I entered the main living space and looked around with no one in view. “Shit, where are you?” I said as I lowered my weapon. Suddenly I saw movement coming from my peripheral vision, and I made a run after him.
“Hey, stop!” I called out, but he kept running. I chased him to the end of cabin row and then lost sight of him again. I looked all around and then one of the bushes moved, and I knew I had him cornered. I kept my gun secured and stepped closer to the dense brush.
“Okay, I am not going to hurt you, but you need to come out right now, or I will come in after you, and you won’t like it if I do.”
I counted to ten, and then I was going to pounce. I’d had enough of this game, and I was freezing out here. I stepped closer to the bushes, and what I found totally shocked me. It was a small boy, couldn’t have been any older than seven years old, maybe eight. He looked so scared and small, crouching down beneath the branches.
“Hey, my name is Shane. I’m sorry if I scared you back there, but I promise you are safe. Can you come out of there for me?” I asked soft enough where I hoped he wouldn’t be scared of me.
He nodded, which was good enough for me, and then I extended my hand out to him. Again, it was so small in my huge man hand.
“There you go.”
He held my hand while I led us back to the cabin. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t hurt from hiding in the bushes. Once inside, he ran to one of the bedrooms. I followed him and saw that he was clutching a small backpack to his chest.
“It’s okay, son. Please let me help you. Are you hurt?”
He nodded no.
“Okay, can you come out into the living room with me?”
He shook his head no, so I took a knee to the floor and waited to see what he would do next. Minutes ticked by at a slow pace. I wasn’t sure how long we were going to have this face off with each other. I tried once more to get through to him.
“I told you my name, remember? It’s Shane. Can you tell me yours?”
Again, he shook his head no.
“Okay, are you hungry? Thirsty? Because I am, and I live in the big house up that road.” I pointed in the direction of the window that faced the road where I parked my truck. I knew it was pitch black outside with only the moon to serve as our guide, but I had no idea what I was doing with this kid. I knew not to make any sudden moves that might scare him.
“So, how about you come with me and meet my wife who makes a delicious cup of hot chocolate? She counts out the marshmallows too!”
He slightly smiled, and I hoped it was enough to get him to trust me. He reached for my hand, and I slowly got up off the floor and began walking toward the door. I locked up the cabin, and then without giving him a choice I picked him up and carried him all the way to my truck. I placed him in the back and secured him in place. He was small but didn’t appear to be hurt in anyway.
Shelby must have heard my truck pull up and came outside to greet me. It was so late and she should be in bed where I left her, but I secretly love the fact that she’s not. Her bright eyes widened once she saw the little body that had fallen asleep, which I was now carrying inside. She covered her mouth in dismay and then followed me into our home. She grabbed a warm throw blanket we kept on the chair to cover his small body as I gently placed him down on the couch.
He must have been exhausted or so scared from fear about what I might do up in the cabin that he just passed out. I took my boots off to prevent making noise on the hardwood floors and had Shelby follow me out of the living room to the hallway, where I still had eyes on him.
In a whisper, she asked, “Shane, what’s going on here?”
“That right there is our mystery squatter who’s been seeking shelter on our ranch and taking what he could from going hungry. After I set up the cameras around the cabins, I waited and could not be more surprised when I saw his little body appear on the feed. All I could see was an illuminated figure, small but I didn’t know until he took off and I had him cornered out in the bushes. Shelby, I had my gun with me. Holy hell! What if I had shot him?”
“You would have never done that, so don’t even allow your mind to go there. You are an expert marksman and would not just carelessly disarm your weapon.”
“I’d like to believe that was true in any circumstance I faced, but babe, I didn’t know what was out there. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it was just a little boy.”
“Where do you think he came from? I mean, Shane, we don’t have a neighbor in sight for miles and miles, and although this ranch is well-developed, it still has parts that are rugged mountain terrain.”
“No need to remind me, I’ve been working this ranch since I was a boy, probably around his age. I just don’t understand it. He’s so little. Where is his family? I haven’t heard of any missing children, especially in this area.”
“Okay, we both have so many questions, but none of them will get answered until he wakes up and hopefully can tell us who he is. Let me go fix him something to eat so it will be ready for him.”
“Can you make hot chocolate? That was what got him to trust me enough to come home with me.”
“Magic weapon, of course.”
“Extra marshmallows too.”
“That’s a given. I’ll be right back.”
As I kept a watchful eye on the little boy who was still asleep on our couch, I made a call to Luke and Wade and filled them in on what was going on. They couldn’t believe what I told them. They weren’t expecting to hear that a little boy was the intruder. I told them to keep this quiet for now until I called my father, Brock, and then the sheriff.
“Is he still asleep?” Shelby asked as she came back into the living room.
“Yeah, he’s out like a light.”
“Shane, how do you think he got here? And how did he do it?”
