High Lonesome (18 page)

After waiting a couple more hours, he’d started to worry. It was not like Angie to leave without a note, especially when she knew he’d be bringing Heather home. She had just a handful of friends, and when he called them, they told him they hadn’t seen or heard from her.

This was the story he’d told the police later that evening. He explained how she had no immediate family living, and how he’d checked and realized her passport and birth certificate were missing. As the police investigated, they discovered no signs of forced entry into the home. Nothing was askew in the house, and there was no blood, no reason to believe she was kidnapped or taken by force.

When asked if she could have left on her own accord, Jack acknowledged that their relationship had been rocky for some time, and it had disintegrated even further since the divorce. He told the police she had seemed restless. He’d noticed her being short and impatient with their young daughter. “It was tough to believe, but it was becoming more apparent that she no longer wanted to be a wife
or
a mother,” he told the investigators.

Jack even wrung his hands and managed to squeeze out a tear.

The trail grew cold fast, and the Arizona State Police soon considered it a case of a missing person by choice. The consensus was, Angela West had walked away from her family and vanished without a trace.

His plan had worked without a hitch.

Jack punched another button and the treadmill slowed. He stepped off and wiped his face with a towel. Sauntering to the bar, he removed a bottle of cranberry juice from the mini fridge, filled a tumbler with ice and poured a glass, gulping it down.

Pausing in front of the television, he was about to flip it off when a familiar face stared out at him like a phantom. She was pale and innocent looking, with big green eyes. Her hair was glossy and as black as the night. A phone number, email address, and website address rolled across the bottom of the screen.

Jack aimed the remote control at the television and pressed the volume to high. His jaw clenched, and the muscles twitched as he listened to a law officer offer up a plea to the greater Arizona community. The man was the sheriff of some hick town in New Mexico—the name of which he failed to grasp—and he was asking “anyone who knows this woman or has information about her, to please come forward or contact the number on the screen.”

Feeling the color drain from his face, Jack’s mind began to spin. He hit “Pause” on the DVR and grabbed a pad and pen from off the bar counter. Beads of sweat popped out on his face. While scribbling down the information, he pressed the start button and heard the word
amnesia
. Stunned, he wondered if he’d heard correctly. Angela, his former wife, was in New Mexico suffering from amnesia? She wasn’t dead? Everything jumbled together. He could hardly process the news.

Flicking off the television, he sprinted down the hall to the bedroom he’d once shared with her. The day he’d made her disappear, after the police had left, he’d driven to the apartment he’d been relegated to, packed his clothes, and moved back to the house. He had Heather to look after, and there was no reason for him and his precious daughter to stay in that rented dump while his beautiful home stood empty—the same home the idiot judge handed over to Angela without so much as a backward glance.

Jack reached for the picture frame that sat on Angela’s vanity. It was a photo of her and Heather. Then he ran into the living room and searched the end table drawers for their wedding album. He hadn’t looked at it in years and figured she’d stowed it away after the divorce, but he’d need a photo of the two of them as proof that she was his wife.

Finding it turned out to be easier than he thought. Locating it on the bottom shelf of the bookcase in the den, he flipped open the album, expecting to find their marriage certificate stuck in the front plastic cover. It wasn’t there. He turned through the pages, but the certificate was not to be found anywhere in the album. No matter, he thought. A wedding photo of the two of them would suffice. He pulled out the top photo and gazed at it. There were times when he could be sentimental. He’d given her the perfect wedding, and they’d been so in love. But that was a long time ago.

Jack shoved the album back into the bookcase and searched the master bedroom for a duffle bag to carry a change of clothes, the wedding photo, and the framed picture.

He jumped into the shower and lathered up, his mind racing a hundred miles an hour. After drying his hair and slipping on some slacks, a white cotton shirt and loafers, he headed downstairs to place two phone calls. The first was to the older neighbor next door. Bev was her name. Even though Angie was acquainted with her, he hadn’t spoken to the woman often, but remembered she’d babysat for Heather a few times. He wondered if she even knew he and Angela were divorced.

