Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Singing along to Miranda Lambert on the radio, Sage drove at the speed limit as she left town.
It was twenty minutes before midnight on Saturday, and even though she’d only had two glasses of wine over several hours, she kept a careful watch for deer or coyotes darting into the road.
The wooded area began at the edge of town and extended for almost three miles before opening onto farmland again.
Then again, it wasn’t unheard of to come across a cow, sheep, or even a horse standing in the middle of the road.
The evening had been fun, with Ashley, Sarah, and Jess all getting together for a girls’ night out, something the four friends hadn’t done in a while.
Ashley and Jess had birthdays coming up during the week, so they’d gone to the only real honky-tonk in Rosewood.
The American Legion post had a bar, and another spot was a little hole-in-the-wall called The Tavern, but the Sip & Dip had a large dance floor and live music two Saturdays a month.
Picnic tables replaced booths, scattered throughout the establishment, and sawdust and peanut shells covered the floor.
One of their favorite local bands, Playing Possum, had been there tonight, and they’d all danced up a storm.
Sage had almost begged off. After last week’s nightmare with the Ferris wheel, she’d been having difficulty letting either of her children out of her sight.
Matthew had recovered from the frightening ordeal, and so had Toby, but she thought it would be a very long time before either boy dared go on another amusement ride.
And that was fine with her.
While she’d enjoyed being out with her girlfriends, a huge part of her missed sitting on the back porch after dinner with Adam, talking about anything and everything.
They’d fallen into a routine, and it was one she felt comfortable with.
With school out, the kids could stay up later, so everyone converged on the porch, where the adults enjoyed their evening coffee.
Sage and Maddie would chat while working on their knitting.
They were part of a group that made blankets for premature babies and cancer patients undergoing treatment at the county hospital.
Sage wasn’t as fast as Maddie, who’d taught her how to knit, but at least her finished pieces were on par with her mentor’s.
Meanwhile, Evan and Adam continued their chess game. They were evenly matched and needed about a week to finish each game before they set up for another.
Sometimes the kids had friends over or spent the night at a sleepover.
Other times, they found something to do together.
Matthew loved bringing out the telescope Mark had given him a few months before he died.
Since then, Sage had gotten him a bunch of astronomy books, and he loved finding the constellations in the sky.
Jenna usually played nearby with her dolls and other toys, or sometimes sat on Adam’s lap while he studied the chessboard.
Then, long after the children had gone to bed and the older couple retired to their cottage, Sage and Adam would either steal away to his bedroom to make love or stay beneath the stars talking.
She hadn’t realized how much she missed having a man to talk to.
Sometimes a woman needed her girlfriends, sometimes her parents or siblings, but other times, having a man listen to her…
really listen to her fears and dreams… was exactly what she needed.
She had been fortunate enough to find another companion who was filling the hole in her heart caused by Mark’s death.
But for how long?
Adam had become part of their little family, but she was still afraid to ask about his long-term plans.
She couldn’t decide which would be worse—knowing he’d eventually leave or having it come as a surprise one day.
Of course, there was always the possibility he would stay and things would continue as they had been.
Or maybe one of these days, he’d tell her he’d fallen madly in love with her, as she had with him, and wanted to make an honest woman of her.
She just wished she knew where she stood with him.
Her headlights flashed across a blur, and she slammed on the brakes as a three-point buck leaped past the hood of her truck. The back end swung wide, and she yanked the steering wheel to the right and then left, fighting to maintain control. The truck corrected itself and finally stopped.
Her heart pounded as she sucked in a lungful of air, only then realizing she’d been holding her breath.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the buck was long gone.
She’d missed the deer’s hind legs by inches.
A full minute ticked by before her hands relaxed their death grip on the steering wheel.
She lifted her foot off the brake and pressed the accelerator.
For the next two miles, she drove ten miles below the speed limit.
By the time she reached the far end of the woods and the beginning of Davidson’s farm, with its acres of fresh vegetables growing in the Oklahoma soil, she’d almost recovered and increased her speed a little.
