Untamed (21 page)

“I can charter a plane if I want.”

“Of course you can— if it’s for yourself or Clint. But you can’t do it for me.”

“Fine, then Clint and I will go with you. From what I hear, the Rocky River Ranch has a world-class barrel racer trainer—Jed’s wife. She’s a two-time world champion, and she and Jed’s brother Jake have started breeding and training. I was thinking of maybe getting into that.”

Clint jumped in. “Not a bad idea. Let me call Dillon Smith and see if I can get a couple of his boys over here in the morning to fill in and we’ll do it.”

“No!” Ellie protested. “No. You can’t do that. Seriously, I can’t let you—”

Lily walked over to her and put her hands on Ellie’s shoulders. “Honey, you can. We want to do this and I’m not going to take no for an answer.”

“Lily.” Ellie’s eyes welled with tears of gratitude. No one had ever been so generous or caring to her.

Lily hugged her. “Now don’t go getting me all worked up. We’ve got two hungry men and dinner isn’t gonna get made if we’re standing here bawling.”

Ellie returned the hug and released her. “I don’t know how but one day I
am
going to repay you.”

Lily shrugged. “Not necessary.”

Ellie looked over at Cam to find him smiling at her. For a moment, all of the worry and fear fell away and she allowed herself to bask in the feeling of being surrounded by people who cared—and in the magic of looking into the eyes of a man. The man she loved more than anything. If only life could be this way permanently.

Chapter Thirteen

They landed at a small airport just outside of Charlotte the next morning before eight. When they emerged from the small terminal, Clint called out a greeting. “Yo! Colt!”

Ellie stopped dead in her tracks as the tall man standing at the curb beside a big double cab pickup truck turned. Until that moment, she’d been convinced that she’d never seen men more handsome or sexy than Cam and Clint Marsh.

Colton Marsh was a good two inches taller than his brothers with the same coal black hair that was just starting to gray at the temples, eyes the color of smoke and a body that made a woman want to give thanks for having eyes in her head.

He met Clint with a hug. “Good to see you, little brother. It’s been too long.”

“Yeah, you keep promising to bring your tired old ass for a visit.”

“Guilty. Hey beautiful,” he said to Lily. “You decide to upgrade to a better Marsh model yet?”

“Tempting, but no,” Lily said and hugged him. Ellie noticed how small Lily looked in Colton’s arms. Colton released her and looked at Cam. “Come here, Cameron.”

Cam and Colton embraced in that manly manner and then Cam turned and took Ellie’s hand. “Ellie, this is our brother Colton. Colt, this is Ellie.”

Colton took her hand and looked down into her eyes. “So this is the one? I see why. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ellie.”

Ellie damn near swallowed her tongue. Talk about sex appeal. She loved Cam with her whole heart, but still she couldn’t help but be affected by Colton. Not only was he good looking with sex appeal in spades, but his voice could coax ice to melt on the polar cap.

“It’s so nice to meet you.”

He smiled and released her hand. “Okay, load up. Jed and his crew are waiting for us. And there’s something I want to talk to Clint and Lily about on the way.”

They all piled into the truck. “So what’s up?” Clint asked from the front seat beside his brother.

“Jed. You know we go way back. In the Rangers together. Well, his family’s got some trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“Poisoned cattle and horses. They lost a lot of their boarding business. And there’s some kind of problem with some old deed from a hundred years ago or some shit that has them tangled up in a legal mess. Jesse…” He looked over his shoulder at Cam. “You remember him from your rodeo days don’t you? Jesse Nash?”

“Hell yeah.” Cam said. “World Champion how many times?”

“A lot.” Colton said. “Anyway. Jesse and Jed’s wife, Mik, have been on the circuit for a few months and stand a good chance at Nationals. Even if they win it might not be enough to keep the ranch from going under.  Jed’s already borrowed all he can and I don’t know if it’ll be enough.”

“And?” Clint asked.

“And I want to help.”

“You mean you want us to help.”

“That about sums it up, little brother. I can put up a hundred k but I need someone to match that.”

“A loan?” Clint asked.

“An investment. I don’t expect Jed to sell any part of the ranch, but I’d like to get first dibs on his stock and since I’ve been thinking about expanding my breeding program, I think I might like to do something with stock for the rodeo. And tap into Mik and Jake’s training program. Jake’s the younger brother, by the way.”

Clint looked back at Lily before he answered. “I don’t quite see where we’d get a return on the investment.”

