“And then what? How are we going to convince Mama to come to Phoenix?” Judith asked.
“She needs to be made to see that she’s bitten off way more than she can chew.”
“But I’ve already tried that, and she won’t listen. I haven’t been able to talk any sense into her.”
“If we can’t convince her, I have something in mind that should put an end to all this horseshit,” Robert answered. “Just trust me. I’ll handle it.”
I’ll handle it? What the hell did that mean? Keith waited, but the voices faded away. When it appeared they weren’t going to say any more, he rapped on the door. “It’s Keith. I’ve got your luggage.”
“Just a minute,” Judith answered seconds later, swinging the door open and inclining her head as if he were her porter. “Just put it right there on the bed.”
“Sure. No problem.” After dropping off the four large bags, he headed back downstairs.
What were they up to? No good, for certain. And what did this guy Marvin have to do with it? Maybe it was none of his business, but then again, if anything threatened Miranda, he’d damned sure make it his business.
Chapter 27
“More potatoes, Keith?” Jo-Jo asked, extending the bowl before he could reply.
“Thank you.” Keith took up the serving spoon and dug in for his third helping. “These are really great, Miz Sutton. The whole meal is.” He’d forgotten how good a real holiday meal could be. He couldn’t even remember the last one he’d eaten at home in Wyoming. The only thing missing was fry bread.
“I bought the biggest fresh bird I could find,” Jo-Jo said. “I never buy frozen turkey.”
“We always got ours fresh too, straight from the fields,” Keith said.
“You’re a hunter?” Robert asked.
“Yes,” Keith replied. “Almost everyone hunts on the rez. Our family rarely buys meat. We fish and bow hunt for it. My grandfather taught me when I was young. He prefers the old ways.”
“You should see him throw a knife,” Miranda gushed. “He’s incredible.”
“Knife throwing?” Judith laughed. “Doesn’t seem like a very practical skill.”
Miranda looked up from her plate where she’d been pushing her food around. “It is when you’re faced with a Mojave rattler,” she remarked with a shudder.
“When did you encounter one of those?” Robert asked.
“When I was in the Calico Mountains, filming a wild-horse roundup,” Miranda explained. “Keith was working as the head wrangler for the livestock company when I went out there to film. I was gathering firewood when I came across the snake. It was poised to strike when Keith impaled it with his hunting knife.”
“Is that really true?” Robert asked skeptically.
“Yes,” she said. “That’s how Keith and I got together. But it wasn’t just killing the snake that did it for me. It wasn’t even after our encounter with a hungry mountain lion. It was before all that, when he called in a helicopter to save a dying foal.” Miranda’s gaze skittered across the table to snag Keith’s. “I think I knew even then that I was falling in love. Saving my life only clinched it.”
Although voiced playfully, her confession made his heart slam against his chest. Her gaze held his steadily, and for a suspended heartbeat they were the only two people in the room. Hell, maybe the only two in the world.
“So that’s how you met?” Judith asked.
“Not quite,” Miranda said. “We were first introduced when Keith was conducting one of his clinics in California.”
“Clinic?” Robert’s brows rose. “Are you a physician, Keith?”
Keith shook his head with a laugh. “Not that kind of clinic. I’m an equine behaviorist…” He looked to Miranda. “Or I was.”
“A horse shrink?” Robert released a snort. “Is that even a real job?”
Ignoring the heat creeping up his neck, Keith responded levelly, “Yes. I traveled the country conducting clinics on how to manage problem animals, although in reality, the horses weren’t usually the problem. Most behavioral issues are caused by owners who don’t understand them.”
Judith chortled. “And they actually paid you for this?”
“Quite well. I spent the better part of three years touring in Europe.”
“Oh.” Judith’s mouth snapped audibly shut.
“Is that still your primary occupation?” Robert asked.
“No,” Keith replied, slanting a look at Miranda. “I gave it up almost two years ago. Since then, I’ve been wrangling mustangs.”
“So what brought you out to my mother’s ranch?” Judith asked.
