Life at the Ranch

by Malone, Misty

  “Yes, you should have.”

  “Are you really angry with me?”

  “I am angry, Kayla, but we'll talk about it when we get you home.”

  Kayla was visibly upset, but she didn't say a word. When they got to her house Wyatt took her to her father's office. She didn't argue, but went in and watched as he locked the door behind them.

  “I didn't want us to be interrupted, Kayla. We need to talk, and I want to understand what was in your head when you left the house. What happened?”

  Kayla shook her head and looked down. “I'm not sure I can answer that honestly. I've been thinking about it, but I don't know for sure. I was scared.”

  Wyatt was surprised by her tone and her demeanor. Her attitude was gone, and she was being very sincere and honest, he was sure. She did truly look scared, still. He took her in his arms and pulled her to him. “What do you mean you were scared; what were you scared of, Kayla?”

  “The storm. I'm sorry, but I've been afraid of storms since I was about twelve.”

  “What happened to make you fear storms?”

  “When my parents bought this ranch it was smaller. They've added onto it a couple times, buying adjoining acreage when it was for sale. But when I was smaller they didn't have the money for the staff they have now. One day there was a mare having a foal, and she was having trouble. Dad didn't have a cell phone back then, and he ran in and yelled for Mom to call the vet for the mare. She did, and then ran out to see if she could do anything to help. While they were out there a storm came up suddenly. They weren't by a window, so they didn't know how bad it had gotten. I was in the house by myself, and it got real dark, and then real eerie, just like it did earlier tonight. Then it got really windy. I was petrified.”

  Wyatt was still holding her in his arms, but he felt her trembling. He tightened his hug and kissed her head. “Was everyone okay that day?”

  “Yes, but I heard a horrible crash and I thought it was the barn. I ran to the window and looked out, but the barn was okay. It was a smaller barn not far from the main barn Mom and Dad were in. A tornado went between the house and the barn and flattened that other smaller barn. I was never so scared in my life. Shortly after the barn crashed to the ground Mom ran into the house, apologizing that she left me in there alone.”

  Wyatt was quiet. He had been so concerned with the ranch and the animals that he hadn't realized how scared she'd been of the storm. If he could kick his own butt, he would. He should have been paying better attention to her, and he would have seen how upset she must have been. “Kayla, I'm sorry. I should have seen how upset you were.”

  “You had no way of knowing. I didn't say anything.”

  “No, you didn't,” he acknowledged. “You didn't say much of anything while it was storming. But I should have picked up on that. You were too quiet. I'm sorry. Now that I know that, I'll be there for you the next time it storms.”

  “Thank you.” She cuddled into his chest, feeling much safer now that he knew of her fear she tried to hide.

  He sat them down on the couch, with her right beside him. She tried to lean on him again, but he halted her, looking into her eyes. “There's something we need to talk about, Kayla. I brought you home and into this office and shut the door with the sole intention of giving you a spanking you wouldn't soon forget for ignoring what I told you and running off, possibly into danger.”

  “But Wyatt—”

  He held up his hand. “Let me finish. My intention was to teach you a lesson you need to learn. What actually happened is I learned a lesson I needed to learn.”

  She smiled, relieved, until he went on. “But the fact is, you still have a lesson you need to learn, as well. And you do need to learn this, because we've talked about it before. I've told you how important it is that you listen to me when I tell you something meant to keep you safe. I need to know that when I tell you to do something, you'll do it. Today I needed to know that you were home where I knew you were safe while I went to check out the ranch. Everything worked out today and I'm glad, but think about what could have happened. You could have gotten lost, and it was close to sundown. A herd of cattle could have stampeded and broken through the fence. That's a dangerous situation for everyone, but particularly one person who's not overly familiar with cattle, especially when they stampede. I know you said your father mainly raised horses. I need to know that in situations like that, you're home safe and I don't have to worry about you.”

