Chapter 47
Vin listened to the familiar voicemail message. Kaylee telling whoever was calling to leave a message.
He shut off his phone with more force than necessary. He felt Chris' eyes on him and made an effort to ease his expression somewhat.
"You heard from Ezra?" Vin asked. There was no point in asking if anyone had heard from Kaylee. She was ignoring every text and call.
"Got a text yesterday," Chris said. "Thanked us for watching his place while he's gone."
Vin felt the familiar frustration taking hold in his chest. How could Ezra have done that to Kaylee? Kicked her out of his life like their marriage vows meant nothing to him. Left her on her own to deal with whatever had her running scared since the day she met him.
Chris was watching him again. Vin pushed off Chris' couch, holding back a grunt from the pain. He pressed his arm in more tightly against his side, his unhealed ribs hurting with the movement. He needed some air. He needed to hear from Kaylee, know she was ok wherever she was. And he needed to slug Ezra.
"I'm gonna go check on the horses," Vin said.
Chris didn't say anything in response. Vin shrugged on his jacket. He was out of commission as far as riding went. He wasn't much use at hauling feed or forking out hay until his ribs healed up some more. But the horse barn had a settling effect on him.
He made his way down the aisle to Peso's stall and waited for the gelding to stretch his neck out to Vin.
Vin gave the horse a scratch on his neck, listening to the familiar sounds of the barn.
He had no idea what had happened between Ezra and Kaylee, Buck hadn't been able to get Ezra to talk before Ezra took off himself. But Kaylee shouldn't be somewhere on her own. That much Vin did know.
Vin gave his horse one last pat and moved to the next stall. Buck had moved Alcott over to Chris' when Ezra left, saying he had told Kaylee he'd look after her mare. Vin knew how much the horse meant to her. Leaving her horse—and her dog—behind must have gutted her.
"Haven't heard from her?"
Vin didn't turn at Buck's question. He kept rubbing the mare's nose, waiting until Buck pulled up next to him.
"Not even a text," Vin said.
Buck frowned. "Maybe she needs a little time to sort things out. It was pretty ugly over there between her and Ezra."
"Or maybe she's all alone and doesn't know—" Vin cut himself off.
"Doesn't know what?" Buck asked, puzzlement wrinkling his brow.
"How we all feel about her," Vin said, telling himself he wasn't watering down what he had been about to burst out with.
Buck sighed heavily. "I don't know that there're any other options right now. No one knows where she went, she ain't taking our calls. It's only been a couple days. Give her some time to sort things out."
Vin hated Buck's advice. But there weren't any alternatives that he could see. So they'd wait. And hope like hell that Kaylee was alright in the meantime.
#
"Yeah, I can start any time." Kaylee tried to inject something besides hopeless exhaustion into her voice. She needed a job, the motel and attached laundromat were hiring. It didn't matter if it was the motel, the small grocery store in town, a gas station out on the highway. It was somewhere that would give her a paycheck so she could get something more than her mom's half empty bottles of vodka in the cabinets and order some propane for the alarmingly empty tank that sat next to the trailer. And maybe find a vehicle so she didn't have to smell Ezra's cologne every time she got into his truck. Set money aside to send for Alcott and Barney. Start looking for a rehab program her mom hadn't been through—and failed—that would only have minimal expenses after medical assistance paid their share.
"So tomorrow morning," the motel owner was saying.
Kaylee wasn't even sure the job would make a difference when she started listing out all the things that needed to be paid for, and arranged. Her shoulders sloped forward and she wanted nothing more than to curl up under her blankets and cry. She swallowed hard and nodded. "See you tomorrow," she choked out.
She trudged outside, through the dusting of snow that covered the parking lot outside the six room motel.
As she approached Ezra's truck, a car in the far corner of the lot roared to life. Kaylee startled at the sound. The car didn't move, just lurked on the far end of the small lot, engine idling unevenly.
Kaylee quickened her pace to the truck and unlocked the doors, climbing inside with another look over at the car. The windows were tinted too dark for her to see anyone in the car.
She turned over the engine and it came to life more smoothly than the vehicle in the distance. She knew whatever she managed to afford wouldn't run nearly as well as Ezra's truck. And she didn't care. She didn't care about his truck, or the jacket she wore that was keeping her warm. She just wanted him back.
