“I only had a headache,” he muttered, as though the attention embarrassed him. “You didn’t have to leave early.”
“I wanted to. Are you ready to go?”
He nodded, and then to her surprise, glanced at Luis and Evie. “Thanks for letting me hang out tonight.” He looked in Gracie’s direction, though not directly at her. “I guess you’re right. The Empire Strikes Back really is the best Star Wars movie.”
The girl beamed. “Told you! Sometime maybe we can watch the rest of them. I’ve seen them all a million times. My dad is still a huge fan, even though he’s, like, forty-five.”
Bodie actually cracked a smile. “Sounds good.”
Hope sparked in the midst of Charity’s worry for the kid. It seemed he’d at least connected with Gracie on a Star Wars level.
Charity thanked Luis and Evie again and then led Bodie out to the truck. When they were both belted in, she turned to him. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Not that he ever looked especially happy, but when she’d heard he wasn’t feeling well, worry had crammed itself tightly into her chest. She didn’t even know where it had come from.
“I’m fine,” Bodie grumbled. “I barely mentioned I had a headache and the next thing I knew, Mrs. Cortez was calling Naomi.”
Charity started the engine and pulled out of the driveway. “I was worried about you.”
He kept his chin tucked, his head down. “I don’t need you to worry about me.”
Actually, he did. He needed someone to worry about him, to think about him, to put his needs above hers. Because it was pretty obvious Melody wasn’t doing a stellar job of that. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel. He needed someone to protect him, to be there for him. Why didn’t her sister realize that?
“Have you heard from Mom yet?” She thought she detected a waver in Bodie’s voice, but he’d turned his head to the passenger’s window.
“Not yet.” Charity pulled over to the side of the road and rested her hand on his shoulder. “But we’ll find her. I promise. She loves you so much, Bodie. You’ve always been the most important person in her heart.” Even if she wasn’t capable of showing it.
“Then why’d she’d leave?” He shook his head and looked down at his fisted hands, and Charity had to steel her chest against the heartbreak. She didn’t have an answer.
“I need you to give me a list of all the people your mom knows back in Oklahoma.” She’d called all of the old friends she could remember, but her sister likely had other acquaintances. “I need phone numbers, if you have them.” They’d waited on Melody long enough. If her sister refused to come back, Charity would simply have to track her down and make her come back. She would fix this for Bodie.
“I’ve already called everyone,” her nephew muttered. “No one knows where she is. She hasn’t gone back home.”
“Well, I’ll call again. I’ll keep calling until we get some answers. And if anyone is still in touch with her, they can tell her to check in with us.” Because she had plenty of things to say to her sister. The most important one being that she was screwing up the best thing in her life.
“Aunt Charity?”
“Yeah?” She glanced over, expecting to see the kid’s cold expression. Instead, Bodie bit his bottom lip uncertainly.
“Thanks for leaving the party early to pick me up,” he finally said. “I’ve never had anyone to call.”
Tears welled up, making the road in front of her swim. “Well, from now on, you can always call me, Bodie. Always.”
Dev had completely tuned out of the party. Instead of joining everyone on the dance floor, he sat at the bar deliberating. He probably should’ve told Charity what he’d learned about the robbery back in Oklahoma. He almost had, but she’d shut him down. A weariness had taken over her mannerisms when she told him she didn’t want to talk about Melody, and he hadn’t wanted to ruin her night. He didn’t want to make the situation with Bodie any harder on her than it already seemed to be, so maybe it was best to keep the whole thing to himself. Until he knew more. Until the PD back in Oklahoma had evidence to support his theory…
“You look like you could use a beer.” Without waiting for an answer, Darla thunked an IPA down on the bar in front of Dev.
“Thanks.” He definitely needed a beer. He and Darla had known each other a long time. Ever since she’d moved here ten years ago after her husband died. Though he wouldn’t call her a close friend, they’d hung out occasionally. She always seemed to know when someone needed a pick-me-up.
