Last Stand Ranch

by Jenna Night

  In front of her, the little girl was ready to get off the motorcycle and Linda helped her down. Her dad was there a minute or two later, with the little boy and Elijah right behind him.

  “Everything okay?” the dad asked.

  The mom nodded. “Might be time for a break.” They all expressed their thanks and headed over to sit in the grass.

  Mark walked up and slid an arm around Linda’s shoulders. “Having fun?” He kissed the top of her head.

  “I am.”

  Olivia took a deep breath. The more she thought about the way she’d surprised Elijah with Larry’s job offer, the more it bugged her. “Want to get something to eat?” she asked him. “I need to talk to you.”

  “Sure.”

  They said their goodbyes to Mark and Linda, and then walked over to the grill for burgers and chips. Elijah grabbed two sodas from an ice chest and they wandered over to the grass to sit.

  “What’s up?” Elijah asked before taking a bite of his burger.

  “First, I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me,” she said.

  He continued to chew, but his dark eyes suddenly locked onto her. He swallowed and took a sip of soda. “Where’s this going?”

  He was an intense man. It was easy to forget once you saw how kind and loving he was. But her first impression of him, as a man of strength behind a calm, measured exterior, was spot-on.

  “I’m sorry I surprised you with Larry’s job offer. I wasn’t trying to be sneaky about it.”

  “Maybe you should put the job on hold and stay around the house until we find the shooter.”

  She had a feeling he was going to say something like that. She needed to explain again why this job was so important to her. Why she couldn’t take a chance on losing it. “I blew it big-time in Vegas,” she said. “When I left, I was afraid I’d never be able to work in the helping professions again. But now I have a chance to get back in. I want a job doing something meaningful.”

  He looked pointedly at the untouched burger on her plate. “Aren’t you eating?”

  She took a bite and chewed it. “The job at Golden Sands might be my only shot at a second chance.”

  “What are the hours?”

  “It’s only Mondays and Wednesdays to start.” The next part was going to be hard to say, but she had to make herself say it. “I know they need your help at the ranch. And I think maybe you and I are spending too much time together.” She looked away, suddenly feeling shy. He had to know exactly what she meant. “We should probably take a step back.” She glanced at him, anxious for his reaction.

  He nodded and kept eating.

  Really? That was it? She put her heart out there a little and that was his response?

  “I’ve made a point of getting to know people in Vanquish today,” she said crisply. She needed to step back from him all right. Right now she couldn’t step back fast enough. “Either the cops or Vanessa will figure out who’s trying to kill me, and they’ll send him to jail. I just need someone to ride with me to and from work, and keep an eye on things until they catch him. Anyone in Vanquish can do that, so you’re off the hook.”

  He’d finished his hamburger and he wiped his hands on a paper napkin. “I see.”

  “I’ve already talked to Raymond. He’s driving me Monday.”

  “Is he?” Elijah cocked an eyebrow.

  “Yes.”

  “Does your shoulder still hurt?”

  “Huh?”

  “The one where you got shot. Does it hurt?”

  “A little bit. Why?”

  “I just thought you might have forgotten about it. You don’t seem to realize that right now the shooter’s setting the rules. He could take another shot at you anytime, any place.” He glanced around. “Even here.”

  She stuck her legs out in front of her on the grass and studied the toes of her shoes. “That’s not very comforting.”

  “It’s not meant to be.” He chomped on a potato chip. “Nothing’s changed. Whoever’s after you wants you to let your guard down. He wants you to believe you can go back to normal. You can’t.”

  * * *

  Two days later, bright and early on Monday morning, Olivia walked downstairs in Claudia’s house. When she pushed open the swinging door to the kitchen, she found Elijah waiting for her. Her jaw dropped and she stopped dead in her tracks. The expression on her face was priceless.

  Elijah fought back a grin.

  She looked nice in a longish tan skirt made out of something that looked like suede but wasn’t. Black boots. A blouse made out of light denim and lace. There were a few retired cowboys and cowgirls up at Golden Sands. Olivia would fit right in with them.

  She’d been humming something when she first pushed open the swinging door. Elijah thought it might be one of the praise songs from the church service she, Claudia and Vanessa had attended with his family yesterday. But the humming stopped the second she saw him. Her gaze darted around the kitchen.

  “Raymond’s mucking out the stables,” Elijah said. “I’m your ride.”

  The long, thoughtful look she gave him was a warning she was going to protest.

  “You’re not the only veteran in Vanquish,” she finally said.

  He’d seen her chatting with Vanquish members at church. She must have made some new friends.

  “There are other riders who could go with me,” she continued. “People with military or law-enforcement experience. People who know how to defend themselves and me.”

  “Raymond’s not one of them—he wouldn’t know what to do if something serious happened.”

  She sighed loudly. “Okay, you’re right. I guess I still feel a little shy about asking someone in Vanquish. But I’ll get over that. Give me the name of someone who doesn’t work in the morning and I’ll call them right now.”

  Fat chance. He wanted to be the one to see her in the morning.

