Love on the Horizon (A Northern Woods Novel)

by Roberts, Charliann

  “Sit down Jake, I have something to discuss with you.” He poured a cup of coffee and handed it to him.

  “Thanks. What’s up?”

  Before he returned to his desk, he closed the office door. “There are a few things I need to tell you. I want you to listen, no interruptions.”

  “Ranch problems?”

  “No.” He moved over to his side of the desk, then sat and took a sip of his coffee. He set the cup down and picked up a pencil, turned it around and looked at the eraser. Thinking deeply of what he was about to say, he tried to come up with the best words to use.

  “I don’t know of a good way to break this to you, Jake. It’s regarding your wife.”

  “What? Did something happen? I haven’t received a phone call.”

  “No. Please don’t interrupt as I try to explain. On Saturday, Mariah and Sarah took the twins for a walk in the park next to the Pine Cone Café. When Sarah visited the restroom, she overheard a conversation outside of the exit door. She said the woman was on her cell phone. Apparently, she was speaking to her boyfriend.”

  Nick pulled the note from his pocket and read it to him: ‘Maybe I should come clean. I’m sure he knows something already. I’m getting tired of this game, honey. I know we planned our future well ahead of time, and conspired very carefully, but I miss you so much. I want to come back home with you. When will this be over?’

  “That was all Sara was able to hear.” He looked at Jake.

  “What’s this got to do with me?”

  “Sarah noticed a wedding band on her left hand. She went back to where Mariah was waiting and told her about the conversation she overheard. When Mariah turned and looked at the woman, she saw that it was Anya.”

  “That’s not true. Anya let me know that she was going to spend the day at the mall in Huntington. She has new clothes to prove it.”

  “Jake, she hadn’t been at the park very long. Evidently she went into town first and on her way home she stopped there to eat her lunch and make the phone call where she thought she’d be in private.”

  “No way in hell. I don’t believe you. She loves me. She’d never do such a thing.”

  “Okay, listen. You go home and have a long talk with her. I’ll give you the day off with pay. You need to find out what’s going on.

  “Oh, and one more thing,” he said. He opened the bottom desk drawer and pulled out the information he found on the Internet about this type of mail-order brides. He placed them in his hand. “Read these papers over. It tells of the actions of other women who wanted to come to our country to live.”

  Jake glanced through them and shook his head. “Anya isn’t like these women.”

  “Read through them anyway. There are several listed who have done the same things Anya has. I really am sorry, Jake. You didn’t deserve this.”

  Jake again shook his head in anger and abruptly left the office, closing the door behind him with a bit more force than needed.

  * * *

  When Jake entered the house, he found Anya in his office. She was on the computer, which was all she seemed to do these days, between that and spend money. He stood in the doorway and watched her for a moment. She was so involved with whatever she was doing, that she didn’t even notice him.

  “Hi honey,” he said. She jumped at the sound of his voice.

  “Oh! You scared me,” she answered, then quickly deleted whatever was on the computer screen. She stood from her chair and wrapped her arms around his neck. “What are you doing home already?”

  “I decided to take the day off to be with my beautiful wife. Would you like to go for a walk at the park while Zak is still in school?”

  “That sounds like fun,” she smiled and went to get her purse.

  When they arrived at the park, they walked all the way around the pond and then sat down in the grass to rest.

  “This park is beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked her.

  “Yes, very nice.”

  “Many people come here to eat their lunch, enjoy the pond and watch the loons. Have you ever been here?”

  “No, I never have, but it is very nice. Maybe I stop here again sometime.”

  He now had doubt about whether she was telling the truth. He turned to face her.

  “Mariah told Nick that she and Sarah saw you here last Saturday. They said you were eating lunch and speaking to someone on your cell phone.”

  “It must have been one who looked like me. I shop at the mall for new clothes. It’s been warm and I needed more summer clothes. I showed you. You don’t remember?”

