by Dana Mentink
Levi watched Teegan’s expression carefully. His mouth was tight with...fury? Fear?
“I don’t see how that’s justification for accusing me of what happened here.”
“I don’t need justification for asking questions,” Mara said. The snap in her dark eyes made Levi’s nerves thrill. “This is yet another attempt to hurt or kill me. My brother is in the hospital. Someone is out to get my family, and I have the right to be direct.”
“That someone isn’t me,” Teegan said. “I don’t know where your message came from or how this mess happened. Your sister is most likely dead, I’m sorry to say. I don’t know why anyone would want to pretend otherwise. That’s just sick and hurtful.” He jammed his hands in his pocket and fished out his keys. “I’m leaving now.”
“Jude wants you to stay,” Levi said.
“Jude can come find me. I don’t have to stand here and take all these accusations.” He strode to his car and zoomed away. Jude returned. “No sign of a vehicle. Whoever it was may have ridden in on horseback or walked up from the ravine on foot.”
Or driven straight in in his car, Levi thought.
They stayed until Mara had had time to drink more water, and they told him about their conversation with Teegan. As he led her to his vehicle, his thoughts ran wild. The person who’d started up the backhoe had taken a great risk. If it was Teegan, he could have been easily spotted. Same with Jerry. Levi or Mara or even Jude might have noticed whoever it was. The act spoke to a high level of desperation, as did the attack on Mara at the hospital. These were up close and personal attacks, not just someone shooting from a distance into a car windshield.
Mara was examining the scene, too, as they walked by Jerry’s office.
“Could have just as easily been Jerry,” Levi mused aloud. “He could have fired up the backhoe before Teegan arrived and pretended he was making a sandwich.”
Mara shook her head.
“You don’t think so? Why?”
She looked suddenly bashful and beautiful, dirt and all. “Because he had mustard all over his shirt and a smear of it on his chin. That was a man who was enjoying his lunch.” She gave him a quick smile. “See why I’m not a detective?”
He smiled back, in awe of her ability to even muster up a grin. “Me neither. I’m glad Jude is responsible for the sleuthing from here on out.”
“But I can’t help thinking more and more that these threats to my family have something to do with Corinne.”
He stayed quiet while she finished her thought.
“Is it possible that someone doesn’t want me to know what really happened to her?”
He looked again at the ruined trailer. “I don’t know, but from now on we leave it to the police. Agreed?”
After another pained sigh, she nodded. “Agreed.”
They made their way back to the Rocking Horse, each lost in their own thoughts. Banjo greeted them in the front drive with Tiny prancing along. In spite of her condition, Mara bent and scratched Banjo and his companion, who both set about sniffing her before she went in search of a shower. He quickly threw on clean clothes and set about his ranch chores, never straying out of sight of Mara’s cabin. When he finished, Mara had not yet emerged, but the Duke cavalry had arrived.
Austin and Willow settled at his kitchen table, and so did Jude and Beckett.
“We heard what happened,” Beckett said. “What’s your take on it, Levi?”
“Could have been Jerry or Teegan or someone else, but it’s becoming obvious this is about Corinne.”
“Her sister?” Willow said. “I thought she committed suicide or died accidentally in Death Valley.”
“That was the official finding,” Jude said. “Here’s what we know from the archived files. The day before she ran away from home, she called Teegan and wanted to come see him. He admits they talked at length on the phone, and he told her he didn’t want anything to do with her. He says she continued to call and message, but he ignored them all. Police were advised of the situation by the Castillos and conducted a search with no results. She may have hitchhiked to Furnace Falls would be my guess. Then nothing. No sign of her anywhere. Two months later, after no clues to her whereabouts, her shoe was found in Death Valley National Park. Dogs were brought in and a search team, but her body and belongings were never found—only the shoe.”
“Where?”
“Saline Valley.”
Austin frowned. “That’s miles of rugged nowhere.”
“National Park Service searched for weeks after the shoe was found. Never located her body. They surmised her remains are in a crevice or...well...there might have been some wild-animal involvement,” Jude said delicately.
“Is it possible she’s alive?” Willow said. “If Mara got that weird text and all...”
Jude shook his head. “I don’t want to give any false hope here. She’s probably dead.”
At that moment, Levi realized that Mara was standing in the doorway, hair glistening with moisture from the shower. From her stricken face, he knew she’d heard Jude’s sad proclamation.
“I’m sorry,” Jude said as Levi beckoned her in and vacated a chair for her. He caressed her shoulder for a moment, wishing he could ease her pain.
“It’s okay.” Mara’s gulp was audible. “I know that’s probably the situation. If Corinne wasn’t dead, she would have contacted me somehow and not with some enigmatic message. This text and the postcard are somebody’s way of messing with my family—or maybe an attempt to point blame? The question I have now is did she go off into Death Valley and end her own life, or did someone kill her and hide her body?”
“I will go over it again with the park rangers,” Jude said. “We’ll take a second look while we continue the current investigation.”
Mara sighed. “Please, can we keep this from my parents unless there’s something important? They have enough on their plates right now.”
“Of course,” Jude said. “In the meantime...”
