KIDNAPPED COWBOY (29 page)

“You mean other than her finding out that you’ve been riding again?”

“Damn it, Brandon, you promised not to say anything.” He raked a troubled hand back through his hair as he paced the floor of his hotel room.

“Ever hear of the radio, little brother?”

Dalton cursed. He hadn’t considered making the news.  The rodeos he’d entered had been smaller, local ones.  Then again, all that had been on his mind, other than missing Caitlin, was rounding up a good chunk of money so he could offer Caitlin the kind of life she deserved. 

“How upset is she?”

“Let me put it this way,” his brother began, “All the shit you’ve shoveled from stalls in your life is nothing compared to how deep you’re in it now."

“Damn.”

“She accused us of lying to her and then tendered her resignation.”

“She what?”

“Caitlin quit.”

“She can’t do that.”

“There’s no law against it, little brother.  But I told her she has to give you her notice since you’re the one running things out there now.  I don’t have to tell you how unhappy she was with my refusal.”

“No doubt,” he muttered as he sank down onto the edge of the hotel bed.  He dragged a hand down over his unshaven face.  “I need to call her.”

“Good luck there.  She won’t answer my calls and I’m not the one who hurt her.”

“I never meant to hurt her.”  His gaze shifted to the ring box on the nightstand.  He shot to his feet and crossed the room to grab his duffel bag from the closet.  “I’m gonna try and call her.  Just in case she ignores my calls, I need you to keep her at the retreat until I get back.  I’m leaving now.”

“How do you expect me to do that?  Nothing short of hog-tying her when those kids leave this afternoon is gonna keep her here.”

They were leaving that afternoon.  He hated the thought of it.  But he should be back in time to see them off.  His brother’s words finally sank in,
nothing short of hog-tying
...

“That’s it!” he exclaimed.

“What’s it?”

“Caitlin can’t go anywhere if she’s tied up.”

“Have you lost your mind?  You just can’t go around tying people up.  That’s kidnapping."

Why not?  Caitlin had done the same thing to him.  In his book, turnabout was fair play.  "I’ve waited all my life to find a woman like her.  I’m sure as hell not gonna let her just walk outta my life without trying to make things right.  But I can’t do that if she’s gone.”

He set the duffel on the bed and began tossing his clothes inside.  “I’m gonna make this right, but I’m counting on you to keep Caitlin there until I get back.”

“Dalton...”

“Please.  I need your help.”

His brother let out a sigh.  “I’ve failed you in so many ways in the past.  I won’t let you down again.  Consider it done.”  The line went dead.

Dalton shoved his phone into the pocket of his jeans, grateful to have his brother back in his life again, a reconciliation that might never have come about without Caitlin.  She had changed his life in so many ways. 

Grabbing up his things, he raced out the door.  As soon as he was on the road, he dialed Caitlin’s cell, needing to hear her voice.  Needing a chance to explain.

The phone rang again and again.  No answer.

Dalton checked his watch.  Breakfast at the retreat was just ending which meant Caitlin and whatever groups weren’t in charge of clean-up duty would be heading out for their morning hike. 

He had no idea whose turn it was for clean-up duty, but he did know that there was a phone in the cafeteria and he was going to need all the help he could get.  His plan would work.  It had to.

He dug out his phone and dialed the number he had stored in it for the cafeteria.  “Come on, someone, pick up,” he muttered in frustration as the ringing continued.

Finally, someone answered. “Stoney Brook.”

He was shocked to hear her voice on the other end of the line.  “Caitlin?” 

“Go to hell, Dalton.”  The line went dead.

He supposed he deserved that.  He’d handled things poorly.  He hit redial.  "Come on, Caitlin," he muttered, mentally pleading with her to answer again.

“Hello?”

It wasn’t Caitlin. “Jimmy?”

“Mr. Barnes?  That you?”

“Yeah.  Let me talk to Caitlin.”

“Can’t. She just ran out.  She’s pretty pissed at you right now.”

“I don’t blame her.”  Though unintentional, he’d hurt the only woman he had ever loved and he would do his damnedest to set things right between them. “You have to know I never meant to hurt her.”

“Then why did you leave?  And how come you didn’t tell her you were going back to riding again?”

“I’m not riding again.”