She jammed the gearshift into drive before tears could come. She stopped at the edge of the lot before pulling out onto the highway that would run into the small town, nothing more than a wide spot on the road, if she turned right. She turned left to take her back to her mom's trailer.
The incessant Nebraska wind had blown the snow off the highway, sending it skidding across the fields on either side.
She glanced in her rearview mirror.
The car from the motel was behind her. Right behind her.
Kaylee tightened her grip on the wheel and looked forward. She fought the pain that pressed behind her eyes, made her temples throb.
She didn't breathe a sigh of relief when she slowed to turn into the driveway that led to the trailer. Nothing about returning to the trailer brought relief. Even less so when the car followed her up the driveway.
Kaylee put the truck in park. She hesitated, but there was no better option than opening the door and climbing out of the truck. There were no good options in any direction anymore.
She wasn't surprised to see Cletus unfold his spare frame from the driver's seat.
She pressed her back against the truck behind her as he approached. His dark eyes flicked over her before taking in the expensive pick up behind her.
"Your ma said you were back home and doing OK for yourself," he commented.
"It's not my truck," Kaylee said. She was anything but OK.
"You lost your meal ticket?" Cletus said.
Kaylee instinctively bristled at his reference to Ezra. "I lost my husband," she snapped at him.
"And my money," Cletus drawled.
Kaylee pushed away from the truck and went past him, not surprised when he followed her into the trailer.
She felt her lips pull into a tight line when she saw Tammy, half passed out on the couch, a still burning cigarette in the ashtray next to a nearly drained bottle of vodka.
Tammy stirred at their entrance and blinked bleary eyes. "Cletus," she said, pushing herself up to sitting. She pushed at ashy blonde hair falling in her face.
Cletus ignored her and stepped quickly to block Kaylee's getaway to her bedroom.
He wasn't a tall man, wiry and the same height as Kaylee, able to look her straight in the eye. "You still owe me."
"You'll get your money," she responded. She tried to step around him, but he sidestepped to cut her off.
"What? From what old Henny over at the motel pays you?" he asked.
Kaylee grimaced.
Cletus raised his eyebrows, a frown on his goateed face. Finally he took a step back. "Every week," he said.
Kaylee made a sound of agreement and took the opening to escape. As she closed the door to her small room, she heard his voice talking to her mother.
"You got anymore of that? Pour me a glass."
Kaylee finally gave in and pulled the blankets over her head, trying to drown out the sounds of her life.
#
"Chris?"
Chris looked up from the horse's hoof he was examining.
Mary stood in the aisle of the barn and in spite of the cloudy, early December chill outside, seeing her brought the familiar warmth to him.
He set the horse's leg down and straightened up. "Is Billy with you?" he asked, looking behind her. "I wasn't expecting him for a riding lesson today." Not that it mattered. He wouldn't disappoint Billy if the boy was there to ride. He could have a horse saddled for him quickly enough.
Mary shook her head. "He's with Orren in town. I came out to talk to you."
Chris frowned. "That sounds ominous."
Mary smiled briefly. "Hopefully not." She walked down the aisle to him and patted the horse's neck. "Is this one of the roping horses you've been working with?"
"Yeah. Buck's been drawn toward this one. Think it'll end up being sold to him." He unclipped the horse from the crossties and led him back to his stall. "You ain't out here to ask about the horses," he said bluntly, no animosity behind the words.
Mary waited until he had the horse securely in the stall and was facing her.
"Has anyone heard from Kaylee?" she asked.
Chris should have known that's why she was there. Mary's business-like approach to life veiled her tender concern for others from most people, but Chris knew how much she cared for those within her circle.
"No one." Chris didn't have much more to add than that. Vin looked like he was going stir crazy with the agitation of not knowing anything about Kaylee, Buck alternated between ranting about Ezra being a damn fool and fretting that they hadn't heard from him—as if Ezra wasn't a grown man who knew how to not only take care of himself, but fleece anyone in spitting distance to get what he needed. And JD…the poor kid looked like his own parents had split up, moping and shooting forlorn looks in the direction of Ezra's house whenever he was over.
Mary grimaced.
"What?" Chris asked.
