Unbridled (26 page)

They rode single file toward the north side of the ranch, where there wasn’t much but trees and rocks. It looked as if a horse couldn’t even get through the line of huge boulders, but the kid simply rode toward them. Alex wanted to ask him what the hell he was doing, but she held her tongue, strangely trusting him.

When he made an abrupt left after a moss-covered giant, he disappeared from sight. There was a hidden path.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Alex continued after him, wondering if the big bay would make it through the secret trail.

Daniel was waiting for her in the dappled sunshine of the woods. “Don’t worry. Dad used to ride Rusty through here all the time. He can probably pick his way through without your help.”

Alex felt the world shift beneath her as the boy compared her to her father. Her actions mirrored his as Daniel’s mirrored hers. It was like she was looking into a room full of fun-house mirrors and didn’t know which reflection was hers.

Her father had left a mess behind, and Alex was recognizing the fact that she’d blamed everyone else for the mistakes he’d made. Particularly this dark-haired boy who sported her eyes and her father’s chin. He was lonely, just like her, and suffered, just like her. While Connor obviously spent time with the kid, he had a job to do, and an eight-year-old wasn’t much help in running a ranch.

Alex’s anger dissipated quickly, as if the trail held a magical quality that made her forget. Perhaps it did, or maybe she was finally coming to terms with the pain she’d carried with her for so long. Everyone made mistakes in their lives, some of them colossal enough to cause destruction or ruination.

Grant Finley had obviously tried to make up for his errors by putting everything into the ranch. She ignored most of the signs of his presence, but she couldn’t ignore the boy whose blood ran through her veins.

The kid who was the closest thing to family she had. That thought was like a punch to her gut and her breath caught at the impact.

Family. Daniel was her
family
.

Alex blinked away the stinging in her eyes as she finally accepted what she’d found in Wyoming. She had lost all those she loved, had lived so long without having a family. Just recognizing what Daniel represented was enough to make her cry, apparently.

Alex took a drink of water from the bottle she’d grabbed from the barn refrigerator. The cool wetness helped her swallow the giant lump that had formed. She felt like a girl, a weak girl who had given in after fighting against a larger, stronger foe.

Only this time the foe was her own stubbornness and pride.

“What are you doing?” Daniel had ridden about twenty yards ahead of her. He twisted around and waved his arm at her. “You’ll get lost if you don’t keep up. You don’t know this trail like me. I’m an expert.”

Alex didn’t laugh at him, although she did have to stifle a chuckle. “I needed a drink, oh, slave driver. I didn’t know I needed your permission.”

“Well, tell me next time. I ain’t a mind reader, you know.” He huffed like a grown man kept waiting at the door by a fussy female.

This time Alex did laugh. “You’re obnoxious.”

“So are you.”

“At least we both agree on something.” She spurred Rusty forward to join her brother.

Her brother. Her family.

 

 

Connor managed to focus on work for an hour, reviewing the reservations for the week, as well as the time sheets. It looked like several people had been putting in overtime to make up for his slacking off. Now he couldn’t say whether or not it was worth it. After all, he’d now done more harm than good with Alex. She was angry at him, again, and this time he was afraid she wouldn’t get over it.

A commotion out in the lobby reminded him the ranch was going on around him, without him. He rose, conscious of the stiffness in his muscles after zoning out at his desk for the last hour.

“Connor, you need to help me.” Claire appeared in his doorway, panic evident on her pale face.

Connor’s problems immediately forgotten, he went toward her. “What’s wrong?”

“Daniel is missing.”

Connor’s stomach dropped. “Missing?”

“I haven’t seen him in more than two hours and neither has anyone else.” She looked behind him. “He’s not here, is he?”

“No, he hasn’t been here all day. We were supposed to go riding this weekend, but I was, uh, tied up.” He didn’t want to admit to Claire he was literally tied up. In Alex’s bed. The very thought of what he’d been doing instead of going for a ride with Daniel made him ashamed.

The kid looked up to him as a big brother and he’d let him down. Now his worry was compounded by self-recrimination.

