Sunset Surrender

by Charlene Sands

* * *

  “I need your signatures here, here and here,” Logan said, leaning over her desk pointing to three lines on a contract necessary for a revamping of the stables. The winters were harsh and the old barns needed new heating.

  Logan had made it his business to stop by her office every day for the past five days for some reason or another. Every time he’d walked in she’d turned away, unwilling to meet him eye to eye. She knew he was checking up on her. She’d seen his car by the cottage on several occasions, but she also knew that Logan wasn’t so much concerned about her welfare as he was about protecting his ranch from an intruder. He couldn’t fool her any longer with a look or a smile. She knew his black heart now and even though the pain was still there, hovering like stormy gray clouds, Sophia was coping.

  “Leave them and I’ll read them over later.” She used her very best business voice.

  “I’ve had our attorney look them over. They are good to go.”

  Sophia nodded and signed on the dotted lines, shoving the papers back across the desk. She quickly withdrew her hands so their fingers wouldn’t brush. She stepped back so she didn’t have to breathe in his subtle earthy aftershave and be reminded of the nights they’d spent together.

  “You’re still not talking to me?” he asked.

  “I talk to you every day.” She was cool and dismissive on the outside, but inside her blood boiled. She prayed it would get easier seeing Logan each day. That he would leave her alone and let her go on with her life. Even when she was aloof with him, she sensed his eyes constantly on her, watching her movements.

  Hands on hips, he stood over her desk and let out a frustrated sigh. “I never made false promises to you.”

  “Yes, you’re right,” she said. “You didn’t.” She wasn’t going to go there. She wouldn’t argue. She wouldn’t defend. Her indifference was her only protection. “Now, is there anything else?”

  “We can’t go on working like this.”

  Sophia shut down her computer screen, still unwilling to look at him. “We won’t have to. Luke’s well enough to take over the lodge duties again. You’re free as of today.”

  She heard Blackie’s high-pitched barks from outside. Edward was probably on the grounds playing fetch with the dog. It was late afternoon and her work was finished for the day. She straightened the papers on her desk and rose. This time she cast a look at Logan. It was hard not to notice the way his clothes fit his body so perfectly, the stretch of soft cotton over his broad chest and jeans hugging his hips. There was a sexy five-o’clock shadow on his face and a tick went to town on his jaw. All of it made her heart do crazy things. It was dangerous to look at Logan. Dangerous to be so near.

  “I have to go,” she said quietly.

  He spoke through tight lips. “Talk to me, Sophia.”

  “I can’t. I have a...an appointment.”

  Logan’s brows dented his forehead. “With who?”

  She lifted her chin and kept her voice steady. “I’m having dinner with your brother.”

  Logan’s face pinched tight. “Luke? Why in hell does it always come back to Luke?”

  Sophia closed her eyes briefly, hoping to tamp down her emotions. Five minutes alone with Logan Slade was five minutes of torture. Heaven help her, she still loved him. “Because he’s something to me that you never were, Logan. He’s my friend. And right now I really need a friend.”

  As Sophia brushed by him, her nostrils drank in his scent. Leather and musk would be forever imprinted on her brain. She had almost escaped the room when Logan spoke up. “What if I told you I’m green with jealousy over your friendship with my brother.”

  Sophia didn’t move a muscle. She stood half in, half out of her office, her throat constricting. His admission had stunned her.

  As a child, Logan had been the outsider, but purely of his own making. She and Luke would have welcomed him into their little friendship ring with open arms. But he’d never seen it that way. Logan had had a chip on his shoulder when it came to her. She’d always suspected Logan had thought she’d usurped his brother’s attention.

  She kept her back to him and spoke softly. “And what if I told you you could’ve been a part of our friendship? Luke adored his older brother and I would’ve accepted you as a friend.”

  She scurried out the door, fearing her own gentle heart. She couldn’t bear to see Logan’s expression now. A part of her hated him and a part of her felt sorry for the boy who’d been disillusioned so long ago.

