Authors: Marin Thomas
“I wish I could see you drill down. Are you going to let Johnny and Jenny watch?”
Amusement lit his eyes. “If I know those two, they'll be over here a lot.”
“But what if there isn't any gas?”
“Then we'll close it back up.”
“And drill in another place?”
He raised up on one elbow. “No. This ranch shouldn't be spoiled like that. I'll just have to pray this one works.”
“I'll pray, too.”
“Yeah?” Ross reached over and tousled Andy's hair.
Kit felt a swelling in her throat. “We'll all pray. You and your partners have given so much for so many, both in the war and here. It's time you got something back in return.”
For a while they lay on their backs and rested in silence while Andy got up and walked around. In a minute she felt Ross's hand grasp hers. She turned on her side and saw a longing in his eyes that couldn't be mistaken for anything else.
“This is nice, Kit. You have no idea how nice.”
“But I do,” she said in a tremulous voice.
He rubbed his thumb over the inside of her wrist. “I want to kiss you more than you can imagine. If Andy weren't with us...”
She sat up and reluctantly removed her arm. “It's a good thing he's where I can see him because kissing you wouldn't be a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“We both know why. We're ships passing in the night. Nothing else.”
His lids narrowed. “Would it surprise you to know I haven't felt this strong an attraction to a woman in years?”
Her heart leaped. “Actually it would. Surrounded by women on the staff and in the Jackson area, let alone all the female guests who come to your ranch, an attractive man like you has ample, nonending opportunities.”
“Opportunities, yes. But not the accompanying desire I need to feel to act on them. You want me, too, so don't deny it. I felt your pulse just now. It runs away with you whenever we're together. I see the throbbing in the hollow of your throat, and I want to put my lips to it.”
She started putting things away in the hamper. “You're a bachelor and will feel the same way about another woman before long. But I'm not in a position to give into an impulse, especially not with our gracious host. I'm in the most precarious circumstances of my life. One wrong step could jeopardize everything. Andy is so vulnerable right now, it terrifies me.”
Ross got to his feet. “I understand that, but the day is coming before you leave when I'm going to give in to my own impulse, so watch out.”
No. That day wouldn't be coming. By the end of the week, she and Andy would be flying to Galveston. Much as she hated the idea of leaving here, she needed to be out on her own.
Having been confined at the mansion for too many years by her broken marriage and Charles's domination, she needed freedom from any strings. Getting to know Ross any better would not be in her best interests. Intimacy blurred the lines, making it difficult to focus.
She closed the hamper for him to put in the truck. “Andy?” She waved to her son. “We're leaving. Come on!”
Kit folded the blanket. As she started walking toward Ross, her cell phone rang again. Her gaze automatically flew to his. He stood there with a distinct frown marring his handsome features. It was as if the sound punctuated better than words the instability of her situation. No words passed between them as he put the blanket away.
Andy joined them. “I wish we didn't have to go. I want to hike up higher and see everything.”
“There's a lake up above those trees shaped like a sea horse.”
“A sea horse?”
Ross chuckled. “Cross my heart. Carson has a picture of it from the air. It's got fish, but you have to work for them. What do you say we plan to come back here tomorrow? We'll hike around and have an overnight campout. Whatever we catch, we'll eat.”
“That would be great!”
As far as Kit was concerned, Ross's plans had just made Andy's whole trip for him. He was starving for attention, but the three of them alone for overnight probably wasn't the smartest plan. Better to add to the group.
She put an arm around his shoulders, warm from the sun. “I think it's a terrific idea.” Without looking at their host, she said, “If it's all right with Ross, maybe Jenny and Johnny can come.”
“The more the merrier,” he said at once. “We'll ask them at dinner.”
To her relief Andy didn't complain about the other kids coming and got in the backseat. That was another relief. As long as he rode inside the truck with them, she wouldn't be getting into another personal conversation with Ross she couldn't handle.