  It made no sense. It didn’t fit into his life plans. He’d learned to push away hunger and fatigue and thirst in battle. Ignored physical pain. Why couldn’t he push away this craving, too?

  “Why don’t you want me to go with you?” he finally asked. “Am I not charming company?”

  She stared at him for a while as if she was waiting for him to say something more. Once again, he had the feeling she could see through him.

  Finally, he pulled his keys out of his pocket. “You’re going to be late for your first day.”

  The ride to Golden Sands was short and quiet. Olivia was only working a three-hour shift, so Elijah walked the grounds, made a few calls, then took his tablet and sat outside her classroom and got to work. The best part of being a cowboy was the riding and the roping. But there were still spreadsheets to keep updated, invoices to review, budgets to balance.

  At eleven Olivia stepped outside her classroom. Arthur rolled out in his motorized wheelchair behind her.

  “Glad to see we made it through the morning and you didn’t have to shoot anybody,” Arthur said to Elijah.

  “The day’s not over yet.”

  Olivia took a quick look around, but she also laughed. Elijah could tell she’d had a good first day. They said their goodbyes to Arthur and walked to the truck. Elijah scanned the surroundings as he helped her climb in and then walked around to get in on the driver’s side.

  “You have quite the collection of admirers here at the Golden Sands,” Olivia said as they pulled out of the parking lot and started toward the Morales ranch so Elijah could get back to work. “Arthur and his friends thought it was their job to fill me in on all the gossip about you.”

  “That had to be boring.”

  “Arthur says you won’t let yourself have a personal life. He says your parents are worried you won’t let yourself move on from all the tragedy you witnessed overseas
.”

  Elijah sighed. “Everybody has an opinion.”

  He knew his parents worried about him. They’d asked their pastor to talk to him more than once. He appreciated their concern. But right now he was a little irritated to find out the whole town talked about him behind his back.

  None of them had any idea what they were asking him to do. The meaning of his life came from living it for people who were no longer here. And he would not let any of those people be forgotten. Keeping their memory alive gave his days their purpose and focus.

  “So, are they right? Do you not want to have a family of your own?”

  Some days Elijah admired her straightforwardness. Other days, like today, he wished she’d shut it down. “Not every man is cut out to be a family man. That doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with him.”

  “True. I just wondered. I saw you with that little boy on Saturday. He seemed like a handful, but you were good with him.”

  From the corner of his eye he could see her pulling an elastic band out of her purse and tying her hair back. Then she crossed her arms in front of her chest. She was gearing up for something. Great. Maybe he should have let somebody else drive her to work.

  “That boy just needed to burn off some energy,” Elijah said. “And he wanted some attention.”

  “I guess you figured out how to deal with kids when Jonathan was little.”

  “Yeah.” He dealt with kids all the time through Vanquish. It wasn’t a big deal. “Jon was a mellow little guy, just like he is now. Our sister, Amelia, is the wild child. We knew she was going to be a challenge from the time she was two.”

  Elijah glanced in his mirrors at regular intervals as they rode, making sure they weren’t being followed.

  “Losing people in battle doesn’t mean you don’t get to live your life,” Olivia said.

  Oh. This was what she was gearing up for. The conversation they were not going to have.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said tightly. She didn’t immediately respond. Good. That was the end of that.

  “You’re right, I haven’t experienced what you have,” she finally said calmly. “And if you want to live a life of duty and sacrifice, and choose to forgo a family life, that’s absolutely your call. But it’s absurd to think you’re somehow paying back a debt to the soldiers who were lost or to God for being kept alive.”

  She might think it was absurd, but that was exactly how he felt. Elijah sat up a little straighter. He had a line. She’d crossed it. This conversation was over. “You need to focus on getting your own life together before lecturing me on mine,” he said.

  “You’ve got such a loyal fan club around here that no one will tell you the truth, but I will,” she continued, undaunted. “You’re being stupid.”

  Stupid?

  “Well, that won’t be your problem for long. I’m going to find this guy who’s trying to kill you and neutralize him,” Elijah said evenly. “After that you won’t have to put up with me anymore.”

  “Okay, but can you hurry it up?” Olivia pulled down the mirror in front of her and checked her makeup. “You might want to bury yourself under obligation, but I had fun today. And I’ve decided I have a full life ahead of me to live.”

  Good for her. He could only hope she’d live it in Las Vegas. Or really, anywhere but here. With her gone, he could get back to focusing on the life he had chosen for himself.

  “I don’t leave anybody behind,” he finally said.

  He felt her watching him for a full minute before she spoke. “No one’s asking you to do that,” she said softly.

  That’s exactly what they were asking him to do. They just didn’t realize it.

  “Thanks for the advice.” He shouldn’t have tried explaining it to her. How could she possibly understand?

  “You seem pretty comfortable handing out blunt advice whether people ask for it or not,” Olivia said. “I figured I’d return the favor.”

  Elijah pressed the accelerator a little harder. The sooner they got to the ranch, the sooner he could get out of his truck. He’d keep his vow to stay by her side, but that didn’t mean he had to stay within the sound of her voice.