“Anything you want to talk about?” She leaned on the bar across from him. “You know what they say about bartenders. We’re the best listeners.”
He took a long pull on the beer, already knowing it wouldn’t take the edge off of Charity’s disappearing act. “You shouldn’t be tending bar tonight. It’s your party.”
“And we all know what a control freak I am.” She poured a glass of red wine for herself. “Does the scowl have anything to do with Charity taking off?”
“Not exactly.” It wasn’t the reason she’d had to go that had him scowling. It was the exchange between them right before she’d left. “She had to pick up Bodie. He wasn’t feeling well.”
Darla came around the bar and sat next to him. “Then why do you look like you’re about ready to take down a felon?”
“It’s a long story.” One he didn’t feel like telling. But Darla knew Charity better than most people. “Let me ask you something.” He spun the stool to face her. “Charity told me to leave her alone. Do you think she means it?” Because he wasn’t about to pursue a woman who wasn’t interested. He’d spent enough of his life wondering why he wasn’t good enough. Didn’t need to go down that road again.
“If she said it, my guess would be she means it.” Darla gave him an apologetic look. “At least for now.”
“Got it.” That was it then. He wouldn’t call, wouldn’t drop by, wouldn’t go out of his way to see if he could run into her. “Thanks.” He tipped his beer toward Darla. “Appreciate the honesty.”
“You know me. I don’t hide from the truth.” She clanked her wineglass against his beer in a toast. “Can I get you anything else?”
“Nope. I’m good.” Well, not good exactly…more like resigned.
“Then I have to go check on the chocolate supply.” Darla stood and gave him a squeeze on the shoulder. “Why don’t you save me a dance later?”
“Will do.” If he stuck around, that was. Since Charity had left, he didn’t see much of a point. Though he doubted any of his friends were ready to leave. Since he was the designated driver, he might be here all night.
Searching for a distraction from his thoughts, he turned the stool so he could watch the rest of the party. Both Levi and Mateo were currently dancing with their wives and seemed to be enjoying themselves just fine. He panned his gaze to the outskirts of the crowd. Ty caught him looking and hurried over. “Dude, there’re hot twins from Aspen over there.”
“And?” Dev nursed his beer and resisted the temptation to get himself another. The one night he actually wanted to indulge and yet he’d volunteered to drive. He should’ve made one of the married guys be DD.
“I need my wingman.” Ty slid onto the stool next to him. “Come on. A bull rider and a public servant? We’ll be unstoppable.”
“I’m not interested in twins from Aspen.” The one woman he was interested in had run out on him. Again.
Ty gave him a suspicious once-over. “Does this have anything to do with the way you were dancing with Charity?”
Dev let his silence speak for him.
“All right, man. As your friend, I’m going to give you three reasons you should steer clear of that woman.” He held up a finger. “One, she has a fiery hot temper.”
“From what I’ve seen, she has a temper only when it’s necessary.” Like when that cowboy at the bar had hit on Gracie. Or when she’d been trying to protect her nephew after he crashed her truck. Sure, she had a temper, but she got worked up o
nly about important things. Things that mattered. If anything, that only made her more appealing.
Ty didn’t acknowledge the argument. “Reason number two to steer clear of Charity—she’s a workaholic. Trust me, you’ve never seen anything like it. Trains every day, rain or shine. Up at the crack of dawn. I’ve even seen her work herself so hard she passed out.”
Dev gave in and helped himself to another beer from the steel tub on the bar. “So I’m supposed to steer clear because she wants to be the best at what she does? Isn’t that the point of your profession? To compete?” Seemed to him that was called dedication.
“Oh boy.” Ty hopped off the stool. “You’re a lost cause. You’ve already gone to the dark side, haven’t you?” He grabbed Dev’s collar in his fist. “It’s not too late to come back. You can fight this, man. Don’t give in. Bachelors are a dying breed around here. You can’t leave me all by myself.”
