Page 27 of A Cowboy's Claim
“How’s your boyfriend?” Aiden returned, trying to divert attention. “Isn’t it time we officially met him?”
“Agreed,” Declan said as he scooped up a serving of the roast chicken and potatoes that had been cooking in the slow cooker all day. Tansy was back in charge of the kitchen, and they were not starving. “I think you should invite him over.”
Leaning back in his chair, Kevin folded his arms over his chest and put on his stubborn face. “How come all of a sudden I’m the one in the hot seat?”
“You’re the psychiatrist; you tell us,” Petra teased.
“That doesn’t mean I can read minds,” Kevin reminded them.
“Means you know better than most when people are avoiding things they should do, though.” Declan lowered his head and looked straight at his brother. “For example, there’s a conversation that needs to happen with a certain teenager. I think you should do it soon.”
Petra shivered, hope in her eyes. “You don’t think it’s too soon?”
“No.” Declan turned his gaze on Kevin. “Invite Edison over this coming week. Anytime I’ve met him, he’s been like a big puppy dog. He’ll be good for you. We’d like to welcome him.”
“You don’t think it’s too soon?” Kevin winked at Petra as he echoed her concern.
“No.”
Aiden snickered. “And you, big brother? What’s the thing that you’re procrastinating from doing?—”
Declan’s phone rang, which was such a rare occurrence they all started in surprise. He ignored Aiden’s question and thumbed the call on. “Jinx?”
Her shaky voice rang out on speaker. “Deck, Tyler’s hurt. We took him up to the loft after supper because he wanted to show us something and he fell down some weird shaft.”
“Do his parents know?” Declan shot to his feet and headed for the door with Aiden and Petra hard on his heels. Dixie whined, pacing nervously as she looked around expectantly for Jinx.
“Yeah. And I called Sydney on the direct number she gave me, and she’s on her way. I’m scared.”
“We’re coming over. You stay with Sasha and we’ll be right there.”
He didn’t tell her it would be all right because there were no guarantees.
And wasn’t that the most pessimistic, cold-hearted thought?
Somehow Sydney beat them to Silver Stone. By the time Declan, Petra, and Aiden followed the ranch hand waiting for them into the barn, it was clear things had gone very wrong.
Caleb was searching along a wooden wall below the loft. Tyler’s crying could be clearly heard through the wood, but there was no sign of him.
“What the hell?” Aiden leaned his ear to the wall. “Service shaft?”
“Something like that.” Caleb dragged a hand through his hair in frustration. “But not one that I ever knew about, and it’s not on the blueprints.”
“We can tear the wall down,” Declan offered.
“We started to, and he screamed louder. Says there’s a stick that stings him when we move anything on this side.”
Stings? The hell?
“Caleb, we have an idea.” Tamara Stone stood at the top of the stairs, her face ghastly white. “Sydney says she’s going to him.”
Christ. Declan raced up the stairs on Caleb’s heels.
A small gathering huddled at the top. Caleb’s brother Luke was there as well as Jinx and Sasha. The girls sat to the side, arms around each other as they rested out of the way on a haybale. Petra hurried to them, and the girls grabbed her tight as she curled her arms around them both. Dixie shoved her nose into the middle of the huddle, offering worried kisses.
Sydney was methodically tying a rope onto the handle of the medical kit she carried with her. “Once I see what’s happening down there, if possible, I’ll give the go ahead for the guys to rip a path straight to us. If not, I’ll immobilize Tyler as necessary and you’ll have to bring him up this way.”
“You’re going down now?” Declan asked the instant he got close enough to speak without shouting.
