Peace River (Rockland Ranch Series)

by Jaclyn Hawkes

  ****

  As Carrie went about her day, her heart waffled between a sense of urgency and an inner calm. When she tried to rack her brain for a solution, the worry would build, but then a scripture from 2 Timothy would slip into her mind, ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.’ With that thought she would remind herself that God was over all and she need not fear. A warm peace would flow into her heart, a ‘river of peace’ that she knew was from God. She knew He was there watching over her and aware of her troubles. If she could just trust in Him and lean not to her own understanding, she knew He would provide answers to her prayers.

  In her heart she knew that, but it was hard not to worry about those around her and even for her own safety and for her grandfather’s farm. It was hard to be calm and wait on God. A sense of urgency filled her heart in spite of the fact that she knew God was over all. In fact, she felt like this feeling of being compelled came from Him. She wanted to do something. She felt like she needed to do something. Now! Today! She just didn’t know what.

  She tried to think more clearly. Could she just pack her things and load up a trailer with Ebony and somehow sneak out without Judd or his cronies finding out? She would need to involve as few people as possible, but all of their trucks and trailers had the farm logo emblazoned across them. Usually that was a good thing but it wasn’t very inconspicuous.

  And where could she go? How could she hide that distinctive horse for any period of time? How would she find a place to stay and somewhere to board him where he wouldn’t be recognized? The truck logos and his face marking would give them away immediately.

  Maybe she could buy a new truck and trailer, but even if she paid cash, the people Judd was involved with would know exactly what she was driving all too soon. And if she did get safely away, where would it all end? If the thought of the police and the laws and courts hadn’t deterred Judd alone, how could she stop him if he was now working with organized crime?

  She was struggling again to hold that peace in her heart when Anna called.

  Carrie wasn’t sure what Anna was up to. She’d sounded so excited on the phone and then she’d called her Isabel, the old damsel-in-distress name from their childhood games. She practically demanded that Carrie drop everything and come to her work immediately to meet someone. Carrie was sure she’d met all her cousins and Anna hadn’t talked about a new guy when they’d spoken last night, so what was going on?

  Carrie walked into the mostly empty diner and waited by the front counter for Anna to respond to the sound of the bell on the door. The only people in the place were two men in the back part of the dining room working on heaping pieces of pie. They’d both looked up as the bell sounded and seemed to be openly studying her. Their expressions weren’t flirtatious or aggressive, just frankly curious, and she discreetly returned their scrutiny.

  Tall and clean-shaven, they were wearing button down shirts. They were both strikingly handsome and had open honest faces, deeply tanned skin, and the blonde one’s hair was bleached by the sun. Her subtle inspection was interrupted when Anna came breezing out of the kitchen with a tall soda and fairly skipped over to Carrie.

  “Hey.” Carrie turned toward her friend and automatically accepted her hug. “What’s up? What did you need that couldn’t wait? Who did you want me to meet?”

  Whispering, Anna asked, “Um, did you happen to notice the two men in the dining room?” Her brown eyes were absolutely flashing.

  Carrie lowered her own voice. “They are a little hard to miss, frankly. Look at them. Why?”

  Anna whispered back, “Well, it’s a very long story, but it begins with this. They’re professional rodeo cowboys who are possibly looking for someone to travel with them and cook.” She spoke faster and her excitement was obvious. “Carrie, they go all over and take their horses! No one here knows them! You could get safely away without Judd or anyone knowing!”

  Carrie looked at her sharply in concern. “Anna, are you nuts?”

  Anna’s eyes and voice became earnest. “Carrie, I know this is going to sound weird, but I don’t think those two men in there are here by coincidence. I feel good about them. I think they’re the answer to our prayers.” Anna looked long into Carrie’s eyes. “I don’t really want to have to tell you this, but you need to know. Judd and his nephew, and whoever else, really are planning to do something drastic. They were in here this morning and I overheard some of their plans. You need to leave now! And you need to get Ebony Wind safely away too! Come and talk to these guys. See if you feel like it’s a good idea. This might be the perfect solution!”

