I said, I’m a realist.”
Stephanie set her helmet on the end post of the hitching rail and gathered her auburn hair into a ponytail. “I’m not going to fire Melissa.”
“Well, I’m not going to be responsible for the fallout,” he warned.
“Who said you had to be responsible? Besides, aren’t you going back down to the cattle ranch today?”
Jared gently positioned the bit in Tango’s mouth. “Thought I’d stay at your place for a few days.”
There was a moment’s silence, and he braced himself.
Her tone hardened. “I’m perfectly fine, big brother.”
“I know you’re perfectly fine,” Jared allowed. He was sure she felt that way for now.
“This is no different than any other anniversary.”
Jared didn’t argue the point. But they’d just lost their grandfather, and Stephanie was hurting. No matter how hard she pretended otherwise, the siblings’ annual reunion and visit to the family graveyard would be particularly difficult for her this year. He usually stayed down at the main house at the cattle ranch, since it was larger. But Stephanie couldn’t leave her work and her students at the equestrian center, so he’d stay here instead.
“When’s Royce showing up?” he asked, instead.
“Saturday. You should get back down there and help McQuestin.” Stephanie referred to their aging cattle ranch manager.
“McQuestin doesn’t want my help.”
She plunked her helmet on her head and set her lips in a mulish line. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
Jared leaned back against the hitching rail, crossing his arms over his chest while he faced his sister. “Maybe I need you.”
Her pale blue eyes immediately softened. “You do?”
He nodded. It wasn’t a lie. He needed to be with her right now. It was the only way he’d be sure she was okay.
She moved forward and placed a hand on his arm. “I know you miss Gramps. Do you still miss Mom and Dad?”
Jared nodded again. But this time, his lie was outright. He didn’t miss his parents. He was angry with his parents. Furious, if the truth be known. But that was his burden, the secret passed down by his grandfather. His only choice was to preserve their memories for his siblings.
Stephanie’s eyes shimmered and she blinked rapidly. “Then you should stay.”
Jared covered her hand with his. “Thank you.”
“You want to watch me jump?”
“Sure.” He nodded. “I’m going to check the pasture land at Buttercup Pond. Clear my head a little. I’ll swing by later in the morning.”
Stephanie nodded. Then she swiped the back of her hand across one cheek and headed for the main arena.
Jared tugged Tango’s lead rope free and swung up into the saddle. The ride to Buttercup Pond to establish his cover story would take him a couple of hours. But his real mission was across the Windy River. Since his grandfather’s deathbed revelation in April, he couldn’t get his great-great-grandparents’ cabin out of his mind.
The walk to the Ryders’ great-great-grandparents’ cabin took longer than Melissa had expected. At last she came around a bend of the river to see two cabins. One, made of logs, was nearly collapsing with age. The other was obviously newer. It was larger, made from lumber, with glass windows still intact and peeling white paint on the walls and porch.
A single story, it was L-shaped, with a peaked, green shingle roof. The rails had sagged off the porch, but the three steps looked safe enough, and the front door was a few inches ajar. The buildings were surrounded by a wildflower meadow that nestled up against steep rocky cliffs, jutting into the crystal-blue sky. The river glided by through a wide spot, nearly silent compared to the rapids upstream.
Melissa pulled out her cell phone, clicking a couple of pictures, wishing Susan was along with her camera.
Then she gingerly climbed the three stairs. She pressed the front door, slowly creaking it open. A dank, dusty room was revealed in the filtered sunlight through the stained windows. It held a stone fireplace, an aging dining table and chairs, and the remnants of a sofa. The floorboards were warped and creaky. Through a doorway, yellowed linoleum lined a small kitchen. Curtains hung in shreds over two of the windows.
Melissa let herself imagine the long-ago family. Jared’s great-grandfather must have grown up here. Was he an only child? Did he have brothers and sisters? Did Jared have cousins and more-distant relatives around the country?
She made a mental note to research the family’s genealogy.
On the far side of the living room, next to the kitchen door, a narrow hallway led to the other side of the house. The floor groaned under her running shoe–clad feet as she made her way through. Her movement stirred up dust, and she covered her mouth and nose with her hand to breathe more easily.
The hallway revealed two bedrooms. One was stark, with plywood bunks nailed to the wall and a hollow cutout of a closet. But the second was a surprise. Intact yellow curtains hung over the window. The bed was obviously newer than the other furnishings, and a brightly colored quilt was shoved against the brass footboard, while the remnants of two pillows were strewn at the head.
“Can I help you?”
The deep voice nearly scared Melissa out of her skin. Her hand flew to her heart as she whirled around to see Jared standing in the bedroom doorway.
“You scared me half to death!” she told him.
“Shouldn’t you be working?”
“It’s lunchtime. I thought you were a ghost.” Her heart was still racing, and adrenaline prickled her skin, flushing her body, then cooling it rapidly.
“Still very much alive,” he drawled, expression accusing. “What are you doing here?”
“I was curious.”
He waited.
“Last night. You mentioned your great-great-grandparents and, well, I like old buildings.”
“So you walked two miles?”
“Yes.”
“On your lunch hour?”
“I wanted to come while it was light.”
He sighed in disgust and gave his head a little shake. “You’re flaky, you know that? Instead of eating, you take off on a whim to see a dilapidated old building. How are you going to work all afternoon?”
“I’ll manage,” she offered, already hungry and quite willing to concede his point. But she didn’t have a lot of time to waste.
“You’ll be passing out by two.”
She
