Riding Shotgun

“Where are you anyway?” Pierce asked. “Tucker said last he heard you were in Colorado.”

“That was four or five months ago. I’m in Montana now. Too long in one place and people start thinking you’re permanent.”

“By ‘people’ you mean women?”

“And the occasional employee. Actually, I’ve been on a cattle drive up into the mountains. Wide-open spaces and the biggest, bluest sky you can imagine.”

“Tucker said you’d be somewhere hanging out with cows and horses.”

“It’s in my blood. And his, I might add. How is our younger brother anyway?”

“Still chasing the next rodeo, but having a pretty good year according to him.”

“If he admitted that, he’s probably headed to a world championship. But back to the issue at hand. What’s Jaci’s reaction to being deserted by her mother?”

“She seems okay, though Leslie says Jaci is being excessively clingy since we told her about the arrangement. She sees this as more my fault than her mother’s. None of this would be happening if I hadn’t come home.”

“I hope Leslie isn’t feeding into that.”

“Not to my knowledge. Leslie keeps assuring her that this is only temporary and that I am going to take her on a grand adventure.”

“So what’s the adventure?”

“I wish the hell I knew.”

“Better come up with something fast. I can’t quite picture you playing with her Barbie dolls and going shopping for frilly dresses.”

“Neither can I.”

“Here’s a thought. Forget the little-girl stuff. Get her some jeans and cowboy boots. Take her to a dude ranch.”

“She does like cowboys.”

“I like the kid better already. You could probably use some new boots and a winter Stetson yourself. Pick up a couple of Western shirts and you’ll be good to go. You’ve always had the swagger.”

“And the looks in the family.”

“You’re delusional. Wait a minute. I’m getting a brain jolt here. Forget the dude ranch. I know exactly where you and Jaci should go on your adventure.”

“Hit me with it.”

“Texas. Go spend some time with the Kavanaughs. God knows Esther and Charlie were lifesavers when we lost our parents. Not that Jaci has literally lost her mother the way we did, but it must feel almost that way to a five-year-old.”

“You know, that’s not a half-bad idea. I’d love to see Esther and Charlie. Haven’t heard from either of them in almost a year, maybe longer.”

“Me, either, but Tucker spent a few days with them last summer when the circuit took him to San Antonio. Said they were still holding the Double K Ranch together and doing fine. Claimed it was just like old times. Except for getting a little older, they hadn’t changed a bit.”

Pierce considered the option. Spending a few days with Esther and Charlie might be the best place to start his six months of bonding with Jaci. He’d truly love to see them and there was no one’s advice on child care he’d trust more than Esther’s. She was love itself.

And Charlie. Well, there was no one else like Charlie, either. Contrary as a mule, said what he was thinking and thought everyone should carry their share of the load.

But when your world had come to an end, as Tucker, Riley and Pierce’s had when their parents had died instantly in a car crash, Charlie and Esther were the ones who’d stepped in. They’d taken them into their home so they wouldn’t be separated, helped them through the grief and given them the courage to go on.

“Don’t go getting the big head, but I think you just landed on a capital idea,” Pierce said.

“Glad I could help and it’s about damn time you get back to your Texas roots, bro.”

“You could be right about that, too.”

“Keep me posted and good luck with full-time fatherhood.”

“Thanks. I’ll need it.”

Boy, was he going to need it. But at least he had a plan and Texas on his mind.

* * *

GRACE TOOK HER right hand from the wheel and massaged her aching neck. It was her third day on the run, keeping to back roads, avoiding towns, stopping only at service stations where she could fill the fuel tank, use the facilities and grab a bite to eat.

She was lonely, frightened, discouraged, sometimes downright angry that life wouldn’t give her a break. She’d done the right thing. Persevered on the side of justice. Cooperated with the authorities.

Didn’t she deserve a chance at happiness or at least not to live in constant fear that her ex-husband would find a way to exact revenge?

A weariness settled in her bones and her eyelids grew heavy. It was too early to stop for the night, still a good hour left before sundown.

She lowered the window so that the cool air could slap her in the face and hopefully ward off the fatigue. The air had an unfamiliar fragrance. Perhaps hay, she thought, as she spotted rolls of it in the fenced pasture to her left. Cows grazed in one section, several horses roamed another.

A strand of towering pines was to the right of the car, interspersed with oaks, junipers, sycamores and a few trees she didn’t recognize. Scattered leaves clung to the nearly bare branches. Blackbirds gathered on telephone wires. A dog barked in the distance.

She’d never intended to drive south when she’d fled Tennessee. She’d started driving northwest, but winter storms had altered her travel plans. Desperate to put distance between herself and the man who’d snapped her picture in the library, she’d loaded her car and escaped in the middle of the night. Texas had never been in her plans, but here she was, deep in the heart of the Lone Star State, traversing countryside that seemed miles from civilization. But that was only an illusion.

She’d seen the sign and bypassed the small, rural town of Winding Creek less than ten minutes ago. San Antonio was somewhere to the southeast of her. Mexico was due south.

She planned to meander west, get her head on straight and settle her nerves before she made any permanent decision.

Her foot eased on the accelerator and she faded into her thoughts and into a time back before she’d known fear. A time when she’d had friends and her grandparents were still alive. A time when she’d had dreams. A time when she’d slept without nightmares.

Her car began to shake, the jolts yanking her back to attention. Her right tires had left the shoulder. Her grip on the wheel tightened as she fought to get the car back on the road. Once steadied, she realized how close she’d come to veering off the side of a narrow bridge.

She could have killed herself. Crazy when she was pushing so hard because she wanted to stay alive.

She had to stop, take a walk, or maybe a brief nap. Spotting a dirt road up ahead, she slowed to see if it was a driveway or some type of ranch road. It looked more like a road to nowhere.

Only one way to find out. She turned right. The road was half-washed-out with deep holes and ruts so numerous they were impossible to avoid completely. The land on both sides of the road was fenced and heavily wooded.

After about five minutes, she reached a point where she didn’t dare go farther for fear of getting stuck. She opened the door and stepped out. She felt totally isolated, as if she’d driven off the end of civilization.

The quietness was broken only by squawking crows and the inharmonious cadence of what must be hundreds of katydids and tree frogs. A huge blue lizard rested lazily atop a weathered fence post.