Kyle's Modern Montana Bride (The New Montana Brides Book 6)

by Susan Leigh Carlton

  “I think it might be a good idea. Why don’t you go in and talk to them, and see what they suggest?”

  “I’ll do that. In the meantime, I’m going back to the peace and quiet of the front porch.”

  Between the crickets chirping, the gentle breeze, and the motion of the porch swing, he was lulled to sleep. The same dream played in his sub-conscious mind again. He was walking with Ashley, holding her hand; she pulled it free and began to run ahead. He continued to walk, but her running put her far ahead, a dim figure in the river fog. He called her, but she didn’t come back. He continued to call. Something touched his shoulder. She had looped back and come up behind him. She touched his shoulder and called his name.

  Only it wasn’t Ashley. It was his mother. She handed him a phone. “You have a call. I don’t know who it is, and there’s no caller ID.”

  Groggy from his nap, he said, “Hullo,” this is Kyle.”

  “Kyle, this is Susannah Stewart. Did you get my letter?”

  “I did,” he said.

  “I was hoping you would call,” she said.

  “Susannah, I didn’t want to stir up old memories. It took me a long time to forget Ashley and what she did. Time and Afghanistan have erased it. I don’t want to go down the same road again.”

  Her voice reminded him of Ashley’s voice. Soft and musical. I am not over it as much as I thought. It still hurts. “Kyle, I really need your help. Please come down. It’s really important.”

  “Susannah, it’s been a long time. Why should I come to Phoenix? What’s so important anyway, that you want me to come there?”

  “Your son,” her angry voice snapped through the ear piece. Then the buzz of the dial tone. She had hung up on him.

  Shocked, he sat staring at the phone.

  “Bad news?” his mother asked. “Did something happen? One of your friends get hurt?”

  “No, nothing like that. It was Susannah Stewart. She wants me to come to Phoenix,” he said.

  “Whatever for?” his mother asked.

  “I asked her what was so important that I should drop everything and go to Phoenix. All she said was, “You’ll have to come to Phoenix to find out, and she hung up on me,” he replied.

  “Oh dear,” she said. “What are you going to do?”

  “I guess I’m going to Phoenix,” he said.

  “When will you be going?” she asked.

  “I want to talk to Pop first, but I’ll probably go tomorrow or the next day,” he said.

  “I hope this doesn’t turn out to be a problem for you,” she said.

  “So do I, Mom. So do I.”

  Kyle found his dad in the ranch office. “Pop, you busy right now? I need to talk to you.”

  “Nothing urgent. I'm going over some of the contracts coming up for renewal soon. What’s on your mind?”

  chapter Three

  You Have A Son

  “I got a letter a few days ago from Susannah Stewart. She asked me to come to Phoenix. Said it was urgent and she needed my help,” Kyle said.

  “She needed your help with what?” his father asked.

  “She didn’t say, and I threw the letter away. A lot of years have passed since Ashley and I broke up. I didn’t see any point in getting involved with her again. Anyway, I got a call a little while ago. She wanted to know if I had gotten her letter, and said she hoped I could I’d come to Phoenix.

  “I asked her what was so important that I needed to come running to Phoenix. She got mad, and said, “Your son”, and hung up,” Kyle said.

  “Is it possible?” That you have a son?” his father asked.

  “I guess it is. We were pretty hot and heavy before we broke up, so anything is possible,” Kyle said.

  “Does your mother know?”

  “I told her Susannah told me I’d have to come to Phoenix to find out. I didn’t want her to worry about it if it turns out to be nothing,” Kyle said.

  “Good thinking. You’re going to go?” his father asked.

  “I think I had better. I wanted to give you a head’s up first,” Kyle said. “I think I’ll fly down tomorrow and see what it’s all about, and probably fly back the next day.”

  “Why don’t you take the 310 down? You’re current, and you won’t be tied to the airline schedule.”

  “It would be cheaper to take Delta to Denver, and then to Phoenix.”

  “So?” said his father.

  “Why don’t you come along, and be my co-pilot?” he asked.

  “A few things here need to be taken care of,” his father said. “You go ahead.”

  “Okay, Pop. Thanks. It’ll be good to get back in the air again. I’ll leave early tomorrow morning,” Kyle said.

  * * *

  He called the number caller ID showed when Susannah called. She answered on the second ring. “Hello, this is Susannah.”

  “Susannah, Kyle. I’ll be flying into Sky Harbor tomorrow,” he said.

  “Which airline and I’ll pick you up,” she said.

  “I’m flying our plane, and I’ll need a car anyway. Just tell me where you want me to go. I’ll have to stop and refuel in Denver, and should be there by one.”

  “I’m glad you’re coming. I do need your help. Thank you for coming,” she said.

  “It will probably be two by the time I get a car and get to your place,” he said.

  “See you then,” she said. “Kyle?”

  “Yes?” he said.

  “Be careful,” she said.

  “I’m always careful when I’m flying,” he said.

  Up at dawn. Kyle checked with the Flight Service Station and got a favorable weather report: CAVU (Ceiling and visibility unlimited) for both Denver and Phoenix. He filed an IFR flight plan and went to the hangar and preflighted the 310. One last potty break and he was ready to go.