“You’d get paid back, Clint. Jed’s a stand-up guy. And a fellow rancher—an independent that’s fighting the same battles we all face.”

When Clint looked back at Lily she spoke up. “Mine if I jump in?”

“Course not,” Colton replied.

“How about we deal with what we came here for and then, if you want, we’ll all have a sit down with Jed and see if we can figure out a way to help. I know he’s your friend and if you trust him that’s good enough for me. But a hundred thousand is a lot to shell out so we need to make sure it’s going to keep him from losing the place and we’re not just pouring money into something that can’t be saved.”

“Fair enough,” Colton agreed.

Ellie sat listening and watching. What amazing people the Marsh family was to be willing to try to help someone like Colton’s friend just because Colton asked. She thought about it the rest of the drive.

“You okay, hon?” Cam asked as they turned onto a drive off the main road with a sign beside it announcing the Rocky River Ranch.

“Yeah, fine.” She gave him a smile and hoped it looked more confident that she felt. Truthfully, she felt little silly asking strangers for help, particularly this type of help.

A tall man in a worn Stetson was just climbing down off a horse as Colton pulled the truck up in front of one of the barns. The man smiled as Colton got out of the truck. Everyone else piled out and followed Colton as he approached the man.

“Colton.” The man said with a smile.

“Jed.” Colton clasped the hand Jed offered. “How you doin’ bro?”

“Still alive and kickin’.”

“Amen to that. These are my brothers, Clint and Cam.”

“Clint,” Clint said as he shook Jed’s hand. “And my wife, Lily.”

“Pleasure,” Jed shook both their hands and Cam’s, then looked at Ellie.

“And I guess that makes you Ellie.”

Good lord.
He was as bad as the Marsh men were. Or as good. Where the hell were all these fine fellows when she was alone in North Carolina?

“Yes,” she finally found her tongue. “Thank you for agreeing to help me, Mr. Nash.”

“Not sure I’ll be any help, but my better half and her sisters might be able to lend you a hand. And we’re happy to do it. Colton and I go back a ways. He saved my sorry ass more than a time or two so the way I see it, I owe him.”

“Like hell,” Colton argued. “I remember more than a few times I’d have bit the big one if you weren’t at my back.”

“Those were the days, brother,” Jed said and then gestured to the house.
“Well come on in. Mik’s inside with Jake and Jesse. Her sisters will be along shortly.”

Everyone went inside and introductions were made. Ellie was stunned. Jed’s brothers Jesse and Jake were just as handsome as he was and Jed’s wife, Mik was stunning.

It took about ten minutes before Lily and Mik were sitting at the kitchen table with Jake, yakking away about breeding programs and training regimens. Jed, Colton, and Clint got into discussions about ranching and Cam and Jesse were having a fine time talking about the rodeo.

Ellie was feeling very much the odd man out until a beautiful willowy blonde-haired woman walked in.

“Teddy!” Mik got up and introduced her sister to everyone. Teddy shook Ellie’s hand, held onto it and the smile faded from her face.

A moment later, she put her arms around Ellie and hugged her. “It’s okay, you’re among friends,” she whispered.

Ellie was shocked at the wave of relief that washed over her. “Thank you,” she said when Teddy pulled back.

“Come on.” Teddy took her hand. “Let’s go into the den where it’s quiet. Get acquainted.”

Ellie looked over her shoulder at Cam as Teddy led her away. He gave her a smile and made a move to follow, but Jed put his hand on Cam’s shoulder and leaned close to say something that Ellie didn’t catch.

“So, Jed tells me you’ve got a bit of a mystery on your hands,” Teddy said as she took a seat on the couch and patted the cushion beside her.

“You could say that,” Ellie replied.

“You want to tell me?”

Ellie cut her eyes to the people in the kitchen then back to Teddy. “I’m afraid this will sound…crazy.”

“Honey, trust me, I’ve seen my share of crazy.”

“Well,” Ellie cleared her throat and paused to compose her thoughts. “Here goes.”

She kept it as concise as possible, and even then it took her ten minutes to tell the tale. When she finished Teddy nodded. “You have the scroll and box with you?”

“Yes.” Ellie reached for her shoulder bag that she’d set on the floor and pulled out the scroll.

Teddy reached for it but stopped at the sound of a woman’s voice. “Hold on Teddy.”

Ellie looked to see a beautiful tall red-haired woman, standing in the doorway. “Hi,” the woman said. “I’m Alex. Teddy and Mik’s sister.”

