Under the Strawberry Moon

by Beth Bennett

  The abrasion was healing well. Branson made sure she kept antibiotic ointment on it. “How are you feeling, sweetheart? Are you still hurting?” Branson’s blue eyes darkened in concern.

  Kelly shook her head. “I really don’t hurt anywhere except for a little soreness in my back. I can’t lay on this side of my face yet though.” Kelly looked down at her toes. She hoped Branson didn’t think she was ugly.

  Branson placed a finger under her chin so that Kelly would look at him. He must have guessed her thoughts for he said, “Every time I look at your face, I see the brave person that lives inside the beautiful woman that you are. I love you, Kelly.”

  Kelly looked up and rubbed Branson’s nose with hers, she whispered so quietly Branson barely heard her. “I love you too.”

  Branson gingerly placed his big callused palm on the back of her head. He wrapped his arm around her and pressed her ever so close. He placed his lips on her, but instead of giving her a kiss, he whispered into her mouth. “I’m so proud of you, beautiful Kelly, my beautiful Kelly.” Kelly felt that her heart would burst. She leaned into his warm mouth and kissed him gently on the lips. Branson responded in kind. He turned her head slightly so he could gain deeper access. He let his tongue discover hers. Kelly felt a deep longing inside. She wanted to melt into him. After a long time, Branson pulled away. Kelly leaned her head on his chest as he continued to hold her. Finally, she stepped down from the stool and giving the sweet mother and baby scene one last glance, she and Branson walked arm in arm to the house.

  Kelly knew she was falling for Branson Bennett in a big way and now he had told her he loved her. She was so happy she didn’t know how to contain herself. He had managed to wrap himself completely around her heart. She went to sit on the porch swing and watched as Branson relaxed in a rocker. Both were quiet.

  “Branson, I’ve been thinking,” Kelly interrupted.

  “Uh, oh,” Branson teased.

  “No, Branson, really. I’m feeling better, you’ve been just the best. Just, well, wonderful really. There’s no telling when or if Eric will ever be caught. I should really think about going home. I can’t stay here forever and I don’t want that jerk to get the best of me, you know?” Kelly let her feet scrape across the wooden boards of the porch as the swing went back and forth. Too bad she couldn’t stay here forever. Branson still lived in the original white clapboard house built on the Triple H property back in the 1930s. Kelly loved it.

  “Well, why can’t you stay here forever Kelly?” Branson gave her a self-satisfied look as he raised his eyebrows at her. Kelly’s eyes grew huge and she stopped the swing.

  She stood up to lean against one of the carved posts that lined the porch and looked out on the beautiful scenery. Branson continued to sit in the rocker. Turning to him, Kelly crossed her arms. Her bottom lip poked out in a little pout. “I’m in love with you, Branson Bennett. Now what am I going to do?”

  “I don’t think you’re supposed to do anything but enjoy it, Kelly. Do you feel upset?”

  Kelly sat down on the edge of the porch. “No, I’m not upset, I just feel so bad about bringing all this trouble with Eric to Canyon Gulch. I don’t want to bring it to you too. What am I going to do?”

  Branson got up and crossed to sit beside Kelly. “Well, you have brought me a lot of trouble, but it doesn’t have anything to do with Eric Hinton.” Kelly snorted and playfully hit Branson in the arm.

  “I mean it, Branson, I don’t know what to do.” Kelly wiped a tear away and Branson moved close. He wrapped his arm around her as she snuggled near.

  “You let me worry about the trouble that’s what you do,” he advised.

  Kelly leaned her head back against Branson’s shoulders and sighed. He gently squeezed her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. “Kelly, I don’t have any interest in having you live with me.”

  Kelly thought that was an odd thing to say. “What do you mean? I…umm…I’m not really living with you if that’s what you think. I mean Aunt Emma is here, this is temporary and all. If you’re not ready for that step, that’s fine with me.” How could she have been so stupid? She should not have assumed anything. After all, like Uncle Bob had said, every filly in the county was after him. She was one among many. Kelly pulled out of Branson’s arms and went to stand a few feet away.

