And Then You Fly Page 22

  She could not keep her mind from racing. Memories of the arguments they had in the short few years they were married came flooding back to her. How many times had he told her she didn’t understand, couldn’t understand? He was right, she hadn’t understood. But they hadn’t been talking about the same thing.

  She didn’t understand how he could be so ambivalent about her desire for them to spend more time together. All the while, what he really meant was she didn’t understand him.

  “He was so different when he was on leave. He would relax. We would have fun. That’s who I thought he was.”

  “And you were wrong?”

  She nodded her head. “I was so wrong.”

  ***

  Jace pulled into Helena a little after five. Since his parents were still in Monument, he decided to stop at Mama Leonie’s for takeout Italian food. Once his belly was full of homemade pasta, and a couple glasses of Chianti, he fell into bed and slept for twelve hours.

  When he woke late the next morning he called the ranch manager, Yancy, and asked him to come up to the house when he had a break in his day.

  Jace hoped Yancy would tell him everything was under control, after which, he’d fall back into bed and sleep for another twelve hours guilt-free.

  Two days later, Jace felt as though he’d finally caught up on sleep. Since they bought the ranch, his focus had been on operations, and then on the rough stock start-up. He hadn’t spent much time in his house other than to eat and sleep. Even when he injured his leg, he kept active and spent most of his time outdoors.

  He walked through the house, taking a longer look at the state of it, than he had previously. He pulled up a corner of the carpet in the main room, and discovered hardwood floors underneath. Three hours later, the carpet on the first floor of the house was pulled up and in a pile outside near the back porch.

  In the course of unearthing the wood floors, he found tracks at each of the entryways to the living room. He went out to the barn, returned with a crowbar, and removed the molding around the wide doorway.

  Under the moulding he found two pocket doors. The wood of the doors matched that of the floor. And apart from where the carpet had been tacked to the wood, the floors were in good shape. It wouldn’t take much to repair and refinish them.

  There were two staircases in the house. The one in the back was narrow, and went straight up. But the one in the front of the house, went partway up to a landing, and then turned the opposite direction up to the second floor.

  Jace climbed the steps to the landing and studied the wood on what would be the outside-facing wall of the house. It didn’t appear to be drywall, but a series of boards pieced together like paneling.

  Starting at the lower corner of the wall, he used the crowbar to loosen one of the boards. There was something underneath, but he couldn’t tell what it was. Little by little he loosened and removed each of the boards. When he finished, he stood back and studied the five foot wide by eight foot tall stained glass window that had been buried underneath the paneled boards.

  Four circles, like something you would see looking through a kaleidoscope, overlapped slightly in the middle of the window. The focal point though was a silhouette of a woman, which overlapped the kaleidoscope circles. The starkness of it was so dramatic against the bold primary colors used in the patterns of the circles, it almost looked three-dimensional.

  If it was warm enough in the morning, he’d work on the outside of the house, removing whatever obstacles had been put in place to prevent light from shining through the window. What other treasures might await him buried in the walls of his house?

  With the dawn of each new day, Jace discovered more hidden gems built into his house. He asked Yancy if he knew anyone who might know who the builder was, and why so much of the beautiful craftsmanship had been hidden away. Yancy told him he had a couple ideas of people who might know, and promised to follow up with them.

  Before he knew it, a week had gone by. His parents called to say they’d decided to stay in Monument through Christmas, given Jace was at the ranch, and Yancy had everything under control. Billy called to check-in, as did Tucker. Both wanted to know if he had changed his mind about coming south for Christmas.

  “Have you heard from her?” asked Tucker.

  “Not a word. What about Blythe?”

  “She told me to ask you, since she hadn’t. I think her folks are gettin’ worried.”

  “If she’s in Idaho, she isn’t alone.”

  “What’s the story with this Red character anyway?”

  Jace told Tucker what he knew of Red, and how he’d taken Bree under his wing. If Billy was right and something “big” had happened, Jace was glad Bree had the old guy to lean on.

  Before Jace redid the wood flooring on the main level of the house, he decided to paint. He also wanted to replace the linoleum in the kitchen with tile. While he was at the hardware store in Helena, he picked out tile for the downstairs bathroom.

  “You back again?” said the woman behind the counter. “You must have some big project goin’. Fourth time this week you’ve been in. Where do you live anyway? I know just about everybody in town and I don’t think we’ve ever met.”

  Jace reached across the counter to shake her outstretched hand. “My name’s Jace Rice, ma’am. My parents and I bought the Beiman Ranch a few months ago.”

  “My oh my. Folks have been wonderin’ when we’d catch sight of the cowboy who took over that place. Your parents have been to town. In fact, I invited your mama to join our bunko group.”

  “That was real nice of you,” Jace smiled at the woman who had introduced herself as Vi.

  “We haven’t seen much of your parents lately. Everything okay with them?”

  The last thing Jace wanted to do was spend his day answering questions about his parents, the ranch, or himself. He politely told her they were traveling, thanked her for her assistance, and predicted she’d see him again before the week was out.

