Authors: Claire Adams
Sid
took a moment to read through the documentation and then looked up at me with a
huge smile. It felt good to see him approving of my plan. I had drawn it up so
hastily that I hadn’t been totally sure that Sid would approve.
“This
is good. This is really good.”
“I’ll
send a guy out your way this week to get things started. Does that sound all
right to you?”
“Can
I tell Sarah?”
“Let’s
just keep this between the two of us for now. If that’s all right with you?”
“It’s
all right for right now, but eventually she’s going to find out,” Sid said
reluctantly.
“I
know. I’m going to come out there next month after I get all the loose ends
figured out here. I’ll visit with her about it all. Deal?”
“That’s
a deal, son; I look forward to it.”
It
was nice to see Sid’s enthusiasm for my idea and it was great to see him too.
We ended up spending the whole afternoon talking about the ranch and what had
been going on there since I had left. He told me about Buckjoy and how much he
thought the horse missed me. Sid told me about Meredith and her projects about
the farm and he even updated me a little bit on Sarah. It was a great
afternoon, and by the time we said our goodbyes, I was more excited than ever
for the plans I had ahead of me.
Chapter 16
Sarah
“Mom,
you don’t think he’s having an affair, do you?” I asked my mother when I
realized my father had left the ranch again for the whole day.
“No,
darling, he’s not having an affair.”
“For
the last four weeks he’s been taking off for hours at a time without any
explanation at all. You can’t tell me you’re not a little suspicious of this?”
“Honey,
I trust your father and he says he’s working. So why don’t you try trusting him
too? Are you heading out to take some more photos today?”
“Maybe,
I don’t know. I was thinking about going out to the old barn and trying some
photos from there at sunset.”
“That
sounds great, honey; just let me know so I don’t worry,” my mother said as she
walked toward the main house.
It
frustrated me that she wasn’t more concerned about my father. He was acting
strange and I knew it. I was happy that they had sold the property to the north
of the river and my mom was shopping around for a new RV for them to start
taking some time off. It was an exciting time for them and I certainly didn’t
want to put a damper on it by thinking such horrible things about my father.
The
fact of the matter was that he was gone a lot. My father was working away from
the farm more than he had been at the farm lately and that was totally unusual.
He had refused to tell me what the final price had been on the land sale, but I
knew it was more than he had hoped for. His excitement over the sale and
insistence that my mother choose whatever RV she wanted was a tell-tale sign
that he had gotten a lot of money.
When
I asked who had purchased the land he insisted that it was some corporation and
he didn’t really know who it was. It didn’t matter to me who he had sold it to,
but the secrecy was driving me nuts. Something was going on with my father and
I wished he would just tell me what it was.
I
went into the horse barn and fed the horses some apples and checked on them to
see how they were all doing. It was my favorite place to be and no matter how
much work I had going on for the day, I always had to stop by and see them.
“Buckjoy,
how you doing, baby boy?” I said as I stroked his face.
He
hadn’t been as full of life as he was when Garrett was there, but I tried to
take him out for rides every now and then. I knew he missed Garrett, but there
was nothing I could do about it.
“You
know, sooner or later you’re going to have to get over him; he just wasn’t the
right one for you.”
“How
do you know?” I heard a man’s voice say from behind me.
My
heart flipped with excitement as I turned around and saw Garrett, or Malcolm,
standing right there in front of me. I wanted to run over to him and wrap my
arms around him, but I stopped myself. The man standing in front of me wasn’t
the same person I knew and I wasn’t about to show him how excited I was.
“Well,
the man he’s missing just up and left without even saying goodbye to him. He
lied and pretended to be someone that he wasn’t. That’s how we know he’s not
the right one.”
“What
if that man wasn’t allowed to tell the truth? What if he wanted to but it would
have made life dangerous for Buckjoy?”
“Malcolm?
That’s your name right?” I asked, although I already knew the answer.
“Yes.”
“Well,
Malcolm, you could have told me the truth. Telling me wouldn’t have made life
any more dangerous than it was already. You lied to me.”
