The river bordered this side of the ranch too, and Ted slowed to look at it on this side of the property. One of the dogs jumped down, and Ted applied the brake. “Hey, Randy,” he called after the canine. To make matters worse, Paula jumped down too.
“Okay, guys,” he said, thinking they’d just run to the river and grab a drink. Instead, Randy started barking.
Ted looked out into the trees, but he couldn’t see anything. The dogs were trained to chase wild boars, and maybe Randy had caught a whiff of something. Ted turned off the ATV and got off, walking toward the two dogs.
Randy had quieted, and Ted kept looking out into the brush and trees that grew alongside the river. He couldn’t see anything.
His heart pounded in his chest, but Randy and Paula didn’t seem concerned now. They trotted at his side, and he looked down at them. They both looked up at him, and Ted asked, “What did you see?”
He stepped past the first tree, and came to a complete stop. Something blue loitered on the other side of the fence. Ted approached the fence much slower now, holding out one hand to keep the dogs back.
The truck wasn’t on; Ted couldn’t hear the engine idling. He’d have to jump the fence to see if anyone was in the vehicle, and he wasn’t allowed off the ranch. He didn’t wear an ankle bracelet or anything, but he wanted to be obedient to the terms of his reentry program.
He stood several feet back from the fence for what felt like a long time, undecided about what to do. No one got out of the truck, and there was no movement inside the cab.
“Come on, guys,” he said to the dogs. “Let’s go.” He edged backward a couple of steps when he heard the tell-tale sound of another vehicle. It came from the left, which was the road that went around the back of the ranch. Ted didn’t actually know where the road went. It could diverge at any point, or have another road connect to it, and he wouldn’t know.
This new truck was black and shiny, obviously recently washed. It was a king cab, and much, much nicer than the blue truck parked on the road.
Ted fell back even more, pausing when the leaves and branches started to block his view. “Come on,” he whispered to the dogs. “Come.” He ducked behind a tree trunk and crouched down, glad when Paula and Randy came to his side.
The black truck pulled to a stop behind the blue one, and the passenger door opened. So did the driver’s side door, but Ted couldn’t see that person.
He could see the man that got out on the side closest to him, and he watched with a measure of shock and horror moving through him as Robert Knight took off his sunglasses and looked out at the ranch.
The gurgling of the river couldn’t cover the sound of their voices, and Robert said, “I’ll meet you back at the shop,” as he rounded the front of the truck.
The driver, who Ted still couldn’t see, asked, “Do you want me to see if I can find out where she is?”
“No,” Robert said. “I’ll take care of it.” He got behind the wheel while the driver got in the blue truck. He drove it down the road in the direction it was pointed, but Robert turned the black truck around and went back the way he’d come.
Ted pulled in a breath as he realized he’d stopped breathing. Do you want me to see if I can find out where she is?
They were talking about Emma.
And Robert had said, No, I’ll take care of it.
Not I’ll take care of her.
Maybe they weren’t talking about Emma.
“They have to be,” Ted mused to himself, finally standing up straight and tall. “Come on,” he said to the dogs. “Let’s go.” He pulled his phone out as he strode back to the ATV. He needed to call Emma and warn her immediately.
He had no service out here, and Ted cursed his bad luck as he swung his leg over the seat and waited for the pups to jump up and get settled. Then he took off for the homestead at a much faster clip than ever before.
Chapter Sixteen
Emma set her spoon down, her stomach beyond full. Fran was an excellent cook, and Emma had made her honey-wheat bread to go with the sweet corn chowder Missy’s second mom had made.
“Thanks for always feeding me,” she said as Matt got up and moved into the kitchen. He had similar dark hair as Missy, where Fran was lighter. She had dirty blonde hair that she kept cut in a cute, stylish short style. Emma had never seen her without a large pair of earrings dangling from her lobes, and while she didn’t always wear makeup, she loved things that sparkled.
“Anyway,” Fran said, smiling at Emma. “Missy was so excited when she learned you were coming again this weekend.”
Emma liked having her schedule, and it was either come again or wait three weeks. Since Ginger had said she didn’t care, Emma had packed up her things and made the two-hour drive again.
She’d relaxed her precautions a little bit by skipping the overnight stay in the bus station. She’d simply rented a car instead of bringing her own, and she’d only spent a half an hour driving around the city before coming to the suburbs.
“Coffee, Em?” Matt asked, and she nodded.
“Lots of cream, if you have it.” They would, Emma knew. Fran loved eating it on fruit and cereal, as Matt had told her several times.
He brought over a sugar bowl and a pitcher of cream, meeting his wife’s eyes. Emma tensed, because she’d seen that look between them before. She waited until Matt went back into the kitchen to get down the mugs before she looked at Fran.
“What’s going on?”
“Missy, why don’t you go get your violin, so you can play your new song for your mom?” Fran smiled at the girl who sat at the table with them. She’d finished long ago, really only eating bread and a couple of bites of soup before she’d gotten out her latest coloring book. This one was all geometric shapes, and Emma had brought her a new package of metallic colored pencils. Missy had been anxious to try them, and no one cared if she colored while they finished dinner and chatted.
“All right,” Missy said, still coloring with the bright blue pencil. “Look, Momma. It’s so shiny.”
“It sure is,” Emma said, admiring it. “It’s like that blue ribbon your dad won at the fair last year.”
Missy’s face lit up, and she got down to go show Matt the blue of the pencil. Emma felt sure her heart would beat right out of her chest while she waited for Missy and Matt to finish their talk. Missy put her book back on the table and headed down the hall to her bedroom.
She met Fran’s eyes, and Matt seemed to know exactly when to come over. He sat beside Fran and took her hand in his. “I can’t say it,” Fran said, her voice choked.
Emma looked between the two of them, her nerves firing like rifles.
“We think it might be time for Missy to come live with you,” Matt said, looking only at Fran. He finally switched his gaze to Emma, whose breath had frozen in her lungs.
“Missy’s asked if she can go live with you every day this week,” Fran asked. She brushed at her eyes, her smile quick to follow. “I’m fine. I’ll miss her, because I love her, but I know I’m not her mother.”
Emma didn’t know what to say. She’d been blessed beyond measure to have these two in her life—and taking care of Missy for so long. “Yes, you are,” she finally said, her voice only half of what it normally was. “You’re her mother, Fran. And Matt, you’re her father.”