“Beats me, babe, but hopefully once I call the sheriff he can tell me if there are any children who have been reported missing. I haven’t heard of any, but you never know. We live so far away from everyone, I can’t imagine how he pulled it off and in the elements. It gets pretty cold here at night, and what he’s wearing is not nearly warm enough.”
“Well, he was smart enough to take a blanket and pick the food he knew he could eat.”
“Yeah, something tells me this little guy has been through a lot. Stay with him, will you? I’m going to go into the office to call Tenley. She knows a lot of people and probably can help us figure out what to do.”
“Okay, go make your calls. We’ll be fine.”
I kissed my wife on her forehead and made my way down the hall and into the office, where I closed the door behind me. There was something in Shelby’s eyes when I asked her to watch over the little boy. A twinkle? A glimmer of hope? Yeah, maybe something like that. Whatever it was, it was nice to see. It reminded me of how she was when she was pregnant with Ryder. She loved everything about being pregnant and looked forward to the day that she would deliver our child and we would finally be a family. The minute I made her mine, we were already a family, and any children we had would just make our lives richer and stronger.
I shook my head and tried to get back to the reason why I came in here in the first place. Thinking about the past would only hurt my heart and jeopardize the progress we’d made.
“Hey, Tenley, it’s Shane. I need a favor.”
My call took longer than I thought it would, but Tenley would make some calls first thing in the morning for me and then would call me back. For now, she just told me to take care of the little boy and get a good night’s rest. Yeah, good luck with that, but I promised I would try.
I made my way back to the living room and witnessed the sweetest sight. Shelby was holding the little boy in her arms and singing “You are my sunshine.”
Shelby
Shane still hadn’t emerged from the office yet as I waited with the little boy, who was beginning to stir awake on our couch. He had light brown hair, kind of overgrown, but shaggy hair on little boys is adorable.
I hadn’t seen the color of his eyes yet, but I guessed they were brown. He was so small with his little hands tucked under his face.
When his eyes finally opened, he looked scared and quickly sat up on the couch, clutching the blanket to his chest.
“Hey, don’t be frightened. You’re safe here. My name is Shelby. Can you tell me your name?”
He moved his lips, but no words came out. I waited and then encouraged him to try again.
“It’s okay, little one. You can tell me.”
“Wyatt, my name is Wyatt.”
“You see how easy that was? Now we’re friends. Are you hungry? You must be, after that big nap. You know, on nights when it gets really cold and you can just feel the weather turning, I like to sit in front of the fire and drink a warm mug of hot chocolate.”
“Me too,” he said shyly.
“Wow! We have something in common. Okay, I just happen to have some right there in this thermos, but you can’t drink hot chocolate without…”
“Marshmallows,” he said excitedly.
It was clear this little boy had been through a lot. If something as simple as a mug of hot chocolate made him smile, I think I would give him just about anything he asked for.
“Yes! That would be perfect. Let me look here on my tray to see if I have some. You are in luck, Wyatt, because I happen to have marshmallows in two sizes. We have the mini size or the jumbo size that we can only fit about two in our mug, but if you choose the minis, we can fit a lot more. What do you say?”
“How about the mini kind?”
“Good choice, Wyatt, that’s what I was going to choose.” I poured the hot chocolate into our mugs, and then I slid over the bowl of marshmallows, which he dug in and took a big helping. My heart instantly melted and gushed over this little boy. I was right; his eyes were brown and big like saucers that probably could tell quite the story.
He took a timid sip from his mug and then seemed to go quiet on me. I asked if I could sit beside him, and he just nodded and gave me a half smile.
After I placed my own mug down, I began just humming, and then that humming turned into a song. I found myself singing “You are my sunshine,” which I often did to relax. I hoped it would make him do the same. After I sang a few lines, he slowly eased his way closer to me to place his head down on my lap. My heart nearly burst watching him trust me—a stranger—take care of him. At first, I wasn’t sure if I should do this, but he seemed as though he may have needed my comfort.
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.” And with that, he was asleep again in my arms.
I found myself holding someone else’s child when the only thing I wanted to do was hold my own. The emotions just took over, and the tears began to fall. When I looked up, I saw Shane standing in the doorway, watching me with a guarded smile on his face. Did he know what I was thinking of at this moment? How could he not? I wiped my face and shook off the sadness that always seemed to make its ugly return.
Shane knelt down in front of me and kissed me on my forehead, my nose, and my lips before telling me he loved me.
“I spoke to Tenley. She’s going to make some calls in the morning for me and then will let me know what to do next. Shelby, is this okay? I mean, I never expected to find what I found out there. I mean, he’s a little boy.”
“I see that, Shane. He’s in my arms, and I’m singing to him,” I said, snapping at Shane.
“I’m sorry. I know this brings up a lot for you, and for us, but I didn’t know what else to do. I could call my mom if you want me to.”
“No. And confuse him more? His name is Wyatt. He didn’t offer up his last name, but I didn’t ask for one either. Shane, he’s run away from something or someone, and I have this heavy feeling in my heart right now telling me that we have to help him. We have to do something for this little boy. I just don’t know what that is.”
