Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
C hristmas Day dawned bright and crisp with the sun shining brightly off the snow. In the distance, Connor could see the blackened remains of the chapel. That, too, was on his list of things to clean up and rectify before spring.
He tugged his button up shirt over a clean tee, and slowly fixed each button. While he normally didn’t care what he chose to wear, today mattered more than usual. He didn’t know his brothers anymore. What did they do in life? Where did they work? At forty, his oldest brother likely had a solid career.
A soft knock drew his attention. He turned as Lacy opened his door. She wore her usual jean, but her top was a thin sweater that looked butter soft. The color was chocolate brown and complimented her eyes and hair. “You look amazing.”
She grinned. “Thank you. You clean up pretty well yourself. I wanted to come in and talk to you instead of having you go down and talk to Brendon.”
“Brendon?” His worry spiked. What could be wrong on Christmas Day? Couldn’t the bad things in the world hold off for a little while?
“Yeah. Officer Nixon finally had a chance to talk with his guys yesterday. I guess they all went to his room for the holiday. One of them talked to him about Melinda. He told them to call New Mexico and ask if either Tod or Cal had returned. They haven’t.”
Acid burned his stomach. “So, they’re still here.”
“Most likely. I just wanted to let you know. Unfortunately, the situation is far from over. I’m glad Blake asked them to take the initiative, but I hate telling Melinda that they’re still here.”
He took a deep breath and tried to think clearly about the situation. Likely, they didn’t know where she was. The trouble with that was, if they started asking around town, there were very few other places for people to hide in Piper’s Ridge. Worse, if he described either of them to anyone in town, they would immediately know who Connor and Lacy were.
“We can’t wait this out and hope they don’t find her, but we also can’t go out there and look for trouble.”
“I know. Nadine isn’t working today, but she can if you want her to.” Lacy bit her lip.
“I can’t ask her to work on Christmas Day. The guys will be out doing their normal chores and visiting. They will notice anyone coming in who doesn’t belong.”
“Except your brothers and their families are coming.” Her brows rose.
“Yes, but they all look very much like me.” Or they did last he’d seen them. Twenty years could change people.
“Might be good to let the men know that we’re looking for two men, alone, and give a description of them. I refuse to tell Melinda she has to stay inside any more than she already feels she has to.”
He took her hands in his, so they stood face-to-face. “I agree with you. I’ll go down for my morning meeting and let everyone know what’s going on. Do you want to go tell Melinda to simply keep a cautious eye?”
Lacy sighed deeply. “I hate to do that. She’s already watching over her shoulder all the time. Victoria decided to come in today. She seems to be getting along well with Randy. I may tell them and have them check in with her to keep her company. Christmas can be really lonely in a new place, and I’ll be busy for quite a while.”
“That sounds good. I don’t want to keep you from her though. If you feel she needs you more, then I’ll deal with this.” He brushed his thumbs over her skin, feeling the softness.
“I didn’t say that. I’ll still be there for you. I only wanted you to know what was going on ahead of the meeting. I’m sure Brendon will talk about it.”
He nodded and released her. “I’m sure he will. My family should be here in one hour. I’ll see you then?”
“You can count on me.” She leaned forward on her tiptoes, giving him a quick kiss on the lips.
The ability for her to slip right back into giving kisses and loving him was so surreal. In some ways, it was like their marriage had never ended. He headed down the stairs and to his office. Once inside, he only had to wait about a minute before Brendon came in, followed by Cole, Sam, Edwyn, Eric, Junior, Nadine, Ferd and Dad. They all found seats quickly. Though they could’ve had bad attitudes about meeting on Christmas Day, none of them looked put out.
“Thanks for coming, everyone.” He took a seat behind his desk. “Edwyn, you told me you had news about some cattle?”
Dad sat up straighter in his chair as he turned to look at Edwyn.
“Yes, there’s an operation that’s shutting down about an hour south of here. They are already selling half their herd to another ranch, so it will be about the perfect size for us. The issue is that we’ll have to have the Homestead up and operational within a month.”
“And is that an achievable goal?” Connor asked.
“That depends. We only have these men here right now and all of them are busy. The fencing over at the Homestead needs a lot of work.”
Connor tapped his desk. This was something he wanted to do for his father as a thank you for all the time and effort he’d put in all these years. Not to mention how he’d made sure Lacy stayed. “We have multiple pastures on Wayside. Assuming we don’t have any deep snow with no shelter, we could temporarily put them in one of those.”
Edwyn nodded. “We could, but that would mean hiring people soon.”
Dad shifted in his chair. “I could help with that.”
“Good. You two can get together tomorrow and discuss what needs to happen. Let me know when you come up with something.”
Brendon told the group what Lacy had already told him about Tod and Cal. Everyone was silent, waiting for instructions. Connor still wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t know where the men were, couldn’t go looking for them, and hated to have to be on the defensive until they made a move. “We have to keep our eyes open, looking for anyone who doesn’t belong. My three brothers are coming today for a little while. Those will be the only strangers on the property. I’ll go out when they come so if you see them with me, they are not a concern.”
