Chapter Three
“You have got to be kidding. Your wife, who barely let you speak to your daughter on Skype, much less on the phone for the past six months, is suddenly going to toss her to you like a deflated football?”
“Poor analogy, but that’s about the size of it,” Pierce said as his brother Riley questioned the current scenario. He changed his phone to his left hand, picked up his half-finished beer with his right and took a swig.
“But I can’t say much against Leslie. I know she loves Jaci and I think she really wants our daughter not to be traumatized by the divorce.”
“I hope that works out for all of you. When did this custody offer come down?” Riley asked.
“Two days ago when I arrived in Chicago.”
“You’ve been back in the good old USA two days and you’re just now getting in touch with me?”
“No. I texted you two days ago and again yesterday. Do you ever check your messages?”
“Every now and then.”
“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.