  Dinner at Dusty’s Steakhouse was delicious and safe, Luke and Sophia having decided to leave the fire-alarm chili at Kickin’ for another night. Her friend had been true to form, charming and fun-loving, and they’d had a few laughs. It was good to see Luke’s health improve each day. But Sophia had been distracted all evening, struggling to keep her mind from jumping back to her conversation with Logan.

  “What’s wrong, Soph? Still can’t get my brother out of your system?” Luke put his good arm around her shoulder in the friendly way he had as they walked up the cottage path.

  “It’s not that...exactly.”

  “Then what is it?”

  She shrugged. She didn’t want to ruin the peace of the night by talking about her problems with Logan. “Nothing. Sorry if I haven’t been good company tonight.”

  “Don’t be putting words in my mouth, Sophia. The company’s fine. You’ve got something on your mind and I’d like to hear it.”

  Sophia stopped when she reached the entrance to the cottage. She turned to look into Luke’s sky-blue eyes, wondering if she should be discussing Logan with his younger brother. The two men hardly got along, but she knew they loved each other. She didn’t want to add fuel to the fire.

  “Okay, if you’re not going to tell me, let me guess. Logan said some other bonehead thing to you that’s got you upset.”

  Sophia sighed and shook her head. “Not really...this is different.”

  “I’m surprised you’re talking to him at all.”

  “You know I have to. Sunset Lodge is important to me. I can’t let my personal life get in the way of my work.”

  His eyes lit with mischief. “Honey, I’m amazed you haven’t slugged him yet, or kicked him in the—”

  “Seriously, Luke,” she said cutting him off. She’d never admit that the thought had crossed her mind to do both of those things to Logan in crazy fleeting moments of despair.

  “Seriously, Sophia.” Luke’s voice grew softer, a plea from one friend to another. “You gonna tell me what my brother said to you?”

  She looked away for a moment, nibbled on her lower lip and then finally answered Luke. “Logan admitted he was jealous of us when we were kids. I wasn’t going to bring it up but—”

  Disbelief and surprise crossed Luke’s expression as his voice rose in pitch. “He thought you and I were—”

  “No, no. Not in that way. He was jealous of our friendship. Did you know that?”

  Luke’s blond brows furrowed and he shook his head. “No, I never thought he gave a damn. Son of a gun. I thought we were too immature for him. He was always going on and on about how stupid we were, playing games, whispering secrets to each other. Doing things good friends do.”

  “Maybe he wanted to join us.”

  “Nah...I don’t think so.” Then Luke thought about it a moment. “But maybe.”

  Sophia nodded. “Yeah, maybe.”

  “If it was true, I’m kinda shocked he’d admit it to you now. It’s not like Logan to confess something like that. Maybe the hard-hearted guy is finally softening up a bit. Even King Kong had a soft spot for a beautiful woman.”

  Sophia smiled at the reference comparing Logan to a giant ape.

  “At least I made you smile.”

  She was grateful for Luke’s company, but the stresses of the past week had taken
their toll on her stamina. She tried to cover up a yawn and failed.

  “You’re beat,” Luke said, stating the obvious.

  She was. “Dinner was delicious.”

  “And this time you didn’t wind up with a bellyache afterward.”

  “True.”

  She opened the front door and Luke stepped in behind her. She sent him an eye-roll and he just shrugged. “I’m outta here as soon as I find out where you hide the good stuff.”

  They’d had this disagreement in the restaurant, but in the end, Sophia agreed to let Luke inspect the cottage before he went home.

  He moved down the hallway. The sound of doors opening and closing made her shake her head. There hadn’t been any suspicious behavior or any more notes in days, thank goodness. Sophia was ready to put it all behind her. When Luke walked back into her parlor, he had a smile on his face. “Apparently you really don’t drink. Couldn’t even find a can of near beer.”

  “Thank you for checking. Now, let me get some sleep. I have a big day of meetings tomorrow and they start first thing in the morning.” Sophia rose on tiptoe. She touched her lips to his cheek in a chaste kiss. “Thanks for dinner.”

