Maureen Child - The Lone Star Cinderella

A wealthy man going missing was big news. Especially in a town the size of Royal.

She tapped her short, neat fingernails against the cold, smooth, black granite countertop. Mia’s stomach did a slow turn and she swallowed hard. Alex had been good to her. He’d given her a job when she’d most needed one. He’d allowed her the space to continue her education and because of that, she was close to getting her counseling degree.

Not only did Mia really owe Alex, she liked him, too. He’d become a good friend as well as her employer, and Mia didn’t have many friends. She stared blankly out the window and absently noted the treetops whipping in the cold October wind. She shivered involuntarily and turned her back on the view. She didn’t want to think about winter coming and Alex still being gone. She hated not knowing if her friend was safe. Or hurt. But she had to keep positive and believe that Alex would come home.

She also couldn’t help worrying about what she was going to do next. The bills had been paid, true. But her tuition was due soon and if Alex wasn’t there to pay her...

When the phone rang, she jumped and instinctively reached for it before stopping herself and letting it go to the answering machine. Weeks ago, she’d decided to let the machine pick up so she could screen her calls, in an attempt to avoid reporters and the unceasing questions she couldn’t answer.

Still, she was always hoping that somehow the caller might be Alex, telling her he was fine, and sorry he’d worried her and oh, that he was wiring more money into the household accounts. Not very realistic, but Mia’s innate optimism was hard to discourage.

The machine kicked on and after the beep, a female voice asked, “Mia? You there? If you’re listening, pick up.”

Smiling, she snatched up the receiver. “Sophie, hi.”

“Still dodging reporters?”

“Every day,” she said and leaned back against the counter. Her gaze slid to the backyard again and the trees waving and dancing in the wind. “They don’t give up.”

“At least they can’t get past the gate guard there to bother you in person.”

“A few of them have managed, but one call to security and that’s taken care of.” Though she hated feeling as though she was living through a medieval siege. And she had to admit that living alone in this big house made her a little nervous at night. Yes, Royal was a safe place, and a gated community should have made her feel even more secure. But with Alex gone and the world wondering why, Mia was always worried that someone might come sneaking around the house at night, looking for clues or a story. But Mia didn’t want her thoughts to go to the dark side. Alex was missing, yes. But she couldn’t allow herself to think he was gone forever.

“My offer to come and stay with me for a while still holds, you know.”

Sophie Beldon was a good friend. She was also Alex’s assistant, and since his disappearance, the two women had become even closer friends. Together, they’d done all they could to search for Alex, and still had come up empty. But they had another plan now. One that had Mia looking for more information on Dave Firestone, a business rival of Alex’s. Of course, she hadn’t actually started on that plan yet, since she had no idea how to go about it.

“Really, thank you. It’s tempting, believe me,” Mia confessed. But she couldn’t very well move in with her friend and leave Alex’s house unguarded. Not to mention that Mia hated the idea of mooching meals from Sophie. She didn’t like asking people for anything. She was far too used to doing things herself and she didn’t see that changing anytime soon. “It’s really nice of you to offer, Sophie. But I really want to be here. In case Alex calls or comes back. Besides, I wouldn’t feel right leaving his house vacant.”

“Okay. I can understand all of that,” Sophie said. “But if you change your mind, the offer stands. So how’s everything else going? Is there anything I can do?”

“No, but thanks.” Mia cringed a little, hating that her friend knew just how bad off Mia was. The two of them had gone out to lunch just a couple weeks ago and when she’d tried to pay the bill, as a thank-you to Sophie for being so nice, Mia’s debit card had been denied. Her bank account hadn’t had enough in it to pay for a simple lunch. Mortified, Mia had been forced to let Sophie pay for their meals.

She hated this. Hated worrying about money. Hated worrying about Alex. She just wanted her nice, safe, comfortable life back. Was that really so much to ask?

“We’re friends, Mia.” Sophie’s voice was soft and low. “I know you need money. Why won’t you let me help you out temporarily? It would just be a loan. When Alex comes home, you can pay me back.”

Again, so very tempting. But she didn’t know how or when she could pay her friend back, so she couldn’t accept the loan. Mia Hughes paid her own way. Always. Heck, she didn’t even have a credit card because she paid cash or she didn’t buy.

“Sophie,” she said on a sigh, “I really appreciate the offer. But we’ve been looking for Alex for months and it’s like he vanished off the face of the earth. We don’t know when he’ll come back.” If ever, her mind added, but she didn’t say it aloud, not wanting to tempt whatever gods might be listening in on them. “I’m fine. Honest. The thing with my debit card was just a bank mistake.” Okay, a small lie, but one she would cling to. She didn’t want her friend worried about her and she simply could not accept a loan. Mia had been making her own way in the world since she was eighteen, and she wouldn’t start looking for handouts now. No matter how hungry she was.

“You have the hardest head,” Sophie murmured.

Mia smiled. “Thank you.”

“Wasn’t a compliment,” her friend assured her on a laugh. “But okay. I’ll let it go. For now.”

“I appreciate it.”

“That’s not why I called, anyway,” Sophie said.

Instantly, Mia’s friend radar started humming. Sophie had only recently become engaged to Zach Lassiter, Alex’s business partner. After a shaky start, the two were so happy together, Mia was afraid that something had gone wrong between them. “Are you and Zach okay?”

“We’re fine. He’s great. This isn’t about us.”

“Okay, then,” Mia said as she carried the phone across the kitchen, lifted the lid on her lunch and sighed before setting the lid back in place. “What is it about?”

“Remember how we talked about you going out to gather more information on Dave Firestone?”

“Yeah,” Mia said. “I don’t have anything yet, though. I’m not exactly a private investigator.” She’d tried internet searches, but so far all she had found were the sanitized information blurbs you found about any wealthy, successful man. And she wasn’t sure where to dig up anything else.

“Well,” Sophie told her, “I have something. I just got off the phone with Carrie Hardesty.”

Mia frowned, trying to place the name. Before she could say she didn’t know the woman, Sophie was continuing.

“Carrie’s husband, Bill, is a ranch hand on the Battlelands.”

“Uh-huh.” She still didn’t see what this had to do with her or Dave Firestone or why she might be interested. And now she was hungry enough that she was even anxious for her beef-flavored noodle lunch.

“So Bill called Carrie to tell her he’d be home early today because he and Nathan had finished work faster than they’d thought despite an interruption.”

“Okay...” Mia had to smile. She still had no idea why this should interest her, but Sophie’s voice had taken on that storytelling tone, so she didn’t stop her.

“Bill told Carrie that Dave Firestone had shown up to talk to Nathan.”