Chapter Seven
“Come on, now, son. Don’t be a fool. This is more money than you would ever see in a lifetime. Just take it, and let me worry about this place.”
Henry Walker’s words were as condescending as the look he gave Garrett.
Not that he expected any less. Dean’s father had always made his opinion about his son’s friend well known.
Garrett was an orphan. A nobody with no past and certainly not a future.
Not like his own son, who would soon take over the family’s vast legacy of land and cattle.
He’d made it clear that he found his son’s charitable friendship toward Garrett kind and Christian, but to him that’s all it was.
Charity. Just as old Mr. Dawson had given Garrett charity when he’d taken the orphan under his wing.
When he’d left the Diamond W Ranch to Garrett, though, Henry had found it to be a huge mistake, and for the last several weeks, had been trying to make Garrett understand that.
In the vivid memory, Garrett watched himself shake his head to the well-dressed older rancher, and push the contract back across the table.
“Respectfully, sir. No. No sale,” he replied calmly. “Mr. Dawson left this ranch to me, and I plan to honor not just his last wish, but his legacy.”
Henry Walker’s intimidating gaze shifted to anger.
“You don’t know what you’re doing,” he snarled, shoving the contract back to Garrett, “You’re going to run it into the ground!”
Though Garrett was intimidated over that very real possibility, he still refused.
He knew the meaning of hard work, and Mr. Dawson had spent the last sixteen years teaching Garrett everything he knew, from cattle work to managing the ranch’s finances.
Mr. Dawson had believed in him, and though he was gone, Garrett wanted to prove that that faith was warranted.
“If I do, that will be my mistake to make,” Garrett replied, speaking in a calm tone despite feeling hurt by Mr. Walker’s low opinion of him.
“But I promise you, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen. The ranch is suffering right now, but I aim to make it right again.”
Mr. Walker sneered in open disgust as he shoved out of his chair.
“Dawson wasn’t in his right mind when he made that will, you know that right? If he was, he wouldn’t have left this place to a nothing like you,” he all but snarled.
Garrett closed his eyes, once more pushing that heavy wave of insecurity away, and prayed to God for strength.
“Thank you for stopping by, Mr. Walker,” he stated politely as he nodded toward the door, “I sincerely hope your ranch does well.”
“Yours obviously won’t,” Mr. Walker huffed, and the hinges on the front door whined loudly in protest as he opened it with too much force, then slammed it shut.
Garrett shook himself from the vivid, painful memory as the howl of coyotes filled the midnight air.
He shook his head, dispersing the images and old hurt feelings, and sat up in his cot.
He’d placed his cot by the hay door, which he used to toss bales down directly into the field extending past the barn.
He’d helped the boys set their cots up a little further away from the open door, not wanting to risk them somehow accidentally falling out of it.
As he heard another howl, he picked up his rifle, shouldered it, and scanned the moon-bathed field beyond. Nothing. Wherever the coyotes were, they were somewhere beyond the fence line. He put the rifle back down beside his cot and turned his gaze to the inside of the loft.
Isaac and Jacob were sleeping soundly in their cots, but Garrett’s heart began to hammer when he saw Louis’s was empty.
“Louis,” he whispered loudly, standing up.
He pricked his ears to the silence in the loft and heard the soft sounds of sobs.
A breath of relief punched out of his lungs; grateful that the boy hadn’t left the loft on his own, and went in search of him.
It wasn’t long before he found Louis huddled behind a stack of hay bales, his little arms wrapped tightly around his knees and his head bowed down.
“Hey buddy,” Garrett soothed, going down on one knee, “You alright?”
The moment Louis heard Garrett’s voice the boy sprang up, and let out a small cry as his little arms came flying around his neck. He let out an oomph as the child held onto him tight, and without a thought, put a hand on his little back.
“Hey, hey,” he cajoled, “It’s alright. You’re alright.”
“I heard them,” Louis sobbed, his tears wetting Garrett’s neck. “I heard the coyotes! They’re coming to get us.”
Garrett huffed out a laugh as he rose to his feet, taking the little boy with him.
“No, no, that’s impossible,” he promised, “They can’t climb the ladder. Even if they could, I would protect you.”
Louis sniffled as he pulled away a little, his wide blue eyes still shining with tears.
“You promise?” He asked.
Garrett made his most serious face as he nodded.
“Sure do,” he replied, gently placing the little boy back on his feet. “Nothing bad is going to happen to you on my watch. Now come on, let’s get you back to bed.”
He expected Louis to go back to his cot, but instead, the little boy wandered over to Garrett’s cot and laid down.
“Umm…” Garrett murmured, reaching up to scratch his head. What was he supposed to do?
“You said you would protect me,” Louis said when Garrett didn’t move.
Garrett nodded and walked to the cot.
“Yes, I did,” he agreed.
Though a little uncomfortable with the idea, Garrett laid back down in the cot next to Louis.
The moment he did, the little boy once more wrapped his arms tightly around Garrett’s neck, and nestled into the crook of his arm.
He was still shaking with fear, and Garrett couldn’t stand it, so he wrapped his arm around the boy and began softly patting his back.
“It’s alright, big fella,” he whispered, “It’s alright to be scared sometimes.”
Louis didn’t reply, but after a while, the boy’s shaking stopped, and the tight grip he had on Garrett’s neck loosened just a little as he fell back to sleep.
Even so, Garrett didn’t stop patting the boy’s back.
How many times had he missed his mother when he had been in the orphanage?
Or even just wished for some kindness or understanding?
How many times had he faced his fear alone and spent hours shaking and crying just like Louis had been a few minutes ago? Far too many to count.
He’d always wanted to be part of a large family, and now he was. He’d thought having that would bring him some sort of instant peace, but instead, it made him feel overwhelmed. He had five children and a wife depending on him now. A wife.
He tensed, thinking about the chaos of the wedding ceremony and the way he found Hannah in the kitchen crying.
He thought of how he pushed his own concerns aside to comfort her, because that was what he wanted to do.
He thought about the way he almost kissed her goodnight, and how he had backed out at the last second, even if he had really wanted to.
It wasn’t her lips he’d shied away from, though; it was the heavy responsibility he now faced. What if he failed them? What if he failed the ranch, and they all starved? What if he’d taken their already bad situation and made it worse?
His mind then shifted back to Henry Walker, and the deal he’d offered Garrett. Had he made a mistake by turning it down? Had he let his pride get in the way of an opportunity that could have not only helped him, but helped Hannah and her siblings?
Smothered by the weight of such heavy thoughts, Garrett willed himself away from them and did as he always did when he felt such burdens. He turned to God.
“Come unto me,” he murmured softly aloud, reciting the Bible verse that came to mind, “all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”