9. Nora
9
NORA
N ora strained against the wheelbarrow jammed in between a rusted car and the barn wall. How had it gotten in there? She pulled again, putting all her weight into it, but the hunk of metal only bent.
She let out a loud huff as she stomped a few steps away. It would be easier to just go buy a new one at the hardware store, but she had zero money to spend. Her dad had maxed out their credit at Charlie’s Hardware Store months ago, and she’d almost vomited when she wrote a payment check yesterday.
No, she wouldn’t be buying anything from Charlie’s or anywhere else indefinitely.
A loud clang of metal came from the other side of the barn. Her dad had finished cleaning out the basement and came to help her a few hours ago. They hadn’t spoken more than two words to each other all morning.
What could she say to him? She couldn’t say everything was okay because that was a big fat lie. The anger constantly boiling in her chest kept her from confronting him. There was a good chance she’d say something mean if she opened her mouth.
Clint often reminded her that if she couldn’t say something nice that she shouldn’t say anything at all. That advice came to mind way too often when her dad was around these days.
She propped her hip against the underside of the old car and pushed. The small movement allowed just enough room for the wheelbarrow to shift, and she pushed it out of the way before letting the car fall back into its permanent resting place.
The rumble of an engine grew louder, and Nora stopped. She wasn’t expecting any visitors, but her dad must have called Clint for a hand.
When two truck doors opened and closed, Nora put the wheelbarrow down and pulled off her gloves as she headed to the other side of the barn.
Her dad’s voice stopped her before she reached the doorway leading to the front side.
“I don’t have it. I already told you.”
“Then we’ll just take it,” a deep male voice said.
Take what? There wasn’t anything left to take. The equipment was gone, the livestock was gone, the horses were gone. Her life had been stripped down to the minimum, and someone else was here to collect the bones that were left.
Her hands fisted at her sides. How much more could her dad have lost? Their entire savings wasn’t enough?
There was a soft click, before her dad spoke.
“Easy, Justin. I’m doing the best I can.”
Nora’s heart rate spiked, and a switch flipped in her mind. Looking around, she grabbed a crowbar propped against the barn wall and stepped around the corner.
Her grip on the weapon tightened. One man had a pistol leveled at her dad’s head, and the other muscled-up man stood to the side with his broad shoulders tensed and ready.
The man with the gun shifted his attention to her but kept the barrel pointed at her dad. A sinister grin spread on his leathery face. “Who’s this?”
Her dad gasped as his wide eyes locked on her. The fear radiating from him should have warned her, but nothing could touch the fire burning in her chest. These men had taken everything from her. They couldn’t take her dad too.
Nora tightened her grip on the metal in her hand. Her instincts said run, but her stubborn heart said fight. “He’s telling the truth. There’s nothing left.”
The man with the gun shook his head. “That’s a shame. I don’t like waiting. ”
“I have no money, the house is in foreclosure, and I don’t have a job now that the ranch is gone. I’m broke,” her dad explained.
Hearing the dire state of their affairs was another low blow. Who was she more angry with? Her dad or these men?
Justin lowered the gun, but his grin didn’t falter as he turned to her dad. “You better figure it out. I’ll be back in a week.”
With that warning, Justin and his sidekick turned and strode back toward the truck. The doors slammed shut, starting the clock on her dad’s timeline.
The truck backed up and drove away, and Nora waited until they were out of sight before she spoke.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Nora, this is bad. I… I don’t think they knew about you before.”
She scoffed. “Who cares? I don’t have anything either. They can keep walking.”
Her dad strode toward her and grabbed her shoulders with strong hands. “Baby, they’ll use you to get to me. I can’t let them hurt you.”
Nora jerked her shoulders, pulling away from his grip. “I can take care of myself.”
He reached for her again, and she fought against the urge to pull away again. “Listen to me. You can’t stay here anymore.”
“I have twelve days to find us a place. I’ll be right here until I find a new place or somebody from the bank comes to kick me out.”
“Can’t you stay with Bella?” her dad begged.
She leveled him with a glare. “If I can’t stay here, you can’t either. You’re the one they want. Those guys can threaten all they want, but that won’t make money appear.”
Her dad slowly shook his head. “Find something quick. Before next week. I don’t want to be here when they come back.”
She couldn’t listen to this anymore. It was an unending cycle of bad and worse, and she’d had enough. “I can’t just snap my fingers and make a place we can afford appear.”
But she could. It had already fallen into her lap. The realization finally sank in that she was probably going to have to take Clint up on his offer.
Pulling away, she turned her back on her dad. Instead of going back to the task she’d been working on, she headed for the house. “I’m going to work. We’ll talk about this later.”
She needed to get away from the ranch–away from her dad. A day of checking vitals and running labs would distract her until she had to face reality again.