At the airport, Jennifer hired a taxi to take her to Valley View. She had Googled the address and had directions. Even though the drive was a few hours and quite expensive, she wanted to get to the ranch right away. She called her mother and told her that she had arrived safe and sound. Despite her full day of traveling, she was not tired. She felt rather invigorated by the whole experience. It was her first time on a flight, traveling alone and finding the right boarding gates had been rather exciting.
As she looked out of the window at the Texan landscape, she thought of her sister’s last words to her. Joanne had appeared to really look forward to her new life here. She had no reservations about marrying a man she had not even met. She told Jennifer that she had no prospects back in New York. The only work she could get was menial and poorly paid, and she didn't want to be a shop assistant or a cashier at the supermarket. Jennifer realized that her sister was disillusioned by the life that had followed graduation from school. When a relationship didn't work out, she had tried Internet dating and found the site where she met Sean. They got chatting, and when he proposed marriage, she agreed. He sent her the money to travel to Texas and Joanne was looking forward to getting away from the city and becoming a rancher's wife.
What had gone wrong? Jennifer wondered as they drove through the rolling green hills, the wide open plains dotted with cattle. Something about the landscape appealed to her, even though Jennifer had grown up in the city and had never thought of leaving.
The taxi stopped pulled off the road at an elaborate gate with a sign that read Valley View. She got out, paid the driver and took a look around. Then she marched down the long driveway, giving no thought to what she would say or do once she got to the house. She tried not to be intimidated by the huge mansion that emerged in front of her. It was a beautiful stone house, with a slate roof and wide windows, surrounded by manicured lawns the likes of which she had never seen before.
She knocked on the door, firmly.
A Mexican housekeeper opened the door.
“I am here to see Mr. Perry,” Jennifer announced in her most authoritarian voice. She had her coat buttoned to the top and her most expensive boots on, an outfit she had carefully chosen, hoping that it made her look like a woman to be taken seriously.
"We have an appointment," she lied before the housekeeper could ask her. The woman disappeared to call her employer and Jennifer moved her travel case out of view.
“May I help you?”
Jennifer looked up and felt her heartbeat quicken. Sean Perry was taller than she had thought he would be. She was also not prepared for that deep tan and the bright blue eyes that stared at her, filled with curiosity. As for the curly blonde hair that curled about his face, well, she could see why Joanne had no qualms coming down here.
“Are you Mr. Sean Perry?” Jennifer asked.
The man in the tight jeans nodded.
“My name is Jennifer Keys,” she said. When he didn’t react, she added, “Joanne’s sister.”
Then she saw his face change color, to a deep red, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
“So you do know my sister!” Jennifer exclaimed.
“I certainly do,” Sean said rather stiffly. “I paid for her to come down here and she stood me up!”
“You didn’t meet her?” Jennifer asked and saw something in his eyes, a shifty glance that told her something wasn’t right.
“No," Sean said, curtly. "She left the same day she arrived, and I have no idea where she's gone. So I will say good day to you…"
“Not so fast, Mr. Perry,” Jennifer said, as firmly as she could, stepping forward as he was about to close the door.
"My sister has disappeared without a trace, and you were the last person to speak to her. Over a month ago. We’ve heard nothing from here. My mother is worried sick.”
Jennifer pushed past him into the house, taking in the wealth she saw on display. There was no way her sister would have turned her back on all this, she thought, not after living in their damp little basement flat for all those years.
Sean ran his fingers through his hair. He seemed tired; weary almost. But Jennifer refused to feel sorry for him.
“I have to go to town,” he said. “I will give you a lift to the motel where she was staying.”
“I’m not getting into a car with you!” Jennifer exclaimed.
Sean gave a little smile as if it amused him that Jennifer didn’t trust him.
“I really can’t help you,” he said more gently. “I am sorry. Now, I really need to go town. I have an appointment with the dentist. Can I give you a ride?”
Jennifer shook her head. “I’ll walk.”
“It is a few miles to town,” he said, again with that arrogant smile that was beginning to drive her quite mad.
“I am not afraid of a little walking, thank you very much,” she said haughtily, turning around and grabbing her case, wishing her heart wasn’t beating so much. The effect this man was having on her was very unexpected and confusing. She had to prevent him from seeing how his presence unsettled her.
She had barely started down the road when she heard a car pull up next to her.
“You know,” Sean Perry said, leaning out of the open window. “I am the wronged party here. We had an arrangement, your sister and I, and she was the one who let me down. If anyone has a right to be aggrieved, it is me.”
“Oh really?” Jennifer said, trying to control her anger. “Why don’t you wipe your tears with a few dollar bills? Lots of those to go round, eh? Fixes everything, doesn’t it?”
He drove off in a cloud of smoke, his wheels spinning in his rush to get away. Jennifer forced herself to calm down. She didn’t know why she let Sean Perry get her worked up like this. Usually, she was the calm one, the rational one. But something about this bloody cowboy rubbed her up the wrong way. She had to admit, however, that she didn’t think he had done anything to Joanne. As annoying as he was, his words rang true. She believed him, somehow.
It took a few hours, but she arrived at the Twilight Motel after dark. A farmer gave her a lift the rest of the way. Her feet were killing her. There was a room available and she took it. Before going up to her room, she asked if her sister had booked in at the motel a month ago.
“Oh, yes, here it is,” the lady behind the counter said. She pointed at an entry in her book. “Joanne Keys, I remember her! A real beauty. Your sister you say?”
Jennifer nodded.
“Oh, she was real happy to see her beau, I remember now.”
Jennifer leaned in closer.
“Really?” she said, anxiously.
“Yes, sure, he came by to pick her up the next morning. Good lookin’ fella.”
Jennifer suddenly was wide awake.
“A blonde guy? Cowboy type?”
“Oh no,” the woman said, shaking her head. “He was, well, you know, dark skinned, like you.” She blushed but Jennifer paid no attention. “Did you happen to pick up his name? Where they were going?”
The woman shook her head. “No, but I did hear him say they were going to rent a car? I recommended a place in town, maybe they’d have a record?”
Jennifer could not sleep that night. She lay in bed, trying to make sense of what she had heard about her sister. She had no reason to question the motel receptionist’s words. But why had her sister not called them to let them know that she had changed her mind? If she didn’t want to marry Sean Perry, why did she not come home? Where was Joanne?
These questions tormented Jennifer until the early hours of the morning when she finally fell into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.