And the reminder of this feeling of wholeness would only make his fractured, limping existence more painful when he returned to it.
He pushed the thought of his leaving out of his mind. This was where he was now. Enjoy the moment. He rolled over onto his side to look at Sabrina.
There were tears trickling out of the corner of her eyes.
“What?” He touched one, felt the warmth run into his palm. “Bree?”
She turned away from him, but he caught her and pulled her close. For a moment, they lay spooning together, breathing in time.
“I have a confession to make,” she said finally in a small voice. She swallowed a sob.
His hand stilled against her belly. The warmth inside him fled. All his muscles tensed again, readied for defense.
“I was planning to dump you. Break your heart. Get my revenge on you for leaving me. You know. Back then.”
Whatever he’d been expecting, it wasn’t this. He pushed up onto his elbows to look at her, the ease and comfort slipping away.
“You were…what?” Mitch said.
“Listen to me—that’s all over now. I just thought I should be up-front with you about it. From now on, whatever happens between us, we need to be honest with each other.”
He searched back through the past few weeks, looking for clues, but came up empty.
“All this time.” He shook his head. He’d trusted her! And she was waiting for the right time to sink the knife?
“I’m done with that now, I told you. You think I could do…this”—she gestured to the bed—“if I was still feeling like that?”
“I don’t know. Could you?”
Sabrina twisted out from under him and looked back. As they gazed at each other, her face hardened, the tears dried, and she seemed to come to some sort of decision. She scrambled off the bed and gathered her clothes with trembling hands.
“Believe whatever you want to believe, Mitch. You will anyway.”
He grabbed her by the arm and swung her around, feeling as if there was a volcano erupting within him. “You played me?”
“Oh, come on.” She yanked her arm back. “None of this would have even started if it wasn’t for your whole fake engagement scheme.”
“Which you agreed to quickly enough when you learned what I could do for your clinic.”
“And how’s that looking, huh? Looks like your plans are a wash unless you decide to stay here in Podunkville. No big payday for you, no fancy clinic for me.”
For a second they stood quietly, both breathing hard, her clutching her arms together over her middle, him gripping the wall as if it were the only thing keeping him upright.
“Neither of us expected things to turn out like this, Mitch.” Sabrina’s voice was softer now. “But I’m glad it happened.”
He couldn’t respond.
“I think I always knew you’d suffered as much as I did. Back then. Clinging to my grudge was how I got through it, though, I guess. But Mitch?”
Tears glistened in her eyes. She reached out her hand, then pulled it back without touching him.
“I never thought about how it affected you. I’m so sorry. For then, and for now.”
He felt dampness on his own cheeks and turned away so she wouldn’t see.
“I know you’re leaving soon. But there will always be a lot of people who want you to come back. Don’t disappoint them.”
The smog of hurt and anger that had filled the room dissipated, pushed out by something else, something Mitch couldn’t look at. She’d planned, this whole time, to yank the rug out from under him, to pay him back for a wrong she’d forced him to commit! He wanted to stay furious but her words landed like long-prayed-for rain in a parched corner of his heart. Dormant things sprang to life within him, so quickly he couldn’t keep up, couldn’t process them.
His cell phone vibrated, jolting him out of his reverie. An incoming text. Seconds later, Sabrina’s went off as well. He read the small screen, not making sense of the words. He lifted his eyes and saw his own shock reflected in her gaze.
“Fire?” she whispered, in horror.
“Come on!” He sprang to his feet and they threw on their clothes. Whatever this was, whatever they were to each other now, they’d have to figure it out later. Right now, there were bigger problems to deal with.
Hard Tack was burning.
…
“Look for stray sparks!” Mitch yelled, tossing a hose to Sabrina.
Gus, Carson, Zach, the managers, and various ranch hands were already fighting the fire vigorously when Sabrina and Mitch arrived at Hard Tack. It was the stable that was ablaze, and anyone could see that the building would be a total loss. The bales of straw and hay in the loft would burn until every stick was ash.
