by Ciara Shayee
Sometimes, punishments seemed like more of a spur-of-the-moment thing than anything else. Something to kill the boss’s boredom.
Ryan’s eyes alternated between Grace’s reddened baby-blues and Indie’s contemplative expression. He couldn’t help but notice that her attention was focused on Paul. The way she eyed him made mistrust coil in his gut like a snake preparing to strike. Ryan made a promise to himself that he’d have a word with the new guy. So far, Paul hadn’t proven himself to be anything but a good man and a hard worker, but if he was making the girls uncomfortable in their own home then Ryan couldn’t stand by in good conscience and let it happen.
Of course, he didn’t know then—he couldn’t have known—that Paul was the least of Indie’s worries.
~ oOo ~
The sun was well on its way to the horizon when Ryan heard familiar, light footsteps on the rungs of the ladder leading to the hayloft. His lips spread into a wide, welcoming grin as first Indie and Marley, then Grace, popped their heads into the makeshift hay-fort before clambering inside, perching on a hay bale with Marley and Mr. Bunny at their feet.
“You brought Mr. Bunny to learn, too, little one?”
Marley’s lips curled up in a bashful smile as she leaned into Indie’s leg, twirling a lock of her hair around one tiny finger. She was a beautiful child, with large doe eyes and an angelic face to rival any cherub. With her small button nose, rosebud lips, and pale skin dotted with a few small freckles, she looked like a porcelain doll.
“Well, well—look what the cat dragged in,” Ryan teased, moving his attention to the older girls.
Indie displayed a little of the spirit she’d begun showing him recently by rolling her eyes with a huff. “Are you going to teach us, or what?”
The tone of her voice, sarcastic and teetering on the edge of playful, made Ryan’s happiness at seeing them increase tenfold. This was how he liked to see them. Not sombre and silent.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
After passing the worn guitar to Grace, he chuckled, tossing the harmonica in an arc that ended with Indie’s small hand plucking it from the air with ease. Her lips twitched into the tiniest of smiles, but to Ryan, the small gesture was a huge victory. Especially as Grace’s fingers ran over the smooth wood of the guitar and he spotted her lips curling upward, too.
It was the first time in over a week he’d been blessed with either of their smiles.
“What do you ladies want to play today?”
This time, it was Grace rolling her eyes. “We don’t know anything to play, yet. How about we start with the chords?”
Both Indie and Ryan laughed at the matter-of-fact statement from Grace. Marley too, though her giggles were silent and shielded by her small hands over her mouth.
“Oh, I see how it is. You’re the boss lady now, huh?”
Grace shrugged, but her cheeks were flaming so it was clear she hadn’t meant to come across as she had; it was all adorable false bravado.
“All right.” Ryan kicked off his boots, wiggling his toes in the straw and winking when he caught Marley peeking at him with obvious amusement from behind her curtain of hair. “Let’s get to it, then.”
For the next couple of hours, Ryan, Grace, and Indie made up silly tunes on the guitar and harmonica, Marley quite content to listen and strum a few chords on Grace’s lap. Once her young mind tired of trying to learn the new skill she wandered away, exploring the hayloft with Mr. Bunny wedged firmly between her arm and her side. Finally finding a comfy spot still within view of the others, she settled down and fell asleep with her head pillowed on her hand, feeling safe with the wall of straw at her back and her three favourite people at her front.
~ oOo ~
It was Lola’s day to prepare a simple dinner, so the girls were surprised to hear her yelling their names well before seven—the allotted dinner time. Grace, Indie, and Ryan scrambled down the ladder into the late afternoon sun, Marley clinging to Indie’s back like a baby monkey until they were on the ground and she could wiggle back to her hip. The warmth infusing the air was a welcome reprieve from the rain of yesterday, and the day before that.
At least, it would have been if Indie hadn’t stepped out into the sun and immediately spotted the reason for Lola’s summons.
Parked beside the house in all its pretentious glory was a souped-up, shiny black four-by-four with gold trim and black-as-pitch windows.
The boss is back.
