Chapter Seventeen
“Listen,” Ada leans across the table, whisper-shouting over the music in the bar.
Sunstone Saloon is every bit a cute cowboy bar, and it is packed.
I finished my shift an hour ago, and Ada met me with Darcy in tow after we agreed to meet for drinks.
It’s been a week since I started working for Silas and four days since I picked up a couple of shifts for Niamh, just some light evening work to cover the rush of summer, but it’s giving me extra cash in my pot.
“I really don’t want to sound insensitive, and you can absolutely tell me to fuck all the way off, but I’m a nosy bitch, okay? ”
I sip on the cocktail, “Okay?”
“What happened to your face?”
“My husband,” I don’t hide the truth. Why should I? Why should I protect him? The bruises have started to fade, leaving only shadows behind, but what he did will never be erased. “Ex husband now, I guess.”
“That rat bastard,” Ada slaps a palm down onto the table, “Want me to throat punch him? I don’t mind.”
A chuckle leaves me, “No, it’s okay.”
“It’s not okay,” Darcy inputs quietly, stirring her straw around in her drink, “He deserves to get as good as he gave.”
My shoulders lift in a shrug. “I don’t want to be like him.”
“You’re better than me,” Ada pouts. “You know how many plants are out here that can kill a man? Too many to count, I’d make it look like an unfortunate accident.”
My eyes widen as I stare at the red-headed woman across from me. There’s a raw, wildness about her, an untamed quality that keeps her vibrating in her chair, but I'm not sure I would have put her down to being slightly murderous too.
“That’s concerning,” Darcy laughs, though it sounds tight, taking a tender sip of her drink.
Ada shrugs, “I grew up with four brothers and a dad who had a heavy hand. I had to make accidents happen.”
My head snaps back. “Did you just admit to murder!?”
Ada barks out a laugh, “What? No! I’m just saying if I wanted a bit of peace, they just got a little sick for a few days. No permanent damage, of course.”
“What did you use?” Darcy asks, her voice barely above a whisper as she flicks her eyes around, as if afraid someone might overhear.
“Lupine,” Ada shrugs, “Wait? Are you a cop?”
“I think it’s a little late for that,” I blurt, making Ada’s eyes widen as she nervously looks at Knight Falls resident vet.
“Not a cop,” Darcy gives her a smile, “Just a vet. We have to constantly check for lupine. It can be deadly for livestock.”
Ada nods in agreement, “It’s how I got hold of it.”
“You lived on a ranch?”
“A real small one,” she confirms, “It’s how I learned about cutting horses. My first was a buckskin mare; her name was Freida, but my father sold her when I was fifteen.”
“Fucking parents,” Darcy grumbles.
“I’ll drink to that,” Ada raises a glass and taps it against Darcy’s, taking a healthy sip. “But enough about that. Has he contacted you?”
I shake my head, “Silas took care of that.”
“Silas is a good man,” Darcy sighs, “Too good sometimes.”
I want to press her on what she means by that.
How can a man be too good? She isn’t wrong in the fact that Silas is good, inherently, instinctively.
He doesn’t think before he does; he just does it like it’s second nature to him.
I’ve avoided him the best I can this week; I didn’t want to be distracted by him.
No matter how hard I try, the moment I notice him, I can’t look away.
He has power, but not the kind meant to oppress; it’s the type you want to study, to take apart to see how it ticks.
He wants respect, but understands he has to show it in order to get it back.
But it’s the way he is with horses… He is, by definition, an actual horse whisperer.
The way he reads them, is in tune with their wants, and their needs, and then provides. I could write an entire book about it.
The glances I have stolen this week have been moments he’s spent with Dottie. He managed to get her into a snaffle bridle without reins, though that took several hours of constant reassuring on his part, slow and deliberate moves to show the horse she was still safe with him.
It had been fascinating to watch.
“He is a good man,” I eventually agree.
“So, are you sticking around?” Darcy asks, sounding hesitant.
This is the first time we’ve talked properly since she lost it on me that second day I was here, but I still don’t blame her for that.
In passing, she’s apologized repeatedly, but we’ve never talked more than that.
She seems like a good woman, a caring woman, and I can’t fault her for looking out for creatures unable to look out for themselves.
“For a while,” I look to Niamh laughing behind the bar with her best friend, Ashley, whom I’d been introduced to a couple of days ago. “Not sure how long that will be.”
