The Lost and Found (39 page)

Josiah

WHEN DAISY WENT MISSING
Josiah began to worry. Something wasn’t right; he could feel it. It was too odd. Too coincidental. Especially with Rob gone and Charlene back in town again.

Josiah took to following Crimson to work again. He’d stay for a while, see that she was safely settled in before heading back to the ranch, only to return before her shift was finished to follow her home again.

He was determined to keep Crimson safe despite the malice he felt lurking in the shadows. Something was building. Something mean and angry. And it was getting closer.

Crimson Sage

A WEEK LATER WE
were no closer to finding any answers, but Daisy had been brought home with no difficulties. Doc cautioned us to keep her quiet and to not let her jump or climb things yet. So, as a special treat, Billy had allowed the younger boys to camp out on the living room floor until Daisy was healed enough to climb the stairs to the boys’ room.

Work continued to go by, and I’d begun saving money for the wedding. I’d already bought the airline tickets for Ethan, Josiah, and me to fly back to North Carolina. And Josiah had a nice shirt and tie set aside for the occasion as well. Tina tried to give me extra hours as I needed or wanted them, but it was hard in the small town. Things would get busier as the fair drew closer she assured me. Either way I was happy.

There’d been no further problems with Charlene, or with Daisy, who had healed nicely. There’d been no sign of Rob either. The summer continued to scrape by at a leisurely pace. Warm, sunny days. Endless sun. Starry nights. Bonfires. And I finally told Josiah my design for my tattoo. He just looked at me. His blue eyes bored deep into mine. Twice he started to speak. Then, “I thought maybe you’d changed your mind about it. Why?”

“Because.”

“Because?”

“Because I want one.”

“You really want a tattoo?”

“Yeah, I really do.”

“Okay, but don’t do this for me. You do this for you.”

“I am doing this for me, but I want you to like it, too. Are you disappointed?”

“No, Little Red, no. I’m not disappointed — at all.” He pulled me closer and kissed my forehead. “I love you. You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “Yeah, I do.”

“All right.” He nodded, brushing his lips across mine. “When do you want to do this?”

“As soon as possible. Before I chicken out again. Which I’m determined not to do. So soon. Please.”

“Let me give Jason a call and see when he can get you in.”

Four days later I was sitting in the padded tattoo chair. I was trying to be calm, taking slow deep breaths and focusing on the warmth of Josiah’s hand as he held mine. When we’d arrived this morning, the friendly, pierced, and tattooed lady behind the counter smiled at me. In an effort to relieve some of my tension I asked her, “So… if I start crying like a little girl… will you all laugh at me?”

She looked at me with her dark eyes and blinked, then said, “Yeah, we will. There’s no crying allowed. We even have a sign.” And then she pointed to something behind me. Sure enough, right above the door we’d just walked through was a sign that read, “Absolutely NO crying permitted, by order of Management.”

I took a deep breath. “Well, okay then. No crying. I got this.”

Josiah pulled me close and kissed my temple. “I’m here. I’ve got you. You can do this.”

I nodded in agreement, hoping my confidence would grow and not be shaken. After filling out the needed paperwork and paying for the work to be done, I was led over to Jason’s table where he was preparing my tattoo image. When Josiah and I had been in North Carolina, we’d drawn a heart in the sand with our initials inside it. We’d taken a picture of it; and from that picture I’d sketched an image of what I had in mind. It would go on my left shoulder, closest to my heart. Josiah held my hand as I sat in the chair and waited for Jason to begin — he liked my sketch and said it would make a great tat.

“All right,” Jason said as he leaned closer. “You ready?”

I swallowed and then nodded. My eyes watched Jason as he reached for his tattoo machine, noting the way the lamplight made the grey and purple octopus tattoo on his forearm and hand seem to move. He touched the needle to my skin and began. I gripped Josiah’s hand as if my life depended on it. And it hurt. The tattoo. It really did. But not as bad as I thought it would.

All said and done, it took a little over an hour to complete. Both Jason and Josiah were pleased with how it looked. And before Jason applied the ointment and bandage to protect it, he handed me a mirror. Other than the fact that my skin was red and a little swollen, my tattoo looked really awesome. I breathed a sigh of relief as I took it all in. Jason had done a brilliant job of incorporating the blues, greys, and whites of the ocean surf as it splashed up, forming a border around the heart with our initials in it on the golden sand. He’d added waving tufts of golden brown sea grass. And then there were the colors he’d captured in the sunrise. The pinks, corals, purples, and yellows. I’d wanted a sunrise, not a sunset, so that it portrayed the idea of a beginning, not an ending.

I was happy with it. Very happy with it. In fact, I couldn’t have been happier. So I was rather shocked to discover, about six days later as I stepped from my shower that my tattoo seemed to be peeling away. My eyes widened in surprise and I quickly called Josiah.

“Hello,” he said as he answered.

“Josiah! I think there’s something wrong with my tattoo. It’s peeling!” Josiah didn’t respond immediately so I said, “Did you hear me?”

“Yeah. Are you sure?”

“Yes. I can see it with my own eyes. It’s peeling.”

“Crimson, did you tell Jason you wanted a permanent tattoo?”

“What? What do you mean permanent?”

“Permanent. As in, it won’t peel away after a while.”

“No, I didn’t tell him that! I didn’t know I had to. You mean all that work, all that pain will have to be re-done? Oh my gosh… I don’t… I just… I’m…”

Josiah’s laughter stopped me. “Crimson… Sweetie… relax. That’s normal. The peeling. I’m just messing with you. It’s just your body healing. Don’t worry about it.”