"You know Kaylee rode the circuit up in the Dakotas before she started competing out here, right?" Mary asked.
Chris nodded. He had heard that. There had been a lot of talk around the bull chutes about a new pretty young thing when Kaylee had first turned up. He didn't tell Mary that.
"She had some trouble on that circuit," she said.
"Trouble?" Chris had a hard time picturing Kaylee causing problems anywhere. At least, intentionally causing them. He knew full well the problems that seemed to fall into her lap no matter what she did, but had blamed most of that on her proximity to Ezra.
"A couple of guys following her from town to town. Showing up after her rides and intimidating her, security had to get involved a few times."
Everything in Chris pushed him toward wanting to find these guys. Kaylee was just a little bit of a thing, no match for any sort of rough character in her face.
"She…" Mary hesitated. "I told her I wouldn't share any of this." Her face was heavy with the burden of having to let go of that promise.
"If she's in trouble, we need to know."
Mary nodded, Chris obviously telling her what she already knew. "She was riding under a false name for us. I think she was trying to keep whoever it was from finding out where she was."
Chris didn't like where the pieces were falling into place. "And now she's gone back home?" The words didn't fit. Her home was with Ezra. Here with all of them. "Back to where she's from," he corrected himself.
"I hope not," Mary said, her blue eyes clouded with concern. "But if she didn't…"
"Yeah," Chris sighed out. The alternative—Kaylee alone and with nowhere to go—wasn't much better.
He dragged a hand over his face and wished, not for the first time, that Ezra hadn't been born needing sense kicked into him.
"I'm heading down to Arizona," Chris said. "Going to get some off season rides in down there. If Ezra ain't back when I get done down there, I'll hunt him down and make him see sense." And hopefully figure out a way to track Kaylee down in the meantime.
Mary nodded, looking like a heavy load was lifted from her slim shoulders. Chris brushed his hand over her shoulder. "You want to stay awhile, as long as you're here? I'll be leaving tomorrow."
Mary tilted her head up to him. Not for the first time, Chris wondered how she could look at him like that. He wasn't deserving of it, but he'd take it. He knew how easily it could disappear.
"I'd like that," she said, wrapping her arm around his waist.
#
Buck gave Chris a wave as the truck pulled out of the drive. He'd have his hands full keeping things going at Chris' and Ezra's for the couple weeks Chris was in Arizona, but JD was more than willing to come out and stay for the duration if Buck asked. And Josiah would be helping. He'd be mighty glad when Vin's ribs were healed up and he could pull his weight again. But then, so would Vin. Poor man looked about ready to chew his own foot off, like a coyote in a trap. Sitting around didn't set well with Vin.
Buck went inside. He'd get some breakfast, then get to work with the horses. Chris had taken care of the chores up at Ezra's before he left.
"Where are you headed?" Buck asked when he saw Vin with his jacket on, keys in hand.
"Town," Vin said succinctly.
The man had never been overly generous with words, but in the week since Kaylee left, he'd become almost mute.
"Bring back something from the bakery," Buck said.
Vin gave a nod of acknowledgement and headed out the door.
Buck huffed out a sigh. He hadn't let anyone know he'd been trying to locate Kaylee. Not an easy task when all he knew was she was from Nebraska. For all its wide open spaces, it had enough towns and people to make tracking down someone named Kaylee Timms or Kaylee Standish nearly impossible. But if he could find her, maybe it would put Vin's mind at ease some.
He poured himself a cup of coffee and opened the fridge, pulling out leftover bacon and eggs from the day before. He thought of all the dead ends he'd encountered so far and wondered if that's what Vin would be doing in town—trying to find out where Kaylee had gone.
An engine sounded outside. Buck listened as he pulled his plate from the microwave. Didn't sound like Vin's truck. And no reason for Vin to turn around and come back. Maybe JD was here early.
Buck went to the door, brightening at the thought of his roping partner being underfoot all day. Sure beat sulking about a missing friend and his missing wife.
"You ready to work?" Buck demanded as he swung open the door.
Not JD.
He stared at the person on his porch. At a face that was familiar, but like he was seeing it for the first time.
"You're not JD," he said dumbly.
"And you're not George Clooney."