When he called, Bev told him she’d just seen the broadcast about Angie on TV and was in shock. When he asked if she could watch Heather overnight, she told him she’d do anything to help.

The second call was to the phone number of the sheriff’s department in Ghost Rock, New Mexico. He got the answering machine, but didn’t bother to leave a message, and he didn’t have time to try again. He’d drive and spend the night in Ghost Rock—relax and polish his story—and call again in the morning.

When he was set, Jack locked up the house and jumped into the black BMW coupe that the divorce judge had also given to Angela. Speeding down the interstate, he crossed the state line and passed a sign, which read
You Are Now Leaving Arizona—Come Back Again
. Just ahead, he noticed a second sign, with the greeting,
Welcome to the Land of Enchantment
.

“God, I hate New Mexico,” he mumbled.

Chapter Nine

Beth strolled into the kitchen on Saturday morning to find Scott, Cody and Carmen having a pow-wow around the island.

“Good mornin’,” Scott said, before taking a sip of coffee. Their gazes connected, but only for a moment. Hopefully, he’d realized their kiss last night was a mistake. Just as she’d known it was. Today, she planned to ask him to take her to town to find a motel room. Temptation was too strong for the two of them to live together in close proximity.

“Morning.” She greeted all of them with a smile.

“Morning, Beth,” echoed Carmen and Cody.

She meandered past Scott on her way to the coffee pot. Having tossed and turned most of the night, she wondered if he’d slept any better. He didn’t look worse for the wear, which probably meant he’d slept after realizing there was no future for them, so there was no point in growing closer. In fact, the early morning hours looked good on him. His blue eyes sparkled, his cheeks were rough and unshaven, and the scent of a combination of soap, cologne, and pure masculinity went straight to her head as she drank him in.

She’d left her hair down and dressed in jeans and a snug plaid western shirt; clothes that felt second nature to her already. As she poured a cup of coffee and stirred in sugar, she felt Scott’s gaze between her shoulder blades. Turning, she caught him staring, and not hiding the fact. His eyes traveled up and down her body, taking her all in. When he grinned that crooked grin, it was obvious that she was wrong about his change of heart. If anything, his eyes clouded with more passion than she’d seen last night.

Taking a seat at the island next to Cody, she reached for a blueberry muffin. Now was not the right time to bring up leaving the ranch. From the look on Scott and Cody’s faces, she guessed their conversation to be important, but perhaps not too serious. They both seemed relaxed as usual.

Carmen threw her arms into the air and began squawking a Spanish blue streak. Beth took a bite of muffin and wondered what was going on.

“Calm down before you have a stroke,” Scott joked after downing his coffee. “It’s not the end of the world, Carmen.”

“Is something wrong?” Beth asked.

“
Si
. We’ve got trouble with a capital T,” Carmen told her, shaking her head.

“Rowdy and Amber have run off together.” Cody soaked up some runny eggs with a piece of toast and offered the news as if he were giving the weather report.

“It was bound to happen sooner or later,” Scott added.

“
Ai yi yi
.” Carmen sighed. “Crazy kids. They didn’t even have the decency to tell Mr. Scott face to face. They left a note taped to the back door.” She made a stabbing motion with her finger toward the door for emphasis. She tapped the note lying in front of Scott. “Read it to her,” she urged.

Scott unfolded the note and read out loud. “Dear Scott. Me and Amber are in love and have left for California. She has an uncle out there who works in the movie industry. He’s going to give us both jobs and let us live in one of his apartments rent-free until we get on our feet. We’re sorry for not telling you in person. We both feel real bad about leaving you stuck like this cause you’ve been so good to us. We want to thank you for all you did, but we couldn’t wait. The uncle wanted us out there yesterday. Hope you understand. Sincerely, your wrangler, Rowdy. P.S. Tell my pardner Cody I said
adios
.” Scott refolded the note and laid it on the counter.

Beth finally met his gaze. “Well, I’ll be. What a surprise. It seemed to me they had it pretty good here. You treated them both like gold and gave them fair wages.”

