Love on the Horizon (A Northern Woods Novel) (20 page)

After tending to the girls, she
returned to the kitchen. She was removing the roast from the oven when Nick
walked in the door.

“You’re right on time, honey.
Nicky’s in his room, would you tell him to get washed?”

He leaned over her shoulder.
“Smells awfully good in here, is this a special occasion?”

“No, I just figured I haven’t
made your favorite meal for a while and decided to surprise you.” She looked up
at him with a wide grin. “A luscious meal for my two special men,” she added.

* * *

Mariah prepared the twins for
bed, while Nick helped his son with his bath, taking special care of Nicky’s
sensitive arm.

“How does it feel, cowboy, does
it still hurt?”

“It’s okay,” Nicky said, while
sinking his sailboat under a wave of bubbles.

“It doesn’t hurt much, or it
doesn’t hurt at all?”

He looked up and tipped his head
as if considering the question. “Just a little,” he said, and returned to his
sailing in the sea of bubbles.

After the children were down for
the night, Nick and Mariah sat on the sofa, nestled in each other’s arms.

“It’s a very long and stressful
day when Bess is off. We need to think of something special to show our
appreciation. I really don’t know how I’d ever get along without her.”

“I agree. Isn’t her birthday coming
up soon?”

“September twenty-third, I
believe.”

“Let’s come up with a surprise
that will blow her mind,” Nick said, and she looked up at him, her smile eager
and alive with excitement.

“We have plenty of time. I’m sure
you’ll think of something. You’ve always been good at that.” He glanced down at
her and watched while she twirled a strand of hair around her finger. He knew
she was concentrating, trying to come up with a plan. He leaned down and kissed
the top of her head.

“I have something I need to discuss
with you, Nick.”

“What’s that?” He rested his
cheek against her temple and ran his palm along her bare arm.

She squirmed on the cushion then
turned to face him. “Well… it’s about that Larson man.”

He sat up abruptly. “What now,
Mariah? I asked you not to get involved with them. You haven’t been over there
again, have you?”

“No, but Sarah and I have seen
Natalie out driving around town.” She went on to explain all they’d discovered.
“We haven’t been back to their property. We’ve only gone riding along the
border of our own. When we rode about three miles, staying on our riding path,
we could see their house.” She didn’t tell him that they saw the malicious man
out in his yard.

She sat with her fingers tensed
in her lap and swallowed hard. “We’re worried about Natalie. Nick, as I told
you before, we’re sure he’s abusing her.”

“Mariah, they can live their
lives any way they want to. It’s none of our business. You said they don’t want
visitors, and that’s their right. Unless his wife comes to us asking for help,
there’s not a thing we can do. Now please stay away from them. If he’s the way
you tell me he is, you could get hurt.”

“All right, but if we see her at
the mall or in any store by herself, we’re going to talk to her. We’ll stay
clear of their property.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, I love you, and I promise.”

“I love you too, Mariah. Now
let’s get to bed. It’s getting late. You’ll have your hands full with Bess
being away for one more day.”

Nick locked the doors, Mariah
dimmed the lights, and together they headed down the hallway, stopping to check
on the children before moving on to their own room.

Chapter
Thirty-one

“Good morning Nick,” Jake said
when he entered the office.

“Mornin’ Jake. There’s a fresh
pot of coffee in the break room if you’d like to grab a mug before you sit
down.”

“I could use some. I’ll be right
back.”

He straightened the paperwork on
his desk and looked up when Jake returned. “Have a seat,” he said, and took a
swig of his coffee. “I just wanted an update on the rescue team. Tell me how
things are going.”

“It’s been moving along very
well. All three of the new men have proven to be hard workers. Gary Miller and
Tom Doherty know the correct way to handle neglected horses. Billy Jackson is
the best veterinarian I’ve ever known, and he’s been keeping a close watch on
the three newcomers.”

“That’s good news. You think
they’d be able to take on a couple more? Buck Morgan called this morning. He
has two horses that have been without food for some time now. They even began
to chew on the wooden pillars that hold up the stalls. Buck told me that their
ribs are quite visible, and they’re in poor condition, but with plenty of
medical attention and lots of tender loving care, they may stand a chance. What
do you think?”

“I’m sure we can. I was going to
mention something else to you.”

“What’s that?”

“Garrett Johnson, the horse
whisperer with that special magic about him, has been able to handle every
horse brought in to us. He’s been making plenty of excellent suggestions to
help things move along smoothly. Would you consider moving him over to my team?
I think he’d jump at the chance.”

“He’s been in to discuss it with
me. I told him I’d talk it over with you. He’s a very good handler, haven’t
seen a single horse that hasn’t taken a liking to him. Go ahead and give him
the thumbs up. I’ll find another ranch hand to replace him.”

“Great. He'll be happy to hear
it. I swear he was born to be a horse whisperer.”

“That’s why I hired him. You’ve
been doing an excellent job of managing the team, Jake. My intuition proved to
be true. You’re a good manager.”

“Thanks.” He stood up, smiled with
a nod and placed his Stetson back on his head.

“You’re welcome. Now get back to
work,” he added with a grin.

* * *

“No Sarah, I promised Nick I’d
stay away from their property. Although I did mention to him that if we happen
to see her alone at the mall, we’d confront her. We need to find out if she’s
okay.”

“How would you like to go to
Starbuck’s after the boys leave for school?”

“You’re hoping we’ll spot her? I
doubt if she’d go in there.”

“Starbuck’s is located right in
the center of town, so you never know if we might see her.”

“Okay, and since your house is on
the way, I’ll pick you up. Around ten o’clock?”

“Perfect. I’ll see you in a
couple of hours.”

When they walked into Starbuck’s,
they spotted a place to sit at the front window.

