5. Ranger
Chapter 5
Ranger
With my left hand braced against the shower wall, I ran my right hand up and down my shaft. Squeezing harder as I got to the base and softer as my calloused palm edged closer to the head of my cock with each stroke.
Long dark hair and espresso-colored eyes flooded my mind as I imagined Sarah kneeling before me, taking my length in her small hands and stroking me up and down until she finally stopped teasing me and pulled me past those delicious pink lips and into her mouth where her warm tongue swirled over my tip.
Holy fuck .
Curling my fingertips against the tiled wall, my balls tightened against me as I shot a load all over the floor of the shower. Hot cum coated my hand for a few moments before the water washed it all away.
My breaths were quick and even though I finished in an embarrassingly short amount of time, the conjured image of Sarah still played out in my mind. But this time, instead of her kneeling before me, we were back in her bakery and I watched her bend over as she placed muffin after muffin in the pink box she balanced with one hand. Her tight little ass poked out in her skin-tight jeans and I wondered what kind of exercise she did to keep that perfect peach.
Then I quietly chastised myself for letting my thoughts stray way too far because this woman was far beyond my reach. Hell, she probably stuttered over her words because she was afraid of me. All alone in her bakery before the townsfolk were even out of bed sipping on their first cup of coffee. The one guy she probably didn’t want to be alone with had bombarded her.
Not that I blamed her.
LeRoy’s lawyer made me look like a fucking douchebag who enjoyed being violent. Even though I’d served my time, I was sure there was still some hesitation in people’s ability to trust that I wasn’t actually the bad guy. I hoped Sarah didn’t see me that way.
When I saw her yesterday at the grand re-opening of the Hope for All Orphanage I had an urgency to pull her aside and talk to her. To tell her that the rumors about me weren’t true. They’d been orchestrated by a family with a lot more power and money than I’d probably ever have.
I was so close yesterday to reaching out and touching her arm to grab her attention before Willow got ahold of her first.
It was probably for the best because Sarah had her entire life ahead of her. She didn’t need to be bogged down with a guy like me who had a rap sheet for a violent offense. Being with me would only bring chaos into her life.
As I finished my shower, I told myself I would leave Sarah Williams alone. That no matter how difficult it might be to stay away from her, it wasn’t right for me to interfere with her life knowing how it would likely cause the town another uproar.
“Geez. I thought you were going to use up all the hot water on the ranch for how long you were in the shower,” Callie Rose said to me as I made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen where she was leaning against the counter, a plate full of eggs in her hand.
“What the hell were you...” Her eyes grew big as she realized the answer to her unfinished question. “Nope!” she yelled. “Never mind. I do not want to know.”
“Are you sure?” I snickered. “Because it sounds like you were interested in how I wrapped my hand aro?—”
“Nope!” Callie Rose cut me off. “I’m perfectly happy not knowing what my brother does in his spare time. Even if he does use up all the hot water. Just keep those little tidbits to yourself, thank you very much.”
I chuckled while she maintained a look of pure horror and disgust on her face. “Where’s Miles?” I asked.
“I already made him breakfast. He wanted to get a head start on tagging the calves since you’ll be missing this afternoon to help me with the orchard.”
“Mmm. Good call.”
She reached behind her and grabbed the extra plate of eggs and sausage and handed it to me. The savory notes hit my nose and my stomach immediately clenched from hunger pains. “Thank you for making breakfast.” The words came out garbled as I talked around the big bite of food I’d taken.
“No problem.”
Just like most mornings, we stood together in comfortable silence. When I finished, I washed off my plate and put it on the drying rack next to the sink before turning back to my sister and noticing she had a faraway look on her face.
“What’s going on?”
She blinked out of her daze and looked at me. “I was just thinking about how it’ll be fifteen years since we lost dad this month. And fourteen since we lost mom.”
I didn’t like to think about it. All that we had lost because of the war. Dad was my best friend and even though he didn’t want the ranch life for himself, he taught me everything he knew from his father because he could see how much I loved it. Riding over the green hills under the big open sky, herding the cattle and caring for them. Showing the animals the respect they deserved for the nourishment they would bring to our bodies. I’d always loved it and no matter the differences we had, my father had always supported me and my dream of taking over the ranch one day.
And I’d loved listening to his stories of traveling the world during his deployments. He always had a way of finding something in common with people, even if they were wildly different. That was what I missed most about him. The lessons he taught Callie Rose and me. All the family talks we would have under the stars surrounding the fire pit.
When we lost him I was devastated. It felt like the world was crumbling around me and I was floating through life with no clear direction. But I saw the way his death impacted mom and I knew I needed to take care of Callie Rose. She was so young and still needed a lot of attention—as all children do. Mom wasn’t able to give it to her. The depression had kicked in…settled too deep. Until one day, Callie Rose and I made our way downstairs for breakfast to find a note on the counter saying she was sorry but she had to go.
I guessed being here was too much of a reminder of the love she lost. I had just turned eighteen and Callie Rose was only twelve. It wasn’t the most ideal situation, but we made it work.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “September is always a hard month, isn’t it?”
She nodded slowly. “Do you think he would be happy about the orchard?” Her voice caught with emotion, pulling on my own heart.
I strode over to her and took her in a side hug, giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze toward my chest.
“He would have loved it. This land has been in our family for five generations. Knowing you were making it your own—using it for something that brings you joy—would make him damn proud. ”
“Really?” She rubbed the back of her hand under her nose and sniffed.
