“Hitting the hard stuff a little early, huh?”
“Pardon?”
Giving her best I’m-not-stupid glare, she pointed to his glass.
He stopped dabbing. “You have a problem with that?”
“Yes, actually, I do. That stuff ruined our marriage, and you have the audacity to order it and swig it down in front of me like the good old days? Take me home, Jericho.” She rose to her feet, but he just leaned back, crossed his arms, and gave her a searching look.
“Taste it.”
“What?”
“Taste it.”
“You know I don’t—”
“Take a drink.” He grabbed the glass and thrust it into her hand. She gave a cursory sniff. Well, it didn’t smell strong, more sweet, more like... Heat rushed to her face, and Ali set back down the glass as she stumbled into her seat.
Jericho raised a dark eyebrow. “You got something fierce against apple juice? ’Cause if you’re gearing up to ask me to sign a petition for some apple cider temperance group, I’m not doing it.”
She fanned her face. “You know what I thought.”
An emotion filtered across his face, something deep and sad that made Ali want to take his hand in hers. He straightened back up and rested his arms on the table. “Yes.” It came out as a miserable sigh. “I know what you thought. I guess I just wish that wasn’t the first thing that came to mind for you.”
“I’m sorry.” She bowed her head.
“Don’t be. In the past, I did nothing but hurt you. You have every right to doubt me. But I promise you, I’m going to do everything in my power to gain back your trust. If it means anything, I haven’t touched the stuff in more than five years.”
“It’s all so weird. You’re supposed to order a beer. That’s the man I remember. But you, like this, I don’t know what to do with.”
A woman who matched Dolly Parton in voice and hair-height stopped at the table to take their orders. Jericho asked for the chicken club, but Ali declined food.
“Just some iced tea, if you have it.”
“Not hungry?” Concern thickened Jericho’s voice.
She shook her head.
He cleared his throat. “So you don’t know what to do with me, huh?”
“You’re so different.”
The food arrived, and Jericho bowed his head. Wow, praying in public. That was new, too. When he picked up his silverware and looked at her, an easy peace filled his eyes and made her swallow against her own hollowness.
“Would it be okay? Could I finish what I started telling you at the firework show?”
“That feels like forever ago.”
He shook his head. “Just twenty days.”
“Come again?”
He gave a little-boy smile, like she’d caught him stealing penny candy. “I’ve been counting and thanking God for every new day I get with you.”
It sounded sincere, sweet even. And that blasted hummingbird came back, banging against her ribs. She narrowed her eyes. “Okay, so talk. I’m listening.”
After wiping his mouth with the napkin, he let out a long breath. “It’s hard to know where to begin. But I told you about the stuff that happened to me, Yellowstone and the ranches and the army. But I didn’t tell you how I changed in here.” He touched his chest.
“When that war veteran took me in, he sobered me up. Wouldn’t let me leave, and wouldn’t let me touch the drink. For a while I was furious. I tried to call the cops on him a couple times, report that he had kidnapped me or something, held me against my will. But then, after the poison got out of my system, it all hit me. I was a coward, and by not facing my troubles, not dealing with the pain in my past, I let it destroy my future, our marriage and I was terrified I’d destroy you.”
Ali wanted to say something. Everything in her wanted to ask him why he didn’t come home. Why hadn’t he been able to work through the issues with her beside him? But she held her tongue.
“Then one day when I mulled it all over, I picked up the guy’s Bible and flipped through the worn pages. The first thing I read was this verse telling me that my body is a temple, and I should honor God with it. I made a pact that day that I’d never touch alcohol again, and I haven’t.”
“Just like that?” Ali snapped her fingers.
“No. It wasn’t magical or anything. It was hard work and a lot of almost big-time mess-ups, and yeah, even tears if I’m being honest. But once I got over that, I tried to figure out what to do next. Ali, you’ve got to understand that at that point I wanted to come home. Badly. I even made all the travel plans, but I couldn’t do it.”