Mara offered a wry grin. “I know. Don’t go anywhere alone. Well, I wasn’t alone today, and I still nearly got buried.”
“My fault,” Levi said. “I should have heard the backhoe sooner.”
“No,” she said, eyes flashing. “It’s the fault of whoever tried to bury me under a pile of dirt.” She turned a look to Levi. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning for the vendor-fair kickoff. Very public. No chance of getting shot, buried or carried off by a horse in the Grange Hall, right?” There was a challenge in her gaze as if she expected him to try and talk her out of it. “Okay, then. I think I’ll check emails to see if there are any new reservations and lie down for a while.”
“Let me know if you need anything,” Levi said.
She turned and went back to the cabin. Banjo jogged after her. When Tiny did not follow quickly enough, Banjo picked her up gently in his massive jaws and carried her into the cabin. Levi watched from the porch until she was safely inside. He returned to the kitchen.
Austin said “I’m going to the vendor fair tomorrow. Another set of eyes on you two.”
“Me, too,” Willow said. “No one pays any attention to the photographer, so I’m going to focus on Teegan and Jerry, too, if he’s there. Anyone who seems to linger around you or Mara.”
Beckett nodded. “I’ll talk to Herm. He was born here in Furnace Falls, and he’s been cooking for our hotel for twenty-plus years. He knows everything about everyone. I’ll get his perspective on Teegan and Amelia.”
“Now, go take a shower,” Austin said to Levi. “You look like a mole just come up for some fresh air.”
Levi thanked them as they left. Willow lingered behind.
Willow looked thoughtful. “Mara’s tough. I like that.”
“Yes.”
“And she loves her family. Maybe I’ve been too hard on her. She does have some good qualities.”
<
br /> The best, Levi thought. He realized he was staring in the direction Mara had taken like some sort of starry-eyed puppy. Willow’s eyes narrowed. “Levi? You aren’t falling for Mara, are you? I know you had a thing for her our senior year.”
“What?” He felt heat burning him from the inside out. “We’re just working Camp Town Days together, that’s all.”
She arched an eyebrow. “You sure that’s all?”
“Yes. It’s only for a week.”
And then he would sell—it was the right thing to do.
And then he would say goodbye to Mara.
Why did that feel like he’d been handed a prison sentence?
ELEVEN
Mara let herself into the main house since Levi made it clear that the kitchen was hers for anything she needed. What she desperately required was coffee, and plenty of it, since she had tossed and turned all night in the tiny cabin cot. She was already on her second cup when Levi returned from feeding the herd, clomping through the front door. There was the look she’d seen before, the soft contentment that overtook him after he’d been working with his horses. She imagined the same look shone on her face when she was interacting with animals. She took a large swallow of coffee that burned her mouth.
“All set for tomorrow?” she said. “The Johnsons confirmed for the Death Valley excursion. We’ll drop them at their campsite on Gene’s property at the end. I’m hoping we can get some good pictures of happy customers and post them to our website gallery.”
He nodded. “Since I know you’re going to insist on being there, Austin is coming along for some extra protection.”
“Better him than Willow.” Mara frowned. “She’s not my biggest fan, is she?”
Levi drank some coffee from the mug she handed him. “She’s coming around. How’s Seth?”
“He’s still confused. Mom said he’s very emotional, which isn’t uncommon after a head injury, and the doctors are watching carefully. They are pleased with his progress.”
The comment evoked a painful expression from Levi. He stood with his back to her, staring out the small kitchen window.
She put her hand on his shoulder. “Levi, I know you’re still thinking about what Dad said. Seth will be okay, no matter how the ranch does.”
He looked over at her hand touching him, and he slowly turned to her. His sorrow was so palpable she could not understand how she had ever thought he was using her brother. This was a gentle man, a selfless man, who would not ever stoop to manipulation.
“I know,” she said softly, “that Seth would have loved to be a part of this. Good business or not. I think some of my reaction was plain old jealousy.”
He blinked at her. “Jealousy? Of this place? Why?”
Should she tell him? It was a level of intimacy that she had not revealed to anyone. After a breath, she said, “Corinne and I argued on her last night at home. She wanted to go back to Furnace Falls, and she was complaining. It was all she did since we’d moved, and it got worse after Seth enlisted. Complain, sulk, go silent. I finally couldn’t stand it, and I snapped and told her to stop being a selfish brat.”
“And she ran away so you felt guilty. It’s why you dropped vet-tech school and went to work for your parents, isn’t it?”
Pain twisted her insides. “It sounds so simple when you say it, but Levi, my last words to my sister were terrible. My parents never expected me to work at the store, to give up what I wanted, but it was my way of making amends, I guess. I assigned myself the role. When I look around here, at this ranch, I feel like this is freedom for Seth, like he was embarking on a dream life when I gave up mine. Dumb, huh? My choices, not anybody else’s.”
He slipped a hand under her chin and tipped her face to his. “Not dumb. I understand that completely.”
And she saw that he did indeed understand, without judgment, without condemnation. It lit a beautiful flame inside her soul. “You’re the only one I’ve ever told that to.”
