Nightchild

Chapter 44

It was evening before Nate could get a seat on a flight out, giving him more time with Connie and a chance to catch up on some much needed sleep. It was late when he arrived at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and picked up his car. He was tempted not to go home, compelled by a desire to drive past the turnoff to the ranch and down the highway to the thriving town of Ringwald. But sound reasoning prevailed, holding him back. He was familiar with small towns and knew they typically rolled the sidewalks up around ten. It was well beyond midnight. There would be no sense in trying to rouse anyone at two or three in the morning.

No, he'd go back to the ranch but not to the main house. He wasn't ready for that yet...ready to let Blythe know he was back. He wouldn't disturb her. Not yet. Not when he knew she'd be furious that he'd left her again and suspicious about his trip. And he certainly didn't want the burden of having to make excuses to leave the ranch again the same day he'd come home.

Pulling under the Destiny sign, he pushed the numbers on his opener and watched as the gate slowly pulled back into itself. He drove through, and began driving down the long twisting road, glancing in the rearview mirror to be sure the gate had closed behind him. He made a mental note to have the system changed. There were far too many people who had the code or knew about the automatic release. Oh well, it's probably not important. I'm just being paranoid, he mused. They seldom closed it except when Blythe was by herself. But people like Joseph Tupelo could still enter and the idea knotted Nate's stomach.

Exiting the main drive, Nate rounded a bend and drove past the stable, on to the studio where he parked in the back by the living quarters. Exhausted, he showered, set the alarm clock and fell into an agitated sleep on the pullout sofa.

#

Before the sun lit the world, banishing darkness, Nate was headed for Ringwald. He'd arrived at the ranch late enough and left early enough that no one had noticed his presence. He was convinced Blythe would never have understood why he'd gone home and not gone to their room to find her and rightfully so. He certainly couldn't blame her. But it was important, crucial that he see her brother and this Scott character she had once cared so much about. The last thing he wanted to do at this point was to alert her of his plans.

He was not without reservations about what he was doing and had mixed emotions about a confrontation with Scott Weber. Meeting David hadn't bothered him as much as he thought it would. Maybe it was because his wife had never been able to love the man as more than a friend. But this veterinarian was another story. Apparently, she had been more than fond of Scott, her first love in a way and the idea that she'd cared deeply for another man stung Nate with the bitter venom of jealously.

He glanced at the address on the piece of paper David had given him. It matched the metal letters and numbers nailed on the massive brick mailbox. The iron-gate stood open and Nate wheeled his car down the straight gravel drive, his tires crunching loudly in the early morning crispness, as they slowly rolled over the tiny stones.

A white house loomed ghost-like before him in the cool misty splendor of the lowland. It wasn't what Nate had expected of the MacLarren estate. Instead of standing tall and graceful in old elegance atop a hill, dominating all it surveyed, it hung along the side of a valley wall, suspended and eerie in the morning fog. It was a low rambling ranch in the architectural style of the fifties, combining a Southwest flair complete with barely sloping red tile roofs, impressive in its own unique...eclectic way.

He caught a glimpse of the side of the house as the drive curved gently before going on to a large parking area that separated garage and servants quarters from the main house then forked in front to meet itself in a circle drive. Nate could tell the back dropped sharply off, creating another level of the house. The back drive went steeply down before it flattened out to a parking area in back. Farther down, he saw the tops of several out buildings, one of which was immense and appeared to be all of glass. Leaves from tropical plants, straining toward the sunlight, pressed against its damp panes.