Grace noticed Indie’s stricken face first, her expression falling as Ryan realised the girls had tensed up.
“Hey, are you okay?” he eventually murmured. Without thinking, he reached out to rest his hand on Grace’s shoulder. She flinched violently away from him, grabbing Indie’s arm to tug her toward the house without looking back. Just as the pair reached the door, Indie glanced back over her shoulder, offering him all she could.
The frightened grimace and terrified eyes she showed him for the first time were only the start of many shocks Ryan would receive over the next few weeks.
“Ah, there you are.”
Lola watched from the small sitting room outside her bedroom as her boss greeted his daughters. From her raised position behind him, his face wasn’t visible, but Indie’s and Grace’s were. Lola’s eyes narrowed as Grace’s cheeks burned scarlet. In contrast, her sister’s face was wiped completely clean of any emotion whatsoever, and Marley had tucked herself so far into Indie’s body they were practically one person. It was almost scary to look at.
“Girls, I’ve come home for a visit.” He reached out and rested a hand on Grace’s shoulder; the thought of the man touching her sent a shiver through Lola’s body. He had to be fifty, maybe even pushing sixty, but he had a distinctly creepy, mysterious aura about him. Everything about the shifty way he moved and the angry glint that always shone in his eyes gave her the creeps.
Before Indie or Grace could go anywhere or say anything, he extended a hand and placed it on Indie’s shoulder. Even from twenty feet away, Lola saw the way the girl flinched. It didn’t look as though he was gripping hard enough to hurt…
“Hold on, Indie. I just want to talk to you for a minute. Grace, run along to your room.”
If Lola had been closer, she’d have heard the timid, nervous whimper escaping Grace’s lips. She’d have seen the way Indie’s jaw tightened. It would have been painful if her body hadn’t slipped into a stunned state of detachment.
Mr. Smith didn’t look away from Indie as Grace tugged Marley from her arms, but if he had, he’d have seen the door open behind them as Ryan let himself inside. His dark blond hair was scruffy once he’d tugged a well-worn beanie from his head, his rugged and masculine jaw framed by a light smattering of stubble. His eyes followed Indie as she trailed after Mr. Smith toward his study at the back of the house. They danced to Grace next, who ran a hand over Marley’s head as the little girl strained around her to watch Indie as they moved up the stairs.
Ryan caught Jesse’s gaze, asking, “Is everything okay? What happened?”
Jesse shrugged, swallowing his mouthful of apple. “I dunno, man. He showed up and asked where they were, but he didn’t say why. He seems mad, though.”
Ryan’s stomach churned with misery for them. He’d taken the few minutes since they left him to consider how much trouble he might get in for prying before deciding it was worth the risk and marching across the yard. Besides, his boss often laughed or joked with him and the other ranch hands. Surely, he wouldn’t object to him asking if the girls were okay? Everyone on the ranch knew how protective he was of the girls.
He’d proven that with a shotgun and an impromptu lesson in what he called ‘manners’ one spring almost five years ago.
He’d expected to come in and find them having a happy reunion—he’d been away for weeks—but instead he saw Mr. Smith leading Indie towards the forbidden study, Grace running up the stairs with Marley as fast as her feet could carry her, and a distinctly chilly atmosphere saturating the air.
Ryan ble
w out a long breath, realising he had two choices. He could push it, or leave it for now. The chances were the girls would tell him anyway, their friendship growing stronger by the day.
“All right. I’ll just be getting back to work, then.” With that, he turned on his booted heel, taking three long strides to get to the door. It slammed shut behind him and drowned out the first cry from down the hall.
“You’d finished all of your chores, huh?”
Indie cowered away from the man towering over her, hating herself for it. Feeling weak, scared, insignificant—she had no choice.
“What about the kitchen? Did you make sure it’s all cleaned up ready for breakfast tomorrow?”
“N-no. It was Lola’s turn to do dinner tonight. We did breakfast and l-lunch,” she whimpered.
Fear emanated from the petite blonde in torrents.