“I
know,” he said without arguing any further.
“I
don’t like being lied to.”
“I’m
sorry.”
Malcolm
stood in front of me without putting up an argument at all. I had dreamt about
that moment. I had imagined all the things I would say to him, but actually
having him there in front of me was totally different.
He
had on a pair of dark jeans, a white cowboy shirt, and some fancy, dark-brown
boots. The hat he was wearing looked oddly familiar and I could have sworn it
was my fathers. He looked good. Damn him. Malcolm looked so good that I had to
hold onto the horse stall to prevent myself from running over to him.
I
wasn’t going to give in to him though. He was probably there to appease his
conscience and make himself feel better. So be it. I wasn’t going to give in to
him. I’d let him say his peace and then he could leave and go back to the life
of his that he had in Los Angeles.
“So
is that all you wanted? You could have just called.”
“Actually,
there’s something else,” Malcolm said as he walked toward Buckjoy. “I’d like to
take Buckjoy out for a ride, if that’s all right with you?”
“Sure,
whatever you want.”
“Do
you and Bambi want to come with us? I was thinking of riding out to the river.”
I
had to laugh at his assumption I would want to go anywhere with him. After
leaving me without a word and then showing up months later, he actually thought
I would want to ride with him all the way out to the river? He had lost his
mind.
“Nope,
but enjoy,” I said as I turned to walk away.
Just
as I was almost out of the barn, my mother showed up with a huge smile on her
face and open arms for Malcolm.
“Malcolm,”
she said eagerly as she walked into the barn. “Sid said you were here.”
I
looked at my mother and then over her shoulder to my father who was standing
near his office with a big grin on his face. So at least I knew where he had
been on that day, but it didn’t explain all the other days that he had been
missing from the ranch.
“Dad
picked you up?” I asked loudly.
Malcolm
just shrugged his shoulders and smiled as he and my mother hugged and started
to talk. I needed to get to the bottom of all this. My father had obviously known
that Malcolm was coming if he had gone into town to pick him up; why wouldn’t
he have told me?
I
stomped on over toward his office to talk to him. He had a lot of explaining to
do and I wasn’t going to leave until he told me everything.
“So
you knew he was coming?” I asked.
“Who?
Malcolm? Sure, I knew, why?” my father said nonchalantly.
“And
you didn’t think you should have told me?”
“Why?
You said you didn’t like the guy. I wasn’t going to get you upset by telling
you he was coming. He just wanted to take Buckjoy out for a ride and I told him
it was all right.”
“So
let me get this straight. You’ve been talking to Malcolm and you told him he
could fly all the way out here just to see the damn horse?”
I
was so confused. My father was acting like he didn’t know I had feelings for
Malcolm. Of course I hadn’t come straight out and said how much I was missing
him, but my father knew the reason I had struggled so much when Malcolm, or
Garrett, had left. He was pretending like he believed all the lies I had told
him about not caring at all about Malcolm.
“We
are friends. Can’t I have a friend?”
“Dad!”
I yelled.
“What,
darling?”
“What
am I supposed to do with him here?”
“I
don’t know. Why don’t the two of you go for a ride and see what that new guy is
doing with the land he bought out by the river. Check it out for me and see if
anything crazy is going on out there.”
“I’m
not riding with him.”
“Fine,
don’t then.”
“Dad!
You’re lying to me. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Honey,
I’d like it if you would go out to the river and see what that buyer is doing
out there. Is that too much to ask of you?” he asked firmly.
“Do
you really want me to go out there?” I questioned.
“Yes,
I really do.”
“Fine,”
I said as I stormed off back toward the barn.
When
my mother saw me, she gave Malcolm one last hug and kissed him on the cheek
before turning and leaving.
“Are
you two heading out to the river?” she asked.
“How
did you know?” I questioned.
“Malcolm
said you two were going out there.”
“I’m
only going because Dad wants to see what that new guy is doing to ruin the
land. That’s it. If Malcolm wants to come with, that’s fine I guess. But I
don’t see the purpose of him tagging along.”
