“Oh, no!” Retta dropped the book on the porch. “Does he know?”
Cade removed his hat and toyed with it, nervously. “I’m going to tell him now. Can you come with me?”
“Of course,” she said. “Can’t her sister, the great-aunt or whatever she is to him, help?”
“She’s ten years older than his great-grandma and isn’t able. There’s no other answer but foster care.”
“We’ll find another answer. Give me a minute to get my shoes on and we’ll go…oh, Cade, there he is now, coming this way.”
Benjy plopped down on the grass in front of the bunkhouse. “Skip said it would be all right for me to sketch Gussie and Beau again. They’ve gotten older since last year.
“If Beau will lay still, I want to draw him on the porch and then maybe I’ll draw Gussie in your lap.” Benjy laid his sketch pad to the side and sat down on the top step, beside Beau. He scratched the dog’s ears and rubbed his head with his knuckles. “He likes me to pet him like this.”
“Benjy, we need to talk.” Cade’s tone sounded as if he wanted to weep.
“We are talkin’, Cade. Can’t you hear me?”
“Yes, I can hear you, but I have bad news about your grandmother.”
“Bad news?” He frowned. “What does that mean?”
Cade shook his head. “She had a heart attack last night and passed away. Her sister says that there will be a funeral on Tuesday and we’ll be glad to take you to it.”
“No…” The ragged gasp was followed by tears. Benjy jumped up and threw himself into Retta’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably. The book went flying out into the yard and Gussie leaped over Beau’s back and took off in a blur toward the barn.
Retta wrapped the child up in her arms and rocked him like a baby, weeping with him. Why did bad things happen to people who didn’t deserve them? She hadn’t been a terrible person and yet her father had been snatched from her before he could see his grandchildren. Benjy, God love his precious little broken heart, only had one person on earth to care for him, and she’d been taken.
Cade knelt down in front of the rocking chair and wrapped both of them in his strong arms. “I’m so so sorry but we’ll get through this, and the social worker says that you can stay with us until the summer camp is over.”
“No, no, no! No social worker. I don’t like her.” Benjy’s wails were heartbreaking.
Retta wiped tears from Benjy’s cheeks and then Cade’s. “This is so hard.”
“I know, but we’ve got him for three weeks,” Cade whispered.
But then he’d have six more years until the system couldn’t care for him anymore and he’d be out on the streets. And then what would happen to Benjy? Would he be able to function in society? Just thinking about that brought on more tears.
“I don’t want to be a foster kid,” Benjy sniffled as he moved from Retta’s lap back to the porch step. He rolled forward until his head rested on his knees. “I want my granny back. She can’t be dead. That means she will be put in a casket and put down in a grave.”
Retta didn’t even see Skip come out of the boys’ bunkhouse but suddenly there he was on his knees right beside the rocking chair. “What’s wrong, Benjy? Are you hurt, son?”
“My granny is dead and I’m scared.”
“Shhh, now, we’ve got some time to figure this out, son.” Skip patted him on the back and looked straight at Cade. “He gets to stay with us until…”
Cade rose to his feet. “Yes, he does.”
“Come on with me, Benjy,” Skip said. “We’ll go tell the other boys.”
“I don’t want to. Kirk will tease me for being a crybaby. A grave is six feet deep and it’s filled with dirt,” he said.
“Kirk has lost family before so he’ll understand.” Skip took him by the hand and led him toward the other bunkhouse.
“Will you go to the funeral with me?” Benjy glanced over his shoulder at Cade and Retta.
“Of course we will,” Retta said.
“All of us will go with you,” Skip said. “Where and when?” He turned and asked Cade.
“Her sister is burying her beside other family members in Slidell,” Cade answered. “On Tuesday afternoon at two o’clock.”
“Will there be lots of people there?” Benjy pulled his hand from Skip’s and stopped walking.
“Maybe not too many, but we’ll be there with you,” Skip said.
