Love Under Two Benedicts(56)

“That would be great, Mom. See you when you get here.”

“I knew Mom would take every opportunity to spend time with him,” Matthew said when Steven came back to the table.

Steven laughed. Since Kelsey looked confused, he said, “Mom has been dropping not-so-subtle-hints for the last couple of years that she wants a lot of grandchildren.”

“She’ll make a wonderful granny. She was so great with Benny yesterday,” Kelsey said. “I think they both just clicked right from the first moment. Love at first sight.”

“I think they did, too. So when Mom gets here, do you want to go riding?”

Kelsey grinned. “I haven’t been riding for several years. I’m probably rusty, but yeah, I’d like to.”

“I have a mare that I use for some of the less experienced riders in the family. She’s pretty gentle, really.”

A cell phone rang, and Matthew pulled the device off his belt and looked at the call display before answering.

“Hey, Adam. I was finishing breakfast and then—” Matthew stopped talking, and Steven could see by the expression on his brother’s face that something had happened.

“Okay, I’ll head out from here and pick you up. No sense in our taking two cars. Just give me five.” Matthew closed his cell phone and looked to see what Benny was doing. Then he turned to Steven and Kelsey.

“Rangers got a call from the manager of a motel just outside of Coleman in response to the BOLO they issued yesterday. So they responded, and now they have one Deke Walters in custody.”

“And Benny’s mother?” Kelsey asked quietly.

Matthew, once more, checked to see the little boy was busy playing and not paying the adults any attention before he turned a somber face to them.

“She wasn’t with him. She’s missing.”



* * * *



Kelsey paid close attention as Steven saddled the mare. It had been several years since she’d last sat a horse. As she watched him work, the process of readying a mount to ride came back to her. As she stood inside the neat barn, time seemed to melt away. The scent of horse and hay had once been her favorite aroma.

She’d taken riding lessons when she’d been a horse-mad twelve-year-old girl growing up in northeastern Pennsylvania. She’d saved her allowance all winter, plus did odd jobs for her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Pierce, so that come the summer she could take those lessons and spend time with her equine friends.

When she’d married Philip and moved to Austin, she’d found a riding stable outside of the city and resumed the pastime. That had been just one more thing that had been lost in the aftermath of the trauma five years before.

“I suppose if I hadn’t been such a hard-ass about trying to keep the relationship between the three of us just about sex, I could have gone riding weeks ago.”

Steven looked up, his grin wide. “Darlin’, you and I both know there’s no way I can comment on that statement and win. So I’m just going to smile and say you look lovely today.”

“You’re a pretty smart man,” Kelsey said. There was so much about the brothers Benedict that she liked and admired. Their quick minds ranked up near the top of the list.

“My momma didn’t raise no fools,” Steven said with an exaggerated twang.

Kelsey laughed. Then the smile died as she thought again about Matthew’s phone call of just minutes before.

The state cops as well as Matthew and Adam had questioned Deke Walters. He claimed he had no idea where Benny’s mom had gone. “Where do you think Ginny Rose is?”

“My guess is she’s going to try and find her way back here,” Steven said

“That’s what I think, too. Matthew sounded disappointed when that trucker stepped forward to say he saw her leave the motel room and take off across the field. I think he wanted to keep Deke in custody.”

“Can you blame him, really? Judging by the letter Ginny left, Deke Walters put his hands on her on a regular basis. The man likely deserves to spend some time in jail. Unfortunately, he doesn’t deserve to be charged with Ginny’s disappearance.”

Kelsey had no tolerance for anyone who abused someone smaller or weaker than themselves. She didn’t know anything about Walters but could easily picture him, a big bruiser of a guy in a wife-beater T-shirt holding a can of beer while playing armchair quarterback.

“Let’s hope someone sees her and soon. It’s a long way from that motel back to here.” Kelsey knew she’d worry about the woman until she was found.

“On top of the distance, there’s the danger of just being out in open country. She’s a city gal and likely doesn’t have a clue how to survive in the wilderness.”