ThE BUCKHORN LEGACY. Lori Foster

tried to clear away the cobwebs. He’d been in the middle of a dark, intensely erotic dream. About Emma.

      His father stood behind Honey and right away Casey knew something was wrong. “What is it?”

      “Emma is better than me,” Honey said.

      Casey frowned at that. “How so?”

      “None of us heard her when she left.”

      Sawyer looked grim. “There’s a note on your bed.”

      Casey threw the sheet aside and bolted upright. He wore only his boxers, but didn’t give a damn. His heart threatened to punch out of his chest as he ran to his bedroom. Worry filled him, but also a strange panic.

      She couldn’t really be gone.

      He came to a halt in the middle of his room. The covers had been neatly smoothed over the empty bed, and on the pillow lay a single sheet of paper, folded in half.

      Dreading what he would read, Casey dropped onto the mattress and picked up the note. Honey and Sawyer crowded into the doorway, watching, waiting.

      Dear Casey,

      I know you told me not to say it, but I’m so sorry. For everything. Not just for barging into your life tonight but for trying to corrupt you and trying to interrupt your plans. It was so selfish of me. For a while there, I thought I wanted you more than anything.

      Here she had drawn a small smiley face. It nearly choked Casey up, seeing her attempt at humor. He swallowed and firmed his resolve.

      But that would have been really unfair to you.

      I’m also sorry that I took the money you had on your dresser.

      Casey glanced at his dresser. Hell, he’d forgotten all about the money, which, if he remembered right, amounted to about a hundred dollars. Not enough for her to get very far. Emotion swamped him, then tightened like a vise around his chest, making it hard to breathe.

      I had some money of my own, too. I’ve been saving it up for a long time. I promise as soon as I get settled I’ll return your money to you. I just needed it to get me away from Buckhorn, and I figured better that I borrow your money and leave tonight than to continue hanging around being a burden.

      Damn it, hadn’t he told her a dozen times she wasn’t a bother? No. He’d told her not to apologize, but he hadn’t told her that he wanted her there, that he wanted to help. That he cared about her.

      Have a good life, Casey. I’ll never, ever forget you.

      Love,

      Emma Clark

      Casey crumpled the letter in his fist. He wanted to punch something, someone. He wanted to rage. It felt as though his chest had just caved in, destroying his heart. For a long moment, he couldn’t speak, couldn’t get words out around the lump in his throat.

      Sawyer sat down beside him with a sigh. “I’ll call Morgan and see if he can track her down.”

      As the town sheriff, Morgan had connections and legal avenues that the others didn’t have. Casey looked at his father, struggling for control. “We don’t know for sure where she’s going.”

      “To Ohio, to her cousin, she told us,” Honey reminded them.

      “She never gave us her cousin’s name.”

      “I’ll call Dell.” Sawyer clapped Casey on the shoulder, offering reassurance. “He’ll know.”

      But half an hour later, after Sawyer had finished his conversation with Emma’s surprisingly rattled father, Casey’s worst suspicions were confirmed. Emma didn’t have a cousin in Ohio. As far as Dell knew, there was no one in Ohio, no relative, no friend. Dell spewed accusations, blaming Casey for his little girl’s problems, for her pregnancy, even going so far as to insist he should be compensated for his loss. He said his wife was sick and now his daughter was missing.

      Casey suffered a vague sense of relief that Emma had gotten away from her unfeeling father. If only he knew where she’d gone.

      If only he knew how to get her back.

      Neither he nor Sawyer bothered to explain the full situation to Dell Clark. If Emma had wanted him to know, she would have told him herself. Eventually Dell would know there had never been a baby, that Emma had only used that as an excuse to be thrown out—to escape.

      But from what?

      Casey hoped she hadn’t gone far, that it wouldn’t take too long to find her. Damn it, he wanted to take care of her, dumb as that seemed.

      But hours after Sawyer put in the request to Morgan, he came outside to give Casey the bad news.

      Casey had been standing by a fence post, staring out at the endless stretch of wildflowers in the meadow. He’d bored the horses with his melancholy and they’d wandered away to munch grass elsewhere. The sun was hot, the grass sweet smelling and the sky so blue it could blind you. Casey barely noticed any of it.

      “Case?”

      At his father’s voice, Casey jerked around. One look at Sawyer’s expression and fear grabbed him. “What is it?”

      Sawyer quickly shook his head. “Nothing’s happened to Emma. But Morgan checked with highway patrol… They haven’t seen her. There’ve been no reports of anyone fitting her description. It’s like she vanished. I’m sorry, Case.”

      Casey clenched his hands into fists, and repeated aloud the words that had been echoing in his head all morning. “She’ll turn up.”

      “I hope so, but…something else happened last night.” Sawyer propped his hands on his hips and his expression hardened. “Late last night, Ceily’s diner caught fire.”

      Slowly, Casey sank back against the rough wooden post. “Ceily…?”

      “She wasn’t even there. It was way after hours, during a break-in, apparently.” Sawyer hesitated. “Morgan’s investigating the fire for arson.”

      “Arson? But that means…”

      “Yeah. Someone might have tried to burn her down.”

      On top of his worry for Emma, it was almost too much to take in. Ceily was a friend to all of them. Everyone in town adored her, and the diner was practically a landmark.

      “It’s damn strange,” Sawyer continued, “but the fire was reported with an anonymous call. Morgan doesn’t know who, but when he got on the scene the fire was already out of control. Structurally, the diner is okay, but the inside is pretty much gutted. Whatever isn’t burned has smoke damage.”

      Casey felt numb. Things like arson just didn’t happen in Buckhorn.

      Of course, girls didn’t accuse him of fathering a nonexistent baby very often either. “Morgan’s okay?”

      “He’s raspy from smoke inhalation, but he’ll be all right. Ceily’s stunned. I told her we’d all help, but it’s still going to take a while before she’ll be able to get the place all repaired and opened again.”

      Barefoot, her long blond hair lifted by the breeze, Honey sidled up next to Sawyer. Automatically his father put his arm around her, kissed her temple and murmured, “I just told him.”

      Honey nodded. “I’m so sorry, Casey. Morgan has his hands full with the investigation now.”

      “Meaning he doesn’t want to waste time looking for Emma?”

      Honey didn’t take offense at his tone. “You know that’s not it.” She reached out to touch his shoulder. “He’s done what he can, but considering the note she left, there’s no reason to consider any foul play.”

      Sawyer rubbed the back of his neck in agitation. “I know how you feel,