16
CLINT
A HUSBAND’S DUTY
We clean up the mess in the kitchen and give Taylor enough time and space to at least get herself calm again. Jesse wanted to follow her immediately, but I put my foot down. No good was going to come of another tense conversation. Maverick hates confrontation, and Jesse has no head for listening to what other people need when it goes against his own desires. I’m out of my depth, but I know I have the best chance of hearing Taylor’s concerns and smoothing the wrinkles between us all. I feel awkward as I approach her room as softly as I can. My bulk is designed for giant, powerful strides, and grueling labor, not moving stealthily. The fact that I’m on my way to comfort someone that I’m truly starting to care about is a strange yet powerful motivator. I stop for a moment, sure I can hear her crying and moving around. But then there’s nothing. I knock and wait. There’s a shuffling sound. “Who is it?”
“Me, Clint. The others have gone off to the bunkhouse. Can I come in?” If she says no, would I go in anyway? After what just happened, I need to respect her space.
After a few moments, she replies. “Come in.”
The door creaks as I push it open. Standing with the bright late afternoon sunshine behind me, the darkness in Taylor’s room takes time for my eyes to adjust. She has the drapes pulled shut and is lying flat on her bed.
“Are you all right, Taylor?”
She shakes her head.
“Jesse can be a real dick sometimes.” I want to lighten the mood, and it works.
She laughs in a way that sounds exasperated. “He sure can be.”
“He doesn’t mean to be so pigheaded. He’s just scared, you know? Doesn’t want to lose the future he’s been dreaming about.” I glance around her room, realizing there’s something very wrong. It’s a mess as if she has been turning it upside down. Then I notice the small bag she arrived with, half-stuffed with clothing spilling out as if I caught her packing to leave. Before feigning sleep…
“What’s going on, Taylor?”
She sits up, knowing full well what I’m thinking. “I need to leave.”
“What? Why?” Before she has a chance to say anything I put up my hand. “What happened downstairs… we were just blowing off steam, okay. And Jesse was wrong, but he knows that, okay. He wants to make things right. We all do.”
Taylor shakes her head. “My sister’s in trouble.” Her eyes focus on the comforter, and her hands twist a part of the material. “She’s in trouble.”
“Your sister?” The girl I saw in the picture?
“I was waiting for you all to go, then I was going to leave the ranch.”
“Alone?” I’m shocked she’d even consider it. She wouldn’t have gotten far without a car. On foot, it would take an hour to get to the road, and then she’d have to hitchhike.
Jeez. She must really have wanted to get away from us. Worse, she obviously doesn’t trust us to help her when she’s in trouble. My gut clenches.
She shrugs, her expression hopeless. “Then I realized that I had no idea where we were or how I would get there. It’s all so hopeless.” With that, she breaks down into uncontrollable sobs, her body trembling with every juddering inhale. I sit next to her, pulling her into my arms. She doesn’t resist my embrace and sinks her face into my neck. In moments, she soaks the collar of my shirt with her tears. “It’s okay, Taylor. Just tell me what happened.”
“You wouldn’t understand.” She sounds so defeated, and her lack of faith in me is as bracing as an ice-cold water shower. She’s my wife and she didn’t feel like she could turn to me in her hour of need. She didn’t trust me to comprehend her trouble or her pain.
I’m failing at this.
“Your problems are mine, Taylor. That’s how this works.” There’s a moment’s silence. She shifts her hold in my arms and looks up at me. Searching her eyes, I find pain, fear, and panic.
“My sister’s in danger.”
“Who from?”
“My father. He’s a drunk. He’s abusive. When I was there, I could protect Molly, but now she’s all alone with him.”
I fix my jaw, the anger I feel at Taylor’s pain and worry so visceral it’s hard to hold her gently in my arms.
“Why did you leave then?” I ask. Surely if she was so worried about Molly, she should have stayed. Auctioning herself seems like a strange thing to do.