“
Jerkface!
Really? Here I am freaking out and you sit there making a joke about it.”

“Sorry, but that was too good to pass up. I love you.”

“Yeah, I love you, too,” I grumbled. “I need to get dressed now. See you in a while.”

Malice

Crimson Sage

JOSIAH, ETHAN, AND I
were packed and ready to leave for North Carolina for Gracie’s wedding. Everything seemed to be going so well that when we left we hadn’t a care in the world. My tattoo had healed beautifully. Both Josiah and I had a week off work. The ranch seemed to have settled into a peaceful state. The boys were well adjusted, having completed a full school year, and none of them needed to have summer school. Daisy was fully healed. And to top it off, Charlene seemed to have moved out of the Salmon area. At least, neither Josiah nor I had seen her in several weeks.

God seemed to have smiled down on Gracie because the day of her wedding dawned bright and clear. Pete had even closed the Shack for the event so he and his family could be there. Everything went off without a hitch. Gracie was beautiful, radiant, and as I watched her dad walk her down the aisle toward her future, I had to blink back tears — tears of happiness and sadness. I loved Gracie and I was so happy for her, and Tanner obviously worshipped the ground she walked on. But I couldn’t help but think of my own mom and dad. They would have been here with me. They
should
have been here with me.

Josiah caught my eye then, almost like he knew what I might have been thinking, like he knew I might be feeling some mixed emotions. He smiled at me and the look in his dark blue eyes gave me a surge of heat, of love. I was okay. Josiah would make sure I was all right. With just a smile he could banish whatever fears and pain I was experiencing. I smiled back at him and swallowed my sadness.

Taking a deep breath, I focused on the vows being said right now. I focused on the radiant happiness on Gracie’s face, the way Tanner couldn’t keep his eyes off her, the way he followed her every movement, hung on her every word. I felt the passion in his voice as he said his vows to her, heard the love and devotion in his words. And I could only be happy for my best friend.

Our trip to North Carolina only lasted four days this time. We arrived two days before the wedding and left the day after. As much as Ethan enjoyed being at the beach, he was anxious to get back home and see Daisy. I tried to reassure him that all was well and there was nothing to worry about, but Ethan responded like a first-time mom away from her new baby. Josiah and I teased him a little about it; he took it all in stride, though.

We arrived back in Salmon a week before fair started. Ethan was excited to see all the cowboys in town and watch all the fancy rigs as they rolled in. Billy made plans to take all the ranch boys to the rodeo. Bentley, Josiah, and I planned to join them, to help with chaperoning the boys and keeping them all in line. Though really, ever since Rob left, the boys seemed to unite almost like a family.

That’s what we were like now, a great big, mixed and blended family.

That thought hit me. That word.
Family
. It had been so long since I felt like I belonged in a family, since I had a family to belong to. And now, here, I had a huge one, full of love and laughter. Everything in my life had changed, and some changes were painful, but those changes brought about some of my biggest blessings and deepest happiness. As I thought about Josiah, and our wedding that we were planning, I realized just how big and wonderful this particular blessing was. Out future was bright. Our path was clear. The only thing on the horizon was love.

Tina walked over as I was preparing a vanilla chai latte for a cowboy. She slid a note next to me and bumped my hip with hers. Looking at her I raised my eyebrow in question. She indicated the note as I handed the drink to the cowboy, who then winked at me and said, “Thanks, ma’am.”

I shook my head at him as he walked away, his spurs jangling softly. The note read simply, “Parking lot.”

I blushed, thinking that Josiah must be out there, and quickly scanned the window. It wasn’t Josiah. No, it was Charlene. She was standing next to a sleek white Corvette, just staring at The Shack. My brilliant sunshine was being eclipsed by clouds. Things had been going so well. Why was she back here again? What did she want with me? Was she here to make weird comments and threats again? I almost picked up my phone to call Josiah, but decided not to. He had warned me that she would mess with me if she felt like she could get to me. Well, I was determined not to give her that satisfaction. If she came inside I’d serve her just like any other customer. Tina would make sure she didn’t harass me.

And if she was here when it was time to clock out — well then I could always call Josiah and have him come get me. With everything going so well, he’d begun to let me drive myself to and from work again. I filled two more orders and heard the bell over the door ring indicating yet another customer was coming in. Business was booming. I didn’t mind though; it kept me busy. My back was to the counter as I searched the various flavors of syrups, looking for a sugar-free caramel for a customer.

“Nice ink. Who’s J and C?” asked a male voice from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that the cowboy who’d ordered the vanilla chai latte was back again. He winked and nodded at my shoulder, my tattoo. “Oh, it’s for Josiah and Crimson,” I said as I turned back around.

“Oh yeah?” he asked. “And who’re they?”

“I’m Crimson,” I replied. And, then before I could continue I heard, “And, I’m Josiah. Any more questions?”

I whipped around then. Josiah was standing at the counter. His deep blue eyes were focused on the cowboy, who was looking Josiah over. He noted the ink and the piercings. Then he looked over at me again and said, “Well, all right then. You have a great day, ma’am.”

He tipped his hat at me and then walked out. I stared after him for just a second, trying to process what had happened.
Had he just hit on me?
I blinked and then finished the drink I was making. Once that customer was served I turned to Josiah. “That was weird,” I told him with a smile.