“Tell that to the news people.”

“I mean I’m not returning to the circuit.  I rode in those rodeos to make some extra cash.”

“If you’re broke, why didn’t you just tell her that?  You and Miss Myers are always preaching to us about being honest.”

He was right.  If ever there was a time for honesty, it was now.  “I’m far from broke, Jimmy, but a lot of my money is tied up in investments.  I needed the extra cash so I can buy Stoney Brook from my brother.”

“You wanna buy this place?”

“I know how much it means to Caitlin.  I intended to buy it for her as a wedding gift.  I never considered my riding might make the news.”

“Miss Myers is getting married?  To who?”

“To me, I hope.  Only I haven’t asked her yet.”

Whispers sounded on the other end of the line. 

“He wants to marry Miss Myers.”

Cheers exploded through the receiver.

“Don’t get too excited,” he told the teen.  “Sounds like I’m gonna have my work cut out for me.”

Jimmy laughed.  “No kidding.”

“I’m on my way back to set things right with Caitlin.  I should get there sometime after lunch break ends.  In the meantime, I’m gonna need your help.”

“You name it,” he said without hesitation.  “You two belong together.”

“That’s what I’m hoping to convince her of.  Now here’s the plan...” 

*              *              *

Caitlin looked up from her packing as a knock sounded on the cabin door.  Probably another of the teens coming to say their goodbyes.  It had been an emotional day to say the least.

“It’s open,” she called out as she deposited the armful of books she’d pulled off of the bookshelf into the cardboard box on her bed.

The door creaked open behind her.

“Going somewhere?”

She spun around to find Brandon Barnes standing in the open doorway.  Other than Dalton, he was the last person she wanted to see right then.  It was hard to even look at him, he reminded her so much of his brother.  The man who had crushed her heart to smithereens.  “I’m done here.  I told you that.”

“Well, you might wanna hold off on leaving.”

She walked over to grab more books.  “Why would I do that?  Once the kids leave, my commitment to this place is over.”

“Because my brother wants to have a word with you.”

“It’s a little late for that don’t you think? 

“He’s on his way here.  Stay long enough to hear him out.”

She dumped the last load of books into the box and then folded the flaps, sealing it shut.  “No can do.  I have a life to get on with.  One that doesn’t include a smooth-talking, heart-breaking cowboy.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.”  Brandon stepped into the room with a frown.  “Dalton’s right.  You’re a stubborn little thing.”  He turned and gave a whistle.  “Kids!”

The screen door opened again and the counselors stepped inside, behind them came the rest of their groups, forming a tight circle around her.

“What’s going on?” she asked, looking around at the determined faces of the young counselors and teens.  “Billy?  Leah?”

It was Jimmy who stepped forward.  The boy she had seen the most change in.  Had grown the closest to.  “You’ve taught us to trust ourselves to know right from wrong.  How to use what we learned to help others.  And now it’s our turn to help you, Miss Myers.”

“Me?”

“You’ve gotta talk to Dalton,” Kylie said, the others nodding in agreement.

“No,” Caitlin said stiffly, “I don’t.”  She turned to Brandon in fury.  How dare you bring them into this!”

He smiled.  “All’s fair in love and war, Caitlin.  And my brother loves you.”  He glanced past her with a nod.  “Kids.”

The next thing she knew, the circle around her began closing in.  It was then she noticed the coils of rope in a few of the teens’ hands.

They wouldn’t.

They did.

*              *              *

Dalton turned up the road leading to the ranch, regret eating at him.  A detour on the way back had cost him time he didn’t have to spare.  So much for his plan to propose to Caitlin with the kids there.  Their bus would have pulled out a little over an hour before.  He muttered a curse.  At least, he’d get to see them again in the fall when he took the group to the rodeo.

He’d hoped to return days before, but his determination to give Caitlin everything she’s always been denied, everything she deserved, had delayed him.  That and the fall he’d taken, followed by a trip to the hospital.  But she was worth every ache and pain he’d had to suffer.

He ran a hand over the lump in his shirt pocket and smiled.  He had the ring.  He had the deed.  At least, it was as good as his.  Now all he had to do was get the girl.

