Cut and Run

by Amy Elizabeth

  She laughed as Onyx pranced beneath her. “Are you sure I can handle him?”

  He gave a mischievous smirk and leaned back against the railing. “You can handle him.”

  Rebecca beamed and touched the reins to Onyx’s neck. The stallion spun to the left and trotted off, his strides as powerful and steady as a locomotive. She guided the horse once around the corral at a trot, then she gave the slightest nudge with her heel. Onyx responded like a dream, gliding into the canter as if he had wings.

  “How does he feel?”

  “Smooth as butter,” she replied, easing the horse into a smaller circle. She stopped and backed him up a few steps, then released the reins and patted his neck.

  “Wow,” she added as she guided Onyx over to Alec. “He’s wicked awesome.”

  “He’s still young, too. He has a lot to learn, but his reflexes are lightning fast. I’ve never had a horse quite like him.” He held the reins and smiled up at her as she swung to the ground. “You handled him well.”

  “Thank you so much.”

  “My pleasure. Just keep this under your hat, alright? The others would be green with envy if they knew.”

  Rebecca’s eyebrows shot up. “No one else has ridden him?”

  “Only you.”

  “Oh.” Shyly she dropped her gaze. “Well, I feel honored. He’s a great horse.”

  “Yeah, he is.” He paused. “Thanks, too, by the way.”

  “For what?”

  “For resisting the urge to try a sliding stop,” he said, giving her a little wink. “I just washed this shirt.”

  Rebecca stifled a laugh, feeling a flush spread across her cheeks. Alec was flirting with her! The worst part was…she liked it.

  Far more than she should have.

  *

  At the end of the week, Rebecca sat down and forced her brain to think about something other than Alec. She focused on the statement he’d asked her to write, describing Kevin’s behavior during the summer and the things he’d said and done during their dance. Then she folded the paper and pulled on her jacket, marching up to the farmhouse in the afternoon sun.

  There was no sign of activity when she knocked on the front door. A minute later, though, Alec opened it, looking pleasantly surprised to see her. “Hi.”

  “Hi. I finally got around to writing this.”

  “Thank you,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “Um…would you like to come in?”

  Her heart skipped a beat. “I don’t want to intrude.”

  “My father’s not here,” he replied, opening the door wider. “Lucy took him into town for a check-up. Every once in a while they need to see him in an actual medical facility, you know?”

  “I understand,” she replied, hesitantly stepping into the foyer. “How has he been?”

  Alec closed the door behind them. “Not so well this week,” he said, motioning towards the kitchen. “He’s developing bedsores and they’re getting worse, no matter how often we shift his position. I think the doctor’s going to recommend upping his physical therapy.”

  Rebecca couldn’t help but smile when he pulled out a chair for her at the table. Like Tommy opening the door for her, all the little acts of courtesy that were commonplace here still seemed so foreign.

  He retrieved a pitcher of tea from the fridge and two glasses from the cabinets. She gazed around the roomy kitchen, noting a row of bright copper pots above the sink and the sensational view of the mountains from the bay window. Like the living room, everything about the kitchen seemed brand-new, from the stainless appliances and fixtures to the shiny hardwood flooring. Only the heavy oak table where she was sitting seemed like an original part of the farmhouse.

  “Your home is beautiful,” she said cautiously. “It’s so much bigger than it looks from the outside.”

  Alec handed her a glass of iced tea and took a seat opposite her. “It used to be a lot smaller. My great-grandfather built it back in the twenties, and needless to say it wasn’t designed for the handicapped. While my father was recuperating after his fall, I had the whole first floor gutted and remodeled. The old kitchen was half this size. And the house ended back there,” he added, indicating the wall with the stone fireplace. “But obviously he wouldn’t be living upstairs anymore, so we added on the back bedroom down here. Then we widened the foyer and all the hallways and extended the porch all the way around the house. It was a huge project.”

