Chapter Eighteen #2
“Just the way she was talking about it that day we rode to Clover Creek.” And a feeling. A really strong bolt of intuition. He could have kicked himself for not realizing it before. “It was one of Gran and Grandpa’s favorite spots on the property. They have to be there.”
Rhett didn’t make any reassurances. He just kept pace with Hayden.
With thousands of acres of land contained in the Bennett Ranch proper and hundreds of thousands of acres of national forest, it was the only hope Hayden had left.
It had nearly broken him to witness Evie suffering over Katie and Gran’s disappearance.
He’d do anything to return her daughter to her, anything to get Gran back alive and in one piece.
It took them over two hours to reach a gate in the fence line that allowed access to the national forest.
“Look!” Rhett pointed to the path on the other side of the gate. “A horse passed this way.”
“I never thought I’d be so glad to see fresh manure in my life!” Hayden got the gate open and then closed it behind them when both horses were through.
Twenty minutes later, the brothers galloped into a clearing with a small log cabin—Homestead Hollow. Nugget and Sunny were both saddled and tied to a hitching post.
“It’s them,” Hayden said, leaping off Red and dropping the reins to the ground. He didn’t want to waste another minute before making sure they were okay.
“Gran didn’t light a fire.” Rhett tied up his horse while taking stock of the cabin. “No smoke.”
Hayden reached the cabin and opened the door.
*
Eve tried to focus on chores, keeping herself busy after Rhett and Hayden left. If she stopped moving, the fear crept back in.
The twins tried their best to distract her.
“I rode out alone once,” Piper admitted, piling her scrambled eggs on a slice of white bread. “Got lost and couldn’t find my way home.”
Eve’s heart lurched. She hadn’t realized this was a common occurrence in a child’s ranch life.
“I thought Dad would tan your hide,” Sadie added, slathering her toast with strawberry jam. “But all he did was hug you.”
“You hugged me too,” Piper pointed out.
Sadie set her toast on her plate. She stared at her twin, frowning. “Piper, I was afraid you’d fallen off your horse, got bit by a rattler, and died. Of course, when you walked back in the door, I was going to hug you.”
“Ah,” Piper cooed. “You love me.”
“Right now,” Sadie muttered, picking up her toast. “Can’t promise tomorrow.”
Eve laughed. She couldn’t help it.
And then her cell phone rang. She nearly dropped it trying to answer.
It was Hayden. “We found them out at Homestead Hollow. They’re safe. Gran and Katie both. The horses are fine too.”
“They found them,” Eve told the twins.
“Can we hear, too?” Piper asked.
Sadie nodded.
Eve put her phone on speaker.
“Is that Mama?” Katie’s voice. So subdued. And then she must have come closer to the phone, because her voice became clearer, although at the same time small. “We got lost, Mama. And then it was dark and cold and there were spiders.”
The twins gasped and shivered.
“But everything’s fine now,” Hayden said in the background. “Tell your mother that you’re fine, honey. And that you’ll never ever ride out alone with Gran again.”
“Hey,” Irene said, also in the background. “I told you I knew where Homestead Hollow was. We had a roof over our heads. And I brought my picnic blanket. We’re tougher than we look.”
“You should have brought food, water, and a cell phone,” Hayden chastised, none too gently. “And then you should have told Evie where you were going.”
“Clyde knew where we were,” Irene said as if offended.
“Clyde?” Hayden’s voice hit the ceiling, if there was one where they were.
“Yes, Clyde.”
“I think Clyde is one of the spiders in the cabin,” Katie said staunchly.
The rest of their conversation was lost to Eve because she was crying again, but Piper and Sadie were at her side, hugging her, telling her everything was all right.
“The rescue team is here.” Hayden sounded grim, having refocused his words toward Eve. “Gran refused a medical exam, of course. They’re going to drive them home. It’ll be quicker.”
“I’m so glad. Thank you, Hayden. Thank everyone for me.” Eve hung up and hugged the twins. “They found them. Can you believe it?”
“Yep,” Piper said, nonplussed. “Our daddy and uncle can find anyone.”
Sadie nodded. “Katie and Gran are lucky. They didn’t fall off their horses, and they didn’t get bitten by snakes.”
“Katie said there were spiders,” Piper noted.
Sadie shrugged, grinning. “But they didn’t get bitten by spiders, did they?”
Smiling, Eve left the girls to their breakfast. She busied herself changing the sheets on the two wanderers’ beds, being a firm believer in the healing power of fresh, crisp sheets. When her baby girl got home, she was going to hug Katie and promise never to let her out of her sight again.
