Or the time he had too much of her father’s eggnog and parked at the end of her drive. And when Mrs. Hershberger said the words Last Chance Road, the thought had flicked into her brain, but just as quickly disappeared. Secret number three.
When she heard Josh’s truck returning, her heart jumped for joy. He was coming back. He was coming back to explain. But when she saw the old farm truck pull into sight her hopes fell. She shut the cabin door behind her and settled onto the swing. Rover raced down the steps to greet the newcomer.
The truck door screeched as Hawkeye got out of the truck. He knelt on one knee. “Hey, there, Buddy, where have you been?” The dog raced around the older man, alternately sitting and rolling over before trotting around in circles. Rover seemed happier than usual upon seeing a stranger.
“He’s happy to see you. Do you know this dog?”
Hawkeye grinned. “The chief and his missus gave him to me couple years ago after my hound died. This is Buddy, Junior. I wondered where he’d got to.”
Wendy watched man and dog get reacquainted. Buddy? “He’s your dog?” She pushed off with a foot and set the swing moving back and forth. The happy dog pushed his nose into Hawkeye’s hand. “I kept asking who had lost a dog around here. Didn’t you tell anybody Buddy was missing?” What was wrong with the old man? Why would he intentionally allow her to get attached and then—
“Nope. Buddy here is half coonhound. Those dogs travel for miles when they’re on a mission. I figured he’d come back when he was done doin’ whatever he was doin’.” Hawkeye grinned. “Josh around?”
Her throat tight, all she could do was shake her head. Hawkeye ambled over and eased his lanky frame onto the top porch step with a sigh. “Gone for good, is he?”
Still swinging, she nodded. “Whatever happened to Betty?”
The dog sat patiently, his head resting in the old farmer’s lap. “She’s back in California.” Hawkeye scratched behind the dog’s ear. The dog’s tail thumped on the wood porch floor. “With her family.”
“With your family.”
The man shrugged. The dog caught sight of a squirrel and scampered off. “Josh go back to Montana?”
Wendy tried to catch the man’s eye, but he was watching Buddy race around the tree the squirrel had climbed. “Do you know where he stays in Montana?”
Hawkeye returned his attention to Wendy and nodded. “He stays with an army buddy. We were talking about friends made in the army, how some of them are friends for life.” He stood, rubbed his right knee and started for the truck.
Getting information from the man wasn’t an easy task, but she wasn’t about to give up now. “What’s his friend’s name?”
“Come on, Buddy. Let’s go home.” Jumping over the side of the truck, the dog landed with a thump in the truck bed. Hawkeye opened the driver’s door and paused a minute before giving her a long, solemn look. “Josh has trouble letting go of his heart. You might want to keep that in mind.”
She stood. The swing bumped the back of her legs. “What’s his friend’s name, Mr. Smith?”
“MacDougal. Matt MacDougal. His uncle owns a large working ranch outside of Great Falls.” Hawkeye got in the truck and with a loud screech slammed the door. Backing out of the front yard, he pulled away. Buddy’s paws rested on the tailgate. The dog was smiling. Of course he was. Buddy obviously loved the man.
She wasn’t exactly sure what she should do next. The man was gone. The dog was gone. Not even a kid in a fictional minivan. But her news reporter status was back. No men. No kids. Not even a pet. Katherine King would be pleased.
Also, Josh was right about one thing. His story fit perfectly into Katie’s upcoming news show. Small town. Unsolved crime. And she was the only one who knew.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“COME ON IN.” Matt greeted Josh at the door of the main house and motioned down the hall. “I was just reading the paper in the den.”
“Thanks.” Josh closed the door, hung his parka on the coat tree. In the den, a fire blazed in the huge stone fireplace. A newspaper lay open on a footstool. He settled into the chair opposite. He had driven straight through from Pennsylvania. His bones ached and his eyes burned. No questions, no why are you here a week before Christmas? Just come on in.
