by Stacy Finz
His lies today were legion.
She answered on the second ring with a bright hello.
“I wanted to see how Henry’s doing?”
“The day knocked him out. We’d barely finished dinner and he fell asleep.”
“That’s good . . . sleep I mean. Where you guys staying?”
“The Sierra Grand again. How was the drive home?”
“I stayed at Alma’s place here in town. Didn’t want to risk the drive again tomorrow.”
“Oh.” She sounded surprised. Maybe even a little disappointed. “Had I known I would’ve treated you to dinner.”
“Probably a good thing you didn’t know then. Because I would’ve taken you up on dinner and that’s a bad idea, Brynn.” Everything involving her was a bad idea, including the phone call. Because now he wanted to find an excuse to meet her at the hotel.
“It’s just dinner.”
“You and I both know it isn’t.”
There was a long pause on her end, then, “Thank you for everything you did today. I know . . . it made you uncomfortable. I hope I didn’t guilt you into doing something that went against your honor.”
“It had nothing to do with guilt” and everything to do with her. Which they also both knew.
He stirred his soup as it began to bubble. In the top cupboard he found a bowl, also floral, and ladled himself a serving.
“Will you be there tomorrow when Henry gets his blood drawn?”
There was zero reason for him to be present. It was a simple routine lab procedure. “Yes. I’d like to see Henry beforehand.”
He took his bowl to the table and waited for the soup to cool. If he had half a brain he’d hang up now. But he wasn’t ready to let Brynn go. If nothing else, he liked hearing the sound of her voice.
A text chimed on his phone. While Brynn launched into a story about her ride with Rhys, he put her on speaker and checked to make sure the message wasn’t from home. Not home. Joey.
“Heard about your dreadful drive from Alma. She actually said more than three words to me today. Shocking. I guess that’s Progress. In any event, I wanted to make sure you made it okay. If you need a place to stay there is always room at my folks’ house.”
The text reminded him of all the reasons getting too involved with Brynn was wrong. After the debacle with Joey he was lucky to still have a job. At the time, he’d been in the dark about the ways Joey had jeopardized his career. It was only later that he’d found out. But with Brynn he’d have no one to blame but himself.
So, was he going to put the skids on whatever this was with Brynn? His head said “yes.” But the rest of him screamed a resounding “No.”
Chapter 14
The sun peeked out of the sky Saturday for the first time that week. Joey hoped it was a sign, a good omen that today marked a new beginning with Roni.
She’d planned the entire day up to the last detail. And if everything went well, she hoped to close out the evening with some alone time with Ethan.
But Roni was her priority. This would be their first unsupervised outing together and she planned to make it the ultimate bonding experience.
Joey could never make up for the eighteen months she’d lost from Roni’s life. But moving forward, she vowed to be the mother her daughter deserved.
She glanced at the clock on her car’s control panel and grimaced. In her exuberance to see Roni, she’d left Reno at the crack of dawn and now realized it was too early to show up at Ethan’s. He’d specifically asked her to give him the morning with Veronica because he’d been gone most of the week.
Granted, it was Joey’s weekend. But as long as Ethan was willing to loosen up on the court order, she didn’t want to piss him off.
She bypassed his road and continued to downtown Nugget, hoping the Ponderosa was open for breakfast. Joey could while away the time drinking coffee.
Judging by all the parked cars in the square, one of the shops was doing a brisk business. The big semi livestock trailer she’d seen last time was hogging a good chunk of the street in front of the restaurant. She wondered if it permanently lived here.
A rush of warm air greeted her as she went inside. The place was packed. Folks up from the city to play in the snow, she presumed. Though with the sun out, it would soon be a slushy mess.
“It’s a twenty-minute wait,” the hostess informed her. “Or you can sit at the bar. It’s first come, first served.”
Yeah, why not? Though her sponsor would probably have something to say about it.
