Lone Star Cinderella (12 page)

“Seth,” she gasped. “What is that?” She pointed into the bushes a little way up the incline.

“What?”

“There, those rocks. See?” She grabbed his arm and practically yanked him off his feet as she pointed into the bushes. “There.”

He bent beside her. “Well, what do ya know.”

In the bushes was a pile of rocks that looked like they'd been carefully piled by hand. Around them were other stones that looked as if they'd toppled from the stack over time. She turned her face toward his. “Do you think it's the tower? Because I know it's not a big tower, or towering trees or towering rocks. But still they're stacked up.”

He straightened up and grinned down at her. “One man's stack is another man's tower. And that looks like a tower to me. It could have made it all this time hidden like that and with so little traffic out here.”

Melody screamed with excitement, which was so unlike her, and then deviated more from the norm by slinging her arms around Seth. This was so not happening to her! She was ecstatic as she jumped up and down like a
Price Is Right
contestant before getting hold of herself. Still clinging to him, she looked back at the stack. “Just think, oh, my goodness,
just think
—those stones may have been sitting there stacked by our mystery man for over a hundred years.” It was too much to imagine. For a history teacher it was an amazing idea. But for a history buff it was unbelievable! “What was the rest of the map? My head is spinning, and I just can't remember,” she said. She was absolutely giddy.

“Begin south corner ravine at the matching rocks. Fifty steps west to tower turn twenty-five degrees left. At the rock follow the crust to the cave,” Seth quoted the words he'd memorized. “So, twenty-five degrees to the left should mean we're going right. It doesn't say how far to the rock, but I'm guessing it's a big enough or distinctive enough rock so it must not have needed more. Especially since it must be near something that looks like crust.”

“That's the weird part,” Melody said, searching.

Seth lined up with the rocks and then turned slightly. “The problem is he doesn't say where to be facing when you establish your twenty-five degree turn.”

“I guess he didn't want to make it easy on anyone if he wasn't going to be the one to find it.”

He raised a brow. “Evidently. But, through those trees is the river. And there is a rock area so from where I'm standing right now that's where we'll end up, and I think that's our best starting point.”

“Then let's go that way.”

Seth led the way. Melody scrambled behind him feeling so keyed up her hands were shaking.

When she saw the rock, she knew they'd solved the map. There was a rocky ledge that jutted out from the earth and disappeared around a curve that followed the line of the river below. It was not more than two feet wide, and it looked like the crisp edge of a pie crust. Melody thought it was an odd comparison for a man to make, but it worked. There was no doubt about it. Below them was the river and behind them the ravine sloped gradually away from the ledge. Seth was busy stomping down some brush so that they could see better what they were dealing with. She wondered if his heart was pumping as rapidly as hers. She'd never in a million years dreamed when she'd taken the chance and called his ranch that day to ask if she could tour the stagecoach house that it would lead to her actually finding a buried treasure. Of course she hadn't found the treasure yet, but it almost felt as if they had.

After considerable stomping, Seth turned to her and held out his hand. “I feel like a kid,” he said, giving a cute little laugh that made her feel like there were a thousand children doing cartwheels inside her heart.

She took his hand and knew her heart had just
crossed a dangerous boundary she had no business crossing.

“We're supposed to follow this. Now watch your footing. This could get tricky. I don't want you falling and hurting yourself.”

She nodded but knew it was already too late for that.

S
eth held tightly to Melody's hand as he followed the rock ledge. It wasn't really dangerous but one misstep and a person could fall off the ledge, hit the ground the short four feet below the ledge and then roll or slide over the edge into the river. He wasn't about to take a chance on Melody taking that ride. She'd seemed to get her footing better today than the other days but still, all it would take was one slipup.

And the fact that they were both excited about the possibility of finding the cave and the treasure was an added liability when it came to keeping their feet planted firmly on the ground.

Seeing the sparkle in her eyes was enough to send him skydiving.

They reached the edge, and Melody's grip tightened on his. He realized that he wanted to find the treasure more for the pleasure it would give her than anything. The area was overgrown like everything else but sloping back away from the rock ledge. But there was nothing else there. At least not visible.

Melody sighed. “I guess I was expecting the cave opening to just be right here. Instead, the rock disappeared, and it looks like everything else.”

The disappointment was heavy in her voice. “C'mon now,” he said, gently hugging her. “You've pushed and prodded me for days. Don't go giving up so quickly. We've come this far, and there is no doubt in my mind that that map has led us somewhere important. We just have to keep looking till we find it.” She looked up at him and nodded.

“You're right. I'm just anxious.”

“Me, too. Let's start looking for anything around here that could be a cave opening. And, remember, that could be a hole only big enough for a person to squeeze through, or a hole in the ground, so watch your step. Not all caves are yawning openings that you can just waltz through.”

“I'm ready. I've thought about the cave and prayed it would be big. I'm not a spelunker—isn't that what they call the guys who crawl around in the caves like otters?”

Otters.
Cute. “Right. Of course a more experienced explorer is called a caver. You ever seen those bumper stickers that say Cavers Rescue Spelunkers?”

“Wow. Where did all that come from?”

He gave a shrug. “What can I say? Like I told you, I dreamed of finding treasure when I was a kid. And to me, any good treasure should be buried in a cave. So I did my research.”

Her chuckle warmed his heart. “Okay, you'll have to fill me in on this more. But for now let's try and make that dream come true.”

“Fine by me.” Before letting her loose to search, he
gave her another one-armed hug and fought the want to pull her close and kiss her smiling lips. “Careful, okay?”