"Inez," Buck breathed. He couldn't move. Once the air left his lungs, he couldn't draw another breath. He couldn't step towards her, even after all the hours he had spent thinking about how he only wanted to hold her, talk to her, one more time. His feet grew roots right into the floor under him.
"I lost my job because of you, Señor Wilmington," she said.
"What?" In none of his imaginings had that been anything she had said.
"I couldn't stop vomiting, so I couldn't work, I used up all my savings, and I got evicted. I'm homeless and unemployed thanks to you," she said matter-of-factly.
"What?" Buck couldn't seem to make anything else come out of his mouth. Nothing she said made sense.
"I'm pregnant, Buck," she said, impatience in her voice and her movements as she pulled open her thick winter jacket to display a perfectly round hint of a pregnancy.
"What?"
"Thankfully you persisted in calling my employer multiple times to leave your name, number, address, and desperate declarations, so you were easy to find." She stared up at him, brown eyes unwavering and clearly waiting for him to catch up.
"You're pregnant." That much came unstuck in his brain. Pregnant. With a baby. His baby. "You're pregnant," he said again, this time a grin spreading across his face. Then the rest of what she had said registered. His smile fell and he ran worried eyes over her. "You're sick?"
"I was."
"And you're here." Buck felt his grin widen again. She was here.
"I am," she sighed.
Suddenly realizing she was still standing on the front step, Buck stepped back and motioned her in.
Inez came into his home, looking around the bunkhouse with open curiosity, but no judgment.
Buck looked at the corner housing Vin's weight equipment. The dishes neither one of them had done that morning next to the sink. The door open to the small laundry room off the kitchen and the clothes that were spilling out of the hamper in there.
Inez turned to face him. "I need to borrow money for a deposit on an apartment." The tight lines around her mouth showed how much the words cost her pride.
"An apartment?" Buck asked. She had come all the way to Colorado to tell him she was pregnant and she was just going to…leave?
"Yes, Buck, an apartment. A place people rent and live in." Inez stuffed her hands into her jacket pocket, the movement drawing open her coat slightly and Buck's eyes were drawn again to her belly.
He stared at the roundness. It wasn't much. Just the start of a growing life under her slim fitting t-shirt. He wondered how big the baby was. What it looked like in there. Did it have little hands yet? Fingers? He didn't know the first thing about babies or pregnancies. But he didn't need to know any of those science facts to feel a powerful surge of protection for the life in Inez. And for Inez herself.
"You should stay here," Buck said.
He knew exactly what the expression on Inez' face would be even before her lips curved downward and her brow softened with pity. It was the exact same look she had given him when she had made up her mind to stay in Vegas when he left. And leaving Vegas without her had been the biggest mistake of his life.
"Here," Buck said, going to his room and opening the door. "This can be your room. I'll camp out on the couch. I can make sure you got what you need—what the baby needs." He held his breath.
Inez was clearly torn. She looked at him, worry darkening her eyes. "I didn't come here to take advantage of you." She hiked her chin slightly. "I don't want a handout. Just a loan."
Buck bit back the words that wanted to rush out. Words that were bound to drive her away if she saw his desperate need to have her nearby. He measured each words spoken carefully. "It ain't a handout. Just…you letting me take responsibility."
Her expression softened. So Buck risked continuing. "Give it a try. If you don't like it here, don't like it with me, then I'll make sure you're set up in a real nice place. Child support, rent, whatever you need."
Inez frowned, then allowed a small nod.
Buck's knees nearly buckled under him relief. He stopped himself from grabbing her and thanking her for giving him—giving them—a chance. "I'll…" he stopped and cleared his throat. "I'll just get some space cleared out for you in the bedroom."
He went to his room and found himself praying like he had never prayed before that this could work out. That Inez would stay. That she would be back in his life—fully back in his life, no holds barred. Her and their baby.
#
Ezra stared at the bull through the slats in the rails. The animal banged his head against the panel with a crash. The man next to Ezra jumped back, but Ezra didn't flinch.
"You sure you want to ride him, Ezra? He's tossed more cowboys in the dirt than any bull I've ever had. Tried to gore at least three of them, too."
Ezra ignored Dean Rookman's concern. He knew the other stock contractor well from their gambling forays as much as he did from the rodeo.
"It seems a shame we never see our investments from the other side of the arena," Ezra said.