  As he was walking out the front door, he turned back. “You don’t know anything about the builder of the main ranch house, do you ma’am?”

  Vi smiled and came around from behind the counter. “I was wonderin’ how long it would take you to ask.”

  She turned the sign around in the front door and scooted Jace out to the sidewalk.

  “Time for my break anyway, what do you say we have a cup of coffee over at the café?”

  She pulled him along with her, down the block and across Main Street. They stepped inside the same diner Jace went to for breakfast the first time he passed through Helena, looking for the Beimans.

  “My daughter owns this place,” she told him. “What can I get ya?”

  “Uh, coffee would be fine ma’am.”

  “Would you stop bein’ so formal? Call me Vi for goodness sake. And make yourself comfortable. I got quite a story to tell you cowboy.”

  Vi came back to the table with two coffees and two pieces of cherry pie. Now that he thought about it, he was feeling hungry.

  “His wife designed the stained glass window. I’ll bet that’s the first thing your curious about.”

  “I didn’t know about it until a few days ago. It was hidden behind a wall of paneling.”

  “Yep, Walt couldn’t stand to look at it after she left.”

  “Was that when he had the carpeting put in too?”

  “Have you found the pocket doors yet?”

  Vi told him that Walt Beiman’s wife was originally from Boston. “Her family was loaded, if you know what I mean. She never did fit in too well around here. My mama told me she was mighty uppity for the wife of a rancher.”

  Back in those days, she told him, ranchers weren’t considered anything special. Since no one would be so rude to ask how much land a family owned, or how many head of cattle the ranch possessed, one rancher was the same as the next.

  “That was her first mistake. Comin’ into town braggin’ about her husband’s holdings, she called ’em. Wanted a big,
fancy, East Coast style house too. I think Walt was close to thirty when they married. And all he had at the time was the land. It was her money that got that house built.”

  Jace told Vi he’d been concentrating on the main floor of the house. He asked if there was anything on the second floor he should know about.

  “Not on the second floor so much as the attic.”

  Now that she mentioned it, Jace didn’t remember seeing any access to a third floor, or attic.

  “When you get to the top of the back staircase, look up. You’ll have to break through it to get to the folding stairs, unless he took ’em out. If he did, get yourself a ladder.”

  “What’s up there?” he asked.

  “Can’t say for sure. Some of what I heard might be true, but most is probably just rumor.”

  “I’m not gonna find any dead bodies up there, am I?”

  Vi roared with laughter. “Oh goodness no. Let’s just say I heard there are some treasures boarded up in there.”

  By the time he finished his second piece of pie, Vi had finished telling him all she knew about Beatrice Beiman. She’d hired an architect from Boston to design the house, but hadn’t been able to convince him to travel west to oversee it being built. Consequently, the structure of the house was pretty basic. Not happy with the construction, Beatrice focused her efforts on the interior.

  The stained glass window was only the beginning. There were lead glass windows and chandeliers, fancy bathroom fixtures, and a kitchen that was big enough for a full-time cook, even though they never had one.

  “All that and she didn’t live in the house five years.”

  “Where did she go?”

  “Have you heard why the Beimans had to sell?”

  He had. They were caught driving cattle across the US-Canadian border. If what Lyric heard was true, the sons got into quite a bit of trouble for it.

  “That ranch belonged to husband number two. He was someone Beatrice met while she and Walt were at the Calgary Stampede. His family was from Vancouver, and appealed to her more ‘gentrified’ side.

  “It wasn’t until she told Walt she was pregnant that he knew she’d been having an affair. The story was, he picked her up, walked through the front door, down the steps of the porch, and told her to get the hell off his land.”

  “How did he know he wasn’t the father?”

  “He knew.” Vi’s cheeks pinkened.

  “He raised his son all on his own after that day. When he was a teenager, word came that Beatrice passed away. When the young man traveled to Vancouver for her funeral, he met his half-brother, and the two became close.”

  Beiman never remarried, although Vi said she’d heard there was a widow from Butte he passed time with.

  “You know much about Walt’s son?” she asked him.

  “Not really. I mean I met both of his sons when we made the offer on the ranch.” He hadn’t realized at the time the younger man wasn’t Walt’s son.

  “Let’s just say the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. He was just like his mama, even though his daddy raised him. Soon as he could, he got off that ranch.”

  Jace was confused. Hadn’t he lived in the other house?

  “No, that was Walt’s nephew,” she told him.

  “Not everyone is cut out for life on a ranch. They read books thinkin’ it’s all romantic. When they get here they realize it’s cold, and isolated, and lonely. Most of your time revolves around the livestock, which can be dirty work.”

  She asked him whether he came from a ranching family. His great-grandfather had been a rancher in Colorado, but his grandfather sold most of the ranch land to the Aspen Company, who used it to develop another ski area. He didn’t tell her that though. Just that his great-grandfather was a rancher.

  “You aren’t married are ya?” she asked him right before he decided their conversation had stretched on long enough.

  “No ma’am.”

  It was clear she wanted to say something else on the subject, but Jace stood, put on his jacket and thanked her for her time.