I’ve never seen him this angry before, she admitted silently—not in the almost twelve years she’d known him. She had no idea what she was about to be punished for but her heart raced impossibly fast and her palms began to sweat.
The first sign, as if this show of animalistic dominance wasn’t enough, that he was about to lose it came in the form of a rumbling growl in his chest.
“Lola’s turn? So, what? You take turns now? I thought you understood your place here, Indie.” He spat her name through gritted teeth. Indie had to stifle a disgusted expression when spittle flew past her face. “You and your sister do the housework! Lola is here to assist, not to do it all herself while you gallivant all over the place and whore yourself around!” He sucked in a long, hissed breath, “Get up.”
Rising as slowly as she thought she might be able to get away with, Indie felt the first of many tears tumbling over her cheeks. She clamped her teeth together and her stomach rolled. There was no use fighting this.
~ oOo ~
Grace’s eyes followed Indie’s tense movements as she stubbornly refused to have any help, wincing with every tug on the quilt she was trying to cover.
The bruises were blooming already. They covered the right side of her jaw and ribs in colourful patterns of purple and blue—simply knowing they were there made Grace feel sick to her stomach.
“Indie please, just let me hel—”
“It’s fine, Grace. Leave it,” Indie snapped.
Chastened, Grace nodded, turning to dust a cabinet she’d already cleaned so Indie wouldn’t see the tears leaking from her eyes. As if she didn’t feel bad enough, Indie wouldn’t even let her ease the burden when she was obviously in a lot of pain. When she met Grace outside the room six of the guys shared, Grace had known she’d been right to worry. Only Indie and the boss knew exactly what went on in his study but it obviously wasn’t a friendly father-daughter chat like he had everyone believe.
What’s she going to tell the others when they ask? Grace wondered, distraught at the sight of Indie’s obvious struggle.
“Right, c’mon. We can clean up so Lola can do whatever she wants,” Indie said. She moved gingerly towards the door, pausing only when Marley darted across the room to tug the hem of her top. Misery painted Indie’s features. “I’m sorry baby girl, I can’t pick you up right now. Grace—”
Marley was shaking her head before she could even finish speaking. Indie sighed, unable to even crouch to speak to her face-to-face. With pleading eyes, Marley raised her arms in entreaty. The ‘please’ was plain as day on her face.
Indie shot a pleading look at Grace, watching through tear-filled eyes as she scooped Marley up and tried to soothe the sting of Indie’s rejection by stroking her hair. It usually worked, but Marley squirmed and whined until she was set back on the floor, refusing to be picked up again. She walked beside Indie instead, clutching the fabric of her tracksuit bottoms in one tiny fist, her bunny in the other.
The girls headed downstairs at a slow gait, finally reaching the kitchen just as Lola finished packing away the last of the clean dishes. She glanced in their direction, doing a double-take when she spotted the dark bruising on Indie’s face; the way she was tilting her body to one side, free arm curled around her mid-section, gave away her hidden injuries.
Lola’s gut clenched. She had to force herself not to go into protective, questioning mode. It was as though she’d been seeing through black and white lenses but they’d suddenly been replaced with high-definition colour. Missing pieces of a puzzle Lola hadn’t known she was assembling abruptly slotted into place.
How did I miss this?
“You walk into a door or something?” she injected fake teasing into her voice, flicking the dish towel towards her with a manufactured grin.
Indie’s eyes were devoid of emotion as she shrugged. “Something like that. Do you need us to help with anything?”
“No, uh, everything’s done. It was my turn, wasn’t it?”
Before Indie could offer to do anything, Grace thanked Lola for doing the washing up, gently tugging her away to their bedroom before she could argue. Once there, Grace dragged a cabinet in front of the door, locking it for good measure, before ordering Indie to get in the bath while she assembled the first aid kit.
“There’s no use, Grace.”
“Of course, there is! Don’t be ridiculous. Besides, you didn’t shower this morning, and Marley could use a hair wash, too. Do you want a bath, Mars?”
Marley smiled, nodding. Her earlier bad mood forgotten at the promise of a bath, she hurried into the bathroom and the older girls heard the sounds of the little girl wrestling with her clothes.
