by Elisa Leigh
“The only thing good about you disappearing on me is I know exactly where to find you.”
She turns around with a big smile on her face. “Good morning Baby.” She walks over and snuggles into my chest, placing a kiss over my heart. “I hope I didn’t wake you up. I had to get these rolls in the oven.”
We stand there for a few minutes and then she pulls away. “Would you like some coffee?”
I snag her around the waist and pull her back into my arms. “You left. I don’t like waking up without you.”
Standing on her tiptoes, she leans up and kisses my chin. “Then you’re going to have to start waking up a little bit earlier mister.”
I swat her butt. “I’m grabbing a shower, then I’ll be back for my breakfast.” Wiggling my eyebrows, I walk away.
When I make it back out to the kitchen, Abigail is icing a batch of cinnamon rolls. I try and grab one, but she smacks my hand away. “These aren’t for you.” I try and grab another one, and she smacks my hand again. “Stop it you crazy man, yours is on the table. Now get out of here, you’re messing up my flow.” She bumps me with her hip to get me out of the way.
“I feel like I’ve been replaced.” I humph and clutch at my heart.
“Give me a break. You’re a rough and tumble cowboy, you can deal with it.” She smiles and rolls her eyes at me.
I finish my coffee and roll then stand to put my dishes in the sink. “Alright Beautiful. I gotta get down there and crack the whip. I’ll see you at lunch.” I tell her kissing the side of her head and walk out to my truck.
A few hours later I’m in my office down in the stables doing paperwork when one of my guys walks by and sticks his head in. “Thanks, man, these are so damn good. Perfect start to the morning.” What the hell is he talking about? I get up and see a lot of the guys walking in and out of the meeting room. Joining them, I see them laughing and talking around the table.
The guys see me and start clapping. I look around to find Sam in the corner talking to a few of the ranch hands. When he spots me, I give him a ‘what the hell’ look, but he shrugs his shoulders like he has no idea what is going on either. I look at the table and see a few trays of cinnamon rolls with bacon and sausage on the side. I know exactly what happened, who happened, and I’m touched she thought of my men.
I walk out needing to find a quiet spot to call my woman only to pass my guys stopping to thank me and tell me how much they loved it. Damn, I should do something for them more often if this is how they are going to react. Not that I did this, no the credit goes all to my woman.
Entering my office, I shut the door and sit down at my desk to call her, when my phone rings.
“Hello?”
“Kennison, this is Chief Warren from the fire department. I tried calling Abby, but she didn’t pick up. We’ve got a fucking problem.”
“Out with it Warren, what’s going on?” I grumble.
“We’ve been checking into my guys. I never would have thought it would have been one of mine, but then the guys started talking and said Ben Hendricks has become obsessed with Abby. There’s a hell of a lot more, but I need you to get to her. You need to keep her safe until we can locate Hendricks.”
“Fuck! I’m not with her. She might still be at the house. I don’t know. She had some deliveries to run this morning. Goddamnit!”
“I’m calling the sheriff-” I hear him say before I hang up the phone and run to my truck. I get to the house as fast as possible, seeing a truck I don’t recognize in the driveway. Mother fucker! My heart sinks in my chest, and I pray that nothing has happened to my woman.
Creeping into the house as quiet as possible I hear a man’s voice shouting and women crying. “I wasn’t good enough for you? Is that it Abby?” Something crashes into a wall. “I don’t own a big fucking ranch, so I can’t have you?”
“No, that’s not it!” Abigail cries.
“Don’t fucking move you cunt. I only came here for Abby, I don’t want you. So, sit the fuck down and shut the hell up!” He yells.
“Ben, look at me. I can’t come with you if you have a gun pointed at us. If you want me, you’re going to have to put it down.”
I peek into the kitchen and find Abigail walking slowly toward a man who appears to be unhinged and probably drunk while Donna is sitting against the wall scooting in the direction of the gun I keep in the cabinet.
