Missing in the Desert

by Dana Mentink

  “And I am going to eat my sandwich in my cabin,” she said.

  For good measure she slammed the door behind her.

  Banjo and Tiny looked up from their game, startled. The animals followed her to her cabin where she thwacked the door shut and plopped down at the table Levi had added for her convenience, staring at the burned mess on the plate in front of her. Fury ballooned to epic proportions. She’d finally accepted that Levi and Seth were partners in good faith, and now Levi was going to sell the ranch right from out of her brother’s nose, while he was in the hospital, no less.

  “He has no right,” she hissed, while Banjo set about licking her ankle for all he was worth. She reached down and patted his head. “Why are men so ridiculous?” she said. “Anyone can see this place is precious.”

  Precious? What had she just said? The ranch...precious? But hadn’t she arrived only a few days ago thinking it was the worst idea her brother had ever had to invest here? Both she and her father had been aghast when Seth announced what he’d done. She got up and gazed out the window trying to look objectively.

  Fenced acres of gold. Rocks silvered and sparkling. Old horses, new additions. A hawk sitting in the topmost branch of an old pine tree. Everything spoke of age and time and...peace.

  It was precious, her heart told her. How had she fallen in love with this small piece of nowhere? A spot of ground that would never be profitable or practical. The sun that warmed her face was like a caress, and she let out a slow breath that took some of her anger with it. Her own feelings aside, the Rocking Horse was a God-blessed place, and she was loath to think of Levi letting go of it. She knew it would rip his heart out and end his dreams and her brother’s, too.

  Her own reversal of sentiment made her head swim. She’d only recently come to terms with her jealousy sprung from her deferred dreams. Now she was horrified to think that Seth and Levi would lose theirs? She was supposed to be helping keep things temporarily afloat, not watching Levi give up on the place. But maybe he was right... What if her brother did not return to his former vigor? Was he going to be so compromised he wouldn’t be able to stay on the ranch? That wasn’t Levi’s decision to make, she thought stubbornly.

  What had been so clear only a week before was now clouded in emotion. She did not want to leave the ranch, but there were more important things at stake than her own daydreams.

  At the same time, it took her breath away to think of what Levi was ready to sacrifice.

  You and Seth are everything to me. Not just his buddy, his best friend, but her, too.

  She had to change Levi’s mind, and if it took a legal roadblock, then so be it. But maybe she didn’t need to be quite so hardheaded in the meantime. Perhaps she was being foolhardy insisting on helping with the tour at the present time. A plan formed in her mind. She reached for her cell and called Willow to explain.

  “And Levi agreed to this?” Willow asked.

  “Not yet, but it’s a good compromise, right?”

  “He didn’t look in the compromising mood.”

  Mara wondered if he had shared with his sister his plans to sell the ranch. She decided not to bring it up. “If he agrees, will you do it?”

  “Sure. I have a nighttime tour but not until seven. I’ll meet you at the Rocking Horse tomorrow at sunup, unless you call and tell me it’s off.”

  “I won’t.”

  She giggled. “Levi can be stubborn as a mountain when he wants to be.”

  They disconnected, then Mara splashed water on her face and pulled her hair back. Calm, reasonable conversation was required, no yelling and burning grilled-cheese sandwiches. She opened the door just as Levi’s hand was raised to knock.

  “Hi,” she said, butterflies in her stomach.

  “Hi.” He grimaced. “No offense, but your grilled-cheese sandwiches are kind of on the well-done side.”

  A smile crawled across his face as he looked over her shoulder, and she whirled around to see Banjo sitting in the corner with the blackened sandwich in his paws. Tiny was nestled right along with the sandwich, licking the burned bread while Banjo nibbled the corners. The dog looked closely at her, waiting to see if she would take it away.

  “At least somebody likes it, but you shouldn’t take food off the table, Banjo. It’s bad manners.”

  Levi dragged his eyes to hers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to spring that on you about selling the ranch. That didn’t come out right.”

