Authors: Claire Adams
His
words cut through me like a dagger. I didn’t want to leave. I was comfortable
on the ranch; I felt safe there. I had made the mistake and it was my
consequences to live with; but I didn’t want to leave the ranch. As panic
washed through my body, I had to think of some sort of plan that would convince
Sid to let me stay on the ranch. Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of anything
except to give him a sincere apology and hope for the best.
“Sid,
I’m sorry. I promise it won’t happen again. Please let me stay here. The trial
has got to be getting closer and I’ll be gone then, but I like it here. I want
to stay.”
Sid
looked perplexed at the situation as he tried to decide if he was going to let
me stay there or not. My odds weren’t looking all that great until Mrs. Miller
poked her head into the office and offered her advice on the situation. Up
until that very moment, I would have put all my money on the idea that Sid was
going to get rid of me, but when Meredith looked in the door, she had a bright
smile on her face, and I knew it was going to be all right.
“Sid,
let the poor boy get back to work,” she said with a smile and then closed the
door.
I
smiled back at her and something in her eyes told me that she knew what was
going on. Perhaps Sid had filled her in on who I was when he couldn’t find me
and Sarah. Perhaps Meredith Miller had known who I was the whole time? But
either way, her comment seemed to be enough to push Sid in the direction that
favored me staying on at the ranch.
Sid
loved his wife and he respected her opinion. It was clear that because she told
him to let me stay on the ranch, Sid was going to cut me some slack.
“One
more chance, kid. This is it; if there are any other incidents, I won’t wait
around for an explanation. You’ll be shipped back to the FBI and they can find
you another place to hide out until the trial.”
“I
understand.”
“And
help Sarah with that damn horse. I need to ride it out to the river next week a
few times and none of the other horses are up for that long of a trek.”
“Yes,
sir, I’ll do my best. But the animals don’t seem to like me all that much.”
“Stop
letting them be in charge. In whatever you did before you got here, would you
have let some kid off the street boss you around and bite you?”
I
laughed at his analogy. Of course I wouldn’t have; I was a strong, tough CEO.
“No,
I wouldn’t have.”
“Then
show the animals that you’re a strong leader. If you show weakness, they’ll
bite you,” he said as he motioned for me to get out of his office. “And don’t
ever worry me like that again.”
Chapter 6
Sarah
Garrett
kept his distance from me after my father yelled at him. I didn’t really
understand why my father had been so angry though. Certainly he had taken a
ranch hand into town before, so it wasn’t that big of a deal for me to do the
same. But sometimes there was no reasoning with my father; he just got it in
his head that something wasn’t right and he went with it. My mother, on the
other hand, she was much more reasonable.
“He’s
a good guy, mom, I can tell by talking to him. Is father really afraid that
I’ll get mixed up with a ranch hand? I thought he liked Garrett?”
“Your
father doesn’t care who you like or don’t like as long as you’re safe.”
I
waited for her to continue on and explain to me what it was about Garrett that
made me unsafe. He was a hard working guy; he actually worked harder than many
of the men. But as the weeks went on and he avoided me more and more, I started
to realize my father must have threatened him that he would lose his job if he
was flirting with me or something. I really didn’t know what my father had said
to him on that day when we returned from the store, I only knew that Garrett
and I barely flashed smiles at each other when we passed throughout the day.
I
had finally had enough and went to my mother to discuss the situation. I had to
know what it was that my father knew about Garrett and why Garrett was then
avoiding me. Just when I had finally come around to considering talking to him,
Garrett was pulling away from me and not interested in talking to me.
“So
what about Garrett makes me unsafe? Explain it to me, because I don’t get it.”
“Sarah,
not everything in this world needs and explanation.”
“Well
this does. Garrett’s been here a few months now, there’s only a half dozen men
who have been here longer. Sure, he sucked at caring for the animals at first,
but he’s gotten a lot better. So much better that Forest has him working as his
second-hand man.”
“Sarah,
I’m not going into this. Just stay away from the man if that’s what your father
wants.”
“You
know that Buckjoy likes him? A wild horse that only likes two men on this
ranch: father and Garrett. How do I even know if Dad wants me to stay away from
Garrett? He’s never said that to me.”
“Sarah,
stop,” my mother said as she looked at me with a stern look.
I
knew that the conversation was officially over at that point. Whatever I
thought I felt toward Garrett wouldn’t matter at all because soon he’d be
moving on and I’d still be at the ranch. Maybe my mother was just trying to
protect me from a broken heart, but I knew she had to have her reasons if she
was so unwilling to continue our conversation.
