Page 56 of Horn of Plenty
And then it hit him. What was he thinking? They were in the middle of Chicago, hours away from Elverna. It wasn’t like he could leave Betty and Margaret here.
“But how will you get home?” He shook his head. “No, I can’t leave now. I can wait,” he added, glancing at his watch as adrenaline coursed through his veins, urging him to spring into action.
She waved him off as a little red hatchback honked twice and pulled over onto the side of the road.
He bent down to look inside and could hardly believe his eyes. “Sally?”
“Hiya, Cal! Nice day for a drive!” the woman chirped.
He turned to Betty. “You planned this?”
She tossed him a wink. “I told you, Cal. It’s written in the stars. Your horoscope says a true transformation is on the horizon. I decided to help fate along a bit.”
Warmth spread through his body. He’d never curse the stars again.
He opened the car door for Betty Young, helped the woman into her seat, but paused before closing the door as he reflected on the last fifteen minutes—fifteen life-altering minutes.
“Thank you, Betty,” he said as emotion thickened in his throat. He held the wise woman’s gaze. “I think this is the most I’ve ever heard you speak.”
She settled herself in the seat, then shrugged. “I only say what needs to be said.”
He smiled at the charmingly small-town quality of her response—the first real smile that had graced his lips since Mabel left. “I’m going to get the girl, Betty.”
The snarky sister nodded. “Mm-hmm,” the woman hummed before tossing him a knowing wink.
* * *
He hitthe gas as he turned onto the country road that led to Muldowney Farms. Despite his determination to show Mabel that he understood what she meant when she told him he needed to accept all of her—the heels and the hats and the fashion and the farm girl that lived inside her—he still hadn’t formulated a plan to pinpoint exactly how he was supposed to prove to Mabel that he’d gotten the message—that he did love and accept every part of her.
He needed a clue. He required direction. He should have asked Betty if his horoscope had any specifics for getting the girl.
It would come to him.
He pulled up next to Elias’s truck and cut the ignition.
“What can I do to show your sister that I understand?” he whispered, talking to Jamie when Cal the Goat ran by with something pink in his mouth.
“Mabel’s goat got out!” Kenny called to him.
“I got him,” he replied, hopping out of the truck, then scooping the little creature into his arms. “What do you have there, Cal the Goat?” he asked as he removed the pink fabric from the animal’s mouth.
“I think it’s one of Mabel’s scarves,” Kenny replied. “Do you want me to put it in the house?”
Cal shook his head, then thought of his best friend, knowing that Jamie had orchestrated the goat and scarf encounter.
He needed to return the scarf to Mabel’s room. The answers he required were there. He knew it. Call it a hunch. Blame it on the stars. A force unlike any he’d ever known propelled him forward.
“No, I’ll bring it in. Can you put the goat back in the pen?”
“Sure thing, Cal,” the man answered, taking the animal from his arms.
Cal stared at the main house—a house that had been as familiar as his own. Just as he had a million times with Jamie at his side, he entered through the kitchen door and ascended the steps two at a time. His heart pounded as he headed for Mabel’s room. If there was any place that could give him a clue to get her back, it was her bedroom. He opened the door and placed the scarf on her desk when the creak of the second stair whining under the weight of another’s foot caused him to freeze.
Was she back? He inhaled a tight breath, then turned to find not Mabel but Elias standing in the doorway.
“What are you doing in here, Cal?” the man asked with a curious look in his eyes.
It was now or never—and thank God, Mr. Muldowney didn’t seem to be armed.