Together they walked across the lawn separating the two bunkhouses. Watching that little fellow square his shoulders and try to be brave, Retta lost it again. Cade scooped her up into his arms and carried her inside the cool house. She didn’t even try to move when he sat down in a rocking chair with her in his lap.
“This is about your dad as much as it is Benjy’s grandma, isn’t it? You haven’t really grieved yet, have you?”
She nodded and then shook her head. “It’s not fair for Benjy. And my daddy was a good man. There are mean and ugly people who deserve to die but he didn’t and neither did Benjy’s grandma.”
He brushed a soft kiss across her swollen eyelids. “I have no words.”
She tucked her chin against his chest. “You are the strong cowboy. You are supposed to know everything.”
“Hey, I couldn’t even keep it together out there. I love that kid and I hate that he’s going through this.”
“We’re both orphans,” she whispered. “Only I’m an adult and I’m better equipped to handle it than he is.”
The bunkhouse door opened but she didn’t move, not until Sasha and Alice were standing right in front of her with big eyes and gaping mouths.
“What is goin’ on?” Sasha glared at Cade. “Did you make Retta cry?”
Retta slowly got to her feet. “No, he didn’t. He was trying to comfort me. Benjy’s grandmother died and…” She sucked in a lungful of air and straightened her back. “It made me sad because Benjy was crying.”
“We need to go see about him,” Alice said stoically. “Is it okay for girls to go in the boys’ bunkhouse?”
“I think it would be fine,” Cade said. “Maybe we’ll even go with you.”
The two girls met Gabby and Faith coming back and after a brief huddle, they all four continued together toward the boys’ bunkhouse with Cade and Retta not far behind. Her hand brushed against his and he laced his fingers with hers. She didn’t even try to pull free when Justin and Levi came out of the ranch house and they all followed the girls into the boys’ bunkhouse.
“Can we take him in as a foster child, Cade?” Levi asked.
“No way they’d ever let us bachelors have him, and it takes a lot of red tape to even get through the paperwork,” Justin told him. “There are rules and regulations. It’s not like bringing home a kitten or a dog.”
“Well, hell!” Levi slapped the porch post. “What can we do?”
“We can get through the next couple of days and then the funeral and then we’ll see what we can do,” Cade said. “I’ll bend over backward and do all I can to see to it that he’s got a good home.”
Nelson and Ivan were both sitting on the sofa with Benjy, who had a stiff upper lip but his eyes were swollen from crying. Kirk was sitting across on the floor in front of them.
“Are you okay?” Alice laid a hand on his knee.
“No,” Benjy answered. “I’m never going to be okay. My granny is gone and I don’t have a home no more. She will be in a place with other dead people and I don’t like cemeteries.”
“You’ll be okay in a foster home. You are very smart,” Kirk said.
“I don’t want that kind of home. I want my granny. She was my best friend. I told her everything.” Benjy sighed.
“I wanted my mama when they took her away, but you just got to be a big boy and think like Cade and Skip and Levi and Justin. That way you’ll be fine.” Kirk stood up and headed toward the kitchen. “Anyone want a soda pop or a bottle of water?”
“Nothing for me,” Skip said.
“Water, please. The
body is made up of a high percentage of water and I cried out a lot of tears so I need water.” Benjy sniffled.
“I’ll help.” Gabby jumped up. “Me and Faith could use some cold water too. It was hot out there throwin’ that football.”
“Can they all come with us to the funeral?” Benjy asked.
Levi had worked his way around behind the sofa. He laid a hand on the sofa beside Benjy’s shoulder and said, “I’m so sorry about this and if you want all of us at the funeral with you then we’ll be there.”
Alice got to her feet and wiggled in between him and Ivan. She put both arms around him and pulled his head onto her shoulder. “You just cry until all them tears is gone. Sometimes that makes a kid feel better. When my granny died, I cried buckets full of tears and sometimes I still do when I think about her.”
“Cowboys don’t cry. Cade and Justin and Levi are big and strong cowboys and they don’t cry.” Benjy got the hiccups.
