Page 42 of Must Love Mistletoe

Chapter Fourteen

Watching out forwolves was getting old, Cal decided, as he headed over to the main barn to relieve his brother. They’d been keeping overnight watch for over a week now. A week of split shifts and bitter cold, and eventually, they were going to have to trust that their other defenses would hold. There were better things to do than stand watch over cattle through the evening and half the night. Not when warm beds and willing women were waiting, and Christmas festivities were in full swing. Sam’s anticipation was contagious, and Beth’s determination to savor every moment made him wonder if she regretted her decision to move to Marietta, even if the house they’d found to lease wasn’t half bad.

Maybe that was just wishful thinking.

He needed to ask Sam’s permission to ask for Beth’s hand—Sam being the man of the house, and that being the way things were done. Because even though he didn’t carry that pretty little heirloom engagement ring around in his pocket, it was most definitely burning a hole in his sock drawer.

He’d had a glimpse of how satisfying life could be when Beth and Sam stood united beside him, and he never wanted that feeling to end. The thought that they might choosehimto share their lives with never failed to make him grateful.

He’d rather be with them than striding across the snow toward his brother, that was for sure.

The buzz of the phone in his back pocket made him fish it out and see who was calling. Beth, and when he held the phoneup for his brother to show who it was, Jett simply nodded and waved his hand as if to saytake it, I’ll wait.

Cal figured everyone had to navigate thewho came firstin a man’s life question at some point. It was becoming increasingly clear to everyone involved that Cal’sfirst and alwayswas Beth.

“Hey.” He loved it when she called him. He loved most everything she did, simple as that. But from the moment she uttered her first word, he knew this phone call would be different.

“I can’t find Sam.” The words came out in a high-pitched rush, and he blinked as a slither of dread snaked through him. “I left him in the barn, brushing the horses and oiling their hooves, and the doors were shut, and I only wanted to put a roast in the oven, and I swear—Cal,I swearI was only gone twenty minutes—and I can’t find him! He’s not in the barn, he’s not in the house or the truck or anywhere.He’s not here.”

“Is the pup around?” He’d left Bo with Sam earlier that afternoon.

Chessie had stayed with Cal and was at his side now. The pup was no fool, but Cal was having a lather of a time training him.

“Bo’s gone, too.”

“There must be tracks.”

“The horses were out in the snow today. We’ve been out in it. Bo’s been outside, sniffing around and chasing the wind. You want tracks? There are tracks everywhere. At this point, it’s churn!”

“I can sift through tracks,” he said. “Beth Ann, I have that skill.” He didn’t let panic grab him by the throat. “We’ll find them. Chessie’s here with me and she’ll find that fool pup in no time at all. They can’t have gone far in twenty minutes. Turn all the lights on, inside and out, and I’ll be there by the time you’ve finished.”

“It’s getting dark, and I’m scared, and I can’t lose him, Cal. Not like Red. The waiting will break me this time, it will.I can’t do it. I can’t!”

Beth was doing enough panicking for both of them. “I’ll be there in five minutes. We’ll find him. I promise.”

“How can you promise that? You can’t!” Her anguish tore a hole in his heart.

“I will. I’m on my way. Do what I said.”

Jett was beside him the moment he disconnected. “Sam’s missing?”

“Well, he’s not around, put it that way. And Beth’s…”

“I heard.”

“Can you grab the trailer and bring a couple of skimobiles over, and the stretcher sled? Tell the others.”

“You got it.”

He left Jett to load skimobiles and supplies into the trailer and follow him to Beth’s. Jett would tell Seth. Seth would raise Jim. That was how it ran in the valley when emergencies came knocking.

The Evans ranch was ablaze with light when he pulled up beside the barn in a scrunch of dry snow. He hadn’t seen them on the drive over and San had no reason to hide from him.

He was half thinking Sam and Beth might be waiting to greet him, with Beth being overanxious and a little too quick on the trigger in thinking Sam missing, but no such luck.

Beth stood in the doorway to the barn, doors open at both ends as she hunched against the cold. Not a good time to be outdoors. The wind chill was ferocious, and dusk had come creeping in.

He grabbed his rifle from the gun rack, loaded it, and shoved spare rounds in his coat pocket. He shoved a flashlight in his other pocket and slung his emergency backpack across one shoulder. Sliding Chessie’s cage door open, he watched her leapfrom the truck to the ground. Best dog he’d ever had. She’d find them if he couldn’t.

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