Missing in the Desert Read online

  Banjo barked and disappeared again into the hole. This time Levi and Mara out and out gaped as the dog hauled a reluctant Rabbit from the darkness. Banjo barked twice at Mara until she put the kitten down next to him. The three of them, rabbit, dog and cat, sat together, six eyes staring at the humans. Banjo barked once more before he began to alternate between licking Rabbit’s ears and the top of Tiny’s head. Banjo, it seemed, had adopted another child. Rabbit endured one more lick before he hopped away, tunneling back under the porch.

  Levi exploded with laughter. Mara joined in. They laughed until tears streaked their cheeks.

  When their mirth had subsided, Mara wiped her eyes again. “I’ll get some supplies and clean up Banjo’s wound. I’ll be able to tell if he needs stitches.”

  Levi watched her go, her step light and joyous. He realized he was experiencing a deep sense of peace. Why? His ranch was in shambles, and the buyer would surely offer less now that there was a fire-damaged house to be dealt with. Probably razing it would be the most feasible plan. Now both Mara’s siblings were in the hospital, and a little boy’s life was about to be turned upside down thanks to Gene’s lies. Why should he feel that sense of peace?

  But deep down he knew. It was because of the soot-streaked woman who was striding to him.

  “Can you get him to leave off his grooming job for a minute?” she asked Levi.

  “Wait.” He took her hand, and she must have felt the tension it in, because she looked at him quizzically, settling the bag with the supplies on the ground. It was too hard to look at her and speak what was on his heart at the same time. He kept his eyes on the horizon.

  “Mara?”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m about to lose everything.”

  “Oh, Levi. I wish you would—”

  He stopped her with a squeeze. “Listen. I’m not a good talker so this is gonna be rough.”

  She went still. “Okay.”

  “I don’t have the right to ask this. I’m gonna lose the ranch. It’s all I ever wanted...until now.”

  “Levi,” she started again but she trailed off when he turned to face her. His pulse almost stopped at the soft glow in her chocolate eyes. Would that expression turn to one of rejection? Could he stand it? Only one way to find out.

  He pulled in a breath and forged ahead. “I never met anyone like you. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever known. Matter of fact, you’re stronger than most men I know.”

  She cocked her head, birdlike, puzzled.

  His stomach muscles contorted like a wild horse resisting the bridle. “What I mean to say is...” His mouth went south on him, and the words dried up. Was that perspiration on his forehead? He cleared his throat and started again. “I’m trying to say... I mean, I want to tell you...”

  She reached out and touched his cheek. “Levi, deep breath.”

  He complied, but the wild horses stampeding through his insides did not slow down.

  “Say it. I’m listening.”

  He inhaled the deepest breath he could manage. “I love you.”

  Her fingers stopped for a moment, then dropped away from his cheek.

  “I don’t have a right to have you. I’m going to be broke.” He sighed. “Even when I had the ranch I was always a broken tractor or a vet bill away from poverty. I’m not a good catch. I get my words all tangled up, and I don’t know the first thing about building websites and writing newsletters.” He held her hands, desperate to pull her close but fearing she would break away. “But I love you. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. You’re the best thing about my day, every day. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  Now she pressed her lips together. To hold in her feelings? To stall until she figured out how to gracefully refuse? Cold prickles cascaded along his spine. He should say something. Anything. “I... I don’t have a ring yet, but I can’t wait.” He fished in his pocket and dropped to a knee, pulling out the little sand-bottle necklace he’d bought. He unscrewed the top and dumped out the contents, filling it instead with some unscorched soil. “Now you’ll always have some of the Rocking Horse. Would you marry me, Mara?”

  Her hand fell away, and he panicked. She was going to reject him? Why wouldn’t she? With everything going on in her life?

  She considered him, head tipped to one side. “Marry you? My brother’s best friend? A guy who eats ice cream for dinner and takes care of every stray animal that comes along? You, Levi Duke?”

  “Yes, ma’am. That’s what I am asking.”

