by Angela Blake
Zack glared at her for her patronizing tone, but accepted the fruit. Biting into it, he distilled the taste of cigarette from his mouth, and then asked, “Want me to show you around after dinner? There are some clouds gathering, and the wind is picking up. Good weather.”
Ivy stilled, and then turned around to face him, “I saw that you guys have horses here.”
Zack’s eyes gleamed and a faint smile played on his lips, “I didn’t know you liked horses.”
A flush crept up her face, and she avoided his eyes, “I don’t particularly like them or hate them. I’ve just never seen an actual horse.”
“We have an entire stable here. Some of our horses have been entered into races, some are used for riding. A lot of people bring their mares to be bred by our stallions.” Zack told her as Ivy started setting the table.
“I thought this was a cattle ranch.” Ivy said, her brow furrowed.
Zack chuckled, getting up to fetch a bottle of wine he had left to cool, “It is, but my father was into horses, so he divided the ranch. More work for us, but it brings in solid money. Plus, once we open the ranch to visitors, it’ll be a tidy profit for us.”
“So, then,” Ivy pursed her lips, her eyes flashing with the excitement of a kid who’d just found out that Christmas was a day early, “You have baby horses as well?”
“Foals,” Zack corrected, trying not to laugh. “I’ll take you there after dinner. We have one who’s a few months old, Sasha. She’s a little mean. We bred Tom’s mare, Robin, with Thunder, my stallion. In looks, she takes after her mother, but her temperament is all Thunder.”
Ivy’s eyes widened, “Does she bite?”
“No, but she will try to head butt you.”
Ivy stared at him, trying to determine whether he was pulling her leg. Finally, she sighed, albeit a little happily, “I’ll take that chance.”
As they finished dinner, a few of his men did drop by and were quite pleased to find extra food that they could chow down on.
“Miss Ivy, can we hire you as the official cook for our mess? We can find Danny some other job.”
When they all looked at Zack, he scowled at the lot of them, “Good luck trying to tell Danny he’s out of a job. He’ll beat the shit out of all of you.”
“Who’s Danny?” Ivy asked the five men who had arrived, claiming to smell something delicious in the air.
“He’s more ancient than this ranch.” One of them piped up.
“We have this saying around the farm. ‘What happened to the dinosaurs?’”
When Ivy tilted her head, waiting for the reply, another one laughed, “Danny ate them.”
Zack didn’t laugh, instead he pointed his knife at all four of them, “I’m not going to laugh. When he hears this joke making rounds again, he’s going to come for us all, and I’m going to point to your dumb asses and watch him while he cracks that ladle of his on your respective heads.”
To Ivy, he said, “Danny is the self appointed cook for the mess. He’s been around since my father was a young boy. And he doesn’t let anyone near his kitchen.”
A pointed look towards Ivy, “No matter how pretty or good a cook they are.”
The men groaned, and Ivy grinned.
***
The stables were not that far from the main house. It required some walking but there was a spring in Ivy’s step at finally getting out of the house. Zack had forced her to get her bandage changed and he had noted that she was healing quite nicely.
“The wind feels so nice,” Ivy commented.
And it smelled like a bad thunderstorm was about to hit them. He let Ivy move ahead of him and then took out his phone to place a call to Billy, “Make sure the cattle are inside within the hour. A storm is brewing.”
Closing the phone, he watched Ivy pause to catch her breath and realized she was more out of shape than she cared to admit. She was changing slowly, letting go of her prickly exterior. He was starting to see her smile more, her bitterness being replaced by a soft glow, that he dared call happiness.
The horses had been fed and groomed by the time they arrived and Ivy was introduced to little Sasha, who, oddly enough, took a strong liking to Ivy. That relied heavily on the fact that Ivy had sneaked some sugar cubes into her pocket and the little foal was delighted with the treat.