“Any animals inside?” she called to Carson, feeling the sting of smoke in her throat.
He shook his head. “They’re accounted for. We’re working to contain it, that’s all.”
She trained the spray of water on the small shed nearby. Lutherton’s volunteer fire department had arrived, making her efforts seem pathetic, but she continued. She had to do something to help. The men had already cut a perimeter around the building. With any luck they’d manage to keep the fire from spreading to the other barns. Or the house.
It was dark by the time the fire started to wane. With a crash, a support wall crumbled inward, sending thousands of sparks whirling and twirling into the night sky. Mitch hadn’t said anything to her, beyond pointing out places to spray water. There would be a reckoning, she knew. She just hoped that this time, he wouldn’t disappear before they’d finally settled things between them.
By the time the risk to the rest of the property was past, everyone was exhausted, wet and soot-stained. Bliss and her twin sister Blythe had shown up, independent of each other, naturally, with sandwiches and muffins and thermoses of hot coffee and cocoa. And piles of old towels so they could all start cleaning up.
Sabrina rubbed her face, then lifted her hair and ran the rough terry cloth over the back of her neck, her throat, down her arms. She felt disgusting, layered with grime and grit. But the towel couldn’t wipe away the hurt on Mitch’s face.
The exhaustion and adrenaline of fighting the fire lifted momentarily, allowing the truth of her actions to flood in. And on the heels of that came shame.
She sank to the muddy ground and put her head in her hands. What had she done?
She’d spent the last month living a lie, all so she could hurt the man she’d once loved with all her heart. Had she gotten so focused on revenge that she’d lost sight of who she was? Worse, had she managed to lie to herself?
Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming her way. She swiped at her face and took a couple of deep, shuddering breaths.
“Where’s Hailey?” Mitch asked. His face was backlit by the glow of the last embers and she couldn’t read his expression. But his tone was stern, brisk, emotionless.
She took a step back. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her.”
“Yeah, no one has.” Mitch looked over his shoulder. “No one’s seen her since before all this.”
She sprang to her feet, tossing the towel onto a pile. But he was already gone, no doubt to search for the girl. Whatever his mistakes, he was killing himself trying to make up for them.
He had flaws and blind spots aplenty, but who didn’t? Yet he’d learned to face them without excuses, take the unpleasant truth on the chin, then get up, ready to make amends.
She thought he’d abandoned her when in fact he’d been trying to protect her. Of course he wasn’t there to support her during the miscarriage; he didn’t know. He thought she’d already recovered. She’d made sure of that.
And now? Mitch’s motives might have started out selfish, but they were anything but now.
She strode to the house and found a dark corner of the porch where she stood, braced on the railing, breathing hard. Forcing herself to face the truth.
She hadn’t been taking revenge
on Mitch.
Whether she realized it or not, she’d simply been trying to get back what they’d lost ten years earlier. Their love, their future. Their child. Sabrina felt hot tears trickle down her cheeks.
“I’m still in love with Mitch,” she whispered, her hoarse voice terrifyingly loud in the dark. “I never stopped.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Arson?” Mitch repeated Sheriff Matthew Baker’s last word as if he’d never heard it before.
Gus stood in the shadows, surveying the smoking embers, his shoulders hunched, defeat and shame in every line of his body. “My poor little girl.”
“You’re saying Hailey set the fire?” Mitch’s stomach hurt.
He could never forget that terrible year when everything had gone wrong, when his life seemed to be spiraling out of control and he needed to destroy something, anything. There’d been a different sheriff then, at least. Maybe there was one person who didn’t know how stupid he’d been. How exactly like Hailey he’d been.
“We won’t know for sure until the fire marshal gets through with the scene,” the sheriff said heavily. “But that’s what it looks like.”
“So you don’t know!” Mitch couldn’t bear the thought of someone else going through what he had. And this was a hundred times worse.
“It’s Hailey, all right,” Gus said, his shoulders drooping even lower. “Not a single animal was in danger. The horses were out. The dog’s kennel had been dragged to safety. Even the cat dishes were lined up and full, in the other barn, to make sure the ferals had a safe place to go. That’s Hailey all over.”