  She started to argue, but he held his hand up to stop her. “Hear me out, please. I understand now how scared you were this evening, and for that reason, and because I didn't pick up on it and hold you and reassure you, I won't be spanking you tonight.” She exhaled in relief. “But take note of this, Kayla. This is your last warning. If something scares you like that again, you come to me and talk to me.”

  “Okay.”

  “I'm telling you right now, if something scares you and I don't know it, tell me. And even if you are scared, doing something like you did tonight will get you spanked if it happens again. Being scared is not a good reason. In fact, if you're scared you need to trust me more to keep you safe. I can't do that if you run off alone when I tell you it could be dangerous out there. Are we square on that now?”

  “Yes. I'm sorry.”

  “I know. And I'm sorry, too. Let's put tonight behind us as a lesson we both learned, shall we?”

  In answer, she leaned over to kiss him. He quickly took control of the kiss, and she might not have gotten a spanking to remember, but she sure got a kiss to remember. And that was much preferred.

  * * *

  Maria stayed up with Alicia to keep her company until Bo got back. She could see how upset she was. She assumed it wasn't all worry about Bo being safe, but rather, she felt bad about telling him about Kayla leaving. She tried to convince her she'd done the right thing, but Maria hoped Bo would be able to reassure her. When he got back to the house, she told the young couple goodnight and retreated to her rooms.

  He took her in his arms and kissed her. “Why are you shaking, sweetie? What's wrong?”

  “Wyatt was not happy with Alicia when he took her home.”

  “Do you blame him? He specifically told her to stay home where she'd be safe. We didn't know what we'd find out there. She could have been walking right into danger.”

  “I understood that, but I couldn't get her to see it.”

  “But you tried?”

  “Of course I tried. She was determined, though, that she was going out there to make sure you two were okay. I didn't know what to do.”

  “You did the right thing by calling me. Thank you for that.”

  “Wyatt thanked me, too, but she wasn't too happy with me. I feel like I just threw my best friend under the bus. I hope she can forgive me.”

  “Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. What do you mean you hope she can forgive you? You did nothing wrong, Alicia. You have nothing to be forgiven for.”

  “Wyatt was really upset when they left. Poor Kayla is probably nursing a very sore rear about now, because of me.”

  “Kayla is home safe, possibly because of you. She should thank you. When you called me we were able to get a couple guys on her trail right away. They trailed her and made sure she was safe. If you hadn’t told us she left, we wouldn't have known where she was. She could have gotten lost, or she could have had an accident on the four-wheeler and we wouldn't have known where she was. You have nothing to feel bad about. She owes you a thank you.”

  “Yeah, well, I'm not sure she feels that way right now. She wasn't too happy with me when he dragged her home earlier.”

  “Maybe not, but a sore butt can do wonders for an attitude and how you see things. I have a feeling Wyatt made her see things a little more clearly now, and I'll bet she thanks you.”

  She turned to him in a bit of a panic. “Bo, please don't tell Wyatt what we talked about.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don't want you telling him I was worried about up
setting her, and then he goes to her and forces her to thank me. Forcing her to do that if she doesn't mean it would definitely kill our friendship, and I don't want that to happen.”

  “Relax, honey. I won't say anything to him like that, but I bet they've already had a talk and she feels that way now, already.”

  “Maybe. We'll see. But I don't want you to say anything to him. If she says something to me I want it to come from her heart, not his. Good or bad.”

  He looked at her several seconds, thinking about her words.

  She was pretty sure she knew what he was thinking. “Yeah, I'm not a big fan of you macho alpha men making women apologize, or some such thing. I think we usually feel bad afterward and want to apologize on our own, but being told to do it is awful, to me at least. When I apologize to someone it's from my heart. If someone tells me to apologize to someone, it's hard for me to get that out of my head. I feel like I'm apologizing because I was told to, and I don't think it sounds as sincere. It's like it's tainted. At the least it's strained.”

  “So you're saying I'd be much better off not telling you to, because you probably will anyway?”

