When Garrett decided he wanted to leave, it would be a sad day for all of us. My father loved him, my mother adored him, and I was falling in love with him. He was a great leader to the other men and he did a really damn good job at running the ranch. If he did stay around I bet my father would eventually even give him a piece of land from the ranch so he could start his own family and ranch. Although, that didn’t seem like something that was in the future for Garrett.
“We aren’t mean to each other. It’s just how men are.”
“So men just like to keep other men from eating breakfast?” I laughed.
“No, we just like to make sure the men we are around understand who the boss is. That new kid will certainly understand his place in the pecking order by the time we get him his watch. I know I did.”
“Yeah, I remember when you first started. Wow, that seems so long ago.”
“I know,” Garrett said as he yawned. “But I’ve loved every minute of it.”
“Me too. I’m so glad I got fired and forced to move back home with my family. I mean, the sweat, hard work, no pay; it’s so much fun,” I joked.
“You love it and you know it. Don’t even pretend like you’re not happy here.”
“You’re right. I’m happier than I’ve ever been,” I said as I closed my eyes and cuddled close to Garrett.
As we fell asleep, I could tell the storm was calming down and I couldn’t wait until morning. We were likely going to have quiet the mess on our hands from broken tree limbs and other debris from the storm.
Chapter Thirteen
Garrett
The sound was foreign to me at first as I woke up out of a deep sleep. But then I realized what I was hearing: it was gunshots. I wasn’t all that familiar with the sound of a gun going off, but I had heard them enough in Los Angeles to know what they were.
In Los Angeles, the gunshots had always sounded like they were miles away from where I was at. But the ones I heard that morning were clearly very close to us. They sounded like they were right outside the barn and I was scared to death. Even through my fear, I knew that I wanted to keep Sarah safe. No matter what was going on outside of that barn, I wasn’t going to let her be harmed. If it meant that I was killed instead of her, I was willing to end my life that way.
“Get up,” I said as I jumped up and started to get my clothes on. “Stay up here and hide in the corner.”
I was firm with Sarah and I hoped she would listen to me. The sun wasn’t out yet and my alarm on my watch hadn’t gone off yet, so there was no reason at all that gunshots should be going off at the ranch.
The only time we heard gunshots on the ranch was when Sid was chasing away coyotes, and even then, he used his shotgun and not a pistol. But the two shots I heard sounded much more like a pistol and that scared me. I didn’t even think Sid owned a pistol; he had no use for such a small gun on his ranch. It wouldn’t help him with the animals that he had to put down and a pistol wasn’t really Sid’s style either.
As I started to descend the old ladder, I couldn’t fathom why gunshots would be going off outside the barn. At least for a moment, I couldn’t fathom why; but then a fearful thought started to fill my head. What if Frank Gordano’s men had finally found the ranch? It was a chilling thought and the only thing I could think off for why there would be such horror going on at that hour. I hoped I was wrong. I willed myself to be wrong as I climbed down.
“What is it?” Sarah asked.
“I don’t know. But you’ll be safe up here. Don’t come out until I tell you to. I’m serious, Sarah; do not leave this area until I or one of your parents come for you. Not under any circumstances.”
I could tell she wanted to protest my directions, but then something stopped her. She just shook her head in agreement and slipped her clothes back on as she moved into the corner of the loft area. She grabbed one of the blankets off the makeshift bed and covered herself with it. I hadn’t explained anything, yet she trusted me enough to listen to me in that moment.
As I climbed down the ladder, I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard a man’s voice begging for his life. The terror in his voice made the moment real, although it still felt like I was in the middle of some sort of crime show. I desperately hoped that I would wake up and realize it had all been a nightmare. If only what I heard outside the barn wasn’t really happening at all.
“Please don’t shoot me. Please; he’s in the cabin. Please don’t kill me; he’s in the small cabin over there.”
The man’s voice was followed by two quick shots and then silence. I would have been more scared had I had the time to think about what was going on. But all I could think about was keeping Sarah safe and getting to Sid and Meredith to keep them safe as well. They were my family now and I couldn’t imagine anything happening to them. But it was happening. There was someone just outside the barn door shooting people, and from what I heard, it sounded like they were really looking for me.
If I was what they wanted, then I was what they were going to get. I couldn’t let another person get shot because of me. It was my responsibility and my burden to carry. I looked out the barn and saw two men making their way toward my small cabin. There was no doubt about it: Frank Gordano had found me.
For some reason, I had thought that he wouldn’t actually come after me. At first, when I had arrived at the ranch, I stayed up late worrying about Frank; but as time went on, I relaxed. The Miller ranch began to feel like my home and I felt safe there. I slept well at night and didn’t worry about my safety. The only thing I worried about was if I was doing a good job leading the other ranch hands.
The terror of the moment ha
d my body frozen as I stood in the doorway to the barn and watched the two men. The bright lights from the barn illuminated me and I certainly wasn’t hidden at all if the two men had bothered to turn around and look behind them. I decided it would be best to try and put up a fight. At least I could try and do some harm to them before they killed me.
I grabbed a pitchfork that we used to feed the horses their hay and I was just about to leave the barn when I noticed Sid. No, no, no, I thought to myself as he came out of his house in his pajamas. I wouldn’t let Sid risk his life for me. There was no possible way I would let that man be the person they killed. It was me they wanted and I would be the one who they had, I wasn’t going to let Sid get involved if I could help it.
I saw Sid as he stumbled onto the front porch with a shotgun in his hands. The light on the barn was shining brightly and Sid looked over toward me. I motioned to my small cabin and nodded my head to confirm what he must have been thinking, then I held up the large pitchfork and started toward the cabin. Those were indeed shots that had been fired and all of our lives were in danger. I had never been so glad to see a man with a shotgun in all of my life.