by Amanda Renee
Chapter Four
“Why do I get the feeling you’re avoiding me?” Garrett startled her as she exited Lightning Bug’s stall.
“Good Lord.” Delta flattened herself against the wall before realizing who it was. “You would have been in for the surprise of your life if I’d been carrying a hot shoe.”
“I knew you weren’t since your truck is outside and the back was shut.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “No forger, no hot shoes. I also saw Jake waiting patiently behind the wheel for you.”
Okay, so he was observant. “I’ve been here almost every day to check on Lightning Bug, except for Sunday when I visited my family. I was only stopping in for a minute.”
“I know you’ve been here.” He widened his stance and tilted his hat back. “I got your notes, Delta. It’s just I haven’t seen you in a week.”
Five days, but who was counting. But he was right. She had been avoiding him. Luckily for her Garrett was a creature of habit and it didn’t take long to figure out his routine. She’d been able to get in and out without running into him, except for today, when he beat her at her own game.
“Listen I think we should—”
“I have to tell you—” they both said at the same time.
“Ladies first.” Garrett removed his hat and bowed slightly before her. The gesture, however goofy, was actually charming in a Garrett Slade sort of way.
“Look, I—I like you,” she began, trying to find the words to let him down easy.
“Okay.” Garrett quickly donned his hat. “Let me stop you there. I gave you the wrong impression the other day. I think you’re very nice but I don’t want to date you.”
Delta started to laugh. “Oh, thank God for small favors.”
“Excuse me?” Garrett stepped back and frowned slightly. She hadn’t meant to wound his ego, but those were the best words she’d heard all week.
“I don’t want to date you either.” Delta patted her chest in relief. “I’ve been wracking my brains trying to find a way to tell you. I mean you’re good-looking and all that, but I refuse to date anyone I work with or for.”
Garrett began to smile, seemingly satisfied with her explanation. “I still would like to take you to dinner, though. But it would be strictly platonic. Just friends. Nothing more.”
“Yeah, about that.” Delta gnawed on her bottom lip. “Don’t get offended, but I kind of make a point not to hang with anyone I work with either. If the friendship goes south, it affects my business. If you don’t mind, I’d like to keep that part of my life separate. Unless you need someone impartial to talk to about your wife or something like that.”
“Okay, now I’m confused.” Garrett stared at her as if she had three heads. “It’s okay for me to talk to you about something painfully personal but we’re not allowed to be friends? I think your logic is a little backwards.”
“No, it’s not.” Delta sighed. She hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings. “Listening to someone talk is different. It’s what I do, well, we do. Jake’s a certified therapy dog and I volunteer at the convalescent home in town. I understand the need to talk. Your loss was devastating and I’m always available if you just need someone to hear you out. That’s a given. But it can’t be more than that.”
“How do you make friends, then?” Garrett’s face contorted.
“I have friends.” Delta didn’t like having to defend her reasons for not mixing work and pleasure. “Here and back home.”
“Back home, huh?” He rested an arm on a stack of hay bales. “You sound like my daughter.”
“I don’t understand.” And she didn’t care to. This was exactly why she kept her personal life private.
“You live in Saddle Ridge. You’ve been here for—what did you say—a year?”
Delta nodded and played along. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“You’ve established a business and a reputation here. Quite a good one from what I understand. Whether you want to admit it or not, this is your home. Missoula is where you’re from.”
Delta opened her mouth to argue and quickly shut it. Okay, so he had a slight point. But, Missoula would always be home, no matter where she lived or for however long. “How about we agree to disagree and leave it at that.”
He studied her for a few seconds before answering. “Sure.” She began to walk away when he continued, “One of the Belgians threw a shoe. Do you think you might be able to fit that in today?”
Delta inwardly groaned. There were a lot of things she loved about her job but shoeing an uncooperative draft horse wasn’t one of them. It would have been nice if he had at least considered her comments about the ranch not having a shoeing stall. She realized he was trying to save money, but a shoeing stall worked to Dr. Presley’s advantage, too. It gave them both much more control over the animal while keeping stress to a minimum.
She checked her watch. “Yeah, I can squeeze it in. I’ll have to open up the doors and back my truck in.”
“Thank you. Let me know if you need anything.”
Delta watched him walk away. She was okay with her decision to not be friends. Wasn’t she? He was a customer. Her largest. Going out and having a few drinks or dinner would be unprofessional. People in town would talk and assume they were dating. Or that Silver Bells was getting a special rate. Well...they were getting special treatment. Garrett did just want to be friends. Nothing more. And he was still in love with Rebecca. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Then again, she already found herself drawn to the man, and she didn’t need any more temptation. It would only lead to heartbreak. Hers.
* * *
AN HOUR LATER, Garrett cursed himself for allowing Delta to get under his skin. Not because she’d done something wrong, but because he couldn’t get her scent out of his nose. It was a combination of cinnamon and nutmeg, and he couldn’t figure out if it was her hair, or some sort of body wash she had used. Either way, he’d never smelled that scent on another person before. It was uniquely Delta and it drove him crazy.