  THIRTEEN

  Friday morning, Olivia watched Elijah as he sent Jonathan ahead to make sure no one was hiding on the other side of Elijah’s truck. Olivia’s checkup had gone well and her wounded shoulder was healing nicely. The trio was just leaving the doctor’s office and she didn’t think stopping for a celebratory lunch was too much to ask.

  “I just texted Vanessa, and she said she’s already in town,” Olivia said, continuing to plead the case she’d started building in the lobby of the doctor’s office. “She borrowed Aunt Claudia’s car a couple of hours ago to run some errands.”

  “Let me think about it a little longer.” Elijah put on his sunglasses. He seemed to be looking everywhere at once, as usual, but Olivia had spent enough time around him to know it didn’t mean he wasn’t listening. “Let’s go get your car at Ricky’s garage first.”

  Ricky had called last night to say her car was ready. Shortly after talking to him, she’d gotten a second bit of encouraging news. Sheriff Wolfsinger had phoned to tell her the FBI was stepping in to help with her case.

  “Maybe the FBI profiler will be able to wrap things up quickly,” Olivia said as she climbed into the truck.

  “I’ll be interested to hear what kind of person they think we should be looking for,” Jonathan added as he shut the backseat door.

  Elijah cranked up the engine and started to back out. “I doubt they’ll share that information with us.”

  Probably not. But profiling was such a fascinating topic, even Denise and Raymond had hung around past their usual quitting time to join the conversation after Olivia got off the phone with the sheriff. Olivia glanced at Elijah as he made the turn onto Stagecoach Road. The tension that had developed between them after her first day at work had mellowed to an even-tempered temporary companionship. She hadn’t tried to tread any further across the line into his personal life. He gave her as much personal space as possible while still keeping an eye on her.

  Things had been quiet. No shots fired, no fires set, no overt threats of any kind.

  It didn’t take long to get to Ricky’s Repairs and Towing. The business operated out of a gas station built in the 1940s that had been lovingly restored, like a collectible car, and given the addition of a modern six-bay repair facility.

  All three of them walked into the lobby. A young woman in greasy overalls ambled in from the shop and offered her help. When Olivia gave her name, the mechanic gave her a compassionate look and said, “Ricky wanted to be sure he got to talk to you when you came in. I’ll go get him.”

  The wall behind the service counter was made of glass. The repair wells and hydraulic lifts were clearly visible. Olivia could also see through an open roll-up door to her car parked in the lot out back. Her hands began to tremble and she couldn’t take a deep breath. The sight of her car was a reminder of the terrifying night she’d been driven off the road. It was also a reminder of how hopeless and angry she’d felt when she left Las Vegas. How far she’d withdrawn herself from God.

  Though He, of course, had never gone anywhere. And after her time spent with Claudia and Elijah and the Morales family, she found herself back talking to Him on a regular basis. Somehow, without Olivia realizing it, Claudia and her friends in Painted Rock had done a repair job on her. Even while someone was trying to kill her. Who would have thought that was possible?

  Ricky came bounding into the front office, wiping grease off his hands with a red work cloth. “Hey!” he called out to Olivia. “Good to see you again.”

  “Good to see you, too.”

  “I heard you got shot.” His smile collapsed into an embarrassed grimace. “But I’ve got
to say you look okay.”

  Olivia smiled at him. “Thanks.”

  She handed him her credit card to settle the bill. Ricky swiped it on his register. While waiting for it to process, he talked to her about getting reimbursed through her insurance. He showed her where he’d noted that the damage was an act of vandalism on her work order.

  He escorted them through the garage and out the back door toward her car. Elijah, as usual, looked all around as they walked.

  “You want me to drive the car out to Aunt Claudia’s?” Ricky asked, with a glance at Elijah.

  “I can drive it,” Olivia said, though she wasn’t sure she wanted to.

  “Or I can,” Jonathan offered.

  “Hey, when are you going to bring in that old motorcycle you’re fixing up and let me help you with it?” Ricky asked Elijah, grabbing hold of his arm to get his attention.

  Elijah turned toward him but he never got to answer.

  An explosion sent a razor-edged shower of broken glass through the air.

  * * *

  In the seconds following the last of the blasts, Olivia felt entombed in absolute silence.

  Slowly, she began to hear sounds. The tinkling of glass falling and breaking. Several car alarms going off. The groan of someone in pain.

  The random impressions in her mind began to form into thoughts and she realized what had happened. Something must have blown up.

  Some kind of pressure pushed down on most of her body where Elijah had dragged her to the ground. Had one of the garage walls collapsed? Maybe she was pinned under it. She slowly raised her head.

  “Are you all right?” The pressure she’d felt lifted as Elijah got to his feet. He crouched beside her and put his hand on her shoulder.

  She raised her head a little more and felt something like sand or gravel slide along the skin on the back of her head and her neck. “I think I’m okay.” Her voice sounded strained, probably from the effort it took to draw in a breath. She’d had the wind knocked out of her, but she was finally able to push herself up to a sitting position.