  Carrie glanced over to the two men. “Do you even know them?”

  “No, I just met them, but I do know Judd! Come talk to them. See what you think. I’ve been praying about it and have a peaceful feeling about it, and I’m so afraid for you to stay.”

  Carrie hardly had to consider. She had to do something. Telling herself she could always say no if she felt it was a bad idea, she straightened her shoulders and walked into the dining room.

  She walked purposefully up to their table and they immediately stood up. She was just extending her hand to introduce herself, when Anna interrupted her by saying, “Isabel, I’d like you to meet my new friends.” Carrie caught herself just in time. She almost turned to ask her friend if she’d lost her mind and couldn’t remember her name, when she realized why Anna was calling her Isabel. Of course, she couldn’t just continue to be Carrie O’Rourke if she went. So, with barely a glance at Anna, she became Isabel.

  The blonde one took her hand firmly. “I’m Rossen Rockland, from Wyoming, and this is my good friend and roping partner, Slade Marsh. It’s good to meet you.” Both men looked her square in the eye as they in turn shook her hand with their deeply calloused ones.

  She turned to the darker one. “And you are from?” He had the most amazing green eyes.

  “Rossen and I are both from Wyoming. Southwest corner of the state, up in the mountains.” His manner was absolutely direct.

  “And what exactly are you looking for in this traveling cook position?” She might as well get right to the point.

  “That’s a good question.” He paused to look at his partner. “Honestly, although we would love to have some help, we really never thought this was even remotely a possibility until just a few minutes ago when we were talking to your friend.

  “You need to know from the get go, we’re on the road a lot. We do over 100 rodeos a year. And, although our trailer is nice, and has slide outs, it’s a trailer. It can be cramped, and it’s pretty much guaranteed to smell like a horse.” He wasn’t apologizing, just stating a fact.

  “I’m aware that horses smell, Mr. Marsh. That’s not a problem. What I really need to know is, what you would need me to do? I guess what I am asking is what do you need help with, and is there a firm guarantee this job would be kept on a professional level?”

  She detected the slightest hint of amusement as he replied, “In other words, are we planning to behave ourselves?” At her almost imperceptible nod he continued, “Yes, you have our word.” They continued to look into each other’s eyes.

  Rossen and Anna were looking from her to Slade, then glanced at each other and Rossen raised his brows and shrugged his shoulders. He whispered to Anna loud enough that Carrie could hear, “This is the first time I’ve ever known him to have a girl insist he keep his hands off.” He grinned, and said right out loud, “Okay, we’ll be good, but can you cook?”

  This time Carrie smiled and repeated Slade‘s phrase. “Yes, you have my word.” She put out her hand to Slade. “Shake?”

  He was still eyeing her like he wasn’t too sure. Rossen elbowed him, “Dude, shake her hand, her word is good. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty.” He turned to Carrie. “Okay Isabel, How much money and when can you start? And please say soon, because our trailer should be repaired by late this afternoon and the sooner we can leave the better. We have a rodeo up n
orth day after tomorrow and need to be in Reno the next.”

  It was as simple as that. Anna left to seat some new people who had entered and Carrie sat down at the cowboys’ table to hammer out the few things they needed. None of them really knew for sure what they had in mind yet. Slade and Rossen wanted real food and maybe some odds and ends errands. Carrie needed to “travel” and take a horse with her. They all seemed to feel good about it and they made arrangements to pick her up the next morning at sun up.

  Twenty minutes later, Carrie stopped to hug Anna a moment on the way out the door. They didn’t need to say much. Carrie found herself brushing a tear off her cheek. “Thank you. I love you. Please don’t tell a soul. I’ll be in touch.” Almost out the door, she turned back and whispered, “Anna, what’s my last name?”

  Whispering back, Anna said, “You‘ll think of something! Enjoy this adventure! They’re the answer to your prayers. I know they are. Good luck.” With one more hug, Carrie went on out the door, hoping that she truly had found the solution to dealing with Judd.