  The 310 trundled out to the paved runway strip. At the end, Kyle did a slow 360° turn to check for traffic. He announced his intention to take off from the TbarS strip over the Unicom frequency. At precisely 7:30AM the 310 wheels broke contact with the runway and he was airborne. He cycled the landing gear and called the Salt Lake City ARTCC and activated his flight plan. The controller cleared him to his assigned altitude and he was on his way to find what was so urgent in the mind of Susannah Stewart.

  Salt Lake ARTCC handed him off to the Denver ARTCC as he cruised at 16,000 feet. Denver turned him over to Albuquerque Center, and they turned him over to the TRACON for landing instructions. Gear down, flaps to 30°, A greased landing, get taxi clearance to the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) to fill up, and now I can get out and stretch my legs.

  In the FBO, he paid for the fuel, using one of the ranch credit cards, and called weather in case there had been any changes in the forecast. At the snack bar, he got a sandwich and a coke. When he finished those off, he climbed back into his bird, got the necessary clearances and was on his way to Phoenix.

  Favorable winds put him into Phoenix twenty minutes ahead of his flight plan. At the FBO, he arranged for the 310 to be serviced and called Susannah on his iPhone to tell her he was early. She sounded as if she expected me to back out of coming, he thought, after ending his call.

  Susannah’s house was a low, desert tan adobe ranch typical in the Phoenix area. To conserve water, the front yard had been xeroscaped. Nice home. She still goes by the Stewart name. Wonder if she ever got married? Maybe not. She was the bookish type. Probably works as a librarian.

  With these thoughts running through his head, he punched the doorbell and heard the sound of chimes from within. The door opened. “Kyle? Come in, come in. I wasn’t sure you would come. Welcome to my home,” Susannah said, and opened the door to its full width. The throaty voice matched the woman. Susannah definitely didn’t look bookish. Her black hair was tied up in a ponytail. Wearing white shorts and a light blue top, that accented her deep blue eyes, she was an extraordinarily pretty woman.

  I would have passed you on the street and never recognized you. It’s been what? Ten
years since I’ve seen you. You’ve changed,” Kyle said.

  “Haven’t we all?” she asked. “I would have recognized you. Except for being more muscled, you look the same as you did in high school. You must spend a lot of time in the sun.”

  She led the way into what appeared to be a family room. There was a flat screen TV on one wall, the furniture was southwestern style. There was a sofa with a floral pattern, and two large recliners. Framed prints by Georgia O’Keeffe decorated the walls.

  “Your decorator did a good job,” he said. “It’s beautifully done.”

  “I would hope so,” she laughed. “It’s the way I make my living.”

  “You’re an interior decorator?” he asked.

  “Interior designer. There’s a big difference in what I can charge clients. “Can I get you something?” she asked.

  “I have soft drinks, milk, or water. No beer, I’m afraid,” she said.

  “Ice water is fine, he said. “I’m not much of a beer drinker. I flew so much, I never acquired the habit.”

  She left the room, and returned with an unopened bottle of Evian water, and a glass with ice.

  “You mentioned my son. If I do have a son, why wasn’t I told about it?” he asked. “If there is a kid, why isn’t he with Ashley?”

  chapter Four

  Ashley is Dead

  Susannah frowned.

  “Did I just put my foot in my mouth,” Kyle asked.

  “You did,” she said. “Of course, there’s no way you should have known. Ashley died when Zachary was five.” I’ve had custody of him off and on, all of his life. She would show up out of the blue and ask if I would keep him for a few days. Sometimes, it would be for a few days, other times it would be weeks. She left him once for seven months I never knew where she was or when she would come back. The last time, I hadn’t seen her in several months, and then we received a call from the police telling us she was dead. That’s one of the reasons I stayed put for so long, so she could find me. I only moved to Phoenix after she died.”

  “Did she die in an accident?” he asked.

  “No. There’s no easy way for me to say this. She died of an overdose, in some kind of commune, in Crescent City, California. She still had the syringe in her arm when they found her,” Susannah said, her voice saddened by the thought of the senseless way her sister had died. “The sheriff out in Crescent City called us.”

  “My God, what a waste,” Kyle said. “I’m surprised Mom never said anything about it in her letters.”

  “I’m sure she didn’t know. No one knew except for the police of course. This all happened after Dad lost his job in Helena and we moved to Denver,” she said.

  “If she didn’t change from the way she was after we broke up, how do you even know he’s my son?” Kyle asked.

  There is no truth to the adage that if looks could kill. If it were true, Kyle would have been dead from the one Susannah gave him.

  Without a word, she left the room and returned carrying several photo albums. “Do you remember how you looked when you were a little boy? In case you don’t, I can show you. She handed him an old photo taken of Ashley and him in the yard of her parent’s home in Helena. He was wearing a shirt from his Little League baseball team. Ashley was wearing a frilly blue dress.

  “I remember that,” he said softly. “Mom has one like it.

  She opened an album and began showing him pictures of a boy growing up. These are Zachary. It could have been him in the pictures she showed him. They were the spitting image of the way he looked as a young boy.

