.
I’m sorry if that shocks you, but that’s the reality you’d have to face if you were with me.
Think it over. If it’s too much for you to process, I’ll understand.
If you’re still on board, this is what I’d like you to do.
Take some time to make your decision—say, until next spring, after the winter’s over.
We can stay in touch, get to know more about each other.
I can work with Fire Dance and keep you posted.
You can deal with your family situation, weigh your options, and make up your mind either way.
If, by spring, you still want to come, I’ll welcome you with open arms. But make sure you’re ready to commit to this life.
It would break my heart to have you come and then leave again.
As I told you, I’m a man who plays for keeps.
Love, Buck
Jasmine’s flight to LA was scheduled to leave Harry Reid International Airport at 10:15 on Sunday morning.
When Sam arrived at the hospital to pick her up for their short, shared cab ride, she had already checked herself out.
Dressed in the designer track suit she’d worn the night before and carrying her purse, she was waiting in the main lobby when he walked in.
She stood and walked to meet him. Sam took her in his arms and kissed her, long and deep, not caring who saw them. No more hiding from the world.
“You look like you just came from the spa,” he said.
“Did you get my suitcase out of the room?”
“It’s in the cab, packed and ready to go. Are you sure you’ll be all right?”
She looked radiant, even without makeup.
But given what she’d been through the day before, Sam knew she’d need time to heal.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t be there to help her.
His own flight for Abilene would be leaving an hour after hers from a different terminal.
With Nick starting chemo on Monday, he couldn’t delay his return.
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “Chantal, my roommate, will be meeting my plane. She’ll take good care of me.”
“But not for long, I hope.”