Barbara Dunlop - A Cowboy Comes Home

“For Helena,” said Travis. “I thought you must have gone with her, taken your jet.”

Caleb walked farther into the room, his hands going to his hips. “She didn’t say anything to me.”

Seth glanced at his watch. “She said she’d call us when she landed at the airport. You hungry?”

No, Caleb wasn’t hungry.

Mandy was gone. She’d left after their fight. What did that mean? Was she going to pull the same stunt as Reed and disappear when things didn’t go her way?

What the hell was the matter with her?

He struggled to keep the anger from his voice. “Did she say where she was going in Helena?”

“Nope,” said Travis, obviously unconcerned. Sure, now he didn’t worry about his sister.

“Do you have any business interests there, suppliers?” Caleb pressed.

“Nothing,” said Seth.

“She did have a college friend who was from there,” Travis offered. “I don’t know her name or anything.”

“But it was a woman?”

Seth gave him a confused look.

Travis scoffed out an amused laugh.

Caleb headed for the door. “If you hear anything, send me a text.”

“Will do,” said Travis.

“Where you going?” Seth called out behind him.

“Helena,” Caleb answered. “Let me know if you hear from Mandy.”

“What on earth is going-” Seth’s voice abruptly disappeared as Caleb shut the front door.

Caleb stomped his way back to the SUV. It seemed impossible that Mandy had a sudden desire to visit an old friend. Unless the old friend was in trouble. But, if that was the case, she should have told him. He could have lent her his jet to get to Helena.

Unless it was Mandy going to see her old friend for solace. Could she be that angry with him? She’d said yes to Rio. That was a good sign, right?

He started the vehicle and pulled it into gear, wheeling through the roundabout and back out the driveway. He reached for his phone and dialed her cell with his thumb.

He got voice mail, and didn’t really care to leave a message.

By the time he hit the main road, his confusion had turned to anger. No matter what her reason for leaving, the least she could have done was call him, or send him a text if she was too mad for a civil conversation. She’d let her brothers know where she was headed. Well, at least the rudimentary details. A motel name would have been nice.

Coming up on the highway, he dialed the pilot. It would be late before he got to Lyndon, but the airport was equipped for after-dark takeoffs, and they could land in Helena on instruments.

Having managed to get a flight from Lyndon to Denver last night, then a flight into Helena this morning, Mandy had camped out in the restaurant of the Bearberry Inn for over two hours. It was three in the afternoon, but there was still no sign of Reed.

The front desk had refused to give out his room number, and she didn’t want to call him, for fear he’d refuse to see her. She’d chosen a table in a back corner where she could watch both the restaurant and the front desk across the lobby without being easily seen.

She figured her last hope was to get him to come back to Lyndon Valley right away. If she did it quickly, there was a chance Caleb would still be there. If not, she was certain he’d finish packing and leave for Sao Paulo, sale or no sale. But if she could make it in time, Caleb, the stubborn fool, would be forced to have a conversation with his brother.

Just as Mandy was ordering her third cup of coffee, her patience was rewarded. She caught a glimpse of Reed’s profile, his tall, sturdy frame, striding across the lobby toward the bank of elevators. Quickly canceling her order, she tossed some money on the table and jumped up, grabbing her shoulder bag and slinging it over her blazer.

She trotted out of the restaurant, determined to catch him. A few feet away, she called out his name.

He turned and stared at her in obvious shock.

“Mandy?” He glanced around the expansive lobby. “What on earth are you doing here?”

“I’m looking for you.” She immediately hugged him, and he hugged her back. But her joy at finding him turned almost instantly to frustration. Drawing back, she socked him in the shoulder. “What is the matter with you?”

“Me? I’m not the one who appeared out of nowhere.”

“Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”

A couple of guests gave them curious glances as they walked past, causing Reed to take Mandy’s arm and lead her toward a glass door that led to the hotel courtyard.

“Why would you worry?” he asked. “What are you doing in Helena? How on earth did you know I was here?”

They made it outside to the relative privacy of an interior courtyard with a table-dotted patio, a manicured, green lawn, towering trees and colorful, raised brick gardens.

“I didn’t know if you’d been kidnapped, shanghaied, injured, arrested or mugged.”

“Kidnapped? You’ve got to be kidding me. Like somebody’s going to hold me for ransom.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I’m fine. Nobody’s going to mug me, Mandy. At night, on the darkened streets? I’m the guy people are afraid of.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t call me.”

“I can’t believe you were worried.”

“Why didn’t you at least send me a text?”

“Because I didn’t want anyone to know where I was.”

She jabbed her thumb against her chest, voice going up. “ I’m not anyone.”

“You’d have told your brothers.”

“I would not.”

He gave her a look of disbelief.

Okay, maybe she would have, if they’d asked. She wasn’t the world’s best liar.

He glanced around the courtyard. “Do you want to sit down?”

“Sure,” she agreed, taking a deep breath. She’d found him. Whatever else happened, at least she’d found him.

He guided her to one of the small tables, pulling out her chair before taking the seat across from her. “You shouldn’t have come.”

Okay. Now was the time to tread carefully. She had to make Reed want to come back to the ranch and be willing to speak to Caleb. Otherwise, she’d never get him to budge.

She struggled with where to start.

“Mandy?” he prompted.

“Why Helena?” she asked, giving him a smile, intending to ease her way in, telling herself to relax and act as though everything was normal.

“Besides the fishing? It’s good ranch country, Mandy. I’ve had a job offer here.”

“Of course you’ve had a job offer. You could probably have a thousand job offers if you wanted them.”

He allowed himself a smile. “You’re such an optimist.”

“I am,” she agreed. “And I have faith in you. You’re an amazing person, Reed, a phenomenal person-”

“You know, don’t you?”

She played dumb. “Know what?”

“About the will.” He waited.

“Fine,” she conceded. “I know about the will.”

“How?”

She straightened in her chair, leaning over the round metal-framed, glass-topped table. “Can I start by saying I understand that you’re upset.”

“You can if you want. But that doesn’t tell me anything. And it only puts off whatever it is you’re dancing around here.”

“It was a mistake to leave, Reed.”

He scoffed out a laugh.

“You don’t understand what’s going-”

“How do you know about the will?”

“I want you to come back.”

“You do, do you?”

“I do.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking.”

She reached across the table for his big hand. “I know exactly what I’m asking. If you’ll just-”

“How did you find out about the will, Mandy?”

She closed her eyes for a brief second. “Fine. Caleb told me.”