She grabbed a menu from the hostess stand and hopped up on a stool. The good-looking cowboy who’d played her a song on the juke box sat in the corner, four seats away. They made eye contact and he tipped his hat. Then, as if he’d remembered his manners, took off the Stetson and hung it on a hook on the wall.
He scrubbed his hand through a full head of dirty blond hair. He needed a haircut. And a shave. But he reminded her of Matthew McConaughey before the creepy Lincoln commercials.
The bartender came over to take her order. She decided to go whole hog with the egg, bacon and pancake special. In her rush to get out the door, she’d skipped breakfast and her morning fix of caffeine.
Smart man that he was, the bartender quickly returned to fill her cup. She fluffed her hair in the backbar mirror and caught the cowboy watching her. Absently, she rubbed her empty ring finger.
The bar was beautiful. Hand carved mahogany that looked leftover from the Gold Rush days. She didn’t know why she hadn’t noticed it before. There was an overloaded coatrack near the front of the restaurant. She got down from her stool and found room to hang her jacket and scarf.
Without having to look, Joey knew the cowboy’s eyes were on her. Call it a woman’s intuition or just years of attracting male attention. It wasn’t because she stood above the rest. No, she wasn’t beautiful by any stretch. But she had a nice figure, golden blond hair with the help of a really good colorist, and a manner that invited interest.
She’d spent a lot of time in rehab and counseling exploring these facts about herself and why Ethan had ever loved her in the first place. A truth not lost on her was that he could have had any woman he wanted. A doctor with a resume equally as good as his. A supermodel. A movie star.
Yet, he chose her, loved her like crazy, and even stuck by her when she railroaded his career. If only she could get him back and the three of them could be a family again.
Her food came and she ate while watching a team roping competition on the flat screen suspended from the ceiling. The bartender refilled her coffee and moved on to the other side of the bar where a couple asked for directions to Glory Junction.
The cowboy paid his bill, got his hat and jacket off the hook, and strolled out the door. Joey couldn’t help noticing that his backside was as nice as the rest of him.
She, too, squared up and headed for her car. It was past nine. She still needed to kill another hour or so and decided to tool around town. Other than the square, she hadn’t done much exploring.
The truck with the semi-trailer started up, spitting out diesel fumes. Joey glanced over and saw the cowboy in the cab, then watched him deftly pull away from the curb and hang a U-turn. Apparently, Matthew McConaughey hauled livestock for a living.
She started her own vehicle and went exploring. The area was beautiful. Tall pines and regal mountains. It was so different from the desert bedroom community where she’d grown up. She found a large feed store. There were a few sale racks outside with sweatshirts and jackets. She started to park to go inside, then thought better of it. Shopping was her weakness and she wanted to conserve her money to buy Roni new clothes.
She managed to burn an hour and decided it was safe to show her face at Ethan’s, even if she was still a little early. When she got to the house, Simba raced down the porch stairs, and jumped on her, licking her face.
&
nbsp; “Where’s your manners, girl?” She gave the dog a hug.
The front door opened and Queen Alma swept onto the porch. Joey waved, trying to be friendly. She craned her neck past Alma, looking for Roni.
“They’re down at the barn.” Alma buttoned up her wool coat, put on a pair of designer sunglasses and headed to her car, which was parked on the other side of the driveway.
Neither one of them said anything as Alma pressed her clicker and got inside the driver’s seat. Joey wrapped her scarf tighter and made the trek to the barn on foot. Despite the cold, it was a gorgeous day. Crisp and clear, scented with pine.
She definitely could get used to living here.
As she got closer, she heard Roni’s high-pitched laughter and her heart swelled. Through the trees she saw Ethan standing at the corral next to a woman. Though they had their backs to her, the woman had the same dark hair as Brynn Barnes, the mother of the boy with the leg injuries.
She and Ethan were so close that their arms touched. It was innocent, Joey told herself. Or a trick of the light from this distance. Ethan would never so much as flirt with a patient’s mother. Never.