“Aunt Steff and Uncle Ernie went into town this morning. Snake and I fed the horses, and I thought I’d catch up on the news.” Folding up the paper, he laid it to one side and propped stocking feet on the stool. Crossing his arms, he threw a casual glance Josh’s way. “How was your trip east?”
Josh leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees. A plush rug lay at his feet. “I’ve got good news and bad news.” He gave his friend a weak smile. “Which do you want to hear first?”
“Your choice, my friend.”
“The good news is my mother isn’t sick. She lost about forty pounds because she wasn’t eating due to stress.”
Matt rested against his chair, his arms still crossed. “That’s good, right? So long as she’s dealt with the stress.”
“Right. I thought she had cancer or something.”
“And the bad news?”
“My parents got divorced while I was home.”
“Aw, man, I’m sorry.” Matt paused before continuing. “That explains you showing up here now.”
Josh stared down at the carpet of deep blues and red swirls. “Not entirely.” At one time, he thought he could tell Matt anything. The two had been through a lot together. If his friend knew the kind of man Josh really was, would he still have welcomed him into his uncle’s house? “I have something to tell you. If, at the end, you want me to leave, I’ll understand.”
So he told Matt the whole story. The argument with his father, borrowing the car and hitting what he thought was a deer. When he was finished, they sat in silence. The logs in the fireplace snapped and popped, sending sparks up the chimney like fireworks. Finally, Matt broke the silence. “Why don’t we take your things upstairs?”
Josh looked up from the bright carpet to his friend’s face. “Excuse me?”
Matt stood and poked the fire before turning back to Josh. “You can stay in the spare bedroom. We have lots of room.” He headed toward the hallway.
Josh had expected more questions. Why didn’t you go to the police when you realized what you had done? Why did you wait so long to tell anyone? Instead his friend offered him a place to stay. He shook his head. He didn’t deserve Matt’s friendship.
Matt’s voice came from the staircase. “Are you coming?”
Josh hurried into the entry and looked up at Matt, leaning against the banister. “What should I do?”
Matt gestured to him. “Look, you know I’ve always got your back, but you have a decision to make. I can’t help you.”
Suddenly anxious to be alone, Josh grabbed his parka from the coat tree. “I’d rather not stay here. I thought I’d stay at the cabin.”
Matt frowned. “The temperature’s dropped twenty degrees since you were here, Josh. That cabin’s hard to heat.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Matt ambled back down the stairs. “You’ll have to ride Blue up the mountain. The pickup’s out of commission.” No more questions, as if he understood that sometimes a person just needed to be alone.
“What happened?” He hadn’t expected the ranch truck to be unavailable. After driving twenty hours straight, the last thing he wanted to do was ride a horse.
“Snake drove it into a ravine right after you left. It’s still there.”
Josh shared a smile with Matt. Snake was great with horses, but terrible with anything mechanical. “Maybe I should take my truck. I’m not great with horses.”
“You don’t want to scratch your new truck. Besides, Blue’s bombproof.”
So here he was, riding the blue roan ge
lding up the narrow, rock-strewed road to the cabin. Blue was as sedate as Matt had promised. When they flushed a grouse, the roan just pricked his ears and plodded on.
Josh was able to keep busy for a while, unsaddling the horse, turning him into the corral and then taking his duffel bag into the cabin. He put away the food supplies Matt had insisted he take, then started a fire. When he reached into his pocket, he withdrew the pink pack of matches. He opened them. Three matches left. He held the flame to a crumpled up newspaper and then dropped the pack on the mantel.
He heated a can of stew over the fire and wiped out the bowl with a piece of buttered bread. Darkness had fallen on his first night back, and, thanks to the nonstop drive from Pennsylvania, he fell asleep quickly. He was grateful. But the next morning he stared at the rafters. Josh searched his brain for ways to occupy himself.
