Rocky Mountain Dreams & Family on the Range by Danica Favorite (summer beach reads txt) 📕

look for her near the ranch house. She has a fondness for the cows.”

“James and I will track her,” he asserted, seeming to snap out of his daze.

“He is already looking for her footprints, though darkness will soon make that impossible. Please search the house.” She refused to let her voice tremble. Time for that later. “Let’s go, Mother.”

“Wait.” He stopped her with a palm to her shoulder. The intimacy of the touch only served to remind her of what had transpired during his shave. “You and I’ll search the property. We know it better. Rose can search inside the house.”

“A good plan,” she reluctantly admitted, forcing her mind to the present, forcing her lips to stop remembering his kiss.

Lou’s hand moved off her shoulder. He gave Rose a stern look. “I’ll know if something goes missing.”

Mary gasped. “That’s a hateful thing to say.”

“I am not offended.” Rose nodded to him and set off to his house, her shoulders slumped despite her quick pace.

Angry and afraid, Mary whirled away from Lou and ran for the stables. His even breaths behind her told her he kept up easily. Feeling bitter and not liking the words in her heart, she ignored him and kept going.

“You know your mother can’t be trusted,” he said.

Her chest burned. She bit her lip as a stitch formed in her side. Forced to slow down, she refused to look at the man beside her. The employer who’d been hiding his secrets for two months. What else did he hide? “What does it matter to you? You are leaving, and I choose to keep my mother by my side.”

“Regardless of what you may think, I do care for you. Mary—”

“Josie is missing.” She whirled. “Until we find her, this conversation can wait.”

“That’s how it’s going to be? Ignoring important things?”

Pulse racing, she glared at him. “Yes. Josie is more important than anything else right now.”

A serious look crossed his face. “You’re right, but don’t think we won’t talk.” He strode ahead of her and reached the stables first.

Inside, the air was musky and warm. A few horses nickered at their approach. Harnesses jingled and hooves rustled against the straw-strewn floor. She didn’t particularly like being in a stable with its overarching odors of hay, manure and mildew, preferring the outdoor air instead, but she’d been in here enough to know which horses she rode the best.

She found a spotted pinto she’d ridden in the past and led her out of the stall. After tying her up, she went to the tack room for her saddle, a smaller version of Lou’s.

“Let me help you.” His breath tickled her ear and did nothing to stop the nervous queasiness taking hold of her. Before she could pull the saddle down, he’d reached over and lifted it off its hook.

She followed him back to the pinto, hand pressed against her stomach. The sun’s rays were already weak and disappearing. A few more minutes and then darkness. Where was Josie? Mary shuddered. Many dangers existed in the desert. How could a little girl protect herself?

Maybe she wasn’t alone, though.

That possibility frightened her even more. She watched Lou saddling her horse, thankful for his calm thoroughness when her hands were shaking so badly. “Do you think...” She trailed off, stomach twisting.

“Think what?” Lou tightened the stirrups and faced her. Deepening light shadowed his face into planes and angles.

“Maybe someone took her. I—I thought someone might be following me this afternoon.”

“And you’re just now telling me?” His mouth arced downward.

“If that man has her... I need a weapon.” She’d left her derringer at home. No more. From now on she’d carry it everywhere.

He studied her silently, then turned and disappeared into the tack room. He emerged moments later, a small sheath-covered knife nestled in his palm. “Take this. Use it if you need to.... In the eyes is where you should aim first, if possible.” He paused. “You should have told me about being followed.”

She slipped the blade from his hand, thumb smoothing over its fine ivory hilt. “There is a chance it was only imagination.”

“Always tell me everything. I’ll keep you safe.” Sincerity rang in his voice. His eyes shone with it.

Swallowing back the boulder-size lump in her throat, Mary mounted the pinto. “That is a fine thing to say, Lou Riley, but the truth of the matter is that in months you will be gone and then I shall be in charge of protecting myself.” She secured the knife in the pocket of her skirt and urged the horse around until she faced the entrance.

A gentle nudge and she soared past Lou and into the deepening twilight, where shadows canvassed the surroundings. Feeling desperate and a little angry, Mary headed toward the east section of the property.

How dare he say that he’d protect her? Fill her with hope and promises when he planned to leave. And to talk that way of her mother... She growled. It felt good, that primal vocal expression reverberating around her. Thankfully, the pinto didn’t seem to notice.

Once they were a good ways from the stables, Mary slowed the horse and began scanning the shrubs and dips in the land. She wanted to call for Josie, but if the girl had been abducted, that might alert someone. On the other hand, if Josie was lost, she’d be frightened, and the sound of someone calling would be soothing.

Biting her cheek, she slid off the pinto and walked carefully, heart thudding in her chest. Please, God, let us find her.

If only she’d told Lou about the strange sensation of being followed sooner, but the truth was that she’d forgotten. Being near him, cutting his hair, shaving him, that breath-stealing kiss...and now someone might have their sweet little girl.

She fingered the blade and continued searching.

Lou grumbled as he readied his horse and then cantered to the west, worry over Josie riding his shoulders. He hated that Mary was right. Within a few months he might be gone, sent to Asia on