  “Do you have any doubt?” she asked.

  “Why didn’t she let me know?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. Too much pride, I guess,” Susannah said.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. “You could have left word at the ranch with Mom and she would have gotten word to me.”

  “At the time, she made me promise not to tell you. She told me if I told you, she would take him, and I would never see him again. She meant it. I don’t have a clue why she didn’t want you to know. My guess would be, she hated you for going away and leaving her behind, even though she gave you an ultimatum. Maybe she blamed you for her addiction and all of her other problems.

  “On the other hand, it may have been she loved you so much, she didn’t want to burden you with the responsibility, considering the type of work you did.” She said, “Kyle, I wracked my brain over this. I wish I could give you an answer.”

  “You could have told me after she died,” he said.

  “I know, and I should have told you. I lived with the promise I had made, and it was easier to just continue. From the beginning, I knew it was wrong not to tell you, but I couldn’t bear the thought of him being put into the system. I knew it would be better for him if I took care of him rather than him growing up in the lifestyle she was living.”

  “Where is he now? I want to see him,” he said.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “He ran away a month ago, and I haven’t seen him since. That’s why I finally wrote you, and when you didn’t answer, I called intending to ask your mother to get in contact with you. I couldn’t believe it when she told me you were there.”

  He said, “I’ve been out a little over a year, learning the ranch. I was going to start taking classes in the fall semester. If only I had known, we might have prevented all of this.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry. Now you do know so will you help me find him?” she asked.

  “Yes, but where do we start looking? Do you have any idea where he might be heading?”

  “No, but I know some of the places he’s been. He’s called me collect several times, and I have the phone bills with the places the calls originated. It even has the numbers from the phones used when the calls were placed.

  Susannah and Kyle talked all afternoon. “Tell me about Zachary. What kind of kid is he?” Kyle asked.

  “Well, he’s an excellent student. He’s always made good grades and has never gotten into any trouble at school. He just finished the seventh grade.

  “Up until a few months ago, he was always a happy-go-lucky boy. Then, he got angry. He wanted to know why his mother left him. Why hadn’t she come back for him,” Susannah said.

  “Has he asked about who his father is?” Kyle asked.

  “Ashley told him you had been killed in the war. He accepted it, and never talked about it to me, except one time, he asked about pictures. The one I showed of you and Ashley is the only one I had of you, so that’s the only one he’s seen.”

  “What about the police? Have they been called?” he asked.

  “I called them the day I found he was gone. They made some type of rudimentary checks, but without any real indications of his whereabouts or his possible destination, they had no starting point. They did send out a missing child notice. The detective told me with the drug scene the way it is today, there are hundreds of missing children and they don’t have the resources to deal with them. Basically, they’ve given up and written him off.” The discussion upset her and she changed the subject.

  “The last time I saw you was near the end of school, be-fore you went off to West Point. You were, and still are the only person I know who went to West Point. So,shat have you been doing all of these years?”

  chapter Five

  Where Have You Been?

  “Where have I been?” Kyle repeated. “Well, you know I’ve always been interested in flying, so, when I went to the Point, I majored in Aeronautical Engineering. After I got my commission, I spent the next eighteen months or so at Fort Rucker, Alabama in various helicopter training programs. I flew Apache choppers. Then I pulled two tours in Afghanistan.

  “After I finished my mandatory six years active duty commitment to the Army, I came back to the ranch and have been learning the ropes. I just talked to Pop the other day about taking some husbandry courses at UM.

  “Was there fighting where you were?” she asked.

  “Every day,”
he answered. “I lost a lot of friends over there. It’s not a pleasant subject for me.”

  “I’m sorry, I should have known better,” she said.

  “It’s okay. You didn’t know,” he said. “So what have you been up to? How did you wind up in Phoenix?”

  “I don’t know if you knew, but the bank where Daddy worked failed and the FDIC took it over. Another bank then took over the assets, and put their own people in, so he lost his job. He was out of work for eight months and then took a job in Longmont, Colorado, so we moved.

  “Things were tight, and I worked my way through college. I got my degree from Colorado University in Interior Design. Phoenix was in a boom period, so I took a job with a large furniture chain in their home design department. After three years there, I had saved enough, and had enough confidence to go out on my own. I’ve done pretty well and I’m getting referrals from some of my former clients.

  “What was Ashley like after I left?” he asked. “If you would rather not talk about it, I understand.”

  “No, it’s okay. I’m long past being over it,” Susannah said. “She started running with a wild crowd. She was into speed, meth, and anything else you smoke or inject. I don’t know how many times she was busted. She broke Daddy’s heart, and I’ve always felt she was a major cause of Mom’s heart problems.”

  “What a waste.” he said. “I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if I had stayed.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up over it. Frankly, I don’t think it would have made any difference. She was always looking for the next bigger high.

  “Now that you know our dirty little secret, what are your plans now?” she asked.

  “I’m going to find my son and bring him home,” he said. “I’d like for you to help,’ he said.

  Tears welled up in her eyes. “I was hoping you would say that,” she said. “Where do we start?”

  “Why don’t I order in some pizza? I do my best work on a full stomach,” he said.