  “And it will be because I want to, and I won't feel like I'm being forced to.”

  “And if you don't apologize, then I know I didn't make my point clear enough to you?”

  “Maybe, or maybe you didn't listen closely enough to her point, if she has one.”

  “But either way, it means we need to talk more?”

  “Well, it means we must not feel the same, at least. I'm not a big fan of apologizing, but if I feel I owe someone an apology I give them one, so if I didn't, I didn't feel the need.”

  He thought a little more before nodding his head. “You're right. I'll remember that.”

  “And you won't talk to Wyatt about this?”

  “If he asks if we talked about it I won't lie to him, but I won't tell him you're afraid she's upset with you. Good enough?”

  “Good enough. Thank you.” She reached up and gave him a quick kiss. He then took her in his arms and gave her a much better kiss.

  “Thank you for that, too,” she said with a giggle. “Now, I heard about the cows that died. I'm sorry about those. What about the line shack? Did I hear Wyatt say it was damaged pretty badly?”

  “Yes, it was, and I want to get it fixed right away. This is the season we need those. If the men are out working and a bad storm comes up, I want them to have a safe place to get in out of it. If there's a flash flood I want to have a place they can hunker down for the night, with food and water, and everything they need.”

  “So are you guys going to fix it tomorrow?”

  “I hate to take men off the harvesting right now, so I'm going to go out tomorrow and take the supplies out. I'll get the men started in the fields, then I'll go to the shack and work there. I'll just spend the night out there tomorrow night, and finish it Sunday. I can work on the inside after it gets dark, and get an early start on it Sunday.”

  “I didn't think you worked on Sunday, other than the morning and evening chores, feeding the cattle.”

  “I don't normally, but this needs to be done. I talked to Brooks and he offered to do the morning chores for me so I can stay up there and get it done. I'd rather do that and be sure it'll be there for anyone that might need it, before we get another bad storm and someone needs it and it's not there.”

  “That makes sense. It was nice of Brooks to volunteer to do chores for you then.”

  “I agree. He's a good guy.”

  They sat down on the couch and cuddled a little, giving Bo a chance to rest before he went back to his own house.

  The next morning after breakfast Bo took Alicia in his arms. “I won't see you now until tomorrow sometime. Hopefully it'll be by noon, but who knows. You behave.”

  She frowned at his last words. “I will, and you be careful,” she shot back at him.

  “Deal.” He gave her a kiss he knew would make her miss him until he got back.

  Chapter 11

  That afternoon Alicia was restless. She was used to spending Saturday nights with Bo, and it bothered her knowing she wouldn't see him tonight. Reminding herself she'd seen him earlier in the day didn't help much. She wandered around the house aimlessly, until she decided to go out to the barn and ride Patsy. Bo still didn't want her going out by herself unless she stayed in the corral, but that would be fine for tonight. She just needed something to do.

  She got her saddled and spent about an hour riding her around, practicing her turns, and getting Patsy to follow her demands, speeding her up, and slowing her down. Proud with how well it went, she took her back to her stall and took her saddle off. She started brushing her thoroughly.

  That got her mind off Bo, until she heard Brooks tending to a mare with a sore leg a few stalls down. While changing the mare's dressings he got a phone call. From his end of the conversation it was clear he was planning an outing for the next day. “That sounds great. Definitely count me in. When are you going to go? Oh, you may have to go without me. Maybe I can meet you guys there. I told Bo I'd do chores for him tomorrow morning. No, he's fine. That storm yesterday did some major damage to one of the line shacks. He went up to it this morning and is going to stay there tonight so he can work straight through and finish it tomorrow. Did it hurt anything over there where you are?”

  She listened as they talked about storm damage, and she found herself daydreaming. He got her attention again, though, before long. “He didn't ask me to do them tomorrow morning, I volunteered. I know he's worried about getting that fixed up before another good storm comes along, and this is a busy time. If he's willing to go stay there overnight to get it done, I'll sure spend an hour or two feeding animals for him one day. After all, I may be the one that needs that line shack during the next storm.”