  Luke walked out the door and waited until he heard the click of the lock before bidding her farewell from her doorstep. “Sleep tight, Sophia.”

  “Good night, Luke.”

  * * *

  It’s hard not to love Sophia.

  Gordon Gregory’s parting shot had stuck in Logan’s mind days after he’d sold Storm to the old geezer. Logan’s response to the man’s declaration had been an unintelligible grunt. He wasn’t going to discuss Sophia with him. He’d believed that Gregory had come to the ranch to stir up trouble, and when he’d left that day Logan had done an internet search regarding his marriage to Sophia. He found that at one point, Revealed magazine had splashed Sophia’s name across the front cover with a picture of her in full titillating Fantasy Follies costume. Logan had ground his teeth seeing her decked out in sequins barely covering her body with the old codger groping her waist.

  Now as he stared at that cover shot on his office computer, he saw something he hadn’t noticed before. When he’d looked at the picture, his focus had been on her body, shrink-wrapped into a showgirl’s costume. Hell, any man would go there. She was perfect in all ways that mattered to men and it was natural to look at her full breasts, small waist and slender, smooth legs. But what he hadn’t noticed before was the look in her eyes.

  He studied those amber eyes now. They gave her away. There wasn’t joy or contentment or even satisfaction on nabbing a rich man in those tawny depths. The photo revealed something entirely different. And for the first time since Sophia had come to Sunset Ranch, a shiver of cold dread worked its way down Logan’s spine.

  Logan had once made Sophia’s eyes beam with joy. He’d made her eyes glow with contentment. He’d seen a look of sheer satisfaction spread across her beautiful face.

  Marrying Gregory hadn’t done any of those things for her.

  Instead, the look in her eyes spoke of desperation and regret.

  The phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. He picked it up and growled, “What?”

  “Mr. Slade? It’s Peggy Coswell from Human Resources at the lodge. I was wondering if...well, if you knew where Ms. Montrose is? She’s late for our eight-o’clock meeting.”

  Logan glanced at the computer clock at the corner of his screen. “That was forty-five minutes ago.”

  “Yes, sir. She hasn’t come into her office today.”

  Logan’s heart beat faster. “Where else have you checked?”

  “No one has seen her on the hotel grounds this morning. She’s not answering her phone.”

  Fear gripped Logan’s gut and twisted it like a pretzel. His mind turned to Luke. He’d had dinner with her last night. If he’d spent the night with Sophia... Logan’s mind wouldn’t go there. She wouldn’t do that. Sophia just wouldn’t sleep with his brother. And in that instant he knew two things. Sophia wasn’t the kind of woman he’d made her out to be. She wasn’t a gold-digging opportunist bent on getting rich any way she could. She wasn’t out to take over Sunset Ranch or make a mockery of the Slade family. The other thing he knew would have to wait. He could deal with only one thing right now: finding Sophia. Making sure she was safe.

  “Call security and have them comb the area for her. Call me back on my cell if you hear anything.”

  Logan rose from his desk, his breathing rapid and his strides long and efficient. He made it to Luke’s room on the other side of the house in seconds. Pushing open the door, he found Luke still in bed. Alone. Relief registered that he hadn’t been wrong about his brother’s relationship with Sophia. He wouldn’t have to beat the stuffing out of him.

  “Logan, man...don’t you believe in knocking?”

  “Sophia missed a meeting with the staff today. No one’s seen her all morning. She’s not answering her cell phone. When’s the last time you saw her?”

  Luke came out of his haze. Since his accident, he’d been sleeping longer than usual in the mornings, making up for uncomfortable nights. “Uh, about nine last night. I checked out her place after dinner and then came home.”

  “Stay here and make some calls. See what you can find out. I’m going to the cottage.”

  Still hazy, Luke sat up straighter in the bed, running a hand through his hair. “Will do. Find her, Logan.”

  “Planning on it.”

