When Love's Gone Country (Sequel two of the Embracing Love Trilogy)

by Merri Hiatt

  “I know. I ain’t blamin’ you. I’m glad things weren’t as bad for you.”

  “Don’t make it no easier on you, though, does it?”

  “I wish it did.”

  “I know you got a gun.”

  Jacob glared at Jeremy, then nodded his head toward the two ranch hands in the front seat.

  “I ain’t gonna tell nobody. I just want you to know that I know. Does it make you feel better, stronger?”

  “In a way. No one is ever gonna hurt me again.”

  Jeremy nodded his head and chewed on the inside of his cheek.

  “You boys look over to the right,” TJ said.

  “It’s a bird,” Jeremy said.

  “It’s an eagle,” Jacob said. “Look at that wing span!”

  “He’s a beauty all right,” Bart said. “There’s a couple of nests here at the ranch. I never get tired of seein’ ‘em fly across the sky.”

  “Is that water I hear?” Jeremy asked.

  “Yep. Got ourselves a waterfall ‘bout half a mile up ahead.”

  “Must be a big one to hear the water from here.”

  “It is. Downstream is good for fishin’, too.”

  “Do you think we could go fishin’?” Jeremy asked.

  “Don’t see why not. Swimmin’, too.”

  “You don’t have a swing, do you?”

  “Now how could we be country and not have a swimmin’ hole with a swing?”

  Jeremy nudged Jacob. “Did ya hear that? We get to go swimmin’ and swingin’ and fishin’. This is the best vacation ever!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  After a dinner with roast chicken as the star, Bobby declared, “I’ve eaten more in the last two days than I usually eat all month.” He pushed his chair back and stood up. “Oh.” His hand instinctively began unknotting the muscle in his lower back.

  “I think we’re all going to be saying that.” Meg stood up and felt a strain in both her thighs.

  “You think you’re sore now, wait until tomorrow morning,” Courtney said. “And no hot shower before chores to help unstiffen our muscles.”

  Jeremy shrugged. “I don’t hurt nowhere.”

  “Anywhere,” Meg corrected.

  “That’s what I said. I don’t hurt nowhere.”

  “She meant you should use the word anywhere instead of nowhere,” Bobby said.

  “That grammar thing, again?”

  “Yep, that grammar thing again.”

  “I don’t know why it’s so hard to figure out. I learnt a lot last year in Mrs. Crabapple’s class.”

  “Learned a lot,” Meg said.

  “What’s the difference between learnt and learned?”

  “A t and an ed,” Court said.

  “You’re not helping,” Meg said, throwing a frown in her friend’s direction.

  “But you knew what I meant. Ain’t that what communication is supposed to be all about, sayin’ something so someone else can understand it?” Jeremy asked.

  Brad grinned. “He’s got you there. What say you, teacher?”

  “You’re right, I did understand what you meant, but I wouldn’t have had to guess or figure it out if you had used the right word to begin with. Good communication shows that you respect the person you’re talking with.”

  “You mean talking to,” Jeremy said.

  “Actually, I meant talking with. You can’t have a conversation by yourself, you need two people, so I used the word with. And, if communication is a two-way street, no one is actually talking to or at someone, it’s a mutual exchange of information.”

  “Court has conversations with herself all the time,” Jacob entered the conversation.

  “Why are you singling me out? We all do it. It’s like my internal self talking to my external self.”

  “She said talking to, not talking with,” Jeremy pounced on the word usage.

  Meg sighed. “It can be very confusing. That’s why there are agreed upon ways to use words correctly, to eliminate confusion and misunderstandings.”

  “I learnt today that I have muscles in places I never knew I had ‘em,” Alex said with a laugh.

  “You guys are so incredibly not helpful!” Meg limped toward the bathroom. “I’m taking a hot bath. If I learnt anything today, it was that I’m not as young as I used to be.”

  “How are you feeling, honey?” Alex asked Purity.

