The seed in Cash’s stomach twisted into a full-grown ash tree.
Before they hung up, Trish made him promise to call if he needed any more help finding Rachel. The Nettles family joked that Rachel was their second daughter because of all the time she and Val spent joined at the hip. Maybe they should keep her full-time. Trish would be a much better parent than Cash.
He set the chili pot into the sink, flipped on the water and gripped the edge of the counter.
Renner. What did Rachel see in the cocky boy? He only wished her whereabouts were more of a surprise.
Cash scrounged up some leftovers and tried to distract himself with the Monday-night Rangers game, but nothing held his attention. Each tick of the clock increased his anxiety, and the food sat like a rock in his stomach.
He and Rachel had one steadfast rule between them—always let me know where you are and where you’re going. The stipulation wasn’t that hard to follow. He’d had a similar rule with their parents, but he’d never pushed the way Rachel did. Mom and Dad hadn’t known how good they’d had it.
When the Rangers game finished, Cash checked the time again. Almost ten o’clock. His phone showed three reception bars, but still nothing from Rach. He texted her again. He’d give her another ten minutes before he got in the truck and started looking. Cash’s fingers slid down his contact list, landing on Coach Grayson’s number.
The out-of-town area code flashed on the screen and then disappeared as he contemplated making the call. She was Rachel’s coach. Maybe she knew something he didn’t.
Though Olivia probably wasn’t very happy with the way he’d acted at the car wash on Saturday. He’d had to run, had to get away from how simple it would be to let her in. Jack and Janie loved her. Being with her was too easy. So he’d scrambled out of there, needing some distance.
She’d been in church again yesterday—without Gil—but Cash hadn’t talked to her. Somehow, he needed to figure out a way to be friends with her and nothing more. When his parents passed away, he’d promised himself that he’d give Rachel his undivided attention until she graduated from high school and went to college. No dating. No distractions. He owed Rachel the same great upbringing he’d had, the same love and support he’d received from their parents. After all, if Cash hadn’t believed Tera the day of his parents’ deaths, Rachel’s life would have had a different outcome.
The familiar mixture of responsibility and determination weighed down his shoulders, and Cash let out a slow breath. He’d managed not to date for the past four years. Surely he could handle one more.
Cash pressed the send button for Olivia’s number. He wasn’t going to throw away all of those years of effort in one phone call.
“Hello?” A door closed in the background as she answered. Had he interrupted her evening? What was he thinking? Of course he had.
“Hey, this is Cash. I—”
“Oh, hi.” Her voice held curiosity, and surprisingly after how he’d acted on Saturday, a hint of warmth that stopped his train of thought for a few seconds. “Is there anything I can help you with?” She filled in the silence, but she didn’t have to fill in the rest of the sentence. Cash could hear the words as if she’d said them: at ten o’clock at night...on my cell phone.
“Rachel hasn’t come home yet tonight. Any chance you might know where she is?” A commercial flashed on the TV at a high volume and Cash grabbed the remote to mute it.
“Sorry.” Sympathy laced the word. “I haven’t seen her since the end of practice.”
Disappointment clogged his throat. “Sorry to bother you on your cell.”
“It’s not a problem.”
“How was the first day of school?”
At Olivia’s silence, Cash checked the cell to make sure they hadn’t gotten disconnected. He pressed the phone back to his ear. “I’m giving Rachel a few more minutes to show up. Distract me. Tell me about your day.”
“Oh.” Olivia paused and Cash envisioned her shrug. “It was the typical craziness of the first day. The kids were hyper and excited, and I got very little done besides handing out a list of assignments for the quarter. I did tell my advanced class that we’d be speaking only French in the classroom this year.”
“How’d that go?”
“They all complained.” A smile echoed in her words. “So, tell me about your day.”
He ignored the way his heart hitched. “I did a bunch of work in the office. I needed to get the website updated with what cuts we currently have available.”
“No roping and riding today?”
He laughed. “Nope. Just office work. Have you ever even been to a ranch?”
“I’ve driven past one. There’s a bunch of them in Colorado.”
Cash waited.
“But no, I can’t say I’ve ever visited one on a field trip or anything.”
Sassy thing. “I’ll give you a tour when you come on Thursday night, city girl.” Cash checked the clock. “I better go. Rachel still hasn’t shown up. I’m going to call Jack and Janie and see if they’ve seen her.”
“Wait. I was just over there for dinner and they were both home.” Her voice lowered. “So...I don’t think they’ve seen Rachel either.”
He hated the relief that flooded through him when he realized she’d been at the Smiths’. Instead of what? Out on a date with Gil? Did it matter? He certainly couldn’t ask her out himself. Obviously his attention needed to remain on his sister.
Cash grabbed his red Circle M baseball cap perched on the back of the couch and tugged it on his head. “Guess I’ll hop in the truck and start looking.” After clicking off the TV, he went in search of his keys.
“I’ll help.”
He stopped midstride, suspended in a strange time warp as Olivia’s words hugged him. “You don’t need to do that. I don’t want to keep you out late and—” Rachel’s my responsibility.
“I won’t take no for an answer. She’s my player.” Her words halted for a moment. “And your sister.”
Maybe it wasn’t all about Rachel. Maybe it had something to do with him. Cash moved again, collecting his keys from the kitchen counter and a flashlight he hoped he wouldn’t need from the drawer.
Since his parents’ deaths, he’d only focused on Rachel and the ranch. It felt like basking in warm sunlight to think Olivia might possibly be interested in him.
Cash tamped down his rampant thoughts. One offer to help and he went crazy with ideas he should not be entertaining.
Time to head back to Friend Land, Maddox.
On that note, he should say no to Olivia’s help, but he couldn’t resist the idea of someone keeping him from thinking worst-case-scenario thoughts while he looked for Rachel.
“I’ll swing by and pick you up.”
“Um, how do you know where I live?”
Cash laughed. “I’m not a stalker. You’re three houses down from Jack and Janie in Mrs. Faust’s above-garage apartment. If you wanted anonymity, this isn’t the town for it.”
At Olivia’s silence, Cash checked the connection again. He put the phone back to his ear in time to hear her quiet, forced-sounding laugh.
“Right. Wasn’t thinking about the size of this town. I’ll head down when I see your lights.”
Cash stepped onto the porch, locking the door behind him. “Make sure it’s me. I don’t need to go searching