Dean shook his head and swore under his breath. "And you think that's a bad thing? We're on this side of the bull because we know better."
"How about it, Standish?" called one of the bull riders from his perch on the fence. "You getting on that rank bull today?"
Ezra smiled easily, like it wasn't taking his life into his hands to climb on the back of the bull that was well known through the rodeo circuit as being unrideable.
"Ezra," Dean said again, moving in front of Ezra when Ezra tried to head toward the chute. "I invited you down here to watch the bulls and riders practice a few rounds. Not to have you break your neck in my arena."
A broken neck was the least of what he deserved. Anyone stupid enough to fall for a pretty face and believe every lie she told him deserved whatever life sent his way after that. Including a ride on Rookman's notorious bull. He had tried to gamble and drink his way through LA to forget Kaylee. When that didn't work, he had called Dean, asked if the man was opening his arena over on his Arizona ranch to bullriders like he did most Decembers.
Ezra took the glove one of the bullriders handed him and tugged it on.
"You know how to ride a real animal?" the rider asked him. "This ain't tie down roping."
Ezra spared him a glance. The cowboy had been thrown from no fewer than four of Ezra's bulls this past season. "I expect I can be thrown as skillfully as you can," he answered.
The men along the fence hooted.
Dean shook his head in dismay, but handed Ezra a helmet. Ezra shoved it back at him and climbed the side of the chute.
The bull kicked out at the rails holding him in place, rattling them with a clanging that echoed around Rookman's Arizona ranch.
Ezra paused, waiting for the huge animal to stop fighting against the enclosure, then eased himself over the side of the chute and onto the bull's back.
The bull kicked back, then knocked against the side of the chute. Ezra felt the bars against his knee, his ankle, a sharp hit, but he ignored it. He could blame it on the adrenaline any sane person would have amping up their system by then, but he didn't feel anything. Nothing but grim determination to ride the bull and see if that would be what doled out the punishment his stupidity deserved.
One of the bull riders leaned in over the chute and helped Ezra tighten the borrowed bull rope around his left hand.
He pounded down on Ezra's hand and the rope, making sure it was secure.
"You sure about this, Standish?" he asked.
Ezra ignored him, pulling his hand against the rigging to ensure it was secure. From somewhere behind the men sitting on the edge of the chute, he could hear Rookman muttering under his breath.
"Ready?" one of the cowboys asked.
Ezra gave his secured hand one more tug, then settled down more securely on the bull's back, finding his balance and preparing for the first move out of the gate. He gave a firm nod.
The gate swung open with a clang that was lost under the snort the bull heaved as he lunged out of the confined space.
Ezra lurched backward with the movement, then swung wildly to his right as the bull spun left.
His anchored hand held him and his shoulder strained against the force.
The bull pitched forward and Ezra's shoulder pulled as he went forward, too.
He was ready for the sudden change in direction when the bull jumped back, but he wasn't fast enough, the bull's massive head coming back far enough to smash against Ezra's face.
Ezra was flung backward, but the bull was spinning again and Ezra lost his seat, falling to the side, but his hand was held tight in place, stopping him from dropping all the way to the ground.
Ezra couldn't hear anything over the ringing in his ears and the hooves churning up dust. His arm strained across the bull's wide back, his boots nearly touching the ground until the bull changed directions again and Ezra was dragged along.
He fought the momentum with his free hand, trying to reach the bull rope and release his tied hand.
The bull spun hard, swinging Ezra with him and knocking Ezra against the rails.
Ezra grunted at the impact, stunned momentarily, but the bull started bucking and charging across the arena, and Ezra forced himself to gather his wits enough to reach for the rigging again.
This time he reached it and tugged at it until he felt the rope slide free, the resin on the glove catching against the rope briefly until his hand hit thin air and Ezra fell backward into the arena sand.
He saw hooves coming toward him and gathered what energy he had left to roll away, but then booted feet were between him and the beast, chasing it away from him.
Ezra collapsed back where he was in the dirt. The sky above him was blue. The metallic taste of blood in his mouth mixed with the gritty, earthy filth of the sand. He closed his eyes.
He hoped his neck was broken. Hoped he could just lay there and quit. Give up. Not think about going back to his empty house and a life without Kaylee.
#
