“Too bad he wasn’t as concerned about us when we were kids.”
“It’s my personal belief that he regretted his actions when you boys were young,” Ned told him, his voice carefully neutral. “Unfortunately, he didn’t come to that realization until you were all grown and gone.”
“Maybe.” Cade’s skepticism rang in his deep voice. “Or maybe he didn’t have anyone else to leave the place to.”
“Perhaps.” The attorney sat forward and pulled a file toward him. “I wanted to let you know that the investigative agency has a potential lead on Eli’s whereabouts.”
Cade’s gaze sharpened and he leaned forward slightly. “What is it?”
“They’ve located a young woman who apprenticed with him under a silversmith in an artist’s colony in New Mexico. Interestingly enough, Eli was living not far from where Brodie was hospitalized, and during the same time frame.”
“Maybe Brodie was down there visiting Eli,” Cade said. “He did that when he was traveling—if he had a rodeo near where one of us was living, he’d call and we’d get together.”
“Well, we don’t know for sure if that’s why Brodie was in the area,” Ned told him. “And the young woman doesn’t know Brodie but she remembers Eli very well.” Ned smiled. “She apparently had a bit of a crush on him.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Cade said drily. “Women always love Eli.”
“In any event, she thought he left the colony to travel overseas for an apprenticeship.”
“Did she know where specifically?”
Ned shook his head. “No, but the agency is sending an investigator to check out the organization in New Mexico. Hopefully, we’ll learn more soon.” He flipped the file closed. “Has your brother Zach contacted you yet?”
“No.” Cade stood. “But at least I know where he is and that it’s only a matter of time before he calls.”
“Yes, thank goodness. I’ll let you know immediately if we receive any further information about Brodie or Eli.” Ned stood, too, and the men shook hands.
As Cade left the office, he wondered grimly how much longer it might take to find his brothers and if the Triple C could hold on until they surfaced.
He drove down Main Street but when he reached the edge of town, instead of accelerating toward the Triple C, he slowed. He turned left, driving between two white pillars and past a sign telling visitors they’d just entered the Indian Springs Cemetery.
He’d driven down the narrow gravel lane between green lawns dotted with headstones dozens of times when he was a teenager. He and his brothers had made this their last stop before they left town thirteen years earlier.
Cade wasn’t sure why he’d put off coming here since he’d returned but when he left the truck and walked across the dried winter grass to his mother’s grave, the realization hit him hard.
There were two gravestones now.
The white marble marker at the head of Joseph’s grave was simple, with only his name and the dates marking the year he was born, and the year he died. The shape and size matched Melanie’s exactly.
He knew he was supposed to feel something—grief, anger…something. But he felt nothing.
Car tires crunched on the gravel of the drive behind him but he didn’t turn around.
A door closed with a quiet thunk, footsteps making small noises as a person walked across the grass.
Cade wasn’t in the mood to chat and make polite conversation. He hoped whoever was behind him moved on without talking.
“Cade…”
Mariah’s soft voice snapped his head around. She stood a few feet away, her arms cradling two large bundles of flowers. A black wool coat covered her from her throat to below her knees, her feet covered in warm winter boots and black wool gloves on her hands. The breeze skeined strands of her loose hair over her cheek and she lifted a hand, brushing them back. The blond strands gleamed like bright silver against the black wool of her coat.
“I’m sorry to intrude,” she apologized, her brown eyes warm with empathy. She gestured with the bundle of flowers at the headstones. “I stopped to leave some flowers—do you mind?”
“Not at all,” he said. “Go ahead.”
She bent to remove wilted flowers from the metal holder mounted at the side of the headstones. She laid them aside and as she tucked new stems with fresh flowers into the holders, Cade realized that he hadn’t registered the flowers earlier.
And they were daisies.
His mother’s favorite flower.
“How did you know to bring her daisies?” he asked, bemused.
“Joseph told me that she loved daisies. He came here every Sunday afternoon, all year-round, and brought her flowers—he always gave her daisies.” Mariah looked up at him, a soft, sad smile curving her lush mouth. “He never missed a week. At the end, he fretted and worried when he was too ill to leave his bed so I brought the flowers. I told him I’d visit and bring daisies when he was gone.” She glanced at the two matching headstones before looking back at Cade. “He loved her very much,” she said softly.
“He loved her too damned much.” Cade knew his voice was too detached, with too little feeling in contrast to her emotion, but he couldn’t pretend something he didn’t feel. And what he felt was—nothing. There was a cold void where his heart should be.
Mariah’s eyes widened in surprise. “How can a husband love a wife too much?”
“When he tries to climb into the grave with her. When he wishes he’d died with her,” Cade said in that oddly unemotional voice. “When he goes crazy with grief at her loss and tries to destroy himself and everyone who ever loved her.”
“Is that what Joseph did when your mother died?” Mariah sounded shaken.
“Pretty much.” Cade realized he’d shocked her. He should have let her keep her illusions about his father. “It’s not something you should worry about,” he told her, shrugging. He nodded at the flowers that filled the vases. “Are you finished here?”