“I
was going to invite Garrett to go riding with me out to the river. I don’t want
to go alone and Buckjoy is one of the only horses that can make the trip out
and back, besides Roxy. Can he come with me? It’s been weeks since we went into
town.”
“I
don’t know.”
“I
was going to take some photos of the land up north of the river because father
was looking into selling it. I think I could get a much better price than that
man who is trying to buy it from father, although I really don’t think he
should sell any of it. Would that be all right? Does Garrett have permission to
be alone with me for a couple of hours if we stay on the property?”
“Oh,
for heaven’s sake. You don’t have to ask permission to talk to the man. I just
mean no more running into town with him and don’t fall in love with the guy. I
don’t care if you’re alone with him.”
“Wait,
what? Will father approve too?”
“I’ll
make sure he’s okay with it. But don’t go overboard. You both have jobs to do
and riding out to the river can’t take away from the real work there is.”
“Okay,” I said as I hugged my mother. “So just
to be clear, there’s nothing about Garrett that I need to know? There’s no
reason that father would have told him to ignore me?”
“Your
father didn’t tell him to ignore you. Maybe you just scare him away with your
angry face.”
We
both laughed; it was a bit of an inside joke that when I was thinking a lot my
face looked really angry. My mother wasn’t the only one who thought I had an
angry concentration face; my coworkers had said the same thing. They started to
call it my resting bitch face.
My
mother had always been the more levelheaded of my parents, there was no denying
that. I went to find Garrett and see if he wanted to head out to the river
early in the morning. Some sunrise photos would look amazing if my father was
really going to sell that part of the ranch. Plus, I really had an urge to be
alone with Garrett.
Over
the previous several weeks I had found myself sneaking peeks at Garrett when he
was working and would take his shirt off. I even said a little prayer that it
would get hotter outside so Garrett would have to take his clothes off more
often. His chiseled body had me all sorts of distracted and I hadn’t expected
that to happen when I returned home. Garrett wasn’t only a handsome guy; he
exuded self-confidence that was appealing as well.
Most
of the men on the ranch weren’t very cute or self-confident so Garrett stood
out among them. He was out of place, yet seemed at home all at the same time.
His smile alone made him stand out among the other ranch hands we had working
for us at the time. I knew I should stay away from him; there was a gut feeling
that Garrett wasn’t telling the truth about his past or maybe even more than
that, but the attraction I felt kept pulling me toward him. I wanted to know
Garrett more, I needed to know him more; there was no stopping me.
As
I made my way around the big barn and toward the chicken coop, I saw Garrett
standing in the corner with one of the hens staring him down. As much as I
wanted to help him, I couldn’t resist stopping to see how well he was able to
handle the hen. He hadn’t been bit since the pig incident and a good bite from
a hen would give me something to tease him about later.
“No,”
Garrett said firmly to the hen as he pointed at it.
I
giggled at his sincerity and firmness with the animal. He looked amazing in his
tight jeans and white t-shirt. His muscles bulged from his biceps and I could
see sweat from under his tan cowboy hat. I knew he would notice me soon, but
for the moment I liked watching him totally undetected.
“Do
not come any closer. I’m just trying to clean out your coop so you can relax.
You like me, you know you do,” he continued to talk to the animal.
The
hen seemed to listen to him and stopped staring at Garrett and went back to
walking around with the other hens. I had to laugh at his effort to tame the
animal; at least he was making an effort and not just running around like he
had done with the pig. Every day he learned from watching others or talking to
my father, it seemed like Garrett was starting to actually enjoy working with
us.
“You’re
the hen whisperer, we should get you your own television show,” I said as I
walked up to him.
“Your
father told me to be firm with them,” Garrett laughed. “I’m sure I look ridiculous.”
He
did look ridiculous talking to the hen, but downright delicious at the same
time. As I moved closer to him I felt electricity between us. There was
excitement because we hadn’t talked for so long and there was pure animal
attraction, I couldn’t deny it. If I was the type of woman who bedded a man
just for fun; Garrett Reynolds would have certainly been that man. I could only
imagine how skilled he was in the bedroom and just how much enjoyment he would
deliver to my body.
I
shook my head to get the sordid thoughts to move on. I was just there to see if
he could come with me to the river, nothing more and nothing less. I wasn’t the
type of girl to just fling myself at a man and certainly not a man who could be
gone at any moment. He was a traveler, he wasn’t a business man, he wasn’t a
stable guy, Garrett Reynolds wasn’t the guy for me; or at least I kept trying
to tell myself as I lusted after him.