  Branson turned toward her as he wrapped his arm around the porch post. “If you’d listen for a minute, you’d know what I mean. I don’t ever want any ‘livin together’ baloney between you and me.” Kelly got a fierce look on her face. Before she could set him back on his heels, he said, “I think there needs to be a wedding pretty soon.” Kelly stared at Branson’s face in shock. He lazily looked at her and raised his eyebrows again in a challenge.

  “A wedding,” Kelly whispered aloud in wonder. “A wedding?” She mulled the thought around in her mind.

  “A wedding,” Branson stated. “Yours and mine.” He patiently waited for her reply.

  Kelly didn’t know what to say. “Oh, Branson, all this stuff with Eric, I… and I haven’t even started looking for a job. All I’ve been doing is flopping around the ranch. Branson, I…I need time to think. I’ve got to get back to Canyon Gulch. Think about things. When Aunt Emma gets back from town, I’m going to tell her I want to leave today.”

  “Kelly, you take all the time you need to think about things but you are not going back to Canyon Gulch until Blake thinks it’s safe. It’s only been a few days, just relax.” Branson was adamant.

  Kelly could see the stubborn set to his eyes. She was equally as adamant. She went inside the front door and made her way to the steps.

  He shouted as he followed behind her. “You’re not going back to Canyon Gulch yet, Kelly.”

  “You just watch me, Branson Bennett,” Kelly yelled. Kelly placed her foot on the first stair step as Branson held her arm.

  “You’re not going back there till that asshole is caught, Kelly. I mean it.” Kelly tried to pry Branson’s hand loose. He chose to let go of her. She stomped up the steps.

  Branson stood at the bottom and hollered, “You’re not going anywhere, Kelly, I mean it!”

  Kelly reached her room and resolutely packed the small suitcase Emma had brought for her. It didn’t take long. She was not going to let Eric hurt Branson. In a few minutes, she was down the stairs and out the house. Kelly knew Branson wouldn’t give in. She would simply walk down the road to town and meet Emma on the way. She was not going to give Branson a chance to disagree.

  Branson had gone to his office to think. He took his hat and threw it across the room. His thick brown hair curled around his ears as he ran his hand through it. He was not going to let anything happen to Kelly. Her ass was going to stay right where it was if he had to hog tie her himself. He crossed to the window and glimpsed Kelly, dragging her suitcase down the road.

  “God Bless America,” he groaned as he followed her out the door. He cupped his hand over his mouth and yelled from the porch, “Kelly, get your ass back here.”

  Kelly, quickly becoming a speck in the distance, stopped, set the suitcase down and turned toward him. She flung her arm at him as if to say, “Up yours.”

  Branson ran back inside to get his pick-up keys. He took out after Kelly. He rolled the passenger’s side window down as he approached her. She was lugging the suitcase which was becoming heavier with every step. She now had to use both hands and her progress was slowing. “Kelly.” Branson’s voice became deeper. “Get in this truck right now.” Kelly ignored him and continued her bag drag. “I mean it, Kelly, you don’t want me to have to stop this truck.”

  Kelly turned to look at him. She had the most stubborn look on her face Branson had ever seen. “No,” she said, and kept on going. Branson brought the truck to a screeching halt. He threw it in neutral, set the brake, and slammed the driver’s side door shut as he ran around the front. Branson took the suitcase from Kelly and threw it in the back. Kelly put her hands on her hips. “I’m going back to Canyon Gulc
h and get my shit together, Branson, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

  Branson banged his palm on the pick-up. “Kelly, this is your last warning. Get in this truck.” Kelly turned and began to walk away. Branson reached out before Kelly could take another step. He opened the passenger side door, pulled Kelly over, and bent her across the seat. “Are you going to come back with me?” Branson asked.

  “No!” Kelly screamed. Branson gave her rear a searing spank. “Ow!” Kelly bellowed.

  “I said, are you going to come work this out together?”

  “No,” Kelly said, with a little less force. Branson gave her rear another spank, but this one wasn’t very hard.

  In exasperation, Branson said once again, “Kelly Taylor, you beautiful, stubborn woman. Are you going to come back and work this out together or not?”

  Branson leaned over her and placed his persuasive lips on her ear. He gently bit her earlobe. Kelly shivered.

  “I said,” he growled soft and low. “Are you going to come back with me and work things out together?”