Three miles later, she made a right turn onto the long gravel driveway of Heaven’s Pastures Ranch.
With all the recent rain, plenty of new potholes had formed, and patches of dirt showed through where the stone had worn thin.
The truck rocked back and forth as she navigated them as slowly as possible.
The last thing she needed was to bottom out and put a hole in the oil pan.
And replenishing the gravel was another expense she couldn't afford at the moment.
That had been another reason she’d gone out tonight–to calm her aggravation.
Bart Sherman had been over again with another offer to buy her property.
Why the man was so insistent, she didn’t know, but it would be a cold day in hell before she sold the ranch that had been in her husband’s family for generations.
Somehow, someway, she’d make it a success again.
As she approached the house, she noticed the living room light was on, but the front porch was dark.
That was strange.
She’d left it on when she’d gone out earlier, and Adam had no reason to turn it off. In fact, he’d specifically said he would leave it on for her.
Maybe the bulb had blown.
Before she could pull into her usual spot, the headlights swept across the porch, and she noticed something else was wrong. Stopping the truck, she squinted at the shadowy figure lying on the welcome mat.
It took her a moment to realize it was Benji.
But why was he lying there instead of rushing out to greet her?
Leaving the headlights on, Sage killed the engine, grabbed her purse, and opened the driver’s door. Climbing down, she called softly, “Benji? What’s wrong, boy?”
She took one, maybe two steps before a massive hand came from behind and clamped over her mouth. She was yanked backward against a brick wall of a body, her purse dropping to the ground as her heart jumped into her throat. Another hand appeared in front of her, a huge knife gripped in its fist.
The blade glinted in the headlights.
She struggled to break free and tried to scream, but the hand over her mouth muffled every sound. Then hot, alcohol-laced breath brushed her ear and cheek.
“Quiet, or I’ll break the door down and kill those brats of yours.”
Matthew flipped onto his side, trying to find a comfortable spot so he could go back to sleep, but a light shining around the edges of the window blinds fell right on his face.
Blinking, he rubbed his eyes and got up.
He pushed two of the slats apart, and the bright light intensified.
Once his eyes adjusted, he realized it was coming from the headlights of his mom’s truck.
She must have just pulled in and was still listening to a song she loved on the radio.
She did that sometimes, sitting in the driver’s seat with the doors shut and singing along until the song ended.
He always pretended it embarrassed him, but deep down, he loved it.
It reminded him of when she used to sing him to sleep before he grew too old for nursery rhymes.
Occasionally, he’d stand outside Jenna’s door at night while Mom put his sister to bed and listen as she sang.
Letting the slats fall back into place, he was about to lie back down when something odd clicked in his brain. Taking another peek out the window, he tried to figure out what seemed wrong about the truck.
Then it hit him.
The driver’s door was wide open.
He waited, expecting his mom to climb out at any second, but she didn’t.
Maybe she was sick or hurt.
Unsure what to do, he stared at the truck, willing his mother to appear. Almost a full minute passed with no sign of her, and his worry got the best of him.
He padded barefoot across the room, opened the door, and paused to listen, but the only thing he heard was the ticking of the old cuckoo clock on the hallway wall.
His mom’s bedroom door was open, and although the lights were off, the moonlight coming through the window was enough for him to see she wasn’t in bed.
Across the hall, Jenna was sound asleep in her bed, her small night-light illuminating her face.
She always slept with the door open a few inches, and he crept past in silence, not wanting to wake her.
One lamp in the living room was on, giving him enough light to see where he was going. But when he reached the foyer, he hesitated, having second thoughts. Adam had watched TV with them earlier, but after they went to bed, he’d returned to his cottage, only about fifty feet from the main house.
Maybe I should get him.
He almost turned around, then changed his mind. He was old enough to check on his mom by himself, even though he couldn’t figure out why he was suddenly shaking.
Flipping the two locks on the door, he pulled it open and almost tripped over Benji. The dog was lying on the welcome mat.