Tacoma Falls: Home and Heart

Thursday

Mary

I woke up, showered, and dressed before heading downstairs to breakfast. Ma whipped up a hearty meal since my nerves were a wreck. I don't think I could eat a morsel, knowing tomorrow I would face the bicycle.

"Why do you seem like you got ants in your pants?" Ma asked.

I poured a cup of coffee, needing the caffeine. "I'm trying to calm myself for tomorrow night." I sipped the steaming liquid.

The kitchen screen door opened as Pa entered with Morgan and Patsy. "Look who came for breakfast."

"Where's Hank?" Ma asked.

"Hank had to help Beau. So Morgan came for breakfast."

Patsy filled two mugs with coffee before handing one to Morgan. "I figured we could ride together to the Shaw Ranch."

I nodded in response.

Every minute counted now. Amber was depending on us succeeding.

*******
Hank

I dropped Morgan at my folks' place and collected Grayson. I drove to Beau's place and pulled in front of his pole barn. Beau, Waylon, and Shep came out to help us.

Beau opened the door and uncovered his black GMC truck.

"Are you sure Dixie's never seen this truck?" I asked.

"Positive. I special ordered this truck for Mary."

Grayson and I looked at Beau. A man wouldn't purchase a truck for someone unless they had plans.

"This has off-roading tires," Grayson said.

"Mary loves to go mudding. So I made sure it had everything she needed," Beau said.

"When did you buy this?" I asked.

Beau averted his eyes. "When Mary and I started spending time together. She talked about when your pa would take you all mudding. So, I took the money I stashed from working for Pa and bought Mary her own truck. It's better than that clunker she drives."

If I had any doubts about how Beau felt about Mary, this truck squashed them.

"Come on. We need to transfer these supplies and get back to the ranch," Waylon drawled.

We nodded and walked to my truck. I lowered the tailgate. Grayson climbed into the bed and handed us boxes of food, sleeping bags, and a hunting rifle. We hauled the items to Mary's truck and gave them to Beau. He placed them toward the back and secured them before covering everything with a tarp.

Once we finished, Beau closed the tailgate and closed the pole barn's door.

"So, what's the plan?" Shep asked.

"The girls will meet the bicycle and training wheel at Grady's Bar and have a chat with them. If they bolt, we'll be waiting outside for them," I said.

"Okay, then what?" 

"The bicycle will call the rat and have him meet her. It will give Amber a window to escape."

"Escape to where? The rat doesn't live anywhere near any of us."

"I told Amber to run to the nearest house to use their phone. Amber will call Mary so Mary can collect her," Grayson said.

"That would explain why we're at Beau's place."

We nodded in agreement.

Time was of the essence. So was Amber's life.