If plan A failed, he’d move on to plan B.  Only he hadn’t exactly come up with that one yet.  All he could do was hope that Brandon and the kids had been successful in convincing Caitlin to stick around to hear him out.

Palms slick with anticipation, he tightened his grip on the steering wheel.  He was almost to the retreat.  The trees lining the dirt road had begun to change, but everything else remained the same.  The cabins.  The corral.  Caitlin trussed up in a canoe which was tied to the dock...

“What the...?”  Dalton slammed on his brakes.  Tying Caitlin up and putting her inside a canoe wasn’t part of the plan.  Throwing the truck into park, he shoved open the door and launched out of the truck, moving in hurried strides through the trees to the lake.

“’Bout damn time.”

He turned to see his brother standing next to one of the picnic tables near the water’s edge, looking completely disheveled.  His hair was sticking up every which way and his shirt front was a mass of wrinkles, partially untucked on one side.  Behind him, seated on the table and its benches sat the kids, looking quite pleased with themselves.

His gaze shifted back to Caitlin who was gagged and bound and glaring at him from inside the canoe.  She was mumbling something he couldn’t make out thanks to the red bandana tied around her mouth.

One thing was clear, she was madder than a wet hen.  Damn.  Not the best start for a proposal.  He swung around to Brandon.  “You guys were supposed to keep her in her cabin.”

“We tried, but she escaped,” Jimmy replied from behind Brandon.

“Twice,” Kelly said with a groan.  “But Mr. Barnes here was able to catch her.”

That explained is brother’s appearance. 

“What are you still doing here?” he asked the teens.  Not that he wasn’t glad to see them.

“The bus broke down or something,” Leah answered. 

“They’re sending out another one,” Brandon said with a conspiratorial wink.  “But it won’t be here for a couple more hours yet.”

“Mmmm....mmmm....mmmm.”

Dalton flashed Caitlin what he hoped was an apologetic smile.  “Be right there.”

“Now what?” his brother asked.

“This isn’t exactly how I planned for things to go, but I’ll work with it.”  All that mattered was Caitlin was there and he was going to get the chance to set things right.  “Thanks, guys.  Now, how about a little privacy?”

No one moved.

“Kids,” Brandon’s deep voice rumbled, sending them into motion.

They sprung off the table and benches and hurried toward the path that went from the lake up to the cabins.

“Good luck,” Brandon said before turning to follow them into the woods.

Dalton turned heel and strode determinedly for the dock.  Though it wasn’t that far away, it was the longest walk of his life.  His future waited at the end of the wooden pier.  That is, if he could get Caitlin to forgive him.

Smiling, he knelt down and reached out to remove the bandana.  “You didn’t have to get all trussed up just for me.”

The cloth had barely left her lips when she launched into a string of verbal barbs.

He tsk-ed her. “Uh, uh, uh, no breaking the rules.”

She squirmed against the ropes, eyes blazing with indignation.  “I’m gonna break more than the rules when I get outta here.  Now untie me!”

He shook his head.  “Afraid I can’t.  Not until after you’ve heard me out.”  He untied the rope holding the canoe to the dock and then lowered himself inside.

“W...what are you doing?”

Reaching for an oar, he pushed them away from the dock.  “You know what they say about paybacks.  You kidnapped me.  Now it’s my turn to return the favor.”

Caitlin turned her head away, unable to look at Dalton without her heart aching.  “You’re wasting both of our time.  If you think I’m gonna listen to any more of your lies-”

“I never lied to you.”

She whipped back around.  “How can you stand...well, sit there, and say that?  You and all your promises.  I love you, Caitlin.  I’ll be back, Caitlin.”  She snorted and looked back out over the water.

"I do love you," he replied with a sincerity she almost believed.  “And I’m back.  So where’s the lie?”

Okay, so maybe he hadn’t lied about everything.  He was back.  But he had lied about his feelings for her.  She turned to him with tears in her eyes.  “You made me believe you were ready to settle down.  That there might be a future for us.  Instead, you left me for what you really love.  The rodeo.”

He edged closer.  “There’s only one true love in my life and she’s sitting right here in front of me.”

She snorted.  “One you ran out on.”

“I left to collect on some financial debts that were owed to me.”

“On the back of a bull?”

“I hit a few rodeos along the way for a chance at some extra cash.”