  “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have blown up. I know you were trying to protect me, and Seth, too.”

  He looked down at his boots. “If I knew another way...any other way...but there isn’t one. I have no other assets except a beat-up old truck. This ranch is all I have worth anything.”

  “Let’s leave it for now, okay? I have an idea about how we can lead the tour tomorrow and still keep things top-security.”

  He frowned.

  She hurried on. “Whether you sell or not, at least it will pay for the feed this week. The horses have to eat, right? And Banjo and Tiny and Rabbit and whatever else you wind up taking in. Will you promise to listen with an open mind?”

  He raised a suspicious eyebrow. “I’m too hungry to listen. Can I be open-minded over ice cream? It’s all I’ve got in the freezer since you used up all the bread.”

  She smiled and folded her arms. “What kind of ice cream, Mr. Duke? I’m not capitulating over some namby-pamby pistachio or rainbow sherbet.”

  He chuckled, and the light returned to the sparkle in his eyes which, in turn, ignited something inside Mara.

  “The only kind worth eating is rocky road,” he pronounced.

  “You’re very arrogant about your ice cream, but fortunately I like that kind.”

  He looked over her shoulder. “I guess we’ll just leave these two to their dinner.”

  They walked back to the house as the long slanting rays of sunshine turned the dry grass to gold. It was so very hard to believe that someone hiding in those distant, twisting hills had shot her brother, wanted them both dead. Was it all an effort to cover up what he or she had done to Corinne? A cold thrill of fear snaked up her spine, and she was glad for Levi’s sturdy house and his comforting presence. She stole a glance at his profile, strong jaw, sensitive mouth, brows so often drawn in thought. Did her growing love of the ranch encompass its rock-solid owner?

  But what did it matter? He’d promised Seth to take care of her, and he was bent on doing that. Certainly duty was not the same as love.

  Don’t get confused, Mara.

  She sat while he scooped up two big bowls of ice cream.

  “All right,” he said, after a couple of spoonfuls. “You said you had a plan. Let’s hear it.”

  “Willow and I will be the sag wagon.”

  “Come again?” he said.

  “You know. A sag wagon follows along after a race with water and supplies and picks up any tired racers, only we’ll carry their luggage and camping supplies. Willow already said she’d do that with me. We’ll follow along far enough behind that we won’t impact the horses.”

  “But if someone is watching—”

  “And this is the best part,” she hurried on. “Jude said there is an officer staged along the route, to reassure everyone, mostly.”

  “How did you find that out?”

  “He was visiting Willow when I called. You can’t argue with a sheriff ride-along.”

  “I probably could argue that the safer thing is for you to stay here with someone.”

  She shrugged. “I believe this is what is called a reasonable compromise.”

  He cocked his head, the light playing over his strong features. “Why is it so important for you to come, Mara?”

  She felt as though he’d seen right through all of her talk to the idea that had been percolating since that afternoon in the Grange Hall. “You’ll think I’m bein
g silly.”

  “No, I won’t.”

  “When I saw the painting with the teapot clouds, it looked like something I’d seen before, when we were at the checkpoint near the campsite on Gene’s property.” She paused. “That painted mountain, it’s such an odd shape, with the four peaks, like a hand with a missing thumb.”

  He was silent for a full three seconds. “You think whoever painted it was on the Warrington property?”

  “Yes.” She could only shrug. “Like I said, it probably sounds silly.”

  He put his palm over her forearm and squeezed. “No, it doesn’t.”

  Gratitude made her suddenly feel like crying. She swallowed hard as he went on.

  “I can look. Take pictures. Show it to you.”

  She shook her head. “I have to go see if for myself, Levi. If the picture is showing something from the Warrington’s place, maybe... I mean, maybe there is a slight chance my sister did somehow paint it. It might be some sort of clue about what happened to her. There’s a reason it ended up in that box of Amelia’s work just when I’d be around to see it. But all the other reasons hold true also. I promised Seth I would help the Rocking Horse through Camp Town Days, and I’m going to do that with as much regard for safety as I can.”