  Rebecca chewed on her bottom lip. “Was this before or after you decided to become a dude ranch?”

  He raised a brow, but he didn’t dodge the question. “We didn’t become a dude ranch until the following summer. I didn’t know if it was going to be a brilliant idea or the worst decision I’d ever made. Luckily, everything fell into place. I had a terrific team of contractors and decorators. The marketing firm in town did a great job of advertising. And I had Roger and Tommy to take care of the livestock while I was busy getting my father settled. All in all, I’ve been very fortunate with my staff.”

  She gave a rueful grin and motioned to the statement she’d written. “And then I came along.”

  Alec shook his head. “Kevin was the problem, Rebecca. Not you.”

  She shifted in her chair, feeling a sudden urge to change the subject. She turned her gaze to the photographs on the wall behind him. In one of them, Alec couldn’t have been more than eight years old, sitting on Walter’s shoulders and proudly showing off a missing front tooth.

  “I think it’s wonderful that you and your father are so close.”

  “Well, it’s been just the two of us for a long time now,” he replied, pausing for a moment. “You said your father left when you were young?”

  “Yeah. I was ten.”

  “Do you get to see him much?”

  Rebecca shook her head. “I don’t even know where he is.”

  “That must be difficult for you.”

  “It is what it is. I hardly remember what he looks like anymore.”

  “My mother left when I was about that age, too. I’ve only seen her a couple of times over the years. It’s strange, though, isn’t it? That you forget what someone looks like if you don’t see them for a while?”

  She was too startled to respond. Alec’s mother had left them? Somehow she’d assumed that Walter was a widower and that was why they were alone. If Alec noticed her surprise, though, he didn’t indicate it. He gave a gentle smile and dropped his gaze to the stack of mail on the table. She watched him open the first envelope before she downed her tea and rose from her seat.

  “I should go. You obviously have things to do.”

  He glanced up at her. “I don’t mind the company, to be honest. This house is too quiet when my father isn’t here. It’s too quiet even when he is here.”

  She was about to insist that she go, anyway, when a puzzled look crossed his face. “This is addressed to you,” he said, holding out a plain white envelope.

  Rebecca scrunched her brows. “Me?”

  Sure enough, her name was typewritten above the address of the ranch, but there was no return address. She tried to read the city on the postmark, but the ink had smudged beyond legibility. In confusion, she tore open the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of white paper. Then she sank into her chair as she read the six typewritten words:

  You can’t hide from me forever.

  Chapter 11

  “What is it?” Alec asked.

  Unable to speak, Rebecca handed him the letter. His eyes grew wide as he read the simple words and looked up at her. “Do you know who it’s from?”

  “I–I have no idea. Would Kevin send something like this? You know him better than I do.”

  “Obviously there’s a lot about Kevin I didn’t know.” He gazed thoughtfully at the letter. “It must be him, though. Unless you have anyone back home who would be looking for you.”

  Her breath caught in her throat. “My stepfather. He knows I’m out here.” She glanced across the table. “Would you mind if I use your phone?�
��

  “Not at all. Would you like some privacy?”

  “No,” she answered, reaching for his hand before she could stop herself. “Please stay.”

  He traced his thumb across her hand, as if it were the most natural gesture in the world. “Of course.”

  Gathering her courage, she dialed her mother’s number. Susan answered on the third ring. “Hello?”

  “Mom, it’s me.”

  “Rebecca! I’m so glad you called. Your brother said you’ve been busy working.”

  She nearly dropped the phone. “You’re sober.”

  “I have been for a month now. Karl and I both. We’ve been going to the A.A. meetings in Quincy. They’ve been a godsend to us.”

  Rebecca opened her mouth, but no words came out. Her brother was right–she had stopped drinking! Apparently, so had Karl.

  “You’d be so proud of us, Bec. Karl has stopped gambling, too, and we’ve even seen a marriage counselor a couple of times. We’re really trying to turn things around. It’s a whole new start for us.”