“I’ll grab the vacant table,
Mariah. Here’s a ten to pay for the coffee. I’ll have my usual White Chocolate
Mocha.”

When Mariah brought their cups
over to the table, Sarah had turned their chairs to face the window.

“You certainly are bound and
determined to run into her, aren’t you?” She set their coffee on the table and
pulled out a chair. “Be careful, it’s extra hot.”

They were discussing their boys
when Sarah abruptly lifted her head. Her voice raised an octave in excitement.

“There she goes! Come on!” She
grabbed her purse and her Starbuck’s, then hurried out the door. Mariah
followed close behind. They hopped into the SUV and placed their cups in the
holder between the seats. Sarah pointed to the east. “She went toward the mall,
Mariah. Hurry!”

“I’m not going to speed, Sarah.
She isn’t
that
important.” She entered the northeast entrance of the
parking lot and looked around. They didn’t see her car anywhere. “I’ll drive up
and down each row of parked cars. If we spot hers, we’ll just sit and wait for
her to come back out.”

“There she is, walking toward her
vehicle. That didn’t take her long. Let’s go.” They climbed out quickly and
approached her.

“Nattie, wait up!”

Natalie turned around to face
them with a look of uneasiness. “I don’t believe I know you,” she said, and
kept walking. They could tell she was shaking with fear.

“Nattie, the three of us had been
best friends in high school. We’re now neighbors,” Mariah said quietly. “You’ve
waved to us. You must remember who we are.”

“Please tell us what’s wrong. Has
your husband been abusing you? He told us that you have Alzheimer’s and
couldn’t have visitors. We’re not stupid. If you have it as badly as he’s informed
us, you wouldn’t be able to drive a car. We know something is terribly wrong.
Honey, we want to help you.”

With a look of terror in her
eyes, she whispered, “Please, leave me alone.  I’m begging you. He’ll kill me.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks. She turned away from them and tried to move
toward her car. Mariah and Sarah both stepped in front of her to block her from
going any further.

“Please don’t tell anyone that
you’ve seen me, or that you know me. I have to get away now, before he notices
I’m gone. If he sees me speaking to one single person, or even sees me at the
mall, he’d never let me out the door, ever again. I’d have no way to escape.
Forget that you ever saw me. I beg of you, please keep quiet.” She trembled in
terror.

“Okay, take it easy. Where are
you headed?” Sarah asked.

“I can’t tell you. No one must
know. I’ll be fine. I have to take off now. Please go; pretend you never laid
eyes me,” she begged. Mariah and Sarah both nodded and she hurried around them
and rushed over to her sedan. She climbed in, started her car, and backed out
of her parking space. When she reached the exit her car skid as she stepped
hard on the gas, turned onto Main Street, and drove toward the entrance onto
the freeway.

Mariah unlocked the doors to the
SUV and they climbed in. They sat in wonder as they stared out the window.
Mariah looked over at Sarah and frowned in concern.

“Where do you think she’s going?”
Sarah mumbled while she sipped the rest of her coffee.

“Your guess is good as mine. She
sure appeared to be terrified. I hope she’ll be okay.” “I noticed from those
bags she was carrying from Dillard’s that she purchased some clothes. The one
she carried from Walgreen’s held a box of hair color. I could see it pressed
against the bag.”

“Apparently she’s taking off
while she can. She finally found a chance to escape from that horrific man.
He’s an animal. I can’t believe they moved into the Miller’s old house, so
close to mine. You and I had our suspicions, but we never knew for sure what
was happening over there. It looks like she’s going into hiding, Sarah.”

“I don’t blame her. I would have
taken off long before this.”

“You can bet she wanted to, but
never had the opportunity until now. Well, we'd better get back home before our
men start worrying about us.” She placed the key in the ignition, started the
SUV and took off in the direction of Sarah’s house.

Chapter
Thirty-two

“Yes, Sarah, I realize it’s been
a week now. I’m sure she’s just fine. She did seem to know what she was doing.”

“Well I’m still worried about
her, but I guess you’re right. She didn’t want anyone to have any knowledge of
where she went, or he’d locate her whereabouts.”

“I'd better get off the phone,
Sarah. I have my riding class this morning. I’ll talk with you later. She
closed her cell phone and placed it into the pocket of her jeans, when the
outside door opened and Nick entered.

“What happened? Is something
wrong?”

“I heard sirens heading north on
the county road. They sounded close by. I turned on the scanner in my office.
Apparently, they stopped at the Larson’s house.”

“Oh no, I hope Nattie is okay.
Sarah and I saw her in town a week ago. She was in a hurry and looked very
frightened. She wouldn’t even talk to us.”

“I’m going to ride down and make
sure there hasn’t been an accident. I’ll be back.” He kissed Mariah on the
cheek and went out the door.

That evening, while the children
were sleeping and Bess had retired, Mariah relaxed on the sofa. The television
was on and the volume down low, when the ten o’clock news came on. Nick stepped
into the house and removed his Stetson, as a breaking news alert appeared
across the screen. He moved around to the end of the couch and quickly grabbed
the remote to turn up the volume. The newscaster had shown a recent photo of
Natalie Larson.

“Natalie Larson was reported
missing this morning, by her husband, Carl Larson. The Pinewood Hills Police
stated that her husband had last seen her one week ago today when he asked her
to go to the grocery store on Main Street, in Pinewood Hills. She never
returned. The police brought Carl Larson in for questioning. She’d been missing
for seven days, and he waited until today to report it to the police. After two
hours of inquisition, he was released. He is the prime suspect at this time. If
you’ve seen this woman, please call the Pinewood Hills Police Department
immediately.” The newscaster then moved on to the next story, and Nick turned
the television off.