Seth shut the door behind him, and Caleb turned to her. “You’re not okay.”

“I’m not okay,” she agreed, her body turning into one big ache.

He stepped closer. “Anything I can do to help?”

“You already have.” She drew a shuddering breath, trying to put the night’s events in some sort of order. “You have a jet?”

“Active Equipment has a jet.”

“But you own Active Equipment.”

“True enough.”

“Thank you for bringing us all here. I know my mom was terrified…” She swallowed, her throat going raw all over again. “I was so afraid he’d die before-”

Caleb drew her into his strong arms, cradling her against his body. “Of course you were. But he didn’t. And you’re here now. And there may very well be good news in the morning.”

Mandy found herself lying her cheek against Caleb’s chest, taking comfort in the steady thud of his heartbeat and the deep, soothing rumble of his voice.

He leaned in and kissed her gently on the temple, bringing all her earlier feelings rushing back. She felt off balance, out of sync, like she was floating in space without a lifeline.

“Caleb,” she stuttered. “What we-”

“Shh. Not now. Nothing matters right now.”

She closed her eyes. “Are you always this nice?”

“I’m hardly ever this nice.” He paused. “You need to sleep now.”

“I know.” She wished she could lie down right there, right then and stay safe in Caleb’s arms for the rest of the night. Deep down inside, she knew she was being foolish. She was emotional and vulnerable, and he seemed strong and safe. It was that simple.

These feelings would probably go away by morning, but right now, they were powerfully strong.


The next morning did bring positive news. Caleb was surprised, along with everyone else, by Hugo’s rapid progress. Hugo recognized all the family members. They were each allowed to visit him, and he was able to say Maureen’s name, along with several other rudimentary words, enough to get his general meaning across. His meaning, Caleb noted, was that Seth should continue to plan his campaign for the mayoralty race, Abigail should stay in Denver with Maureen, while Mandy should go home and run the ranch with Travis.

Caleb had to admire the tough old man. Less than twenty-four hours after the stroke, Hugo was regaining movement in his right arm, and he also had some movement in his right foot and ankle. The doctors were very pleased with his progress and feeling optimistic about his eventual recovery, although they cautioned it would take weeks, possibly months.

Seth decided to stay in Denver for some political meetings, so Caleb and Mandy returned alone on the Active Equipment jet. Once in Lyndon, they exited down the airplane staircase and onto the tarmac outside a small maintenance building at the private area of the apron. It was late afternoon, and thick clouds were gathering as the sun made its descent and the air cooled down.

Caleb switched on his cell phone, and Mandy did the same. Hers immediately rang, and they picked up their pace to get away from the sound of the airplane engines.

She plugged one ear and called “hello” just as Caleb’s phone rang. They made it around the end of the building, blocking the noise.

Caleb answered his phone with one hand, unlocking and swinging open the chain-link gate with the other. There were few cars in the parking area.

“It’s Travis,” came the voice at the other end.

“Just touched down in Lyndon,” Caleb offered. “Did you talk to your mother?”

“Just got off with her,” said Travis. “Dad’s progress is still good. The doctors are amazed.”

“Good to hear.” With his free hand, Caleb hit the unlock button on his key fob and opened the passenger door first. Mandy was focused on her own conversation as she absently accepted his offer and climbed inside.

“About Danielle,” Travis continued.

“Were you able to reach her?” Caleb had tried Danielle’s cell this morning and got her voice mail. Odds were good that she’d headed back to Chicago and was on an airplane. Still, he’d asked Travis to retry the call and check the ranch just in case. He’d rushed off so fast last night, he’d barely had time to explain. Danielle wasn’t the most patient woman in the world.

“I drove up to your place,” Travis confirmed.

“So, she’s on her way back to Chicago?”

“Not exactly.”

“She’s not?” Caleb swung into the driver’s seat and slid the key into the ignition.

“You know that hairpin turn where you come out at Joe Mountain?”

“What?”

“Where the rear wheels always break loose?”

Uh-oh. Caleb didn’t like where this was going. “Is Danielle all right?”

“She’s fine. Now.”

“Give me the bad news.”

Travis confirmed Caleb’s fears. “She couldn’t recover from the slide, missed the turn. Got stuck at the edge of the pond. She wasn’t hurt, but evidently, there’s no cell service at that particular spot.”

Caleb groaned and thudded his head on the steering wheel. Mandy spared him a glance of confusion.