“When was the last time you saw him?”

Claire wrung her hands. “Breakfast, around eight o’clock. He was eating waffles when I left him to go talk to Eileen about the housekeeping assignments.”

“Then let’s start there and backtrack to find him.” Connor took her elbow and they headed out to search.

 

 

“There’s a stream up ahead. That’s where we’d usually stop for lunch, then head back.” Daniel sounded disappointed, as if he didn’t want their ride to end.

“I didn’t bring any food and it’s got to be around ten thirty or eleven.” She heard the sound of the stream, and its happy burble was soothing.

“I know.” Daniel sighed. “But can we stay here and skip stones or hunt for treasure or something?”

Alex had no experience with kids, didn’t even know how to entertain the kid. Hunting for treasure sounded so childish, and yet the thought of playing pretend for even a few hours was incredibly appealing.

“Hunt for treasure?”

Daniel stopped in a clearing by the stream and dismounted with incredibly agility. “Oh yeah, I used to do it all the time with my dad. You can find all kinds of stuff, like Indian arrowheads and fossils.”

Alex should have known there would be some kind of rock a boy would consider a treasure. She stopped Rusty and looked around the clearing as she got down. The oaks spread their mighty arms wide above the grassy spot, making it into a paradise in the middle of the Wyoming woods.

The sun had warmed the air up enough to make it a perfect temperature, the rocks around the edge making natural seats. A fire pit with cold embers was in the middle of the grass, evidence there had been more than picnics taking place there. It was a romantic spot, truthfully, a nirvana for a couple to find peace and seclusion.

She shook her head at the whimsical thoughts that whirled around in her head. Who would have thought she’d be so inclined to such things? Certainly nothing in her life had been fairy tales and roses. Well, until she came back to Wyoming anyway. Then there’d been two men vying for her affections and obviously plenty of flowers and more.

“There are some caves on the other side of the ranch. Maybe we can go explore there another day.” Daniel balanced on a round rock in the middle of the stream. He put his arms out and jumped to the next one. “C’mon, Alex, let’s go hunting!”

Alex secured the reins to one of the enormous oak branches and followed her brother.

 

 

Connor was beginning to get a very bad feeling about Daniel’s disappearance. It was going on lunchtime and Daniel seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet. Claire was a sobbing mess in Bernice’s arms when he left them in his office.

When he checked the VIP cabin, he realized Alex was not there. Maybe she’d gone off with James, but something told him she hadn’t. He ran for the barn, his heart pounding as fear for Daniel whirled through him. The kid knew the ranch like the back of his hand. If he wanted to hide, he would have no problem avoiding detection for hours.

However, someone could have also snatched the boy without anyone noticing. That was his biggest fear, and he was sure it was Claire’s as well. Daniel was an open, bighearted kid, too trusting. Connor tasted fear as he thought about all the terrible things that could happen to an eight-year-old.

The barn was busy with guests coming back after their morning rides. Connor caught Julio’s attention and waited by the door for the older man to make his way through the milling people.

Julio must have seen something in Connor’s gaze because he hurried.
“¿Qué pasa?”

“Daniel is missing. Are there any horses gone that are unaccounted for?”

“Two of them. Rusty is gone, but Senorita Finley has been riding him. I thought perhaps she’d gone for a ride.” Julio frowned. “But Raisinet is missing too. He’s Daniel’s favorite pinto.”

“Shit.”

Connor could hardly believe Alex would leave and go riding with Daniel, much less not tell anyone she’d done so. The woman had some measure of common sense. Then again, Daniel should have asked his mother’s permission before going riding.

He punched the barn wall, eager for the pain that snaked up his arm from his fist. The first thing he’d do was yell at both of them; then he’d make sure they were all right.

“Can you tell what direction they rode?”

Julio shook his head. “No, too many tracks from the guests now.”

“Damn. Can you saddle Thunder for me? I’ll go look for them.” Connor didn’t wait for Julio to answer. He went straight for the phone on the wall to let Claire know the news.

