Santa in a Stetson (5 page)

“No. She came to Salt Lake for a reason, but didn't tell her father where she was going. He thought she was at school.”

“Oh, dear.”

“When she got off the Greyhound bus she became dizzy. Someone called the police and she was taken to the hospital without any ID or money. She wouldn't tell anyone anything. That's why I was called in.”

“The poor child.”

“My feeling exactly. Something's going on with her, Mom. I have no idea why she came here, but she finally trusted me enough to let me contact her father.”

“He must have been out of his mind with grief.”

Kathryn would never forget the way he'd answered the phone. Talk about a terrified parent. “He was…and so grateful for the call.”

“Of course. No one knows better than I what that phone call was like when Maggie told us she'd found
you!
” Her mother broke down weeping.

Afraid it would get her started, Kathryn said, “Allie's frightened, too, and for some reason is clinging to me. Since she needs watching, I decided to see her back safely.”

“Well—” her mother sniffed “—you and Maggie take care. Call us when you get there.”

“I promise. Love you, Mom.”

The gleaming white-and-blue Cessna with gold striping stood out from the overcast sky as it descended and made seamless contact with the runway. Colt had been given permission to drive his Xterra as close as the rules allowed to pick up his daughter.

Matt whistled. “Sweet. How would it be to own one of those?”

Colt agreed, but right now he'd focused his gaze on the door, waiting for it to open. The second there was movement, he started forward.

“Allie!” he cried when he saw her in the aperture wearing her parka.

“Hi, Dad!”

He took the last steps to reach her and pulled her into his arms. She gave him a squeeze that almost knocked his hat off. “Do you have any idea how happy I am to see you?” Without letting her go, he carried her the small distance to the car. Matt opened the rear door so Colt could help her into the seat. He kissed her forehead.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, but I'm glad to be home.”

“Amen to that.” In a second he had her strapped in. “I'll be right back.”

When he started for the plane again, his breath caught at the sight of the stunning blonde woman who'd just stepped out on the tarmac. Impressions of caramel swirls among vanilla cream flew at him like reflections off a glacier sparkling in the sun.

She was the epitome of feminine elegance, the kind of trait a few women were born with that had nothing to do with what they wore. Although what she was wearing was perfect down to the shape of her slim waist shown off in a suede jacket. It drew his attention to her womanly hips and long legs. A white parka lay over one arm. She held a small suitcase in her other hand.

“Whoa,” his son murmured behind him. Matt was old enough to appreciate the sight of a truly gorgeous woman.

His comment said it all, jerking Colt back to his senses. He reached for her suitcase. “Welcome to Montana, Ms. McFarland. I'm Colton Brenner. This is Allie's brother, Matt.”

Her startling blue eyes shifted to his son. “How are you, Matt?” She shook his hand. “Did anyone ever tell you that you and Allie look a lot alike? Except you're the handsome one.”

While Colt chuckled, a warm blush spread over Matt's face. “Call me Katy.”

For some reason she didn't look like a Katy to him. “Matt? If you'll help her in the front seat, I'll stow this in the back. Let me have your parka.”

“Thank you.” As she handed it to him, their arms brushed. He could smell her fragrance. All of it was
unexpected, increasing an unbidden awareness of her. Colt didn't like it. He'd never experienced such a strong reaction to a woman before, not even when— A grimace marred his features.
Just don't think, Brenner.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her climb in the backseat next to Allie. She had a mind of her own. It was just as well. Now she wouldn't be seated next to him to provide a distraction he didn't need while he took them home.

He walked around and got in behind the wheel. As he drove away, he could see the Cessna taxiing out in preparation for takeoff. “You people have provided an amazing service for our family. You'll have to tell me where I can send a contribution.”

“That's very generous of you, but the patient advocacy program is in place for that very purpose. The only thing of importance is that your daughter is back with you safe and sound.”

And troubled.

He glanced over his shoulder at Allie. “I was worried about your cold, honey. We should have done something about it a few days ago.”

“A lot of my friends have had one. Do you think they've had the H1N1, Katy?”

“Probably. We might not have known about you if you hadn't taken that long bus trip. It exhausted you and caused your temperature to spike.”

Colt turned onto the highway headed toward the ranch. “Next time you're sick, I'm not waiting to get you in to see the doctor.”

