A New Hope

by M. L. Ray

  “I haven’t checked my email the last few days, but I usually only hear from her about once a month anyways.”

  Michelle had been listening and then she asked, “Did you write the number down?”

  Peter nodded, “Yes. It’s also on the phone log. It was definitely from out of state.”

  “I used to use an internet service to track down missing parents when I worked for the State. It might cost a little bit of money to run a search, but if the number is valid, it would give us an address and possibly a name it’s registered to.”

  “What if it was a cell phone?” Tyler asked, figuring his sister probably used a cell phone and not a landline. According to her latest email, she had been doing lots of traveling for photo shoots and such.

  “It wouldn’t matter. This database has mobile and landline information available.”

  “It’s worth a shot,” Peter said, the feeling that something was terribly wrong not going away. “I have a really bad feeling about this.”

  Tyler looked at him and then nodded, “I’ve been getting a bad feeling about her emails the last couple of months as well. When she left here after her last visit home, she asked about my mom and dad every email. For the last two months, she hasn’t asked about them once.”

  Peter shook his head, “She wasn’t herself when she was home last time either. She would hardly talk to me, and every time I tried to get her off by herself so we could catch up, she disappeared on me.”

  “Yeah, she was awful skittish. I didn’t really notice it too much because mom was having so many problems right then, but I don’t think I actually talked to her alone for more than a few minutes at a time.”

  “Guys, I may be off base here, but that really doesn’t sound like Brooke. She was always so talkative and full of energy.”

  Both men grew quiet and then Tyler nodded towards the ranch house, “You got a few minutes to see if Michelle can work her magic with that number?”

  “Sure. Lead the way.”

  Michelle, Tyler and Peter returned to the house and Tyler carried her into the house and settled her on his couch while he went to retrieve his laptop. When he returned, Michelle started working her magic while Tyler and Peter set about unpacking the picnic lunch from earlier and dishing it up onto three plates.

  Tyler had cheated just a bit, stopping by the diner that morning and having George pack him up some sandwiches, slices of pie, and some chips. It wasn’t anything fancy, but Tyler knew Michelle wasn’t impressed by fancy so he hadn’t stressed himself out over the issue.

  “Lunch is ready. Shall I bring your plate over to the couch, or shall I carry you over to the table?” Tyler asked a few minutes later.

  “Just a minute. The search just finished.” Michelle tapped on the keyboard for a moment and then her face screwed up in confusion. “Uhm…Tyler, when did Brooke get married?”

  “Married?!” Tyler exclaimed.

  “What?!” Peter shouted, equally upset.

  “Well, the phone she called you from is registered to Mr. and Mrs. Zachary Grayson, Rochester, New York.”

  Chapter 35

  “Brooke is married?” Tyler asked and then shook his head, “No way! There’s no way she would get married and not say something to someone. There’s got to be a mistake.”

  Michelle had been busy typing while the two men tried to reconcile what she’d found with the young woman they both cared a great deal for. “There’s no mistake. I’m looking at a copy of their marriage license right now. Brooke Jameson married Zachary Grayson four months ago.”

  Peter didn’t know what to think. Since he’d first seen Brooke walking down the halls of the middle school when she’d been only a seventh grader and he a ninth grader, he’d been in love with her. When she was in the ninth grade, he had asked her to go steady with him and she’d readily agreed. They had been together up until her senior year when she had gone to New York for an open audition.

  There had been recruiters at the shopping mall in Junction during Spring Break and she had laughingly allowed them to take her picture and she’d talked into a camera for a few minutes. Neither she nor Peter had ever expected she’d be receiving a letter and plane tickets to travel to New York before school was out that year.

  Peter had been working on the various ranches, unsure of his career path while he waited for Brooke to finish high school. They had been planning to get married sometime that fall, but when she’d landed a modeling job in New York, Peter had stepped aside so she could pursue her dream.

  He’d never given up hope that one day she would come home to Cathedral Hills and him, but he’d never expected that she would up and get married without even calling home to notify her family. That was beyond rude and disrespectful, and so totally out of character for her, he had trouble believing it.

  “None of this makes any sense. Why would Brooke marry someone and not tell anyone about it? If she wanted to keep it secret, why would she call here looking for me? She hasn’t tried to call my cell phone and I know she has that number.”

  “I wonder if any of the others have received phone calls from her.” Michelle mused.

  “I don’t know, but I think we need to have a meeting to compare notes. Stephanie’s not due to head to New York for another two months. I for one cannot wait that long to get some of these questions answered.”

  “I agree. Why don’t you make a few phone calls and see if everyone can meet over at the diner around dinnertime tonight? We can all catch up at that time.”

  Peter nodded his head, “Sounds like a good idea. I’m heading into town right now. I’ll let Missy know, as we all know she’ll have the word spread faster than anyone else can.”

  Michelle smiled as Peter rolled his eyes and headed out the door, “Missy will get the word out.”