“Why?” she whispered.
“I wasn’t a man worthy of you. In our whole relationship, I only took from you, so I couldn’t come home with nothing to offer. I didn’t know how to be the husband you needed and deserved. After the stories the vet told me about his time in the army, I decided I’d join and make something of myself, or so the saying goes.”
Ali dropped her head into her hands and mumbled, “So like a man.”
“Huh?”
“I only ever wanted you. I didn’t need you to become anything. I just wanted my best friend beside me.”
His hand snaked across the table and took hold of hers. With his thumb, he traced circles on her palm while he spoke. “I know. I get that now, but I had this inner drive to prove I was good enough. That, and I didn’t think I was ready for the real world. I figured it would be easier to stay sober in the army, but boy was I wrong. It’s just like anyplace else. You can find whatever experience you’re looking for. It’s whatever you want to make of it. So, while the guys went out celebrating, I spent all my time with our chaplain because he was the only person around my age not going out to the bars every free night.”
“I’m glad there was someone there for you.” The rhythm of his touch to her palm proved too tempting, so she closed her hand around his to make him stop.
“He was. And I told him everything about us and about my life. He didn’t do the whole preacher thing on me. He told me that my identity was not the makeup of my past mistakes. He said that I had a clean slate. Man, that changed my world.”
“Sounds very convenient though.” Ali shrugged away from him. “I mean—what? You’re suddenly not accountable for anything in the past? Just—poof—pretend it didn’t happen?”
“I have to live with a lot of regrets, but I can’t let them own the future.”
His words reminded Ali of something Kate had told her weeks ago. “You’re free.”
“I guess I am.” The corner of his lip pulled up. “I’m also done with this sandwich. Should we head back?” He looked at his gold watch, once owned by his father. “I think it’s been long enough.”
As he maneuvered the Jeep out of the parking lot, Ali reviewed their conversation. She tipped her head to watch Jericho out of the corner of her eyes. The man had changed completely; no one could deny that. But then again, he was still her same Jericho. Her Jericho? She adjusted her seat belt. Where had that come from? Jericho came back, yes, but not in that way in her life. She had Chance to think about, and Tripp’s offer still lingered in her thoughts.
She sighed. Jericho and Tripp. Besides their blue eyes and build, they couldn’t be more different. With Jericho, it was like going on the world’s biggest, most heart-pounding roller coaster. Tripp? Tripp was the tour bus around the park. But between the two, if an accident occurred, a person was less likely to get hurt on the bus.
It still wasn’t okay that Jericho had been gone so long, but she understood his absence a little better now. She couldn’t argue the fact that he had become a better man. Good for him joining the army. Never saw that coming.
She tensed. As an army man, Jericho was bound to leave her again. Maybe not by choice next time, but did that matter? Ev
en if he wanted to be with her, one day he would leave, and he might never come back. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—open herself or Chance up to that.
“All the streets are blocked off.” Jericho rubbed his jaw.
She hadn’t been paying attention. But a look down Main Street showed it was empty, and blockades barred the way. Jericho looped the Jeep around in a three-point turn and went down another road.
Ali propped her feet on the dashboard. “Daley Days. With all the commotion, I completely forgot. Looks like they’re getting things ready for the street dance this weekend.” She loved the celebration that commemorated the town’s founder.
“Please tell me they still have the kiss-the-pig contest?” He gave his full-chested laugh as he turned onto the side street that led to her family ranch.
Ali smiled. “Of course! Only the best for our great town.”
“Are you taking Chance to all the activities?”
“I really shouldn’t. I have a fundraising event for Big Sky Dreams that I need to finish planning, and I’m really not feeling up to it with all that’s happened, but I probably will. Chance loves it. What kid wouldn’t? We always did.”
When he didn’t say anything, she looked over and noticed a small, soft smile on his lips. He slung an arm over the steering wheel as they bumped up the gravel driveway.
