I gave Grandpa a heart attack.
It was shameful. And scary.
And that’s why Hayden had packed up and left. And he hadn’t returned.
He hadn’t wanted to argue and give his grandfather another one.
Chapter Three
Early the next morning, Hayden headed toward the barn at the Bennett Ranch. He had some chores to do before returning Gran to Oak Hill.
He paused outside the wide double doors, taking a moment to admire the grand, snow-covered mountain range rimming the valley. There had been no mountains and little snow in Oklahoma. Nothing to remind Hayden how small a man was in the scheme of things.
“Hey, boss.” Roddy, the only ranch hand left, greeted Hayden. The wiry old cowboy with age-bent shoulders lived in the small log cabin behind the barn. It had been part of the original Bennett homestead. “I thought you’d taken the old red-and-white truck out this morning.”
“Why would you think that?” Hayden stopped at Red’s stall, giving the big chestnut gelding a piece of carrot he’d brought from the house.
“Uh…” Roddy removed his straw cowboy hat and scratched at his thin white hair, looking confused. “Because it’s gone. Who else would take the truck?”
“Gran.” Adrenaline pumped through Hayden’s veins quicker than floodwaters filled the gully out back during an overly warm spring thaw. He ran to the barn doorway, surveying the ranch yard for the vehicle Cuthbert had dropped off last night.
Sure enough, the old red-and-white truck Gran had driven into town yesterday was gone. And there were signs in the gravel that someone had taken off in a hurry—deep wheel ruts, curved sharply toward…
Hayden turned.
The back pasture, a mere ten thousand acres.
Gran, what in the world have you done?
“But Irene ain’t here,” Roddy said, still standing near Red’s stall.
“She is.” Hayden shook his head. “She was. Last night.” He hadn’t seen Gran this morning and since it was early, he hadn’t checked her bedroom, assuming she was still asleep.
If she hits her head, it could be game over.
Hayden’s mouth went dry. “I’ll ride out to look for her. You stay here in case she comes back. Keep your phone handy, Roddy. We might need an ambulance.” But he prayed they wouldn’t.
Hayden spent the next hour riding fast along the forest perimeter, following a track of trampled grass left by Gran’s truck tires. He’d never forgive himself if something happened to her.
The urgency… The desperation…
It reminded Hayden of a similar ride he’d made after Mom left and Dad died, all in the same year. Hayden had been fourteen, and the Bennett boys had just come to live with Gran and Grandpa. Filled with a volatile combination of grief and anger, the boys quickly gained a reputation as troublemakers.
Hayden’s younger brother, Colt, had the most trouble adjusting. He’d run away one day. No one could find him at the ranch proper. While Grandpa had driven into town to look for him, it was Hayden who’d followed a hunch. He’d saddled up and ridden out on the range. And his hunch paid off.
He’d found Colt near a locked gate leading to the federal forest, tears spent, fists clenched, and shoulders shaking.
Hayden hadn’t yelled or lectured. He’d just gotten off his horse, hugged Colt, and told him, “We Bennett brothers need to stick together. That’s how we get through this.” Mom’s washing her hands of them and Dad unexpectedly dying. “Don’t run. Don’t punch. Don’t cuss.” It was the oddest thing. Hayden hadn’t rehearsed what to say. But after he spoke, he saw it clearly. No one was going to help them find peace but the Bennetts themselves.
And with their grandparents’ help, the Bennett boys hadn’t turned out so bad.
The wind buffeted Hayden, knocking the past back. Red lengthened his stride up a small rise. The gelding was as sure-footed as a cat. Cats reminded Hayden of kitty cat cake pops, little blond girls in pink tutus, and Evie.
Folks need to get out of their own messes, even folks I’m fond of.
His refusal of her marriage proposal nagged at him, reawakening his need to rescue and care for others, to help them through the hard stuff. Instincts he’d locked away for the better part of a decade, focusing only on himself.
Hayden boxed up those urges, storing them behind layers of scarred-over hurt so he could focus on the task at hand—finding Gran.