  “What will happen if you learn nothing? If you go see this place and finish up your time here and leave Furnace Falls and you never find out anything about Corinne? I don’t want you to make it any harder on yourself than it has to be.”

  “What could be harder than thinking all these years that she ran away and killed herself after we’d argued?” Her voice cracked and she gulped.

  He went to her, drew her out of her chair and held her close, rocking her gently back and forth. “No guilt,” he whispered.

  “No guilt,” she agreed, “but it hurts so much, as if it was recent, not five years ago.”

  “Oh, Mara,” he murmured. “If I could change things...”

  How hard would it be to leave this place, to turn and walk away from Levi, knowing he had given up everything for her and Seth?

  His phone rang, and he released her with one hand to check it. He swallowed. “It’s a guy who wants to talk about buying the ranch.”

  “Will you let it go for now?” For me? she added silently.

  He put the phone back in his pocket and settled his arms around her again. They took their bowls and went to the front porch and sat together, eating ice cream and drinking in a Rocking Horse Ranch sunset.

  How hard would it be to see the Rocking Horse sold?

  Unbearable, she thought, for both of them.

  FOURTEEN

  Levi’s own reflection dismayed him as he shaved on Tuesday morning. The eye had indeed developed a shiner, and the cheekbone was still swollen. What hurt more was remembering the argument he’d gotten into with Mara the day before. Her reaction had left him as confused as a chameleon in a bag of confetti. All of a sudden, she didn’t want him to sell. The irony.

  But deep down, part of him was secretly thrilled because he realized the charm of the Rocking Horse was shifting Mara’s view on things. Sometimes he’d felt like she’d changed her mind about him, too. He surely was seeing her in a whole different light. Levi was not one for flights of fancy, but for one delicious moment as he dragged the razor over his chin, he wondered what it would be like to have Mara in his life permanently. In his rosy scenario, they’d keep the Rocking Horse, and Seth would join them, too.

  The razor stopped in mid-scrape when he realized he’d been imagining her not as a business partner but as a wife. He didn’t have that schoolboy crush on Mara anymore. The infatuation seemed to have grown into something deep and tenacious that had him imagining marriage and futures that weren’t going to happen. He stared at his reflection, and his daydream evaporated. A guy with a black eye, teetering on the edge of bankruptcy regarded him. A sentimental view of the ranch wouldn’t negate the list of problems, old horses, Seth’s medical bills, Mara almost killed, the responsible party at large.

  The tiny spot of red on his chin appeared before the sting of the razor made itself known. Get yourself together. Do the tour, and keep Mara safe. Then he could worry about the other mountain of troubles that awaited. Annoyed with himself, he finished shaving.

  He swallowed a couple of aspirin to take the edge off his aches and pains, swigged down with a cup of black coffee. On the counter he found a new package of bread and some bananas along with a note. I asked Willow to pick up some things on her way here. Truce.

  Truce. He smiled and ate a banana. Mara was already busily packing a cooler with Willow’s assistance, and Austin was saddling Cookie. He hurried to help, and they’d gotten six horses saddled, watered and ready when the Johnsons showed up, followed shortly thereafter by an eager-looking pair of sisters, Eve and Doris. All four wore jeans and checked shirts, new handkerchiefs around their necks and cowboy hats fresh from the store. City slickers from bottom to top.

  He offered a shy greeting. Mara was already at work chatting with the group and encouraging them to talk to one another. She even discussed general horse care and behavior, which left him awed and grateful. If he didn’t have to talk at all, he’d be thrilled. A bond was building between the guests about their upcoming adventure, thanks to her.

  Her hair was satiny in the sunshine, eyes dancing as her fingers trailed over Cookie’s mane. She’d always been on fire for animals. He recalled her hot pursuit of a wayward tree frog in the high-school lunchroom, desperate to save it from being trampled. After a comical effort, she’d managed to corner it and scoop it up between her palms. Hair disheveled and smiling exuberantly, she’d crooned softly to the little frog as she took it outside. That frog hadn’t realized his good fortune to have the most amazing girl in the school save his life.