  Kelly waited a moment to answer. “No?” she said in a quiet voice.

  Branson gave her bottom several little pats. Kelly felt warm all over. His pats made her ache, in a good way. She wondered what his hands would feel like on her skin. Branson put his arms around her, stood her up, and turned her to face him. He held her close. Neither said a word for a long time. Leaning down, he kissed her very gently on the lips. Branson kissed her eyelids and then the tip of her upturned nose. One last time he placed his lips close to her ear. Kelly felt his thick mustache and his warm breath. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. “I said,” Branson whispered. “Are you going to let me take care of you and love you with all my heart?”

  “Yes,” Kelly whispered.

  Chapter Seven

  They returned to the Triple H. There was no help for it. Kelly resigned herself to the fact that she was head over heels in love with Branson. The more time she spent with him the deeper she was falling in love. The future would have to work itself out. She had no idea what would happen, but she decided that, come what may, they would face it together.

  There had been no progress in the investigation. Eric Hinton seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Kelly decided she would just have to be patient. Worrying about it didn’t help. Kelly and Emma decided their contribution to Triple H was to clean the place from top to bottom. Branson couldn’t believe how much they had accomplished in the few short days they had been staying with him. He thought he ran a tight ship, but he had no idea what two little females could do. Aunt Emma was busy upstairs and Kelly was just finishing the breakfast dishes when she heard Branson let out an oath. She walked to his office to see what was wrong.

  Branson was leaning over his computer muttering under his breath. “Damn it, what the hell is wrong with this stupid machine? God!” Branson typed furiously and gave the screen a shake.

  “Beating it up won’t do any good, Branson, what’s the problem?” Kelly crossed around his desk to see if she could tell what the matter was.

  “The whole damn thing has blown up. I can’t even get Word to come up. I need to run figures this morning, the Bank’s due a report, now what am I going to do?”

  Kelly hit several keys, but the computer continued its non-cooperation. “Move over, let me sit down, there’s something wrong.” Branson stood up and Kelly sat down in front of his desktop. Branson watched over her shoulder as she worked, but he couldn’t follow what she was doing. She was able to get the computer to boot up, but there were still all kinds of problems with it. “Do you have a firewall on this computer?” Kelly looked up at Branson.

  The blank look on his face told her he wasn’t going to be much help. “Don’t worry, Branson, let me see what I can do.” Kelly typed on a few keys and moseyed around in Branson’s programs. “Someone has hacked into your computer. They’ve downloaded a virus and are trying to destroy all of your files. It might take me awhile, but I think I can stop the virus. I just hope not too much damage has been done. I hope you haven’t lost your data.”

  “How could there be a virus on it? I have viral protection software.” Branson was so aggravated, this was serious. It could shut down his whole operation.

  “This isn’t your run of the mill virus, someone has intentionally sent this to your computer. It’s gotten around several firewalls that I can see already. I wonder who…” Kelly stopped mid-sentence. Her stomach dropped to the floor. She knew exactly who had done this. “Oh my God, Branson, it’s Eric!” Kelly had met Eric in one of her computer classes. She knew he was smart. He could easily have done this. Kelly put her head in her hands. “I knew it. I knew he wouldn’t give up. Oh Branson, he wants to hurt me by hurting you. He saw you and me kissing during the square dance. That’s why he hurt me, and now he’s after you.”

  Branson leaned down and put his arm around Kelly. “That son of a bitch isn’t going to do anything to you or me, Kelly. It’s going to be okay.”

  “It’s not going to be okay!” Kelly exclaimed. “I keep causing you more trouble. Oh Branson, this is terrible. Eric is crazy, what could he possibly accomplish by doing this except to harass you.” Kelly was so upset. Eric Hinton was an absolute curse. Now, the jerk was after the one person most important in Kelly’s life.

  At that moment, Aunt Emma walked in the room. “What’s wrong?” Kelly related to her the problems with the computer and her suspicions about Eric. Emma came to stand beside Kelly and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Honey, we are not going to let anything happen to anybody. Blake is going to find that man, you can trust him.”