  ****

  As the first light crept over the hills the next morning, Carrie carefully covered Ebony Wind with a light sheet and hood, then took the tiny exercise saddle she’d ridden and stuffed it into the bulging duffle bag she’d lugged with her. It’d taken her over an hour to reach the rendezvous point. It was a good thing Ebony had mellowed with the years because he’d never had to carry anything other than a rider. She’d tried to pack light but she’d ended up with quite a bag.

  After struggling to get it to the barn undetected, it had taken her several minutes to successfully get it and herself up onto his back at the same time. He’d never seemed quite so tall. In the dark she’d slipped out of the yards and into a pasture that would take her to the far side of the farm and a gravel lane miles from the main road. She hadn’t wanted to take a chance on being seen.

  She’d left notes for both Eli and Dante where she felt sure they would be the only ones to find them. All she’d said was that she felt she had to leave for the safety and good of all. She would be in touch and that Ebony was with her. She reasoned the fewer people who knew anything the better.

  Her emotions were a riot of feelings ranging from sadness at leaving her friends, to excitement about this new adventure, to fear she was doing something amazingly stupid, to hope that she could finally feel safe, to a calm and a sense of tranquility. This was the right thing to do. She knew it. As weird as that sounded even to herself, she knew this was right.

  Although the cowboys weren’t on time, she never wondered if they would come. She had always had a knack for discerning people's character. From that first moment she’d met them in the diner, she’d known she could depend on them and had this feeling of peace.

  When she finally saw a plume of dust far down the valley where she knew it had to be them, she breathed a deep sigh. Logically she should be feeling absolute trepidation about literally trusting her life and such a valuable horse to these two men she knew almost nothing about, but in reality she’d never felt such a sense of relief.

  ****

  “I hope she doesn’t think we’re not coming. I didn’t realize it would take so long to reach the place. The gravel road slowed us down.” Rossen was watching for the turn off in the first light of day.

  “She knows we’re coming.” Slade was confident he was right. “I think she realized immediately that we’ll do what we say we’ll do. I don’t think she would have even considered coming with us for a moment if she didn’t believe that.”

  Rossen mulled that over in silence, and then agreed, “Yeah. She looked clear into my soul those first few seconds after we met her.” Spotting the turn, he pulled off the lane and up to the waiting girl and her horse.

  They smiled a greeting and then little was said as they loaded up the huge horse completely hidden by his sheet and hood. With the animals secured, Slade hefted her bag into the living quarters. Holy Cow! What did she have in here? Although he did have to admit that one bag, no matter how large, for a woman was not much. After wrestling it through the door, he glanced around wondering where her truck was or who had dropped her off. Why hadn’t they hung around to say goodbye?

  Seeming to read his mind, she said, “I came alone across the pasture.” He held the door of the truck for her, now even more curious about how in the world she got that huge duffle here. She didn’t even have a saddle.

  Not much was said as they got on their way. Country music was playing quietly and a few minutes later Slade was amazed to glance in the rear view mirror and see that the girl was fast asleep. “Apparently she was tired.” He nodded toward the back seat.

  Rossen followed his gaze. “Apparently she’s not too worried about you and me, either.”

  Slade studied her in her sleep. Her hair was pulled back into some kind of twist the same way it had been yesterday and she wore plain jeans and a simple stretch T-shirt. Her sandals had been replaced by deck shoes and she wore small, dangly earrings. There was no other jewelry he could see except an elegant watch and, in fact, she wasn’t even carrying a purse. Her skin was clear and tanned and she didn’t appear to be wearing any makeup. Not that she needed any. Though she was blonde, she had thick dark lashes that rested on her cheeks.

  No fuss, no fanfare. She had to be the most unassuming girl he’d ever met. She couldn’t possibly be as wash-and-wear as she seemed.

  Rossen watched him watch Isabel. He didn’t say anything, just gave a mellow smile when Slade glanced up at him.