“Miranda,” Keith replied.
“I asked him to come and help with the horses,” Miranda said.
“Horses? What horses?” Judith asked.
“The mustangs,” Miranda replied. “Jo-Jo and I are turning the ranch into a mustang sanctuary. The first of two hundred horses are supposed to arrive tomorrow.”
“Two hundred mustangs?” Judith dropped her fork with a clatter.
“Yes.” Miranda looked to her grandmother in question. “I thought Jo-Jo told you about it.”
“She told me you were preparing to adopt some horses, which is ridiculous enough,” Judith retorted, “but she said nothing about turning the entire ranch into some kind of petting zoo! What is this about, Mother? Have you lost your mind?”
“It’s not a zoo, Judith,” Jo-Jo said. “It’s a federally subsidized wild-horse sanctuary.”
“Zoo? Sanctuary? You’re just splitting hairs. Messing with wild horses is pure insanity!”
“No, it isn’t,” Jo-Jo insisted tersely. “It’s a means of keeping my home. The horses will generate enough income for me to do that.”
“But you’re selling the ranch and moving to Phoenix,” Judith said.
Jo-Jo shook her head. “No, Judith. I already told you that I’ve changed my mind about Phoenix. I took the ranch off the market weeks ago. This is my home. It will always be my home. I expect you to bury my bones here, or at least cast my ashes.”
“But I don’t understand,” Judith persisted. “We spent months talking and planning your retirement.”
“You spent months talking and planning, Judith. You never asked what I wanted. I considered it only as briefly as I did because I didn’t want to be alone, but Miranda’s arrival has changed all that. Now we’re contracted with the BLM to provide a permanent home to several hundred wild horses. Gravy anyone?” Jo-Jo asked, practically shoving the boat across the table.
“No, thank you.” Judith waved it away.
“What about you, Keith?”
“Sure,” he replied, flooding his potatoes while intently watching the exchange. The mustang announcement had exponentially escalated the tension at the table.
Nearly hissing with rage, Judith spun on Miranda. “This is all your doing, isn’t it? She’s an old woman! She doesn’t need this kind of stress! Do you want to put her into an early grave?”
“That’s enough, Judith!” Jo-Jo stood, hands braced on the table. “I’ve done less real work around this place since Miranda’s arrival than I’ve done in the past two years. She’s been a godsend to me.”
“If you were struggling here, why did you let Marvin go?” Judith asked.
“I told you why,” Jo-Jo replied. “And I didn’t replace him because I couldn’t afford to.”
“Well,” Judith huffed. “I guess there’s nothing more to say about it.”
“Good,” Jo-Jo replied with a brittle smile. “Does anyone want pie?”
* * *
After doing the dinner dishes, Miranda and Keith escaped to the front-porch swing, where they snuggled up together in a blanket. She drew a breath of air into her lungs and exhaled a wispy cloud of vapor, silently watching it dissipate into the night as she composed her thoughts.
“Dinner tonight went about as horribly as I could possibly have imagined. I’m really sorry about the third degree you got from Robert and Judith and how rude
they’ve both been to you, Keith.”
“It means nothing to me, Aiwattsi. They mean nothing to me. I only care about the opinions of people who matter.”
“I know you’re right.” She sighed. “But Jo-Jo matters to me, so I hate to have come between them.”
“It’s not you. It’s your aunt. She is a very unhappy woman.” His arms tightened, pulling her closer. In his arms, all of the unease that had preoccupied her since their tiff the day before melted almost instantly away. “It’ll be all right, Aiwattsi,” he reassured her. “They’re only here for a few days. Then all will go back to normal.”
She wondered what normal was. Nothing about her life was normal anymore. “I hope so,” she said. “The time can’t pass quickly enough for me.”
A coyote howled in the distance. Another one echoed the call, vividly reminding her of another cold night she’d spent wrapped in Keith’s arms. So much had changed since then. It now seemed like eons ago.
