Chapter 20 Lina
lina
Hazel Miller stepped into the unfinished barn as if she’d never left Thornbrush.
Her blonde hair, a little darker than Romy’s, was braided.
Dark circles shadowed her eyes, and smile lines bracketed the corner of her mouth.
She looked older and tired after the ordeal she’d gone through, but she was tan and fit, as though she’d been working hard outside for the past few months.
And perhaps she had. Last I’d heard, she was released on bail to Sanctuary Ridge, a rehab facility for rescued horses and battered women, while she awaited trial.
“Hazel!” I squealed. I bounced on my heels, impatiently waiting for Romy to release her sister so I could get my arms around her.
I’d missed her so much. She was my barrel racing buddy and trainer—one of my favorite people growing up—and I desperately wanted to tell her how much I wished I’d seen the signs.
“I hear I have a niece now,” Hazel was saying through tearful laughter.
Jude started bringing Charli over, but I swooped her up out of her carrier.
“Hey!” Jude exclaimed.
“She’s my baby now.” I rushed over to Hazel with Charli in my arms.
Her eyes met mine as she pulled away from Romy, warming with affection.
“Finally locked her down, huh, Jude?” Hazel asked, her eyes flicking to him momentarily, her usual easy smile breaking through the tears as she took Charli from my arms.
“She’s never getting rid of me now,” he commented, wrapping an arm around Romy to comfort her. She ducked her head into his chest in an attempt to let the tears subside.
“She looks so much like a Larsen.” Hazel peered down at Charli, a big-bow headband with horses covering her dark hair. “What’s her name?”
“Charli after Dad,” I beamed, sneaking in a side hug with Hazel and the baby. I was so proud to claim Charli as one of us.
Hazel’s eyes looked past me to Dad, a flicker of something passing momentarily, before returning her gaze to the bundle in my arms. “It’s a perfect name for this little sweet pea. Mom would’ve been so proud, Rom. May I?” She held out her hands.
“Of course, auntie,” Romy said, giving permission for me to pass the baby to Hazel.
Charli started to fuss slightly and Hazel didn’t skip a beat, rocking her as if she was a natural with infants. But that was Hazel. She was a natural at everything and had that nurturing instinct I felt I lacked.
“Does this mean you’re going to be here for the wedding?” Romy asked from where she was tucked into Jude’s side.
Hazel, still swaying, said, “That’s the hope. I’ll find out more when I meet with my lawyer tomorrow. The court has been dragging out the process for so long. I’m ready for this just to be done and behind me.”
“We all are.” I brushed loose hair behind Hazel’s ear since her hands were full. “I wish I’d seen the signs,” I told her, lowering my voice. Her gaze drifted to mine, soft and understanding.
“I know. I should have asked for help before it got as bad as it did, but I didn’t know how. Not at the time, anyway. I think I started believing I deserved it. That is, until I was at my breaking point. I just couldn’t let it happen anymore, you know.”
I nodded, even though I didn’t truly know. I could only imagine. I’d like to think that if I were in the same position, I’d fight tooth and nail to get out. I would probably even do the only option I thought I had left to free myself.
“I hear you’re on the circuit to win the finals,” Hazel said, breaking the somber mood, her big, beaming grin coming quicker now.
I couldn’t help returning her smile, but it was because she was home, not because of the topic change. “You’ll have to critique my run before this weekend.”
“I’ll be happy to give you some pointers, but I have a feeling you’re faster than I ever was on Bronte. Mushu is a runnin’ son of a gun.”
“We can race across the pasture tomorrow and settle it once and for all.”
Her smile widened, brightening her hazel eyes. “You’re on.”
She gave me a glimpse of the old Hazel, making me feel hopeful that the therapy she received while she was away was exactly what she needed. But I knew she’d never truly be the same.
“Can I introduce you to our two other new additions to the ranch?” I asked her, my attention drifting to Reed and Penn.
Hazel’s face softened when she saw whatever played across my own.
“Reed Ownstead,” he said in his deep, gravelly voice, stepping up to shake her hand, ever the gentleman with his country manners. “And this is my daughter, Penn.”
Hazel beamed, her gaze turning on me. “Well, Reed, if I know anything about the Larsens, once they claim you as one of their own, you’re practically family.”
Romy and Hazel sat around the firepit while the rest of us stood around the bar, their heads together, whispering and wiping tears from each other’s cheeks.
“To get it down from twenty-five years to three years is better than we’d hoped,” Dad was saying.
My eyes drifted down to Hazel’s ankle, where she wore a monitor.
Since Thornbrush was her previous residency, and she was due to appear in court soon to receive her sentence, the judge decided she needed to return.
