She’d wait until later.
She stood about, restlessly walking the floor.
Two hours later, she peeked out again. The lights were out everywhere. She remembered Sam’s room was on the first floor and she didn’t hesitate to patter down the stairs. A cat crossed her path and she nearly tripped. She covered her mouth to keep from screaming.
She couldn’t remember which room Sam had taken, but she went to the end of the dark hall and stopped. Taking a deep breath, she barely tapped on the door.
No one answered. She tapped again. But afraid she would wake others she opened the door and called out his name. He didn’t answer.
She went inside. She closed the door carefully so as not to wake him.
In the darkness she groped to find the bed. When she bumped into it, she sat down. “Sam…?”
No answer.
“Sam…” she said a little louder this time.
Still no answer.
She reached her hand and searched around the bed for him, but he wasn’t there.
Where could he be? Had he thought better of it and left? The thought galvanized her to the spot. What would she do when Sam decided to leave? For she knew he wouldn’t stay forever. She curled herself into a ball and snuggled into the covers.
She leaned her head against his pillow and breathed in the scent of him. It gave her comfort. No man, save her father ever made her feel safe except Sam.
But where was he?
Bereaved that he might have fled without her, she cried.
“Oh God, I run him off. I don’t blame him. But I miss him so…If you let him come back, I promise God, I won’t do it again.”
Sometime in the night she got up and went back to her own bed. She disrobed and slipped under her own covers once more, but as she peered out the window at the storm, she saw Sam sitting in a corner, barely covered by the roof overhang from the storm. He sat in a chair, holding his gun and occasionally glancing in. He was watching over her. And he was soaking wet. Rain dripped from his hat brim to his clothes, but he just sat there. And Nodog was there by his side.
She sighed. “They are watchin’ over me?” she shrieked and covered herself once more. “My God, he’s watching over me. How can I not love him for carin’ so much?”
A rush of love hit her so hard it nearly made her head swim, and confirmed what she had thought earlier on. Sam loved her. She stared at him a long time, then lay down, closed her eyes and let the feelings swamping her subside.
How could she leave him alone now? He was taking care of her. He’d taken care of her all the way.
Through the night, she woke up and glanced out the window and there it was, somehow the dream catcher was pinned to the window and Sam and Nodog were still outside. The dream catcher was inside though. How had that happened? She wanted to run out and hug him and kiss him and tell him how much she appreciated it, but the one thing he didn’t want was someone to catch them in the clutches. Their eyes met through the glass window that next morning. For a long moment they just looked at each other. Then he finally left and went to his room. She wanted to run down and hug him, but she couldn’t, for it was daylight and people would see. She didn’t care, but he would.
Riley’s trip to the lawyer’s office the next morning was not productive at all. And not at all what she expected.
“Well you see, they thought you were dead,” the lawyer began, glancing at her up and down. “So your assets are unobtainable until you appear there in person and are declared legally alive. In other words, I can’t get anything accomplished until you have either established yourself as alive, or someone in your family comes to claim it. They have to see you in person before they’ll release it.”
“See me in person? Is that the only way to get everything settled?”
The lawyer seemed to speculate on that question before answering. “No…not the only way, but as your lawyer I have to explain all this to you. There is another way.”
“But it’s too dangerous to go back. If they see me they’ll kill me,” she protested.
The lawyer saw her dilemma. “Well, the only other answer is if you have a relative that could go to the bank for you. Someone to collect the money, I could draw up the papers and make it legal for them to get the money out of the bank. If there is a will, it will be simple.”
“I don’t have a will…” she began.
“Who was to inherit the ranch if something happened to you?”
“My cousin Ethan Morgan of course, he’d be the next of kin. He’s listed in the will directly