Thirty minutes later, Eve’s phone rang once more. It was Steven this time, returning her call.
Eve walked out to the front porch to answer. “They found her, Steven. She’s fine. The sheriff is due here any minute. I’m sure Katie would love to talk to you.”
Steven was silent for a moment. And then shouted, “You lost my daughter?” Such anger. Such venom.
“She’s safe,” Eve repeated, as fearful of the legal consequences of the situation now as when she’d first realized Katie was gone. But she knew she couldn’t lose her temper with Steven. “Let’s focus on the positive.”
“My daughter isn’t safe living with that dotty old woman on a ranch in the middle of nowhere!” Steven was on a roll now. “I’m contacting Judge McKee today and challenging your custody. That man you married can’t protect my daughter.”
All her fears… All her efforts to keep Katie safe and happy…
Eve’s stomach dropped to her toes.
“You don’t need to see the judge, Steven.
Wait until Katie gets here. Please.” Eve hated that she sounded vulnerable.
But she felt vulnerable. She should have taken better care of Katie.
She should have made her sit quietly in the house while she took her nursing test. This was all her fault.
And now Steven was making her pay for it.
Eve sagged onto the porch railing, devastated.
“You insisted on taking my daughter to the country, Eve. And look how that turned out.” Steven was barreling through his argument, volume lowering to the range of deadly.
“Katie needs to be in Missoula, where she’ll be safe and can thrive.
I’ll be making sure of that when I talk to Judge McKee today. ”
“She’s fine.” Eve could barely breathe. Reality was crashing around her, harder than Katie’s disappearance ever had.
It was all her fault. The decision to get married.
Moving here. Thinking she could be a full-time student, a part-time nurse, and care for a curious toddler and a fuzzy-minded woman recovering from a stroke.
A sheriff’s black-and-white SUV came over the rise and down the drive.
I can’t lose Katie. Not to him.
Steven would steal her baby’s joy. He’d squelch her light.
I have to do something.
Mothers sacrificed for their children. That was a parenting rule.
An unappealing idea took shape. The worst of ideas, if her heart was any judge.
But she clung to that idea. And as she did, something changed inside her. Hardening. Strengthening. She stood up, ignoring the bitterness in her throat and the pain in her chest. “Yes, Steven. It’s my fault.”
But Steven was past listening. “I’m coming to get her, Eve. Just as soon as I’ve seen the judge. This is the last straw. Katie isn’t safe on that ranch.”
“Agreed,” Eve said in a firm voice that didn’t sound like her. She didn’t know how she sounded so in control when inside her heart was breaking. “Something has to change.”
That finally broke through. “What?”
The sheriff’s SUV pulled up in front of the porch steps. Katie pressed her little face against the rear window, smiling meekly.
My baby isn’t meek.
And that’s what convinced Eve she was making the right decision.
She marched down the steps, still talking to her ex.
“I… Katie and I are moving back to Bentwood Creek.” It was necessary if she had any chance of keeping custody of her daughter.
“And I’m leaving Hayden.” How cruel those words sounded, even to her own ears.
But she had to say them again. “I’m leaving Hayden. ”
It was the only way forward, even if it required Eve to gather the pieces of her broken heart as she did so.
For once, Steven was speechless.
*
Hayden was relieved when he and Rhett got back to the ranch.
His family was safe. He could hold Evie and tell her he loved her. He’d been practicing the words I love you in his head all the way home.
“I’ll take care of the horses,” Roddy offered, coming out to meet them behind the barn when they came through the pasture gate. “You need to check on the ladies. Hate to rush you, but it’s auction day. Someone from the ranch needs to be there.”
Hayden had forgotten all about that. “Thanks, Roddy.”
“Take the rest of the day off,” Rhett told the old man. “We’re all spent.”
Hayden and Rhett hurried through the barn’s breezeway toward the house.
Katie was crying next to her mother’s car, holding all those shopping bags her father had purchased just a few days ago. And Evie was loading her trunk in the ranch yard, looking tearful.
She’s leaving me?
Fear punched Hayden in the chest. Fear of losing someone else he loved.
“What’s going on?” Hayden ran over to join them while Rhett went inside the house.
“Mama says we have to go,” Katie wailed, dropping her bags, running to Hayden and wrapping her arms around his legs. “I can only take Poppy with me. Not Mike. Not Sunny. And not you, Hay-Hay.”