“I'm sorry about everything. Hey, Katy? Do you think Matt will catch it?”

Colt's eyes met their guest's amused gaze through the rearview mirror. It was only a moment, but he felt a connection. The same kind of feeling he'd experienced with her over the phone. He gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“Tell you what. If he gets a cold, your father can take him in to be tested.”

“I'm not going to get it,” Matt grumbled.

Time for a change of subject. “Noreen is fixing your favorite dinner. I hope you'll be able to eat a little of it.”

“Breakfast tasted good, and I ate part of my lunch.”

“Sounds like your appetite has picked up. I don't think you ate a solid meal all week.”

“That's because my throat was sore. Do you like enchiladas, Katy?”

“I adore them. In fact, I could live on Mexican food.”

Matt leaned forward. “That's what
you
always say, Dad.”

Colt stepped on the gas. The sooner they reached the ranch where they weren't all trapped together, the better.

“Is it hard learning how to be a nurse?” Allie asked.

“Only if you have trouble with math and chemistry.”

“I guess
you
didn't,” Matt said.

“But I'm a klutz at logic. My last boyfriend showed me his LSAT books. I took some of the sample quizzes and failed them.”

“What does LSAT mean?”

“It's a test to see if you can get in to law school.”

“I didn't know that. Give us an example.”

“It's hard to think of one.”

“Try.” To Colt's astonishment, Matt was being amazingly persistent.

“Okay. Let's say a person in a cold climate buys a stylish coat, even though it doesn't keep him warm. You assume this person will sacrifice comfort for appearance, right?”

They both said yes.

“So then you have to read five different situations to see which one the same assumption applies to. But it's hard and tricky. For example, an acrobat asks the circus to buy him an expensive outfit to impress the audience. Do you think that's the same thing?”

Silence reigned. Finally Allie said, “I don't get it.”

“Neither do I. Did you, Dad?”

“Well, let's think about it. The guy in the cold climate needed some kind of a coat, warm or not. The acrobat didn't need an expensive outfit. Any kind of outfit would have worked.”

“I still don't get it.”

“Neither do I,” Katy assured him. “My brain doesn't work like your father's or Steve's. As I said earlier, trying to do his homework was worse than figuring out a Chinese puzzle.”

Both his children laughed and kept on chatting with her.

Steve. Her latest boyfriend out of how many? What was she? Mid-twenties? Her age was hard to tell.

She was a catalyst, stirring up conversations they'd
never had, prompting them to ask questions they wouldn't have thought of.
Disturbing the peace and tranquility of his well-ordered life.

 

K
ATHRYN NOTICED
her host let his children carry the conversation the rest of the way to the ranch. They traveled under a low ceiling of clouds. She was glad they'd beaten the latest storm front.

At the entrance to the Circle B, he turned off the main road and they began the climb through a mountain fairyland flocked with snow. It spoke to her heart of hearts.

She felt it happening again. That spurt of adrenaline racing through her body.

The first time she'd experienced it was at the plane when she'd seen the tall rancher striding toward her wearing well-worn cowboy boots and a black Stetson. Rugged, powerful. She'd immediately thought,
here
was a man to match his mountains.

Over the years at Skwars Farm, she'd roomed with many families in a rotation. The last family she'd been with had a daughter, Nelly, close to Kathryn's age. Nelly had a driver's license and could take the family car into town. She always stopped at the library to bring back more Louis L'Amour books for Kathryn, who'd gotten hooked on
High Lonesome
years earlier.

Ever since Kathryn had been old enough to fantasize, she'd pretended to be Considine's woman. Considine was the hard-hitting outlaw whose code of honor in the face of all odds helped him survive on the American frontier.

Talk about an out-of-body experience—just a little
while ago he'd come to life in the form of Colton Brenner.

Fantasizing was a tool Kathryn had used to survive during her twenty-six years in captivity. Her psychiatrist couldn't emphasize often enough that it played the key role in helping her cope during the years she was floundering.

But it had been four years since her family had found her and she still couldn't shut off the mechanism that caused her to dream beyond the boundaries of reality. Staring at Colton Brenner, imagining he was the hero of her young girl's dreams, wasn't healthy.