But as Joey got nearer her stomach sank. There was no question that Ethan and the woman, who Joey could now plainly see was Brynn, were in each other’s personal space. He reached up to brush a lock of hair out of Brynn’s face and Joey froze. That emptiness in the pit of her belly turned sour.
No, it wasn’t what she thought. It couldn’t be. Ethan was just offering support to an overcome mother, that’s all.
She continued down the hill, reassuring herself that it was nothing. That she’d misconstrued a simple gesture of comfort.
But as soon as Ethan and Brynn realized Joey’s presence they abruptly pulled apart. And that’s when panic rose in Joey’s throat. She knew.
* * * *
At seven o’clock Ethan was ready to murder his ex-wife. For the nineteenth time that evening he tried to call her again and like all the other calls it went straight to Joey’s voicemail.
He hung up, having already left a series of messages. Each one more heavily worded than the last. He called Joey’s mother, Lou Ellen. Again.
“Did you hear from her? Please, God, tell me you heard from her.”
“Nope.” He moderated his voice to keep the anger out. This wasn’t Lou Ellen’s fault. “I’d hoped maybe you’d heard something.”
“Nothing. But Ethan, I know my daughter. She wouldn’t take Veronica. She’s worked so hard . . . with the meetings . . . with the therapy. This . . . well, it’s crazy. She’s a good mother, Ethan.”
Good mothers didn’t take their daughters in the middle of the night to score oxycodone in a part of town even he wouldn’t venture to alone. But that was the problem with Lou Ellen and Ace. They were blinded to Joey’s faults.
First, they’d denied she had an addiction and backed her initial refusal to go to rehab. “She’ll kick this on her own,” Ace had sworn. Thank God, she’d finally realized she needed help and enrolled herself in a program.
After she got out, he had allowed Roni to stay at her grandparents’, trusting that Lou Ellen and Ace would abide by the court order to supervise their daughter when she was with Roni. What was the first thing they did? They left Joey alone with their grandkid.
They were good people but classic enablers. They spoiled and indulged Joey so much that she never needed to take responsibility for her actions.
You fuck up, you own it. That had always been the Daniels family moto.
“Lou Ellen, call me if you hear from her, okay?”
“Of course I will. I’m worried sick that something happened to them.”
Ethan didn’t need to hear that now. He was banking on the stronger possibility that Joey was just being her irresponsible self.
His phone beeped. “Lou, I’m getting another call. If it’s her, I’ll call you.” He switched to the other line. “Hello.”
“Anything yet?” It was Alma.
“Nothing.” He could hear his own disappointment. “I thought you might be her.”
“I think it’s time to call the police, Ethan.”
“You think she would actually take off with Veronica? Steal her?” Ethan didn’t believe it. Under the influence, she was capable of doing all kinds of irresponsible shit. But clean, no way.
Then he remembered the hurt he’d seen in her eyes when she’d found him and Brynn together. Could this possibly be some kind of warped payback? No, Joey was a lot of things but vindictive wasn’t one of them. The more likely scenario was she lost track of time. Or . . . she’d fallen off the wagon.
“I don’t know what she would do,” Alma said. “Maybe there was an accident . . . call the police, Ethan.”
Ethan went out on the front porch. It was dark and there were still berms of snow on the edges of the driveway where he’d plowed. He could smell the wood smoke from the cottage’s chimney. Brynn had made a fire.
“Ethan? Are you still there?”
“Yes. I’ll call the police.”
“I’m on my way.”
“No, stay at the townhouse. If they’re in Reno it’ll be better if you’re there.”
“Call me the second you hear something.”
“I’ve got you on speed dial,” he said, trying to sound less panicked than he felt.
The second he got off the phone with Alma he rang Rhys’s cell and explained the situation.
“I’ll make some calls,” Rhys said above a lot of loud voices. A party maybe.