  At that moment, Branson’s phone rang. “Hello.” As he listened to the caller, a dark look passed over his face. Kelly swallowed past the lump in her throat. More bad news, she was just sure of it. She tried to wait till Branson was finished.

  “What’s wrong?” Kelly already felt like crying. Branson put his phone away.

  He turned and put his hat on. “Kelly, I want you and Emma to stay right here. Lock the doors. I have to tend to something down at the barn. I’ll send one of the guys up to keep you company. I won’t be long.” Branson turned and left before Kelly could say a word. She tried calling after him, but he made no reply. “Lock the door.” Was all he would say. A worried look crossed Aunt Emma’s face, and she sat on the couch to wait.

  Kelly was beyond upset. Vandalism, her assault, the computer, now what? Kelly sat in silence as she pondered all the events of the past few days. The quiet was deafening. She heard the old ranch house groan and creak. The antique clock in the hall gave out a loud tick tock and a fly buzzed by her head. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. Her imagination began to run wild. What if Eric was in the house hiding somewhere right now? Kelly looked around the room. “I’m not staying in here another minute, Aunt Emma, let’s go down to the barn.” Kelly threw the front door open and ran down the steps toward the barn as fast as she could. Emma followed a few yards behind. John Reese, a ranch hand, was on his way to the house. He tried to stop Kelly from going to the barn, but she was determined. She ran past him as Emma stopped to speak with him.

  All the hands were gathered inside. There was a low murmur as concern lay thick and heavy in the air. Kelly’s stomach was doing flip flops. She pushed through the group of men and made her way towards Branson. He was kneeling down by one of the cow pens. The stall door was wide open. Kelly’s heart jumped to her throat. Branson was squatting by Daisy’s pen. Oh no, Kelly stopped and stood still. She didn’t know if she could bear what she knew she was about to see.

  A cowhand reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Miss Taylor, you ought to go back in the house.”

  Kelly shrugged him away. She would face the truth, whatever it was. Kelly stood beside Branson and placed a trembling hand on his shoulder. Branson looked up. When he saw Kelly, he immediately stood and tried to escort her away, but he was too late to keep Kelly from seeing what was
in the pen. A horrified scream rose from the pit of her stomach. There lay Daisy, her throat cut, her life’s blood mixing with the hay on the floor. Rosebud looked up and gave a mournful bleat. “No!” Kelly screamed. “Oh my God, oh my God.” In a flash, Branson dragged her kicking and screaming away from the terrible sight. Kelly was beyond reason. The image of that sweet little cow now lying dead upon the floor was too much.

  “Branson, Branson, Branson,” Kelly screamed. “He killed her, he killed her. Oh my God, it was Eric. I know it, it was Eric.” Kelly sobbed and sobbed as Branson held her tight against his chest. He let her cry and scream until she was worn out. “That poor little innocent Daisy, oh Branson,” Kelly sobbed.

  Branson spoke low and calm. “Kelly, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Do you understand me?” Kelly was so upset she couldn’t even reply.

  After a moment, she spoke. “He’s going to kill both of us.” She looked up at Branson in despair. By now a whole host of people had arrived. Friends and family from Canyon Gulch and nearly the whole sheriff’s department. Branson motioned for Aunt Emma to take Kelly inside while Blake and the others tried to see if the perpetrator had left any clues. Daisy’s body was buried and her little calf was moved to a comfortable pen in the company of other calves that were being hand fed.

  Kelly sat at the kitchen table staring into space. The cup of coffee someone had made for her sat cooling on the table. The house was a flurry of activity. Someone was cooking and the conversation remained low and quiet.

  Kelly stood up and resolutely announced, “I’m going to Branson’s office.”

  There was one way to find Eric Hinton and there was one person that could do it. Kelly. If Eric had hacked Branson’s computer well enough to send a virus, perhaps Kelly could follow the trail and find him. She was determined to do it. Eric was far worse than Kelly had imagined. Of all the things he had done, taking the life of an innocent little animal was the worst. If Eric could do that, he was capable of anything. Kelly began going through the computer programs one by one. She deleted the virus as she went. Branson used this computer only for work. The programs on it were not complicated. It wouldn’t take her long to unravel the mess. One by one Kelly fixed each program. “Now to find your IP address, you bastard.”