Fresh air. Now, that was what the doctor ordered. The day had been unseasonably warm, to the point where excessive runoff from the snow melt had begun to flood one of their stables. Luckily it was the side where they stored some of their equipment, so none of the horses were standing in water. They’d had to rush-order a load of sandbags to prevent any further flooding. It was one more expense they didn’t need.
Garrett rechecked the grounds surrounding all three stables and then fired up one of their four-wheelers to tour the ranch’s perimeter. Normally his ranch hands made the trek around the 730 acres, but he wanted to distance himself from all things Delta. He saw her truck drive toward the main gate as he crested the first slush-covered hill. The last thing he needed was to start changing his routine to distract himself from a woman. There was no other woman. Only Rebecca. Then why did he feel so damn guilty?
Garrett’s sanity began to return by the time he finished riding fence. He checked the time—something he did constantly since they’d moved to Saddle Ridge. When he’d lived with his in-laws, he hadn’t paid attention to his children’s routines. They were just there when he finished working for the day.
It pained him to realize how unaware he’d been until he was a hundred percent responsible for them. He had always considered himself a great parent, when in reality, he hadn’t been. He’d blamed Dawn and Terry for many of the kids’ problems but he’d waited to rectify the situation, and that had also affected his kids. If they’d moved sooner, even to a home of their own in Wheatland, it would’ve been better than doing nothing.
On his way back to the stables, the shrill ring of his cell phone interrupted his thoughts. He tugged the phone from his breast pocket and checked the display. It was Kacey’s school.
“Garrett Slade speaking.”
“Mr. Slade, this is Darcy Malone from Saddle Ridge Eleme
ntary. We just wanted to check on Kacey since she wasn’t in class this morning.”
“What do you mean, she’s not in class? I watched her get on the school bus this morning.”
“Kacey’s homeroom teacher reported her absent.” Garrett heard the muffled sound of somebody covering the phone. “Mr. Slade, I’m going to personally check each of her classes and call you back in a few minutes.”
“What? You expect me just to wait when you have no idea where my daughter is? I’m on my way there.”
Garrett jammed his phone in his pocket and pinned the throttle as far as it would go. His tires spun before they gripped the ground. He skidded the four-wheeler to a stop beside his truck and hopped off, fishing in his pocket for the keys before realizing they were already in the ignition.
He dialed Harlan first. “The school just called me. They said they haven’t seen Kacey today but I saw her get on the bus.”
“Where are you now?” Garrett heard Harlan’s police siren through the phone.
“Heading to the school.”
“I’ll call it in and meet you there. Try to stay calm. She’s probably somewhere in the building. I’ll have them pull Ivy out of class and see if she knows anything.”
Garrett threw his phone on the passenger seat. He knew something was off with his daughter. He had tried to be her friend, hoping she would talk to him. Maybe he should’ve just demanded she tell him what was going on. Even after her mother’s death, Kacey hadn’t been this withdrawn. Dylan had been right. There was no way he could’ve comprehended the difficulties of switching schools and making friends when he’d never had to do it. Had he pushed her too far?
His phone rang again. “Mr. Slade, it’s Darcy. Kacey is not in school.”
Garrett’s heart stopped beating as the world went silent around him. He tried to breathe as the phone slipped from his fingers, but his lungs no longer functioned. He pulled his truck off the road, unable to feel the steering wheel beneath his palms.
“Mr. Slade? Mr. Slade...”
Garrett fought for air.
“Mr. Slade. Are you still there?”
“Where’s my daughter?” he whispered. “I can’t lose her, too.”
“I think I can hear him. I don’t know if he got into an accident or what. Mr. Slade, if you’re still there, we’ve notified the sheriff’s department.”
“Harlan.” Garrett shook his head and sucked in a deep breath of air. “My brother’s the sheriff’s department,” he said as he patted the driver’s side floorboard for the phone.
“Mr. Slade, I can barely hear you.”
His fingertips grazed the hard plastic of the phone. He inched it toward him until he could grip it. He pressed the Bluetooth button and waited for the familiar chime. “I’m here. My brother Harlan is the deputy sheriff. He’s already on the way. I’ll be there in two minutes.”
Garrett pulled onto the road as Harlan’s police SUV flew up behind him. He lowered the window and signaled for his brother to pass. Harlan will find her. He had to. This is fixable. It had to be. This isn’t like when Rebecca died. It can’t be.
* * *
AN HOUR AFTER she had left, Delta returned to Silver Bells in search of her phone. The stables seemed eerily quiet as she walked through the door with Jake by her side. Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen a single soul when she drove onto the ranch, which was odd for that time of day.
“I wonder where everyone is.” Delta’s boots against the cement corridor and an occasional neigh were the only sounds to be heard. “Maybe they were having a company meeting up at the guest lodge. You need to help mommy find her phone.”
She scanned the center corridor as Jake trotted ahead of her. Stopping at Lightning Bug’s stall, she started to unlatch the door when she heard the faint sound of music coming from the next stall down. The stall that had been empty since she started working on the ranch.