 

 

Alex didn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun. Even when she slipped and her feet landed in the stream and Daniel told her, “They’re cowboy boots so they’re waterproof. Duh.”

They knelt by the bend in the stream, the widest point that allowed them to get a drink. She cupped her hand and sucked up the delicious water. It dribbled down her chin and soon her blouse was as wet as her face.

She glanced at her brother. Daniel looked like he’d been swimming, he was so wet. Claire would likely not be pleased about that.

Her stomach rumbled and she glanced at her watch. It was two thirty, which meant they’d been gone for almost four hours. No wonder she was hungry, since she’d had only coffee for breakfast.

“Let’s head back so we can get some lunch, kiddo. I’m starving.”

Daniel wiped his face on an equally wet sleeve. “’ Kay. I’m hungry too.” He stood and dug into his pocket. “You didn’t find a treasure so I’ll share one with you.” He handed her a pointy piece of stone. “This one is an arrowhead.”

Alex stared at the stone, at the simple gift that meant so much. David had given her presents over the years, and she appreciated each one. Yet he’d been a substitute family, a man who had given her shelter and friendship when she needed it most.

Yet this cold, wet stone in her hand meant more than every one of those gifts. Alex had been so confused, so hurt by the shit in her life, and with the simple gesture of a boy, the confusion was gone.

The arrowhead pointed the way for her; the path to take was right there in front of her. She closed her hand around the stone, the sharp edges digging into her fingers.

“Alex, you okay?”

She looked up at him and managed to nod. “Yeah, I think I finally am.”

 

 

Connor got back to the barn at three, tired and annoyed. He’d gone down almost every trail and there’d been no sign of either horse or Daniel and Alex. The sun was sliding down the sky, which meant in three hours, dusk would make it hard to see and the cold would settle its blanket over the woods.

Where the hell were they?

Claire was pacing in the barn, her arms wrapped around her waist. When she spotted him, a small moan came out of her mouth.

“Let’s call the police.”

She nodded, her pale face enough to make him want to ride back out to find the missing siblings. Connor did the best he could to help and picked up the phone.

The sheriff arrived within fifteen minutes. Yancy Scanlon was a good lawman, one who had a young man’s enthusiasm and strength. He was a lumbering six-and-a-half-foot dark-haired giant who had pushed more than one criminal toward a new direction in life simply by glowering.

He shook Connor’s hand with his enormous paw. “How long has he been gone?”

“At least since nine. That’s the last time he was spotted in the barn taking care of the ponies.” Connor gestured toward Claire. “She’s about beside herself with worry. It’s not like Daniel to run off.”

“So what changed?” Yancy hooked his thumbs in his belt.

“His sister arrived.”

“Sister?”

“Yancy, you’ve got to start listening to gossip more. Don’t you know Grant’s daughter showed up a month ago?” Connor remembered what life had been like before she showed up, but it was distant.

“Grant’s daughter is here? Where is she?” Yancy glanced around as if he expected her to come sashaying up.

“That’s what you’re here to find out. She’s missing right along with Daniel. We think they’re together, wherever the hell they are.”

“Oh, that changes things a bit. How old is she?”

“Twenty-six.”

Yancy rubbed his whiskered chin with one hand. “An adult woman who goes riding with her eight-year-old brother isn’t usually a reason to call me.”

Connor’s jaw tightened. “It is when he didn’t ask his mother for permission, hasn’t been seen in over six hours and can’t be found anywhere on the ranch or on the trails.”

“Ah, gotcha.” Yancy turned toward his men and started discussing the search patterns.

Connor heard the neigh of a horse and he cocked his head to listen. That was when he heard a laugh—
her
laugh. He took off running toward the north pasture and saw them riding toward the barn, side by side.

He let out a sigh of relief but didn’t slow down until he reached them. Alex was smiling, her shirt obviously wet, and her expression more relaxed than he’d ever seen.

Connor wanted to strangle her.

As they approached, Daniel waved at him and they slowed to a stop. The boy must have seen something in Connor’s face because his smile disappeared immediately.