The guy is stumbling around waving his gun in every direction. If I don’t stop him, he’s bound to drop it and shoot someone accidentally, if not on purpose. I step in a little closer, and Abigail spots me. I nod to the side, so she’ll get out of the way, but the stubborn woman shakes her head slightly. Ben catches her and turns around, pointing his gun at my head. Abigail screams, but Donna is there pulling her back. Thank fucking Christ for that woman!
Ben sneers. “This is the man you chose over me? Huh, Abby?” He laughs like a fucking lunatic and I can tell he isn’t firing on all cylinders.
“Put the gun down Ben,” I say stepping closer with my hands held up, palms forward.
“Don’t talk to me like you fucking know who I am.” He screams, shaking his gun at me. I wonder if he’s ever fired it before. The way he’s holding it makes me think he hasn’t.
“You’re right. I don’t know you, but I do understand how you feel. Abigail is a beautiful woman.”
Ben focuses in on me. Steadying his hand, he points the gun and puts his hand on the trigger.
“I bet you wish you knew how good it felt to be wrapped up in her. Don’t you Ben?” I get closer.
“Shut the hell up!” He screams, his hold on the gun shaky.
“The only problem is you’ll never know. Abigail is mine. She’s fucking mine!” I shout and rush him to the floor. I hear my sweet woman scream, but I’m focused on getting the gun away from him. We wrestle for it, and I’m able to get it out of his hand and kick it out of his reach.
Abigail jumps up and runs for the gun. “No! Abigail get the hell out of the way.” I need her far away from this crazy fuck as possible.
All it takes is a few seconds, and Ben flips me over and gets the upper hand. I see the silver right before he stabs me.
Seventeen
Abigail
“Leland!” I scream. I grab the cast iron skillet from the stove in both of my hands. God, I hate Ben for what he’s done. I swing and hit Ben with the skillet in the back of the head. He slumps to the ground, and I hit him again, just in case. “Donna! Donna, help me!” I’m screaming, and all I see is blood pooling around Leland. Donna throws a couple kitchen towels at me, then is on the phone with the police. I press the towels to the wound as hard as I can, hoping to stop the blood. I don’t have any idea what I’m doing. Jesus, please don’t let him die on me. Everyone freaking dies.
I want to cry and curl up into a ball until all the bad is over, but I can’t. I need to be strong for Leland. His eyes flutter and eventually shut. “Don’t die. You can’t die. You can’t leave me.” I scream at him. I grab his wrist and feel for his pulse, it isn’t great, but it’s there. Thank you! I huddle over him, the rags completely red and soaked with his blood. “I need more towels.” Donna grabs more towels and gets on her knees next to me. As soon as I pull the soaked towels from his body, blood shoots out, and I quickly cover his wound again pressing down hard. “He shouldn’t be bleeding this much, right?”
Donna is crying and shaking her head. “I don’t know.”
The next couple of minutes are a blur until the ambulance arrives and the EMT’s takeover. I sit at his head while they work on Leland, getting him stable enough to ride to the hospital. “I love you, Leland. I love you so much, baby. You can’t die. You can’t!” I brush his hair out of his eyes and kiss his forehead.
I’m not able to ride in the ambulance with him since I’m not family. Sam, who arrived shortly before the ambulance and sheriff, drives Donna and me to the hospital. These two have known Leland so much longer than I have and yet they are comforting me. Through all o
f this, I can see how messed up that is. In comparison, he’s more theirs then he is mine. I have no right to be more upset than they are.
We sit in the waiting room for a while, no one telling us anything.
“Chief Warren?” I say when he walks up to the nurse’s desk with his wife.
I get up and walk to him, confused why he’s here. They turn and walk over to the waiting area, and he stops when he sees me. I see the anguish in his eyes. “What’s going on? Are you okay Chief Warren?” I ask, reaching out and touching his arm.
Just then a doctor walks out, blood on his scrubs. “Leland Kennison?” We all look up, and I’m surprised when Chief and Mrs. Warren walk with us over to the doctor.
