by Sylvia Nobel
Finding a business card seemed an anticlimactic legacy given all the effort Riley had obviously invested in his little game of Clue and I could not suppress a pang of disappointment. “My guess is you’re supposed to call this number to find the answer.”
The disenchantment in her eyes mirrored mine. “So…that’s it? There’s nothing else to be found?”
I shrugged and leaned over to examine the statue closer. It didn’t seem right that after receiving and deciphering the proverbs Riley had so painstakingly assembled that this would be the end of the trail. I stuck my forefinger into the opening in the statue’s base, but felt nothing. On a hunch, I picked it up and shook it. To my utter astonishment, a shower of gold coins poured from the cavity and thudded onto the floor, some rolling away into the semi-darkness of the cluttered storage room.
Marissa let out a little squeal. “Oh, my God! The missing gold coins!” She immediately knelt and began to gather them into a pile. I watched her, chewing my lower lip. Something didn’t seem right. Considering their size, they should have made a tremendous clatter when they’d hit the concrete floor. I stooped to pick one up. It sure looked like a gold coin, but…it didn’t feel heavy like I imagined it should. I turned it over in my hand and with a thrill of shock realized what it was. Unbelievable. I couldn’t help it. Laughter bubbled up in my throat and I let out a shout of glee. Marissa, still down on her knees, edged me a startled look. “What’s so funny?”
“Riley really did have a puckish sense of humor.”
Her dark brows collided. “What do you mean?”
“This isn’t gold,” I announced, picking at the coin with one fingernail. “It’s candy.”
31
I’d left a shell-shocked Marissa standing in the doorway of her cottage, phone in hand, and rushed back to the truck, anxious to share the unexpected turn of events with Tally. It seemed to take forever to negotiate the endless switchbacks before I picked up a cell signal and NEW VOICEMAIL appeared on my screen. Now that was a strange coincidence. I listened to the message from Tally. Could I get to the Starfire as soon as possible? He had important news for me.
The radiant winter sun had begun its final descent towards the western peaks by the time I screeched to a halt in front of the two-story ranch house, anxious to see Tally after our three-day separation. I rapped at the kitchen door and, amidst the cacophonous barking of the Talversons’ cavorting, tail-wagging dogs, let myself in. Gloria, in her usual place at the stove, looked over her shoulder and gestured with her chin. “Hi. There is an envelope for you on the table.”
“Where’s Tally?”
She shrugged ignorance but I could tell by the mischievous glint in her eyes that something was going on. I picked up the small white envelope, ripped it open and read GO TO THE BARN. Frowning, I glanced up at Gloria. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” The corners of her lips twitched slightly and she quickly returned her attention to the saucepan on the stove.
Bewildered, I crossed to the barn and pushed the side door open to find Jake lounging against a bale of hay. “Afternoon, Miz O’Dell,” he said, touching the brim of his ragged Stetson, his eyes twinkling in much the same way Gloria’s had. Now I was really suspicious.
“Hey, Jake. Is Tally around?”
“Sort of.” He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out an envelope. “He asked me to give this to ya.”
I’m sure a look of confusion dominated my face as he laid it in my outstretched palm. He ambled away, stopped when he reached the door to the corral and swung around to face me. “I’ll meet you out here in a minute.”
“Okay.” I tore open the envelope and stared at the cryptic message. GRAB YOUR HAT AND BOOTS AND MEET ME ON SIDEWINDER HILL. LOVE, TALLY. I blinked in confusion. Sidewinder Hill, about a mile northeast of the ranch house, was our favorite place to picnic. The gentle cactus-covered knoll with its pristine outcroppings of white quartz afforded a stunning view of the hills and valleys that comprised the Starfire Ranch.
Burning with curiosity, I strode across the straw-littered floor, and when I stepped outside I gasped. My new mare, Starlight Sky, was all saddled up and ready to go. She looked around, saw me and whinnied a greeting as she tossed her head. Standing next to her was Jake, holding a pair of my boots in one hand and a wide-brimmed hat in the other.
“You gonna tell me what’s going on?” I demanded.
“Can’t.”
“Okaaay.” I peered at the long shadows creeping across the desert floor and calculated that if I left soon, I’d get there right about sunset. Having no clue as to what was going on, I tucked my jeans into the boots, planted the hat on my head and let Jake give me a leg up.
“Walk ’er around the corral a couple of times, so you can get a feel for handling her before you go,” he instructed, opening the gate. I walked, trotted and finally urged her into a gentle lope, thrilled by the Appaloosa’s smooth gait and instant response to my every command.
“Tally’s waitin’ on ya,” Jake commented, his leathery face scrunched in a playful grin. “You’d best git a goin’.”
“Guess you’re not going to give me even a hint as to what you two are up to this time, huh?”
His grin widened. “Nope.”
I took off across the open desert towards the rise, delighting in the feel of the cold fresh wind blowing in my face as Mother Nature busily painted the western sky a lustrous sheen of violet, rose and magenta streaked with an array of dazzling pink-rimmed clouds. I can’t remember ever having such an exhilarating ride. Sure of foot, Starlight Sky deftly maneuvered the rocky terrain, sidestepped the saffron fields of cholla and delivered me to my destination in ten minutes flat. I spotted Tally about halfway up the hill perched on a jagged outcropping, his horse Geronimo grazing nearby. Dressed in jeans and a Levi’s jacket, hat tipped back, his square-jawed face turned towards the setting sun, he looked as much a part of the rough landscape as the statuesque saguaros and endless blue sky—the epitome of the Arizona cowboy.
He turned when he heard Starlight Sky whinny and waved me up the hill. As I rode up and dismounted, a smile brushed the corners of his mouth. “How do you like her?”
