by Rhavensfyre
Victoria didn’t have to ask twice. The tabby zipped up to the house with her and slipped inside the door when she opened it, owning the place as cats were prone to do—immediately and with an air of disdain. It was the first time she had seen the cat, but he seemed quite at home in the kitchen, setting up shop on one of the wooden chairs so he could watch her.
“You are one lucky, pussycat,” Victoria continued speaking to the cat so she wouldn’t have to talk to herself. A quick search of the kitchen and pantry came up empty. No cat food anywhere.
“Huh. Well pussycat, you’re out of luck.”
Uh-oh, she thought, pursing her lips and raising one eyebrow at the feline. Ransom barely fed herself. Why would she think she’d remember to feed a cat?
“You little stinker. Well, I won’t punish you for boldness. You get people food today.” Victoria grinned. She didn’t think the obviously entrepreneurial feline would mind that at all. “You earned your bacon if for no other reason than you’re good company.”
Speaking of company…I wonder if Ransom ate this morning. The woman didn’t eat enough or often enough, and when she did eat? Cold sandwiches and protein bars would keep the body moving, but that was it. The prospect of living like that made her shudder. Food was meant to be enjoyed, savored, not just be human fuel you put into your tank to keep you running.
Samuel had asked her to take care of Ransom and that’s what she would do. She laughed, loud enough to startle the semi-somnolent cat. Samuel had nothing to do with it, she would make breakfast for the both of them because she wanted to. Last night wasn’t actually a success for either of them, but Victoria was willing to call it a minor breakthrough. They had managed to talk, actually talk to each other. She felt like some sort of unspoken truce had been called and that was worth celebrating. Cooking a real meal for the both of them was a great way to start.
Victoria didn’t want to keep self-analyzing, but her mind rebelled, forcing her to review the last twenty-four hours critically. She had no logical explanation for her behavior, only that she wasn’t handling the stalker problem as well as she had hoped. Of course, discovering that the woman who was supposed to protect her was also the same woman she had to admit she still carried a flame for had thrown her way off her game.
She knew what her inner therapist would say, that tiny little voice inside her head that relied on Freud, Jung, Adler and logic. Inner therapist constantly reminded her it wasn’t healthy, holding onto somebody like that for so long, especially considering the circumstances. She fought inner therapist for months after Ransom left, but eventually she won out and Victoria was forced to come to the inevitable conclusion. Her feelings were decidedly one sided. She stopped writing Ransom, convincing herself that it was the right thing to do, the healthy thing to do.
She convinced herself that she didn’t care anymore because that was the easiest way to throw a Band-Aid on her feelings and move on. But, I do. She shied away from continuing that line of thought, at least for now. Now, it was time to make some breakfast and maybe explore the land around her. At least it was something tangible to focus on, rather than the fact that she was in hiding because of a stalker.
“So, call or text?” Suddenly nervous, she looked to the cat for advice. It just blinked at her and went back to sleep. “You’re no help. Text it is.”
She pulled up Ransom's contact info and sent a quick text about breakfast then stuffed the phone back in her back pocket and went to work.
Taking over Ransom’s kitchen was interesting. Most of the stuff was new, or rarely if ever used. She had free rein and set about her kitchen conquest with vigor.
When the phone buzzed against her left butt cheek, she squeaked and jumped so hard she almost burned herself. Her happy morning fizzled as she read the text, a frown forming at Ransom’s negative reply.
Come in for breakfast. Her fingers flew across the keyboard. There was no way all her effort was going to go to waste. Just in case she shot off a second text. Come in for breakfast or I will come find you. That’s an order!
Fine. Victoria swore she could hear an exasperated sigh tacked to the end of the message.
Ransom had actually been pretty close to the house when the text came through. She hadn’t gone far today, just enough to check the fence lines and make sure no one had tramped onto the property in the night. It was her job to protect Victoria, and that’s exactly what she would do.
The phone was supposed to be for important communication, not to tell her to come to breakfast. That Victoria felt she could blackmail her into being sociable did not sit well with her. Ransom was not happy about being ordered around.
“Victoria,” Ransom greeted her guest coldly. Lack of sleep chafed at her already short temper. She had never made it back to bed; instead she had stayed up till daybreak and then headed out at soon as it was safe to ride the trails.
“Good morning, Ransom. Did you enjoy your ride?” Victoria plastered a smile on her face. That was not the response she was hoping for.
“Yes, it was a nice morning.”
“I take it you got my text?” Victoria tried again. Pleasant conversation required two people.
“Obviously since I replied back.” Ransom sat down at the kitchen table. Victoria had place settings set up for two, and there was enough food for at least two people heaped onto her plate. Bacon, eggs, and hash browns was the trifecta of breakfast perfection and it all smelled wonderful.
It reminded her of past visits to the Two Sisters, where she was guaranteed as much bad coffee and artery clogging goodness that the cook could whip up. The coffee sucked, but it was hot and enough sugar and creamer could fix even the bitterest Navy coffee.