Sasha wedged in between him and Nelson on the other side. “Cowboys is just boys that chase cows and they do cry when their hearts hurt. We ain’t none of us goin’ to tease you or fuss at you about this, are we Kirk?” She shot him a dirty look.
“Not me, man. I carried on like a baby when my brother got killed.” Kirk handed him a bottle of water and then he and Gabby passed out water and drinks to the rest of the kids.
“Y’all want something?” he asked Cade.
“I’m good,” Cade said.
“Me too,” Retta said around the lump in her throat. “I think I’ll step out on the porch. If any of you need me, just yell.”
Cade followed her outside. “You okay?”
“Those kids have been through so much. It breaks my heart.”
He draped an arm around her shoulders. “That’s why we bring them here and let them have a little bit of normal life for a few weeks. Sure, they learn to be teams and to work but they also learn self-respect and, like today, they learn to care for others. I’m proud of the way they’re acting in there.”
“Me too.” She laid her head on his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat. Some woman, some day, was going to be very lucky to have him in her life.
The girls were unusually quiet that evening, which was understandable. Retta went to each of their rooms and told them how proud she was of them for their actions that day, kissed them on the forehead, and then went to her room.
She slept poorly, waking every two hours and feeling like something was desperately wrong. It was the same feelings she’d had that last week that her father was alive. She’d come awake with a jerk and go check on him to be sure he was breathing. Convincing herself that it was empathy for what poor little Benjy must be feeling, she finally slept fitfully a few hours before she finally gave up. She crawled out of bed, checked each girl, and went to the kitchen to make coffee.
She’d just filled her cup and was on the way to the porch with it when Cade rapped on the door and called out her name. She opened it wide, and the expression on his face made cold chills run down her spine.
“What—” she started.
He held up both palms. “It’s Benjy. He’s gone.”
Chapter Fifteen
My God!” She dropped the coffee, splattering it all over her pajama bottoms. “What did he do?”
“Oh, honey.” He wrapped her into his arms and pulled her close. “Not dead. Gone as in we don’t have any idea where he is. Skip went to check on him a few times in the night and he was sleeping but half an hour ago he was missing.”
“Do we put out an AMBER Alert?”
“No, we want to check the whole ranch first. He knows this place like the back of his hand and he probably just wandered off. Skip is going to stay with the other boys and we’re going to take the four-wheelers out to scour the ranch. Could you please carry on as normal as possible?”
“I’d rather be out there hunting him, but you’re right—they need normalcy right now.” She nodded.
Cade put a finger over her lips. “I’ll turn over every stone on this ranch. I really don’t think he’s run away.”
Retta nodded. “You’ll call me every half hour, right?”
“On the hour and the half, I promise, and if he shows up, you give me a call.” He gave her a quick hug and then his phone rang.
“Hello, Levi, did you find him?”
“No, but I’ve got a pretty good idea what’s going on. Little Bit has gotten out of the barn and I betcha that Benjy couldn’t sleep so he came out here to draw the donkey and now he’s out lookin’ for him.”
“We’ll start there and go in different directions. He’ll be on the ranch if you are right,” Cade said and then turned to tell Retta what he’d learned.
“Just call us when you find him. Do you think maybe he went to the old cabin?”
“Maybe. We’ll check there, first. If Skip could go help us it would be a big help. Think you can manage the whole crew until we find him?”
“I think we should wake all of them up and let them help find him. It will show him that they are all interested in him right now when he needs it most.”
“Sounds like a plan to me. Let’s everyone meet at the house in twenty minutes. That give you enough time?” Cade said.
“We’ll be there in ten,” she said as she hurried back in the bunkhouse.
Mavis put a full cup of coffee in Retta’s hands when she made it to the kitchen. “Skip is scared out of his mind. Way he loves that boy, I’m surprised he hasn’t had a heart attack. You girls grab a muffin and a glass of milk. I’m making Skip stay here and help me get breakfast ready for when y’all get back.”
