Chapter Fourteen
W atching out for wolves was getting old, Cal decided, as he headed over to the main barn to relieve his brother. They’d been keeping overnight watch for over a week now. A week of split shifts and bitter cold, and eventually, they were going to have to trust that their other defenses would hold. There were better things to do than stand watch over cattle through the evening and half the night. Not when warm beds and willing women were waiting, and Christmas festivities were in full swing. Sam’s anticipation was contagious, and Beth’s determination to savor every moment made him wonder if she regretted her decision to move to Marietta, even if the house they’d found to lease wasn’t half bad.
Maybe that was just wishful thinking.
He needed to ask Sam’s permission to ask for Beth’s hand—Sam being the man of the house, and that being the way things were done. Because even though he didn’t carry that pretty little heirloom engagement ring around in his pocket, it was most definitely burning a hole in his sock drawer.
He’d had a glimpse of how satisfying life could be when Beth and Sam stood united beside him, and he never wanted that feeling to end. The thought that they might choose him to share their lives with never failed to make him grateful.
He’d rather be with them than striding across the snow toward his brother, that was for sure.
The buzz of the phone in his back pocket made him fish it out and see who was calling. Beth, and when he held the phone up for his brother to show who it was, Jett simply nodded and waved his hand as if to say take it, I’ll wait .
Cal figured everyone had to navigate the who came first in a man’s life question at some point. It was becoming increasingly clear to everyone involved that Cal’s first and always was Beth.
“Hey.” He loved it when she called him. He loved most everything she did, simple as that. But from the moment she uttered her first word, he knew this phone call would be different.
“I can’t find Sam.” The words came out in a high-pitched rush, and he blinked as a slither of dread snaked through him. “I left him in the barn, brushing the horses and oiling their hooves, and the doors were shut, and I only wanted to put a roast in the oven, and I swear—Cal, I swear I was only gone twenty minutes—and I can’t find him! He’s not in the barn, he’s not in the house or the truck or anywhere. He’s not here. ”
“Is the pup around?” He’d left Bo with Sam earlier that afternoon.
Chessie had stayed with Cal and was at his side now. The pup was no fool, but Cal was having a lather of a time training him.
“Bo’s gone, too.”
“There must be tracks.”
“The horses were out in the snow today. We’ve been out in it. Bo’s been outside, sniffing around and chasing the wind. You want tracks? There are tracks everywhere. At this point, it’s churn!”
“I can sift through tracks,” he said. “Beth Ann, I have that skill.” He didn’t let panic grab him by the throat. “We’ll find them. Chessie’s here with me and she’ll find that fool pup in no time at all. They can’t have gone far in twenty minutes. Turn all the lights on, inside and out, and I’ll be there by the time you’ve finished.”
“It’s getting dark, and I’m scared, and I can’t lose him, Cal. Not like Red. The waiting will break me this time, it will. I can’t do it. I can’t! ”
Beth was doing enough panicking for both of them. “I’ll be there in five minutes. We’ll find him. I promise.”
“ How can you promise that? You can’t! ” Her anguish tore a hole in his heart.
“I will. I’m on my way. Do what I said.”
Jett was beside him the moment he disconnected. “Sam’s missing?”
“Well, he’s not around, put it that way. And Beth’s…”
“I heard.”
“Can you grab the trailer and bring a couple of skimobiles over, and the stretcher sled? Tell the others.”
“You got it.”
He left Jett to load skimobiles and supplies into the trailer and follow him to Beth’s. Jett would tell Seth. Seth would raise Jim. That was how it ran in the valley when emergencies came knocking.
The Evans ranch was ablaze with light when he pulled up beside the barn in a scrunch of dry snow. He hadn’t seen them on the drive over and San had no reason to hide from him.
He was half thinking Sam and Beth might be waiting to greet him, with Beth being overanxious and a little too quick on the trigger in thinking Sam missing, but no such luck.
Beth stood in the doorway to the barn, doors open at both ends as she hunched against the cold. Not a good time to be outdoors. The wind chill was ferocious, and dusk had come creeping in.
He grabbed his rifle from the gun rack, loaded it, and shoved spare rounds in his coat pocket. He shoved a flashlight in his other pocket and slung his emergency backpack across one shoulder. Sliding Chessie’s cage door open, he watched her leap from the truck to the ground. Best dog he’d ever had. She’d find them if he couldn’t.
“I only left him for twenty minutes,” Beth said when he reached her, her eyes blown with panic, and he pulled her into a fierce one-armed hug and kept right on moving.
“Which means he’s close by. Last I knew, he couldn’t fly, so let’s get tracking.”
Adrenaline would be coursing through her, same way it was raging through him. “That fool puppy probably went haring off and Sam went after him.” It was the only thing he could think of that made sense. “I’m sorry, Beth. I should never have left Sam in charge of him. Blame me.” His shoulders were broad enough for that. “Sam!” he bellowed. “Bo!”
Nothing.
Okay, then. “C’mon Chess, where’s Bo? Where’s Bo and Sam?”