She hadn't stopped trembling since he'd told her he wanted her.
You want me, too.
The fact that what he'd said was true had really shaken her.
Thankfully Ross and Andy chatted on the way home about fishing and hunting. To her surprise it was already three-thirty when they arrived back. When she was with Ross, the time went by too fast.
Before her son asked Ross what he'd be doing later, Kit asked if he would drop them off at the ranch house. She announced that she wanted to get one of the puzzles from the game room. They'd walk back to the cabin and work on it until dinner. Without looking at him she thanked him for the outing, and they parted company.
“See you at dinner,” Andy called to him.
“I'll be there.”
* * *
R
OSS
WATCHED
THEM
round the corner of the ranch house. His ache for Kit had grown. Knowing she wanted him too helped him keep his sanity. Tonight after Andy went to bed, he'd get her alone and end this insufferable hunger.
After returning the hamper to the kitchen, he walked down the hall to the office with his notebook in hand. Now that Ross had met with Mac Dawson, Carson needed to see the recent figures and calculations for the project and give his okay. Ross was crossing his fingers because, like Mac, he had a hunch the natural gas was there waiting.
He entered his notes into the computer, excited for the drilling to get started. Andy's comment that he'd pray the well would produce had touched Ross's heart. He was a sweet boy like Johnny with a depth and intelligence Ross found exceptionally appealing. Andy was Kit's son. That accounted for a big part of it. No one could have a better mother. Naturally he'd inherited some of his father's good qualities, too.
Who would have thought all this had been hidden inside the unhappy boy who'd first arrived here? When Ross thought of his reservations at meeting her and Andy, he was ashamed.
A tap on the door caused his head to lift, bringing him back to the present. “Come on in.”
“Boss?” Willy closed the door behind him. “I'm glad you're back. The Teton County Sheriff, Leo Barton, is out in the foyer wanting to speak to you personally about a missing person.”
Personally?
Well, well, well.
The sheriff, no less. After all those phone calls Kit hadn't answered this morning, Charles Wentworth had wasted no time.
“Do you want me to show him in here?”
“Please.” The less drama in front of their guests coming in and out of the ranch house, the better. “Thank you, Willy.”
The younger man paused at the door. “What's going on?”
“When I
know, you will, too.”
His brows lifted. “Okay.”
A minute later he heard another knock on the door. Ross got up to open it. “Sheriff Barton? Come in and sit down.”
“Thank you, Mr. Livingston.”
“How can I help you?”
“Do you have guests staying here by the name of Kathryn Wentworth? She's with a nine-year-old boy named Andrew?”
“Yes, that's her son. They arrived on Saturday. What's wrong?”
“Her in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wentworth, have reason to suspect they might have gone missing since then. I have a warrant issued by Judge Otis Marcroft in Knox County, Maine, to look for them.”
Good grief.
Ross pretended to be surprised. “You mean the Wentworths think she's been kidnapped while she's been here on the ranch?”
“I can't answer that question. My job is to search the premises for them.”
“You don't need to search. I'll take you to them in my truck. I was with them all day until about a half hour ago when I dropped them off. They're in their cabin.”
The sheriff scratched his head. “You say you were with them all day?”
“That's right. I've been with them 24/7 since they came to the ranch. Today we were out at the eastern end of the property. I had a meeting with Mac Dawson from the Dawson Gas Company in Jackson. He can vouch for them since I introduced them to him.”
“I'd be obliged if you'd show me to their cabin.”
“My truck's around the side.”
They walked out past a bewildered-looking Willy. Once the sheriff got in beside him, Ross headed for the cabin. He wished he could have prepared Kit and Andy, but his hands were tied. This could be a frightening experience for a young boy whose only fault was to be the grandson of Genghis Khan.
There was something mentally wrong with Charles Wentworth to be willing to scare his grandson like this in order to make Kit cave to his demands.
Over Ross's dead body.
He pulled up and followed the sheriff to the porch. The older man gave a loud knock.