“So, you’re leaving?” Ada frowns. “I mean, eventually. You’re leaving?”
“Probably, yeah. I’m safe here for now and gathering strength, I guess.
I don’t know what will happen next. I’m just trying to earn some money and then I’ll figure it out.
I want to travel at some point, you know?
See something more than fields and mountains; get out of Montana and see what else there is out there. ”
“Well, you’ve got New York if you want a concrete jungle, Miami for the beaches.
I would suggest Colorado, but that’s mountains and fields.
” Ada chuckles. “Seattle. Maine… you’ve then got Europe and Africa.
Have you ever thought about going to Japan?
I want to see Tokyo one day.” All of Ada’s words start to tumble together, her excitement making her practically vibrate.
“And Egypt, maybe Australia too, but those spiders are a whole different level.”
“I got it,” I laugh, cutting her off, “There’s an entire world to see.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Darcy says softly, spinning her glass. “You’ve got time, right?”
“Right,” I agree. I do have time now and freedom. No one can hold me back or stop me, or yell at me for stepping out of line. It’s just me.
Since I’d stuck around after my shift, Niamh gave me a ride home.
Darcy had offered since she’d only had the one drink, but I’d ultimately decided to hang out a bit longer at Sunstone Saloon while she took herself and Ada home.
It was a different vibe, a whole new atmosphere I wasn’t used to, and people-watching is far more entertaining than I ever thought it would be.
“Are you ready to go?” Niamh plucks her keys from the counter.
“Yeah,” I hop off the stool and follow her to the door, stepping out into the warm night, inhaling the clean mountain air tinged with the smell of forest pine and wildflowers.
“You looked like you were having fun tonight,” Niamh says as we walk to her truck.
“Ada and Darcy are great,” I nod. “It’s nice to just be out.”
“I can imagine,” she says, “And you’re good?”
“I’m good, Niamh,” I smile at her. She’s becoming a fast friend too, someone who cares despite not knowing me all that long.
She beams at me, the grin sinking dimples into her cheeks, “That’s what I like to hear.”
The drive back to the ranch is short and quiet, and Niamh turns into the long drive that’ll lead up to Silas’s cabin and the main house, the ranch signage swinging in the slight breeze.
“Just pull up here,” I say, “I don’t want to wake the kids.”
“You sure?” Niamh rolls to a stop, but the house isn’t too far from the main track, just a short two-minute walk and I can see the porch light on from here as well as light slipping out from between a crack in the curtains in the living room. “It’s dark.”
“I’ll be fine,” I assure her. “The house is right there.”
“Alright,” she touches my arm, “I’ll see you soon.”
“Night, Niamh,” I hop out and watch her pull away, the truck disappearing over a small hill.
Miles of fields stretch out around me, bordered by dense forests that the eye cannot penetrate, even with the silvery light of the moon.
Turning around, I start to make my way to the house, ready to fall into bed.
The days have been long and tiring, but also rewarding.
I’ve been falling into bed and going to sleep instantly, which has been a nice change.
For the first few nights, every time I closed my eyes, I saw Cal, or I tossed and I turned, anxiety and guilt both working together to leave me a mess.
Working this much, labor intense work too, has left no room for that.
The sound of a boot scuffing behind me has me pausing, glancing over my shoulder to see someone standing at the end of the short drive. No light touches them, leaving them merely a shadow, standing there, watching.
“Silas?” I turn to them, unable to work out who it is. It’s definitely not Silas now I’m fully looking at them, they’re too short to be him and there’s something strange about their shape. They look wide, broad shouldered but the lines are all wrong.
“Can I help you?” Fear pricks at my spine, my stomach rolling over the alcohol I had consumed this evening. Bile rises into my throat, a lump forming.
I step back a little, never taking my eyes off them as they move, reaching inside their coat. It’s a warm night, humid and entirely too warm for a coat, but then they’re pulling something out.
I’m afraid to turn away from them, to give them my back, even as they stretch their arm toward me, pointing that item at my body. Moonlight catches on metal, and horror has my blood running cold as I realize exactly what it is they’re pointing in my direction.
A gun.
I think I scream, but I’m not sure, not when all I hear is roaring inside my ears. Everything is slowing down, seconds feeling like minutes as I throw myself to the side to try and find cover.
Somewhere on the ranch, dogs begin to bark, but all I can do is crawl, feeling gravel cut into my skin as I go and pray whoever is out there doesn’t come looking.