They found Sam’s footprints readily enough, and Bo’s, too, and with that came an element of relief. One boy, one pup, heading away from the barn, through one of the horse yards and toward the nearest stand of trees. Chessie had their scent.
“Of all the reckless, idiotic—He promised me he wouldn’t go anywhere by himself!” Beth railed as she stormed along beside him. “He promised ! And I promised I wouldn’t turn into a raving shrew, annihilating everyone in my path when something goes wrong! Why didn’t he stay in the barn? Why am I a thumbnail away from a breakdown? What good are promises if they’re not kept? Tell me! Why can’t people keep their promises! ”
Not that he was the intelligent type, but he had an inkling she was talking about more than just today. “I keep mine.” He’d made one today that he didn’t intend to break. “We’ll find him.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Just did. I wasn’t there for Red, but I’m here now. People liken me to an ox because I’m big and stubborn, and they’re not wrong. Dumb as one, too. Slow. That’s me. I’ll own to all of that— but don’t underestimate me . I will never give up on you or Sam. I won’t stop until I find him. That’s my promise. So, when I say believe me, believe me .” Who was the overemotional one fighting invisible demons now , he wondered grimly. Because it wasn’t Beth. “Promises can be kept.”
She slowed and grabbed him by the arm, urging him to do the same. “Wait. Please. It’s important. Let me say this.” She put a gloved hand to his chest and searched his resolute face. “I love you. Not the time or place, I know, but I do. And no matter what we find… no matter what, or when… I’ll continue to love you, because you’re the kindest, most steadfast, most loving man I’ve ever known. You big ox.”
Well, then.
Well. “Glad we cleared that up.”
Her laughter was ever slightly on the hysterical side.
He raised her gloved hand from his chest and pressed it to his cheek. “I love you, too. You should marry me.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“And you’ve thought about it?”
“So many times.”
“Then I will.”
He’d hold her to it. “You ready to keep tracking?”
“Yes.” This time she was the one with the one-word answer.
Cal reached for the flashlight when he spotted some new tracks up ahead. A lot of them. The light created an arc in front of them and his heart sank. The prints that flanked them on either side looked like dog prints, only bigger. But Sam’s footprints were still there amongst them, and that was something.
“Are they wolf tracks?” Beth asked, her voice small and scared.
“Yes. But Sam’s still walking. He stopped here, see?” He shone the light on a set of footprints. “He stood still for a bit and then started moving again. There’s no blood. No scuffles. That’s not what the prints show. They’re all just moving along. Loping.”
*
I will not be a bitch. I will not be ruled by fear. Beth had returned to that thought so often in the last thirty minutes that it was in danger of becoming her mantra. “You mean to say my son just joined the wolf pack?” Was that meant to be reassuring?
“He’s alive.”
With the wolf pack.
They were approaching the trees and there was movement up ahead. Beth could pick out the dark shapes now, those that hadn’t blended completely into the twilight landscape. But she couldn’t see Sam, or Bo, and whatever this was, they were striding right into it.
Chessie had stopped in front of them, head low, ears back, and hackles raised. A low, steady growl emanated from her.
Beth counted seven wolves in total. Seven wolf shapes, and Chessie was moving slowly toward them, but Cal didn’t call her back. Instead, casual as you please, he followed in her tracks.
She spotted the puppy next.
And there . Right there, with his back to a tree, stood Sam. “Cal, I see him!”
“Don’t call out. Just keep moving, slow and steady. No fear.”
Funny man.
Seven wolves, one boy, and Cal with a gun. That was the hand they’d been dealt, and it was something of an uneven one. She eyed Cal’s broad back, and in particular, his little backpack speculatively. “Is there another gun in your pack?”
“There’s a 9mm Glock and ammo in the side pouch. It’s not loaded.”
It would be soon. “Can I have it?”
He stopped to make it easier for her to unpack, but he didn’t help. His attention was too fixed on the wolves up ahead, and for all his casual stance, that gun in his hand could be in play in an instant.
She loaded it fast but kept the safety on. Seven wolves and two people with guns now. They moved forward again, with Chessie now way up ahead.
It was a remarkable sight, once she got close enough to take it all in. Sam backed up against the trunk of a large pine, his eyes wide and fearful. Chessie standing half a dozen feet in front of him, facing the wolf pack. The puppy Bo was busy trying to make friends with the pack, with his belly to the ground, a few feet in front of Chessie, completely submissive in the face of seven gray wolves who stared silently back at them.
“Did you ever get clarification on where they’d come from?” she murmured.
“Yellowstone.”
Did that mean they were used to people? Friendly? They didn’t look friendly. They looked fierce and unyielding. Connected by silent communication using a language she didn’t understand. “Cal?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m thinking,” Beth met the alpha wolf’s eyes “they all know each other. What if these wolves have been in the valley looking for Chessie and the pup all along?”
“I’m thinking you’re right.”