“He’s out of the woods. I have him sedated to help with the pain, but he’ll be sore when he wakes up. He was stabbed in the side, and luckily the knife didn’t hit anything life-threatening.”
“When can I see him?” I ask the doctor.
“Only next of kin right now.”
“That would be me,” Chief Warren announces gruffly. “I’m his father.”
“You?” I gasp.
He gives me a guilty look. “There’s a lot to talk about Abby, but I need to get in there and see my boy.”
The doctor walks the Chief and his wife back to see Leland. I’m probably angrier than I should be, but at the moment I don’t give a crap. How the heck does he get to go back there? He hasn’t ever been there for him before, but he wants to be here now?
Donna and Sam try and comfort me, but I need to be alone. There’s too much going on in my head. I go in search of the cafeteria since it’s pouring rain outside. I huddle up in a corner and drown my feelings in a cup of hot cocoa. A couple hours later I see Mrs. Warren walk into the cafeteria. As soon as she spots me, she’s walking in my direction. I stand and meet her halfway. “How is he doing? Is he awake?”
She smiles at me. “He is, and he’s asking for you.”
Thank God. I let her lead me in the direction of his room, the nurses finally letting me back to see him because I’m with Mrs. Warren. That stings a bit.
“Did you know?” I ask before we reach his room.
“You probably don’t know this, but Lance was married once before me. He got married right out of high school and made some mistakes he isn’t proud of. I’ve known about his affair in his first marriage for a long time. It was only after he saw Leland the other night that he shared his suspicions with me that he might be his father. He’s still not one hundred percent sure, but Leland’s age would match up with when he and Leland’s Mom were together. If he would have known about Leland, I have no doubt he would have been there for him from the beginning. I was staring at the two of them in there, and I have to tell you Abby, they share a lot of the same features.”
“Wow. I wonder if Leland had any idea, he told me he didn’t know.”
“I think it’s a shock to everyone dear.” She smiles at me sadly.
We enter Leland’s room and the tension is thick. Chief Warren is standing against the wall staring out the window.
“Abigail?” Leland says as soon as I enter.
I rush to his side and kiss all over his perfect face. “Leland, you almost died!” I break down sobbing into his neck.
“Shh, Shh. I’m okay Love. I’m going to be fine” He coos into my ear.
Chief Warren clears his throat, and I sit back, wiping the tears from my face. “We’re going to head out. Leland, I’ll check on you tomorrow.” Leland gives him a swift nod and the Warren’s leave without another word. That is definitely going to take some time. I hurt for both of them and all the time that was lost. I squeeze Leland’s hand, and he shakes his head. “I’m not ready Beautiful, not yet.”
“Okay.”
We sit in silence for a while, happy to have each other. Leland eventually falls asleep from the pain medication the nurses gave him. He threatened to check himself out of the hospital if they didn’t allow me to stay with him. They assured him they wouldn’t do that, now that he’s awake and gave permission for me to be there. I know it’s protocol, but it still pisses me off.
The doctor decides to keep Leland overnight to watch for infection and keep him attached to IV antibiotics. I guess they work faster and have a better chance of knocking anything out. The hospital allows me to stay the night with him and even gives me a pair of scrubs to wear. I call Donna and tell her what’s going on. She’s happy to hear he’s okay and promises to pass it on to Sam and everyone else. “Tell Leland that Sam has everything under control here.” She giggles, and I hear a man’s voice in the background. Hmm, I wonder who that could be. “I will.”
In the middle of the night, Leland wakes and demands I get in bed with him. I crawl into bed and lay on the opposite side of his wound, being careful not to hurt him. When the nurse comes in to do her checks throughout the night, she doesn’t say a word. I give her a smile and mouth ‘thank you’ to her before she leaves. She winks and steps out, leaving me to love my man.
Eighteen
Leland
It’s been three weeks since the attack, and I’m going stir crazy. Abigail won’t let me do anything around the house, and Sam keeps telling me to stay home. I feel like those two are ganging up on me. When I complain to Donna, she just laughs and goes about her business. Did I mention Abigail stole her from me? Donna still does things around the house, but her focus has shifted to Abigail’s baking business.