  Now he saw her tears glistening. “I’ve had a crush on you since high school. God brought me here so I could understand the man you’ve become.”

  A spark of hope stirred in his chest. “I’m trying every day to be a good one, and I will do my best never to hurt you.” But still he hadn’t heard her answer. “I... I mean...was that a yes or a no?”

  She laughed, a jubilant, joyous chortle. “I love you, Levi. Let’s get married, why don’t we?”

  He swooped her into a hug that sent Banjo into excited barks. He hardly heard. He had no idea how the future would pan out, or what he’d embark on next, but as long as Mara was his wife, he’d be thankful every day of his life.

  A million questions rattled inside him. Where would they go? How would he support her? Where would they live?

  He put them all aside and relished that God had given him Mara, and He’d work everything else out in good time.

  * * *

  The next week passed in a blur. There was so much to be done between Seth and Corinne that Mara and her parents were constantly driving back and forth. She didn’t tell them of her engagement. She thought that should wait until circumstances were more stable. Her sheer happiness was at odds with the knowledge of the trauma Corinne had endured. Her mother in particular was still trying to process what had happened to her youngest daughter. They would all need help to sort through it and, with God’s help, move beyond it.

  The mornings were spent with Corinne, and the afternoons she helped Levi as much as possible to clean up the main house so he could continue to live there, at least until the ranch was sold. She’d gotten a small hot plate hooked up in her cabin where she warmed meals for them and a teeny microwave to zap instant coffee. The poor quality of food didn’t dent Levi’s enthusiasm. Each meager meal she attempted was met with happy approval. She suspected she could serve him Banjo’s kibble and he would still say how tasty he found it. Just thinking of Levi made everything so much easier to bear. There would be monumental challenges ahead, but her engagement bubbled like a clear brook inside her. The joy of it warred with the heartbreak, the sweet with the bitter.

  The next morning she drove to the hospital in her brother’s repaired SUV. The psychologist had been there the day before when they’d broken the news about Peter. Corinne had sobbed. “I showed up that day to talk to Teegan, anyway, even though he’d hung up on me because he didn’t want to discuss my pregnancy. Teegan wasn’t home, but Gene let me in. Before I realized it, I was locked up. Gene said I had no right to come and blackmail Teegan into taking care of a baby. He accused me of trying to entrap Teegan, that it wasn’t really his baby. I tried everything I could think of to convince him. I begged him to let me go. I promised that I would never come back or contact Teegan again.”

  Mara gripped her sister’s hand tight as the horrifying details spilled out.

  “Gene fed me, visited me every day. I begged and pleaded, but it did no good. I even tried to hit him with a chair. He punished me by taking away the chair and not visiting me for two days.” Her face crumpled. “I thought maybe he’d let me out when the baby was born. I don’t know how he convinced himself it was justified to lock me up and take Peter away. After I delivered Peter, he told me...” She’d begun to cry again. “He told me Peter died, and after a while I believed it. He refused to answer any of my questions so I stopped
asking. All these years I told myself he was dead, and I mourned my baby.” Her tears turned into out-and-out sobs.

  Mara joined her in her tears. “Oh, honey. I am so, so sorry.”

  “He watched me so closely. That’s why I couldn’t write a note on the postcard. There was no time. And the text... I figured he wouldn’t know what Marbles meant, and that’s all I could type before he almost caught me.”

  Mara had answered dozens of her sister’s queries about Peter and shown him pictures, but the question remained about what to do going forward. For that one, Mara had no answer.

  Her parents and ongoing support from doctors would help Corrine learn how to live as a free person again, making her own choices, extricating herself from the shadow of fear. At least Gene had not hurt her physically. “I think he liked the company,” Corinne had said. He would come tell me all about what was happening, with Camp Town Days and stuff. He would cry, sometimes, that his wife was not there to share it.” She sighed. “It was like I was his shoulder to cry on, never really my own person.”

  Today Mara greeted her sister with a kiss, happy to see she looked less pale and more rested. The plate in front of her indicated she’d eaten a little.