  She felt strangely indifferent as her mother rambled on about how much time she’d wasted in the bottle. Part of her wanted to ask why they’d decided to clean up their lives now, and not when Rebecca was around. But now was not the time to make amends with her mother, whether Susan was sober or not.

  “Mom,” she interjected, trying to get a word in edgewise. “Mom, is Karl there?”

  “Yeah, he’s right here. We actually just got back from our meeting. They had a guest speaker who was an alcoholic for thirty-four years before he–”

  “Mom, could you please just put Karl on the phone?”

  Her mother exhaled. “Hold on.”

  She shuddered a moment later at the sound of her stepfather’s voice. “Becky?”

  “Karl,” she greeted curtly. “Did you send me something in the mail?”

  “The mail? No, I sure didn’t. How’s everything going out there, anyway? Your brother said you’ve been working on a farm.”

  Rebecca frowned. Something about the tone of his voice was odd, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Maybe she just wasn’t used to the way he sounded when he was sober. In any case, she was fairly certain he wasn’t lying about the letter.

  “Yeah, I have,” she replied. “Tell my mother I’ll talk to her later.”

  Alec frowned when she slammed down the phone. “It’s not your stepfather.”

  “No, I don’t think so.” She paused and shook her head in disbelief. “They’ve joined A.A. and they’re going to marriage counseling. He’s even stopped gambling. It was like talking to a completely different family.”

  “Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

  Rebecca felt tears burn in her eyes, but she forcefully blinked them away. “It would’ve been nice if it had happened three years ago instead of right now,” she said, willing herself not to break down again. Not in front of Alec. And not when they were alone in his house.

  As if reading her thoughts, he released her hand. “So we’re back to Kevin, then.”

  She stared down at the tabletop, mindlessly studying the wood grain. The circular pattern was consistent and orderly and made perfect sense, unlike anything else in her life.

  “You heard what he said when Tommy and Roger pulled him away. He told me it wasn’t over yet.” She met his gaze. “Maybe it’s not.”

  “As far as I know, he went back to Billings. But maybe you should call the police and let them look into it.”

  Rebecca examined the envelope again. “We don’t have any way of proving it’s him. There’s no name, no return address. Maybe it’s just a dumb backlash, a pathetic attempt to scare me or something.”

  Alec didn’t look any more convinced than she sounded. “Well, for now, try not to be alone anywhere, okay? Make sure Roger or Alli or Tommy is around.”

  “Or you?” she added.

  “Or me, of course. Do you want me to tell the rest of the staff about it so they’re aware?”

  “No, there’s no need to worry anybody.” She forced a smile. “Hopefully this was just a prank.”

  *

  Rebecca did her best to pretend that nothing was out of the ordinary as she took a seat beside Allison in the dining hall. Apparently, it didn’t work.

  “What happened to you?” her roommate asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  She snaked her head around to see if anyone was within earshot. “Can you keep a secret?”

  “Of course.”

  Rebecca pulled the letter out of her pocket and handed it to her friend. Allison’s eyes widened as she read it. “Kevin?” she whispered.

  “I think so.” She discreetly tucked it back inside her jacket. “I don’t know who else it would be.”

  Allison looked perplexed. “What does he want? Just to frighten you?”

  “He’s doing a pretty good job of it,” she admitted.

  Rebecca tossed and turned that night, listening to the little innocuous noises outside her window. Every time she closed her eyes, she envisioned Kevin snarling at her with blood dripping down his face. She also saw Sean, lying stone cold on the floor of his apartment, his hazel eyes staring up at nothing. Then, as always, she saw Alec, the one who challenged her and enthralled her and terrified her, all at the same time. As much as she was trying to fight it, she felt more drawn to him with each passing day.

  Alec found her mid-morning up in the hayloft, bleary-eyed from lack of sleep. “Where’s Alli?”