What she had yet to determine was whether this was a reunion or a custody dispute. Because Chessie had stepped up to protect Sam, which was brilliant, and beautiful, and she was such a good dog, but what about her pup? “Cal? What if I wade in and take Chessie’s place? Maybe she’d go. Maybe they’d all go.” Out of the valley. Home. Wherever that was.
“Do it. Come in from behind. I’ll move to the side and cover you both.”
“I love you,” she murmured, just in case this all went wildly wrong. “Never change.”
“I’m going to take aim at the alpha, but I won’t shoot unless I have to. Show of strength. Negotiating tool.”
“For a guy who thinks he’s dumb, you’re really, really smart.”
“It’ll work. Go protect your boy.”
And he would protect them both.
“Mama bear,” she murmured. “Got it.”
*
Cal wasn’t interested in any deviations from the plan but, of course, the puppy had to turn and rush to greet Beth as she moved into place. Of course.
And, of course, Beth was going to stoop down and pat the happy, wriggly puppy, because, of course .
Chessie, never for one second, took her eyes off the alpha.
Cal decided that was probably a very good idea.
The puppy demanded pats from Sam next, and then with one last lick headed for the wolf pack. This time the alpha wolf acknowledged him. The pup’s response was immediate and ecstatic.
Hey, Dad, hey. I missed you. Where you been?
Even so, Cal tightened his finger on the trigger of his rifle. No telling which way this was going to go next. In human terms, it seemed as if they’d stumbled in on divorce proceedings and a custody battle. That or a search and rescue. He was all for doing what was best for the kids.
Silently, the wolves began to withdraw, and the pup went with them, melting into the twilight and the cover of the trees until only the alpha wolf was left. The wolf stared at the German shepherd mix named Chessie, and Chessie stared back.
Slowly, Cal lowered his rifle, backing off on the threat he represented so that the dog could choose more freely.
He wondered if Beth would lower her firearm.
And then Sam looked at him, gave a small nod, and then stepped up beside his mother and put a hand on her arm.
He didn’t hear what was said but Beth slowly relaxed her stance and lowered the gun until it pointed at the ground beside her feet.
What’s it going to be, Chess? Stay or go? Make up your mind.
They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity. And then the big wolf turned tail and left.
Not Chessie, though. Chessie headed back to Sam, who dropped to his knees and buried his face in her still-patchy coat.
“Did you see that?” Sam said when Cal reached their side moments later. “That was intense .”
Very.
“I think Bo was more wolf than dog,” Sam said next. “ Mom , stop hugging me. Can’t breathe!”
“I love you,” Beth told her son. “Don’t ever do that again, or I’ll tie you to your bed until you’re a hundred and one. You ran off by yourself and you promised you wouldn’t. Promises mean something, Sam! Next time you make a promise, you keep it. And you!” She pointed an ungloved finger at Cal, and Sam’s eyes widened in alarm.
“Mom, you can’t do the cranky explode at Cal. You promised, too. He’s a hero.”
“Exactly! He’s a smart-arse hero. Look at that grin he’s trying to hide, and he keeps his promises, Sam.” Beth huffed out a laugh, but she stabbed her finger in Cal’s direction some more. “He’s going to show us how it’s done. For the rest of our lives.”
His grin widened. “You have my word. Sam, your mother and I are getting married. I hope you approve.” So much for asking . But Cal was all out of patience and practically incandescent with the need to claim them. Both of them. And never let them out of his reach again.
“Woohoo!” Sam yelled.
Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled back.
“Mom. Mom! You don’t think I can, like, talk to wolves, do you?”
“No.”
“Because that one just talked back.”
“No, it didn’t.”
“And they didn’t try to attack me or anything. I was communing with them.”
“No, you weren’t.”
“But—”
“Sam, I speak with many years of experience,” Cal interrupted. “Listen to your mother. They know. They always know, and they’re always right.”
“Even when they’re wrong?”
“Especially then. Retreat, Samwise.
Sam beamed. “Are you really going to be my dad?”
“Yes. Not a replacement. I know who sired you and loved you, but I will always be there for you for as long as I live. You want a piggyback?” Because he was as strong as an ox, as true as the North Star, and he could carry that load.
“I can walk. But you could piggyback Mom. She feels a bit cold.”
So, Cal forged his way back to the barn with a guard dog taking point, Beth on his back, and Sam holding on to the edge of Cal’s coat as he tucked in behind them.
“Wolves, man,” Sam said when he reached the barn and the various Caseys who’d arrived and had just been about to head out after them. “Unbelievable. They came for Bo, because I’m pretty sure Bo’s part wolf. And Chessie must have been like, running with the wolves, except she and Bo got left behind so she came and found people who could protect her and Bo. But Bo wants to be a wolf more than he wants to be with people, so he begged to be one again, and they weren’t sure they should take him, and they didn’t like me being with him at all. You should have seen the standoff. It was wild! Is that what you think happened, Cal?”
“Sounds about right.” Maybe this motormouth kid could teach him a little something about keeping a crowd spellbound.
“And guess what?” Sam told the people gathered. “I’m going to be a proper Casey.” He hiked a thumb in Beth and Cal’s direction. “They’re getting married!”