23
Gordon woke before sunrise in his own bed.
For a moment, he lay still, staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling, listening to the quiet of the cottage around him.
No bunkhouse noises.
No men shifting in sleep. No boots hitting the floor. No murmured complaints about alarm clocks or early chores. No shared space. No borrowed corner of a room.
Just quiet.
His quiet.
His place.
The thought still felt too large to hold comfortably.
Yesterday, Luke and Edye had given him a truck and a cottage and a set of keys that weighed more than metal should. Last night, he had brought over his duffle bag and the few things that belonged to him. It had taken less than an hour to move his life from the bunkhouse to the cottage.
That had bothered him more than he expected.
A man should have more than one duffle bag to show for twenty-two years of living.
But when he stood in the bedroom afterward, looking at his clothes in the dresser, his books on the nightstand, his boots beside the door, he had felt something unfamiliar settle inside him.
Not pride exactly.
Not relief only.
Belonging.
Now, in the soft gray of morning, he pushed back the covers and sat up.
The house was cool. The floor felt clean beneath his feet. The curtains Edye had chosen let in just enough light to turn the room silver. He washed, dressed, and moved through the cottage quietly, still half-expecting someone to tell him he had misunderstood and this was not really his.
No one came.
The keys were on the kitchen counter.
The truck was outside.
The ranch was waiting.
And Talia.
Gordon paused with his hand on the coffee mug he had found in the cabinet the night before.
Talia.
He had planned to apologize to her first thing.
He had embarrassed her at dinner. He had pushed when he should have waited. He had let his own need to know, to hear her admit she liked him, put her on display in front of people who were already watching her too closely.
He hated that.
He hated more that part of him still kept replaying her whisper.
Okay, I admit it. I like you.
He took a breath, set the mug down without making coffee, and headed to the main house.
The truck started with a smooth rumble, still new enough to make something in him tighten every time he turned the key. He drove from the cottage to the main house, parked, and went inside through the kitchen door.
The lights were on. The smell of coffee and breakfast filled the room.
Elise stood at the stove, moving with the brisk authority of a woman who could feed half the county and still notice if one man was trying to leave with only toast. Earl sat at the end of the table with a cup of coffee, scrolling through something on his phone with a frown that suggested technology had personally offended him.
Gordon took his usual seat.
“Morning,” Elise said.
“Morning.”
“You sleep all right?”
He looked up.
Her voice was casual, but her eyes were not.
“In the cottage?” she added.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And?”
“It’s quiet.”
Earl grunted. “That’s generally the point of living alone.”
Elise set a plate in front of Gordon. “Quiet can take some getting used to.”
Gordon looked at the eggs, toast, and bacon. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Eat before you start thinking yourself into a knot.”
He almost smiled.
Too late.
He had already started.
He picked up his fork, but his eyes kept moving to the door.
Talia usually came in with Lisa, Cassi, and Ruby. Not always talking. Sometimes not even fully awake. But she came. She would sit in the chair beside him if they were eating at the main house or grab coffee and stand near the counter, watching the ranch wake up like she was afraid to miss a detail.
This morning, he needed to see her.
Not for the article.
Not for questions.
For the apology.
The back door opened, and Lisa stepped inside with Cassi and Ruby behind her.
Gordon looked past them.
No Talia.
He waited, expecting her to appear a step later, maybe distracted, maybe annoyed, maybe avoiding his eyes.
The door closed.
Gordon set his fork down.
“Where’s Talia?”
Lisa looked at him, then at Cassi and Ruby.
That was enough to tighten his chest.
“What?” he asked.
Lisa pulled off her jacket slowly. “We thought she was already here.”
Gordon stood. “Was she up when y’all left?”
Lisa shook her head. “We hadn’t seen her since dinner.”
Elise turned from the stove. “What do you mean you haven’t seen her since dinner?”
Earl lowered his phone.
Lisa’s expression turned uneasy. “I mean she didn’t come in with us last night. At least, I don’t think she did.”
Elise wiped her hands on a towel and came closer. “Do you mean she didn’t come back to the bunkhouse last night?”
Lisa shook her head. “I don’t think so. Her bed looked like she hadn’t slept in it.”
Cassi added, “Her phone and computer are gone too.”
Gordon was already moving.
His chair scraped hard against the floor as he jumped up from the table and rushed through the hallway to the front of the house. His boots hit the floor too fast, too loud. He reached the front door and yanked it open.
Cool morning air swept over him.
He looked toward the area where Talia had parked her car since she arrived.
Empty.
Her car was gone.
Gordon’s hand tightened on the doorframe.
For a second, everything inside him went cold.
He had run her off.
The thought came so fast and sharp it stole his breath.
He had embarrassed her. Pushed her. Kissed her. Made her feel cornered. Sat at the table while Luke told him not to go after her. Let the night pass without apologizing because everyone said she needed time.
And maybe time had given her room to leave.
He closed his eyes.
Behind him, footsteps hurried into the front hall.