“It’s so clear out here,” she murmured, gazing up at the heavens. “So peaceful and beautiful. There’s nothing like the Montana sky at night.”
“I’d argue the same about the Wyoming sky,” he said. “I’d love to show it to you one day.”
She turned to face him. “Do you still miss home so much, Keith?”
“Yes.” He stroked her hair. “I miss how it was, but things have changed. It feels less like my home now. They say home is where the heart is… My heart is with you, Aiwattsi.”
Hers gave a lurch into her throat. “What about the sequoia and the tumbleweed?” she asked.
“Did you know tumbleweeds are actually dead?” he said. “The only living parts of them are the seeds they carry and spread around. You see what a great metaphor that was for me? Rolling from place to place just spreading my seeds?” He gave a derisive laugh. “But I don’t want to be a tumbleweed anymore. You’ve changed that. How can I convince you that I can be what you need?”
“You don’t have to do anything,” she whispered. “I already know I can count on you. I’ve just been waiting for you to convince yourself.”
He cupped her head and kissed her deeply. “Come to bed with me, Aiwattsi, let me show you in truth that I’m convinced, converted, and persuaded…that I’m a man reborn.”
Chapter 28
Miranda awoke, stretched, and then grabbed her robe and padded straight to the window overlooking the south pasture. Just gazing out on the horses was a simple pleasure she’d come to look forward to every morning.
The hay truck had come first, an entire semitrailer they’d parked behind the main barn. After that, the horses began to arrive, trailer by trailer, over the next three days. Two hundred twelve mares in all. Through it all, Blue Eye had paced his paddock, out of his mind with excitement over his would-be harem in their thousand-acre pasture. She felt bad for the stallion to have them within sight and smell but ever out of reach.
She squinted but was still unable to see through the fog that enshrouded the ground. Even the mountains were obscured, appearing as a barely discernible shadow. Although mildly disappointed, she knew the fog would soon fade away with the rising sun. The forecast had promised mild temps and plenty of sunshine.
Keith had suggested taking a ride together if the weather cleared. Between all the fencing, filming Keith and Blue Eye, and editing her documentary, she hadn’t yet had a chance to ride Sadie. She was elated at the prospect of getting on a horse again and spending time alone with Keith, doing something they both enjoyed. Although they were back on even footing again, Keith had seemed strangely preoccupied and a little aloof since Judith and Robert had left. She couldn’t understand why she and Keith seemed destined always to take two steps back for every step forward. She hoped today would be another forward step.
He was in the kitchen, sipping coffee with Jo-Jo, when she came downstairs. “Good morning, Jo-Jo, Keith.” Miranda reached for the coffee pot, noting that they both looked strangely out of sorts. “Is something wrong?” Miranda asked.
“Let’s just say something’s not right,” Keith replied with a frown.
Miranda grabbed her cup and sat. “What do you mean?”
“Blue Eye’s gone.”
“Gone?” she gasped. “What do you mean gone?”
“As in he’s not in his corral.”
“Do you think he jumped out?” Miranda asked.
“It’s not impossible,” he said slowly, his expression dubious. “But I’m confounded that he hadn’t done it sooner, if he had the ability to clear that height.”
“Maybe all those mares finally got to him?” Miranda suggested.
“If that’s the case, we’ll know right where to find him.”
“Are you going to look now?” she asked.
“Can’t. It’s like pea soup out there.”
“You’re right about that. I couldn’t spot any of the horses from my bedroom window and could barely even make out the barn.”
“We’ll have to wait for it to clear up a little bit,” he said. “Riding into a herd in the fog would only spook them.”
It was almost noon before the haze burned off. Walking out into the pasture, Miranda and Keith scouted for Blue Eye. Although hundreds of hoofprints pockmarked the frosty ground, there were no horses in sight. “Where are they all?” Miranda asked, baffled.
Keith shook his head with knitted brows. “I’ve got a weird feeling in my gut about all this.”
“It’s almost a thousand acres,” Miranda said. “They could be anywhere.”