“But why?”
“You, of all people, have to ask?” Gus looked at him then, dark circles rimming his lined eyes. “Sometimes kids do stupid things.”
Mitch felt the sheriff eyeing him but the man said nothing.
“Was she hoping you’d get insurance money?” the sheriff asked. “So you could stay?”
“She might have thought of it.” Gus shrugged. “But there was no insurance. Had to drop the premiums years ago. She wouldn’t know that.” He sighed. “Of course it’s her—she’ll do anything to stop the sale. Plus, she’s disappeared. She does that when she’s upset. She’s been doing it a lot lately.”
Gus’s apparent apathy infuriated Mitch.
“Now she’s gone. But the past few days? She’s been at Three River. How do you not know this?”
“No sign of her at any of the usual places,” the sheriff said, pocketing his cell phone. “Girl doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends.”
“Hailey.” Gus turned away from them to hide his tears. “My poor little girl.”
“She’s out there somewhere.” Mitch pointed to the sky. “In this weather—and that’s all you can say?”
This time Gus met his eyes and behind the despair, Mitch saw the anger and the protectiveness of a father at the end of his rope. “When you’ve raised a teenage daughter, you can criticize all you like. Until then, either help me, or shut the hell up.”
Sheriff Baker cleared his throat. “The storm looks nasty. You think she’s holed up outside somewhere?”
Gus shrugged again. “She knows nooks and crannies of this mountain like no one else. If she’s gone, she won’t be back until she’s ready. Storm or no storm.”
When Mitch got back to Three River, a search party was forming. Bliss was making sandwiches; Carson was on the phone, running his finger down a list. Rory had a pencil jammed in her hair and the phone book in her lap.
“Mitch, thank God you’re here,” Carson said, covering the mouthpiece with his hand. “She’s on foot. Unless she took one of her own? Bliss?”
“Her pinto’s stabled here,” Bliss confirmed. “All the Hard Tack horses are still there.”
A sudden gust of wind made the lights flicker briefly, and then go out completely. Carson cursed, tossing the dead cordless phone onto the couch.
“I hope everyone’s cell phones are charged,” he said, checking his own. He cursed again and sent it onto the couch with the other.
“Service will be iffy anyway,” said Bliss. “No point worrying about it.”
“So what’s the plan?” Mitch said. They’d find Hailey. They had to. “What can I do?”
A horn honked outside.
Sabrina.
Mitch swallowed. They’d have to finish their conversation sometime, and he didn’t know if he was looking forward to it or dreading it.
Carson pulled open the door and she dashed inside, her dog leading the way.
“I’m almost ready, Carson,” Rory called as she shrugged on her rain gear. “Bree, you tell Mitch our idea.”
“You and I are going out with Bono,” Sabrina said, wiping rain from her face. She had her long hair scraped back from her face and covered with a baseball cap. Worry and fatigue bracketed her eyes. A yellow slicker covered her like a tent.
And she’d never looked more beautiful.
“Bono’s done some scent tracking,” she continued. “Maybe he can help. He knows Hailey.”
“In this weather?” said Mitch.
“Better wet than dry,” said Sabrina. “This is a bit much, but we have to try everything, don’t we?”
“Bless you both!” Bliss was near tears. When the dog shook, spraying droplets of rainwater on her shining floor, instead of complaining, she offered him a treat.
“Let’s go.” Sabrina looked from Mitch to Bliss. “Don’t worry, we’ll catch up with her, have her tucked into bed by midnight.”
“Good Lord willing,” Bliss said. “It’s pouring buckets out there.”
Mitch saw Sabrina’s discomfort and understood exactly what neither of them could say in front of Bliss. While they had been making love, Hailey, sad, lonely, frightened, guilty Hailey had done the only thing she could think of to save her home. In her tortured adolescent mind, it made sense. And no one, least of all him, had noticed the full extent of her distress. Guilt clawed at him, making it impossible to stand still.
