AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maybe—a grin exploded on her face—maybe her sign of affection had persuaded him to abandon his reclusive ways.
She jumped to her feet, grabbed the plate, which she’d momentarily forgotten, and raced toward the ranch.
She passed Jayne’s cabin and skidded to halt. Sybil could hardly rush up to the bunkhouse and ask if Brand was there. She spied Eddie talking to Slim by the corrals. She shifted direction and went toward them, standing back and waiting for a chance to talk to Eddie alone.
“Okay, boss.” Slim tipped his hat toward Sybil as he left.
“Do you need something?” Eddie said.
“I took a plate of food out to Brand.”
Eddie studied the still full plate. “I take it he wasn’t hungry.”
“Uh...” Wasn’t this where Eddie said Brand had eaten at the cookhouse? “He wasn’t there. I thought—” She glanced toward the bunkhouse. “Maybe he joined the others.”
“No. I’m sure Slim would have said so if he did. However, he can’t have gone far. He still has horses to break and he hasn’t picked up his pay. Maybe he’s gone hunting.”
“I suppose.” But she didn’t believe it. Why would he take every belonging if he’d only gone hunting?
She scraped the food off the plate into the cat dish outside the barn, and half a dozen cats raced over to enjoy the meal Brand had missed. Mercy was likely still visiting Jayne, but Sybil didn’t want to talk to anyone, and she slipped into the big house. She tiptoed past the living room so as not to attract Linette’s attention. She passed the library full of books, a big desk and several reading chairs without even glancing in, and crossed the kitchen to her room, where she wilted at the edge of the bed. Despite all her fine talk to the contrary, she had let herself care too much.
When would she ever learn to guard her heart?
* * *
Dawg followed Brand, but as they put distance between them and the ranch, the dog stopped, turned back and whined.
“Yeah, I hear ya. She made me want to stay longer, too, but we just can’t.” He faced forward. Gotta keep moving. Gotta keep ahead of the Duggans.
As he rode into the afternoon sun he repeated the same words over and over. But every few minutes, other thoughts intruded.
Thoughts of a golden-haired miss whose blue eyes smiled so gently at him he could almost believe she cared. But how could she? She knew nothing of him. Certainly not who he really was. Even if for some reason he stayed, he could never tell her and lose the memory of that smile.
What would it be like to return home every day to a smiling welcome?
Brand Duggan would never know.
He found a spot with a rock cliff at his back. It wasn’t a bad place as far as campsites went. He’d had worse. Tomorrow he would ride to the west, find a place deep in the mountains to hole up for the winter.
But tonight his bones ached for something more comfortable than a campsite. He ached for a place of warmth and welcome and belonging.
He shot two rabbits and dressed them, burying the entrails a few feet away, then put the rabbits on a spit to roast. A little later, he ate one and gave the other to Dawg.
He missed Ma.
Home. He dare not dream of a home of his own, shared with—
He hadn’t cried for a home since the first week after he’d buried his ma. And he never let himself look back and wish for things that couldn’t be his.
But tonight the ache would not leave.
Ma’s oft spoken words sprang into his mind. God will always be with us. Always guide us to a safe place. Always. We have to trust Him.
Tonight the words wouldn’t be dismissed.
He finally fell into a troubled sleep in which Pa and Cyrus chased cowboys from the ranch, while Brand tried to ride his horse through the crowd to someone beyond them. He couldn’t see who it was, but terror filled him at the thought of being unable to get to the person.
He yelled at his pa to get out of the way, and his voice jerked him awake. He sat up and rubbed his face. Sweat beaded his forehead even in the cool night air.
He reached for Dawg. Found the spot empty. “Dawg?”
His senses kicked into full alert and he grabbed for his pistol. A scream rent the air and raised the hair on the back of his neck. A cougar.
“Dawg!” he bellowed. Had the fool dog gone after the animal? Dawg loved to torment cats of every size.