  ****

  It must have been hours later as they pulled to a stop for gas that Carrie, now Isabel, finally opened her eyes. Both men in the front seat were looking back at her.

  “Short night?” Rossen asked the question.

  She sat up and smoothed her hair a little. “Several in a row. I guess they caught up with me. I’m sorry.” Someone had put a pillow under her head and covered her with a small blanket. “Thanks for letting me sleep.” She stretched and looked at her watch. “Three o’clock! Is it really three o’clock?”

  “It really is. We tried to wake you around noon, but you were pretty out. We’re gonna gas up. Do you want to grab something to eat here?”

  She groaned. “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t make you lunch. You probably think I’m a complete flake.”

  Slade only smiled placidly. “We’ve survived for awhile. One more day won’t hurt. But you probably need to eat, don’t you?”

  “Yes, thank you. Food sounds wonderful. Can I eat in your truck or should I hurry before we leave?” She was fishing around under the seat for a shoe that had slipped off.

  He quietly reached back into the wadded blanket and handed her the shoe. “You can eat in the truck.”

  Putting it on, she climbed out and said, “I’ll hurry. Do either of you want anything?

  They both shook their heads and Slade said, “No, we’re fine thanks.” One of them began to pump gas while the other washed the windshield, and she stopped to check on Ebony on her way into the station.

  Five minutes later she was back with her food and asked, “Could someone unlock the trailer? I’d like to grab a notebook out of my bag to make some plans, if that’s okay.” Rossen reached into the pocket on the back of the driver’s seat and handed her a small spiral bound pad.

  “Will this do?”

  “Perfect.” She climbed back up into the rear seat of the cab and buckled in. She was just starting to eat a chicken salad as the truck pulled back onto the highway and she looked around. They were on I-5 in central California and had made good time pulling a loaded horse trailer. As she ate she studied the two men in front of her. She was slightly mystified with why she’d felt so comfortable with them so fast. Usually she was slow to trust and always she was careful to the point of standoffish around men she didn’t know.

  She’d learned from Judd that some men were to be feared and although she’d learned from her grandfather and Eli and Dante that some men were gentle and could be trusted, it
usually took her a long time to feel comfortable around new people. She loved the hands at the farm, but had quickly learned that most men were interested in her either because of her wealth or the way she looked.

  It must have been that she had a sense of rightness with them because she knew when she'd prayed about doing this that she'd felt such a sweet inner river of peace. She knew it would work out—she just knew. Somehow she had an innate sense it would all be okay with these two. They inspired confidence and trust. Just like Anna, she knew they were the answer to prayer.

  She finished her salad and picked up the notebook and asked, “Can I pick your brains? What do you like to eat?”

  For the rest of the afternoon they talked and planned for how to best take advantage of having some help traveling with them and she planned menus.

  They told her they tried to end each day where there were stalls available so the horses could rest from the trailer. This didn’t always work, but for the most part it did. They would pull the trailer in and park near the horses for the night. In the past they’d existed largely on fast food and frozen entrees, but were hoping Isabel could find a way to prepare real food in their trailer kitchen between stops.

  Isabel hadn’t seen the inside of the living quarters, but from their description she didn’t think this would be difficult. When they stopped, she could cook while they tended to their horses, and when she needed groceries or they needed errands run, they would unhook the truck and give her money. She would try to have lunches ready so they could eat in the truck as they drove, and on days they were actually at a rodeo, they would adjust things as needed.

  Once she felt somewhat comfortable with what her responsibilities would be, she leaned back into her seat and watched the scenery until her head began to bob. When it did, she unbuckled her seat belt and stretched out full length on the seat with her head on the pillow once again.

  The pillow smelled faintly of aftershave and she was surprised she hadn’t noticed when she was using it before. She’d been so tired. At home she hadn’t slept well for who knew how many days. She hadn’t felt safe there for awhile. She didn’t know if she’d ever felt truly safe there. Her whole life she’d never known when Judd would act up.