Jake (Demented Souls #16)

34

H eather rolled her eyes at Matt’s grouchy overprotective tendencies and turned to find Aaron watching her. She smiled and put a little strut in her walk as the distance to where he sat.

“Are you waiting for me before you eat?” She gave the empty table in front of him a pointed look.

“Yes and no,” he said, he tilted the top of his head toward the outdoor kitchen. “Food’s not done yet. But I would have waited for you even if it was.” He reached across the table and grabbed her hand, tugging her around the table until she stood beside him. “Have a seat. I’ll get us something to drink then we can talk about what we want to do tonight.”

She stepped over the bench and sank down beside him. He twisted around to plant a sweet, gentle kiss on her lips.

“What do you want to drink?”

“Whatever.”

“Water, soda, beer?”

“How about a beer and a water?”

“Coming right up.” Twisted around, throwing first one leg, then the other over the seat before he headed for the kitchen area and the ice chests that sat under a couple of tables.

She looked around, taking in the people lounging around the unlit firepit, sitting at other tables, and moving around the kitchen area with purpose and wondered how many of them knew about her problem. Well, all of them knew at least the basics. They had to in order to be on the lookout in case someone came on the ranch looking for her, but how many knew about the news that had come in this morning. The reward.

Neither Matt nor Aaron had mentioned how much the reward was but how many here needed money? How many would cash in on that offer by telling the people after her where she was?

Ideally, none, but she hadn’t made it to nearly thirty years old, still believing in best case situations. She’d long ago learned that individual people were generally good, some even wonderful, but as a collective, people sucked and would generally let you down.

Her best hope was that these people had enough invested in Aaron not to do that to her.

That reminded her of the Kings, and all the people in North Dakota she’d met or spent time around. How many of them knew and could be trusted? Thankfully, the only person who knew where she was up there was now here with her. She had no doubts about Matt. Not just because he was family. She had some members of her family who would turn her over for a few hundred dollars in reward. Not that either Matt or Aaron had mentioned how much the reward was. For all she knew, that’s all it was. A few hundred dollars and not enough to tempt the people around her into betraying her secret. At least that was her hope.

“You’re thinking too hard,” Matt said as he stepped over the bench and sat across the table from her. “We need to do something about that.”

Heather scrubbed one hand down her face, trying to wipe away the thoughts that someone would turn her in for the reward money, then looked up and met Matt’s gaze.

“How do you suggest we do that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe after dinner we see if we can find some cards. I’m sure we can distract you for a while. Maybe a few hands of poker, maybe something else. What would you like to play?”

She tilted her head and watched him for a moment, thinking back to what kind of games they’d played when she’d been growing up.

“I wonder if anyone has a deck of Phase 10 cards?”

“What was that?” Aaron asked, setting her drinks in front of her, before setting his own where he’d been sitting before and handing another to Matt.

“I was just wondering if we can find a deck of Phase 10 cards around here.” She twisted the top off the water bottle he’d brought her and took a long pull.

Aaron paused in mid-drink, turned, and looked at her a moment, then lowered his drink. “Phase 10? I think I can find a deck. Maybe a couple if you’re open to others joining us.”

“Sure. The more the merrier.” She remembered the fun of a big group playing when they’d been teenagers, could it be any less now that they could drink while they played?

“I’ll find us the cards after we eat. Dinner’s almost ready.” He tilted his head toward the kitchen area.

She glanced over to see what looked like the prospects setting things up on the buffet line. As if the sight reminded her stomach how long it had been since she’d last eaten, her stomach rumbled. Heather shook her head and wondered why the sight of food being ready would do that, it wasn’t like her stomach had eyes.

“LINE UP!” London’s shout from the head of the line stopped her from saying anything. Leaving their drinks at their seats, the three of them, along with many of the others scattered around the area, stood, and made their way to the kitchen. Heather was fifth in line, and as she stepped up to the table and picked up a plated, she realized that the guys had disappeared. Looking around she noticed that there were only women in line with her. Not wanting to hold things up, she moved through the line, helping herself to whatever she wanted, as she’d already learned that was how meal times worked on the ranch.

When she’d made her way through the line, she stepped out of the way and took a look at the entirety of the line. Sure enough, like the run she’d gone on with Matt, the one where she’d run into Aaron again, the women were first, and the men followed them through the line. This wasn’t how they’d been doing things when she’d first arrived, and she couldn’t help but wonder what had caused the change. Not that it really mattered. As far as she’d seen, there was plenty of food for everyone, so it didn’t matter if you were first through or last through, you’d get enough to eat. And if things worked the same way as yesterday, there would be stragglers. Couples that were farther away, or busy, when the dinner call went out. And there would be plenty for them as well.

Heather took her plate to the table where she’d left her drinks and sat, digging in, and eating while her food was hot. As she ate, she was joined by Elyse and Kerry.

“Mind if we join you?”

“Not at all.” She motioned to the empty space at the table. “How has your day gone?” she asked other women as they sat and got comfortable.

“Good,” Kerry said.

“Quiet,” Elyse put in. “What have you been up to? Your friend came to see you right?”

“Matt’s my cousin, but yeah.” She debated whether or not to mention the reward to them, but decided not to. If they needed to know, their men would tell them.

She decided then and there that there was only so much she could do about it. She could be alert and not let anyone sneak up on her, but most of the rest was out of her hands. And while she could waste a lot of stress and energy worrying about what would happen, what could happen, that’s what it was, a waste. She might as well let Aaron and his friends do what they said they would. She trusted him, so she would trust his judgement. And Matt would be here another day or so. Between the two of them, and the rest of the men on the ranch, she would be safe.

“We’re going to see if we can find some cards to play after dinner. You’re welcome to join us if you like.”

“Oh. I can’t remember the last time I played cards with someone other than Mac,” Elyse said.

“Mac plays cards?” Kerry tilted her head as she looked at Elyse.

Heather’s gaze flicked to the large, bearded man currently fixing himself a plate. She could see why Kerry would be surprised, but why not? All kinds of people played cards or other games, all the time. What they looked like had no impact on the things they enjoyed. How many people had told her she didn’t look like a vet tech?

Elyse nodded to Kerry but turned to look at Heather. “What are you looking at playing? Anything specific? I’ve got some cards with us.”

“My preference is Phase 10, but if we can’t find enough decks for everyone to play, there are options.” Heather tilted her head back to lookup at Aaron as he joined her at the table, setting his plate down and kissing her forehead as he sat.

“You finding people to play with us later?” he asked.

“I am.”

“Good.”

One by one, the rest of their men joined them, including Matt, and they fell mostly quiet as they ate.