“She’s so beautiful.” Ivy murmured, running her hands over Sasha’s head as the foal sniffed at her dress, hoping to find more of that sweet treat. When she got a little too insistent, Thunder snorted and stamped his feet, making the foal freeze, before taking a step back. She took another attempt at sniff but when Thunder stamped his feet again, this time a little harder, she reluctantly returned to her mother’s side, who nuzzled her affectionately.
Zack watched Ivy interact with both Robin and Sasha, the former very gentle, so she let Ivy pat her, while standing still. She lipped Ivy’s long hair, making her laugh, and then gracefully accepted the sugar cubes that Ivy offered her. However, he kept glancing out at the darkening sky. The thunderous clouds rolling in promised a very cruel storm, tonight. Glancing at his watch, he decided to give Ivy a few more minutes.
Her excitement was almost contagious at the sight of the horses. She couldn’t seem to get enough of petting them. His lips were curved in a smile.
No, Ivy would have no problem settling into a ranch life.
If only he could convince her she belonged here.
Ivy glanced guiltily at Thunder who was watching her. It wasn’t fair that he didn’t get any of the sugar. The rest of the horses had retreated and the few that were still awake were not interested in the visitors.
Ivy inched towards Thunder, her palm revealing the sugar cubes. Zack had told her to give him a wide berth, but he was so pretty.
Thunder didn’t blink as she approached him, his eyes following her every movement. She held up the sugar cubes, her arm outstretched. He didn’t move for a few seconds and Ivy waited with bated breath.
And then his head darted forward, as if to nip at her fingers, making her cry out in shock. The sugar cubes fell on the ground and Thunder made a huffing sound which sounded suspiciously like he was laughing at her.
Ivy had her hand held to her chest, cradling it with her other one, glaring at Thunder.
Zack came into her line of vision, shaking his head. He leaned down and picked up the sugar and tossed it towards Thunder who caught them neatly with his mouth.
“You deserved that,” Zack told Ivy. “I told you to stay clear of him. Show me your hand.”
“He didn’t touch it,” Ivy said, her heart still racing.
Zack pressed his lips on her palm, a gesture so sweet that her heart beat faster for an entirely different reason now. When he raised his head, he was looking exasperated, “He was just messing with you.”
The blush on Ivy’s face satisfied him. He liked keeping her off balance.
However, the rumbling sound of thunder had him glancing out, “We need to leave if we want to outrun the storm.”
Not fancying getting wet, Ivy let him turn off the lighting, and then they hurried back. Not once did Zack look even slightly impatient by her slow pace. In fact, he strolled right next to her, shielding her from the strong gusts of wind.
“Does the wind normally get this powerful?” Ivy asked, as they finally reached the main house.
“Sometimes. It’s usually a prelude to a very bad thunderstorm. I expect we might be stuck inside tomorrow.”
Sam was waiting inside with Billy, who looked relieved to see them. He wasn’t wearing his customary hat, his silver grey hair giving him a refined look, “The missus is waiting for me. I’ll see you tomorrow. Later, Miss Ivy.”
Zack tossed him a pair of keys, “Take the green jeep.”
Grateful, Billy nodded, and then the screen door was swinging wildly at his departure. For a moment, Ivy blinked, thinking she saw a shadow move outside. But her eyes were playing tricks on her.
T
he kitchen lights were on, but the rest of the house was dark. Seeing the teabags on the table, she put on some water to boil, and warmed some milk for Sam, who drank it dutifully before yawning.
Zack ruffled his hair, “Why don’t you go on to bed, buddy? It’s going to be raining all night.”
When Sam left, rubbing his eyes, already drooping, Ivy asked, “Will we be able to go to Beth’s tomorrow? If it’s raining so bad.”
Zack shrugged, “Shouldn’t be too hard.”
When Zack kissed her, Ivy let him swoop her in his arms.
They moved to the bedroom.
But she couldn’t quite shake off the nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right.
She was exhausted with the exercise that she had put in today, and Zack had already worn her out, so he cuddled her, instead, something that she had never experienced before.