Rolling his eyes at the theatrics, Dev shook Ty’s hand off him and set down his beer bottle. “Relax. I can still be your wingman. It’s not like Charity wants to be with me anyway.” She’d made that pretty clear before she left.
“So you’re in?” Ty seemed to have frozen in disbelief.
“Sure. Why not?” If he was going to be stuck at this party for another three hours, he might as well have some fun.
Chapter Nine
Charity slathered a thick coating of Nutella on the French toast she’d made for Bodie. That was the best way to reach a teen boy, right? Through his stomach? She added a layer of cut-up strawberries on top for good measure.
Sunlight poured in through the window over her sink, bathing her in warmth, but it wasn’t enough to reach inside of her. She’d spent all day yesterday making phone calls to the list Bodie had given her. Supposedly, none of her sister’s acquaintances had heard a word from Melody since she’d left town. None of them knew where she had gone either. One friend her sister had known since high school mentioned something about a boyfriend named Cody, but when Charity had asked Bodie about it, he said he’d never met a Cody, so who knew if that was some recent man in her life or one of the many who had come and gone.
Uttering a heart-sinking sigh, Charity arranged the food on the plate and brought it to the kitchen table. Then she went to the refrigerator and poured Bodie a big glass of orange juice. Any minute now, he would come out of his room and after breakfast she would drive him over to the middle school.
He’d had a conniption fit last night when Charity had told him he had to start going to school, and she didn’t blame him. But he’d already missed the better part of a week back in Oklahoma, and Dev was right. She couldn’t let him get behind. They didn’t need to add that to the long list of challenges he already had to face. So she’d gotten all the paperwork together, ordered his transcripts from Oklahoma, and now she had to bring him to a place where he didn’t know one single person, except for Gracie, and leave him there all day. Nerves rolled through her stomach the same way they had back on her first day of middle school. She remembered all too well how much it had sucked.
Across the great room, there were sounds—a door opening, rustling, footsteps. Charity rushed back to the sink and busied herself with doing the dishes. She’d hardly slept all night fearing that the kid would try to run away again. She’d checked on him at least every hour, opening the door silently and poking her head into the room to make sure he was still there and not off joyriding in her loaner truck. Thankfully, the crash had seemed to discourage his plans to take off and go find his mom.
“Good morning,” she sang in a chipper voice when he walked into the kitchen.
He grunted a response.
Charity turned off the faucet and assessed his attire. Black T-shirt, black jeans, black combat boots. This outfit appeared to be the full extent of the wardrobe he’d brought with him. That would make it pretty tough to fit in with kids who wore brass belt buckles and cowboy boots. Not that she wanted to tell him that.
Much to her relief, Bodie went and sat at the table right away, and even started to eat the French toast.
Gathering courage, she sat across from him. “So are you ready for school?”
He kept his head down. “Does it matter?”
Don’t flinch. She couldn’t let him see how much his hateful tone hurt. “I know this isn’t ideal,” she said patiently. “But it’s only temporary. Just until your mom comes back. I don’t want you to miss out on any learning.”
His eyes got that stormy look again—like any minute lightning would flash out of them—but he didn’t say anything.
“I’ve heard great things about the school.” She’d called Naomi to ask some questions, and her friend had only positive things to say. “I know it’ll be different, but Gracie will be there. I’m sure you’ll run into her.”
“Great.” He dropped his fork and pushed away the plate of half-eaten French toast.
Charity ignored his sarcastic tone and forged ahead. “I found a backpack. And some supplies.” She pointed to where she’d laid everything out by the front door. “And I talked to the principal earlier this morning. She said they’re looking forward to meeting you.”
Anger masked every feature on his face, but she recognized it for what it was. Fear. He covered it up the same way she did, and god, it made her heart ache for him. “It’s going to be fine.” All of it. School. His mom. Her. Him. It had to be fine. She couldn’t consider the alternative, what it would do to all of them if Melody didn’t come back. She wouldn’t consider it. “We need to get going. Don’t want to be late for your first day.” Quickly, she cleared the table and dumped everything in the sink.