“Well, I can think of one thing. He needs rest, and so do we. I’d put him in one of the spare bedrooms, but I’m afraid we will wake up in the morning and he won’t be here.”
“We have a rollaway bed that you could put in our room, and if he wakes up and is scared, we will be right beside him.”
“Sounds like a plan, I’ll be right back.”
I handed off Wyatt to Shane, and he carried him upstairs to our bedroom. He shifted only once but quickly fell back asleep and slept soundly for the rest of the night.
I envied him because sleep was not to be found for me. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Every time he moved, I braced myself for what he would do, but it was my overactive imagination taking over.
“Baby, go to sleep. I have to go to work in two hours.”
“Shane, we need to know where he came from. It’s driving me insane to know that he was out there all by himself. My god, anything could have happened to him. This is a ranch, for crying out loud. He could have been mauled and killed by a wild animal or froze to death.”
“Stop, stop right now, and shut your mind down and go to sleep. None of those things did happen, and I am eternally grateful for it. Right here and right now, we know his name is Wyatt and he’s safe. Let’s be thankful for that. Let’s get a few hours of sleep, and then we will figure it out.”
“Okay, I love you.”
“I love you too. Now sleep.”
He was right, he always was. I felt better with Shane’s arms around me. I managed to sleep for a few hours, and then my eyes blinked open before the alarm sounded off. I shut it off and grabbed my robe before going downstairs to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Thank you, Shane.
“Good morning, husband. How long have you been up?”
“Come on, babe. After you finally fell asleep, I maybe got another hour, and then I began my day doing all the morning chores before Luke and Wade made their way down to the barn. I’m taking the rest of the day off to…”
“Figure it out?” I asked.
“Exactly. That’s what we are going to do, but not before I properly kiss you good morning.”
Could this be possible? Can we keep him? I looked over my shoulder and watched my husband sip his coffee and just smile as if he already had a plan. Shane was always one to believe everything that was meant to work out would do exactly that. He and Jagger always said that Jamie was the philosophical one out of their group, but his wisdom and beliefs were within them too. It’s crazy to entertain what is going through my head right now, but what if this is our second chance? A miracle just placed in our lives? How can we argue with the universe when everything inside of me is screaming this is right?
Shane
I didn’t want to frighten him, so I sat at the end of the bed and waited for Wyatt to wake from his slumber. Last night when I found him, you could see the exhaustion lining his little face. God knows how long he was out in the elements until I found him in the cabin, and what scared me most was the fact that he did seek shelter but ran away because he was scared of my guys finding him. Where did he sleep that night when he couldn’t return to the barn or cabin?
Shelby was downstairs finishing up a few things and patiently waited for me to bring him down so she could feed him with anything he asked for. I could tell she was happy; her eyes practically shone like diamonds this morning. Her dreams were probably filled with the possibility of keeping this boy and claiming him as our own. She didn’t have to voice her thoughts to me. I just knew because I was thinking the same thing. He must be orphaned. Why else would he be out here?
While I was lost in my own thoughts, he finally stirred awake without me noticing. I heard him faintly say “Good morning,” and then I was finally back to the present.
“Well, hello there. Good morning, Wyatt. How did you sleep?”
He slowly sat up against the headboard and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He let out a big yawn and then smiled, which made my heart full of want.
“Good morning…�
� He stopped.
“It’s Shane. My name is Shane.”
“Shane,” he said a couple of times and then said, “Hi Shane.”
I just smiled and let out a small laugh. “Are you hungry? You must be, after sleeping so many hours. Can you come downstairs with me and have some breakfast?”
He looked unsure and then twisted his small hands in the blankets. “Just breakfast?”
What was he afraid of? I thought and then simply said, “Yeah, just breakfast. Come on, the pancakes await.”
He practically leaped out from under the covers and into my arms. He placed his head on my shoulder, and I just let him do it. This boy was in desperate need of being cared for. After we finish with breakfast, I will call our family doctor to have a look at him to make sure he’s really okay.
With Wyatt still in my arms, we entered the kitchen to find Shelby looking worried, standing between my father, Brock, and Ren Parrish, accompanied by Sheriff Sam Tillerson. I held the boy closer to my chest, and my father gave me a worrisome look.
There was no way I was going to have a scene here in the middle of my kitchen with a frightened boy to witness. I handed off Wyatt to Shelby and asked her to fix Wyatt a plate of breakfast while I talked to our visitors in my office. She extended her arms out in front of Wyatt, and he easily went from my arms to Shelby’s, smiling the entire time. My eyes found hers as she held him. My god, he weighed next to nothing and was so small in my wife’s arms. I nodded with a look of understanding, and Shelby turned to tend to Wyatt.
“Good morning,” I said and then invited all of them to follow me out and down the hall where we could speak in private. Once they were in and seated, I closed the heavy door and took a seat at my desk. “So, what do I owe the pleasure of an early morning visit from all of you?” I questioned.
Shane Page 9