“Yes, I, um…” She glanced at the wilted, dry stems in her hands as if she’d forgotten she held them. “I guess I am.”
“I’ll walk you back to your car.”
She didn’t object when he stepped back to let her walk past him, then fell into step beside her. When they reached her vehicle, parked in front of his truck, he pulled open the door and waited as she settled in the driver’s seat.
“Drive carefully,” he told her. He bent to tuck the bottom hem of her coat inside and gently closed the door.
He felt her gaze on him and knew she watched him in her rearview mirror as he walked to his truck and got in. By the time he twisted the key and the engine turned over, she was moving, pulling out of the cemetery and onto the highway toward the Triple C.
She probably thinks I’m a cold son of a bitch, he thought as he followed.
He was sorry for that. But he’d locked away all emotions over his father years ago. Even if he wanted to, he didn’t think he could pull them out now.
Some things were better left buried.
That evening, Mariah was wiping down the stove and J.T. had just finished drying and putting away the last dish in the kitchen when a truck drove up outside.
“We have visitors,” Pete commented. He set down the deck of cards and the box of poker chips on the table before crossing the room to pull open the door. “Hey, what are you three doing out this late?”
“Evenin’, Pete.” Boots thudded on the porch boards and Pete stepped back, holding the door wide as Asa, Ben and Wayne entered.
“Hi, Cade, Mariah, J.T.” Ben grinned, winking at Mariah. “Thought we’d take you up on your invitation and drop by,” he told Cade.
“Glad to see you, Ben.” Cade gestured at the table. “You’re just in time—we’re about to play poker.” He crossed the room to collect more chairs and carried them back to the table. “Did you bring money?”
“Ha,” Wayne snorted. “Seems to me I remember you asking me that before, from the time you were about twe
lve and you started winning all my money and emptying my pockets.”
“But up until then, you kept taking my nickels,” Cade reminded him. “You said it was an important part of the lesson and since you were teaching me to play poker, you were required to teach me about losing.”
“That’s right.” Wayne’s eyes twinkled. “But you soon started winning back those nickels.”
“I had to,” Cade told him. “I was losing my school lunch money.”
“Geez, Wayne,” Asa said. “You took the kid’s lunch money?”
“I didn’t keep it,” Wayne protested. “I dropped the nickels in a jar and Cade won every one of them back.”
“In the meantime, I had to eat peanut butter sandwiches for about six months.”
“Doesn’t look like it had any long-term bad effects,” Wayne told him, clapping him on the shoulder. “You’re not too puny.”
Cade laughed. “No, I guess not. How about something to drink before we get started?” he asked, leading the way into the kitchen.
“Evening, Mariah,” Asa said as the kitchen area filled with men.
“Hi, Asa.” Mariah smiled at him with genuine affection. She had a soft spot in her heart for Joseph’s three old friends. “There’s fresh coffee, if you want some, or there’s beer and soda in the fridge.”
“I think I’ll have a longneck,” he told her. “Ben’s the designated driver tonight, though, so he’ll probably have coffee.”
“Yep, I’d better.” Ben slung an arm over her shoulder and gave her a quick, friendly hug. “How you been, darlin’?”
“Good, Ben,” she responded. “I’m good.”
“I hope you brought your piggy bank,” he told her with a wink. “’Cause I’m feelin’ lucky tonight.”
“I’m not sure I want to play cards with you three. I’ve heard you telling stories in the café and it sounded to me like you’re all card sharks.”
Ben pressed his hand over his heart. “Me? No, no, no, not when we play with friends.”
“Hmm.” Mariah eyed him skeptically as she took a soda from the fridge and handed him a longneck bottle of beer. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”
“You’d better sit next to me, Mariah,” Pete told her, blue eyes filled with amusement. “Ben has been known to cheat.”
“That’s a downright lie,” his friend said promptly and without heat. “Now if you’re talking about Wayne or Asa—there’s no question it pays to keep your eye on them.”
Mariah took her seat as the three older men settled into chairs and wrangled amiably over who was most likely to play poker by the book. She glanced across the table and met Cade’s amused gaze, their shared enjoyment of the men’s friendly argument creating a bond that felt so right. The strength of the bond surprised her and she looked away, unsure what had just happened between them.
“Ante up.” Cade’s voice pulled her attention away from her thoughts.
“What are we playing?” J.T. asked.
“Stud poker.”
I should have known, Mariah thought as she tossed a penny into the center of the table with the rest of the players. How appropriate.
An hour later, money had changed hands and fickle Lady Luck had smiled without prejudice on first one, then another of the players. No one had enjoyed a steady streak of good luck, though, and the piles of chips and pennies in front of the players were roughly the same as when they’d started.
“I need a break,” Mariah announced. “Anyone want cake and ice cream?”
A chorus of cheers made her smile. J.T. followed her into the kitchen to carry filled plates back to the table. When everyone had dessert in front of them, Mariah slipped again into her chair and picked up her fork.
“Asa, do you know if Dad sold the Kigers?” Cade asked.
His question grabbed her attention and she exchanged a quick interested look with J.T. before focusing on Asa.