Her nephew took his time getting his things together, but eventually they made it out to the truck. Bodie didn’t speak all the way to the middle school, and every word she thought of to say sounded too trite. This wouldn’t be easy for him, so in the end she didn’t try to sugarcoat it.
The school actually had a certain appeal to it, at least on the outside. It was an older brick building, but it had obviously been well cared for. The landscaping made it fit right in among the mountains and forests with the lush blue spruce clustered here and there and the mountain wildflowers dotting a large garden near the entrance.
Charity parked the truck in a space reserved for visitors. “Well, I guess this is it.” Nerves swam through her stomach.
“Guess we should go in.” She tried to keep a positive bounce in her step as they walked up to the main entrance. They were early, so only a few kids were hanging around. Charity tried to smile at them to compensate for Bodie’s scowl. The office right inside the front door wasn’t all that welcoming, but the admin assistant seemed friendly. “Mrs. Lockwood will be right out,” the woman said after Charity had signed them in.
Bodie stewed in the corner while Charity glanced at the accolades hanging on the walls. There were certificates for academics and an antibullying campaign that had been led by students. Before she could point them out to her nephew, the principal emerged and greeted them warmly.
Mrs. Lockwood welcomed them with a genuine smile. She had long brown hair divided into two braids and calming brown eyes. Charity liked her instantly. Little by little, her anxiety eased as Mrs. Lockwood took them on a brief tour, pointing out Bodie’s locker, the cafeteria, library, gymnasium, and art room. For the first time, Charity thought she noticed a flicker of interest on Bodie’s face when the principal talked about the different projects the students worked on in art class.
When they got back to the office, Mrs. Lockwood handed Bodie a schedule. “Here are your classes. Everything is very easy to find since we’re a small school. But if you do have any questions or need help finding something, just ask any of the teachers or other students. We pride ourselves on creating a friendly, open environment for all students here.”
“Thank you,” Charity said for her nephew, who was focused on cramming the schedule into his backpack. “Bodie, do you have any questions for Mrs. Lockwood?”
“
Nope.”
Oh, wow! A whole word. Not even a grunt this time. That was progress. “I guess I should get going then, huh?” The nerves in her stomach now churned into a cesspool of worries. Would he make friends? Would anyone talk to him? Would the other kids ostracize him for his sullen bad-boy look? A rise of tears burned against her eyes. How did parents do this? Leave their kids and not keel over from a heart attack due to the stress?
“Bodie, why don’t you go put away your things in your locker?” Mrs. Lockwood suggested pleasantly.
This time he did grunt before he started to walk away.
“You can call me,” Charity said quickly. “If you need anything at all. I’ll keep my phone on me all day.”
“I’ll be fine,” her nephew muttered, not even turning around to say goodbye.
Right. She had to play it as cool as he was. But she wanted so badly to chase him down and hug him to remind him he wasn’t alone in the world. “Have a good day,” she yelled instead.
Bodie immediately ducked his chin to his chest, slipped in his earbuds, and trudged down the hall.
“He’ll be fine,” Mrs. Lockwood said kindly.
“I know he will.” And yet a few tears slipped out anyway. He had no friends here. No mom at home right now. His dad had never been a part of his life. She remembered that feeling—that you were so alone even when you were surrounded by people.
“I’ll call you if anything comes up. We’ll take great care of him.” Mrs. Lockwood reached out to shake her hand and then disappeared back into the office.
Charity took the hint and got a move on. She’d originally planned to go directly over to the Cortez ranch so she could ride out all of her anxieties, but instead she veered off course and drove to Everly’s Farm Café, where she knew at least some of her friends would be having breakfast. Sure enough, Darla and Naomi were sitting at a table with Everly near the kitchen.
“Hey!” Each of her friends offered her a warm hug.
Colorado Cowboy - Includes a bonus novella Page 9