Then Victoria returned to the table with a plate full of steaming biscuits and Ransom almost moaned in ecstasy. She reached out to grab one and Victoria swatted at her. She missed, of course. Ransom was too quick for her. Her victory was short lived when Victoria surprised her by swiping her plate away as neatly as any waitress, taking her freshly stolen biscuit with it.
“Please, wash your hands first.”
“Why?” Ransom looked at her hands, they weren’t that dirty.
“It’s hygienic and proper.”
“You’re at the wrong place if you think I worry about proper.” Ransom snorted. “But if you tell me those are homemade biscuits I’ll wash up without arguing.”
“They are.” Victoria smiled at Ransom’s enthusiasm. Such an old trick, but it seemed to be working.
“Awesome.” Ransom stood up, scraping the chair across the floor and using the distraction to snatch a piece of bacon from Victoria’s plate, then promptly took a huge bite out of it. “Mine now.”
Victoria shook her head. The woman managed to surprise her again. “If cooking for you makes you smile like that; you might have to run a few extra miles every day to burn off the calories.”
Whatever possessed her to say that? Victoria watched Ransom stiffen, then turn around slowly from the sink. She spent a few more seconds drying her hands off than Victoria thought was necessary, then inspected her hands before looking up at her.
“I don’t know how to respond to that,” Ransom stated flatly.
“You don’t have to. It’s just nice to see you smile.” Victoria made sure she kept her tone light and friendly. “I got the impression you don’t cook much, and I learned the hard way yesterday that I can’t just sit around and do nothing.”
Ransom nodded and returned to the table. She still looked a little skittish, but she wasn’t running away. In fact, she looked like she was thinking about what Victoria had said.
Ransom cleared her throat. “You have a point. I hadn’t thought about it until now.” She could understand where Victoria was coming from since she wasn’t one for being idle and doing nothing all day herself.
“What are you going to be doing today?” Victoria asked. “Maybe I can tag along?”
“I’ll go out and jog the trails again to make sure there are no unexpected track
s or signs of intruders. A neighbor rents some of the acreage to pasture his cattle and I need to make sure they don’t damage any of the fences. We can’t have them getting into the refuge lands and ruining the ponds there. I do it every day, either on the ATV or running. Sometimes both.” Ransom finished with a shrug. That was more explanation than Victoria had gotten since she arrived.
“Can I come with you on one of your runs? It would be nice to see more of the farm.”
“Sure, but if you get tired, let me know. It’s about a five-mile loop or so for the shorter run. I’ll start you on that one,” Ransom warned her, wondering how fit she could be living in the city. Some of the photos showed her jogging, but running a flat trail around your neighborhood was way different than hitting a dirt trail wrapped around and up what was essentially a mountaintop.
“I’m sure I can manage,” Victoria drawled, secure in her ability. She jogged every other day at home and had run more 10K’s than she could count. She had no doubt she could keep up with Ransom. “When do we start?”
“Tomorrow morning.” Ransom had to see a man about a new phone and find out why the signal was so crappy lately. “Oh, and one more thing. Try to remember that the phones are for emergencies. I appreciate the breakfast and all, but I’m going to assume something is wrong if I hear from you.”
Ransom stood up and took her plate to the sink, leaving Victoria at a loss for words and stuck staring at the wall in front of her. Her initial response was anger, but then she realized something. Ransom was just being practical. If it felt personal, that was her problem, not Ransom’s.
“Okay, I won’t do it again.” Victoria bit her lip. It was going to be interesting, trying to keep tabs on Ransom without the phone, but she would manage. “But, I think if you want to reserve the phone that way, we should make sure we have sit down time every day to discuss things.”
“Like a plan of the day?” Ransom asked.
“Sure. That works,” Victoria agreed. She couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. Somewhere along the way their nice meal together had turned into a business meeting. She half expected Ransom to pull out a notepad and start outlining a plan, but something else entirely different happened.
“Uh, Victoria?” Ransom’s voice sounded strange. Victoria twisted around in her chair to find Ransom standing next to the sink, staring down at a very bold ginger cat licking the grease out of the frying pan on the stove. “Where’d the cat come from?”
***
Come out, come out whoever you are. You don’t belong in Victoria’s house. I need to know who you are and why you are in there instead of Victoria.
Chapter Eleven
Holy smokes! When Ransom said she went out for a run she meant she went out for a RUN.
It was early, which she was used to, but the trail was hilly…something she wasn’t used to, especially with the ego bruising pace Ransom set for them. Five minutes after they took off, even her thoughts sounded out of breath and Victoria started to question her ability to keep up.
This was no casual jog, this was ground eating reconnaissance with a purpose, and Victoria was the slow kid…the green recruit everyone was watching to see if they would make the grade or fall out on the side of the road to heave their guts out. Sheer stubbornness kept her moving. Despite the sharp stitch stabbing just below her ribs, she had to admit the views were perfect…when she wasn’t staring at her feet. Between Ransom, the amazingly beautiful landscape and the difficult trail, it was no wonder she was having a hard time concentrating, let alone keeping up.