“What? What are you thinking with that look on your face, Jericho Freed?”
“I like talking to you the way we used to.”
When he tossed the Jeep into Park, Kate ran toward them, waving her arms, with Megan and Rider on the front porch. Dread brought a crop of goose bumps to Ali’s back. “Oh, no. I think maybe they haven’t gotten Denny yet.”
Breathless, Kate grabbed Ali’s arm the moment she stepped out of the vehicle. “He’s gone! We’ve looked everywhere. We can’t find him!” Kate’s eyes were wild.
Ali’s stomach plummeted.
Jericho rounded the Jeep and laid a hand on Ali’s shoulder. “Who’s gone, Kate? Spit it out.”
“Chance. Chance is missing.”
Chapter Thirteen
Jericho’s mouth went dry. He worked his jaw back and forth. “What do you mean, missing?”
“In all the commotion, he disappeared. One second he was here digging in the mud with Drover, and the next he was gone. We’ve looked everywhere.” Kate wrung her hands. “Megan searched the house. Rider searched the barn, and I looked in the yard.”
Ali tore across the driveway toward the house. Screaming her son’s name, she burst into her home, running from room to room with Jericho in her wake. Her high-pitched voice echoed up the stairwell. Jericho’s heart lurched into his throat. Was Chance prone to wandering off? Ali’s terror signaled that it was completely unexpected.
“Chance! C’mon, partner—come out of wherever you’re hiding.” His loud voice drowned out Ali’s.
Her eyes blazed. “Chance Silver! If you are hiding, come out right now. This is not funny.” Ali’s lip started to tremble, and everything in Jericho wanted to pull her into his arms and make her pain go away. But they needed to find Chance.
He grabbed her and tugged Ali along after him, back toward the yard. Her hand felt cold and clammy, forming a weight in his stomach.
He stopped on the porch and scanned the countryside. “Boys wander. It’s just a fact. I used to take off all the time when I was young. I was never in trouble, and I always moseyed back home soon enough.”
She worked her bottom lip between her teeth. “Just like you.” It was only a whisper, but it made his heart pound harder.
Spinning, he pointed at Kate. “Stay at the house. Check all the rooms again in case he’s hiding. Think of places a boy would find neat to explore, like the attic. Megan, stay near the barn and holler if you see him. Rider, take the truck and check out by all the cattle pens. That boy has been more interested in bull riding than I’m comfortable with, and if he decided to try it on his own, you’ll find him there. Ali and I will check the rest of the property.”
Ali stayed rooted to her spot, her eyes raking over the yard. Jericho placed a hand on the small of her back and propelled her forward. “C’mon, I need action right now, not fear.”
She nodded, then started jogging beside him.
Unlatching the corral, he called for Chief. “Is there any other horse here that’ll let us ride bareback?”
“Not quickly. The rest are pretty old.”
Jericho nodded. Like the old days, he grabbed Chief’s mane and hurtled onto the horse. He reached down, grabbed Ali’s hand and hoisted her up behind him. When he kicked Chief into motion, she wound her arms around his torso, her cheek pressed against his back. Her tears dampened his shirt.
“Chance!” Making Chief tear across the fields like a young buck, Jericho scanned the horizon. His mind ticked through the options. What on this property would entice a seven-year-old boy? That’s where they needed to go.
“I’m so afraid,” Ali whispered.
Jericho unwound a hand from Chief’s mane and placed it over the one of hers that rested near his heart. “He’s just a boy. Don’t worry. He’s probably off having the time of his life, and we’ll laugh about this later.”
“But what if someone took him?” Her voice trembled, along with her body.
“Took him? Who would take Chance?”
“Someone is doing bad stuff to the ranch, Jericho. Someone threatened us.” Ali wept, her hands fisting the fabric of his shirt. “Chance! Chance, baby, where are you?” Her body shook so much, Jericho worried she’d fall off the horse. Taking Chief hadn’t been his best idea, but nothing could get to every nook and cranny of a ranch as quickly as a horse.
