RIO SEETHED ALL the way into the barn, past the tarp-covered hole in the tack stall wall and to Tully’s stall beside it where the big horse munched his hay in happy equine oblivion. She stared at him through the bars until he snorted and shuffled to her, hoping for some sort of treat he couldn’t find in his feed bucket. She released her irritation with a heavy sigh.
“Sorry, boy. I forgot an apple, and the feed room’s kind of a mess.”
Talking to him calmed her. Equine magic still astounded her even though she’d known her whole life she wanted to be around horses. The fact that the reality of something actually matched the fantasy seemed too good to be true.
Like the hay she’d found for David. Ruefully she kicked Tully’s scattered hay into a neat pile fuming over Kate’s words. The way moneyed people problem-solved was beyond Rio’s understanding. She’d seen David’s books now, and even after the briefest of looks she knew there were places he could cut further. Why would he, or anybody, think tossing more money into the hole would help?
Tully snorted again. Rio straightened. Maybe she was simply jealous. It would be nice to have a network of wealthy people to run to in a crisis. The thought of David taking such a wimpy way out, however, saddened her. She saw flashes of amazing leadership in him, like when he stood up for Andy, or even for her. The instant his family came into the picture, however, he folded like a bad poker hand.
An unexpected bump against her legs made her jump. She looked down to see Thirty-one arching against her calf.
“Hullo, you.”
She picked up the little cat and its purr filled the stall. Squirming upward, Thirty-one rubbed her head hard against Rio’s neck. The effect was instantaneously soothing.
With one last pat for Tully, she carried the cat out of the stall, latched the door, and leaned against the wood to nuzzle the striking orange-and-black fur. She’d never been able to consider having pets because of the time and cost commitments. That priority might have to change.
Footsteps interrupted her thoughts. The sight of her sister coming slowly down the aisle took her aback. Bonnie waved almost shyly.
“Hi,” she said when she reached Rio and the cat. “I came to see if you’re okay.”
“Aw, thanks, but I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I was coming down to steal some cookies, those ones you baked to try out for The Loon Feather, and I heard Kate go whacko on you. Is David in trouble?”
Rio’s brows shot up in surprise. She’d never heard Bonnie say a negative word about Kate. In fact, she’d seemed enamored of the woman.
“She’s not so whacko as she is rich, Bon. And David got hit hard by the recession so she thinks she has a solution. I think he just needs to economize—not all that different from what you and I do all the time. But it’s hard. And don’t go spreading anything around.”
“I never would.” Bonnie gazed at her a long moment. “That cat likes you a lot.”
“Weird, huh?”
“I really like it here, Rio. I’m not sure I want to go back to Minneapolis. I thought I’d miss it, but going back feels scary now.”
“Don’t you miss having our own place?”
“It’s strange, but I don’t.”
“You’ve made some good friends here. Like Dawson?” Rio teased.
“I don’t know what to do with an ordinary guy. He’s so . . . normal. He gets a little moody sometimes and doesn’t say a lot. But I think he likes me.”
“Boys are weird, Bonnie. Wonderful but weird. Just accept that and things will go easier.” She laughed and hugged her sister with one arm. “But we can’t mooch off of David much longer. We aren’t helping him cut costs. We’ll see how much my first paycheck is. If it’s enough to pay rent and help out, then we’ll work something out for a little while longer.”
“You’ve got friends, too, you know. David likes you almost as much as Thirty-one does.”
“What do you mean?” Her heart skipped a nervous beat, wondering what Bonnie suspected.
“He says it’s nice having someone who likes to cook, and who likes to help in the barn.”
“Oh. That.” Her fears calmed again. “It’s not just me. You’ve been doing chores, too. Still, once I figure out what our own finances truly are, we will have to find us a place.”
“But then, maybe it could be around here. School starts next week.”
“You’re excited about that?”
“Yes.”
“So . . . Hector is in the past? Once we find him, I mean?”
They hadn’t heard from him in a week, and Rio didn’t know whether to hope he’d finally given up or worry that he was planning something awful. Chief Hewett had returned Bonnie’s phone without any information about where the calls had originated. The analysis took time, he’d told them.