Already she sensed this twenty-first-century family man had staked out his own territory a long time ago. Only a special few had entrée into his inner circle. Kathryn got the distinct impression she was an unwanted guest here, existing on borrowed time because of an unexpected turn of events involving Allie. If nothing else, his set boundaries guaranteed an end to her flights of fantasy, breaking the dangerous quarter-of-a-century cycle.

The car wound around one more curve in the road lined with walls of dense evergreens covered in snow. Suddenly they came upon a vale nestled between the mountains containing a fabulous western-style ranch house. Smoke curled from the chimney.

She picked out the barn, the bunkhouses and bungalows, another house, outbuildings, pens and corrals. In the far distance, she saw the stream that crossed the property and beyond it a herd of cattle.

“We're home, Katy.”

“I can see that.” She squeezed the teen's arm. “I've
decided the name Circle B doesn't do this place justice. It should be called something evocative like Cloud Bottom Ranch.”

Everyone in the car laughed, even the children's father. He said, “Our ancestors started what was then called the Ayrshire Ranch on just six hundred acres and a little bungalow. They hoped to raise Ayrshire dairy cows, but the experiment didn't last long.

“Each generation of Brenners that followed bought other small parcels of land and grew crops. It got renamed the Circle B after my great-grandfather brought in Angus cattle. No one could pronounce Ayrshire properly anyway. He wanted something simple and straightforward.”

She smiled, remembering the problems people had with names like her kidnapper Antonin Buric and the Skwars families. “Americans do have a way of slaughtering most languages.” Once again, the twins roared with laughter.

Through the rearview mirror, she felt their father's gaze. “As the ranch began to prosper, the Circle B stuck, but I must admit your fanciful version captures its true essence. Interestingly enough, the Sioux and Shoshone had two names for this area depending on the season. In winter they called it ‘Walkway to the Clouds.'”

Kathryn felt a little shiver race across her skin. “How beautiful.” He nodded. “And summer?”

“Valley of the Flowers.”

Another Albion Basin. Just like home.

More stuff fantasies were made of, but she was through with those. Realizing the car had stopped, she
undid her seat belt and leaned across to help Allie. “I bet bed sounds good about now.”

“It does.”

“I thought so.”

Matt opened the door for Kathryn while their father picked up his daughter and carried her around the end of the house. Kathryn alighted from the car with her purse. “Thanks, Matt.”

“Sure.” He opened the trunk to get her parka and suitcase. “Follow me.”

The two-story ranch house had been constructed of dark wood and local stone. At the back, there was a large covered veranda with picture windows facing an eastern exposure.

Matt showed her through the door into a room to wash hands and stow boots and parkas. He hung hers on a peg, then walked her down a hall that opened into a vaulted great room dominated by the rock fireplace. On either side were huge, tall picture windows looking out on the mountains. This had to be the heart of their home.

“I'll take your suitcase upstairs and be right back, Katy.”

“Thanks, Matt.”

The comfortable brown leather couches and chairs with colorful woven throws invited her to curl up. Framed family pictures covered one wall. Her eyes wandered over the floor-to-ceiling bookcase filled with books, games and an entertainment center. Dark honey-colored hardwood floors not covered by oriental rugs gleamed in the firelight.

She gravitated to the fire's warmth, eager to look at every photo and examine the titles.

“Welcome to the Circle B, Ms. McFarland. I'm Noreen Walters.”

Kathryn swung around. The older brunette woman was probably in her fifties. Hearty-looking. Attractive. “How do you do.” She shook hands with her. “From what I hear, nobody could get along without you and your husband.”

“That's nice to know. How's my girl?”

“She's going to be fine, but needs bed rest and liquids with her medication. I'm really superfluous, except for checking her vitals. The one thing we don't want is to find she's getting respiratory problems or see her temperature elevate. It's been hovering between ninety-nine and a hundred since last night. I'm anticipating it will get back to normal by tomorrow.”

“That little monkey fought her father about her cold.”

“Isn't that why they call it the terrible teens?”

Noreen chuckled. “Do you have children?”

“No. I'm not married. What about you?”

A shadow marred her expression. “I had three miscarriages before we came to work for Colton.”

Kathryn felt her pain. “Now you have two remarkable children.”

The shadow disappeared. “Yes.”

“I fear there are times when she thinks she has a stubborn third one.” Her host's deep voice prompted Kathryn to turn around.