“Thank you.” She took the full mug from Mavis’s hand. The Longhorn was a big place and it could take hours and hours to search it. Maybe they should alert the preacher and the church members would come help out.
“Benjy knows this ranch and I bet Levi is right. He didn’t think twice about goin’ to hunt for the little donkey. He’ll be all right, Retta. Oh, who am I kiddin’? I’m so worried I could cry. I swear if he’s found safe, I’m going to have a long talk with Skip about fosterin’ him.” Mavis motioned toward the kitchen table.
Retta sipped her coffee. “That would be amazing.”
Her phone pinged and she pulled it from her pocket in such a hurry that she dropped it. Mavis picked it up and handed it to her at the same time hers rang.
“Hello,” they both said.
“He’s not in the hay barn. Levi is going to check the two barns on the north side. Justin is coming back to the house in his truck to pick up the boys. Levi is bringing the ranch work truck to get the girls. They’ll fan out and search by areas. You can get on the four-wheeler with me and we’ll take it out to the old hunting cabin,” Cade told Retta. “I was hoping that you’d have called by now to tell me that he’d showed up.”
“Me, too,” Retta said and started for the back door.
“I reckon you just got the same news I did. That was Levi.” Mavis tucked her phone back into her apron pocket.
“I should go with them.” Skip paced.
“No, you should not,” Mavis declared. “These kids need to help with the rescue mission. Benjy knows this ranch. He won’t go far. And I need help. We’re going to make cookies until we get word that he’s found and then we’ll get breakfast started. With this arm in a sling, I need you to help me, Skip. Work will make the time go faster. And we can do our part right here and man the phones.”
A house needs laughter and kids. Her father’s voice was back in her head with things he’d said so many times. I miss you and your friends running in and out, slamming the back door and giggling.
Skip nodded. “Retta, you tell Cade to call me every fifteen minutes and, Mavis, I’ll get the stuff from the pantry. You can tell me how to go about makin’ them and I’ll do the work.”
Mavis smiled. “Thank you, sweetheart.” Then she turned to Retta. “I never could have kids of my own, but Levi stepped in and filled that void. Me and Skip are up in y
ears but I believe we’ve got enough left in us to take Benjy in to finish raisin’ him. And when he gets old enough, Cade can give him a job here on the ranch. He’d do fine at that,” she said.
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Retta said.
“A word of advice from an old woman to a young one, darlin’ girl. You don’t wait until it’s too late to have kids.” Mavis shook an egg turner at her.
“Yes, ma’am,” Retta said. “I can see Cade comin’ this way. I’ll make him call in every little while.”
Her phone rang as she hopped over the yard fence. She answered on the second ring. “I see you and I’m ready to go.”
The girls came out behind her and either climbed over the fence or slipped between the railings. Levi had hardly parked the truck when they all scrambled over the side like monkeys. “Don’t worry,” Alice yelled. “We’ll find him, Retta.”
“Oh, I forgot to mention that Beau is gone, too,” Cade said as soon as she was on the back of the four-wheeler with her arms wrapped around him.
“Good. Maybe he’ll protect Benjy.”
“We’re all callin’ the house every fifteen minutes and getting the updates from Skip rather than trying to call each other,” he said.
“And it keeps Skip in the loop,” she yelled as they headed toward the far side of the ranch. She’d figured that they’d go straight to the old hunting cabin, but Cade zigzagged across the land, stopping every few minutes to yell for Benjy.
Retta kept her eyes open for anything that might be a sign. A bit of cloth from his shirt, a torn page from his sketchbook, something that would say he’d gone in a certain direction.
Cade worried that Benjy might not have gone to the barn to sketch Little Bit but that he’d been so afraid of going into a foster home that he’d run away. He didn’t voice his thoughts, but they were there at the back of his mind. When he’d been out for the better part of an hour and there was still no Benjy, he opened up to Retta, telling her his fears.
Cowboy Bold Page 15