Thanks to Oregon’s “stand your ground” laws regarding the act of self-defense, the lawyer was fighting for the sentence to be reduced even further to cover just the unlawful carry and use of a firearm and evading arrest, hoping the homicide charges would be dropped.
While the verdict was still out, Hazel was under house arrest at the big house.
As a rodeo queen and barrel racing champ, I idolized her growing up. Seeing her go through all that shit last year, and now knowing the abuse she had endured at the hands of Jesse Matheus, my heart hurt for her.
“I’m glad she’s here, Dad. She’s been through enough shit. The least we can do is be the family she needs right now,” I said.
Dad’s eyes flicked to Romy and Hazel huddled together before returning his gaze to me. “I’m glad too, darlin’.”
“Can’t say Frank is much of a parent for her,” Jude commented, bringing his beer bottle to his lips.
Romy discovered her dad, Frank, was doing more than drinking when she found him and Junior in the stables last summer. Frank was getting painkillers from Junior, and apparently, he owed him. No one had spoken to him since. Last I heard, he wasn’t invited to the wedding.
“No, unfortunately he’s not. If I could go back and change things, I would.” Dad’s knuckles turned white around his bottle, and I reached out to soothe his grip.
“You can’t keep beating yourself up about this,” I told him.
Dad had been making little comments like that since it happened, and it stung to know he was dealing with regret.
There were very few signs Jesse was beating on her.
I hadn’t seen it, either. I just thought it was a toxic relationship that would play out, and eventually, Hazel would dump him.
I liked him just fine. He was always respectful to Dad and I, plus he was a hard worker.
Maybe that was all a cover-up for what was really going on.
If I’d known, I would have done something to stop it, too. But hindsight is twenty-twenty.
Alarm beeps started going off.
“What’s that?” Sage asked, her glass halfway to her lips.
We all stopped in our conversation to listen, but Dad and Jude wasted no time pulling out their phones from their pockets.
“What the fuck?” Jude said, opening his notifications.
“The game cams,” Dad announced.
“Shit! The game cams! Is someone fucking with the fence?” I asked, peering over Dad’s shoulder to look at his phone as he opened the app.
There, in night vision, was the herd running straight through a broken-down fence.
“Goddammit!” Dad stuffed his cell back in his pocket, turning to leave. “We gotta go!”
Jude was still staring at his screen. “There’s a group of riders driving them off!”
“Can you see who it is?” Reed asked, his eyes wide.
“They’re all in black clothing,” Jude said, returning his cell to his pocket and beginning to unstrap the carrier.
“I’ll take her,” Sage offered, removing Charli from his arms.
“What’s going on?” Romy asked, as she and Hazel returned to our group.
“Someone’s fucking with the herd,” I explained.
Romy took the infant carrier from Jude.
“Are there bad guys?” Penn asked, poking her head up from where she was playing with rocks, lining them up across a pile of salvaged wood.
“Sorry, ladies. I guess we’re going to have to cut this party short,” Dad called over his shoulder, heading to where his truck was parked by the house.
The men were already moving into action, Jude kissing Romy, and Kale and Christian jogging to their own respective vehicles.
“Guess we’re on kid duty.” I shrugged.
“Fuck that,” Hazel said under her breath, setting down her beer. “I’m coming with you, Chuck!” she called after him.
“The hell you are!” he hollered back, reaching his truck.
“Do you mind taking Penn back to the house?” Reed asked me. I looked up at him. His face had grown dark, but his eyes were pleading.
I nodded. “Just go.” I pushed him away, sending him toward the trucks. “We got her. You’re wasting time now.”
His jaw ticked, and he gave me a jerky nod before turning on his heels.
Hazel was already racing over to Dad’s truck to hop in the passenger seat.
“Well, this has been eventful.” Sage sighed, swallowing the last of her champagne.
“No kidding.”
“You better be safe out there, Jude ‘The Bull’ Larsen!” Romy shouted to her fiancé, who was adjusting his hat while he hopped into his truck.
“I’ll settle up with the DJ if y’all want to take the rest of the party into the house while we wait,” I suggested.
My toes tingled in my boots, itching to run after them and join the hunt.
This was my ranch, too, and I’d gladly fight anyone who was fucking with our fence and cattle.
Reed gave me one last glance before he hoisted himself into his truck.
The look gave me the acknowledgment I needed.
As if he could read my thoughts from here, it was a look that said, You should be with us, but there is no one else I’d trust with my daughter.
Air froze in my chest.
If he trusted me with his daughter, then I knew I could trust him with my ranch.
A tiny hand wrapped around my fingers. I looked down to see Penn gazing up at me. “Do you know how to do Anna braids?”
My mouth curved in a smile. “Yeah, I do, princess. Do you want to see my Disney movie collection while we wait for your dad to get back?”
Her sweet little smile nearly took over her round cherub face.