“I love her. Thank you again, she’s fabulous.” I crossed to where Geronimo was happily grazing on lush green winter grass, tethered Starlight Sky next to him, and then walked back towards Tally, lamenting the fact that I would not have his gift ready by the engagement party. I’d already decided to find another sculptor to complete the project and the cell phone I’d ordered for him online was on the way.
“It’s good to see you.”
The intimate gleam in his eyes made me feel flushed. I smiled at him tenderly. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too,” he said huskily, reaching out to pull me onto his lap. Then in a move that melted my heart, he held my face in his hands and looked deeply into my eyes for a few seconds before bringing my lips down to his. His forceful kiss reaffirmed the irrefutable love I felt for this kind, responsible, rock-solid man who would soon be my husband.
Breathless, I pulled back and studied his face. “Are you going to be all right?” I had a pretty good idea how much he’d been suffering these past few days, trying to reconcile his feelings of resentment for Ruth and struggling to regain his lost identity, his shattered sense of self.
“It’s been a tough couple of days trying to digest far more information than I ever needed to know.”
I ran my fingers through his wavy blue-black hair. “I know, and I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner, but it was something that had to come from your mother. Have you talked to her yet?”
“Some.”
“Well, I hope for your sake and hers that you’ll be able to find it in your heart to one day forgive her.” I could only imagine what a bitter pill this whole sordid affair must be to a man as highly ethical as Tally.
“I’ve had to do quite a bit of soul searching, but I’m working on it.”
I fished
the envelopes from my pocket. “What’s with the mysterious notes?”
He thumbed behind him to a small ice chest. “I thought you’d enjoy having a romantic twilight dinner up here with me.” I could tell by the gleam of subterfuge behind his brown eyes that there was more to it than that.
“I would. So, what’s the important news you have for me? I’ve got some for you too.” After I shared my recent discovery with him, he shook his head in amazement and dug two sheets of paper from his breast pocket.
“Riley’s law firm sent me a couple of interesting letters today, and also this.” He reached into his pocket again, pulled out a key and laid it in my hand.
“What’s this?”
“A key to a safe deposit box.”
I stared at it in silence for a couple of seconds and then leaped to my feet. “The gold! He left you the gold coins!”
“Yep, and besides all the legal jargon placing me in charge of their distribution, there’s also a personal note to me. Want to read it?”
“You bet.”
He extended the paper and as I began to read, chills ran up and down my arms.
Dear Tally, it is with extreme pride that I acknowledge you as my son, my flesh and blood. I have only recently known this and wish your mother had told me a long time ago. But, even if she had, out of great respect, I would have never said anything while Joe was alive. He was a good father to both you and Ronda. Don’t ever forget that and don’t allow this revelation to tarnish his memory. Because I have known you all your life, I know you are a man of strong character and feel confident that I can trust you to carry out my last wishes should anything happen to me. I ask your forgiveness for my misconduct and pray that you will be able to forgive your mother too. We were young and foolish and never meant to hurt anyone. I’m sorry. Your father, Riley C. Gibbons. I met Tally’s thoughtful gaze. “What were his final wishes?”
“To make sure that my new brother or sister is taken care of.”
I inhaled sharply. “So, you know about Marissa.”
Tally nodded slowly. “It’s in the letter from his attorney.”
The phrase Riley had written, LOVE BUILDS BRIDGES WHERE THERE ARE NONE, flashed through my mind. More than ever, I wish I’d had the chance to know him. But then as I stared at Tally, I realized that I did. Instead of Joe Talverson’s legendary temper, Tally had inherited some of Riley’s altruistic qualities. As if to illustrate that, Tally rose, reached around behind the rock ledge, pulled out a spade with a giant pink bow attached to the handle and handed it to me. He gestured towards the horizon, now a flaming tapestry of cherry, orange and purple intermingled with smoky wisps of clouds. “You’d best get to digging. We’re losing the light.”
Dumbfounded, I stared at him. “What’s going on?”
He beamed me his familiar crooked grin. “Dig.”
“Where?”
“Right over there,” he said, pointing to several stones laid to look like a big X.
Totally perplexed, I pushed the stones aside and began to dig in the soft dirt. Barely a minute passed before the point of the spade clanged into something hard. I knelt and uncovered a long metal tube. I fixed him with a bemused look. “What is this? Buried treasure?”
Still smiling, he hitched his shoulders, feigning innocence as I brushed the dirt off and pulled one of the end caps off. A sheaf of papers rolled into a cylinder dropped out. A light breeze rushed up from the valley below and fluffed my hair as I unrolled the papers with shaking fingers. Stunned, I looked down at a set of blueprints and then back at him. “What’s this?”
“Blueprints for our new house. I thought this would make a pretty nice spot for just the two of us. What do you think?” The compassionate light in his steady gaze filled my heart with a fierce joy. Tears stinging my eyes, I jumped up and threw my arms around his neck.
“I think that you’re the most wonderful, generous man I’ve ever known and it will be an honor to be Mrs. Bradley James Talverson.”
He arched a brow in surprise. “You sure? I thought you wanted to keep O’Dell?”
“Well, maybe just for my byline, but for the rest of the time, for me and for our children, it’s going to be plain old Talverson, if you don’t mind.”
His lips grazed mine as he whispered, “Not one little bit.”
SYLVIA NOBEL CURRENTLY RESIDES IN
PHOENIX, ARIZONA WITH HER HUSBAND
AND SIX CATS. SHE IS A MEMBER OF
MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA.
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Table of Contents
Cover
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Dedication
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About the Author
Back Cover