“I never heard that he did,” Asa replied. “On the other hand, I never heard that he didn’t, either.” He looked at Ben and Wayne. “Did you two ever hear anyone say they bought the Kigers?”
The two men shook their heads.
“I think we would have heard about it,” Ben said. “Those Kigers of your mom’s were valuable horses.”
“What are Kigers, exactly?” J.T. asked. “I’ve heard of quarterhorses, thoroughbreds, Morgans and a long list of other breeds but I’ve never known anyone who mentioned Kigers.”
“They’re Mustangs,” Cade told him.
“They’re pretty much the Cadillac of Mustangs,” Wayne added. “They were named after the Kiger Gorge at Steens Mountain range in Oregon where they live. There are lots of Mustang herds across the West—especially in Utah and Nevada—but the Mustangs isolated in the Steens Mountains are special.”
“Beautiful horses,” Asa put in, shaking his head as his eyes fogged with memories. “I remember a pinto your mama used to ride, Cade. Sweetest little filly I ever saw.”
“Mom loved those horses,” Cade agreed with a small reminiscent smile. “She and Dad used to argue about whether her Mustangs were as good as his quarterhorses.”
“She kept the pinto at home to ride but pastured the rest of the herd up on Tunk Mountain,” Ben said, eyes narrowed as he remembered. “We rode up there with her and Joseph a couple of times, me and Wayne.”
“Where did she get them?” Mariah asked, fascinated by this window into Cade’s parents and his past.
“Bought them from the government,” Wayne told her.
“The government?” She must have looked as confused as she felt because Wayne grinned at her.
“Wild Mustangs are protected by the federal government—they run free on government land. Every year or so, when the herds get too big, the government rounds up some of them and auctions them off.”
“They only auction the Kigers every few years,” Asa put in. “The herds are smaller so there aren’t as many colts to sell but every time there’s a Kiger auction, folks turn out in droves. Over the years, Melanie gathered a small herd of her own with a stallion and mares, several colts. She wanted them to thrive and live much as they were accustomed to in Oregon, so she pastured them in the wildest part of the Triple C. Tunk Mountain is part of that farthest pasture.”
“What happened to your mom’s little pinto filly, Cade?” Ben asked.
“Dad rode out with her on a lead rope the day after Mom’s funeral. He was gone overnight. He came back without her.”
A small silence fell following Cade’s short reply.
“I always thought he took her out and shot her,” Cade continued, the blunt words falling into the silence. “But maybe he took her up on Tunk Mountain and turned her loose with the rest of the Kigers.”
“You think they might still be up there?” J.T. asked, his eyes gleaming with interest. “Running wild?”
“Hard to say.” Cade shrugged. “One thing’s for sure—if they were, no one would ever know. If Dad never rounded up the stray cattle beyond the home pastures, it’s not likely he would have kept track of the Kigers. Tunk Mountain’s too far out.”
“We should ride up there,” Ben put in. “Check it out.”
“Yeah,” Asa and Wayne chimed in.
“Even if we had time, which we don’t,” Cade said, “I’d still have to wait for Brodie.”
“How come?” Wayne asked.
“Because Dad’s will left the horses to Brodie. He’s the one that should go looking for the Kigers.”
“I thought Joseph left you all the stock?” Pete said, his gaze questioning.
“He left me everything except the horses,” Cade corrected him. “I didn’t think there were any horses except Sarge. But,” he added, “if the Kigers are still there, maybe there are a lot of horses.”
“I’d sure like to find out.” Ben’s eyes sparkled with interest. “How long before Brodie gets home?”
“I wish I knew.” A faint frown darkened Cade’s green eyes. “We haven’t found him yet.”
“Well,” Asa said bracingly when another silence stretched as they all contemplated the worrisome lack of information about Cade’s brother. “Nothing we can do about it now—so let’s get on with the poker game. I need to win some coffee money for tomorrow morning.”
Chapter Seven
Three days later, the Triple C crew and four of the Turner brothers left the ranch just after 6:00 a.m. Mariah rode with Pete in his old but sturdy truck as they left the graded ranch road and set off across the pasture. They were the second vehicle in the caravan with Cade leading the way and two Turner ranch trucks bringing up the rear. Each of the trucks pulled horse trailers and the pickup beds were loaded with camping equipment and tack.
She glanced in the side mirror. The trucks behind were bumping and rocking along the track, their speed steady as they followed Cade’s lead.
“How long did Cade say we’d have to drive before we leave the trucks and unload the horses?” she asked Pete, settling forward in her seat once again.
“At least an hour, probably more. The only way in is to go through the pastures and the road isn’t a straight shot, winds all over the place—otherwise we’d be there a lot sooner.”
It seemed to Mariah that it took forever before they crossed the home pasture, passed through a wire gate and drove deeper into the second one. Almost immediately, it became obvious that no one had used this section of land for some time.
“I think I can see why Joseph kept the cattle in the pasture next to the home buildings,” Mariah murmured as the land outside her window became increasingly rough. The track they drove on now was barely more than a cow path and before long, the taillights on Cade’s pickup ahead of them flashed as he braked, then turned right onto an open, flat space.
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