I gave her another squeeze. “Really.”
She laid her head on my chest. “I don’t know why I’m so emotional about this today. It usually doesn’t hit me this hard.”
“It’s been a rough few years, Callie Rose. Sometimes the pain of loss hits harder when other shit happens.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“I mean, I’m hardly ever wrong.” That got me a quick elbow jab to the ribs, but I took the shot with grace because the smile on my little sister’s face lifted the painful tug in my chest.
“Whatever, douche-canoe.”
“Douche-canoe?! That’s a new one.”
She smiled at me like a feral Cheshire cat. “Yup. And I think it fits you perfectly.”
I rolled my eyes. “Alright, enough of your shenanigans. Let’s get to work. I’ll meet you at the orchard around one.”
“See you then,” she waved me off as she headed toward the door.
The work Callie Rose had accomplished on the orchard was incredible. All the vines were neatly pruned, ready for the chill of fall and winter. Every plant was perfectly aligned with the next, which made my afternoon job a hell of a lot easier as we ran wires from post to post so the vines had something to grab onto as they matured.
Taking off my gloves, I found a spot on the ground and settled in just as Callie Rose came down the row with my glass of sweet tea. The year before I was released, Miles and she refurbished the old cabin on the property and made it all her own. She’d told me that as much as she loved having her big brother back, she didn’t want to share living quarters in case I needed to ‘sow my wild oats’ after being behind bars for ten years.
While I hadn’t been with anyone since my release, I appreciated having the ranch house to myself in the evenings. I needed the quiet to settle my mind these days.
“Here you go.” She handed me the tall glass and settled in a dirt patch next to me. Her black wavy hair was tied back with a red handkerchief and it fell over her left shoulder that was covered with a tanktop and overalls strap. She looked every bit the farmer I knew she loved to be.
“This is pretty incredible, Cal. The vines are coming along nicely. I think you might even be able to start harvesting next fall.”
She took a long swig of her tea and looked around at the surrounding vines. “Thanks. I have big plans for this place and it’s been pretty awesome seeing them start to come to fruition. I’ve been enjoying taking the small harvest from the garden to the farmer’s market every two weeks too.”
“I have to admit, I was a little surprised at how well the garden’s been doing. Not sure who you got your green thumb from but it’s definitely panning out.”
She huffed out a breath. “Yeah, the few memories I have of mom include all the dead crispy plants she kept around the house.”
“And every year, dad still bought her another orchid,” I laughed.
“Maybe I was adopted and y’all just decided to keep it a secret.” She shot me a playful glare.
“Nah. With those blue eyes? You’re definitely an Adams.”
She smiled and linked her arm with mine. “I’m so glad you’re home.”
Her words struck my heart like a baseball shattering through a window. I swallowed against the knot in my throat trying to keep the emotions at bay.
Ranch life was hard, but it was the epitome of freedom. So, being on the inside, locked away in a cage that wasn’t truly meant to be mine was beyond anything I’d experienced. When our dad died, I’d stepped up. Became the man of the house and took over the ranch and all the other responsibilities of running the family and taking care of Callie Rose. It was hard, but I welcomed the challenge. I wanted to be the best person I could for my little sister, especially when our mom decided she couldn’t handle it anymore and left us in the middle of the night.
But those ten years being locked away because of some bastard narking on me was an offense I will never forget .
“I need to tell you something,” Callie Rose whispered as she lifted her head from my arm.
“What’s that?”
She started eyeing the dirt in front of us like it was the most interesting thing in the world. My sister had always been a deep thinker. Sometimes to the point of having to pull her back from her mind so she could be present in the moment.
This time it didn’t take her too long to say, “LeRoy Cummings is back in town.”
“You saw him?” My heart rate immediately shot through the roof.
Her eyes were sad as she finally looked up at me. “I saw him last weekend at the farmer’s market. I thought maybe he was just visiting his family, but I heard through the grapevine that he’s moving back to town.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I didn’t want to get you worked up over something when I wasn’t sure if he was back for good. I just got confirmation last night that he was buying a house.”
Hot anger had my blood simmering beneath my skin. I wanted so badly to punch something, but seeing as how that’s what got me put away in the first place I kept my clenched fists firmly in my lap.
So many years of my life were gone. Countless memories I could have shared with my little sister and best friend. Being forced to leave them to tend to the ranch when it was my dream, not theirs.
LeRoy Cummings had fucked up my life beyond imagination and to hear that the smug asshole was back in town knowing that I would never leave had smoke damn near shooting from my ears.
“Are you going to be okay?” I could hear the concern in her voice as she placed a gentle palm on my forearm.
I felt my nostrils flare as I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. When I opened my eyes, I patted her hand. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. It’s just the initial shock of the news. That’s all.”
“Okay.” She rubbed her hand back and forth over my arm. I hated the tears that lined her eyes as she said, “He’s already taken so much from you, Ranger. Don’t give him anything else.”
Callie Rose was right. LeRoy would always be a douchebag looking for the next person to screw over for his benefit, especially if that meant someone else could be his fall guy.
Shifting my gaze ahead, I took in the endless rows of grape vines my sister had planted with her bare hands and the acres of hills beyond where our cattle grazed. I’d spent ten years of my life fighting to get back to this. To not succumb to the mindfuck of being locked in a cage for someone else’s mistake.
No matter what he did, I couldn’t let him rob me of more time. Because no matter how much money the ranch was starting to make, time was the one thing money couldn’t buy.