  “Yes. I’ll give Trey a call and suggest he and Jenna join us as well. I don’t know how many people Brooke’s been keeping in touch with, but I think it’s high time we all get on the same page where she’s concerned.”

  Michelle nodded her head, pleased that she wasn’t Brooke at this particular time. Tyler was a typical older brother, and protective almost to default. He’d happened to like Peter when they were growing up, which was probably the only reason Brooke had been given as much leeway as she had been.

  “So, rather than sitting around here worrying about Brooke, why don’t you tell me exactly what you had in mind for this horse operation you’re wanting to start up.”

  Michelle smiled at him and then sobered, “I want to find a way to keep kids out of the system.”

  “But you were the system. At least for a while.”

  Michelle nodded her head, “And that’s even more incentive for me to figure out a way to help kids and keep them out of the State’s hands. I mean, look what happened to Jenna. She didn’t ask for any of that to be done to her. And she didn’t have any way to get out of it once she was in.”

  Tyler looked thoughtful, “So, how are you going to keep kids from going into the system to start with?”

  “Well, that’s where Jenna comes in.”

  “She kind of told me about the facility she wants to start up. Have you two thought about working together on it?”

  “It’s been so crazy around here, we’ve kind of talked about our own projects, but not really how they would go together. Jenna did say that she had a way for me to put my social work degree to good use.”

  “Well, you know I want to help provide a safe training facility for young rodeo enthusiasts. Maybe we could use the fees from that to help offset some of the cost of operating the halfway house Jenna wants to set up in the old bunkhouse.”

  Michelle looked surprised, “She wants kids to live here?”

  “During the winter months, and then she wants them to spend some time up at the camp. She has some great ideas, and it sounds like she might have some of the funds to get things going as well.”

  Michelle grew thoughtful and then said, “She and I really need to sit
down and talk. You and Trey as well. With Trey’s financial background, he can probably answer the money questions easier than the rest of us put together. You have the horse knowledge, and I spent quite a bit of time studying therapy techniques, but I don’t have a clue as to care for a horse fulltime.

  “My social work degree should help us secure some additional grant funds from the State, and Missy mentioned that Jenna was in the process of completing her own degree in counseling. With Peter helping to run the ranch, the only thing we’re really missing would be some extra hands to pick up the slack and a cook.”

  Tyler looked at her and smiled, “I should have known better than to start this conversation. Once you get going, you don’t know when to stop. How about we table this conversation until we can all four get together?”

  Michelle grinned at him and nodded, “Okay. But let’s make it soon.”

  Tyler nodded and then bent down and picked her up, “Fine. I think it’s time we finished that tour.”

  “What about the weather? It wasn’t looking too good when we came in earlier.”

  “We’ll see what we can see today and then we can finish the rest up after you’re back on your feet. Do you need anything before we head out?” he asked, looking down into her eyes.

  Michelle shook her head, “No, I think I have everything I need.” I’m in Tyler’s arms, and it looks like we’re going to have a future together after all. I have everything I need.

  Chapter 36

  The meeting at the diner went as well as could be expected. Tyler wasn’t surprised to find out that everyone else had been getting the exact same emails he’d been getting. It was almost as if she’d sent one generic email out to everyone on her contact list.

  Everyone checked their cell phones, but so far, no one had received any phone calls or hang-ups from the number Peter had written down earlier that day. George, Missy’s father, had finally interjected some wisdom into their gathering.

  He’d been eavesdropping on the conversation from behind the kitchen counter, and when things had grown silent and tense in regards to their next steps, he had suggested someone physically travel to New York and find her.

  “If she’s hiding something, it will be much harder to pull off if someone is looking her in the eye.”

  All of the heads nodded, but now they had to decide who was going to make the trip. Trey had to work, and Jenna didn’t feel it was her place to go since she’d been gone so long.

  Missy’s baby was already in her third trimester so she couldn’t travel, and with her needing some time off, George needed to stay and run the diner.

  Tyler thought about going, but he’d heard from Adam and Lorelei and they were going to be heading to Cathedral Hills the first part of the following week. There was a smaller ranch house on the property, but it needed some light repair work done to make it wheelchair friendly. He’d already talked with Stephanie’s dad about making the necessary improvements and work was set to begin first thing Monday morning.

  Michelle couldn’t go since her ankle was injured, and Taylor and Stephanie had other family commitments preventing them from leaving town at this particular time. That only left Peter, and while Tyler didn’t relish managing everything on the ranch by himself, he’d willingly do it to make sure his sister was okay.

  “Guess that leaves me. I was already planning on volunteering if it came to this, so I’ll be heading to Denver tonight. There’s an early flight out in the morning which will put me in New York tomorrow afternoon.”

  Stephanie handed him a piece of paper, “There are some of my contacts in the modeling world. If you have any trouble finding her, they should be able to help you. The last I heard, Brooke was modeling for some foreign fashion magazine. I tried to find some of her pictures a few years back, but nothing ever came up under her name. I’m guessing she’s using an alias when she’s modeling.”

