Authors: E. M. Leya
"Nothing in the house. I looked in every closet, under every bed. Anywhere he could hide." Evan looked as frantic as Travis felt.
Travis whistled as he ran toward the corral where his own horse was already running to the fence. Travis opened the gate and jumped up on the back of his horse. He didn't have time to worry about a saddle. As he rode the horse out of the corral, using his knees to guide her, he glanced down at Evan. "I'm going to go check where we watched the deer. We've been out that way a few times. He may have gone there because he knows it. Keep looking here and call my cell phone if you find him." Travis didn't wait for an answer as he kicked the horse and took off at a full gallop toward the mountain in the distance.
The horse moved beneath him in long heavy strides. It was as if she could sense his worry as she gave into his urging kicks and picked up her speed. Travis searched the land, calling out as he rode, praying that Jason was safe.
He should have never told him about the case. He'd been so worried about the outcome that he thought it was only fair to prepare Jason for the worst, but now that it was over, he wished he had just kept his mouth shut.
"Jason!" Sweat dripped down his neck from the afternoon heat. "Jason, where are you?"
Each minute felt like an hour as he continued forward. It wasn't until he was at the rock where Jason usually stood to watch the deer that he slowed the horse and let her rest for a moment as he looked around.
"Jason!" His voice echoed off the rocks.
"Uncle Travis."
The voice was faint but Travis knew he hadn't imagined the faint call. "Jason, where are you?" He held his breath as he fought to hear.
"Over here." Jason's scared voice was still faint.
Travis ran toward the sound. "Keep calling to me, Cowboy."
"I'm up here." Jason's voice was a little louder.
Travis stopped and looked up. He cursed as he saw Jason half way up a cropping of rocks, sitting on the edge of a high ledge. "Hold on. Don't move."
"I'm scared."
So was Travis as he looked at the cliff and his fear of heights gripped him as he wondered how he would ever make it up to where Jason sat. "How did you get up there?"
"Climbed."
Travis sighed as he pulled off his suit coat and tossed it on the ground. "I'm coming. Don't move, okay. Not even a little bit." He looked around, trying to find a path up that Jason might have taken, but it was almost a straight climb no matter where he looked.
"I won't." Jason kicked his legs as if sitting on the edge of the cliff was nothing more than sitting on the edge of the swimming pool.
Travis stood at the bottom of the rocky mountain and slowly started to climb. His fingers gripped into the rock as he struggled to find footing. How a six year old had made it up was beyond him. He tried to ignore his fear as he climbed higher, his worry for Jason pushing him up. His dress boots slipped against the rock as he dug his fingers into anything he could to hold on.
He should have called Evan first and told him where they were in case he fell, but it was too late now. He continued his climb up the side of the rock until he finally stepped off on the small cliff overhang where Jason sat.
Jason rose up to come to him and Travis grabbed him fast, pulling him back into his body to keep them both from falling over the edge.
"I was so worried. Why did you leave?" Travis stared down at Jason as he held him tight against his legs.
"I don't want to go live with Grandma." Jason's eyes filled with tears.
"You don't have to, Cowboy. You get to live here with me. I told you we would fight for you. I don't want you to go anywhere."
"I get to stay?" Jason looked up.
"You sure do. Forever." Travis ran his fingers through the boys blond hair. "Okay, we need to find a way down."
"Can we jump?" Jason went to pull away.
"No!" Travis tightened his grip as his heart leapt in his chest. Every time he looked down at the ground thirty feet below, he felt his stomach flip. "We are going to have to go really slow." Travis debated on the best way, but the only way was the way he had come up. He hardly dared to move as he reached down and with a tight grip lifted Jason up and set him on his shoulders. "I want you to hold on around my neck as tight as you can."
Jason did as he asked, almost choking Travis as he wrapped his arms around his neck and pressed his chest to the back of his head.
"You scared, Uncle Travis?"
"Very." Travis slowly started to turn around. "But we will get down just fine." He prayed it was the truth. He eased one foot down, careful of his footing as his fingers dug into the rock and dirt. Step by step he worked his way down the side of the mountain as Jason clung to him.
"Am I in trouble?" Jason asked as they neared the halfway point.
"No, but we are going to have a long talk about running away like that. You scared all of us. Jake and Evan are back at the house worried about you."
"I just thought if you couldn't find me, then I wouldn't have to go live with Grandma."
"You were going to live out here?"
"With the deer," Jason said as if it wasn't a big deal.
Travis smiled, but held back his laugh, too scared as he searched for another foothold.
"We're almost there."
Travis glanced down and sure enough they were only about ten feet from the ground. Still high enough for his fear to grip him, but close enough that if they did fall it wouldn't kill either of them. He slowly found his way down another five feet before jumping to the ground.
Once he was sure his feet were steady, he pulled Jason from his shoulders to his chest, hugging him tight. "You scared me so bad."
Tears fell from Jason's eyes. "I didn't mean to."
"I know, Cowboy. It's okay. Next time just trust me to handle things, okay. I would never let anything happen to you that would hurt you." Travis rubbed his nose through the boy's hair, inhaling the scent. "I love you so much."
"I love you, too." Jason looked up at him. "Are we still going out to eat?"
Travis grinned at how easily Jason recovered. Travis's own heart still beat double time in his chest. He was sure he would have nightmares about the rocky cliff tonight. "Yes, if we hurry back. You need to tell Jake and the others how sorry you are for scaring them. They were looking everywhere for you." He set Jason on the ground and reached for his cell phone, calling Evan.
