Settling into the couch with Ryan, Eli put his arm around her and just let her nuzzle into him. He remembered years ago, being in a similar position when their dad had died. They were so lost, and only had each other. He only hoped he was being the best brother he could be.
“Mm, let’s see.” He flipped through a few channels on the tv until he landed on some historical program of excavations in Europe. It wasn’t the most interesting thing in the world, but with absolutely no tense action, it was relaxing.
Putting his feet up on the coffee table, he just leaned back and let the narrator drone on about the findings of a lost city somewhere. His eyes felt so heavy, but he refused to doze off. Not unless he knew Ryan had fallen asleep first.
Aaron smirked as he finished off his taco. “See? There’s always a catch. But what you’d ever need from me, I haven’t the slightest idea.” He took a swig of water and just continued to study Sam. He still wondered what her game was. What was her real goal here, and why couldn’t he figure it out? She did have pretty eyes.
“You don’t think you’d be able to bring me up the magazines from downstairs, would you? Even reading them for the hundredth time is better than staring at these walls.”
Eric shook his head at Stacy’s question. “I have no idea. I think the other day they were out in the orchard. They didn’t take the horses today, so they couldn’t have gone far. I guess I’ll just keep my eye out.” Why did something down deep make him worry, though? He gave Stacy a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see ya in a bit. If you do come across Ashlee, let her know I’m in the barn.”
“Hmm. No, I hadn’t gone that far yet,” Lane mused. “I’m…sure he’s around here somewhere.” Something felt…off, though. He wasn’t sure what it was, but something just didn’t feel quite right. He smiled anyway. “Thanks. If you see him, tell him I’m looking for him.”
Leaving Angel’s, he headed to his bunk to get something, and on the way, scanned the area again for Travis. His eyes wandered around the garage, then stopped. Wait. Something was wrong. Something was missing. HE halted in his tracks. Where was his pickup? A sickening thought suddenly came to mind, and he picked up his pace to jog the rest of the way to his bunkhouse. Hunting for his keys, he found them gone…
… “What do you mean your truck is gone?!” Eric set his hands on his hips as he looked at Lane. By now, there was a small crowd in the dining hall. The two of them, plus Stacy, Angel, Mick and Rosetta.
“I mean it’s gone!” Lane shook his head. “Keys are gone. I can’t find Travis anywhere, and you can’t find Ashlee. Two and two makes four.”
Mick gave Rosetta a sidelong glance. Had the two kids really gone off together when they knew good and well they weren’t supposed to leave the ranch without an adult for safety reasons? Movement caught his eye as he saw Dylan coming in for his usual afternoon lemonade. “Hey, Dylan?”
Dylan stopped short and looked wide-eyed at the small group. “What’d I do now?”
Mick shook his head. “Nothing. But do you know if Travis and Ashlee went anywhere?”
Dylan quirked an eyebrow. “I saw ‘em leave around lunchtime, yeah. Why?”
“You actually saw them leave?” Lane’s stomach lurched. “Where did they go?”
“No idea.” Dylan shrugged. “I figured they got permission to go to town like they wanted…” His voice trailed off as he looked at the worried eyes. “And…now I’m guessing they didn’t.”
“Thank you, Dylan. That’s all for now.” Mick excused his son from the scene and turned back from the others. “They just wanted to go out to eat, right?”
Lane nodded. “I told Travis no, because of the danger.” He looked over to Stacy. “You told Ashlee the same thing, didn’t you?”
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