"Not much. A few shards, some animal bones, a little debitage, the usual," Marc replied.
"You must have found artifacts too."
Marc nodded. "Mostly flaking debris from making tools."
"Horses?" Kit asked.
"Not around there. The Indians were on foot."
"I'm talking about at the ranch," Kit said. "I'm still stuck on the cowboy thing. Did you ride horses? I assume it's a working ranch."
"Guest and working ranch," Marc replied. "And yeah, I rode horses from about the time I learned to walk. My dad took my brothers and me into the mountains to teach us survival skills. Sometimes we'd be gone several days, one time in the dead of winter. We learned how to make snow shelters and grub around for food, and when we got back my mom would have a big meal waiting, like she knew exactly when we'd be back, and it was always better than what we'd had on the trail. But it was okay being in the mountains like that, I suppose it's why I like field work. And I wouldn't mind sitting in the hot springs and listening to the sounds in the mountain."
"What are you talking about?" Kit asked.
"Whispering Springs," Marc replied. He hadn't thought about it in a while. It seemed strange that it came to him now. Maybe because it was warm and muggy.
"So Whispering Springs is a hot springs on your folk’s ranch?" Kit asked.
Marc nodded. "It’s in a cavern a few hundred feet from the Indian mound. Legend is, the Indians went there to get rid of evil spirits. It's odd though. When you sit in the pool and listen, sounds seem to come from out of the mountain, eerie sounds like women wailing. Then the sounds change and gradually fade away. But things are different after."
"Different how?" Kit asked.
Marc shrugged. "Just different. Things are always better. Happy." He smiled, remembering.
"You know what, Hansen?" Kit said. "I think it's time to go home."
CHAPTER 4
Dancing Moon Ranch; Two weeks later
Marc pulled his truck to a halt along the side of the gravel road leading to the ranch and glanced in the rearview mirror to see Kit pull her pickup to a halt behind him. She climbed out and met him halfway. Standing in the road facing him, she said, "Why are we stopping?"
Marc propped his hands on his hips, and eyeing the road ahead, and the cluster of buildings in the distance, replied, "I want to arrive in one truck. It'll be easier to leave if I don’t like the way things are going."
"I still can't believe you never contacted your parents," Kit said. "Showing up unannounced after over four years isn't the way to mend bridges."
"I didn't come to mend bridges," Marc said, "I'm here so you can move a pile of dirt." He glanced up the road again. "I don't know how I let you talk me into this. I could be in Texas reminding the muon group that I'm their best bet, or applying for grants, or sending out dozens of applications instead of being at a place where I'm about as welcome as a wart."
"Don't flatter yourself," Kit said. "Warts keep coming back. But while we're on the subject of being welcome, you might shove that giant chip on your shoulder into the ground for the initial greeting. It could make your parents a little less pissed at you, at least your father. I imagine your mother will be all over you, which might piss your father off more, actually."
"You got that right on both counts," Marc said. "My mother fussed over me as far back as I can remember, trying to make sure I knew I was one of them, even though I wasn't, and my father was pissed with me because I didn't want to get my balls flattened by bouncing up and down on bulls and broncs."
"It couldn't have caused too much damage," Kit said. "Your father sired a whole pack of kids. Besides, most cowboys look pretty virile, so maybe riding bulls and broncs toughens balls."
Marc eyed Kit dubiously. "Do you have a thing for cowboys?" he asked. It would be a whole different side of Kit than what he'd known.
"I could have," Kit replied. "The idea of a man with tough balls is somewhat intriguing. Wally babied his because there wasn't much there."
Marc looked askance at her. "I could ask how a man did that, but I don't think I want to know."
"I'll tell you anyway," Kit said. "Male enhancement massage creams."
"And you got to apply them," Marc said.
"Are you kidding? Wally had another hang-up. He kept that part of him covered because he was sensitive, even though I told him it didn't matter."
"Yeah, well I can think of better ways to toughen my balls than bull riding," Marc said, "but I'll go for the massage cream if you'll apply it."
"I won't, so we might as well get on with why we're here," Kit said. "Besides, you're rambling again, which means if we don't get going I'll be forced to listen to a statistical analysis about pollination methods, or a dissertation on analyzing strontium isotope ratios in the tooth enamel of a Diplodocus, or something equally as engrossing."
"Or we could leave the trucks here and hike to the mound and you could check it out and see if it's what you want, and if it isn't, we could leave and no one would know."
Kit looked at him, long and hard, and said, "And if you stay away another four years, Maddy will have graduated from high school and you will have missed another important phase in her life. Is that what you want?"
Marc couldn't help visualizing Maddy the last time he saw her, clinging to their mother and crying and wondering why he was angry and throwing things into the back of his truck, and why no one could stop him before he drove away, out of her life. She was probably still wondering.
Glancing up the road one last time, he said, "Okay, Korban, let's get it over with."
BITTERSWEET RETURN to be continued...
If you want to read on, here's the link to Amazon
BOOKS BY PATRICIA WATTERS
DANCING MOON RANCH SERIES
Prequel: Justified Deception
LIVING WITH LIES TRILOGY
Book 1: Righteous Lies
Book 2: Pandora's Box
Book 3: False Pretenses
THE LIES UNCOVERED TRILOGY
Book 4: Uncertain Loyalties
Book 5: Becoming Jesse's Father
Book 6: Bittersweet Return
CUTTING THE TIES TRILOGY
Book 7: Cross Purposes
Book 8: Dancing With Danger
Book 9: Bucking the Odds
BOUND BY LOVE TRILOGY
Book 10: Forbidden Spirits
Book 11: Imperfect Magic (late 2014)
Book 12: Sheer Combustion (early 2015)
Sequel: Finding Justice (mid 2015)
HISTORICAL ROMANCES
Colby's Child
Perilous Pleasures
Miss Phipps and the Cattle Baron
Her Master's Touch
Come Be My Love
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCES
In Hot Pursuit
Broken Promises
Adversaries and Lovers
Never Too Late
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Patricia Watters gave up city life and now writes from a log cabin nestled in the evergreen forests of Oregon. An author with Harlequin and Avon-Harper Collins in the past, Patricia specializes in romance, and she invites you to visit her website and drop her a line. She responds to all notes. http://www.patriciawatters.com/
Becoming Jesse's Father (Dancing Moon Ranch Book 5) Page 21