He placed kisses on her shoulder, and then dragged the blanket over her as the air conditioner rattled.
“Sam hates thunderstorms. So, if he barges in in the middle of the night, don’t be startled.”
Ivy nodded, and slowly drifted off to sleep, her mind still uneasy about something she couldn’t quite grasp.
It was quite late when she woke up to a sound.
Blinking at the ceiling, she strained her ears, but she heard nothing.
Turning on her side, her eyes fell on the door. Frowning, she noted that the hallway light wasn’t shining from under it.
Wasn’t Sam afraid of the dark?
Why was the light off?
Sitting up, she slid her legs over the side of the bed, and slowly got up to walk towards the door.
Then she stilled.
That muffled sound.
That was what had woken her up.
Her mind still a little hazy, she opened the door and saw that the entire hall was dark, even Sam’s room.
Sam had a night light in his room and the light could be seen from the slightly opened door. But there was no light, and his door was wide open.
Something was wrong.
She could feel it in her blood.
Her eyes narrowed, as she said softly, ”Sam?”
Nothing.
She tried again, “Sam?”
There was complete silence.
A part of her wanted to go back to her room and wake Zack up, but another part of her was frozen.
Even if the child had gotten up to go get a drink of water or visit the bathroom, he would have turned the light on, and Fabian would have barked or something, seeing as he slept in Sam’s room.
“Fabian?”
She reached the room and her hand moved to flick on the light.
Brightness flooded the room, but her knees turned to jelly when she saw Fabian lying on the ground, looking like he had been tossed aside like a rag doll. There was some blood on the ground.
Her head was still spinning a little bit, but she bit her lower lip until it bled, forcing herself to become more aware.
Sam’s blanket was tossed in the middle of the room and the air conditioner was still running.
“Zack.”
Zack’s name was a whispered plea as every worse case scenario came to mind.
“SAM!” She didn’t know how she had managed to summon up the strength inside of her to scream.
The sound of movement from outside, had her racing to her bedroom, her feet still bare. Zack’s eyes were dazed, but he was halfway to the door, “Lil- No, Ivy, what’s wrong?!”
“Sam! Sam’s missing!”
Zack stumbled, and Ivy grabbed at the door, “What’s wrong with you?”
“Drugged.” was Zack’s sluggish response, but he forced himself up and grabbing at one of the drawers, he took out a Swiss army knife and promptly stabbed himself in the left arm.
Ivy didn’t wait to ask why he was doing that.
She was already running downstairs, flicking on every light that came her way. Her eyes fell on the familiar baseball bat and she grabbed it, shouting, “Sam!”
Not Lily’s child! Oh God, not her baby!
“Sam!”
Her voice was hoarse.
The rain was lashing against the windows, and the thunder was deafening and furious, as if the skies wept and the Gods raged. The screen door was swinging and the red scarf that was tied around Sam’s favourite teddy bear lay on the floor.
It had not been there when they had gone to bed.
She took a step forward, before she was smashed into the wall by a very large man. His face was ugly, as if someone had taken a knife to it.
“Hello, Bitch,” He gave her a vicious grin that made his visage all the more terrifying.
His hand was at her throat, and he squeezed, making her gasp for air. The bat slid from her hands as she tried to push at him and kick at him, but to no avail, “Get off me, you ugly piece of shit!”
He growled at that, and reared his fist, ready to punch her in the stomach, but he was pushed aside by Zack who had a murderous expression on his face.
Ivy didn’t look back.
She didn’t stop to catch her breath.
Ignoring the grunts from behind her, she rushed in to the rain and her eyes saw a fleeing figure in the dark. In the rain she couldn’t make out what the man half flung over his shoulder, but she had a pretty good idea and her gaze blackened with fury.
There was no way she could catch up.
The jeep wasn’t there. Her eyes moved desperately and they fell on the rifle that lay on top of the toolkit on the table.