  “Yes I do, and they are very pretty shorts. I didn’t think you’d been anywhere other than the mall. You’re right. They must have seen someone else. We’d better get back home. It’s getting late and Zak will be home from school soon.”

  Jake barbequed some burgers out on the grill and Anya made potato salad to have along with it. The three of them enjoyed their dinner then Zak went to his room to watch television on the set that Anya had recently purchased for him.

  At nine p.m. Anya yawned and told Jake she was tired and went to bed. Jake waited in the living room until he was sure she’d fallen asleep. He then entered his office and turned on the computer. When he logged into Anya’s email, he found that she’d received messages from someone in Russia. She had signed in with the name of Karina Chepelskii. He wasn’t able to read them; they were in a folder that was blocked.

  He then checked her cell phone where he also found calls to and from Russia. He set it back on the desk where she had left it, turned the computer off and got ready for bed.

  He thought she was sound asleep and decided to speak with her in the morning, after he slept on it. He’d just begun to doze off when suddenly he felt her sharp fingernails digging into his back, from his neck down to his waist. He jumped up, turned to face her and grabbed her wrists.

  “Anya, stop! What is wrong with you?”

  She pulled her hands free and began to scratch his face. He took hold of her wrists and pulled them away from him, then pushed her toward the bed. She fell back on the pillow and began to yell at him.

  “Why are you doing this to me? Why are you hitting me?” she screamed.

  He moved away from her and quickly stepped into his jeans and pulled them up.

  “What is the matter with you? I wasn’t touching you, you were attacking me!”

  “You are a liar! I hate you!”

  “Get out of that bed right now, Anya.” He opened the closet and pulled out a small suitcase. “You pack whatever you can fit into this suitcase for both you and Zak. I’m taking you to a motel.”

  She sat there staring at him, holding her hair in her fists and crying.

  “Now, Anya! You move your ass out of my bed now, or I’ll throw you out with nothing but the nightgown you’re wearing. You’d have no clothes, so you’d better start packin’!

  “You’ve lied to me. You’ve been talking to your lover-boy in Russia. I want nothing more to do with you. This is the end. Your pleasure ride is over.”

  After he dropped her and Zak off at a motel on the outskirts of town he drove back home. He cleared out the rest of her belongings from the bedroom and threw them into garbage bags. He carried them out to the garage and cleaned the house the best he could. He shook his head. He’d have to hire a cleaning company to come and thoroughly sanitize his home.

  He glanced at the clock. It was already five a.m. He picked up the phone and dialed the number at Colburn Stables.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Colburn Stables,” Nick answered, and poured himself a cup of coffee.

  “Hi Nick, this is Jake.”

  Nick could tell by the tone of his voice that something was wrong, very wrong.

  “What’s happened? You sound upset.”

  “You better believe I am. I’ll be in late today. I just returned from dropping Anya off at a motel and left her there with whatever she could fit into a suitcase. A cheap motel, the cheapest one I was able to find,
outside of Huntington. I came back home, and I’m changing all the locks on the house. I won’t be long. I’ll talk to you as soon as I get there.”

  “Okay, I can hear in your voice that you’re very upset. Drive carefully and come into my office when you arrive. I’ll be waiting right here for ya, buddy.”

  Two hours later, the door of Nick’s office flew open. Nick stood instantly when he saw Jake.

  “Oh, man, what happened?” He closed the door and led Jake to a chair; his face was full of deep scratches, some covered with dried blood.

  Unable to answer, Jake gritted his teeth and slowly shook his head back and forth. He looked up at Nick and lines of concentration deepened along his brows and under his eyes.

  “Anya did this to me last night. I asked her if she’d been at the park and she denied it. Shortly after she went to bed, I looked at her cell phone and wrote down the number she’d dialed that day. It was a call to Russia, Nick. I went into the bedroom only to find her sound asleep. At least I thought so. I decided to get some sleep myself and figured I’d speak to her in the morning, after I’d had time to calm down.”