“Great,
thanks for doing this, Malcolm. When you get back, make sure and peek your head
in. I’m baking a pie and I’d love to hear all about how you’ve been.”
“Thanks
to Malcolm?” I said almost under my breath.
“Thanks,
honey, for going out there. Your father will feel better if he knows what’s
been going on with the land.”
She
gave me a kiss on the cheek and then left the barn. Something was going on with
my parents and when I got back from the ride, I was going to talk to the two of
them together. They knew a lot more than they were letting on and I really was
getting annoyed by all their secret keeping.
“Do
you still remember how to put the saddle on?” I asked Malcolm as I pulled
Buckjoy’s saddle off of the shelf.
“Yeah,
I think I can manage, thanks,” he said with a big grin.
“I
don’t know why you’re smiling. I’m mad at you, in case you didn’t realize
that.”
“What?
You’re mad at me?” he said mockingly with an over exaggerated face.
It
was funny and I tried my hardest not to laugh but a smile slipped through. I
missed him. Garrett, or Malcolm, or whoever he was. I missed his jokes and his
humor. I missed how I felt when he was around. I wanted to be mad at him, truly
I did. I wanted to yell at him and scream at him, but I just couldn’t bring
myself to go there.
“All
right, all right, you win. Let’s just go out to the river now so we can get
back before dark.”
“Wait,
did you just say I won?” He laughed as we both went to work saddling up the
horses.
“Yes,
you win. I won’t be angry or mean to you on the ride out.”
“Yes!”
He said with that same over exaggerated enthusiasm.
“You
understand that I have no idea what parts of you are the truth and which parts
you made up. I don’t trust anything I remember about you.”
“Then
it’s a good thing we have a couple hours of riding to get all caught up,” he
said with a big smile.
I
couldn’t figure out why he was even there or why we were riding out to the
river. It was obvious that Malcolm and my parents had talked and were
coordinating something. If all they wanted was to get me alone with him for a
long ride, well they had accomplished that. I would endure the ride and then
come back and figure out why the hell they had such an intense wish for me to
spend time with Malcolm.
I
really thought my father would have hated the man. Because of Malcolm, we were
no longer taking in FBI people and that was even more money that our ranch
wasn’t earning. Plus, my father had been force to kill two men because of
Malcolm and attend two farmhands’ funerals. I just didn’t understand why my
father would have stayed in contact with the man.
“So
I hear you own an airline,” I asked Malcolm as we started toward the mountain.
“Not
anymore. Technically I’m just on the board of directors now. I sold it.”
“Why?”
“You
know, just one of those things,” he said as we continued.
I
really didn’t know what else to talk to him about, so we rode in silence for a
couple of miles until we got to the base of the mountain. He didn’t seem to
want to talk and I wasn’t going to force him.
“Remember
to squeeze your thighs and hold the reins tight,” I reminded him.
“Thanks.”
As
we made our way up the mountain, I continued to look back at him and Malcolm
seemed to be doing a really good job. He was in total control of Buckjoy. Even
after months away from riding, I could tell that Malcolm enjoyed it.
“Hey,
would you mind if we stopped here for a minute? I think Buckjoy needs a break,”
Malcolm said just before we got to the top of the mountain.
“You
don’t think he can make it to the top?”
“Nah,
he’s breathing pretty heavy.”
Buckjoy
didn’t look like he was breathing heavy to me, but I knew that Malcolm was much
more familiar with the horse than I was and I didn’t want to risk it. If they
needed a break we could certainly stop for a little bit. We had made really
good time getting up there and it was only a little after noon.
“Sure,”
I responded as I pulled Bambi toward a tree that he was tying Buckjoy too.
“Can
we talk?” he asked with a serious look on his face.
“What
do you want to talk about?”
“I
need you to know that all my time with you was real. I know you feel like I was
lying and I tricked you, but I need you to know that everything between us was
one hundred percent me and you. Yes, my real name is Malcolm. Yes, I was placed
here to protect my life while I waited to testify. There were lies that I had
to tell for my safety and I thought about telling you the truth on several
occasions.”