“No,
it looks like you’ve made a lot of progress with the animals the last few
months.”
“Thanks,
I really have been trying.”
“So
I need to head up to the river early tomorrow morning. How comfortable do you
feel you are with your horseback riding skills? Mother said you should come up
with me.”
Garrett
looked nervous almost instantly. I could tell whatever my father had said to
him had scared Garrett enough that he didn’t want to go against him in any way.
In that aspect, Garrett was a good man for sure; a lesser man would have jumped
at the opportunity to get me alone and wouldn’t have cared what my father
thought. But Garrett respected my father, I could see it in the way the two of
them talked to each other.
“It’s
okay, the river is all part of our ranch and mother said it was all right. We
need to take some photos up there.”
“I
should go talk to your father first and make sure.”
“Oh
come on, are you really that afraid?”
He
hesitated for a moment and then looked at me as he tried to figure out what to
say. His adorable smile had been wiped away and I felt bad for putting him in a
position where he thought I was trying to trick him.
I
took a step forward and was obviously within his personal space as I looked up
at him and smiled mischievously.
Suddenly I felt the urge to convince him all on my own. Could I bat my
eyes and get him to just say yes?
Garrett
took in a deep break and I could tell having me that close to him had rattled
him just a little. But he quickly composed himself and gave me just enough of a
smile that I knew he was ready to play a little.
“So
you’re trying to convince me to go with you?” Garrett said huskily as he leaned
against the building.
“Yes,”
I whispered.
I
let my hand press against his firm chest and bit my bottom lip as I tried to
seduce him. He was into it; I could see how his breathing quickened and how his
body tensed up as he looked down at me. My breathing also quickened and I felt
my resolve weakening at the power of his flirtation. Garrett was obviously much
better at this game than I was.
“What
if I wanted a kiss?” Garrett asked as he watched my lips closely. “That seems
like a fair trade.”
Nervously
I bit my lip as I contemplated his request. I wanted to kiss him. Damn I wanted
to do more than just kiss him, but I was trying to avoid this man. My mind was
trying to avoid him, at least, but my body kept longing for more and more time
with him. I couldn’t resist; I couldn’t say no to such an offer without feeling
regret.
“I
suppose that wouldn’t be too high of a price,” I said nervously.
“Um,
I still think I should talk to him. Or you can if you’d like. I would just feel
better if he agreed. I hope you understand.”
I
didn’t understand. My anticipation was squashed as he took a step away from me.
I had no idea what the hell was going on, all I knew was that my father had
scared Garrett so much that he didn’t even want to look me in the eye when I
talked to him. I had briefly caught his attention, but then he moved away and
it was all over. It wasn’t fair and I was going to get to the bottom of what
was going on. If my father trusted Garrett enough to be on the ranch, then why
couldn’t he trust me alone with him?
“I’ll
go talk to him right now. Would you like to come?” I said with resolve to get
to the bottom of whatever was going on between the two of them.
“No,
I trust you. Just let me know that he agrees and I’ll be ready right after
breakfast tomorrow.”
“Actually,
we will need to saddle up the horses around three in the morning if we want to
get to the river by sun up,” I said with a grimace on my face.
I
knew that waking up at three in the morning wasn’t going to sit well with
Garrett, but frankly that was one of the main reasons I wanted him to come with
me. Three o’clock felt much more like the middle of the night than four o’clock
did and I didn’t want to be out there all alone.
“Now
you’re getting close to an hour where I’d rather just stay awake all night than
get up that early,” he laughed. “Talk to your father and then we can make our
plans. I don’t think he will agree that I should go with you.”
“I
know, it is early, but I need photos of the sunrise and want to have time to
set up and be ready.”
“You
get your father’s permission for us to go and I’ll go with you.”
That
was all I needed to hear, I hugged Garrett briefly and turned to go find my
father. It wasn’t until I was a few steps away from him that I realized how
great having his arms around me felt. My legs wobbled slightly as I regained my
composure and tried to pretend as if I wasn’t totally shaken by the electric
feeling of Garrett’s arms as they briefly wrapped around my body.
My
mother saw me hug Garrett and I smiled at her as I made my way toward father’s
office. She followed me and joined me just before I opened the door. I hadn’t
realized she was watching me, but my embarrassment wasn’t long lived because I
wanted to take Garrett on a riding trip out to the river.