Tyler searched her eyes, smiling softly when he saw the worry and concern in her own. “Hey, don’t worry so much. I like it when you call me Ty, you know that.”
“But that was before…”
“…before I made the biggest mistake of my life. One I’m hoping to correct, if you’ll let me.” He dipped his head and kissed her forehead, “Let’s get you into that wagon.”
Michelle nodded and looked away. All of the emotions she had for Tyler from a year ago were back. Stronger than ever. Who had she been kidding? She hadn’t gotten over him. She was still completely, unquestionably, in love with Tyler Jameson! The question now was what was she going to do with that knowledge.
Chapter 14
Tyler and Michelle passed Peter Nash arriving at the ranch as they were pulling out of the courtyard. “Hey, Nash. What’s up?’
Peter waved at them as he climbed out of his truck, “Hey Michelle. Sorry to hear about that ankle.”
“Thanks, Peter.”
“Tyler. I can’t seem to find my phone charger. I thought maybe I left it in the house.”
Tyler nodded, “I think I saw one in the kitchen, next to the coffee maker.”
“That would be it. Mind if I go retrieve it?”
“Not at all. Hey, did you happen to think any more on my proposition?”
“Sure did. That sounds great. Let’s get together sometime this week and talk about it.”
“Will do. See ya.”
“Proposition?” Michelle inquired as Tyler put the wagon back in motion.
“Yeah. I offered Peter the position of foreman for the ranch. He was offered a position helping out at a dude ranch down south, but I could tell he really wasn’t keen on leaving Cathedral Hills. I can’t handle everything I want to do around here by myself, so keeping him around seemed like an excellent plan.”
Michelle nodded her head, “That sounds like a perfect plan. With his experience in dealing with Stevie, he’d be a huge asset here.”
“Trey told me you wanted to set up a horse therapy center. He said he mentioned the possibility of doing something like that here at the ranch.”
“I wish he hadn’t done that.”
“Why not? It makes perfect sense to me.”
“Yes, it does. But I wanted a chance to talk to you about it myself. I didn’t want you to think I was trying to take advantage…”
Tyler pulled the team to a stop and then turned to look at her, “Let’s get one thing clear before we go any further. I am here. I’m not going anywhere any time soon. What we were building, before I screwed everything up, was special and unique. I want it back. I want you back. I’ve never wanted something as badly as I do a relationship with you.”
He stopped and watched her eyes widen as his words registered. Touching her jaw with his hand, he leaned towards her and whispered, “I want it all, Michelle. The white picket fence and flower boxes on the windows. Kids laughing as they play with a dog in the courtyard. You smiling as you work with the horses and your clients.”
Michelle couldn’t stop the tears from filling her eyes. What he was describing was her dream being spoken out loud. “That’s what I want.”
“I know. And sugar, I’m so sorry I messed things up a year ago. I never stopped to think about how scary watching me ride must have been for you. As bull riders, we never let ourselves think about what could happen. We pushed our fear aside, because without that ability, we would have never climbed on the back of those animals.”
“And that would have been a bad thing how?” Michelle asked.
“It wouldn’t have been, except that I loved it. I still do, but there is something that I love more. You.”
“You love me?” Michelle asked, searching his eyes for the truth.
“Yes, ma’am. I love you. I think you loved me too at one time, and I aim to help you find that love once again.”
Michelle shook her head and then watched as his face fell. “No, it’s not…what I mean to say is you don’t have to help me find it again. I wasn’t ever able to get rid of it.”
Tyler’s grin was infectious, and she found herself grinning back at him, “So, now that we have that settled, how about you show me this ranch.”
“How about I show you something else?” Tyler asked slyly, a gleam in his eyes she couldn’t interpret.
“Uhm…okay?” she answered hesitantly.
Tyler started up the team again and drove them towards the small copse of trees that stood at the corner of the first pasture. He pulled the team as close to the big cottonwood as he could get and then pointed towards the trunk. “See that?”
Michelle followed his hand and then gasped. There, carved in the trunk of the tree, was a heart with both of their initials carved into it. MC + TJ. “When did you put that there?”
“A few weeks before we both left town. I wanted to tell you back then how I felt, but we were both headed in opposite directions. I couldn’t say it, so I memorialized it here. I guess I was hoping that at some point in the future I’d get another chance with you.”
“Looks like the third time’s a charm.”
“Third time?” Tyler asked, and then nodded. “Yes! The third time is the charm. So, Miss Cottrell, I was wondering if you might consider letting me back into that heart of yours?”
Michelle felt all of her fears of the past fade away as a new light began to fill her soul. The last few months had been filled with sorrow and questions, but suddenly, hope was back. She slowly nodded her head, “I might consider that.”
Tyler leaned close to her so that they were sharing the same air, “What would help you make up your mind?”
“Kiss me?” Michelle whispered, sighing as his lips touched her own. She reached up and wrapped her hands around his neck, enjoying the warmth of his skin beneath the collar of his shirt. His kiss was tender, and sweet, and filled with the promise of so much more, she couldn’t help but respond.