He smiled. “Then, I am honored. You are one of a kind, Mara.”
She could not continue to hold his thick-lashed gaze. “One-of-a-kind people don’t call their sister names or develop a martyr syndrome like I have,” she mumbled to the floorboards.
“Yes,” he said slowly, “they do. We all fall short. We all need grace. Don’t let yourself live in a cage of guilt. You have too much to give to the world.”
His lips were so near hers. The heady scent of his soap swirled in her senses. “I will try,” she whispered. “But only if you try, too. Your ranch did not ruin my brother, and you are not responsible for saving him.”
Levi tried to look away, but now it was her that put a finger to turn his face back to hers. “Promise you’ll try.”
He bent just close enough that she heard his murmured reply. “All right. I will. For you.”
“For us,” she murmured, as his lips grazed her cheek.
Had she really said that aloud? There was no us. What would he think? Before she could make light of her comment or change the subject, he kissed her temple, and she found herself wrapped in his strong embrace. For one long and precious moment, she rested there, and their connection was so sweet, so natural—it felt perfect. But what was she doing? In a week, she would be gone, with or without answers about her sister. She’d have to return to Henderson to run the store, perhaps to care for Seth wherever he might be sent for the best care. Whatever she’d found here in the desert would be a memory.
She withdrew from him, and he let her go easily enough. That hurt most of all. It told her that he did not share the strange emotions that passed through her while in his embrace. And there was something, in his posture, in the dullness of his eyes, that made her feel like he had some plan afoot, something that pained him to think about. And she’d added to that pain, unwittingly. So it was her duty to restore the distance between them.
Duty, Mara. It always comes back to that.
“I’ll grab my bag, and we can go,” she said.
He didn’t reply, but she felt his heavy gaze on her as she turned away. She’d gotten a few steps when he stopped her.
“Mara?”
She faced him. “Yes?”
There was a puzzled crease on his forehead, as if he was trying to resolve a problem. “Never mind.”
She wondered what he had been about to say. Something tender? No, more likely something practical. That was their relationship. Temporary partners on the Rocking Horse Ranch. And that’s all she wanted, wasn’t it?
* * *
Levi’s stomach simply would not relax as they drove to the Grange Hall. Likely it was tension about the upcoming crowd they would encounter. Mara’s safety should be occupying his thoughts, not the way her skin felt against her cheek, not the promise he’d made.
For us...
Us. He’d never really dreamed of an us with anyone else except for Mara. Though he would not admit it even if he was being drawn and quartered, he’d spent more than his share of time over the years imagining being Mara’s one and only. She was just...different from other women. Down to earth, her values in line with his, the way she just plain sparkled, made up for his clumsy conversation, sharpened his dull corners. He was a window, and she was the light that passed through and illuminated everything.
“Sweetie.”
The word broke into his reverie. “Huh?”
“Mrs. Johnson isn’t an experienced rider like her husband, so I was thinking of Sweetie for her tomorrow.”
Business. Why don’t you try putting your mind on it? Maybe he’d catch a break, and one of the customers would be a wealthy businessperson looking to buy a dumpy old ranch. “Sure. Sweetie would be great.”
They parked in the reserved slot, and he grabbed the bundle of flyers. Mara toted a bag she’d brought, and they entered the Grange Hall. The big room had been transformed. There were bales of hay stacked
in corners and decorated with saddles. Tables covered in checkered cloths lined the space. Some had already been festooned with wares: candles, old-time photographs, beaded necklaces, honey, homemade jams, jellies and pies. The reenactment group had somehow managed to get a small replica of a mule-team wagon into the space, and their people were in costume, bustling around with displays about Borax mining and information about how to get a spot in camp on Gene’s property.
“Ten. That’s our table,” Mara said. He stuck close by her side as they meandered through the people. He intended to plop the Rocking Horse Ranch flyers on the table, but Mara had other ideas. From her bag, she took old horseshoes and the ranch photo she’d borrowed from the wall of her cabin. In a matter of moments, she’d set up an eye-catching display, complete with a clipboard for folks who wanted to sign up for their newsletter.
“We have a newsletter?”
She laughed. “You will before I leave.”
He wanted to tell her then that he’d decided to sell the Rocking Horse, but her glow of enthusiasm was so sweet he could not bring himself to say it. It would likely take several months to complete any transfer of property, anyway. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to bring in some tourist dollars in the meantime. Anything put toward Seth’s care would help. But what in the world would they include in a newsletter?
Willow waved at them from across the room where she was taking pictures. Austin would be in the crowd somewhere, too. Their presence brought him comfort, knowing he was not the only one watching out for Mara.
Gene approached, in a plaid shirt, baggy jeans and suspenders. “That display looks very inviting,” he said. “Nice touch with the horseshoes.”
“Thank you,” Mara said.
“Like what you see?” Gene waved a hand around.
“Yes. The planning team did a great job.”
“Hours of work, for sure.” Gene’s smile dimmed. “Look, I’m not sure how to say this, but I heard you accused Teegan of the accident at the J and K.”
“It wasn’t an accident,” Levi said. “Just like the jack under my horse’s saddle wasn’t.”