There wasn’t much to do this time of year, but Josh felt he had to do something to earn his keep. He repaired part of the corral that had fallen down. He cut and stacked more firewood. The week dragged.
* * *
FRIDAY MORNING WENDY was first in line at the Shadow Falls Regional Airport for standby. The ticket agent, a shaggy-haired middle-aged man with a dark beard gave her a lazy smile. “Two days before Christmas, huh? Lot of people traveling, you know.”
Wendy scanned the crowded terminal before leaning close and lowering her voice. “I have to see someone. We left things kind of, well, messy.” The ticket agent, whose name tag read Al, smiled for a minute and then tapped his fingers on the keyboard. “If you go through Atlanta, I might be able to book you via Dallas, then Denver, and then Great Falls. You’ll get in this afternoon, assuming you don’t run into any hiccups. They’re calling for snow out west, you know.”
“Thank you so much—” of course she knew they were calling for snow out west “—Al.” Atlanta. How poetic. At one time she thought Atlanta was a destination. Now it was just a stopover.
“Happy to be of service.” He worked some kind of magic because she got the last seat on the first flight out. In Denver she sprinted between terminals and actually got on an earlier flight than scheduled. When she got into Great Falls Airport she rented an SUV because the man told her if she was going into the mountains she would need it. After all, they were calling for snow.
The openness of the plains amazed her. The mountain ranges were jaw-dropping. The drive in to the MacDougal ranch was ten miles long. She saw Josh’s truck as soon as she came in view of the house. She parked, approached the home and knocked on the door.
“Yes?” A tall woman with neat salt-and-pepper-colored hair answered the door. A man’s flannel shirt hung from her shoulders. Her jeans were worn. “Can I help you?”
“My name is Wendy Valentine and I’m looking for Josh.”
“You better come in, dear. It’s so cold out.” She opened the door wide and stepped back. Wendy entered and spotted a staircase that led up to the second floor. A chandelier made of antlers hung from the ceiling. “Come into the den. We have a nice fire going.”
She followed the woman into a bright, inviting room with smart features and comfortable furniture. She chose the plaid sofa, and the woman, a matching chair.
“Now, you’re here to see Josh, you say?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Call me Steff. I’m Matt’s aunt. How do you know Josh?”
“I... I’m from Bear Meadows, Pennsylvania. Like him.”
“I see.” Steff looked at her hard. “Are you the reason that young man is hiding in the mountains?”
“Excuse me?”
“I haven’t seen him since he got back. I thought he was reclusive before...” Her forehead creased with worry.
“So he’s not here?”
“Matt said that as soon as he’d arrived, he saddled up Blue and took him to the upper cabin.”
Wendy slumped in her seat. “Oh no.”
Steff offered a warm smile. “You’re welcome to stay until Matt and his uncle get home. Matt can take you up in the truck.”
“When will they be here?” Hope sprang to life in her chest.
“Tomorrow. They went to get some equipment.”
And hope just as quickly died. “So a vehicle can get up there then?”
“It’s not the easiest to navigate, Wendy. That’s why Josh leaves his brand-new truck in our garage. We only take the older four-wheel drive vehicles up on the mountain.”
“The rental agent told me the SUV I rented could go off road.”
Steff stood and walked over to the window as if trying to come to a decision. Then she turned. “You better wear my parka, dear. We’re expecting snow. And you best leave now. Put that rental car in low gear and just crawl up the road. Okay? Watch out for the deep ruts. You don’t want to get hung up.” Shaking her head, Steff muttered as she headed for the hallway. “I hope I don’t regret this.”
* * *
HE HAD WOKEN to an ominous sky. Dark clouds hung low over the treetops, making Josh wish he had taken Matt up on his offer and accompanied him and his uncle to Helena.
He’d thought he wanted solitude. Five days seemed to be his limit. He peered up at the overcast sky and wondered what was next on his to-do list. Keeping busy was the only way to crowd out the thoughts of regret.
He doubted Matt and his uncle had dropped the rest of those dead trees along the fence line.