  Nick could see the hurt and pain in his eyes as he spoke.

  “As soon as I’d dozed off, she started to run her sharp fingernails across my shoulders and down my back. I turned around, and she scratched my face before I was able to grab her wrists. It was horrible. I can't believe she’d do something like this. I don’t understand. I love her, and I thought she loved me.” He bent down, rested his elbows on his knees and placed his face in his hands. “Then she began screaming at me, as though I was the one attacking her, not her striking me.”

  “You need a lawyer Jake. You need one immediately.”

  He looked up at Nick and felt helpless. “I have no idea what type to call, or who would even know how to handle something like this.”

  Nick reached for the phone. “Give me an hour or so. I’ll try to reach my own attorney and ask him if he knows of anyone who’s had experience with this type of case.”

  “Okay.” Jake stood up and headed toward the door.

  “I’ll let you know as soon as I hear back from him. I’ll also tell Art that you’ll be working with him today. You can trust Art. He’ll keep things to himself, and he has a good shoulder if you’d like to talk.”

  “Will do… thanks.”

  * * *

  A few hours later Nick spotted Jake at the south end of the stable. He walked over and handed him a sheet of paper with a lawyer’s name, phone number and address.

  “Here’s the information you’ll need, recommended by my attorney. He said he’s had a few cases similar to yours. Take off a bit early so you’ll be able to reach him yet today. Hell, go ahead and leave now. Everything’s under control here; no one called in sick. You need to contact him as soon as possible. You can bet that Anya already called an attorney for herself.”

  “Okay, thanks Nick.”

  “Give me a call if you need to, buddy.”

  Jake nodded, thanked him again, then put his Stetson back on and hurried out to his truck.

  Nick sat down and leaned back in his chair, hands clasped behind his head. He’d had a feeling this would happen. He stared up at the ceiling and thought of all the bad luck Jake has had with women, when Art entered the office.

  “A couple of men are here to see you, Nick. They’re from a horse rescue place of some sort.”

  “Oh yeah, I spoke with them on the phone when they called last week. Send them in. Also, you may want to stay and listen to what they have to say.”

  “Will do,” he said and opened the door to two members of the Minnesota Horse Rescue Team.

  Nick stood up to shake hands then turned to Art. “We need one more chair. Would you be kind enough to grab one from the break room?”

  “Sure will.”

  “There’s a fresh pot of coffee made if you’d like some,” he offered to the visitors.

  “No, we’re fine, thank you.”

  One of the men looked to be in his mid-forties and the other in his late twenties, both dressed in jeans and polo shirts with the emblem of the horse rescue team sewn onto their pockets.

  “We’d like to introduce ourselves, Mr. Colburn. I’m Buck Morgan, whom you spoke with on the phone, and this is my assistant, Terry Lindberg,” he said, and looked over at the other man. Lindberg smiled with a nod.

  “The Minnesota Horse Rescue Team is an organization which was founded by my father forty-two years ago. Our mission is to rescue horses in distress. We treat them with compassion and respect, while acting in the horse’s best interest. One of our key objectives is to train people in order to prevent abuse and neglect of these beautiful animals. With our classes, people can learn firsthand from professionals, how to properly care for their horses.

  “Here in Brockenridge County, and other surrounding counties, our rescue team has responded to thousands of calls requesting investigations of horses not being cared for correctly and in need of help. Our team finds permanent, caring adoptive homes for horses. Some of our horses are young and healthy; others are injured, ill, starved or abandoned. We receive no federal or state support and are totally contingent on membership donations, contributions from grants, fundraising events and endowment gifts.

  “We’re currently looking for foster and adoptive homes for horses in need of placement.”

  Nick glanced at Art.

  “How much space is required, and how many horses are in need at this time?” Art asked.

  “It just depends on how many you’d like to take on. One of our ranchers has four pasture areas with both open land and mixed forest. They have a loafing shelter available at all times, one stall for sick animals, and veterinarians – some specializing in specific breeds.

