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"I'm scared," I whisper.
"I know, darlin'," Caleb says. Next thing I know, he's over the side of the truck and lying next to me with his arm around me. He tosses his keys to Nicco. "You drive us. Boone can drive her truck. Probably best to give you two some space anyway."
He pulls me close and shields me with his body as the truck starts moving. The bed of the truck is really hard and uncomfortable but seeing that man with my photo on his phone scared the crap out of me. I'm shaking as the truck rolls down the road. "I've got you, Alex. I won't let anything happen to you." Caleb's voice is warm and reassuring in my ear.
"I can't believe people are looking for me here," I say and there's a catch in my voice. "I'm as stressed as I was when I was performing. So much for getting away from it all. I guess I was a fool to think that was possible."
"Hey now." Caleb rolls me over so we're facing each other, and he brushes away the tears forming in my eyes. "This isn't your fault. That guy is a nut job and whoever put a price on your head is the one to blame."
"It won't stop. None of it will stop. I was stupid to think I could be a regular person."
"There's nothing regular about you. And that's what I love about you." Caleb runs his hand over the short spikes of my hair and tucks my face into his chin, using his arm to protect me from the bouncing of the truck.
"I heard Mrs. Murphy tell him I was in Canada," I say with a chuckle. "That was very kind of her."
"Oh, if I know anything about Mrs. Murphy, she's enjoying the hell out of giving that guy a hard time. Folks in Chickadee Ridge take care of each other."
"But I'm a stranger too."
"Not anymore, darlin'. You're my girl and everyone knows it."
I gaze up at him in disbelief. "Really? Even after all this mess? Nicco getting lassoed is sort of the least of the problems I've brought to your family."
"Oh, if Boone doesn't lasso someone every few months, she gets irritable."
"What's irritable Boone like?"
"You don't want to know," he says with a laugh, and I laugh too. We slow down and then I see the sign for North Starr Ranch pass over us and I relax a bit. We're back at the ranch and safe. Nothing will happen to me while I'm here.
I've never felt like I could totally trust someone else, other than Nicco. But with Caleb, I am confident. I can share some of my burden with him. It's a strange feeling to give up some of that control, but I like it. I could get used to it.
The truck stops and Nicco comes around to open the tailgate for us.
"Why you ridin' in the back, Uncle Caleb? Mama won't let us do that. You better not let her catch you." Willow, the ever-present eyes and ears of North Starr Ranch is standing there watching as we get out. She's the cutest thing with a big mop of curly hair and eyes that see everything, whether you want her to or not.
"Well, it'll be our little secret, okay?" Caleb says to his niece as he helps me out of the bed of the truck. I'm glad to have my feet on the ground and to see the heavy gate to the ranch is closed tight.
"All right," Willow says and I can tell she likes having a secret.
I just wish I didn't have so many.
CHAPTER18
CALEB
It's been two days since the incident at the Trailhead Diner. Alex has relaxed, but not completely. I guess none of us are completely letting our guard down. Adam and Kit went into Chickadee Ridge yesterday and tried to make some discreet inquiries about things around town. Apparently, the man from the diner left yesterday, though he made a nuisance of himself to many.
After dinner tonight, however, Midge pulled me aside to say that one of her sources in town called to say that two more people had been asking about the missing singer. Not that anyone knows she's at North Starr Ranch, but Midge said the insinuation was there that they were giving her a head's up.
I told Alex about it when we got to our room and all the worry returned in a flash.
"Come on, sweetheart," I say to Alex as I draw back the covers and pat the mattress. "Time for bed."
She's staring out the window and turns to look at me with a slight smile. "Sorry," she says. "I'm still distracted."
"I know you are, Alex, and that's one hundred percent understandable. But you can share that burden with me. Look," I say, patting my shoulders. "Big and broad and enough to carry all your burdens. I promise."
She slips into the bed, and I drop the blankets over her and take her into my arms. Some of the worry has left her brow and that makes me feel a bit better. I'll admit I was spooked by the man showing up in town and based on what Nicco has reported, the fervor over Alex's disappearance is only getting stronger. And now more people have found their way to Chickadee Ridge. I mean, what are the odds of that?