“How long was she stuck?” he asked Travis.

“A few hours. I have to give the girl points for moxie. She spotted the Eldridge barn and decided they might be able to help her.”

“That barn’s seventy years old. And it’s half a mile from the road.”

“Hard to judge, I guess. Miss Danielle may want to have her distance vision checked. She climbed through the barbed-wire fence and started hiking.”

Caleb groaned again.

“Didn’t go well,” Travis confirmed. “Apparently you owe her for a designer blazer that got torn. Oh, also the shoes that weren’t made for hiking.”

“Did she make it to the barn?”

“Barely. By the time she realized it was a derelict, a herd of cattle had cut her off from her car. I guess a bull made some threatening moves, and she ended up climbing into the loft. It’s dusty up there and, apparently, there are quite a few spiders.”

Caleb shouldn’t laugh. He really shouldn’t. “I’m in a lot of trouble, aren’t I?”

“Hell, yeah. You and me both.”

“Why you? I assume you rescued her.”

“By the time I got there, she’d been trapped for a few hours.”

“Do I by any chance need a new lawyer?”

“She was pretty desperate for a restroom.”

Caleb rewhacked his head. Anything less than marble fixtures was considered slumming it for Danielle.

“I told her to go behind the barn,” said Travis with an obviously suppressed chuckle.

“Are you laughing?”

“You also owe her for a pair of designer undies. There were nettles.”

“Could you just shoot me?”

Mandy had finished her call, twisted her body in the passenger seat and was now staring unabashedly at Caleb.

Caleb met her curious gaze.

“We had to tow her car back with a tractor,” said Travis. “Scooter says it needs parts. Hey, can you stop by the auto-parts store while you’re in Lyndon?”

“Sure,” Caleb agreed fatalistically.

“We’ll text you a list.”

Caleb braced himself. “She doing okay?”

“She’s been in the upstairs bathroom for two hours. I don’t know what women do in there, but hopefully it’ll improve her disposition.”

“Hopefully,” Caleb agreed, but he wasn’t holding his breath. “Thanks, Travis.”

“No need to thank me. That was the best entertainment I’ve had all month.”

“Don’t tell her that.”

“Already did. See you, Caleb.”

Caleb signed off, pocketing his phone.

“Were you talking to Abigail?” he asked Mandy.

She nodded. “The news on Dad just gets better and better. I’m so relieved.”

“Good to hear,” Caleb agreed.

“You were talking to Travis?” she asked him in return, raising her brows in a prompt.

“Danielle had some car trouble.”

“She’s still in Colorado?” Mandy was obviously surprised by the news. “I got the impression she was going to be on the first flight out.”

“They’re sending us a list of parts for the car.” Caleb turned the ignition key and started the Escalade.

“Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. Travis helped her out. But she’s frustrated to be stuck in Lyndon.”

His phone rang again, but he didn’t recognize the number. He flipped it open. “Caleb Terrell.”

“Mr. Terrell? It’s Frank Cummings here, Mountain Real Estate. I have some good news for you.”

“Hello, Frank.”

“We have an interested buyer.”

“This soon?” Caleb was surprised. It had been less than twenty-four hours since he’d listed the ranch.

“The gentleman has been watching for opportunities in the area, and he’ll be in Lyndon tonight. I’m meeting him for dinner. I was wondering if we might touch base with you by phone in a couple of hours? If all goes well, we’ll want to arrange a viewing.”

“I’m in Lyndon.”

“Right now?”

“Right now.”

“Then you should join us for dinner.” Frank sounded excited at the prospect.

“Sure.” Why not? If it was a serious buyer, Caleb would like to look him in the eye and make his pitch. “I’m with someone,” he told Frank, his glance going to Mandy.

“Up to you, but feel free to bring them along.”

“Where and when?”

“Riverfront Grill at six.”

“We’ll be there.” He ended the call.

Mandy arched a brown. “We’ll be where?”

He pocketed his phone and pulled the shifter into Reverse. “Is there any chance I can trust you?”

Mandy buckled up. “To do what?”

“To behave yourself-”

She sputtered an unintelligible protest.

“Frank Cummings has a buyer,” he finished.

She froze, jaw dropping. “For the ranch?”

He reversed the SUV out of the parking spot, tires slipping to a stop on the gravel scattered on top of the pavement. Then he shifted into Drive. “Only thing I’m selling.”

“But… You… That’s too fast!”

“I don’t think there are any speed regulations.”