“Let’s do it,” Mitch said. He thought fast, and started ticking items off on his fingers. “Cell phones. They probably won’t work, but we’ll bring them anyway. Food. Bliss, can you get us some sandwiches, maybe a thermos of hot chocolate? She’ll be chilled through out there.”
“Way ahead of you, boss.”
“Can you find us some flashlights? And a shotgun.”
Bliss pointed to the doorway. “Everything you need, right there.”
“A gun?” Fear widened Sabrina’s eyes.
“Absolutely. A good cowboy never leaves home without it.” Bliss gave Mitch a pointed look. “Think you can still handle one?”
“Of course!” The mountains were full of creatures Mitch didn’t want to think about at the moment. He wouldn’t let Sabrina go out there without knowing he had the means to protect her, if necessary.
“Carson left a bunch of outerwear on the couch for you.” Bliss tossed items to Mitch as she spoke. “Rain slicker, couple of layers of fleece underneath. Gloves. It’s colder than it looks up there. Especially at night.”
“Bono, stand still!” Sabrina slipped a reflective vest over the increasingly restless dog. “Okay, we’re ready. Meet you outside?” She gave Mitch a look and left.
“Well,” Bliss snapped as he stood watching Sabrina walk away, “don’t just stand there drooling. Food’s packed. The horses are ready. Go! And, Mitch?”
He turned to look at her, dreading what he’d see. Her face, beneath the brusque exterior and the tough talk, was tight with worry.
“Find her,” she said to him. “Bring her back to us. Please.”
Mitch gave up the lead to Sabrina. The ground beneath the horses’ hooves was slick with running mud and slow going no matter who was in the lead. He fought away the growing sense of panic at the thought of Hailey, alone in this weather, and for how many hours already?
Sabrina reined her horse around clump of trees, following Bono’s sodden form. They’d exchanged a lot of unpleasant truths, things they hadn
’t come close to dealing with yet. But that paled in comparison with the immediate crisis and Mitch welcomed the reprieve.
She pointed toward a path leading to the canyon, and he nodded. Between the driving wind and the rain pelting into their eyes, sign language was sufficient. They were united, a team, and it felt good.
As much as Mitch tried to be angry at Gus Harding, the image of his slumped form outside the barn kept appearing, a man at the breaking point, with nowhere to turn.
He shook a stream of cold water out of his eyes. Damn it, Gus’s life was not his fault.
Mitch dropped the reins and swiped one hand roughly over his face. The water wasn’t the only thing causing his eyes to blur, and the wind wasn’t the only thing making him feel like his chest was about to explode.
“You okay?” Sabrina yelled, turning sideways in her saddle.
He gave his head a shake, trying to dislodge the memories. His father had spiraled the same way, when he and Carson were kids. Mitch had never thought much about how lost the man must have been. With no help from his sons, that’s for sure.
“I’m fine,” he called back. “Keep going.”
Sabrina pulled Monty around close enough so their knees bumped together. Her eyes were black in the fractured sweeps of flashlight.
“We’ll find her, Mitch,” she said.
“I know.”
They picked their way down a gradual decline, letting the horses have their heads on the slippery trail. Bono’s tail was matted with mud and he walked with his head down. Mitch wondered if he was as discouraged as he appeared, or if he was searching for a scent.
Someone—Bliss?—said it had been a year since Hailey’s mother died. Mitch squirmed as locked-away feelings returned. The overwhelming sense of anger and powerlessness he’d felt then came rushing back, just for an instant, staggering Mitch with its vividness.
He fought for breath, but the memories kept on coming.
“Mitch?” Sabrina moved Monty in front of Maya, cutting them off. “Honey, you’re scaring me.”
A broken heart has no room for anyone else’s pain. He’d shut everyone out—his father, his brother. He hadn’t even come back for his dad’s funeral. What kind of son skips his own father’s funeral?
Fake Fiance, Real Revenge: A Three River Ranch Novel (Entangled Bliss) Page 16