Tyler felt like he’d died and gone to heaven. Everything he’d hoped to accomplish today was coming true. The ring in his pocket was a constant reminder of where he was hoping their relationship would lead. Now he just needed to wait for the right time to ask the question!
Chapter 15
Peter found his phone charger and was headed back out of the kitchen, when the phone rang. Picking it up, he answered, “Jameson’s.”
A pause on the other end of the line had him pausing, “Hello?”
A soft voice on the other end finally asked, “Who is this?”
“This is Peter. Who is this?”
He heard the soft gasp and then the whispered, “Peter?”
“Yes. Who is this?” he asked, not recognizing the voice – it was too soft. He glanced at the phone base, but the caller was from out of state and he didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”
“Uhm…is Tyler there?”
“He’s outside. Who is this?” Peter listened for a reply, but all he heard instead was silence. Growing impatient, he told the caller, “Look, either tell me who this is, or I’m going to hang up. I don’t have time for games.”
“Not a game. Please, don’t hang up. I need to talk to Tyler. Could you go get him?”
“I could. Tell me who you are and why I should do that.” The voice sounded kind of familiar, but was so soft, he having trouble placing it.
“Brooke. It’s Brooke. Oh…I have to go. I’ll call back when I can. Please don’t call this number back. Just…please don’t.”
Peter looked at the phone in confusion. Brooke? She had sounded panicked. What in the world was going on with her? And why didn’t she want anyone to call her back on this number? She’d sounded almost…afraid.
Peter scratched his head and then scribbled the number down on the inside of his checkbook. Something wasn’t quite right, and he intended to snoop around for some answers.
*****
Peter found Tyler and Michelle heading back to the ranch house on his way out and filled them in on the strange phone call fr
om Brooke.
“How did she know I was home?” Tyler wondered aloud.
“I have no idea. I’ve got to tell you, there was something odd about her voice. Like she was scared or something. And she was pretty adamant about us not trying to call her back on the number that registered on the caller identification.”
“I haven’t checked my email the last few days, but I usually only hear from her about once a month anyways.”
Michelle had been listening and then she asked, “Did you write the number down?”
Peter nodded, “Yes. It’s also on the phone log. It was definitely from out of state.”
“I used to use an internet service to track down missing parents when I worked for the State. It might cost a little bit of money to run a search, but if the number is valid, it would give us an address and possibly a name it’s registered to.”
“What if it was a cell phone?” Tyler asked, figuring his sister probably used a cell phone and not a landline. According to her latest email, she had been doing lots of traveling for photo shoots and such.
“It wouldn’t matter. This database has mobile and landline information available.”
“It’s worth a shot,” Peter said, the feeling that something was terribly wrong not going away. “I have a really bad feeling about this.”
Tyler looked at him and then nodded, “I’ve been getting a bad feeling about her emails the last couple of months as well. When she left here after her last visit home, she asked about my mom and dad every email. For the last two months, she hasn’t asked about them once.”
Peter shook his head, “She wasn’t herself when she was home last time either. She would hardly talk to me, and every time I tried to get her off by herself so we could catch up, she disappeared on me.”
“Yeah, she was awful skittish. I didn’t really notice it too much because mom was having so many problems right then, but I don’t think I actually talked to her alone for more than a few minutes at a time.”
“Guys, I may be off base here, but that really doesn’t sound like Brooke. She was always so talkative and full of energy.”
Both men grew quiet and then Tyler nodded towards the ranch house, “You got a few minutes to see if Michelle can work her magic with that number?”
“Sure. Lead the way.”
Michelle, Tyler and Peter returned to the house and Tyler carried her into the house and settled her on his couch while he went to retrieve his laptop. When he returned, Michelle started working her magic while Tyler and Peter set about unpacking the picnic lunch from earlier and dishing it up onto three plates.
Tyler had cheated just a bit, stopping by the diner that morning and having George pack him up some sandwiches, slices of pie, and some chips. It wasn’t anything fancy, but Tyler knew Michelle wasn’t impressed by fancy so he hadn’t stressed himself out over the issue.
“Lunch is ready. Shall I bring your plate over to the couch, or shall I carry you over to the table?” Tyler asked a few minutes later.
“Just a minute. The search just finished.” Michelle tapped on the keyboard for a moment and then her face screwed up in confusion. “Uhm…Tyler, when did Brooke get married?”
“Married?!” Tyler exclaimed.
“What?!” Peter shouted, equally upset.
“Well, the phone she called you from is registered to Mr. and Mrs. Zachary Grayson, Rochester, New York.”
Chapter 16
“Brooke is married?” Tyler asked and then shook his head, “No way! There’s no way she would get married and not say something to someone. There’s got to be a mistake.”
Michelle had been busy typing while the two men tried to reconcile what she’d found with the young woman they both cared a great deal for. “There’s no mistake. I’m looking at a copy of their marriage license right now. Brooke Jameson married Zachary Grayson four months ago.”