  * * *

  Logan fired up the truck’s engine and sped down the road. Half a mile never seemed so long a drive. He arrived at the cottage and saw that Sophia’s car was parked outside. Hope pulled through his fear and he bounded out of the truck, not bothering to knock on the door. He inserted the key he’d kept with him and pushed through the door. “Sophia? Sophia?”

  Clearly, she wasn’t in the parlor or kitchen. With stealthy steps, Logan moved down the short hallway, wishing he’d taken his gun on the way out. He’d never had cause to use it on the ranch except once when a snake spooked his horse while on a perimeter ride along the property. He’d been thrown within three feet of the irritated rattler. Damn thing had been ready to attack and Logan took aim and shot him dead with that Glock.

  Logan didn’t know what to make of Sophia’s disappearance. She wasn’t in the house, but her clothes were still hanging in the closet and her car was parked outside. When he put a hand to the coffeepot, it was lukewarm. She’d used it this morning.

  After scanning the kitchen area he searched the parlor. Something caught his eye. He’d almost missed it because the sole thin-stemmed purple wildflower blended in so well with the floral cushions of the sofa. He didn’t think much of it. Sophia liked flowers, but as he picked it up and moved pillows around searching for clues, he found something tucked under one square pillow that made his breath catch in his throat.

  A note.

  Typed on plain paper and folded neatly.

  You are very beautiful.

  “Son of a bitch!” Logan’s mind raced. He’d hoped to high heaven that Sophia’s disappearance had been something innocent, a miscommunication that could be cleared up and explained easily enough. He’d hoped she would come waltzing through that front door and find him standing there, worried sick over her.

  He took his hat off and stared at the tan leather band, plaguing his mind for a clue. For guidance. The sheriff should be alerted, although the law wouldn’t put much credence in a report of a missing woman who’d been gone only an hour. Still, he’d make the call. He’d do anything to make sure Sophia was safe.

  Before he could punch the buttons, his cell phone buzzed. He answered his brother’s call before it rang again. “Did you find her?”

  “Not exactly,” Luke said. “Constance said Edward is missing, too. He took Blackie for a walk an hour ago and hasn’t returned.
He missed his school bus.”

  “Okay, could be a coincidence. The boy could have lost track of time. Constance have any idea where he might have gone?”

  “He likes to walk the dog up by the stream over by the old feed shed. She’s mighty worried, Logan.”

  “I’m on it. I’ll check it out and call you—”

  Logan stopped midsentence. An unmistakable black-and-white blur raced past the cottage. Logan pushed through the front door and shouted for the dog. “Blackie!”

  The dog stopped when he saw him and trotted over with his tail down, completely out of breath. Logan knelt to his level. “Where you going, boy? To the lodge? Where’s Edward? Does he need help?”

  The dog turned his head in the direction he’d just come from. It didn’t take a detective to figure out that Blackie was looking for help. Logan grabbed the dog in his arms and deposited him in the cab of the truck as he finished his conversation with Luke.

  “I’m not that far away from the stream. I’m heading there now. I’ve got the dog. Hopefully, he can lead me to both of them.”

  Logan drove the truck off-road for three quarters of a mile over gopher holes and rough pasture lands that had been played out. He was headed to the old feed shack that faced a rocky stream that flowed into a pond. It was a perfect place for a young boy to play. Logan and his brothers used to go there after school to look for worms and water snakes.

  When he spotted the shed, Logan shut down the engine and parked. He opened the door and the dog scurried over his lap and bounded from the cab racing toward the stream. Logan followed him.

  Sophia came into his line of vision first. She sat on a big granite boulder, her leg elevated and her right shoe off. Something squeezed tight in Logan’s heart. He shook with profound relief. He’d never been so glad to see anyone in his life. He’d never experienced the kind of fear that threatened to swallow a man up whole and spit him out in small chunks. He’d never been so sure of anything in his life now, looking at Sophia Montrose and realizing that he’d almost let her slip through his fingers.

  Edward approached him, his head downcast, a guilty look on his face.