“Gordon?” Elise called.
He did not answer.
Cassi’s voice came from somewhere behind her. “I don’t think she’s gone gone.”
Gordon turned.
Cassi stood near the hall, looking worried. “Her pajamas were still on the foot of the bed, and her toiletries were in the bathroom.”
That should have helped.
It did, slightly.
Not enough.
Earl came up beside Elise, calm in the way older men could be calm when everyone else was already halfway to panic.
“Maybe she just went into town or something,” Earl said. “Try calling her.”
Gordon stared at him.
Calling her.
Right.
Of course.
He felt foolish for not thinking of it himself.
He pulled his phone from his pocket, found Talia’s name in his contacts, and pressed call.
The line went to voicemail.
His stomach dropped.
He ended the call before her recorded voice could finish and dialed again.
Straight to voicemail.
This time, he cut it off as soon as the message started.
He looked at them. “Straight to voicemail.”
Elise’s face changed when she saw his.
Not pity.
Not fear.
Action.
“Earl,” she said, “check the security footage.”
Earl nodded and headed toward the office wing.
Gordon stood in the hall, phone clenched in his hand, trying to force his mind to move in straight lines.
She could have gone somewhere on the ranch.
She could be angry and ignoring him.
She could have left through the gate before anyone saw.
No. Someone would have seen.
Security would have logged it.
Unless she had found another way out.
Unless something happened.
His chest tightened.
Edye entered with Malik toddling close beside her and Nia following in purple pajamas and boots, because apparently morning rules did not apply to Nia.
Edye stopped when she saw the faces in the hallway.
“What’s going on?”
Elise gave her the rundown quickly. “Talia didn’t come back to the bunkhouse after dinner. Her car is gone. Her phone is going to voicemail. Earl’s checking the gate cameras now.”
Edye’s eyes went immediately to Gordon.
He looked away.
Nia’s face scrunched with concern. “Miss Talia is lost?”
“No, baby,” Edye said, calm but alert. “We don’t know that.”
“She shouldn’t be lost. The ranch is big.”
“Yes, it is,” Edye said softly.
Malik reached for Elise, who picked him up automatically, though her attention stayed fixed on the office wing.
A moment later, Earl returned, phone in hand.
“She didn’t go to the gate,” he said. “No vehicle out after dinner. No vehicle in. She has to be on the property somewhere.”
That should have made Gordon feel better.
It didn’t.
All he could think about was Talia walking away from the table, humiliated and hurt. Talia alone somewhere on unfamiliar land. Talia, who did not know every road, every curve where the dirt got soft after rain, every pasture she should not enter without knowing what animals were in it.
“She was upset with me,” Gordon said.
His voice sounded too rough.
Edye came closer. “Gordon.”
“I embarrassed her.”
“We know,” Nia said.
Edye looked down. “Nia.”
“What? Everybody knows.”
Gordon flinched, though Nia had not meant harm.
Edye touched his arm. “We’re going to find her.”
He nodded, but he could not think past the panic pressing against his ribs.
He had been on the outside of the ranch circle long enough to joke about the ranch network like everyone else did. He knew Edye and Elise heard things before most people realized anything had happened.
He had not fully understood what it looked like when Edye activated that network with purpose.
Elise moved first, carrying Malik to Edye before picking up the phone mounted in the kitchen. “I’ll call the cottages.”
Edye shifted Malik onto her hip and took out her own phone. “I’ll call Cody and Sierra.”
Earl returned to the office to pull up more footage.
Luke entered from the office wing a few seconds later, shirt sleeves rolled, expression already hard with focus. “What do we know?”
Edye answered. “She didn’t leave through the gate. Her car is gone. She didn’t sleep in the bunkhouse.”
Luke’s gaze landed on Gordon.
Gordon forced himself not to look away.
Luke did not blame him out loud.
He did not have to.
Gordon already blamed himself.
Phones began ringing.
Elise spoke first. “Morning, June. Did you hear or see a car pass the cottages last evening? After dinner, maybe?”
A pause.
Elise’s eyes lifted.
“What time?”
Everyone went still.
“Mm-hmm. Which direction?” Elise listened, then nodded. “Thank you. Call back if you remember anything else.”
She hung up and looked at Edye. “One of the new families heard a car pass their place yesterday evening. Said it sounded like it was headed farther out, not back toward the main house.”
Edye was already speaking into her phone. “Sierra, did you or Cody see Talia’s car last night?”
Gordon stepped toward her without realizing it.
Edye listened.
Then her eyes sharpened.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
A pause.
“Thank you. Stay by your phone.”
She ended the call and looked at Luke. “Cody and Sierra were on the porch. They saw Talia’s car pass. She drove beyond their place.”
Luke’s expression tightened.
Edye looked toward Gordon. “That means she may have gone toward the gazebo area.”
“The pond,” Earl said from the office doorway. “If she kept following that road, she’d end up near the pond.”
Before anyone could say another word, Gordon was out the door headed to his truck.