“Do you think these two will find their way to Wayside?” Cole asked.
“Eventually. I’m more concerned with them seeing me or Lacy in town and following us out here. They would recognize us.”
“And Randy,” Brendon said. “He was there, too.”
“Right, Randy would be recognized.”
“That could be an issue,” Edwyn said. “I sent him to town this morning to get gas for the ATVs. We ran pretty low this last week. He took a Wayside truck with a bunch of gas cans.”
The room went silent for a minute. “There was no way you could’ve known. I just hope no one saw him.”
“Is he back yet?” Connor asked.
“I didn’t check. I told him where the cans were, handed him the keys and a credit card to pay for it, then assumed the job would get done. He seemed happy to be able to help.” Edwyn shook his head. “I had no idea.”
Connor picked up his phone and pressed Randy’s number into it. The phone rang quite a few times, then went to voicemail. “Weird. He’s attached to that phone. I never see him without it.”
“I volunteer to go to his cabin and see if he’s there. If he’s not, I’ll head into town to check on him,” Junior said.
Cole scowled at Junior. “Dude, your wife is about to give birth any minute. You can’t leave her alone on Christmas Day. What if you get a Christmas baby?”
He turned a little pale. “I suppose you’re right. She’s been pregnant for so long, I forget that it’s going to happen really soon.”
“I’ll go,” Cole said. “He’s probably in his cabin taking a nap. He’s still used to the weird hours he used to work, and I know he’s been staying up all night to get ahead on his coursework.”
The explanation made it even more likely that Randy was simply in his room, asleep. “Thanks,” Connor said. “That’s all I have. Try to take a few minutes to rest today, if you can.”
They all chuckled. While the ranch duties were lessened in the winter, they never went away completely. Cole stood and shrugged his coat back on. “I’ll let you know what I find when I get out there.”
Connor let everyone leave then he made his way out to the living room. The tree wasn’t lit during the day, but it was still tall and beautiful. After opening gifts the night before, the bottom was now empty. He’d always felt that emptiness under the tree before Christmas was filled with promise, whereas after it had a strange finality. Like his mind knew that the next big holiday would be easter and though he was thankful for Easter, he wasn’t ever able to find joy in it.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out. Cole’s text made him wish he hadn’t invited his family over that day. He’d be needed.
Randy isn’t here. No one has seen him.
Lacy finished talking to Victoria as she poured her luscious chocolate pudding into two graham cracker crusts. She gently covered them in tin foil and slipped them into the huge freezer along the wall.
Victoria turned around and wiped her hands on a towel then tossed it onto the prep table. “Done. So, you’d like me to visit with Melinda today? I’d love to do that. All my family has moved away from Wyoming, so holidays have become pretty lonely.”
“I’m sorry,” Lacy hoped that didn’t mean she’d leave, but feeling alone was a hard emotion to live with. “Are you thinking of moving too?”
Victoria laughed as she shrugged out of her white chef coat. “No. Not a chance. This is my home. It has always been my home. Do I wish things had been different for me? Sure. But I have my friends, a great job, and a home that’s totally paid off. Those are all blessings I wouldn’t have if I moved.”
“True, and Wayside would miss you.” There wasn’t a single person who hadn’t been thankful for Victoria at one time or another.
She washed her hands and shook them off into the sink, then dried them. “I’ve gotten so used to Randy being in here to help me, I wasn’t sure what to do with myself having the whole kitchen all to my lonesome.” She grinned. “He has promise. I know he’s learning coding, whatever that is, but he has what it takes to work in a kitchen.”
“He told us he was willing to learn whatever he needed in order to live here. I’m glad he’s already found a place where he fits without Connor having to figure it out. I know Teddy hasn’t been able to help you like he used to.”
“I didn’t want him to. After he was shot, I made him stop helping me as much as he wanted to. I miss his help, but I knew it wasn’t good for him to be reaching and lifting like he was.” She carefully loaded the dishwasher with the few dishes she’d used. “Anyway, there’s food available when you want it. Anyone can come and get what they’d like. I know that means I’ll have a mess when I return tomorrow, but that’s okay too.” She grinned.
“Thank you, Victoria, for everything you do and Merry Christmas.” She hugged her friend.
“No trouble at all. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She grabbed her purse and headed for the door.
Lacy turned off the light as she left the kitchen and found Connor looking pensive in the living room. “What’s wrong? I seem to be asking that a lot lately.”
He waited until Victoria had left then focused on Lacy. “Randy is missing.”
“What?” She hadn’t thought he’d even left since they arrived. How could he be missing?
“Edwyn asked him to do a fairly simple job this morning. It shouldn’t have been a big deal, but he hasn’t come back yet.”