  “Guess what?” Corinne said. “Doc says I can get out of here soon. He’s recommended a doctor in Henderson to give me ongoing therapy.”

  “That’s fantastic, sis.” Mara held back tears. Life would begin anew now that both of her siblings would be out of the hospital. It wouldn’t be the same, but they’d find a new normal somehow. “Is that where you want to go?”

  She sighed. “For now. I want to be close to Mom and Dad. I think I’ve given them enough headaches for a while.”

  “You always were a problem child,” Mara said, and they both laughed.

  “You’re coming back to Henderson, too, right?” Corinne said. Her look went sly. “Or is there someone you’d like to stay closer to? Levi, maybe? I saw him holding you in the hallway when the door opened.”

  Mara blushed. “We can talk about that later.”

  “Why not now? I’ve got no place to go.”

  “Because my love life shouldn’t be your focus at this moment.”

  Corinne grinned, reminiscent of her saucy-teen days. “He popped the question, didn’t he?”

  “How do you know that?”

  “’Cuz you’re flustered, and you keep fingering that necklace and your mind wanders. You are a woman in love.”

  Mara was so pleased to see her sister’s spark coming back that she did not mind the probing question. She was about to confess when there was a soft knock on the door and Amelia stepped in, holding Peter on her hip.

  Mara froze. “I’m not sure this is good for my sister right now.”

  “No, please, come in,” Corinne said, a catch in her voice. She struggled to a sitting position. “I want to see him.”

  Amelia’s eyes were swollen and bloodshot, her face lined with fatigue that revealed sleepless nights. “This is—” she swallowed “—Peter.” She cleared her throat. “He’s a good boy, the delight of my life. He knows his alphabet, and we’re starting to read together. His favorite thing is playing with trains with his daddy.” She let Peter down on a chair, and he drove his little toy car along the seat, oblivious to the conversation.

  Mara stood protectively near Corinne. “Why did you come here, Amelia?”

  “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have. I’ve been on my knees praying about what to do. I did not know my father-in-law took him from you. I hope you believe me. I would never do that to another mother.”

  “I do believe that,” Corinne said. “But you knew he wasn’t yours, and you lied.”

  “I truly believed you’d left the baby because you didn’t want him.” Amelia bowed her head. “No excuse. I did lie. I’m sorry. I love—” she shuddered and gulped “—I love this little boy with all my heart and soul, but he is your child and I can’t... I mean...” She began to sob quietly. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. You were right there underground the whole time. I don’t want to give him up—it’s ripping out my heart—but it’s what’s best for him.” She set him down, kneeling next to the child.

  Amelia’s whole body trembled, and she clung to the hospital bed with one hand as she spoke to Peter. Her voice came out strangled and tight. “Honey, this is Corinne. She’s your—”

  “Friend,” Corinne put in quickly. “Hello, Peter. Nice to meet you.”

  Amelia stared, seemingly struck dumb.

  “You are so handsome,” Corinne said. “I understand you like to paint. I do, too. Could we paint together sometime?”

  Peter nodded, peeking under his bangs at her.

  Amelia stood, her hands on her mouth. Her voice was a whisper. “You...you aren’t going to take him away?”

  Corinne’s eyes were wet, too. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but I know I can’t be a parent to him right now.” Her lip trembled. “You’re a good mother to him, Amelia. I’m sure Teegan is a good dad, too, in his way. He wasn’t good to me, he lied like Gene told him to, but I believe he didn’t know that I was imprisoned, either.” She gazed at Peter. “For now, you’re what he needs. When I’m better, we’ll work out how to do this, one step at a time. I promise, though, I won’t cut you out of his life.”

  “Considering what was done to you...” Amelia choked back a sob, reached out a hand and clutched Corinne’s. “I don’t know if I could have been as kind as you are.”

  Corinne offered a shaky smile. “We’ll try to explain it to him someday when he’s a bit older. For now, I just want to know how he is, maybe see him occasionally while I try to put my life back together.”