The thin dirt path ran alongside a long wooden fence and, in Victoria’s less than thrilled opinion, barely qualified as a trail. The only distance markers along the winding path were randomly placed tree roots that popped up at the worst moments and delighted in stubbing toes and ruining her perfect one-two rhythm. There were no flat runs on the trail, it was either up or down, and both required more from her leg muscles than she was used to. And while she was used to avoiding the occasional idiot driver, those reflexes were useless to her when a deer jumped in front of their path, then bounded away into the woods.
She screamed and skidded to a dead stop, almost spraining her ankle in the process. Ransom spun around faster than lightning, then broke out laughing. Embarrassed, Victoria could only hope that her face was already so red from exertion that Ransom wouldn’t notice any difference.
“That’s not funny!” Perhaps Ransom would have taken the heart stopping encounter more seriously if she could actually yell, instead of sounding like a crotchety old man wheezing at his neighbor’s bratty children.
Forewarned now, the second deer only received a surprised squeak and the third one she managed to see first. A wolfish grin followed the deer until it disappeared behind a small copse of trees. Evidently it was only fun to play jump-in-front-of-the-city-slicker until she stopped screaming. After that, they ignored her, and she ignored them.
“Ransom, can we slow down? I’m not used to going this fast.” Victoria finally broke down and admitted she was hurting.
“Sure,” Ransom said, slowing to a walk before realizing she had lost her completely. Victoria was about twenty feet behind her, bent over, clutching her side, and breathing heavily.
“Damn, Victoria, are you okay?” Ransom rushed back to her running companion.
“I’ll live.” Victoria waved in Ransom’s general direction, her open hand a white flag of surrender. She managed to straighten up, her fingers digging into her side to get rid of the stitch. After a few deep breaths, her heart stopped banging so hard against her chest, demanding more oxygen than her lungs could give her. “Not…used…to…the…hills,” she rasped.
Ransom frowned, more upset at herself than anything else. She had been in her zone, legs pumping against the familiar burn. The difficult terrain was a welcome challenge, but she had to watch the trail beneath and in front of her while scanning the landscape for anything out of the ordinary. She had assumed that as long as she could hear Victoria moving behind her that she was okay. That was a mistake.
“You should have said something sooner.”
“I’m alright, really. I just need to walk for a little bit,” Victoria said, trying like hell to not sound like she was totally winded, but she couldn’t quite ignore the sharp stabbing pain of the stitch in her side that flared with every breath she took.
“This is a lot different than home.” She wasn’t just talking about the jogging difficulty, the land was beautiful, so green and lush under the canopy of trees. It was a far cry from the manicured city trails and constant noise. She usually ran with earbuds in, but here there was too much nature to absorb to need the distraction of music. She noticed that Ransom didn’t play music during her runs either.
“I’m sure it is. Let’s go ahead and start walking back.” Ransom flashed a quick look at Victoria before scanning her surroundings again. So far, she had only seen animal tracks mar the surface of the trail, which was normal for this time of year. She usually only discovered the occasional trespasser in the fall and winter when hunting season was in full swing. The locals knew better, but there was always one or two yahoo’s who ignored the no trespassing signs to try and hunt on the property.
The forest suddenly opened up into a large pasture that crowned the hilltop they were walking along. The tree line rose along and below the horizon line, creating a leafy green border that stood dark against the bright sunshine lighting the open fields.
“It’s beautiful here.”
“Yeah, I’ve always thought so.” Ransom smiled. She looked peaceful and relaxed, the light sheen of perspiration the only evidence that she had just ran the last few miles at what Victoria could only call a punishing pace. She didn’t look the least bit winded; in fact, she looked like she could go several more miles before even thinking about being tired.
“Are those horses?” Victoria asked. She had seen some cows earlier, but the silhouettes emerging from the pasture in front of them were definitely not cows
. As they advanced down the trail, she was able to discern color. There were two horses, one pale and the other dark. They moved in unison, their heads down as they grazed on the lush grass, giving the illusion that a single horse was grazing with its shadow.
“Yeah. We’re right on the edge of Samuel’s property. Those two belong to the next farm over. Do you want to meet them?”
“Oh, can we?” Ransom abandoned the trail, wading into the tall grass without a moment’s hesitation. Victoria was close on her heels. The only horses she ever saw was the occasional mounted patrol, and they weren’t big on letting people pet their horses.
“The blond one is Casper and the other one is Mac. Don’t tell Casper, but Mac is actually my favorite,” Ransom whispered like it might actually hurt the other horse’s feelings.
“Okay, it will be our secret,” Victoria whispered back, enjoying the playful nature of their conversation. She was thrilled to see Ransom’s lighter side make an appearance.
Ransom stopped at the fence and whistled. Still mirroring each other, they lifted their heads in unison and trotted over.
Victoria hesitated until Ransom waved her closer. The two geldings were hanging their heads over the fence, rolling their eyes at each other in jealousy as they tried to keep Ransom’s attention all to themselves. “They’re amazing.”
“They won’t hurt you, just pet them like this,” she said, showing Victoria how to keep her hand flat and all her fingers out of the way of hungry lips. All of a sudden she was their new best friend and Ransom was out of favor. Casper, the less dominate gelding actually pushed Mac out of the way to get to Victoria.