  “I’m good. I think they took it easy on me, being pregnant and all.”

  Frank and Emma came through the doorway. “How ya’ll feeling tonight?” Frank asked.

  “Sore.”

  “Tired.”

  “Achy.”

  “Sounds about right,” Emma said, a smile softening her words. “We brought you some things you might find useful.”

  “What?” Jeremy asked, jumping up from his chair and running over to see what was in the bags they were carrying.

  “Epsom salt, Icy Hot, cold and hot patches, flexible wraps for your knees and a bunch of other stuff. If you need anything we didn’t think of, just let us know,” Frank said.

  “It gets better,” Emma said. “I know it doesn’t seem like it will, but it does.”

  “And tomorrow’s the hoedown, you’re goin’ to love that. It’ll give you a chance to get to know some of the folks ‘round here, listen to great music and dance,” Frank said.

  “I’ve never heard of a hoedown,” Jeremy said. “Is there food?”

  “You betcha!” Emma said.

  “When is it?”

  “Tomorrow night at seven. We’ll have it in the big, red barn at the west end of the ranch.”

  “I ain’t seen no big, red barn.”

  “The ranch is big. You’ve only seen half of it. Wait until you get to see where the cattle roam free. It’s beautiful territory.”

  “I thought all the cows were in the paddock.”

  “Oh no, we have several areas where we keep the cows. You’ll see them all.”

  “We need more time. How are we ever gonna see everything in two weeks?”

  “The Peterman’s have it all figured out, I’m sure,” Bobby said. “Thanks for the healing aids. I think Meg would appreciate that Epsom salt right about now.”

  “I put some lavender bath oil in there, too. The soul needs tending, too,” Emma said with a wink.

  Bobby found Meg running bath water and gathering her pajamas and robe. “How you feeling?”

  Meg sighed. “Do you think everyone’s having fun?”

  “Yeah, of course they are.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe this was a big mistake.”

  “Come here.” Bobby wrapped his arms around Meg and she rested her head on his shoulder.

  “I hurt everywhere. Even my toes hurt.”

  “Emma and Frank brought over some pain relievers and items to help the bumps, strains and bruises.”

  “Bless them.”

  “They told us there’s a hoedown tomorrow night.”

  “A hoedown?” Meg slipped away slightly from Bobby’s arms so she could see his face. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “That sounds like fun.”

  “I thought that might perk you up.”

  Meg smiled. “It did. You do. Thank you for always being here for me when I need you.”

  “There’s no place else I’d want to be.”

  Meg lifted herself up on her tiptoes so she could give Bobby a kiss. “There’s room for two in the tub.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  While Bob and Meg soaked their aching muscles and flirted like a couple on a first date, Alex caught up with Frank and Emma as they were heading back to the main house.

  “Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering how the cows were doing, the ones who were sick earlier?”

  “Much better now,” Frank said. “They was poisoned.”

  “Poisoned?”

  “The water. We was lucky they didn’t damage the well or the spring, that would’ve taken the whole ranch down.”
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  “Any leads on who did this or why?”

  “I’ve got my suspicions, but no proof. The boys are askin’ around. People who do things like this like to brag about it. Word gets around pretty quick.”

  “Is that the goal, to put you out of business?”

  “Some people don’t like that we offer city folk the chance to come and be a ranch hand for a couple weeks. They say it takes jobs away from the town folk.”

  “I suppose it does.”

  “But there’s another side to it. It’s a great learning opportunity. And, because we take in more money, we’re able to pay our hands more. That’s one of the reasons we have such a low turnover rate with staff.”

  Emma added, “We don’t have anyone at the Double Y who hasn’t worked here at least three years. No other ranch ‘round these parts can say that. I think it rubs ‘em the wrong way that our staff are so loyal.”

  “Do you have plans to protect the spring and the well? It seems like it was much too easy for someone to just walk into the ranch and do whatever they wanted.”