Her chest tightened. “With Tod and Cal still in the area . . .” They could’ve seen him. In fact, the gas station was the only place open for business within an hour’s drive.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what we’re concerned about.”
Lacy sat down on the couch. “Your family will be here any minute. What do we do?”
Ferd, Teddy, and Gloria walked in the door with big smiles. Gloria carried what looked like a cake with her. “Hello!” she said with a little too much excitement to be real.
All three of them stopped when Connor didn’t greet them with the same enthusiasm.
“Sorry, we just found out Randy is missing.”
Ferd’s mouth dropped open. “What can I do?”
“Nothing right now,” Connor answered. “My men have it under control.”
Lacy watched his face, looking for his true feelings and found he was telling the truth. Leaving for a short time had given him the ability to trust his men with this, at least for a few hours. “Victoria just left but the kitchen is stocked.”
Someone knocked on the front door and Teddy turned around to open it. On the other side, three slight variations of Connor stood next to three women. They came inside and shrugged off their coats. Gloria made a beeline for the kitchen with her cake.
Lacy was torn. Should she follow Gloria or stand by Connor’s side? The brother with the most flecks of white in his dark hair came forward and wrapped a meaty arm around Connor.
“Paul,” Connor said. “Good to see you.”
“Same,” he replied.
He hesitated ever so slightly, then did the same with Teddy. Lacy held back tears as the other two brothers did the same. Paul waited until Kevin and Hunter had finished, then he introduced the wives.
“This is my wife, Laura.” He indicated which woman was his wife. She waved slightly, but stayed back by the door like she wanted to escape. “This is Kevin’s wife, Maggie.” He moved his hand slightly over to introduce her. “And this is Hunter’s wife, Regina.”
“Good to meet all of you,” Lacy said and welcomed them in to sit down.
Teddy waited a moment. “I’d also like to introduce you to my daughter, Ferd, and my wife, Gloria.” He nodded at each of them.
Gloria came over to stand at his side, though she, too, looked like she wanted to bolt.
None of the three brothers said anything, but each nodded. Connor wasn’t much of a talker when he didn’t have to, so she wasn’t all that surprised at them. “Did you have a good Christmas with your other side of the family?” Lacy asked.
Each of the women looked at each other as if they weren’t sure who should go first. Finally, Laura spoke up. “My family is fine. Look, we’re only here because we were asked to be. We all agreed on the way here that this meeting wasn’t part of our Christmas plan, it was part of theirs.” She pointed at the brothers.
Connor tugged on his collar and looked around. Lacy tried to think of something the women would be interested in doing while the men did their talking. Maybe this was exactly why Connor had felt he needed her there.
“Would you like to go out and see the horses?” she offered.
All three again looked back and forth at each other, then Regina answered for the group. “Sure. That sounds great. Hunter, send a text when you’re finished.” She shrugged her coat back on.
Connor reached for her for a moment and mouthed, thank you , silently to her. She smiled back and put on her coat to lead the ladies to the barn. She didn’t want them to be uncomfortable, but she couldn’t imagine why they’d agreed to come if they didn’t want to.
“So, I can tell you didn’t want to come. I mean, you said as much, so why did you?” Holding her tongue was never a strong part of her character.
Regina laughed. “I like you. We don’t have to worry about what you’re thinking. Honestly, we came because our husbands asked us to. Since Paul said you’re in the same boat, I feel like you’d understand. All of us would love to figure out where we went wrong. It seemed like our relationships were good for a while, then they all fizzled.” She shrugged. “I get it that the spark goes out after a while, but I can’t figure out what happened.”
Lacy swallowed back her immediate desire to admit she and Connor were fine now, better than fine. That’s not what these ladies needed to hear. “If they’re like Connor, they probably feel like their dad cheated them out of part of their lives.”
“Connor feels that way? About his mom, I suppose,” Regina said.
Laura piped up, “I’d wondered if it had something to do with family stuff. He’s always complaining that my family likes to do things. His family doesn’t. It’s like he can’t fathom that some people still like to get together with their parents.”
“I wonder if this meeting will help or hurt the situation?” Lacy almost hated to speculate.
“I don’t know,” Maggie finally chimed in. “All I know is that Kevin and Hunter didn’t want to be here, but Paul asked them to come. Their mother convinced them for years that Teddy had done her dirty and had an affair. She was sure Connor knew about it the whole time because he was so close to his father.” She shrugged. “Unless something pretty significant happens. I doubt it will matter at this point. I’ve tried suggesting therapy and all sorts of things. I’m ready to give up.”
Lacy took a deep breath and tried very hard not to put her own life story on these ladies. They hadn’t lived what she had. “I’m praying that all of you find peace with your husbands and I’m so sorry that this hasn’t been easier for any of you.”
Sin truly did reach through time and destroy when it wasn’t dealt with. Twenty years of hiding what had gone wrong had only made the problem multiply.