  She grunted as she struggled with a heavy bale of hay. “Getting the horses ready for the first lesson,” she responded, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I told her about the letter, by the way. She could tell something was wrong.”

  He watched her work for a moment before he walked across the loft and took the bale from her hands, effortlessly hoisting it up on top of the stack. “You look exhausted. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off?”

  “Tomorrow’s my day off,” she replied, reaching for another bale. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Rebecca,” he said sternly. She stopped mid-motion and looked up at him. “It’s not a request. I’m telling you to take the day off and get some rest. I’ll help Alli with the morning lessons.”

  Finally she relented. “Thank you. Will you let me know when you get the mail?”

  “Yes. Get some sleep. It looks like you need it.”

  Rebecca awoke hours later to a quiet knock on the cabin door. Rousing herself, she glanced at the bedside clock and was startled to see that it was three in the afternoon.

  “Alec?” she called.

  “Yeah.” She opened the door and knew from his solemn expression that another letter had arrived. “I’m sorry to wake you.”

  “It’s okay. Come in.”

  She gathered a pile of clothes from the couch and threw them onto her bed, motioning for him to sit. Alec pulled the new envelope from his jacket and handed it to her as she sat beside him. It looked identical to the other one, even down to the smudged postmark.

  “It’s like he’s purposely wrecking the postmark,” she muttered as she tore open the envelope.

  I’ll never forget. And neither will you, once I’m through with you.

  Rebecca’s heart plummeted to her feet. “What’s that supposed to mean? And he’ll never forget what? That I’m the only girl on the planet who has ever rejected him?”

  Alec read the note over her shoulder. “Rebecca, I really think you should go to the police. Even if he’s just trying to scare you, it needs to stop.”

  Her hands were trembling as she set the letter in her lap. “I don’t understand,” she choked, tearing her gaze from the page to look at Alec. “How do guys like this always find me?”

  Rebecca couldn’t bear the empathy in his eyes, so she turned her face away. He scooted closer when she covered her mouth, but she didn’t pull away this time as he wrapped a comforting arm around her. Instead she crumbled completely, burying her face against his shoul
der. He pulled her close and smoothed his fingers through her hair, and she suddenly understood why Walter had described him as a nurturer. The warmth in Alec’s touch was unlike anything she’d ever felt before.

  The cabin door swung open, and Allison gave a startled gasp. “Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t–”

  She stopped midsentence when Rebecca untangled herself from Alec and held up the second letter. “Bec, you have to go to the police,” she said after she read it.

  “I think so, too,” Alec agreed. “I have no idea what he’s capable of. You should at least have them look into it.”

  “Yeah. You guys are right.” Rebecca turned to Alec. “Will you take me to the station?”

  “Of course. We’ll head into town first thing in the morning,” he said, glancing between them as he rose to his feet. “Make sure the door is locked after I leave. And call the farmhouse if anything comes up.”

  “We will. Thanks.”

  Allison waited until he was out of earshot before whirling around to face Rebecca. “It’s not what you think,” Rebecca assured her.

  A coy grin spread across Allison’s face. “Oh, no. You’re not talking your way out of this one.” Eagerly she took a seat next to her. “Are you sleeping with him?”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Allison, please! He’s our boss.”

  “Our gorgeous boss,” she corrected her. “Who I just caught you canoodling with on our couch. If you’re worried about me being jealous, don’t be. I never stood a chance with him. But I’m not blind, Bec. Something has been brewing between you two since you got here. So spill the beans.”

  “There’s nothing to spill,” Rebecca replied. “I mean, yes, we’ve become closer lately, but there’s nothing going on between us. I swear.”

  Allison looked disappointed. “Really?”

  “Really.” She dropped her gaze to the floor, finally verbalizing what she’d been mulling over for weeks. “He’s a cattle rancher with massive commitments and I’m a college freshman heading back east in the fall. How would that ever work?”

  Her friend punched a fist in the air and gave a triumphant shout. “I knew it! You’re falling for him, aren’t you?”