Page 30 of A Triple C Ranch Christmas Wedding
Jack had left him a message and told him there was a change of plans.
Well damn.
Jack wouldn’t be able to pick him up after all.
Ted didn’t mind getting a rental car, but he’d looked forward to some time with his brother before the big wedding. It was so seldom they were able to get together.
He gave Marcie a quick call, but her phone went to voice mail.
“Hey, Marcie, just landed,” he said. “We didn’t pick a time for dinner. How does six o’clock sound? Text me back, when you can. Or call. I’ve got to pick up a rental car now and drive there.”
He didn’t go into all the whys, just wanted to let her know that he’d be driving and not texting. He could always put her on speaker phone if the car didn’t have a hands-free setup.
Ted disembarked the plane and went to the baggage claim to collect his suitcase, and then headed to the rental car counter.
He would rent a car, choosing from what they had left on the lot, which might be slim pickings. Then he would drive from Bozeman to Eagle Rock, which appeared to be out in the middle of nowhere. But that was where he had to go for the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner tonight and where the wedding would be.
The original plan had been for Jack to pick him up, then they’d drive to the Triple C Ranch, where the rehearsal was. Ted could change clothes there and freshen up. Then after the dinner, he would go back to Bozeman to his brother’s apartment, where he would crash on the couch. Hopefully, a good sleeping couch.
Much as he would have liked to spend time with his brother, he really preferred having his own rental car, and at this point was contemplating finding a hotel room somewhere nearby.
If there was time.
His brother was up by the Canadian border chasing after horse thieves right now, doing that hero to the rescue thing, again. He’d found his bride that way. So, it wasn’t all bad. But it could easily screw up their carefully made wedding plans.
Ted wondered how Lucy was taking all this. He hadn’t met her yet, but he’d heard a lot about her. Soon, she’d be his new sister-in-law. That would be different, as they had no sisters or girl cousins their age. He looked forward to getting to know her.
* * *
As Jack chasedthe horse thieves in his truck, a team of Brotherhood Protectors was en route by air, flying into Sunburst, Montana. Their task was to search for, find, and follow the thieves until the state police could stop them and arrest them.
For slaughter, the horse thieves would have to take the horses across the border into Canada. But Calgary, where the big auction house was, was only a ten-hour drive from Three C’s Ranch. They all hoped to catch them before they crossed the border because it would be hard to know which auction house the thieves were taking them to.
* * *
Zeb heard a helicopter flying overhead,low. He reached for the lever action Winchester he kept in the truck, but then relaxed his hand when the helicopter moved on past.
Must be a wreck of some kind, slowing everything down.
There was supposed to be a snowstorm moving in, just south of the Canadian border, and vehicles were now creeping across at a snail’s pace, but visibility was still good.
Had to be a wreck slowing everyone. He still had plenty of time to get across the border before the weather turned ugly, if this slow down didn’t keep him here too long.
They might not even know the horses are missing yet. Wish I could see Bucks face when he hears that they’re missing.