  “If you’d like to be considered as a foster or adoptive caregiver for one, or for several horses in need, contact us, and we’ll schedule a time to visit your place to determine what type of horse would benefit the most in your care. Good temporary and permanent homes are badly needed and in many situations, the care is tax deductible.”

  Nick looked over at Art, who appeared to be enthusiastic.

  “We’ll seriously consider it, Buck. We do have plenty of room. Art and I will talk it over and get back to you.”

  “If you don’t mind, we’d like to leave this information for you to read over, of how to rescue an abused horse. It may help you decide if you’d like to participate. Horse neglect and starvation are on the rise in Minnesota, the result of a grim economy. I can tell you this – it’s a great feeling of triumph when a trainer demonstrates how they’ve brought a horse that no one wanted back to health, a horse having little or no training, and turned it into one who is now a bright and willing companion. Believe me, it’s such a delight to see what a difference you can make. After proper care, love and attention, a horse can turn into a magnificent champion.”

  The men stood up, shook hands, and both Nick and Art escorted them out to their truck.

  “We’ll strongly consider it, Buck. It was nice to meet you,” Nick said, and tipped his hat to them as Buck turned his vehicle around and headed down the gravel road.

  Nick and Art stood and watched them drive off, both deep in thought about participating.

  The next morning the two of them sat together with a pot of coffee, while they looked over the finances. Nick leaned back, his hands behind his head, his boots resting on the corner of the desktop.

  “Well, what do you say? We’d need to hire a few more ranch hands, but I believe we’d be able to work it out.”

  “I think so too. Maybe even another five or six men. All depends on how many horses we want to take on. I thought a lot about this last night. You’ve seen how well Jake has done when it comes to handling and training the horses. It may be a good idea to ask him if he’d like to manage the new men we hire, and everything dealing with the care of these special horses. With the situation he’s in right now, he could also use a nice raise. That soon to be ex-
wife of his will try to wipe him clean, the same way Barbie had. And this new adventure might keep him busy enough to restrain his thoughts from that miserable woman and her dirty tricks.”

  “Sounds sensible to me; I taught you right, if I do say so myself. You’ve grown up just like your dad, treating your employees as though they’re part of the family.”

  “You’ve been a big piece of that yourself, Art. Most everything I’ve learned came from you. I was a young boy when my parents died. I owe it all to you.”

  Art placed his cowboy hat onto his head and nodded, then went out to tend to the horses.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  “I think that’s an excellent idea, Nick,” Mariah said when she placed his breakfast on the table. “I’m impressed with the confidence and inspiration you’ve provided for Jake. She sat down across from him and enjoyed a cup of coffee before the twins awakened. “It’ll give him a bit of self-assurance and a little boost to his ego after this unfortunate experience he’s been going through.”

  “That’s exactly what I thought. Art and I expect the men from the rescue team to arrive in the early afternoon. Jake’s out in the pasture right now; I asked him to come into the office with us after lunch. I haven’t told him anything about it yet. I’ll wait and see how he reacts to our plan with the rescue team, and I’ll make the proposal to him as soon as they leave.

  “Well, I’d best get out and take care of a few jobs before the men arrive. When is Nicky going to be home?”

  “Sarah said she’d drop him off sometime in the afternoon.” Sarah had invited him for a sleepover last night.

  Nick wiped his mouth with a napkin then pushed his chair away from the table. He stood and took Mariah in his arms. Nuzzling her warm neck, he whispered, “I’d like to stay home with you while it’s still quiet.” He kissed her tenderly and gazed into her eyes. “I love you so much, Mariah.”

  “I love you too my sweet man, but you have plenty of work to do before those men show up, so off you go.” She put her hands on his chest and lightly pushed him away from her with a smile that was as intimate as the kiss he’d just placed on her lips. “I need to be ready for the twins. They’ll be awake soon.”