“He sold me to clear his debts and now he wants to do the same to my sister.”
“He sold you?” My stomach clenches as the realization of what Taylor’s been through barrels towards me full force.
Taylor doesn’t respond to my questions. “Molly’s with a friend of mine, but she can only stay there for so long. I need to get to her, Clint. I need to find a place where she’ll be safe.”
“She’ll be safe here,” I say.
She shakes her head quickly. “I can’t do that, Clint. I’ve already caused enough trouble here. Jesse’s sister, Barb, and Mitch… they don’t want to talk to him because of me, and now you’re all fighting.”
Drawing away, she swipes a hand over her face.
“Taylor…”
She puts up her hand. “I don’t want you to feel sorry for me, Clint. My past… I hoped when I got away from there that I could at least leave the worst of it behind. I didn’t want you to find out any of this.”
“Did he hurt you?” I ask. “Did he…” I can’t bring myself to ask what I want to know.
She shakes her head, understanding. “He didn’t do that himself, but he let someone else do it.”
Nausea makes my mouth taste metallic and sour.
“He could do the same to Molly, Clint. If he doesn’t sell her the same way he sold me, he’ll find a way of making money from her.”
I sit further up to steady myself, gripping the edge of the bed so tightly my knuckles turn as white as bone. I may have dark secrets in my past, but when it comes to the intentional abuse of women or children, there’s something about that that I just can’t let go of. I may never be able to fix what I did in the past, but I can put this right now in the present and make for a better future for everyone concerned.
“We’ll fix this,” I say softly. “You’re not alone, not anymore.”
The strong woman who sits beside me deserves all the help and protection we can offer her. If that means bringing her sister to Twin Springs, then so be it. Family is family. Something in me shifts. I know that Taylor is meant to be here with us. I know she’s worth fighting for, and we all have to act now, or we’ll lose her forever. I make my way to my room to make the call that will set us all on a path with no turning back. But first I need to call Mitch.
When Jesse and Maverick arrive, I sit at the table with a cup of coffee steaming before me.
“Sit,” I order, resting my arms on the table. They take their seats, eying me carefully, and their expressions only get more severe as I relay what Taylor told me.
“We need to help her,” I say finally. “We need to bring Molly here.”
“Of course.” Jesse runs a hand over his beard, and sighs sadly. “This is a mess.”
“I thought I had it bad as a kid.” Maverick lowers his head and shakes it. “I had this feeling about Taylor… I shouldn’t have ignored it.”
“We didn”t know,” Jesse says.
I want to tell him that we should have done more due diligence before bidding on her at the auction. We should have at least found out who was getting the money. We would have known if Jesse hadn’t been so quick and decisive.
“We leave in five minutes,” Jesse says darkly. His jaw is set, and his palms are pressed onto the table. “Tell Taylor to get ready. This ends tonight.”
As I approach Taylor’s door, I’m fueled by adrenaline and cortisol, and my heart is a hammer beating in my chest. Taylor has changed into a different outfit, and when I tell her that we’re leaving immediately, she collapses into my arms. This time, her sobs are tears of relief and not panic. I sense her trust in us has a strong enough foundation that no matter the effect of Jesse’s intentions for her, she can look past anything to be there for her sister.
She’s wrong to think that issues and setbacks will make us want her less. If anything, her reliance on us, her vulnerabilities, and her love for her sister only make us all more determined for her to stay. And her honesty —I can’t scratch that itch now.
A truck approaches from outside. Mitch is here.
Taylor grabs her phone and boots, and we jog down the stairs, finding Jesse and Maverick ready to leave.
“Thank you for coming,” I tell Mitch as we meet in the doorway.
“It’s nothing.” Mitch’s watery eyes land on Taylor, and he gently touches her on the upper arm. “Everything will be okay,” he says. “And I’ll hold the fort until you’re all back safe and sound.”
All the problems between us melt away in the face of outside danger.
“Thanks, Mitch,” Jesse says. “This means a lot.”