She took a deep breath and grabbed it.
Her eyes were steady, as were her hands.
Taking the wrong shot was not an option.
She called upon years of training, and steadied herself and took another deep breath, wiping herself of every emotion, but cold, calculating calm.
The rifle jerked in her hands, her shoulder burned, but there was a cold satisfaction when she saw the man stop and then fall over.
She didn’t let go of the rifle, just ran into the rain, not caring that she only had Zack’s shirt on, not hearing Zack right behind her. She reached the man and didn’t even bother looking at him. All her eyes saw was Sam’s closed eyes.
She touched her fingers to his neck, looking for his pulse and her lips trembled when she found it.
“You’re okay. You’re okay.” She mumbled to herself, as she rocked him in her arms.
She didn’t know when Zack helped her up and took her back. She didn’t hear anything he said to her. She just held on to Sam, and realized that in just these scant few days, she had fallen in love with this child.
Her heart was unsteady, and when all the men surrounded her and Zack, and someone reached for Sam, she hissed.
She looked at those familiar faces and her mind kept telling her not to say anything right now.
Zack’s face in front of her.
His voice.
“You’re in shock.” He kept saying.
What did that mean?
She saw the blood on his shoulder and reached out to touch him but he just grasped her hand and helped her stand up, “Come on.”
Quietly, she followed him, a brain to body disconnect.
Seeing Sam’s room made her take a shuddering breath, and then it was like she could breathe again.
“We have to change his clothes,” Zack was saying. “And you need to change, too.”
Ivy let him take Sam from her and she stumbled to her room and stripped off the wet shirt. Her shoulder stung and in the mirror she saw that she had scraped the skin there. Not bothering to bother with it, she quickly found one of the loose shirts that Zack had provided her with and she put it on. Finding a pair of loose pajamas, she made sure she was decent and was about to leave the room when Zack walked in.
“Sam-“
“He’s still asleep.” Zack walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down on it, heavily, facing her. He tossed off his shirt and t
hrew it on the ground, putting his weight on his forearms as they rested on his thighs.
Ivy opened her mouth, but the only thing that wanted to come out was an apology.
“He was so heavily sedated that he didn’t wake up throughout. I locked his door, and barred his window from the inside. Fabian is fine, just a little groggy. But he’s with him.”
Ivy wanted to sink to the floor and cry.
She just wanted to cry a whole lot till all these churning emotions were wrung out of her, leaving her dry and empty.
“Ivy.”
She looked up at the way Zack was watching her, his eyes dark.
“Come here.” It was not a request, but a command.
He parted his legs, settling her in between them. Then he wrapped his arms around her middle and rested his head against her flat stomach, his words harsh, “I thought I had lost him, today.”
This vulnerability that he was willing to show her was what broke the dam.
Ivy buried her hands in his hair and her body heaved with silent sobs. Her tears slipped down her cheeks, falling onto Zack’s hair, but neither of them moved.
She didn’t know when she ended up on his lap and when he kissed her tears away.
“I’m going to speak now,” He told her. “And until I’m done, you don’t get to say anything.”
Ivy’s eyes lowered. She couldn’t meet his gaze.
“This was not your fault.”
Her eyes jerked up, shock written in them.
Zack’s gaze, however, was steady, “I know you’re going to blame yourself. But if you brought this upon us, then you also brought life back into Sam, me, and this ranch. You touched our lives in ways we had given up on. So, nobody will ever hold you responsible for this, or blame you and if you do it, I’m going to spank your pretty little ass.”
His tone was so serious that Ivy actually feared for her butt.
“Okay.” She had nothing else to say. She might not blame herself, but she knew that if she hadn’t started this, by involving Lily, no stranger would have taken Sam from his bed tonight. She needed time to process how she would have to proceed from here on out.
“Come on,” Zack lifted her up and set her on her feet, “Go wash your face. I’ll wait by the stairs.”