“I never thought much about Hector’s language, his threats, his bragging,” she said. “He talked like all the other guys. Now that I’ve met one who doesn’t . . .”
For first time since the fire, Rio said an honest-to-goodness prayer of thanks for the disaster. If in its aftermath Bonnie could see past the false strength of gang leadership, it was worth losing clothes and posters and plastic horses.
“Good for you, sis,” she said. “I mean it. I’m proud of you for figuring it out.”
“I think I would have anyway.”
“I think so, too.”
Rio pulled a saddle pad off the bar on the front of Tully’s stall and dropped it on the floor. “Sit with me a minute. It’s so peaceful out here. See if Thirty-one will let you hold her.”
Thirty-one did. She curled into Bonnie’s lap as if she knew a peace accord was needed. The air settled on them with the ozone tang of threatening rain. For a moment the barn felt like the safest place in the world.
“I was really mad at you that night. The night you dragged me to Crossroads.” Bonnie took a small silvery object from her pocket and held it for Thirty-one to sniff. “I didn’t want to admit in front of those older, cooler guys that I needed my big sister to come and rescue me. But I did.”
Unexpected tears pricked at the corners of Rio’s eyes. “Wow, Thank you. That really does help everything. I’m so sorry it had the consequences it did, but I’d do it again to keep you from Boyfriend.”
“He was old, like forties old. He had very plain but scary eyes.”
“You saw him? I barely got a glimpse.”
“I talked to him for about two minutes. He told me Hector was lucky to have such a gorgeous girlfriend. But he didn’t mean it.”
“Oh, he did. Just not in a nice way.”
“I know. I know what he does now.” She shivered. “I’m more creeped out by him than Hector. Boyfriend was smooth, mean smooth like he was in total control. I could tell even Hector was a little afraid of him.”
“Then I’m glad you’re nowhere near them.” She watched Bonnie turning the object she held slowly in her fingers. “What’s that?”
Bonnie hesitated and then held out a square silver money clip holding an actual folded bill. “I found it outside the car when Paul and Hector brought me to meet Boyfriend. I think it’s Paul’s. It’s got that big ‘I’ engraved on it. I assume for ‘Inigo,’ like on that belt he wears and that cap he’s got. There are two one-hundred-dollar bills in here. I thought if I just kept it, Paul might try harder to find us because he’d need the money. But now, since he seems to be hiding with Hector, maybe we could just use it ourselves. He owes us that much.”
Rio stared at the clip. “Where would he have gotten this much?”
“I don’t know. The other weird thing is that there’s a name on the back of each bill. People do that like for birthday presents and things, but to have two of them?”
Rio pulled the money free of the holder and unfolded it slowly. Just as Bonnie had said, there were two bills bearing Franklin’s face and across the back of each, in what looked like plain ballpoint ink, was a girl’s name.
“Keep it,” Rio said, putting everything back as it had been. “You’re probably right. Whenever he gets in touch, you can tell him you have it.”
Bonnie rested her head on Rio’s shoulder, adding more shock to the whole interaction. “I’m glad he doesn’t know where we are now.”
“Yeah, sweetie, I am, too. Let’s hope they find him soon. I’m ready to be done thinking about him. You know what? It’s been a weird day. Let’s have a slumber party in my room and bring the cat. We’ll sneak her in.”
Bonnie laughed and gave her a tiny squeeze. “That’s so naughty of you. I love it.”
Naughty. Her father had always stressed what a role model she had to be for her brother and sister. She hadn’t wanted the job, but once her dad was gone, she’d had no choice. Tonight it didn’t seem like Bonnie needed role modeling as much as simple camaraderie. Or maybe it was Rio who needed it. Either way, a little naughty would be nice.
SHE AWOKE THE next morning to her alarm and the sound of sneezing from down the hall. She frowned, since Bonnie still slept curled up on the opposite end of the bed. The nose-blowing that followed had to be Kate. What? The regal Kate was sick? How could that be?
She shook her sister awake.
“C’mon, time to head out. You wanted to see Jill go—her division starts at eight-thirty.”
“Time is it?” Bonnie mumbled.
“Seven. Where’s the cat?”
As if she’d heard, Thirty-one meowed softly and padded into the room through a door opened five inches.
