Lean, Mean and Lonesome

“I hope sleep helps. It hasn’t helped me, although I have to admit I haven’t been sleeping too well since Tom called me. I came down immediately to see if I could help figure out where he’d gone. I’m so frustrated because outside of Tom and me, no one seems to be concerned—not Dan’s partner nor the sheriffs department. His partner said that Dan would be back in his own good time. I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that Dan would just disappear like that, especially after arranging to meet with Tom. I also think he would have called someone if he ran into some kind of a delay so that we wouldn’t worry.”

“So do I. Dan is one of the most responsible people I know.”

“Exactly.” She studied him for a moment. “You’re right, Rafe. You need to get some sleep. You’re out on your feet. Go on to bed. We’ll discuss this in the morning.”

He knew that she was right. He could feel weariness claim his body now that he’d finally reached his destination. He stood and stepped away from the chair. “He’s been missing this long. I don’t suppose another few hours will matter.”

She entered the hallway and spoke as she moved away from him. “You can sleep in Dan’s room.”

Rafe waited until a light turned on in the hall before he turned off the kitchen light. Ranger watched him without blinking.

“I’m glad you’re watching out for her,” he said in a low voice.

Ranger didn’t change expression. Rafe got the feeling that Ranger didn’t particularly care what Rafe might think about anything.

Smart dog.

Rafe followed Mandy into the hallway.

“Dan moved into the master bedroom after Mom died,” she said, motioning to the end of the hall.

Rafe paused beside her. “I was sorry to hear about your mother, Mandy. She was always kind to me. I’ve never forgotten that.”

“It was quick,” she replied, her gaze on her arms, folded across her chest. “At least she didn’t suffer.”

“Her heart?”

“Yes.” She looked up at him. “Dad, on the other hand, lingered months longer than expected with his cancer.”

He didn’t want to talk about her father, not now, not ever. He stepped past her and entered one of the few rooms in this house he’d never been in before. Mandy followed him into the room and glanced into the adjoining bathroom. “There are plenty of clean towels and things,” she said. “I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

With that, she quietly left the room, closing the door behind her.

Only then did Rafe remember that his bag was still hidden outside, but he wasn’t about to go back out there tonight to look for it. He glanced around the large room. A king-size bed was on one wall. Another wall was lined with bookshelves, filled with a mishmash of fiction and nonfiction. He smiled, thinking of Dan and his love of reading.

His smiled faded when he remembered what Mandy had told him. Dan couldn’t be dead. There was no way Dan would allow himself to get into a situation that was life-threatening. But accidents happened all the time, Rafe reminded himself.

Where was he? If Dan was alive, why hadn’t he returned?

Rafe walked over to the third wall, next to the door leading to the bathroom. This wall was filled with photographs, large and small, of varied subjects. Most of the photos had been taken at the ranch. There were shots of longhorn cattle, deer, family pets, and many pictures of family members.

Rafe was surprised to see that he was in many of them. He hadn’t remembered being that thin, or looking so grim.

As he turned away, he paused and looked again at photographs that must have been taken at the party the Cren-shaws gave the night that he and Dan graduated from high school, the last night he was on the ranch.

There was a picture of Mandy in a cotton-candy-colored dress with a full skirt and sleeves that rested just off her shoulders. He still recalled, without the need of a photograph to remind him, how she looked at the party with her glowing eyes and her contagious smile. She’d looked much older than fifteen that night and had delighted in her newfound ability to attract admiring gazes. He touched the photograph lightly with his forefinger, tracing the curve of her lips, the shape of her shoulders.

He could still remember how her mouth had tasted, how smooth her shoulders had felt, how much he’d wanted to make love to her that night.

Rafe deliberately withdrew his gaze from Mandy’s photo and focused instead on another one taken the day they graduated of Dan in his suit, looking solemn enough if you didn’t look too closely at the amusement in his eyes. The one of Rafe alone caught him by surprise. He’d filled out from the earlier pictures Dan had on display and wore the first and only suit he’d ever possessed. Rafe looked closer at the boy he had once been. He’d had his hair cut and looked equally solemn. However, there was no amusement twinkling in his eyes, just a firm resolve to make something of himself.

He’d managed to do that, all right, with the help of Uncle Sam.

Rafe continued into the bathroom and shucked off his clothes. He stood under the hot, steamy water and let it massage the soreness from his body. He could scarcely keep his eyes open. Once the water began to cool, he turned it off and grabbed a towel. He didn’t need anything to sleep in tonight. He’d raid Dan’s closet in the morning so he could pick up his bag outside. Now all he wanted was a few hours of oblivion.

After Rafe closed his bedroom door, Mandy returned to bed, Ranger padding softly behind her until she turned off the light and crawled beneath the covers. Then he stretched out on the rug beside her and gave a deep sigh.

She wanted to echo that sigh.

Having Rafe McClain show up like this had been a shock she could have done without. However, now that he was here, she had to admit to herself that if anyone could solve the mystery of Dan’s disappearance, it would be Rafe. She should be relieved that he had shown up. Just as important, knowing that Dan had notified his friend strengthened her belief that something in Dan’s life had gone wrong. Why else would he have contacted Rafe?

Her thoughts kept circling back to the man. How could a person she hadn’t seen in twelve years still have such a strong effect on her?

She would never forget the day all those years ago when he showed up at the ranch for the first time. He’d been fourteen, Dan’s age. She’d been eleven.

He’d worn ragged clothes, much like what he’d had on today. He had needed a haircut, as he did now. Not much had changed in his overall appearance for that matter, she thought to herself.

He’d been thinner then. Much thinner. He’d still had bruises on his face, bruises he hadn’t chosen to explain. Her mind drifted, returning to those long-ago days when she had been a child filled with curiosity, eager to learn.

Mandy was in her room on a Saturday morning, trying to decide if she was ready to pack away her dolls and other childhood things. She enjoyed playing with them once in a while, when she knew Dan wouldn’t catch her at it and tease her for being such a baby. However, she could use the space they took up for other things. School started on Monday and she felt the need to organize her room and get ready to face the new school year.

It was tough being too old for toys, too young for boys.

She heard the yard dogs clamoring outside and peered out her window to see what had set them off. She saw a tall, skinny boy standing beside the gate of the fence that protected the lawn from the rest of the ranch. He stood as still as a statue, while the dogs carried on all around him.

Dan’s voice carried ahead of him as he dashed out the back door, the screen slamming behind him. “Hey, Rafe! How ya doing?” Dan chased the dogs off and invited the boy inside the stone fence.

Mandy vaguely recognized the boy. He’d gone to the same elementary school in Wimberley that she and Dan had attended. Of course now the two boys would be starting high school this fall. Except maybe Rafe had dropped out of school a couple of years ago. Either that, or his family had moved away. She hadn’t seen him in a long time.

Now he was back. Curious—as usual—Mandy raced downstairs and walked out on the porch. She was surprised by what he said.

“I’m looking for work.”

Dan laughed. “You serious? Aren’t you going to school?”

“I intend to enroll on Monday, but I need a local address. So I thought maybe I could work here on the ranch for your dad evenings and weekends until I finish up with school.”

Dan reached over and touched a gash just above Rafe’s eye and Rafe flinched. “What happened?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Your dad?”

“Forget it.”

“Are your folks still living in East Texas?”

“Yeah.”