  ***

  Red treated Bree to an afternoon in Sun Valley. They had lunch, and then wandered through the shops in town. Seeing families out together enjoying the Christmas festivities, made her lonesome for her family. She found several things she thought would be perfect for Cochran, but she wasn’t in the right frame of mind to shop.

  “Still with me?” Red asked her. Had he noticed she was lost in thought?

  “Of course I am,” she mumbled.

  “I have one more stop I want to make.”

  Bree couldn’t get her mind off the last few entries in Zack’s journal. Had they really been that unhappy? So unsuited? Wasn’t Zack her soulmate? Hadn’t she believed she’d grow old with him? She wondered now. If he had lived, would they still be married?

  Red put his hand on her arm and eased it down. “You’ll be bleeding soon if you don’t quit chewing those nails.”

  “Sorry,” she said, feeling as though she’d just been scolded.

  “Why don’t you tell me what’s got you in this state?”

  “I wish I knew who sent the journals. And why.”

  “That’s a good question. I find it interesting that there was no note enclosed, and the return address such a mystery.”

  “Maybe I should call his sister.”

  Bree hadn’t kept in touch with Zack’s family after the funeral. She assumed that talking to her would only open wounds that may be healing. Red was right, maybe she should call.

  Red walked down a path that looked as though it went into the woods. Bree stopped. “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see. It’s right around this bend.”

  Bree could hear children’s voices, and laughter. Both grew louder the further she walked. They followed the sidewalk until it made a turn, and out of the woods. In front of them was an ice rink, crowded with children. Red walked up to the concession stand and ordered two hot chocolates…and two pairs of skates.

  “What size shoe do you wear?” he asked.

  “Oh no, I’m not getting out there. I’ll wait right here for you.”

  “Give me a size seven,” she heard him say to the teenager manning the counter. How had he known that was the size she wore?

  Red sat down on the closest bench. “Come on. You know you want to.”

  Yeah, well, she didn’t. But Red was so good to her, how could she refuse to ice skate with him? She couldn’t be great company, particularly today. Maybe she was ruining Christmas for him.

  For the next hour, they skated around and around the rink. Christmas music played from speakers on top of the concession stand, and the skaters sang along.

  “Look who’s here,” he said, pointing to the skater coming on the ice dressed as Santa Claus.

  “How wonderful,” she mused, watching the children skate over to him.

  “I brought my daughter here every Christmas from the time she started walking. We had such fun.”

  “I’m sorry Red.”

  He looked at her, brow furrowed. “What in the world for?”

  “For being a spoilsport on our lovely day.”

  Instead of answering, he took her hand and led her around the rink.

  “That’s enough for me,” he said on their third lap.

  “Me too, but I want you to know how much I enjoyed this. Thanks for guessing the correct skate size.”

  “My pleasure ma’am.”

  “All that skating made me hungry,” he said once they were back in the truck and warm.

  “Me too.”

  “What are you hungry for?”

  “Anything really. Whatever you feel like is fine with me.”

  “Okay then.” Red started the truck and drove out to the highway. “It isn’t too far from here.”

  Bree’s phone pinged and she pulled it out of her pocket. “Oh sweet boy,” she sighed. “Look.” She held the phone up so Red could see the photo her sister texted of her nephew. “This is Cochr
an,” she said proudly. The little boy was sound asleep next to the Christmas tree. His cheeks were pink, almost as though he’d spent the afternoon outside with them.

  Was she making a mistake being away for Christmas? Maybe being around her family would lighten her spirits. If anyone could help her forget whatever was bothering her, it was Cochran.

  When she looked up, she realized they were parked in front of the restaurant Jace brought her to; the one owned by his friends from Aspen.

  “I don’t get down here often, but it’s one of my favorite spots,” he said, noticing the expression on her face. “Asian okay, or would you prefer something else?”

  She wasn’t sure what to say. It would probably be fine. Jace’s friends might not recognize her, and even if they did, maybe they’d be too busy to chat.

  “No this is great.”

  Red cocked an eyebrow at her, but opened the truck door to climb out anyway.

  “No, really. I love Asian food.”

  “Uh huh,” he answered, grinning back at her. “You’re full of mystery today, aren’t you?”

  “I’ve been here before. That’s all. And you’re right, the food is great. So come on, let’s go in.”

  They were seated quickly, at a high top table in the bar area. Bree hadn’t seen either of Jace’s friends yet.

  “I’d ask you if this is someplace you came with Zack, but this place hasn’t been open that long.”

  “No, not Zack.”

  “Then who?”

  “Jace brought me here last summer. The couple who own it are friends of his from Aspen.”

  “I see,” he studied the menu. “Sake okay with you?”

  “Uh, sure.”

  “Hot or cold.”

  “Hot please.”

  “Good girl,” he answered. Red sat with his hands folded on the table in front of him after the waiter took their drink order.

  “Who should we talk about first?”

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Jace or Zack. We’re going to talk about them both tonight, so you decide which you’d like to talk about first.”

  “Red, I really don’t—”