Once he had let them know he had found him, he called his horse to them and set Jason up on it before picking up his suit coat and jumping up on the back of the horse himself. He thanked God that he had such a good horse.
"You forgot your saddle." Jason laughed.
"I was in too big a hurry to find you."
"I didn't know we could ride without a saddle."
"We don't very often. This was an emergency."
Jason bit his lip as Travis gave a soft kick and they started back toward the house, thankful that things hadn't been worse.
By the time they got home from dinner, Jason was nearly asleep in the back of the truck. Travis carried him inside and sent him to undress for bed. He sighed as Evan came up behind him and started to massage his shoulders.
"You okay?" Evan's hand pressed into the tense muscles.
"Yeah. He just really scared me today. I had just got over the fear I was going to lose him to the Steeles, and then to come home and find him gone, that fear was back. I can't believe he ran off like that." Travis hung his head forward as Evan worked the back of his neck with his palms.
"It says a lot that he would go that far to not live with his grandparents."
"He seemed okay tonight. Hopefully now that we have assured him he is here to stay he won't pull any more stunts like that."
Evan laughed. "You still have the teenage years to get through. I'm sure today's stunt was nothing compared to what you will face when he is older."
Travis turned and rested his hands on Evan's shoulders. "And you will be right here by my side for all of it."
"I will?" Evan cocked his head to the side and raised his brows.
"I hope so." Travis placed a soft kiss against his lips. "I'd like to think we will still be together that far down the road."
"You keep kissing me and there won't be any problem there. I'll stay right here."
Travis kissed him again, this time deepening it with a slide of his tongue across Evan's lips and then into his mouth as he opened for him.
"Uncle Travis?" Jason called from the doorway to the kitchen.
Travis pulled back, but didn't step away from Evan. "You ready for bed?"
"Yep, but can I have dessert first?"
"You had an ice cream cone after dinner."
"That counted as dessert?"
"Yes," both Evan and Travis said in unison.
Travis finally stepped away from Evan. "Come on, Cowboy, let's get you to bed."
"Do I have to?"
"Yes. Evan and I are tired, too. We won't be up much later either. It was a long day."
Evan took Jason's hand and started for the stairs. "Tell you what, you get a good night sleep and tomorrow you can teach me how to play that new video game you got."
"Okay, but it's hard. You might not be as good as me."
"I'm sure I won't, but you can teach me." Evan glanced at Travis with a grin as they made their way upstairs.
They both said their goodnights to Jason and quickly left the room and headed back downstairs to the kitchen.
Travis poured them each a glass of iced tea and sat down beside Evan at the table and sighed. "Let's not have another day like today."
Evan took a sip of his tea and nodded. "Agreed." He set his cup down. "It all turned out okay, considering."
"I couldn't have done it without you."
"You could have, but I'm glad you didn't have to."
Travis shook his head. "I still don't know how Jason climbed up that rock. I wouldn't have even tried it back in my younger, wilder days."
"You were wild?" Evan raised a brow flirtatiously.
"I still can be." Travis winked.
Evan reached for his hand. "How about we turn off the lights, lock up the house, and you can show me."
"I would love to." Travis took his hand as he stood, thanking God for bringing Evan into his life.
As they walked upstairs, Travis thought about his sister. He might have lost her, and the pain still hurt, but from her loss he finally found himself and so much more.
Travis pulled his coat a bit tighter around him as he watched Evan and Jason across the boat. The two were leaning over the edge, watching something in the distance. Travis couldn't hear what they were saying but he could see the excitement in both their eyes.
He smiled as he watched the two most important people in his life. The last year with Evan and Jason brought more happiness to his life than he would have ever thought he deserved. His life was so entwined with the two of them that he was sure if one of them ever left he would die.
This trip to Alaska had been Evan's idea and they had surprised Jason with it right after school had got out for the summer. They hadn't told him where they were going until they got to the airport. Once Jason heard they were going sightseeing though Alaska he had been so excited it was all Evan and Travis could do to keep him calm through the long flight.
Now, four days into the trip they were on a small boat with several other tourists as they looked out over the ocean looking for whales.
Travis made his way to where Jason and Evan stood and gently rested his hand against the small of Evan's back. "Any luck?"
"Look, Uncle Travis." Jason pointed down into the water. "You can see fish swim by sometimes."
Evan had his arm wrapped around Jason's waist to keep him from leaning too far over the boat. "We are here to see whales, not those little guys."
"Those aren't little. Not like the little ones we catch at home." Jason pointed. "See."
Travis looked into the water and saw a large fish swim under the boat. "Maybe you can catch one of those when we go fishing tomorrow."
"Can I?" Jason looked up at him.
"If you're lucky."
One of the other passengers shouted, causing the three of them to turn and look over the other side of the boat just in time to see a large whale come out of the water and then dive back down.
Jason jumped up and down. "Did you see it? Was that just like the one that swallowed Jonah?"
Evan nodded. "I don't know for sure, but it could have been. It was sure big enough."
"I want to see it again." Jason turned and ran for the other side of the boat.
Travis and Evan ran after him, smiling at each other as they each grabbed Jason by a shoulder to hold him away from the edge. As their eyes met and Travis inhaled the salty smell of the ocean around them, he knew without a doubt that his life could never be better.
Emma Marie Leya lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her daughter, two dogs, a cat, and two birds. When she isn't writing she is an avid swimmer with a passion for the mountains. She can often be found playing outdoors. You can always contact her at
EMMA MARIE LEYA
on facebook.
LOVE PLUS ONE
(mmf)
FINDING HOPE
(mf)
THE JUDGE
(mmff)
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