Soon Kit opened the door. Andy was right behind her. He could see the puzzle they'd been working on set up on the table.
The sheriff examined them from head to toe. “Good afternoon, ma'am. I'm Sheriff Barton from the Teton County Sheriff's Office in Jackson. You're Kathryn Wentworth?”
Ross could read Kit's mind. She knew exactly what was going on and lifted her proud chin. He admired her more than anyone he knew for her sheer guts in handling a bad situation.
“I am, and this is my son Andrew Wentworth. How can I help you?”
“I'd like to see your identification, please.”
“Just a moment.” She went over to the table for her purse and pulled out a wallet. She came back to the door and showed him her driver's license. While he was at it, he looked through her pictures.
Andy had lost a little color, but he stood there at his mother's side like a man. A feeling of love for the boy swept through Ross.
“I was issued a warrant to locate you.” He handed her back the wallet.
“By whom?”
“Your father-in-law has been looking for you and was ready to file a missing person's report.”
“Be he
knows
I'm here. I don't understand. Andy and I have been on this ranch since the moment we flew in from Bar Harbor on Saturday. We've been in constant telephone contact with Andy's grandparents until today when Mr. Livingston took us sightseeing on the property.
“Check his telephone records and mine. They'll verify we've had several phone calls, sometimes twice a day, proving we've been in contact. Unless someone told him we'd been kidnapped today, Charles has no reason to think anything. At the invitation of the owners of this ranch who made this trip possible for us, Andy and I have been having a marvelous time!”
“Is that true, son?”
“Yup. Ross has shown me the best time ever.”
Oh, Andy.
The boy's genuineness and innocence stuck out a mile.
Ross had it in his heart to almost feel sorry for the sheriff who'd been sent on a fool's errand. By the ruddy color that crept into his face, the man knew it.
“How long will you be on the ranch?”
“We leave Saturday.”
“And your plans after that?”
“Does that warrant include finding out my future plans? Because if it does, I'm not sure of them yet.”
Kit knew what she was doing. She wasn't about to disclose her destination once she left here.
“No, ma'am.”
“Then is that all, Sheriff?”
“Yes, ma'am. Sorry to disturb you.”
“That's all right.” She shut the door, but not before her eyes flicked to Ross with a glimmer of mirth. Kit Wentworth was a prize, packaged with the stuff men's dreams were made of.
He got back in the truck and drove the sheriff to his decked-out police van parked in front where everyone walking around could see it. Their guests had to wonder what was happening. After learning that Charles Wentworth was at the bottom of this warrant, Ross bet he'd driven in here all bells and whistles. He probably hadn't had a mission this exciting in years!
Carson stepped outside from the foyer. No doubt Willy had already told him about the visit. He walked over and tipped his hat. “Sheriff Barton?”
“Carson.” They shook hands.
“Haven't seen you in a while. Did you find the people you were looking for?”
“Yup. They were at their cabin.”
“Anything else we can do for you?”
“Nope. I have a hell of lot of things more important to do than come chasing out here for someone who's not missing.”
“Oh, well. It's all in a day's work, right?”
He nodded and climbed in his van. “Looks like you're doing a right fine business. Your granddad would be proud of you.”
Carson smiled at Ross. “Thanks to my partners here, it's growing. That's for sure. Take care now.”
They both watched until the van was out of sight before bursting into laughter. Ross turned to him. “You should have seen Kit after she opened the door. She handled him like a pro. So did Andy.”
“To do this in front of Andy, that father-in-law of hers is a real nasty piece of work, Ross.”
“You can say that again. I'm going back to the cabin to make sure they're all right.”
“Go ahead.”
“I take it the kids aren't back yet.”
“Tracy called. They just got out of the movie and will be home soon.”
“Good. Tomorrow I'm planning to take Andy and Kit on an overnight campout to Bluebell Lake. If the kids could join us, Andy would like it.”