I tried to ride Grey the other day, and Sam caught me when I was about to mount him. “Get your ass back to the house. You aren’t healed enough to ride him yet.”
I ignored him and got on Grey anyway. I ripped my stitches and had to listen to Abigail tear me a new asshole for not taking care of myself.
Now I’m sitting on the back porch sipping iced tea and watching cattle roam in the back pasture.
I hear someone pull up in the driveway and I’m not surprised to see Lance Warren walking up the sidewalk, an envelope in his hand. I stiffen up realizing what that could be. A few days after the incident with Ben, Lance asked if I would be willing to take a DNA test to find out for sure if he was my dad. I agreed, and we made a trip a few towns over to a lab that does the tests. I guess he got the results in.
“How you are feeling today Leland?”
“The lady of the house won’t let me do anything. Sam is down there running the show. I mean, what the hell am I here for if they don’t need me?”
He laughs and gestures to the chair beside me. “May I?” I nod, and he takes a seat. “That what I think it is?”
He sighs. “Look we don’t have to do this. I know you aren’t exactly happy about the idea of me being your father. We could just throw it away and go about our lives like nothing happened.”
I consider it for half a second, but I won’t be that selfish. “No matter how I feel, I can’t do that to my child. They deserve to know their grandpa if they have one.”
Lance breaks into a huge smile. “Abby’s pregnant?” He booms.
“Keep it down, we haven’t told anyone yet. We just found out this morning.”
The women inside start screaming and laughing a few seconds later. “Well, I guess they know now.” I laugh.
He hands me the envelope. “Here, you open it.”
I take it from him and tear into it. Taking out the letter I read over the results and pass them to Lance. It takes him a few minutes to finally look up, and when he does his eyes look a little misty. “I became a father and grandpa in the same day.” He says gruffly.
Abigail and Darla come walking outside together. “Well?” My woman asks softly.
“He’s a grandpa,” I tell them making Darla cry happy tears, and Abigail’s eyes light up, a big smile bursts across her face before she hugs me tight. Over the past few weeks, Abigail and I talked about the possibility of Lance being my father. I had to work through some anger, but I ended up admitting to myself and Abigail I would be proud to call him dad and I ultimately do want a relationship wit
h him.
“You two want to stay for dinner?” Abigail asks.
Lance looks to me, and I nod. “We would love to.”
Epilogue
Abigail
Life around the ranch has been just that, life. Some years have been good to us and others not so much. Since the moment I met Leland my life completely changed. We both went from having no family to being surrounded by a large one. I never would have thought my life would turn out as it has, but I’m thankful for it each and every day.
Ben was arrested after being treated for a concussion. When the police searched his house, they found some disturbing things that helped put him away for a very long time. It turns out Ben was stalking me and became obsessed when I didn’t return his feelings. He was convicted of attempted murder and attempted kidnapping in the first degree. The judge sentenced him to twenty-five years to life without the possibility of parole, each sentence to be served consecutively.
Leland and I were married a few weeks after we found out I was pregnant. Neither of us wanting to wait for a big wedding, we said our vows in our backyard surrounded by our close family and friends. Me and Donna made the desserts.
I ended up hiring Donna on to help me with Baked Nice, the baking business I started. She was more like a partner, and after a few years, I asked her to buy in. She didn’t even hesitate. After ten years, we have expanded to catering breakfasts, brunches, and showers. We also work the farmer’s market in town a few times a month selling treats to the locals. You can still find my cinnamon rolls at Hal’s Diner.
It took a while for Lance and Leland’s relationship to grow, but now they are as close as any father and son. Lance and Darla are amazing grandparents often inviting the kids over to spend the night at their house. They love spending time with our children Joshua, who’s nine, Penelope who’s seven, and Ryder who’s four. In fact, that is where they are right now.