“It’s okay,” Galen repeated to me when I didn’t say anything during the walk. “We’ll find him.”
I believed that. Heck, we wouldn’t rest until we did find him. The problem was that I was terrified of what state we might find him in. What if he was already gone? My heart ached at the thought. I hadn’t known him growing up and had met him a little more than a year ago. How was I supposed to live with losing him so fast?
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” Galen prodded in a low voice when I didn’t respond.
“I don’t like Larry calling me ma’am,” I replied. That wasn’t the whole truth — there was a lot going on in my busy brain — but it wasn’t a lie.
He practically choked. “Seriously?” he asked.
I nodded. “Ma’ams are old.” I was solemn.
“Well, I guess I know what I’m calling you when we get into our next argument.”
He was going for levity. I appreciated the effort but I had no smile to give. “I wouldn’t if you want to make up in a timely fashion.”
He squeezed my hand.
He released it when we got to the barn and split up to look around. I didn’t know what we were looking for but I could imagine a few scenarios. One involved Wesley having a heart attack — or some other medical emergency — away from his men. If he fell in the wrong place, behind a hay bale stack or in a wooded area, he might not be found right away. The other involved an enemy walking into the barn, whacking him over the head and removinghim from the property. I didn’t want to think on that one too long. As far as I knew, Wesley didn’t have many enemies, but what if one of them took my grandfather to use as leverage against me?
“This is Loretta,” Larry said, drawing me back to the conversation and pointing to a mother cow and her calf.
“What’s the baby’s name?” I asked as I dropped to my knees to pet the adorable little face.
Larry shrugged. “We don’t name them all. We name the heifers who will be breeding for us and a few of the studs. The others, well, I guess you can call him Lunch if you want.”
I glared at him. “Thanks for puttingthatidea into my head.”
He grew frustrated in an instant. “What do you want me to say? I don’t care about the calf. I care about Wesley. He’s been my best friend for ten freaking years. We were friends for another twenty before that. I’m worried about him, not the stupid calf!”
I stood in shock and watched Larry’s hands begin to shake as he covered his face.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“Don’t apologize to him,” Galen ordered. “It’s not your fault that Wesley is gone.”
“It’s not his fault either,” I pointed out. “He’s upset. I don’t blame him.”
“We’re all upset.” Galen rubbed my back before turning back to Larry. “Where would he have gone from here?”
“I don’t know.” Larry’s cheeks were tear streaked. “We’ve been all over the ranch. We’ve been out on the four-wheelers. They’re all accounted for. So are the horses.”
“He went on foot,” I said.
Larry nodded. “I’ve had the hands crawling through the underbrush in case he fell. We really have been everywhere.”
“Maybe he’s not here,” Galen suggested.
Larry started shaking his head, then frowned as Galen’s words sank in. “What are you suggesting?” he asked.
“Wesley is important,” Galen replied evenly. “Someone may havetaken him for ransom. Or to hold as a hostage to get leverage over someone.”
“Who?” Larry looked baffled. Then his gaze landed on me and I cringed. “Oh,” he said in understanding.
My shoulders slumped.
“Hadley, don’t get worked up,” Galen admonished, annoyance shining through. “You can’t blame yourself for things we have no proof of.”
I blinked. What he didn’t say — likely couldn’t say — was that if Wesley had been taken odds were good that he’d been taken to send us a message.
