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their horses to the nearby tall trees.
Sage followed, but she wasn t happy. What is the special place? And why
didn t you tell you father that s where you wanted to go in the first place? she asked
with hands on her hips.
Because it s our special place and no one knows about it. Except you, now,
Kate told her. Please don t be mad.
Daddy wouldn t let us come if he knew, Cody added truthfully.
Sage looked at them with narrowed eyes. Would you mind telling me how you
found this place to begin with if your dad didn t bring you? These two were sneakier
than she had originally thought and they most certainly needed watching.
Cody shrugged his shoulders. We just found it one day.
Right! You just rode all the way out here all by yourselves? Didn t anyone miss
you at the ranch?
Everyone is always so busy that we can sneak away for a few hours. Please
come and see our cave. It s really neat and cooler on hot days. We can take our lunch in
there to eat. From the ledge you can see for miles, Kate said hurrying back to get the
saddlebag with their food.
Sage covered her face with her hands. On the one hand she felt privileged that the
twins trusted her with this secret. But on the other hand, it was dangerous for them to be
sneaking off alone. Since we re here, we ll go to your cave. But I want you to promise
me that you won t come way out here alone again. If something happened to you, no one
would know where to look. Your father would be worried sick about you two.
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No he wouldn t, Cody said, his face downcast as he kicked at the ground with
his boot. He doesn t care where we are as long as we don t bother him.
Sage didn t know what to say. Quinn wasn t a demonstrative father. She put her
arm around Cody s slender shoulders. He s very busy. Running a large ranch like his
takes a lot of his time. Even to her ears the explanation didn t sound sincere. If we re
going to get back by the allotted time we had better get this picnic underway. Show me
this special place of yours.
The twins led her down the side of the gently sloping ravine to an outcropping of
rock. Sure enough, there was a small cave about five feet from the floor of the ravine.
The opening was large enough that Sage didn t even have to bend down to enter. It
wasn t very deep, about eight feet deep and seven feet wide. And it was cooler inside
than out in the hot sun.
Sage noticed something stacked in the back of the cave. What is this? she
asked picking up a blue plastic bag. Inside were four candles and some matches. Also
neatly folded on the floor were two old blankets. Holding them up, she faced the twins.
I don t suppose you know how these got here?
They looked at each other and shrugged. Someone must have left them here.
But now we can sit on the blanket to eat, Cody suggested with a big grin.
Someone, huh? Maybe two little mischief makers who should be in big trouble.
Kate took Sage s arm to pull her forward. Please don t tell. We ll be good.
Only don t tell anyone about our special place. Please!
Let s eat and you can tell me how you really found this place. And no more
stories about a mysterious someone leaving these things here either. Then I ll decide
what to do about you two. She knew the right thing would be to tell Quinn, but she was
reluctant to betray their trust in her. They didn t have much in their lives at the moment
and she didn t want to add to their misery.
As they sat on the blanket eating, Sage did enjoy the view from the mouth of the
cave. The rocks on the other side of the ravine were in all shapes and sizes with two
archways sculptured by time leading off to the far left. It was starkly beautiful in its own
right and like nothing she d ever seen before.
When it was time to leave, they folded the blankets before putting them in the
back of the cave with the plastic bag. Sage wasn t sure why she let them leave those
things behind, but it seemed right somehow. When they had mounted and were ready to
head back, she had made a decision.
Cody& Kate. If you will promise me, and I mean an honest promise that you
won t come back here alone again, I won t say anything to your father. I don t know if
you realize just how dangerous this can be for you alone? If you want to come back,
you ll have to have one of the men bring you& or your father. She waited as they
looked at each other.
I guess so, Cody said softly.
You guess what, Cody. I want to hear you promise me, Sage persisted.
He sighed loudly. I promise not to come back here alone.
Kate?
I promise too. But it was so nice.
I ll be holding you to your promise. And it will be nice again, Kate. You
enjoyed sharing your cave with me today. You can do the same with someone else.
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Sage heart was torn at that point. Part of her wished she could stay here with them and be
the one to bring them back from time to time. But she didn t know if that would be
possible. Quinn was a hard man, but he was the one she was falling in love with whether
she liked it or not. Apparently you don t choose whom to love, it just happens. She had
no doubt that he was a good man who had suffered a great loss when his wife died. He
must have loved her very much to still be grieving after three years. The question she
had to face was whether he could ever love like that again. Or more to the point, could
he ever love her, Sage Mendoza, like that? This question stuck in her mind as they began
the ride back to the ranch.
On the trip back, Sage insisted they ride by their pond so she could see it and be
able to honestly comment on it. It turned out to be a rather small pond of beautiful clear
water surrounded by trees, sparse grasses and some large rocks and boulders. Sage
immediately thought it would be an enchanted place to visit. She wondered if the water
was very deep because if the twins sneaked off here by themselves, and she now had
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