by Claire Adams
“How do you know something’s up?”
“Because you wouldn’t be coming near these pigs unless it was important,” she laughed. “They are dangerous.”
Sarah held up one of the tiniest piglets and pressed it toward me jokingly. It was adorable, I had to admit it. But the pig that had bitten me wasn’t nearly as adorable and the rest of them seemed to mock me every time I came near them. I had settled on the fact that I just wasn’t a pig guy and luckily I had enough other farm hands around that I didn’t have to worry about being in charge of the pigs.
“I know, they are dangerous,” I joked. “Your mother invited me to come to your house for dinner tonight.”
“Really?” Sarah asked, not looking excited at all.
“Well that look was sort of depressing. Isn’t it a good thing? We can sit together at dinner and have a nice meal.”
“They are up to something,” Sarah said as she put the piglet back in the pen. “My mother is a sneaky one. You’ve got to keep your eye on her at all times.”
I had to laugh. Sarah’s mother was by far one of the sweetest women I had ever met in my life. If my own mother had still been alive she couldn’t have compared to how sweet Meredith was. I found it hard to believe she had any other ulterior motive than to just enjoy a nice meal.
“Didn’t your parents ever invite Forest to sit down for a meal?”
“I’m not sure; I was only here a few weeks while he was here. But I doubt it. I think my father just likes you.”
When I had first met Sid, I thought he hated me. The firm look at was across his face at all times had me constantly worrying that I had done something to piss him off. But the more I worked with him, the more I got to know him, and I realized he was just a serious guy. Sid didn’t have any time for worrying about if people liked him or not, he was trying to run his ranch. But everyone liked him. It was a relief to deal with someone who was always upfront and clearly a really good man.
Although Sarah had no idea, I knew that Sid had taken in others like me before. I knew his heart was big and he had opened his home to people who couldn’t be safe anywhere else. I appreciated that and would always care for Sid because of his willingness to help me. In my life, before coming to the ranch, I thought I was a generous person, but I really had only been selfishly generous. I threw fundraisers and parties, but only when they suited me. I gave away money to charity, but mostly because it was a good tax write off. I certainly didn’t think I was a bad guy, but my charity had been given selfishly.
Now, after seeing the work that Sid was doing on the ranch, I felt like I would someday be able to return to my life with a new sense of purpose. That was, if I was ever able to return to my life. It had been a year since arriving at the ranch and my life was now the life I knew there. I had no news of my company. No idea if the man I had left running it was doing a good job or not, I really wouldn’t even know where to start when I returned to work again.
“I like your father, too,” I added. “He’s a good man and your mother is a good woman. You’re really lucky to have them in your life.”
Sarah looked like she was about to ask me something but then decided not to. I knew she wanted to know more about me and she had always seemed so unsatisfied by the answers I gave her. My vague, non-answer responses just weren’t what she hoped for. But I couldn’t flat out lie to her; I didn’t want to and I tried to avoid it as much as possible. So, when Sarah stopped asking me questions about my past I was beyond relieved.
“Well, we better get our work done so we can enjoy dinner then,” she said and snuck a quick kiss to my lips in before she went back to dealing with the pigs. “I bet they want to know why I’ve been so damn happy lately.”
Over the last several weeks, Sarah had become bolder and bolder in showing her affection toward me. I didn’t mind; I loved it. I still tried to sneak in a quick feel or a kiss when I could as well, but I was much more careful than she was. It was funny how things had turned around for us.
Life was good for us there on the ranch; I was happier than I had ever been in my life before. The simplicity of working all day and making love all night was perfection. If I didn’t have a company to run, I could have seen myself moving back to the area and keeping Sarah by my side.
Although I wasn’t really sure of the protocol when it came to a relationship that formed while you were in the protection program. I made a mental note to ask my agent the next time I talked to him.
“See you at dinner, dear,” I said with a wink as I walked away.
The day seemed to drag on forever, but finally I finished all my jobs and jumped into the shower to get ready for dinner. I didn’t exactly have any nice dinner clothes, but at least I had some clean jeans and a t-shirt I could wear. I wrapped a towel around me as I stepped out of the shower, but to my surprise I came face to face with a naked Sarah looking right at me as she stood in front of the bed.
Oh, how I loved to look at her body. She was a womanly woman and it made me hard every time I saw her naked. Her voluptuous breasts stood perky and teasing me with her hard nipples as I tried to look her in the eyes and not just stare at her naked body.
“Here or in the shower?” she said as she smiled.
“We need to get to dinner. I don’t want to be late.”
Sarah looked at me firmly and walked toward me. I could tell she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She licked her lips and pulled my towel off of me before shutting the bathroom door behind us.
“I guess it’s in the shower then,” she giggled.
Her skin was warm and soft and the feeling of her pressed up against me had my whole body on fire. I no longer cared how late we were for dinner with her parents. My mind couldn’t think about anything else except getting her into that shower and feeling her wet skin against me as I thrust into her.