  “We’ve beefed up our patrols. We do regular testing, too. We’d know if someone had tainted our water supply. We just didn’t think about them targeting one specific water trough.”

  “We also don’t want to go around being paranoid all the time,” Emma said. “If someone wants to do somethin’ bad enough, they’ll find a way. I ‘spect it’s always been that way.”

  “I suppose so,” Alex said. “I guess I had an image in my head of country folks all banding together when something bad happens.”

  “We do, for the most part. A few years back, the O’Grady’s were hit hard when the river flooded. The ground was saturated. Crops destroyed. It was a hell of a mess. Every rancher for a hundred miles gathered their hands and showed up to help redirect the water. That was a mighty task, I’ll tell ya.”

  “You couldn’t replant after that. Did the farm go under?”

  “The ranchers all gave five percent of their earnings to the O’Grady’s that year. It allowed them to get through the winter, re-till the land and plant again. They had a bumper crop the following year.”

  “A handshake still means somethin’ ‘round these parts,” Emma said.

  “That’s good to hear.”

  “Back to your original question. The cows are on the mend. Doc Williams knew what to do once he figured out what was causin’ the problem. It’ll take about a week for them to get back to normal, but a few of ‘em stood up this afternoon. That’s a step in the right direction.”

  Alex nodded, then made his way back to the ranch hand quarters.

  “What’d they say?” Purity asked.

  “Cows are better. They’ll recover.”

  “Oh good. I was worried.”

  When Alex didn’t show any signs of relief, Pure asked, “What’s wrong now?”

  “They don’t seem very concerned that someone is trying to put them out of business. If it were me, I’d be setting up a perimeter with someone on duty twenty-four hours a day.”

  “Maybe they do things different in the country.”

  “Maybe.”

  “There’s something else bothering you.”

  Alex avoided Purity’s eyes.

  “It’s Jacob isn’t it?”

  When he shuffled his feet, Pure knew she’d hit the nail on the head.

  “You saw this coming. When the boys first showed up, you were the one who was most concerned about what was going to happen to them down the road. Well, it’s down the road.”

  “I know Meg and Bobby are doing the best they can and they’ve all been in counseling for years.”

  “But?”

  “But you don’t just snap your fingers and make things better. Those boys suffered so much abuse. It changes a person. They see the world differently, even if they don’t realize it. Jeremy had Jacob, but Jacob never had anyone he could rely on.”

  “And he still feels like he doesn’t.”

  “Exactly.”

  “How can we change that?”

  “I don’t think we can.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Charlie Mankins rang the bell to awaken the city ranch hands. He wondered how long it would take Alex to recognize him. “You got ten minutes to get to the fire pit. Time’s a wastin’.”

  “Remind me to find a way to destroy that bell,” Courtney said.

  “They’ll just put another one up.” Brad’s feet hit the floor, then he stood up. An audible moan escaped his lips.

  “You okay?”

  “If by okay you mean sore as hell, then yeah, I’m okay.”

  “And just think, Jacob gets to sleep in today.”

  “Don’t remind me. I’m tempted to go pour a bucket of cold water on him.”

  “That wouldn’t be good sportsmanship. You lost the bet fair and square.”

  Brad took a step and Diego bounded off the bed.

  “I wish I had one-tenth of that dog’s energy,” Court said, tossing the covers aside and slowly getting out of bed. “Holy shit! Where’s that Icy Hot? I don’t even know if I can walk.”

  “Come on, granny, we can share a walker.”

  “That’s not even funny. I’m serious. My legs are tied up in knots.”

  Court took a few tentative steps. When she didn’t fall flat on her face, she was encouraged.

  “What we need is a hot shower,” Brad said.

  “No time. Animals come first.”

  “Not you.” Brad pointed to the bed. “Lay down.”

  Diego looked at Courtney.

  “Don’t drag me into this. You heard him.”

  Diego lowered his head, then jumped back onto the bed and lied down.

  “Now he’s going to pout,” Court said.