  Greetings over, they assisted the visitors to mount, and he and Austin did the same, leading the group to the cut-through that would take them past town and over to Gene’s property and the campground.

  The cool autumn morning was magnificent, with the sky a cool washed blue. They cut behind the Hotsprings property, and he made sure to point out its finer qualities. He tried to think of how Mara would phrase things.

  “Clean and comfortable, and food can’t be beat. Their chef is renowned for his cooking. Well, renowned in Furnace Falls, anyway.” As they passed, Laney looked up from leading a couple toward the hot spring that puffed steam into the air. Her old puggish dog, Admiral, was tucked under one arm, and Beckett was close to her side. He’d pretty much been that way every day since she’d almost been killed and he’d been exonerated as a serial killer. Her sleeveless tunic clung to her rounded belly. A grin lit her full face as she called out a welcome.

  Not long now, Levi thought as they all waved back. Beckett, Laney and the baby nicknamed Muffin, since they’d declined to know the gender. A family... Levi hadn’t realized how alluring that sounded until recently. Because Mara was around?

  He pushed the thought away. The eager chatter of the guests relaxed him, as well as the comforting sight of Willow and Mara safely in the jeep a careful distance away. They’d caught up easily after skirting the hotel property.

  Mara had the guests’ luggage in the vehicle along with Willow. He had to admit her idea of a sag wagon was a good one. All Mara’s ideas for the ranch seemed to be good ones. He knew she would cherry-pick all the best pictures Willow took during their inaugural tour to include on the website and in the newsletter.

  Did she think she could talk him out of selling? Or force him? He didn’t believe she would go so far as to legally block the sale. That was a bluff, he was pretty sure.

  “Hey,” Austin said, turning in the saddle, “Ground Control to Levi.”

  Levi blinked. “Sorry. What?”

  “You getting the gate or me?”

  He’d been so lost in his thoughts and the happy chatter of the guests, he hadn
’t realized they’d come to the entrance that led onto Gene’s property. A painted sign read Campsite ahead. Come on in and close the gate behind you.

  He hopped out of the saddle and opened the latch. His nerves prickled as they rode past Teegan and Amelia’s house. The shades were drawn, and the place looked empty. Probably everyone was at the campsite. As they rode on, the shadow of the cliffs fell over them. The guests stopped to snap pictures of the rocky, silvered mountain. Again he felt a skittering of the nerves, and he turned in the saddle. Mara and Willow were still tucked safely behind them. They waved to the cop stationed along the road.

  Austin picked up on his tension. “What’s on your mind?”

  “Nothing. Wind’s picking up.”

  “Yeah. Best to get these folks settled in camp.”

  They rode to the flat area which was ringed with tents, pop-up campers and folding chairs. Away from the tents, a campfire crackled in an enormous stone circle, around which were arranged more chairs. Couples sat chatting with coffee mugs in hand. In the distance were the porta-potties Gene had promised his guests. Farther away from the fire was a table with crafts where the children clustered. Amelia sat there, helping the youngsters fill tiny bottles with different-colored sand. Peter was bent over a bottle, doing his best with a tiny funnel. Amelia raised her face to laugh at her son when she caught sight of Levi. Her gaze swept to Mara and Willow. She didn’t exactly frown, but the smile definitely left her face in a hurry.

  He and Austin helped the guests dismount.

  “Best time ever,” Mr. Johnson said, pumping Levi’s hand and insisting on giving him a tip. “Honestly. I hope we can come back and visit your stables year after year.”

  Levi hoped he concealed the stab of pain. “Yes, sir. We’d like that.”

  Eve and Doris thanked him as well before they joined the mingling visitors to find their assigned campsites. Gene’s rental tents were already erected and marked with numbers.