“Come here, you naughty girl,” I said as I slapped her ass and pulled her into the shower with me.
She turned around and bent over right under the shower as she pressed her naked ass up against my throbbing body. I smiled at her aggressive move. We had made love in many different locations around the cabin, but never in the shower yet. It was another spot we could check off our list.
My body slid into hers and I pulled her shoulder’s up so the water dripped down them as we moved together. It was a hot sex scene like something out of a movie and I was beyond turned on by her.
Sarah turned me on with everything she did though. She could simply be bending over to fix her pants leg and her boots and I couldn’t help but think of her bent over and me thrusting inside of her. At first I thought I was so fond of her because she was the only woman around. I had been on the ranch for so long and away from all women, but soon I realized that wasn’t it. I genuinely enjoyed being with her and looked forward to seeing her, talking to her, and working with her every single day.
“Let’s go, big boy; we have to get to dinner,” she teased me.
“Yes, ma’am.”
I grabbed her hip with one hand and reached around and with my other hand I reached around and played with her clit. She started to moan almost instantly and that was all I needed to feel myself building to climax. I waited for her, as her body slowly got more and more excited, and when she finally tensed up and released; I let myself release as well.
“Good thing we chose the shower,” she said as she turned around and grabbed the soap to start washing her body.
“Yeah, I’m sure your parents won’t think it’s odd that we are both soaking wet when we show up to dinner.”
“I did forget to think that one through,” Sarah admitted. “Do you have a hair dryer?”
One of the best things about Sarah was how honest she was. We didn’t argue; we didn’t even have quibbles about things because she could always see my point of view. She might not agree with me, but she was so kind and respectful that there was nothing to fight about. Even the fact that she so easily said she hadn’t thought through our sex in the shower
thing, it showed how truly honest she was.
“Look at these lovely, golden locks. Do they look like I use heat on them?” I laughed.
“Oh, all right. I’ll have to just pull it up in a bun or something and hope they don’t realize I wasn’t in the house at all to take a shower.”
We finished our shower and dressed for dinner. I let her leave first and I agreed to come a few minutes later. Hopefully she would be able to slip up to her bedroom and turn the shower on before her parents noticed her. But even if they did see her, I didn’t think they would automatically assume she had been in my shower. Certainly, there could have been some other explanation for her hair being wet; maybe she had fallen into the damn pigpen water. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself as I made my way over to the house.
I was nervous, which was weird. I knew both Sid and Meredith pretty well by that point and wasn’t nervous around either of them during the day, but there was something a little different about going to your boss’ house and sitting down to a meal with them. It didn’t matter that Sid wasn’t my real boss and I would be returning to my real life someday; for the time being he was my boss. He was also the father to the woman I had been sleeping with.
“It’s nice to see you,” Meredith said as she opened the front door.
“You too.”
I felt awkward, which was strange for me. I had spent most of my adult life socializing and going to business dinners, yet as I stood there it was different. Meredith and Sid were keeping me safe, they were also my employers, and the parents of the woman I was starting to care a great deal about.
“Grab a beer,” Sid said from his recliner in the living room.
Sid looked like a whole different man with his cowboy hat and boots off. He seemed much more exposed and more like a normal man than he had seemed to be before. When Sid was wearing his hat and boots, he appeared to be like an old west hero; someone that could do anything he wanted.
“Thank you, sir,” I said as I went to the kitchen behind Meredith and she handed me a beer.
Sarah was also in the kitchen and I nodded to acknowledge she was there. I didn’t go out of my way to say hello to her, but we shared a knowing smile about how our day had been spent just a few moments before.
“Come in here and watch the race with me while the ladies finish up with dinner.”
Sid was a man’s man, there was no denying it. I assumed that he had probably never, or very rarely, cooked a meal for himself. On the other hand, Meredith seemed to be able to do it all. I had seen her cook for a dozen men, clean up after the horses and easily grab a pig out of the pig pen. Meredith made everything look easy and she did it with a smile on her face and a gentle nature about her character.
I looked toward Meredith and Sarah for approval to join Sid in the living room. I didn’t like leaving them to do all the cooking, but I suspected they were just fine with me being out of the way and keeping Sid company while he watched his NASCAR race.
“On my way,” I said as I left the ladies.
“So are you a fan?” Sid asked as he pointed his beer toward the screen.
I tried to think of my fake profile and what I was supposed to say, but I just couldn’t remember if I liked NASCAR or not. Instead, I decided to go with the truth.
“I don’t really know very much about it, but it seems like a fun event to go to.”
“Oh, yeah man. I went a few years ago and it was insane. Now it would be really nice to go in one of those RVs and stay nice and close. I’d love to climb up on the top and watch the race from there.”
“Now that sounds like a good time.”
“Sarah never got into racing. If she had been a boy, I would have forced her to love it like I do. But I suppose it’s not really a woman’s thing.”
I had to laugh as Sid went on and on about his NASCAR while we waited for dinner. It was obviously something he was passionate about and I liked seeing that side of him.
