“I don’t have time to get into it,” Blake said, heading over to the key rack. “I have to get over to the foreman’s cottage to stop Karly.”
“My truck’s out front,” Sean said, starting for the door. “Come on, I’ll drive you over there. And on the way you can explain when you got a wife and why she didn’t have a clue that you own this spread.”
As they drove away, Blake explained about their marriage in Vegas, Karly showing up with the new set of divorce papers and his reasoning behind not telling her up front that he was more than a ranch foreman and part-time rodeo rider. “I had planned on telling her when she moved here, right after Vegas. Then there seemed to be no real reason to share the truth, when we were headed for divorce. After the past few days... I had planned to tell her everything this evening after supper and ask her to stay with me.”
His brother nodded. “Sorry I spoiled your reveal.”
Blake shook his head. “Not your fault. I knew I was running out of time.” He groaned as Sean parked beside the ranch truck. The little red sports car was gone. “She’s headed back to Washington.” He paused as he tried to think. “I’m just not sure if she’s headed for Seattle or Lincoln County.”
“What’s in Lincoln County?” Sean asked.
“The divorce court,” Blake answered, explaining the reason Karly intended to file there instead of in Seattle.
“Let me make a couple of phone calls,” Sean said, reaching for his cell phone.
Blake knew if there was any chance of finding Karly, Sean had the connections to do it. But finding her was only half the battle. Getting her to listen to him was an entirely different matter.
While his brother tried to track down where Karly was headed, Blake went into the foreman’s cottage to see if Karly had taken her luggage. He wasn’t surprised to see that she’d taken the things she’d brought with her, but left the clothing, hat and boots he’d bought for her on their shopping trip to the Blue Sage Western Emporium.
Blake walked back downstairs and met Sean on the back porch. “She just called Cheyenne and made reservations for a flight to Denver. From there she’s headed to Seattle.”
Blake took a deep breath. He’d caught a break. “What time does her flight leave Denver?”
“Not until around six this evening,” Sean said, grinning. “She’s going to miss the earlier afternoon flight by about an hour.”
Blake checked his watch. “Can you get me down there to catch that early flight?”
His brother snorted. “If I can’t, I’ll turn in my license to fly helicopters.” Sean had earned his pilot’s license during his stint in the marines and because of his work with the FBI, regularly flew himself into Denver to catch flights to wherever there was a situation in need of his expertise.
Without another word, they both headed for Sean’s truck. As his brother drove toward his ranch on the other side of the western ridge surrounding the Wolf Creek Ranch, Blake called to reserve a seat on the earlier flight to Seattle.
He didn’t have a clear-cut plan, but he wasn’t overly concerned. He had several hours before Karly’s flight arrived and by then, he had no doubt he’d have something in mind.
When Karly called eight months ago, he’d told himself he was doing the right thing when he let her go without putting up a fight. It was what she wanted and he’d reasoned that pushing her would have done nothing to change her mind. But he wasn’t going to make that mistake again. This time he was going to pull out all the stops.
He had no idea how long it would take to convince her, but one thing was certain. Blake wasn’t returning to the Wolf Creek Ranch without her.
Nine
As Karly walked through the terminal toward the baggage claim area, she watched people as they met up with their loved ones and friends. It seemed that everyone else had someone there waiting to greet them. As usual, she had no one.
Tears threatened and she blinked several times to chase them away. It had never bothered her that she didn’t have anyone to welcome her home after a trip. She had always collected her luggage, caught a cab and hadn’t thought twice about being alone.