“I need you to calm down, Ali.”
“Calm down! Didn’t you hear me? What if he’s been kidnapped? What if... Dear Lord...please don’t let anyone hurt him.”
A chill ran down Jericho’s back. “Think. Where can a kid hide on this property? What place is maybe a bit dangerous? That’s where Chance will be.”
“The gully.”
His stomach dropped. The gully was more than just a bit dangerous. Urging Chief to head west, he took his hand away from Ali and tangled it back into the horse’s copper mane. Jericho leaned forward as Chief plunged ahead faster. With each hoof pound bringing the gully closer, Jericho prayed for Chance’s safety.
Someone threatened us.
Anger boiled in him. If anyone dared bother Ali, Chance or anyone here, they’d have to answer to him.
Threatened. What on earth could she mean?
Nearing the spot, Jericho slowed the horse’s pace. Before he could halt Chief completely, Ali jumped off and raced toward the jagged ravine that split Silver property from Freed property. Jericho leaped down and jogged after her. They yelled the boy’s name, scanning the deep niches of the gully. Ali’s calls were strangled out between choked sobs, each one wrenching at Jericho’s heart. She stumbled on the uneven cliff face, but Jericho caught her around the waist before she fell.
“He’s gone,” she wailed with her hand cupped over her mouth.
Craning his neck, Jericho hushed her. He thought he heard... Yep.
Dropping to his knees, Jericho scooted to the edge of the craggy rocks and looked over. Sure enough. “Right there, Ali. Look, he’s down here.” He pointed.
Ali lunged forward. Jericho held up his hand to keep her from tumbling off the side.
She swiped the back of her arm over her face. “Where? I don’t see him. Chance?”
“Mom!” Chance gulped in air then whined.
“Chance! Chance, baby, come back up here.”
“I caaann’t.” He sniveled.
She squeezed Jericho’s arm. “Something’s wrong. I think he’s hurt.”
Reaching out, he cupped the back of Ali’s head, maki
ng her look him in the eye and hoping she saw something that would make her trust him. “Everything will be okay. I’ll go down there and get him. I’ll bring him back to you.”
Nervous energy prickled his muscles, but he schooled himself not to show it. Jericho licked his lips and dropped his feet over the edge. Growing up at the foot of the Bitterroot Mountains, a man learned to free climb before he could walk. Then again, it had been awhile and he was never all that good at it, but Chance needed him.
He worked the muscles in his jaw. Find a handhold. He shifted, fingers shaking as he clung to the cliff face. He wished he’d thought to bring a rope. The rock dug into his skin, but hearing a whimper from where Chance hunched in a crevice pushed Jericho to move faster.
“I’m coming, buddy.”
He felt down with his foot, and his toe touched on the small rock shelf beside Chance. Knowing better than to trust the crumble of boulders the boy perched on, Jericho kept a tight hold of the wall as he angled closer. “Hey, bud, you okay?”
Chance shoved out his bottom lip. Red rings circled teary eyes. “My arm hurts. Bad.”
“Did you fall in here?”
The boy nodded, and a wash of chills raced down Jericho’s spine. He looked up. “Ali. I need you to take Chief and bring back rope.”
Her head peeked over the side. “You can’t bring Chance up?”
“Not safely. And, Ali, be quick. These rocks are crumbling.”
Her head disappeared. Seconds later, Chief’s hooves pounded thunder.
Jericho found a small ledge a few feet away and hunkered down. “Your mom’ll be back soon. I need you to be very brave, okay?”
Chance peeked at him. “But my arm.”
“Why were you down here, anyway?”
“Megan said there were kittens crying by the gully. I heard her tell Aunt Kate.”
Jericho dragged in a long breath. “And you didn’t like to think of them stuck in here, did you?”
“No. What if they couldn’t find their mom?”
Jericho craned his neck, but didn’t hear any mews.
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