“Who was shot?” I asked Tom quietly.
“Furman York, foreman of the Lukasik Ranch. Big place. East of town.”
“Do they know when?”
“This morning. Sheriff’s department caught a break. It couldn’t have been much before he was found, around nine-thirty.”
“Who found—?”
“Enough,” Shelton ordered. “Be quiet or I’ll take you all in.”
Before I could respond, Tom said, “I’ll go help Tamantha.”
Shelton sent a deputy along.
Diana and I exchanged a look. Hers mirrored my concern that this was more than Shelton simply wanting information from Tom as grazing association chairman.
After several minutes of silence in the living room, Tamantha emerged first from the hall to the bedrooms, rolling a miniature suitcase that made me blink.
Its surface was like an explosion of multicolored confetti that dared any airline to even consider losing it. It was beyond neon. It was irradiated.
And completely unlike the practical clothes she wore. Practical in colors that wouldn’t show the dirt and wear of ranch life. And practical in wearing them well past their prime of fit and form.
Tom picked up this resplendent bag with one hand, his other arm around her. Through the living room, out the door, across the porch. The two of them in sync every step of the way despite the difference in their strides.
At Diana’s vehicle, he buckled Tamantha into the back seat.
She didn’t even complain about being treated like a baby. On the other hand, she didn’t deign to reply when he told her to be good. They didn’t hug, but exchanged a long, level look.
To Diana and me he said in a low voice, “I’ll call.” The unspoken rider was When I can.
As we drove out, Tamantha looked back to where her father stood, watching the vehicle, with one hand raised, until trees and a curve around a low hill cut off the view.
Unspoken thoughts filled the passenger compartment like a heavy gas.
To change the subject that hadn’t been mentioned aloud, I said, “That’s a great suitcase, Tamantha.”
“It rolls.”
“I saw that.”
“Not much good on the ranch, but it’s good when I stay with friends in town.”
“That makes sense. Was it a present?”
“My Grandma Burrell gave it to me.”
A prickling at the bridge of my nose provided an early warning of tears. I’d learned to pay attention to it to ward off crying on air, during interviews, or other inopportune moments. Like in front of this child.
Tears. Because her father’s mother gave her a present expressing joy and color, when I hadn’t believed there was any relationship there at all.
Certainly, I’d heard almost nothing of Tom’s relationship with his parents, nor theirs with Tamantha. Though both Tom and Tamantha were close with his married sister, who lived not far over the border into Montana.
“What a great gift to get from your grandmother.”
“Yes. She said to select what I wanted and then she got it for me and had it delivered in a big box. Not wrapped, but plenty of paper around it inside the box.”
Her tone was far too matter-of-fact to allow for wistfulness. Another attack of prickling at the bridge of my nose acknowledged the collapse of my dreams of a grandmother who nurtured this girl’s wild, colorful side, perhaps even in the guise of exotic wrapping paper. Instead, going with the practicality of direct shipping.
Except, the reality was better, because it turned out it was Tamantha who nurtured that wild, colorful side.
She chose the confetti explosion and she used it, apparently with pleasure, when it didn’t involve her father being interviewed by the sheriff’s department.
“Great choice. I love it.” I cleared my throat, catching a glance from Diana. “It suits you.”
“Of course. I picked it.”
* * * *
My thoughts went to the situation with Tom, Mike, and me.
We — Mike and I, then Tom and I — had become friends and part of this group of friends, while mutual attractions brewed underneath. Bringing the attractions out in the open — testing them, so to speak — had been the idea behind starting to date recently.
Maybe it would have helped if the dates happened frequently and close together. Maybe then the compare and contrast hypothesis would work.
That didn’t happen.
Duties at KWMT-TV kept Mike busy, with the wrap-up of local spring sports seasons, the beginning of rodeo season, full-throttle pro basketball, hockey, and baseball seasons, and football off-season. “I’m a well-seasoned guy,” as he said.
Duties at the Circle B Ranch kept Tom busy, with the end of calving, the beginning of branding, the ever ongoing fence-repairing. Plus his road construction business and his rampant civic activities.
Add in my settling into my new-to-me house and the fact that when our calendars’ open spots meshed, we often applied them to getting together as a group with Diana, Jennifer Lawton, other friends, plus now and then Diana’s honey Sheriff Russ Conrad, her kids, and Tamantha … and you have a sprinkling of dates each over the past month-plus.
“Elizabeth,” Tamantha said from the back seat.
For our return, Diana dropped her speed a notch. Still, I braced against the dashboard as I turned toward the back. Diana’s truck had seat belts and airbags, of course, but I wasn’t above helping them out.
“This man was shot at the grazing association.” Tamantha did not make it a question. “That’s where the clues are.”
“Maybe. All we know for sure is Sergeant Shelton needs your dad’s help figuring some things out about what happened.”
Not bad. I’d avoided shot, killed, murder, suspect, and questioning.
Unimpressed, she humph’d. “That’s where we should be, at the grazing association. To figure this out fast.”
“No way, Tamantha.”
I thought I heard a Good from Diana under her breath.
“You always want information. That’s what you say all the time. That’s where the information is.”
Tamantha had a point…
“No. We’re going to my house, where we’ll wait for your father to finish, uh, his business with the sheriff’s department.”
“There isn’t any information at your house.”
Not yet. But I could work the phones while she was there. Heck, she’d probably help me dial if she thought that would speed things up.
“And,” she continued, “I know how to get there. We go there a lot. I pick the flowers, but only after Mike said I could. We could go right now.”
Sidetracked by flowers at the grazing association and why Mike had the say-so over them, I replied a bit slowly. “I promised your father to take—”
“Care of me. The best way is to get this figured out fast. So Daddy is home.”
“Tamantha, I am not taking you to the grazing association, that’s final.”
“Then you go. You go and get the information you need like you always do. I’ll stay at your house. I’m old enough to stay by myself and—”
“You’re not staying by yourself.” Now I heard Uh-oh from under Diana’s breath. I hurriedly added, “That’s final.” It sounded weak.
“Shadow—”
“Or with my dog.”
“That’s silly. But if you go to the grazing association to find out things and get my daddy home, I’ll stay with Mr. and Mrs. Undlin.”
“You know them?” This time I’d swear my words were followed by Goner from Diana’s sotto-voce commentary.
“Of course. They’ll be happy to help.”
* * * *
Tamantha was right, of course.
My next-door neighbors, Iris and Zeb, did know Tamantha — no surprise. First, almost everyone in Cottonwood County knew everyone else. Second, I already knew her father thought highly of the Undlins.
Also, she was right about their willingness to look after her. They were delighted to have Tamantha stay at their house until I returned.
“Are you sure? I can’t tell you exactly when I’ll be back.”
“Not necessary. Not necessary at all. Let us know if you’ll be past her bedtime and we’ll tuck her up in your guest room and stay there until you come,” Iris said.
Tamantha punctuated that with a look that clearly said the arrangement left no excuse for slacking and I better not come back until I had a lot of information or, preferably, the whole thing figured out and her father in the clear.
Iris softened Tamantha’s look by adding, “I was thinking of making doughnuts. Would you like to do that, Tamantha?”
“Yes, I would. I’ve never made doughnuts before.”
She sounded as if her sole desire was to add doughnut-making to her resume. However, I’ve seen her eat doughnuts and she was no slouch.
As we left, I heard Tamantha casually mention to Zeb that Shadow was alone at my house and it seemed a shame to wait until she was ready for bed to see him.
I suspected doughnuts were also in Shadow’s future.