“Oh no, where were you?” Rio clambered out of bed and grabbed her. “Did anyone see you?”
Thirty-one jumped from her arms to the bed and nuzzled a sleepy, giggling Bonnie. “She knew it was Naughty Night. I think she was out helping us be naughty.”
“She better not have been too bad.”
Rio dumped the cat out the front door on the way to Stella’s scones and jam. When they reached the kitchen, a surprisingly violent sneeze from gentile Kate greeted them.
“Gesundheit,” Rio said. “Are you catching something? I’m sorry.”
“No. I don’t feel ill one bit,” she said, reaching for a tissue from a box on the table. “It’s completely allergies. I don’t understand, this usually happens when there are cats or rabbits or chickens near, but David doesn’t keep animals in the house. I can’t figure it out.”
Rio choked as if she’d swallowed a scone whole, but Bonnie covered her mouth with both hands and leaned in to Rio’s ear. “On purpose,” she whispered through her fingers.
Rio glared at her.
“Rio.” Kate’s voice made her start guiltily. “I owe you an apology for last night.”
“No,” she replied, relieved. “It was a strange night. Nobody really knew what to say.”
“I shouldn’t have disparaged you for helping. I . . . well, if I’m perfectly honest I was just a bit envious you’d been so resourceful.”
Okay, now she did feel guilty. “Resourcefulness is something you learn living on a shoestring,” she said. “It’s had to be second nature for us.”
“Do you like him?”
“Him?”
“David.”
“Uh. Yes. Of course. Who wouldn’t? He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.”
“I’m wondering if it’s more than that. You’ve learned so quickly how to help him the way he needs it most. He already seems to rely on you.”
Rio couldn’t tell if Kate was telling the truth or being mildly catty again.
“I need to earn my way around here, that’s all. I’m not used to living on charity. I intend to find any useful thing that will help until we can leave.”
“I did one of the most foolish things of my life when I broke up with David all those years ago.” Kate sat primly in her confessional state. “I didn’t realize how wounded he was after the war. Nobody understood post-traumatic stress well then. David had been stern, decisive. The war softened him rather than hardened him, and I thought he didn’t care anymore. When Stella offered me the chance to come and see him again and I realized he’d never married, it gave me hope—to make amends. I thought you should know that.”
Wounded? Post-traumatic stress? The words swam in Rio’s mind, making no sense. He’d admitted to being bitter about the war, but he’d never seemed unduly scarred by it. She shook her head and focused back on Kate.
“Wait. You’re saying you’re here to win him back?”
“I’d like to try. I thought it best if I stated my feelings to you honestly. I don’t know what you’re trying to start with him.”
“Whatever we become is already started,” she said, and hesitated. She and David had agreed to keep their attraction a secret, but this moment she wanted with her whole being to tell Lady Katherine every detail about the shiver-inducing relationship she already had with her ex-fiancé. She wanted David right there with his arms around her telling Kate she was far too late. Instead, she held in the jealousy, the desire, the recent memories of David’s beautiful body next to hers. “I can’t tell you what we are, but I won’t stop trying to be his . . . friend.”
“Fair enough. I can live with that.”
Bonnie caught her eye again. This time she wasn’t laughing. “What the . . .?” she mouthed.
Rio ignored her.
“I also think you should know Stella called David’s father this morning. He’ll be here in two days.”
“But he didn’t want that,” Bonnie blurted.
“It’s all right, pet,” Stella soothed. “He doesn’t know what he needs right now. His father will have some solutions, and in the end David will thank him.”
“The affordable hay idea was brilliant,” Kate added. “But one load of cheaper food won’t solve the problems.”
“It’s a start,” Rio protested. “Why do you insist on manipulating him?”
“David is a dreamer, not a businessman. He’s made this place work with a lot of help already. He can continue on if he’s willing to take the advice of those who have helped him.”
Rio wanted to scream in frustration for David. “Does he know?”
“Not yet.”
“He deserves fair warning. If you don’t tell him I—”
She was interrupted by the buzz of her phone in her pocket—a call, not a text. She fished it out and stared at Paul’s number on the illuminated screen. Her head went light.
“What?” Bonnie asked.
“Hang on, it’s work,” she lied.