He moved toward the largest mass of vegetation and peered into it. He'd tromped this ravine like Lewis and Clark when he'd been a kid. The idea that there was indeed a cave here and he'd missed it didn't give him much hope in his skills as a spelunker, much less a caver. Still, this was a huge area, and the undergrowth was dense so he gave himself a bit of slack. He glanced to where Melody was also pushing and pulling at a mass of grapevine and yaupon. “Watch for snakes,” he warned.

“Hey!” She shot him a glare and jumped back. “I'm trying not to think about them, and so far that's held them at bay all this time. Don't start talking about them now.”

He grinned. “I'm sorry to remind you, but it's just so you don't stick your hand somewhere that it shouldn't be.”

She pulled both hands back and scanned the massive tangle of vines overlaying the bushes. “Maybe we need a machete or something.”

He pushed further into the bushes he was investigating, feeling the ground slope up beneath his boots. “Not a bad idea. Maybe we should call it quits today and bring back some equipment tomorrow.”

“No—I mean, it's only four o'clock. We still have daylight for a few hours,” she said but stopped digging around in the vines and walked to stand beside him.

He figured they needed tools but gave the vines he was grasping a hard yank and then went still. Beside him Melody did the same, obviously seeing the same
shadow far back in the foliage. She looked up at him with wide violet eyes.

He smiled. “I think we're going to need some light. What about you?”

 

“So, I'll pack a lunch, and we'll plan to spend the entire day again,” Melody said as they pulled up in front of the stagecoach house a couple hours later. She'd chattered all the way home. Poor Seth probably wanted to
run.

He laid his arm across the back of the seat. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Great. I can't wait. Do you want to come in for a glass of tea or I could make a pot of coffee?” She didn't want him to leave yet. Actually she didn't want to get out of the truck.

“Sure,” he said. “Then I'll head home and get our gear together for tomorrow.”

Melody led the way into the house, and as always, especially since it had been a couple of days since she'd heard from Ty, her gaze sought out the answering machine. The light was blinking, and she hesitated, her heart torn. “Tea or coffee?” she asked, walking to the kitchen.

“Tea,” Seth said.

As she reached inside the refrigerator for the pitcher of cold tea, she saw him pause at the answering machine. “My head is still spinning from the thoughts that tomorrow we might find something.” She grabbed glasses and tried to ignore the fact that he was probably wondering the same thing she was—whether the blinking light was from Ty.

He crossed the room and took the tea but set it on the
counter. “Tomorrow is going to be a big day, and I think I better go on back to the house and get things ready.”

Melody didn't want him to leave. “If you think that's best.”

He didn't make a move for the door, and it was more than obvious that something was on his mind. “That blinking light.”

Her stomach hurt. She didn't want to talk about the light. Or Ty. Not tonight.

“Is that who I think it is?”

“Seth, let's not start—”

“Look, I can't help it. Does he call you every day of the year?”

“No. Not
every
day.” She set her tea down and started to turn away but Seth took her shoulders.

“Melody, I'm not asking this to get you all uptight. I've tried to keep out of it. But that has to wear on you.”

She sighed. “It does.”

“Did you send him the money?”

“No.”

“Good for you,” he said, and then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the temple.

Melody couldn't say it was exactly the kiss or the moment she'd been daydreaming about. It was actually about the worst atmosphere for a kiss she could have imagined. She pushed out of Seth's arms. “You know what? It's been a long day, and I'm pretty tired.”

“Sure,” he said. “I'll see you early.”

“I'll be ready.” She watched him leaving and waited as he closed the door behind him. She didn't move but stood there listening as his boot steps receded.

She should have been ecstatic about the next day, but she suddenly felt empty. She looked at the floor and all
her research papers stacked neatly around her. This had been her escape…but she hadn't escaped anything. Instead she'd run headfirst into a wreck. She felt tangled inside. Seth said he was concerned about her, and he was saying things she'd thought herself. She knew she needed to let Ty find his own way. She'd been trying to figure it out. So why did she feel so resentful every time Seth voiced his thoughts? His simple stare at the blinking light bothered her.

It seemed like her whole world was made up of questions these days. And if she stayed busy she could sometimes not think about the fact that she had no answers.

She'd always had a strong faith in God. She'd been taught early that God was always there for her and she'd seen her parents' faith carry them through so many hard times. Always, they'd trusted that the Lord was in control. And she believed that, too.

She was just struggling with understanding the why of it all.

She knew she wasn't the only person in America who had problems. And sadly she understood that the nightmare of drug abuse was widespread and growing. Feeling sorry for herself was not what she wanted to feel. But sometimes she felt so alone. So isolated. She'd thought talking to Seth would help her. She'd actually prayed that God would give her some answers. That He would hear her prayers, know that she was angry and desperate…it was almost her last-ditch effort to believe that God hadn't just given up on Ty but that He'd also not given up on her.

Stop it
. Melody rubbed her temple, her gaze falling on the blinking red light. Letting these emotions get a grip on her wasn't good. She needed to shake it off. But
she'd really thought, well, she and Seth had become something over the last three weeks—she wasn't exactly sure what that was but it was something. Maybe it was simply that they'd spent so much time together that she'd opened up to him like she'd never opened up to anyone before. And, in turn, he felt comfortable giving her advice.

Only, did she want that advice? Instead of feeling less isolated she felt…depressed.

So depressed that she did something she'd never done before. She walked over and unplugged her phone. Then staring at the blinking red light she snapped the answering machine off.

She just couldn't face talking to her brother—not tonight.