  “Why would she do that?” Missy inquired.

  “To keep her anonymity. There are a lot of weird people out there that wouldn’t think twice about stalking a model, or finding out where they lived…the list goes on.”

  “So how do you manage it?” Taylor asked, knowing that Stephanie used her first name.

  “I don’t use my last name. Ever. When I started modeling, my agent helped me set up a small company. I work for that company, so all of my checks are made out to it, not me. I seriously doubt any of my photographers or designers know my last name.”

  Peter smiled at her, “It sounds like you have a good agent there.”

  “I do. Well, I hate to be the one to break this party up, but I promised to help my little sisters with a project they’re doing for school. Volcanoes. I don’t know why I thought my days of Paper Mache would be over once I graduated from high school. With two younger sisters, I may never be finished with school!”

  Everyone laughed, and shortly after Stephanie departed, everyone else vacated the small diner and headed to their respective homes. Since Trey had picked up his truck before heading into work that morning, Tyler offered to drive Michelle home.

  Once they were in the car, he couldn’t resist giving into the intimacy the small interior of the vehicle provided. He reached over and clasped her hand, “Today was a good day, wasn’t it?”

  Michelle nodded tiredly, “It was. All except the news about Brooke. But the rest of it was good. Jenna and Trey want to get together and discuss things sometime next week. I guess the paperwork that Jenna needs to sign is supposed to arrive tomorrow, and then she has meetings scheduled with the realtor and has to finish going through her parents belongings.”

  “That’s fine. But I don’t want to talk about Jenna, or Brooke, or Trey. I want to talk about us.” Tyler parked the car under a large tree in front of Trey’s house.

  “Us?” Michelle echoed.

  Tyler turned the ignition off and then turned so that he was facing her, “Us. You and me. Michelle, I don’t need weeks or months to know how I feel about you. I love you. I have for a very long time and I don’t see that changing any time soon.”

  “Tyler…”

  “Let me finish, please? When Adam got injured, I wanted to talk to you so badly. It was like someone had flipped the light switch and the power had come back on. I knew I didn’t want to ride again. I also knew that losing you was the worst thing that had ever happened to me.”

  “Tyler, I still have feelings for you as well, but I don’t know if I can have a relationship that could possibly destroy me.”

  “Listen to me. You are not Celia. You’re not! I know you’re carrying around a load of guilt where she’s concerned, and I think you should go talk to your dad about how to rid yourself of it. It’s not yours to carry.”

  “I hear you, but it’s not that easy. I sacrificed everything…”

  “What do you mean, you sacrificed everything?”

  Michelle sighed and then shook her head, “It’s not important.”

  “Yes! It is! Talk to me. Remember, we were not going to keep secrets from each other any longer?”

  She nodded and then answered, “Taking Celia into my own home was against policy. In a big way. After she died, my new supervisor got a copy of the police report listing my address as the place of her death. He was not happy. He wrote me up for disciplinary action, and even went so far as to refuse me time off to attend her funeral.

  “It didn’t matter that a life had been lost, he was more concerned with protocol and how vulnerable his department had become by my actions.”

  Tyler tensed his muscles, wishing the man was close by so he could have a word or two with him. “It doesn’t sound like the man had an ounce of compassion in his body.”

  “He didn’t, which is why I grabbed my things and left. I emailed him my immediate resignation later that morning. He threatened my career, and I have no doubt in my mind that all kinds of nasty character assassinations have been added to my personnel file.”

  “Can he do that?” Tyler was outraged.

  �
�Since I didn’t fight him on it, yeah – he can.”

  “Why didn’t you fight for yourself?”

  “Why bother? I broke protocol and got too deeply involved with a client. I couldn’t keep my distance or my perspective. I endangered my health and my career because I allowed myself to care too much.”

  Tyler grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him, “You are the most caring person I’ve ever met, which is one of the reasons I love you. Things don’t always work out the way we want them to. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, tragedy strikes. You need to go talk to you father and see if he can help you come to terms with what happened.

  “I understand you were angry with God…”

  “Still am. He could have saved her.”

  Tyler searched her face and then kissed her forehead, the ring in his pocket staying put for the moment. “Michelle, I want to build a life with you. Promise me you’ll talk to your father tomorrow. Please?”

  “I don’t know what good you think will come of it, but if it makes you happy – then yes, I’ll talk to my father tomorrow.”

  “Good. I’ll come by and see you tomorrow afternoon and see how it went. Just remember, I love you, and there’s nothing wrong with loving deeply. You weren’t made to love superficially. That’s a gift, not a curse.”

  Chapter 37

  Loving deeply is a gift not a curse. That thought kept running through Michelle’s mind throughout the night and into the morning hours. She heard Trey and Jenna leave the house shortly before 9 o’clock, and slowly made her way to the small bathroom with the crutches.

  The swelling was almost completely gone in her ankle, and just the bruising and tenderness remained. And the instability she found when she attempted to put some weight on it without the benefit of the air splint or ace bandage.