Saddled and Spurred (Blacktop Cowboys 2)

“Les? Oh. Right. Your hired hand. The guy Harper replaced.” She hunched her shoulders. “I’m surprised Harper didn’t give you a ride into town.”

“Why? Harper doesn’t work for me anymore.”

“Oh. She’s not staying with you out at the ranch?”

What the hell? Why would she think that? “No.”

Bailey had yet to meet his eyes as she picked at her cuticles. “Huh. So you haven’t seen her either?”

Either?

“Not since the day before yesterday.” An uneasy feeling slithered up his spine. “When was the last time you saw her?”

“Same.”

It took a second for that to settle in. “What’s goin’ on?”

She shrugged and studied the toe of her sneaker.

Bran fought the urge to shake her. “Tell me what you did.”

Her gaze finally connected with his—as defiant as he expected. “Why do you assume it was something I did?”

“Because Harper would do anything for you—hell, she has done everything for you, so if you two had a fight, I’m putting the blame squarely on you.”

“You don’t even know me,” Bailey retorted.

“Exactly. But I do know Harper. So why don’t you tell me what happened.”

Bailey’s bravado fled and she deflated like a balloon. “Harper was really upset when I told her I joined the army.”

“When?”

“I leave for basic training in five days.”

“No. When did you tell her?”

“The last morning I saw her.”

“I take it Harper didn’t want you to join the army?”

“Umm . . . She didn’t know I joined.”

Bran felt Bailey’s words like a hoof to the belly. If he had that reaction . . . how must Harper feel?

Like everything she’d done for Bailey hadn’t mattered. Like she didn’t matter.

Goddammit. He glared at the self-centered teen, wondering if she had any idea how deeply she’d cut her sister. “You didn’t think enough of her . . .”

“I screwed up. I get that, okay? I can’t ... God. I have no freakin’ clue where she is.”

Bran blew out an impatient breath. “You haven’t heard from her at all?”

“No. I’ve called everyone—Bernice, Celia. I even had our sister, Liberty, try to get in touch with her, but Harper is not answering her phone.”

“Can you blame her?”

“No. Have you tried to call her?”

“My phone ended up busted about two hours after the last time I saw her. So I have no idea if she tried to get in touch with me or not.” His heart nearly stopped. What if Harper couldn’t answer her phone? What if, right now, she was lying in a ditch somewhere? Alone and hurt? Or worse? He exploded, as much from anger as from fear. “I swear to God, if anything has happened to her because you can’t be bothered to pick up the goddamn phone to check—”

“I’m not an idiot,” she snapped back. “I’ve called around, and no woman fitting her description has been admitted to the hospital or any clinic in Rawlins or Laramie or Cheyenne or Casper.”

“Well, that’s a f**kin’ relief.” Bran paced to the sidewalk and back. “What does she normally do when she gets upset like this?”

“I don’t know!” Bailey practically wailed. “It’s so surreal. I’ve never seen her act like that. She never just leaves like our mom did.”

Hopefully Bailey hadn’t voiced that maternal comparison to Harper, because that definitely would’ve set her off. “So what did Harper do after you talked to her?”

“She packed a bag and took off with the car.”

“That’s it? She didn’t say anything else?”

“Well, she swore at me and slammed the door.”

Come to think of it, she’d sworn at him too. He muttered, “I should’ve seen this coming. I should’ve known. . . .”

“Why? What did she say to you when you last saw her?”

Nothing. I stood by and let Les run roughshod over her. Then I watched her drive away and thought biding my time was the mature thing to do.

Jesus. He was a f**king moron.

“What did you do to her?” Bailey stomped over, invading his personal space.

Bran clenched his hands into fists and kept his mouth closed—sadly, that was something he was very good at.

“Omigod. Harper’s disappearing act is as much your fault as it is mine. She probably drove out to talk to you about me being such an ungrateful brat and joining the army and then you . . . what? Told her to turn in her time sheet and her truck keys because her time with you was done?”

He winced.

“Or did you just blow her off since your precious Les was back?”

Phrased that way . . . Fuck. This was a nightmare.

But Bailey kept going, her voice cracking. “How could you do that to her?”

“Do what?”

“I’m not blind, Bran. I know it’s been more than just a working relationship between you two. Harper . . . she’s always so careful with guys. She never falls like this. . . . Never. I saw how you looked at her at the branding and it sure as hell wasn’t the way an employer would.”

That smart comment put Bran on the defensive. “Just exactly how would you know anything about employer/employee relations? Bein’s I ain’t heard about you ever holdin’ down a job, just your sister. And she usually holds down two or three to support you, don’t she?”