“True, but they usually splinter off into small groups. Mustangs don’t tend to all stay congregated. In any case, there’s no point in speculation. Let’s just saddle up and go take a look.”
Miranda rode by Keith’s side as they set out at a ground-covering trot. Scouting the periphery and creek banks, where the animals would go for water, they still came up clueless, until reaching the northernmost periphery and base of the mountains that her grandparents used to lease for summer grazing.
“I’ll be damned! Look at that!” Keith exclaimed, leaping off his horse before Miranda even saw what had caught his eye. Kneeling in the mud, he held up a strand of broken wire in his gloved hand. “See this?”
“Did they break through it?” Miranda asked.
“Only if they brought a set of wire cutters,” Keith said dryly.
“What do you mean? Are you implying someone cut the fence?”
“Yup,” he replied grimly. “These horses didn’t break out. Someone intentionally let them out, and I’ve got a clue about who might have been behind it.”
“Who?” she asked. “And why?”
“I didn’t want to upset you or your grandmother, but I overheard a conversation between your aunt and uncle the day they arrived. They weren’t happy about this situation and seemed inclined to do something about it.”
“Like what?” Miranda asked.
“They didn’t say, but they mentioned a guy named Marvin. Does the name mean anything to you?”
“Yeah. Marvin McRae worked here for about thirty years ’til Jo-Jo gave him the boot. He was never a very nice man, even when Gramps was around, but they were boyhood pals, so Gramps kept him on as a hand.”
“If your grandmother fired him, he’s probably got a beef.”
“I suspect you’re right,” Miranda said. “What if something bad happens because of this?”
“The liability is on your shoulders,” Keith replied. “I suspect that’s exactly what Judith and Robert were hoping for. They were really clever if they hired someone else to do their dirty work. There’s no one to point a finger at them.”
“I suppose so,” Miranda said. “But even if it was Marvin, that doesn’t solve the problem of finding and capturing two hundred horses. How are we going to do that?”
“We’ll have to see if we can entice some of them to come back.” Keith pulled cutters and pliers out of his saddlebag and started pulling down more wire.
“What are you doing?”
<
br /> “Making a wider gate. Go ahead and tie the horses and help me coil this wire up. We don’t want them to get tangled in it when they come back through.”
Miranda regarded him skeptically. “You really think they’ll just come wandering back?”
“Yup,” he replied. “Not all, but some of them will. They were safe and secure in this pasture, and horses like to be safe and secure. After they realize the grass isn’t greener on that mountain, at least not in wintertime, they’ll want to come back. And they’ll look to enter in the same place they went out. Our job is to make it real easy for them to do just that.”
“So we’re just going to wait and see?”
He shrugged. “Not much more we can do at this point, other than putting the word out to neighboring ranches to keep an eye out for them. We especially don’t want to piss the ranchers off if they find wild horses running through their cow pastures. If that does happen, however, maybe we can get some help corralling some of them.”
“We’d better get back and tell Jo-Jo about this,” Miranda said. “She’s going to want to make some calls.”
“I agree that she needs to know they got out,” Keith said. “But there’s no reason to tell her our suspicions. If Marvin really was acting as a hired gun for your aunt and uncle, that’s going to create a really touchy situation for you. Let’s be certain before we say anything.”
“I agree.” Miranda nodded. “She’s already had enough stress as it is. But how do you propose getting proof?”
“I’m going to pay Marvin a little visit.”
“I don’t even know where he lives. How are you going to find him?”
“I’ll begin at the places where you always find all manner of skunks and low crawlers—the local watering holes.”
* * *
“Keith! Randa! I’m glad you’re back.” Jo-Jo met Keith and Miranda on the front porch as they were scraping the mud from their boots. “I just got the strangest call from Donna Knowlton over at the Flying K. She says her sons saw a bunch of mustangs while they were up on the mountain gathering strays. I just can’t understand it. How did they get out? And why, when they have plenty of green hay and a thousand acres of good pasture?”
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