Sunrise Canyon (New Americana 1)

Paige was down there. She had to be.

He reached the place where he and Kira had left the horses and climbed up the rocky path. After he reached the top, the first thing he saw was Tucker, wet and muddy, barking frantically on the bank of the creek. Silt-laden water poured over the falls to churn and swirl in the overflowing pond before roaring on down the canyon.

Jake moved closer, heart pounding, eyes searching. It took him barely seconds to spot Paige.

Somehow she’d made it to the top of a high boulder in midstream. She was clinging to the top, her clothes wet, her brown eyes huge and frightened. She must have climbed the big rock when the flood started rising. Now she was stranded, her childish strength barely enough to keep her from tumbling into the water.

She saw him. Her chilled lips moved. “Daddy, I’m scared,” she said.

Jake felt his heart shatter. “Hang on,” he said, making a quick survey of the situation. “I’m going to wade out to you. But I might not be able to reach all the way up to where you are. You’ll have to let go and jump down to me. Can you do that?”

“I . . . think so.” Her small voice shook. She would have to trust him—trust the father who’d been lying to her for weeks.

With no time to lose, Jake waded into the roiling flood. The water was deeper than he’d expected, the current powerful. He fought to stay upright on the treacherous bottom. If he lost his balance and went under, both he and Paige would die.

The boulder where Paige clung was out of the main current, but the eddying water was deep. By the time he reached the base of the steep rock, it was halfway up his chest. It was cold, too. So cold he could barely feel his legs now, which made balancing even more difficult.

Bracing as best he could, he held up his arms. Paige would have to jump out and down to reach him.

“Ready?” he asked her.

“I’m scared.” She clung to the rock.

“Don’t worry, I’m here, sweetheart. I’m going to count to three. On three you let go and jump. Trust me, I’ll catch you.”

Inwardly he made a promise. If he could save this precious little girl, he would be her father forever—the best father he knew how to be. This was his chance, his only chance.

“One . . . ,” he counted. “Two . . . three!”

Paige let go of the rock, pushing away with her feet. For a breathless instant, she seemed to hang in space. Then Jake’s hands touched her, seized her and pulled her into his arms. She clung to him, crying softly.

Getting out of the water was another struggle. When Jake was close enough, he hefted Paige onto the bank and used his arms to pull himself the rest of the way. For a moment, he lay on the muddy grass, gasping and exhausted. Then he forced himself to stand and lifted Paige in his arms. She was shivering and, wet as he was, he had nothing to warm her with. He held her against him as they started up the trail, with the dog tagging behind.

As they climbed, she recovered enough to talk. “Daddy, why didn’t you tell me who you were?” she asked him, tears in her voice.

Jake weighed her question, knowing his answer would mean the world to her and that it would have to be honest. “I was scared,” he said. “I was scared that I couldn’t be a good father, and that I’d have to leave and hurt you. I almost did leave. But I’m back now, and I’m yours for keeps.”

She shifted against him, turning her face upward. “Look, Daddy, the rain’s stopped. The sun’s coming out.”

“So it is.” Jake felt the warmth on his face.

Just then, the dog, with an excited bark, raced past them and bounded up the trail to greet Kira, who was hurrying around the bend toward them. At the sight of Jake and Paige, she broke into a headlong run, stumbling and sliding down the muddy trail. Reaching them, she flung her arms around them both, kissing them, shedding happy tears.

“Something told me I should turn around and come this way,” she said. “I almost didn’t listen. But I knew better.”

She took off Jake’s poncho and her jacket and wrapped Paige in them to keep her warm. Then, together they climbed the trail to the Flying Cloud Ranch—the place that, for Jake, had finally become home.

EPILOGUE

Six weeks later

By early June, the desert days were ripening into summer. The rains were gone, leaving the searing sun to hang like a jewel in the vast turquoise sky. The landscape glimmered gold in the afternoon heat, saguaros casting long shadows over the burnished earth. The spring blossoms had ripened into fruits and seeds that fed foraging birds and bats, rodents, ringtails and roving bands of javelina.

It was a quiet time at the Flying Cloud Ranch, but all that would change next week when a new group of students would be starting the summer session. Before they arrived, Kira wanted to make the most of her time with Jake and Paige.

This afternoon they were riding down the canyon to the waterfall for a picnic lunch. Jake rode in front on Dynamite, with Paige on the saddle in front of him. Kira brought up the rear on Sadie, with the picnic things in panniers. Tucker trotted alongside.

Jake and his daughter were chatting, with Paige teaching him the names of plants and birds she’d learned from Dusty. The old man would have been invited along, but he’d pretty much given up riding, because it bothered his arthritic hips. They had left him on the porch, sharing sweet tea with Consuelo’s mother, Pilar, a handsome widow who’d moved in with her daughter and enjoyed visiting. Was a romance budding between the two seniors? Kira wasn’t sure, and Dusty wasn’t talking. But she’d noticed a new twinkle in his eye.