“Ellie.”

“Hi, Ellie. Sorry, I wasn’t eavesdropping. Oh, hell yeah I was. But I wanted to hear the story.”

“So why can’t I touch the scroll?” Teddy asked.

“Because of that,” Teddy walked over to take seat in a chair adjacent to the couch and pointed at Ellie’s necklace. “Haven’t you been watching? If she moves and it moves away from her skin the light inside it dims.”

“Really?” Teddy looked at the necklace. “Show me.”

Ellie lifted the chain so that the gem was not against her skin then let it fall back into place. Teddy’s eyes widened. “Very cool.”

“Touch it first,” Alex suggested.

“May I?” Teddy asked Ellie.

“Sure.”

“What’s going on?” Mik asked as she and Lily walked into the room.

Alex filled them in and they sat down to watch. Teddy reached out and lifted the gem from where it rested against Ellie’s chest, closing her hand around it. She closed her eyes and for a few seconds there was no sound or movement in the room.

When Teddy’s body suddenly arched back and her eyes flew open, Ellie jumped. She was, however, the only person in the room who didn’t gasp when light shot from between Teddy’s closed fingers.

It apparently scared Mik because she jumped up and hurried to Teddy, crawling up on the couch behind her and wrapping her arms around Teddy. Ellie pried Teddy’s hand open. Once the gem was free of her hand, Teddy slumped back against Mik, her eyes closed and her breath coming fast and hard.

Ellie’s own heart was racing. What had she done? If Teddy was hurt everyone would blame her and rightly so. She should never have let Teddy touch the gem. Her eyes moved to the doorway and she saw Cam standing there. He hurried across the room and sat beside her, wrapping one arm around her.

“It’ll be okay,” he whispered.

“What if she’s hurt?” Ellie whispered back. “Maybe we should call—”

“Teddy?” When Alex spoke Teddy;s name, Ellie turned back to look at Teddy.

Teddy’s eyes were open. She looked at Ellie then at Alex. “She’s not human.”

“What?” Mik blurted from behind Teddy. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t… I can’t explain it.” Teddy said. “I just know. That necklace isn’t from this plane of existence. It’s from another place. A place where Ellie comes from. Or at least where her people come from.”

“That’s crazy,” Cam, said when everyone else gaped at Teddy in shock.

“Maybe not.” Alex said and got up to wedge herself on the couch between Teddy and Ellie. “I may be able to help.”

“How?”

“I can…” She cut glanced at Mik and when Mik nodded, turned her attention back to Ellie. “I can talk to the dead.”

That sent a shiver down Ellie’s spine, and she fumbled for Cam’s hand. If what Alex said was true then could Alex talk to Ellie’s father? He held all the answers.

It seemed worth a try but for some reason Ellie was terrified. “I… color me chicken but this all scares me.”

“It’ll be okay,” Alex assured her. “I just need something that belonged to someone in your family who has crossed over.”

“The scroll.” Ellie said and started to hand it to her then pulled it back. “No, wait there’s something else.”

She pulled the scroll from her bag. Alex held out her hand and Ellie placed the scroll in it. Teddy reached out and put her hand on the scroll. They both extended hands to Ellie. She clasped hands with them and Alex spoke. “Okay, now I want you to think about whom this belonged to. You don’t have to tell me, just think about them.”

Ellie did as Alex instructed. She closed her eyes, thought about her father, about the sound of his voice, his smell, the way she felt safe, and loved when he held her. She summoned every memory she had of him and got so lost in the memories that when Alex spoke, she jumped.

“Your father was a White Horse. I know that’s your last name, but in the beginning, when his people first came here, they disguised themselves as white horses, big, powerful creatures with long flowing manes and tails. When the door to their world closed, trapping them here, they adopted the name Whitehorse.”

Teddy spoke up next. “Your father left you this scroll and the necklace in hopes that you would be able to open that door and allow your people to return home.”

Ellie looked around at the other people in the room and the expression on their faces mirrored what she felt. Disbelief.

“I… I don’t want you to take this the wrong way because I’m really grateful to you.” She looked around at everyone. “To all of you. But…but this can’t be true. I’m human. Just like you. Just like my father. He wasn’t some…he was…”

“Fae.” Alex said.

“Fae?” Cam blurted. “What the heck is that?”

“Fairy.” Teddy answered.

“That’s just plain crazy.” Cam argued.