Chapter 2

Later that evening, the unloading and unpacking accomplished, the four women sat around the kitchen table finishing supper.

"That was delicious, Carmine. You're an even better cook than I remembered," complimented Cathy.

The Mexican woman smiled, then lowered her eyes. She had been nervous and self conscious about eating with them, but Cathy and Sierra had insisted. Cathy noted how the woman rarely looked them in the eyes. She also noticed what an attractive woman Carmine was. The waist-long, straight black hair glistened as it fell across full breasts. Her smile, as infrequent as it appeared, was sweet, her lips full which accentuated the high cheek bones helping give the young woman a mysterious, sensuous beauty. Her waist was tiny, her hips full, but firm. Carmine's legs were hidden beneath a full length skirt, but they were slim and shapely, Cathy knew, remembering seeing Carmine in jeans when they went riding on her last visit.

As they finished the meal, Carmine began clearing the dishes but Jessica told the lovely Mexican that she and Cathy would do the dishes. Carmine pointed to the door and Jessica nodded. As the young woman walked off the front porch Jessica turned to Cathy and Sierra.

"She often takes long walks at night. Sometimes we go together, other times she prefers to be alone. I think she's giving us some time alone to catch up."

"Did you ever find her mother?" asked Cathy.

"No," replied Jessica, deciding to fill in a few details for Sierra whose face held a quizzical expression. "Carmine and her parents came to work for us four years ago. They lived in the small house out back. Manuel was a great help to Roger, especially after your grandfather's heart attack. The ranch isn't big by Montana standards, but it was still a handful for the two of them. Maria, Carmine's mother also lent a hand to the men at times and helped me with the house. Carmine was, let's see, about eighteen when they came here to live. It was long after your mother had left for college and started her career. They had the clothes on their back and little else, so we hired them. We brought some of the furniture out of the attic that had been there when we bought the place and furnished the ranch house for them. We all grew very close. It was about a year after that when Carmine stopped speaking. Then, about a year later, Maria simply disappeared. One day she was here, smiling and happy, the next she had vanished. Naturally when she hadn't returned within a few hours, we called the police. There was an investigation, lots of theories, but none that ever panned out. When the police couldn't find her, Manuel became convinced that she had returned to Mexico for some reason. It didn't make sense because all her clothes and possessions were still here, but Manuel insisted he had to find her. He asked us to keep Carmine until he could find Maria, but about a month after he left, we got word he had been killed by some men who were known to kidnap attractive Mexican women and sell them into prostitution. He must have thought they had something to do with Maria's disappearance."

"Did they?" asked Sierra.

"Not that we could ever determine. It just didn't make sense. With so many women in Mexico available to them, why would they come all the way to Montana to get just one woman? Maria was attractive, but I just don't see that it makes any sense. Anyway, we tried to find other relatives in Mexico for her to go to, but met with a dead end, so we asked Carmine to stay with us and she agreed. Then when Roger died last year, Carmine and I became even closer. She's become almost like a second daughter."