Matt had asked him to wait, so they could do it together. But by the time Matt would return, there could be a foot of snow on the ground. Felling the trees wouldn’t take long. He could ride Blue to the site, fell the trees away from the fence and be back by lunchtime.
As Blue picked his way down the rocky slope, Josh almost understood Matt’s preference for a horse over a truck in the mountains. Except for the scrape of the gelding’s hooves and the occasional screeching of the hawks, silence reigned. Though the clouds hung low, he could still see the roof of the ranch house and the long lane leading out to the road.
He had to come to a decision. He couldn’t hide in these mountains for the rest of his life, expecting the MacDougals to support him when all he did was fix fence. He knew almost nothing about horses and even less about cattle. He was of little use to the family.
Blue’s sudden jerk to one side sent his heart racing as he fought to maintain his seat in the saddle. “Whoa, there, boy. If you were trying to wake me up, it worked.” He looked around, searching for what had spooked the old gelding. To his left a mass of pines blocked his view. To his right he could see the fence line through the bare trees. “Just a little bit farther, fella.”
The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the horse jerked. Josh grabbed for the saddle horn as he listed to one side. He caught a glimpse of tawny fur as Blue reared. His hand slipped from the saddle horn as he fell backward. When his shoulder impacted a fallen log, pain shot through his arm. A hind hoof grazed his leg as the horse struggled for purchase on the slick ground and whirled to race back up the slope.
The mountain lion crouched between the fallen trees. Then the long, sinewy body disappeared into the pines so quickly Josh was no longer sure what he had seen. He tried to lift himself out of where he was wedged, but the pain forced him back to the ground. He lay against the wet ground. Snow drifted down from above. Then everything faded to black.
* * *
AUNT STEFF TRIED hard to convince Wendy to wait until Matt and Ernie had returned home. In the end, Matt’s aunt had provided her with her own heavy boots, socks and parka. The rental agent hadn’t lied. Following Steff’s advice, she kept the vehicle in low gear and the SUV crept steadily up the hill, jouncing from one rut to the other but never stalling out. When she finally made it to the cabin, she breathed a sigh of relief. She hoped Josh appreciated her effort.
She parked directly in front of the cabin, slamming the door when she got
out. Then she waited for Josh to come see who his visitor was.
A horse stood, head down, in the corral. Josh Hunter was home. Steff told her he had ridden a horse up the mountain rather than risk scratching his truck. She turned in a slow circle. The man couldn’t have picked a better place for reflection. The only sign of civilization was the green roof of the ranch house far below. Otherwise all she saw were mountains and trees in the distance.
She looked up, expecting to see smoke curling out of the chimney on such a cold day. But not even a wisp. Maybe he went for a hike.
Leaving her things in the car, she tapped on the cabin door, then opened it. “Josh?” She walked inside. She recognized the duffel bag tossed in the corner. The bedcovers lay just where he must have thrown them after waking. She sat on the bed and asked herself, “Where have you gone, Joshua Hunter?”
She went back outside. She was alone. More alone than she had ever been. Yet she wasn’t afraid. She had a mission, and no amount of wide open spaces was going to keep her from her duty, which was finding Joshua Hunter and telling him exactly what she thought.
Looking for clues, for something out of place, her reporter’s instincts kicked in. Her gaze lit again on the saddled horse standing in the middle of the corral. This time she noticed the gate was open.
The hit-and-run wasn’t Josh’s only lie. He was no cowboy.
Josh had been thrown from his horse. She walked around the clearing looking for a direction. When she found the deep imprints made by the running horse, she started down the rock-strewed mountain.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“JOSH?”
He opened his eyes. Directly above him a squirrel sat on a branch, chattering and clasping a nut in his tiny paws. Overhead, the clouds were barely visible in the dark sky. How long had he been out? Cold seeped through his body. He closed his eyes.
An Allegheny Homecoming Page 18
