Page 21

21

JOY

The next evening, I was settled once again on the back lawn of Rob and Willow Wolf’s sprawling ranch house. Marina had invited me over to hang out with the women of Wolf Ranch tonight while the men moved more cattle.

Since my house was borderline condemned, at least temporarily, and there was a chance for crazy-Soraya to stop by again, I was thrilled to spend the evening away from Wes’ house.

Remy was inside watching a movie with Lily, the daughter of Clint, another rancher.

Having lived in Cooper Valley my whole life, I knew most of the women here, but it was a delight to get to know them better. We sipped wine and nibbled on a gorgeous array of charcuterie. It seemed Marina did more than bake. I loved to be included as one of their group. There was a close knit feeling here at the ranch–not just among the men, but among the women, too. Luckily for me, it seemed that the moment I started dating Wes, they included me as part of their posse.

I was honored.

The group included Marina, who I loved, and her sister Audrey, Boyd Wolf’s wife and a local OB/GYN. Then there was Becky, who worked as a nurse with Audrey. The toddler, Lily, was hers.

Riley, Cody’s wife was here, and Emma, a newcomer from Los Angeles, who was dating Johnny. Natalie owned the ranch next door to Wolf Ranch, and last around the circle of chairs was Charlie, the ranch veterinarian.

“Where is Willow?” I asked, referring to Rob Wolf’s wife.

“Oh, she’s helping the men, actually,” Marina laughed.

“Good for her.” I popped an olive in my mouth. Willow seemed like a badass. If I understood correctly, she’d been undercover on Natalie’s ranch with the FBI when she met Rob. Insane!

Just then, Lily came running out, the screen door slapping behind her. “Mommy, I want to run with the wolves, too!”

A couple of the women glanced my way and laughed as Becky scooped the child up onto her lap for a cuddle.

“Are we the Women Who Run with the Wolves ?” I remembered the book my mom had by her nightstand years ago.

Marina laughed lightly. “Well, it is Wolf Ranch, so we have to make all the wolf connections we can.”

“Right,” I agreed and stood. “Let me go check on Remy,” I said, since she would be alone in the house now. She’d been to the ranch more than me since she spent time here while Wes worked, but the house was big, and I knew she was a little afraid of the bad queen in the movie.

“She went to run with the wolves,” Lily said, tucked into her mom’s chest.

“Oh, she did?” I asked brightly. “Well, maybe I will go, too.” I went inside to the living room where the girls had been watching a movie, but Remy wasn’t there.

Where was she?

I looked in the bathroom and the kitchen but didn’t see her. “Remy?” I called.

A niggle of misgiving ran through me.

“Remy?” I shouted.

Now I understood why Wes had been so grumpy the evening we first met. He’d been worried when he couldn’t find his girl. Of course, he had. But now that I was dealing with the same thing, I had to fight a rising panic.

I swiftly walked back out to the lawn. “Lily, where did you say Remy went?”

Lily pointed away from the house. “Outside. To run with the wolves.”

Outside. Okay.

There was probably nothing to worry about. The ranch was safe. Remy was probably just out on the front porch.

I hoped. Still, my pulse raced as I reversed directions and jogged back through the house–just in case she’d been hiding inside–to the front door.

“Remy?” I threw open the screen and stepped outside.

Remy’s tiny clothes were strewn down the steps.

Huh?

Becky had followed me out, with Lily on her hip. “Find her?”

“No, but I found her clothes.” I pointed at the small pile.

“Huh,” Becky said.

“REMY!” I raised my voice and shouted into the cool Montana night. The moon was full, so I could at least see a little as I scanned the nearby landscape.

“She took off her clothes to be like a wolf,” Lily said.

“Ohhh.” Becky seemed to understand her daughter better than I did. “Did she want to find her daddy?”

Lily nodded her blonde head. “Yeah. She ran up the mountain.”

Oh, shit.

“What?” I tried to keep my voice calm to not scare Lily, but now I was genuinely worried. “Up the mountain?”

Remy ran naked up the mountain? Crap!

Becky’s voice matched my tension. “Okay, she couldn’t have gotten far. Let me get the others, and we’ll split up and find her.”

“Right.” I dashed in to grab my phone to use the flashlight, and the other women came in from the back lawn.

“I should call Wes,” I said, dialing his number.

“I, uh, don’t think they have reception where they are,” Audrey said. “We might be on our own with this for a little while, but we’ll find her. She can’t have gotten far.”

“Right. Lily only came out a minute ago,” Becky agreed, pasting on a nervous smile. “Probably right after Remy left.”

“No, I watched the movie for a while,” Lily said. “She left before the mice started dancing.”

I fought panic, running outside. “REMY!”

“Which way did she go, Lils?” Becky asked her daughter, staying right beside me.

I waited for the child to point, and then we both headed off in that direction.

“Marina and I will go this way,” Audrey said, pointing off to the right. “Riley, you and Emma go that way.” She pointed to the left of the direction Becky and I were headed.

“I’ll get on a horse,” Charlie offered. “I can ride out to try to find the guys to get them on the hunt, too.”

“I’ll come with you,” Natalie said.

Remy was fine. Remy was fine, I told myself.

Just like she’d been perfectly safe, eating a popsicle on my porch when Wes couldn’t find her on moving day. Right now, she was probably perfectly safe.

Then again, she was naked on a mountain at night. The weather was good, no chance of storms like the past few nights, and it was warm. But the odds of her getting lost or bitten by a rattlesnake or…

No, I had to stop.

I couldn’t think that way. We’d find her.

My chest constricted with love for the girl. The memory of her falling asleep against me, her happy chatter with my mom last night, and the giant hugs she gave me every time she saw me made my eyes mist up.

But there was no reason to cry. She was fine! Fine! We’d find her.

“Remy!” I called out.

I heard Audrey and Marina calling to the right, and Emma and Riley calling out to our left. The sound of hoofbeats rushed past us, as Natalie and Charlie took the trail up the side of the mountain.

“Remy?” My heart was in my throat, my stomach a tight ball. It was getting hard to breathe. The more minutes passed without us finding her, the more freaked out I got.

“One of us should have stayed back,” I realized, stopping for a moment. “You go back,” I told Becky because carrying a two-year-old on a nighttime hike was probably more difficult than she made it look. “In case she’s actually still at the house or returns there.”

“Good thinking,” Becky said, nodding. “Give me your number, and I’ll call if I see anything or she’s really hiding or something.”

“Oh God, I don’t have everyone’s numbers!” My fingers shook as I opened my phone screen to enter her number in my phone.

“I’ll send a group text, so you get everyone’s,” Becky reassured me. “I have it up already. Just tell me your number.”

I gave her the digits followed by a quick tense hug before we parted ways. Once alone, it was even harder to stay positive.

Remy could be hurt. Lost.

What if we didn’t find her before something terrible happened?

What if…oh God! What if her mom had come out to the ranch and kidnapped her?

No, that wouldn’t be it. Lily had said she wanted to run with the wolves. She would’ve mentioned if she’d left with someone.

I kept hiking and calling Remy’s name until I was hoarse.

In the distance, I heard the howl of a wolf.

Hairs rose on my arms. When a chorus of other wolves answered the howl, I got downright scared. What if that was a victory cry from a hunt?

What if the hunt had netted them a four-year-old girl?

My knees buckled in fear. “Remy?” I screamed. “REMY! Where are you?”