“Hello?” Delta called out. She peered through the upper bars of the stall wall, not seeing anyone, but the music was definitely louder. It almost sounded as if it was coming from under her. She tried to look down along the wall, but the stall was partially swathed in a dark shadow. “Hello?” The stall door creaked as she opened it and the music grew louder. “Is someone in here?”
She allowed her eyes to adjust to the dim light before slowly peering around the corner. She made out the faint outline of a child’s shoe.
Oh, my God. There’s a kid on the floor.
Delta rushed into the stall and reached into the darkness. A scream pierced the air and sent her to her knees. Jake rushed in, barking incessantly in the dark. A tiny figure scampered past her and into the corridor as Delta regained her footing. She gripped the stall’s bars, pulling herself to her feet only to be standing in front of a very much alive little girl who was equally as startled as she was. It didn’t help that Jake was continually circling her.
“Come here, Jake. She doesn’t need to be herded. She’s okay.” Delta bent forward. “You are okay, aren’t you?”
Delta heard the music again, and realized it was coming from the girl’s earbuds. She’d had her iPod on so loud she hadn’t heard Delta coming. The girl nodded, but her frightened face said otherwise. Her eyes wildly looked up and down the corridor but not at her and Jake. She didn’t seem afraid of them. But she was afraid of something.
“My name is Delta, and this is Jake. Jake, say hello.” The dog sat in front of the girl and waved his right paw at her. “Jake’s a therapy dog, so if you’re scared, you can hold on to him and he’ll make you feel better. Do you want to touch him?”
Delta wanted to get close enough to the child to make sure there weren’t any visible signs of trauma. The girl lifted her hand so Jake could sniff her. He pushed his head under her fingers until they were buried in his long thick coat. The corners of her mouth began to lift as Jake pressed his body against hers.
“What’s your name?” Delta asked.
“Kacey,” she whispered.
Kacey? Garrett’s Kacey? “Don’t you have school today?”
She shook her head. “We have off.”
Hmm. Delta could have sworn she passed the school bus in town earlier. “How would you like to help me find my phone. I think I dropped it here earlier when I was checking on Lightning Bug.”
“Are you a vet?”
“No, sweetie. I’m a farrier. I put shoes on horses.”
“How come you had to check on Lightning Bug?”
“Because he has a limp and needed a different type of shoe, so I had to make him one. You could say I’m a shoe designer for horses.”
Kacey’s smile began to grow. “I know where your phone is.”
“You do? Where?”
She disappeared into the stall and returned carrying a yellow Beauty and the Beast backpack. So much for her not having school today. She unzipped the front pocket and removed Delta’s phone. “I found it when I came in before. I was going to give it to my dad later.”
“Thank you for taking care of it for me.” Delta punched in her security code and saw a missed call from Garrett. She also noticed the time on the top of the screen. It wasn’t even one-thirty and school didn’t get out for another hour. “Sweetie, did you walk home from school?”
Kacey shrugged her shoulders and then sat on the floor next to Jake.
“School’s a long way from here.” It had to be at least three miles. That was a long walk for a child, especially in the cold. Delta pressed the voice mail screen and read the transcribed message. Even without hearing Garrett’s voice, the tone was frantic.
She typed a quick text message to him: Found Kacey in your stables. She is okay. I’ll stay with her until you arrive.
She pressed Send and slid the phone in the pocket of her jeans.
“How about a snack and a cup of hot chocolate?”
Kacey’s eyes bri
ghtened at the mention of food. Considering how long it had to have taken her to walk to the ranch, she probably hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
“Come on, Jake. Let’s get Kacey something to eat.”
They both followed her into the new employee lounge. Delta opened the upper cabinets and pulled out a small pack of cookies and a granola bar. She set them on the table, hoping Kacey wouldn’t try to run. Although, the way Jake kept body checking her, she didn’t think the kid would get very far if she did. That was the one problem with owning an Australian shepherd. They always had to be working, and sometimes that meant herding people.
Delta tore a packet of hot chocolate open and dumped it in a cup before filling it with water. She popped it in the microwave and waited. Kacey unzipped her ski jacket. That was a sign she was staying. Delta stirred the cocoa when the microwave dinged and topped it with a dash of vanilla creamer to cool it down a bit.
“Here you go.” Delta set the cup on the table.
Kacey had already slipped out of her coat and was seated. When she reached for the cup, Delta saw tiny bruises on the girl’s forearm. They looked like grip marks, about the size of a child’s hand. Delta knew them well.
“Kacey, is someone bullying you at school?”
The little girl’s eyes flew open. Her panic had returned. Jake instantly sensed her anxiety and began nudging her hand. She reached into his thick fur again and gripped it.
“It’s okay to tell me. You should always tell a grown-up when other kids pick on you.” Delta sat across from Kacey at the table and watched her expression, seeing parts of Garrett in her tiny features. The same dark hair and eyes. “When I was your age, there was a girl who used to pick on me something terrible. She’d wait until we went into the bathroom and would always push me against the wall and hit me. She did it every day for two years before a teacher caught her. I used to go home and cry. I couldn’t understand why she didn’t like me.”
Kacey’s hands stilled. “Really?”