Chapter Twelve
Sarah
“Dinner wasn’t so bad, was it?” I asked Garrett as he stood next to me and helped me clean up the kitchen.
“It was nice.”
“I thought my father was going to totally convert you into a NASCAR fan.”
It had been wonderful to watch how excited my father got while talking to Garrett. I knew he had wanted a son and over the years I had tried to make him proud. He certainly didn’t make me feel like he didn’t want me, I just knew he always longed to have another man around the house that he could bond with.
As Garrett and I had gotten closer, Garrett was afraid my father would find out, but I actually thought my father wouldn’t mind at all. Garrett was a good man; he was one of the nicest men I had known. My father and he got along great and I saw how my father looked at him; he respected Garrett.
Sure, my father teased Garrett about staying away from me, but that was just what he did. If I told him I was head over heels falling for Garrett; he would be happy for me. I just didn’t fall head over heels for anyone so it would shock my parents if I actually admitted to them the feelings I was having.
When Garrett told me my parents had invited him to dinner, I couldn’t help but think it would be the perfect moment to tell them about the two of us. Just get it all out there on the table and not worry about it. They were my parents, they loved me and trusted me, and I just didn’t think they would have a problem with the two of us being together.
But I wasn’t going to force the announcement and it made Garrett very anxious to think about my father knowing what we were doing, so I didn’t tell them. I did enjoy our evening together though. It was so much fun to watch my father and Garrett talked about NASCAR and to hang out with my mother in the kitchen and make dinner. It felt like how I had always wished my significant other would get along with my parents.
Garrett wasn’t exactly my boyfriend; I wasn’t sure what label we should attach to our relationship. We worked together and hung out together during the day and in the nighttime, we made love and slept together. Outside of the ranch I would have considered him my boyfriend, but on the ranch, it seemed like something less than that. There was no future-planning going on between the two of us. We never mentioned living together or traveling the world; we just enjoyed the time we had with each other. No expectations and no plans.
“It was pretty exciting there in the end. I can see why he likes it so much. I hope your mom is all right with me kicking her out of the kitchen so I could help you with the dishes. I just wanted to talk to you. It was so weird sitting in there and not talking to you.”
“Yeah, I think she will survive.”
“You have a pretty cool family here.”
“Yeah, I love ‘em; I think I’ll keep them,” I laughed.
I didn’t know much about Garrett’s family except that his parents had died. He also mentions one time that his sister lived in Florida, but he didn’t really talk to her much. It was sad that his family was so small and he didn’t have the support I did. I could tell he longed for more close connections in his life and I hoped he would find it someday.
We continued to do the dishes and watched a storm off in the distance. It looked like it was building up some power and the closer it got to the ranch, I could see the trees blowing harder and harder in the wind. We didn’t get many storms in Montana, but when they did blow through, it was normally just some thunder and lightning. Luckily, we were far enough north that we didn’t get tornados or anything like that.
The animals always had a bit of a rough time when a thunderstorm rolled through. The lightning and noise from the thunder scared them and often had them so worked up they wouldn’t eat or drink for a day after the storm had passed.
“Hey, when you two are finished up in here will you go check on the horses. They might need some loving care to get through the storm,” my father said as he grabbed another beer from the fridge.
“Sure, Dad.”
I hated to watch how the scared the animals got in the s
torms. It was difficult to know they were afraid and not be able to calm them down in anyway. When I was away from the ranch I didn’t think anyone took as good of care of the horses as I did when I was home. Sure, my father and mother probably went out to the barn and checked on them; but there was so much more that went into making sure they felt safe. I didn’t mind even sleeping in the barn if I had to, just to make sure they all made it through the night all right and weren’t too scared.
“Of course, Mr. Miller,” Garrett said. “I bet Buckjoy will appreciate a little company once the thunder comes rolling through.”
I loved that Garrett got it. Right away, without hesitation, he knew that he horses would be scared. Garrett didn’t have a lot of experience, but he loved that horse and knew him well. Garrett had a big heart and that was just one of the things that I cherished about him.
“For God’s sake, kid, call me Sid,” my father grumbled under his breath as he went back into the living room.
“Sorry,” Garrett said with a strained face.
“He’s a bit of a drinker at night. I know you wouldn’t be able to tell it from how he acts during the day.”
“Oh, he’s fine. I hope that I have a wife and daughter that I can annoy with my drinking someday.”
We finished up in the kitchen and found some raincoats and boots in the hall closet before we headed out to the barn. I couldn’t imagine Garrett ever getting drunk. The few times that we had drank while at his cabin, Garrett always maintained total control and didn’t even seem tipsy.
One time we shared an entire bottle of red wine and I felt like I could hardly walk afterward, yet he was straight sober. It made me think that he had probably drank quite a bit in his history and a high tolerance for alcohol.
“We will be back in when the storm passes,” I told my parents.
“I’ll be sleeping,” my father said grumpily.