  “He can pout all he wants. I won’t be here to see it.”

  The same scene was being played out with the other couples. The only ones who seemed to have gotten through the first day unscathed were Purity, Jeremy and Jacob, who couldn’t help but snicker when he thought of Brad doing double chores while he got to sleep in.

  When they were all gathered, Charlie said, “We’re headin’ to the fire pit, just like yesterday.”

  “Hey,” Purity said as she greeted Charlie with a big smile.

  He shook his head ever so slightly toward Alex. Pure got the hint and nodded. “We didn’t see you yesterday, did we?”

  “No. I just got back. I used to work summers here, but now that I’m eighteen and out of school, I’m working full-time.”

  Alex looked at the young man. He seemed familiar, but he couldn’t place where he might have seen him before.

  As they walked to their gathering place, Purity and the young man chatted. Alex thought he knew that voice, but the face didn’t match and the tone seemed lower.

  They reached the fire pit and chores were divvied up the same as the day before. Purity and Alex were headed to the stables when Alex said, “Charlie Mankins.”

  “What?” Pure asked.

  “That’s who that man is.”

  “Bingo!”

  “You knew?”

  “Of course. How could I ever forget Charlie?”

  “He looks so different now.”

  “When was the last time you saw him?”

  “A year or more, I guess. His voice is deeper, too.”

  “I think he wanted to surprise you.”

  “Well, he sure did. I’m going to go find him. I’ll be right back.”

  “Take your time.”

  Within five minutes, Purity reached the stables. Sam was waiting for her.

  “Thought you lost your way there for a minute.”

  “Oh, sorry. We met an old friend and Alex wanted to talk with him for a minute.”

  “Charlie?”

  “Yeah, how’d you know?”

  Samantha Waters removed a gloved hand to reveal a sparkling diamond ring. “He’s my fiancé.”

  Purity grinned. “Alex is going to be thrilled to hear this. Did you mee
t here at the ranch?”

  “Yeah. Last summer. Charlie’s had a rough life, but he turned it around. He speaks highly of both you and Alex. He says The Kids’ Place saved his life.”

  “I think it saved my life, too. That’s where I met Alex.”

  “Let’s get started. Your husband can catch up when he gets here. Do you like horses?”

  “I love them.”

  “Good. Some people will tell ya it’s not necessary to like animals to be a ranch hand, but I disagree. Animals can feel the energy you put out. If you don’t want to be here, they can sense it. We’ll start with water and feed, then I’ll have you walk the horses. We’ll leave the stall cleaning to Alex.”

  “I think we’re going to be good friends, Sam.”

  Sam winked. “Us women have to stick together.”

  While Pure and Sam worked diligently to care for the horses, Alex found Charlie at the big, red barn helping set up for the hoedown.

  “You could have told me your name.”

  Charlie grinned. “Where’s the fun in that?”

  The men shook hands and Alex put his hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “How are you?”

  “I’m good. Engaged.”

  “You’re getting married?”

  “She’s awesome. I met her last year and we’ve been together ever since.”

  “I’m really proud of you. I still remember the first day I met you in The Kid’s Place men’s locker room.”

  “You were knee-deep in water in your suit trying to stop those toilets from spewing water everywhere.”

  “Never did think to shut off the water valve. I said then that you were a good man to have around. I see it still holds true today.”

  “I was going to call you one of these days.”

  Alex raised his eyebrows. “About what?”

  “How you become a board member.”

  Alex swallowed the emotional lump lodged in his throat. He had been concerned that Charlie would end up as another statistic. The Kids’ Place was intended to be a safe place for kids to hang out, rather than spending their time on the street getting into trouble. For Charlie it had worked just that way. And now he wanted to give back.

  “I just need you to fill out a form. We’d be lucky to have you as a board member.”

  “I’m going to be working here at the Double Y. Is that going to be a problem?”

  “Shouldn’t be. We prefer board members to be local, but you’re only a few hours away. I think we can make an exception.”