  She was instantly proud of Bo when she heard Brooks talking. He obviously had respect for Bo. All the men that worked for him did. She smiled, thinking about that, but then she realized all this work she'd done to get him off her mind had just gone down the drain. He was all she could think about again. It didn't matter that she was proud of him; the fact remained she was thinking about him again.

  She sighed as she finished brushing Patsy, and headed back to the house. Now she had to find something else to do to get him off her mind. Maybe she could help Maria with supper. That might get her mind on something else for a while.

  She went to the kitchen and found Maria at the stove. “What can I do to help you, Maria?”

  Maria turned around and looked at her and smiled. “He's only gone for one night, my dear.”

  “I know, but it doesn't mean I can't miss him.”

  Maria laughed. “You are most definitely entitled to miss him.” She got Alicia busy helping, and the two of them had a nice talk. It served to get her mind off of Bo for a time, but it wasn't long before Maria could almost see her mind wandering back to the man who had become so special to her. She tried again to distract her. “So how are your plans coming for the business? By the way, I love the name you came up with. Was that your idea?”

  She didn't get an answer, and turned to look at Alicia, who had totally zoned out. “Alicia, are you okay?”

  “What? Oh, I'm sorry. What did you ask?”

  “I said I love the name you came up with for your business. Delicious Dishes by Alicia is very catchy. Was that your idea?”

  “Yeah, sort of. I was kicking around Alicia's Delicious Dishes, but I thought it was too long and hard to say. Bo suggested Delicious Dishes by Alicia, and it could become known as Delicious Dishes. I liked that much better, so that's what we went with.”

  “Well, I like it. And I agree, it will be known as Delicious Dishes, which is also very good.” She glanced over at her and noticed the far away look in her eyes again. “What is it? Something's bothering you, I can tell. What is it?”

  Alicia shook her head slowly. “I don't know. But you're right; something doesn't feel right.” She looked up at Ma
ria, a desperate look on her face. “What could it be?”

  Maria was perplexed, but could easily see how troubled Alicia was. “Do you think it's something to do with Bo? Do you think he's hurt?”

  “No, I don't think so.”

  “Okay, that's good. Well, let's try and figure it out. How long have you felt this way?”

  Alicia stopped and stared into space. “I think just since I've come inside.” She looked to be deep in thought, when she suddenly jumped up from the stool she'd been sitting on. “Oh, good Lord, I think I know what it is.”

  She was practically frantic as she took out her phone and placed a call. “Oh, come on, answer. Please, please answer.” After a second she practically yelled, “Oh, Bo, good. I'm glad you answered.”

  Bo was instantly alarmed. “Alicia, what is it? What's wrong? Are you okay?”

  “I'm fine, yes, for now, but we need to—” She stopped and took a deep breath. “Bo, could we please go out for dinner tonight?”

  Maria about dropped the knife she was holding. She turned to look at her.

  Bo was shocked, as well. “Alicia, what is going on? We talked about this last night. I'm working late tonight and starting early tomorrow. I'll be home as soon as I can.”

  “I know, but we have to go into town tonight. I mean, can we, please?”

  Bo could hear the panic in her voice. “Okay, you're scaring me. What's wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She chewed her lower lip a bit, and tried again. “Do you remember the other night when we were talking, and you told me that sometimes I just have to trust you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, all I can tell you right now is that goes both ways. I promise I'll explain everything to you when I can, but please, please will you just trust me right now? It's very, very, very important to me that we go into town for dinner tonight. Please?”

  Bo ran his hand through his hair and thought back over the conversation they'd had. She indeed was beginning to trust him, and he was very pleased, and proud. Whatever was going on right now had her more upset than he could remember her ever being. How could he expect her to trust him, if he didn't trust her enough to be there for her when something was obviously this important to her? “It's that important to you?”