“Evie?” With effort, Hayden kept his voice down, even though fear was running a race through his veins now, outpacing love and hope and every other positive emotion a man was supposed to feel. “Is there something we need to discuss?”
“Yes.” Evie faced him, expression fragile. “We have to go.”
She’s leaving me. But…she loves me.
Hayden chose to misunderstand because it couldn’t be true. “When will you be back?”
“We won’t be coming back.” Evie swept up the bags Katie had dropped.
“You see?” Katie clutched Hayden’s legs tighter. “I can’t even take you.”
“Katie, go inside and collect Poppy.” Evie’s tone and demeanor took no prisoners.
And Katie knew it. The little girl scurried off, still wailing.
Evie dumped the shopping bags into the trunk and closed it. She clutched the small heart pendant, the one she’d worn on the day she’d first tried to rope him into her marriage plan.
Hayden came to Evie’s side, taking her hand. “Talk to me.”
Tell me it’s not true. Tell me you love me.
“This isn’t working,” Evie said quietly, not looking at him. “We’re moving back in with my mom. At least, for now. The…” Her voice cracked. She tugged at the neck of her red T-shirt before continuing. “The court will decide what’s best for Katie.”
“You’re letting Steven win.” He hated that. But he was hurt and he lashed out. “You’ll move back to Missoula next.”
“I’m fighting to keep my daughter,” Evie countered, although without any energy in her voice. “I have to focus on my priorities. Katie comes first, no matter what.”
Only then did her gaze meet his. Only then did he see how torn up she was. Only then did he realize there was nothing he could do to stop her.
She made the right choice.
That didn’t stop Hayden’s heart from breaking. “You said you loved me,” he managed to choke out, hoping for…something. Some sliver of opportunity to salvage the situation. For both of them.
“I said I loved you and you didn’t say it back,” Evie said, again without any malice. Just an accusation in her eyes that he couldn’t defend against.
Hayden stared at his hands, wanting to say the words now. Needing to say the words. But what good would it do? Steven had boxed her into a corner and Hayden… Hayden was powerless. A lump formed in his throat.
“It’s okay to admit that your feelings for me are still…” Evie swallowed, looking away. “Well, in your eyes, I’ll always be your almost-little-sister. Just Evie, nothing more.”
That’s not true.
Pain lanced through Hayden’s chest, stealing his breath, his courage, his resolve. Evie had stopped being Violet’s kid sister the moment he’d kissed her to seal their wedding vows.
“Hayden.” Evie took both his hands in her cold ones, staring at him through teary eyes. “I chose Katie over you. And I’m sorry I had to make that choice but…” Her thumbs brushed over the back of his hands. “That doesn’t mean you don’t have love in you to give to someone else.”
Everything inside Hayden clenched in denial. Oh, he had love to give. But only to Evie. If only telling her would make a difference. He clung to her hands.
“What if I can get Gran back into Oak Hill?” Desperation sped up his words, forcing them past the lump in his throat. A lump he suspected was a chunk of his breaking heart. “She won’t put Katie at risk anymore.”
“Irene would hate that.” Evie shook her head.
“You can’t do that to her. And you can’t say something like that to me.
You’re placing a condition on our relationship, Hayden.
It wouldn’t be love if it required a condition.
And…I can’t stay here if you don’t love me. ” Her voice grew very small. “Or us.”
On some level, Hayden recognized the truth to her words. But in his heart, Hayden vehemently rejected that statement. He reached for a lock of her silky blond hair, committing the feel of it to memory.
“You know I’m right, Hayden,” Evie said softly, barely above a whisper.
He did. He hated it. But she was right. Katie came first and love had to be given freely, without strings. Without prenups or six-month divorce dates. He’d learned about love too late.
I should have known…
I should have realized…
But he hadn’t.
Hayden managed to swallow his heart back where it belonged, in his chest rather than his throat. “You’ll keep in touch? Let me know if you need me?”
Evie blinked back tears, shaking her head.
Hayden couldn’t accept that. “I’ll be there if Steven tries to bully you. You know I will.” At the drop of a hat.
Evie turned away, nose red and sniffing.
“I can’t ask that of you. I should never have asked you to marry me in the first place.
I thought it was kismet…me finding you at the Coffee Corner.
But it was just an accident.” She sniffed again.
“I would have latched on to anyone. I just…saw you first. The man who couldn’t love me. ”
He rejected everything she said. They were meant to be together. But he couldn’t seem to find the strength to argue.
Because he knew deep down that she was right. About everything.
Even me.