Ah, shit, Ethan was pulling Rhys away from a celebration for what would probably turn out to be nothing. But it didn’t feel like nothing. Ethan’s premonition told him it was something. Something bad.
“Hang tight,” Rhys said and signed off.
Ethan paced until he thought he’d worn out the floorboards on the porch. Inside, he paced some more. For a fleeting second, he considered calling Brynn. Why? She wasn’t part of this. But he knew she would empathize. And right now, he needed someone to talk him off a ledge.
At the last minute, he reconsidered and put down his phone. Brynn had enough to deal with. The sound of a car came up the driveway and Ethan felt a rush of relief so strong it nearly knocked him over.
But the relief was short lived when Ethan went out onto the porch again.
It was Griffin Parks’s pickup. What was he doing here? Ethan liked Griff but they were merely acquaintances. Occasionally they shot the breeze while Ethan filled up at the Gas and Go. As far as he could remember Griffin had only been to the Circle D Ranch one time. He’d come for a housewarming party a few of the ladies in town had hosted for him.
Griff got out of his truck. “Evening. Hope I’m not bothering you but I was looking for Brynn.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet.
It seemed late for a house call to Ethan.
“Donna stopped by at the Gas and Go a little bit ago and happened to mention who Brynn was.” Griffin let out a whistle. “I had no idea she was like the real-life version of Don Draper when I met her at the barbershop the other day.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “I want to hire her agency but never got her number.”
Ethan guessed that Alma had mentioned who Brynn was to Donna and it was off-to-the-races. He’d learned early that folks around here loved their gossip.
But he didn’t have time for this now. And it wouldn’t be right to send Griffin down to the cottage without first getting Brynn’s permission.
Griffin must’ve seen something in Ethan’s expression because he said, “Too presumptuous to just drop in?”
“She’s dealing with her kid and it is kind of late. Why don’t I ask her tomorrow if I can pass you her number?”
“Sure, that sounds good. I guess I got a little overanxious when Donna gave me the news. I was on my way home and thought what the hell?”
Griffin looked up at Ethan, who hadn’t even bothered to come down from the porch. “Hey, is everything okay?”
Jeez, Ethan was a surgeon. He was supposed be cool under pressure. He let out a breath. “My daughter and ex-wife were supposed to be here two hours ago and I can’t reach them.”
“Ah, man.” Griffin didn’t wait to be invited and climbed the stairs. “You call Nugget PD?”
“Yeah, Rhys.”
Next thing Ethan knew, they were in the kitchen and Griffin was making coffee.
“Where were they supposed to be?”
“Reno. They spent the day there, shopping.” Ethan wished he’d never given in to Joey’s plea to take Veronica for the day. If he had only adhered to the court order, they’d both be safe.
“They could’ve broken down, got caught up in traffic, went to see a movie. There are a million innocent explanations why they’re not here. It’s too soon to panic.”
Ethan had considered all those possibilities. But why wasn’t Joey answering her phone? He once again checked his cell for a missed call or text. Still nothing.
Griffin poured them both a cup of coffee, found a bottle of brandy in the cupboard, and splashed a generous portion into Ethan’s mug.
He took a visual spin around the room. “Colin Burke do your cabinetry?”
Ethan knew Griff was just trying to distract him with small talk. But he wasn’t in the mood. “Yeah.”
“The guy is good.” Griffin opened one of the cupboards and admired the wood. “He and Harlee went to Mexico for a week. Puerto Vallarta. They wanted to get away from the cold. Can’t say I blame them.”
“Nope.” Ethan peered out the window into blackness. He went into the mudroom and turned on the house’s side lights. The floodlights weren’t going to help Joey and Roni get home but at least it was something to do.
“I can’t sit here any longer. I think I’ll search the roads in my truck.” Ethan swiped his keys off a hook.
“Let me drive,” Griffin said. “That way you can focus on looking.”