  “Of course.” Amelia nodded, still breathing hard. They had another minute of awkward conversation before Amelia gave Corinne a slip of paper with her cell number on it. “Come over when you can.”

  Corinne nodded as they left. She stared after them. “Did I do the right thing?”

  Mara wiped her sister’s tears. “I think you were amazing.”

  “And you’ll help me figure out what to do?” Corinne whispered.

  “Absolutely, one step at a time, just like you said.”

  “He’s a handsome boy, isn’t he? Smart, too, right?”

  Mara looked at her sister, no longer a teenager, but a woman, a mother, and a breathtaking one at that. “Yes, he is. I’m proud of you, sis.”

  Corinne smiled. “Thanks, Marbles. I learned from a good big sister. I’m glad I have you in my life.”

  “Me, too, Corinne,” she said.

  And then they both cried together about what had been lost and what they’d just rediscovered.

  * * *

  Mara was sitting at the card table which stood in place of the burned kitchen table, trying to help Levi decipher the forms the bank had provided to help with the sale of the ranch. She’d just finished feeding Rabbit. A few of the hydroponic plants had survived the fire, so he was kept in fresh kale. All the kibble had been incinerated, but the local vet had donated a few bags of kitten and dog chow when he’d heard of the fire. Laney and Beckett brought over several meals and a larger portable refrigerator. Levi, Austin and Jude had spent an hour constructing a temporary porch which the animals had promptly burrowed under. Several townspeople checked in and dropped off baked goods. The goodness of the locals warmed her heart. She only wished it would save the ranch.

  “Does everything have to be in triplicate?” Levi grumped as he slapped down the papers.

  “Seems like it,” she said. She embraced him around the shoulders and kissed his neck. “We’ll get through it.”

  He sighed and raised his face for another kiss. “As long as I have you, I believe that.”

  They heard a car pull up, and Banjo set up a clamor.

  “Another meal drop?” Levi said.

  She laughed. “Let’s
go and call off the dog.”

  Levi whistled to Banjo who was circling the sedan. The dog obediently returned to his side.

  “That’s Dad,” Mara said in surprise. Mara’s father got out and helped his mother. They both opened the rear door and Corinne emerged. She was still waif-thin, but her eyes were not vacant anymore. Mara wrapped her in a gentle embrace. “Hey, sis. It’s great to see you.”

  “Great to be seen.” A mischievous smile lit her face. “Did you decide to burn the ranch down rather than sell it?”

  Mara hoped the joke did not hurt Levi. He was already in anguish about the impending sale, especially since no one seemed to want the older horses. “I didn’t think you were coming today,” she said. They’d decided Mara would go home and get her family settled while Levi completed the sale. That was as far as they’d gotten on planning their own future. The wedding date could wait.

  “We have a surprise for you,” her father said.

  He opened the rear passenger door and helped Seth stand. Leaning on a cane, he walked slowly to face her.

  Mara squealed and ran to him. “You’re out. Are you okay? How are you feeling? Does anything hurt? What did the doctors say?”

  He laughed and dismissed her questions. “They agreed to let me out, that’s all that matters.”

  Levi’s eyes were wet as he hugged Seth and slapped him on the back. “You are a sight for sore eyes, buddy.”

  Seth grinned. “Aren’t I, though?” He took in the burned house and the newly constructed porch. “Had to come see what you were doing to our ranch.”

  Levi’s face crumpled.

  “We can talk about that later,” Mara said. “Let’s go sit inside and have a soda.”

  Seth didn’t move. His eyes narrowed. “Dad said you were making plans without me.”

  Levi exhaled. “I’m going to sell it, Seth. You need your money back.”

  “I don’t remember putting you in charge of making my decisions.”

  “Seth...” Levi started.

  “What I need,” he continued, “is to use my muscles and regrow my strength. I’m going to do that here, riding horses and making trouble. I talked to the physical therapists, and there are people I can see here in town that take payment plans.”