Peter didn’t know what to think. Since he’d first seen Brooke walking down the halls of the middle school when she’d been only a seventh grader and he a ninth grader, he’d been in love with her. When she was in the ninth grade, he had asked her to go steady with him and she’d readily agreed. They had been together up until her senior year when she had gone to New York for an open audition.
There had been recruiters at the shopping mall in Junction during Spring Break and she had laughingly allowed them to take her picture and she’d talked into a camera for a few minutes. Neither she nor Peter had ever expected she’d be receiving a letter and plane tickets to travel to New York before school was out that year.
Peter had been working on the various ranches, unsure of his career path while he waited for Brooke to finish high school. They had been planning to get married sometime that fall, but when she’d landed a modeling job in New York, Peter had stepped aside so she could pursue her dream.
He’d never given up hope that one day she would come home to Cathedral Hills and him, but he’d never expected that she would up and get married without even calling home to notify her family. That was beyond rude and disrespectful, and so totally out of character for her, he had trouble believing it.
“None of this makes any sense. Why would Brooke marry someone and not tell anyone about it? If she wanted to keep it secret, why would she call here looking for me? She hasn’t tried to call my cell phone and I know she has that number.”
“I wonder if any of the others have received phone calls from her.” Michelle mused.
“I don’t know, but I think we need to have a meeting to compare notes. Stephanie’s not due to head to New York for another two months. I for one cannot wait that long to get some of these questions answered.”
“I agree. Why don’t you make a few phone calls and see if everyone can meet over at the diner around dinnertime tonight? We can all catch up at that time.”
Peter nodded his head, “Sounds like a good idea. I’m heading into town right now. I’ll let Missy know, as we all know she’ll have the word spread faster than anyone else can.”
Michelle smiled as Peter rolled his eyes and headed out the door, “Missy will get the word out.”
“Yes. I’ll give Trey a call and suggest he and Jenna join us as well. I don’t know how many people Brooke’s been keeping in touch with, but I think it’s high time we all get on the same page where she’s concerned.”
Michelle nodded her head, pleased that she wasn’t Brooke at this particular time. Tyler was a typical older brother, and protective almost to default. He’d happened to like Peter when they were growing up, which was probably the only reason Brooke had been given as much leeway as she had been.
“So, rather than sitting around here worrying about Brooke, why don’t you tell me exactly what you had in mind for this horse operation you’re wanting to start up.”
Michelle smiled at him and then sobered, “I want to find a way to keep kids out of the system.”
“But you were the system. At least for a while.”
Michelle nodded her head, “And that’s even more incentive for me to figure out a way to help kids and keep them out of the State’s hands. I mean, look what happened to Jenna. She didn’t ask for any of that to be done to her. And she didn’t have any way to get out of it once she was in.”
Tyler looked thoughtful, “So, how are you going to keep kids from going into the system to start with?”
“Well, that’s where Jenna comes in.”
“She kind of told me about the facility she wants to start up. Have you two thought about working together on it?”
“It’s been so crazy around here, we’ve kind of talked about our own projects, but not really how they would go together. Jenna did say that she had a way for me to put my social work degree to good use.”
“Well, you know I want to help provide a safe training facility for young rodeo enthusiasts. Maybe we could use the fees from that to help offset some of the cost of operating the halfway house Jenna wants to set up in the old bunkhouse.”
Michelle looked surp
rised, “She wants kids to live here?”
“During the winter months, and then she wants them to spend some time up at the camp. She has some great ideas, and it sounds like she might have some of the funds to get things going as well.”
Michelle grew thoughtful and then said, “She and I really need to sit down and talk. You and Trey as well. With Trey’s financial background, he can probably answer the money questions easier than the rest of us put together. You have the horse knowledge, and I spent quite a bit of time studying therapy techniques, but I don’t have a clue as to care for a horse fulltime.
“My social work degree should help us secure some additional grant funds from the State, and Missy mentioned that Jenna was in the process of completing her own degree in counseling. With Peter helping to run the ranch, the only thing we’re really missing would be some extra hands to pick up the slack and a cook.”
Tyler looked at her and smiled, “I should have known better than to start this conversation. Once you get going, you don’t know when to stop. How about we table this conversation until we can all four get together?”
Michelle grinned at him and nodded, “Okay. But let’s make it soon.”
Tyler nodded and then bent down and picked her up, “Fine. I think it’s time we finished that tour.”
“What about the weather? It wasn’t looking too good when we came in earlier.”
“We’ll see what we can see today and then we can finish the rest up after you’re back on your feet. Do you need anything before we head out?” he asked, looking down into her eyes.
Michelle shook her head, “No, I think I have everything I need.” I’m in Tyler’s arms, and it looks like we’re going to have a future together after all. I have everything I need.
Chapter 17
The meeting at the diner went as well as could be expected. Tyler wasn’t surprised to find out that everyone else had been getting the exact same emails he’d been getting. It was almost as if she’d sent one generic email out to everyone on her contact list.
Michelle and Tyler: Christian Romance (Cathedral Hills Book 2) Page 7