Resigned, because there was no way Indie would say ‘no’ now Marley was excited, she sighed and trailed after Grace into the bathroom. The tub wasn’t very big, but neither were Indie and Marley. It took some careful manoeuvring, then a pair of scissors to Indie’s top, but fifteen minutes later she and Marley were sitting opposite each other in the water, Marley’s skinny little legs atop Indie’s. The ranch didn’t have an unlimited supply of hot water, and by this time of day the ranch hands had used the majority of it up, but the warmth was comforting on Indie’s muscles and Marley was content enough to splash her feet and hands.
It hurt her heart to realise Marley didn’t seem the slightest bit worried about the marks on her body. That said, it wasn’t a new thing for Marley—to see bruises on Indie’s skin. She was used to the sight.
Indie couldn’t help but admit the bath was making her feel a little better. She leaned back against the edge of the tub and watched Marley enjoy the water. She loved to see the rare smiles Marley blessed them with. She really was a ray of sunshine when she was happy. Truly the brightest part of Indie’s day. Without Marley, Indie wasn’t sure what state she’d be in. Everything she did was for Marley and Grace. Without them, Indie wouldn’t have any motivation to keep going. So, for that, she was happy to let Marley sit in the tub as long as she wanted.
And they did. They sat in the tub for almost thirty minutes, until their feet were wrinkled and their hands pruned.
Grace helped Marley out first, wrapping her in the one good towel they had before settling her on the bed while she helped Indie. The little girl didn’t need to see her struggling.
“Just…don’t stop. I need to get out,” Indie groaned quietly, gnashing her teeth as silent tears streamed over her cheeks and Grace carefully pulled her from the tub.
After their soak, Grace sat Indie on the bed beside Marley. Indie eased onto the mattress with a wince. She’d managed to pull on a tank top and pyjama bottoms, while Marley had chosen a t-shirt and a pair of leggings to wear. Grace hadn’t bothered to change yet, more focused on helping Indie. She knelt on the floor in front of her.
“This is going to hurt. Did you take the painkillers I left on the side of the tub?” Grace whispered, picking up the roll of bandage from the floor at her feet.
Indie stifled a sob and nodded.
“Okay. I’ll be gentle as I can. Don’t move.” Carefully, Grace raised the tank top until pink skin merged into black and blue. She wasn’t a doctor, but it wa
s pretty obvious the ribs were badly bruised. Perhaps broken, but they wouldn’t know. It wasn’t as if they could get to a hospital, even if the boss would let them. With slightly shaky hands and an anguished cry in her throat, Grace began to wrap Indie’s ribs to hold them while they healed.
For the next thirty minutes, the room was filled with soft huffs of pained breath and murmured apologies. Overwhelming despair began to expand from their aching hearts; it was like a bubble, stretching taut until it threatened to burst. Marley perched on the pillows at the head of the bed, face buried in her folded knees, tiny hands white-knuckled around the body of her bunny.
In the room next-door, Ryan laid supine on his bed, arms crossed beneath his head, eyes locked on the ceiling in thought. He wouldn’t be ashamed to admit it was Indie’s and Grace’s scared faces haunting his restless sleep.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Newley?”
Her voice was a whisper in the darkness—but he heard her. A slim figure left his cover beneath the trees and stepped out into the moonlit meadow, where the young woman waited.
His teeth glinted in the pale light as he offered her a small, sad smile. “Jameson. You made it. It’s true, isn’t it?”
As she nodded, tears filled her eyes. She felt guilty for losing her composure, but her horror at the secrets they’d uncovered in the past two months pushed past her barriers. She’d learned more than they ever dreamed; more than they could have feared.
Newley was close to tears himself as he remembered an encounter with a frantic man a few days previous.
“I need your help.”
Newley lifted his head from the pillow, offering a tired smile to the man in the doorway.
“C’mon in.”
The two men sat on the bed at opposite ends; one wrought with nerves, the other perfectly calm. He’d been expecting this conversation for the past week, though he hadn’t known how it would begin.