“Ah, these kids are always looking for the next best thing. The grass is always greener, as they say.” He leaned into the back of the bar stool and crossed one leg over the other knee.

Beth noticed he didn’t seem too concerned for having just lost two out of three employees. But Carmen did.

“Now, what are we going to do?” She twisted her vein-ridden hands up in her apron. “We’ve got a business to run.”

“Cody can handle the guests on his own for awhile, can’t ya Cody?” Scott said.

“Yes sir. I won’t be running out on you. I know which side my bread’s buttered.”

“I appreciate your loyalty, son.” Scott leaned over and clamped a strong hand down on the young man’s shoulder. “I suspect you’ve been the one to do the lion’s share of the work around the ranch as it was.”

“I just do my job.” Cody shoveled a mouthful of sausage and eggs into his mouth.

“Humility is a good quality. You’re a man of character,” Scott praised. “I’d been thinking about upping your wages anyway. Now seems like a good time to put a raise into effect.”

Cody’s eyes lit up. He swallowed and then said, “Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. You deserve it. The guests all like you, and I like you. You’re a good wrangler.”

“Thank you, Scott.” The young cowboy grinned and blushed.

“What are we going to do about a housekeeper, Mr. Scott?” Carmen asked. Her skin wrinkled in folds, and anxiety rimmed her dark, tired eyes. “I’m busy and too old to cook and do the cleaning, too. You need to put an ad in the paper today. It’s going to be hard to find an honest girl around these parts. Remember how we went through four housekeepers before we found Amber?”

Cody nodded and grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl and crunched down on it. “I remember. One of them stole from the guests, and another one was always sleeping on the job. The other two were just plain lousy at cleaning.”

Scott agreed. “It’s not easy finding and keeping good help. At least our current six guests are leaving this morning. We’ll have a break for several days before the next group comes in.”

“
Si
, but the bulk of the work in the cabins gets done after the guests leave,” Carmen reminded him.

Beth cleared her throat and raised her arm, like a school kid asking permission to speak. Although it had been her plan to leave today, it was impossible for her not to offer to help. Scott and Carmen had done so much for her. She owed them. “Excuse me. I don’t know why you’re all trying to figure out what you’re going to do about a housekeeper when you have one right here. I won’t steal from the guests, I won’t sleep on the job, and I can clean a toilet and launder towels as good as the next person.”

Three pair of eyes fixated on her.

“Let me help, Scott. It’s the least I can do until you can find someone to hire. Consider it partial payback for my room and board for the past few days.”

“Beth, you don’t owe me anything,” he responded.

“That’s not the way I see it. Please. You’ll insult me if you don’t let me help.”

“I don’t know.” He scratched a hand through his blond mop of hair.

“Well, I do. I’m
telling
you, I’m your new housekeeper, as of right now. No arguments.” She crossed her arms and glared at him.

Carmen and Cody smiled and offered their approval with bobbing heads. “I guess Miss Beth just told
you
,” Carmen said, chuckling.

“I guess she did.” Scott crossed his arms over his chest and smiled. “All right. But,
only
until I hire a new girl.”

Beth extended her hand to shake. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

****

Beth polished the cabin showers to a sparkle, scrubbed the toilets clean, and laundered, dried and stacked the towels for the arrival of the next guests the following week. She made up the beds with fresh sheets, vacuumed the floors, and swept the porches. Finally, the mini fridges were restocked, and she cleaned the coffee pots and mugs. After several hours of labor-intensive work, the she plopped down on the front porch of the last cabin and wiped her brow with the sleeve of her shirt.

After resting a few moments, she hauled the bucket of cleaning supplies up the gravel drive toward the main house. Despite the physical labor, she’d never felt so energized and invigorated. She stopped at the pasture and stood at the fence to watch the horses. They were grazing, munching on grass with their tails swishing. She called to Sundance, and he ambled over and nuzzled her hand. The two of them had developed a bond of friendship and trust. Beth whispered in his ear and fed him a treat; one of several she had stashed in her pocket for quiet moments like this.